Tothesunset

Dunno. Just a couple of people were complaining about poor entertainment. Maybe that's what they meant? I did say it was hearsay, your honour.

It's the end of an era! What will we all do without those magical reports from Mysty? Even the UK Prime Minister is so disappointed he's called a general election.

Entertainment This will be a short post. We don't do entertainment. Sorry about that. According to some we have spoken with they haven't been impressed. That's hearsay and I mention the subject only to ignore it!

It was ground. Recently the ragu was more like soup but tonight's had just the right amount of sauce, plenty of duck, was nicely seasoned and the pasta cooked perfectly. It was like the duck ragu of 10 years ago.

Just a quickie. We must have had 30 or more dinners in terraza and each time been disappointed. Yet still we go back. However, tonight's dinner was superb. Really. And, best of all, the pappardeli with duch ragu was outstanding. It really was. I mention this only because some recent reports have been less than wholly fulsome. So we might have been lucky, on the other hand I've got to say it as I see it. And the icing on the cake was that my Tokaji arrived precisely with the sweet. Kudos to Mike the sommelier for being on top of this.

It's also the term a Brooklynite uses for "nearly".

Suite We are in 738, notionally a Vista suite, but 50% larger. My assertion earlier that it has had the 2 windows converted to Juliet balconies is erroneous. One of the windows is now floor-to-ceiling but doesn't open. The fixtures and furnishings have been substantially, and I think tastefully, updated since our last sailing in (I think) late 2018. The walk-in wardrobe (closet) is plenty big enough and there is a surfeit of cupboard space. I like a shower, never use a bathtub and am happy to relate that this suite has no tub. Yay! Rainfall shower and conventional shower head on a snakey metal thing. Since just about all one can ask of a shower is to provide a good dose of warm water, it fills its remit. The Otium products we've abandoned in favour of Bulgari, the smell of Silversea. Pleased to see power outlets that can cope with US, European and UK plugs plus USB sockets and USB C fast-charging sockets Lovely jubbly. No more mucking about with adaptors. Afternoon tea time. See ya, later.

If anyone can recall, I did say that this was our 1st SS since RCI and Covid but I wasn't aiming to compare. Yeah, well, ignore that. It's impossible not to compare largely because we have noticed little that has changed. I'm not intending to do a travelogue because other contributors - Drron, Mysty, Fletcher and many more - do it so much better than I ever could. So what I'll do, if it's OK with everyone, is share some thoughts and observations as the days pass. These may (take that as will) be random and based solely on subjective rather than objective views. However, I'm happy to have a go at answering any direct questions but reserve the right to be wrong. If you see what I mean.

Back again. Since leaving you all a couple of days ago we now find ourselves in Vigo, Spain having successfully boarded in Lisbon. Yesterday was Porto. Now, before going any further I'm going to make my pitch for the Crew Welfare Fund. I've always felt it unfair that while front of house staff benefit from direct tipping, those we rarely, if ever, see remain unrewarded. And where would we be without the laundry staff, deck crew, engineers etc etc? So how can a passenger show some pecuniary gratitude to all the crew? By donating to the Crew Welfare Fund. It's not advertised nor, I think, widely known but provides a fund for the benefit of the crew. We donated yesterday at reception and the amount donated is debited from the payment card presented on boarding:

Busy boy. News later!

If you want only bad news and articles to make you fearful, the Daily Mail is your Cassandra of choice.

I hope you're wrong! But being forewarned puts us in a good position. (I know nobody understands what Les and I are talking about. But all will become clear in 2 weeks. Mysterious, eh?)

Spot on. We were warned of 11 metre swells (36 ft) but it settled at a tame 9 metres (30 ft). Had the dining room pretty much to ourselves!

Footsore now from pounding the streets of Lisbon. Such a good city for aimless rambling. Bit like this thread. I know one should always try something different but tonight we are going for the tasting menu at Prado in the Alfama district: https://pradorestaurante.com/ It really is such good food and something of a bargain at €80 each. Oh, I do like a bargain. I might have mentioned that we are staying at the Avenida Palace Hotel. It's about as central as you can get and charmingly old-fashioned but with all modern amenities. Oddly, they don't have a proper restaurant, just a breakfast room. Not that Lisbon is short of eating places. The rooms are quite small, though. Comfortable but probably around 22 sq mtr (I think that's something like 200 sq ft) so there's no cat-swinging potential. We noticed 2 cruise ships docked at the cruise terminal. One was a Costa something-or-other disgorging passengers onto the quayside in a human avalanche. It's a big ship. Yuk! The other ship was farther along and I didn't recognise the funnel insignia nor was I sufficiently interested to be bothered strolling any further to identify it. 24 hrs from now we should, with a fair wind, be in our favourite suite on our favourite ship. Sometimes we just need to step back and remind ourselves how privileged we are.

Yes, I've seen that. Horrific.

