Roll Call - Silver Wind Capetown February 3,2012

Looking to meet others that will be cruising out of Capetown on the February 3,2012 cruise.

We did this cruise earlier this year - itinerary looks the same except you are not stopping at Mossel Bay. This was a fantastic cruise and we hope that you enjoy