2 hrs of sitting on the tarmac at Gatwick really didn't get the day going well. Our scheduled 10.35 departure became 12.45 getting into Lisbon at 15.10 Sailed through immigration but OH had to endure the queue of the great unwashed who aren't EU citizens. Bless. Both feeling lacking in vim and pep so wandered about 200 metres to the Hard Rock Cafe, which offered its now corporate, but still tasty, menu. Burgers and brownies later we waddled back to the hotel for a lie down. Until morning. I feel sad for those who never got a chance to visit the 2 original HRCs in London and (of all places) Stockholm. In the late 70s/early 80s it was tremendous. The food was better for a start but the music was brilliant - bearing in mind that all good rock music happened between Woodstock and 1979. I'd often stroll down Piccadilly after a meeting or whatever, still in suit and tie, and perch at the bar like Billy no mates. Then it was bought out, went all corporate and slightly lost sight of what made the place unique. 'Twas ever thus.

Got it in one. It's a lounge that I get free with my bank account. So it's pretty grim but saves having to pay silly prices in the terminal for bad coffee and worse food. And you know me and spending unnecessary cash...

You can take medicine for that.

There's time yet...

Not a cat in Hell's chance.

Now I'm impressed. The TA arranged for our car to arrive at 1400 for the trip to LGW. 13.58 he arrived at the gate in a new Audi A6. Nice smooth ride to the Sofitel. 145 miles, 3 hours. Typical airport hotel but it's only for one night. Isn't online check-in wonderful? When it works. Did mine, boarding pass on Google wallet. All good. Did OH's, got to the final screen and no option to download, copy or anything else concerning a boarding pass. Oh, flipping heck (or similar expletive). Started to go through the check in process again and it told her she had already checked in and did she want a boarding pass? Well, duh. So we are each checked-in. Phew! As an aside, last week elder son and I returned from Warsaw and landed just as the entire UK Border Control systems failed. A mere 5 hours to get through immigration. Oh, I do love air travel. Not. (Warsaw is a wonderful city. Why it isn't more visited, at least by Brits, I don't know. I'd live there tomorrow.)

Morning all. 5am my internal alarm clock went off. 2 hours early. Suspect it needs a new battery. Last minute packing today. 5th consecutive day of last minute packing. One of my sons does his packing in the last half hour before travelling. Never forgets anything, either. It's inhuman. Hate this bit about travelling, most particularly leaving the dogs in kennels. They don't mind, though, and that somehow makes it worse. The car arrives with us at 2pm. Which means we will be pacing the hallways from about 12.30 onward. We get maybe 4 or 5 vehicles use our lane each day so each time we hear something we'll grab our bags only to find it's Dave the farmer going home for lunch or something. To say we get ready early for rendezvous is to seriously underestimate our punctuality. Still, when it comes to flights etc, better 3 hours early than 3 minutes late. The weather has joined us in feeling gloomy and slightly stressed. There's a spooky fenland mist out there and it's none too warm. But once we're in the car I expect the holiday feeling will take over. In fact, I know it will.

If you haven't sailed into the Pool of London under Tower Bridge before, you're in for a treat. Should be the highlight of the cruise.

No. Not live... yet. But we leave tomorrow for Gatwick Airport, stay the night at the Sofitel then on to Lisbon for 2 nights at the Avenida Palace before joining Her Windship on 19th. This was an offer by a large UK travel agent whose Offers are advertised to Readers of UK newspapers. Flight, 2 nights Lisbon, cruise and home to airport then London to home limo. £5299 each minus £150 each from a previous credit. When booking we asked if suite 738 was available; it was. Booked it. 738 is a Vista cabin that, at one time, was the library but converted years ago into a suite. It's roughly 50% larger than a standard vista. When last we sailed in 738 it had 2 large windows but during the expedification of the Wind I understand these were converted to Juliet balconies. Hearsay that I hope to confirm 4 days from now. First expedition cruise for us after 201 nights on the classic ships (including Wind pre-conversion). Looking at the itinerary it doesn't look all that adventurous - that's fine. Three main reasons for selecting this: 1. 738 on the Wind 2. Good offer 3. Visiting unknown parts of France 4. Sail in under Tower Bridge. OK, 4 good reasons. I must say, some recent posts and threads had us wondering if, 5 years since our last SS cruise, we are heading for a disappointment. Then common sense kicks in and we realise that the only opinion that matters is our own so keep an open mind (although comparisons with our 3 previous Wind cruises are inevitable). Oh, yes. I'm dreadfully unreliable so expecting me to slip away from my whisky sour each evening to diarise the events of the day is a step too far. But I'll try and jot down ad hoc when the mood strikes.

So here's another true story apropos of nothing at all. In these days of performative veganism and dietary virtue-signalling I'm sure we can all remember when even vegetarianism was a minority sport receiving little attention Wind back to 1983 and my detachment to Salisbury Plain to head up the anaesthetic department of a Territorial Army field hospital during a big military exercise. First meal, provided by a hospital catering dept, was, let's be charitable, disgusting - unidentifiable bits of animal in a gloopy miasma, lumpy mash and veg in various shades of dayglo. Anyway, I declined my helping of the stew thing opting just for some wallpaper paste-like tatties and a spoonful of suspiciously slushy green stuff. The chef looked a bit miffed. "Don't you like the stew, Sir?" I'm easily embarrassed so: "Oh, no. It looks great but I'm a vegetarian." Quick thinking right there. It turned out that the chef was delighted, loved cooking vegetarian food and promised me a special dinner every day. I've got to say, I was the best-fed serviceman on Salisbury Plain - the quality and variety of meals was terrific. So don't diss the veggies. Proper vegetarian cooking can be excellent. Especially with bacon.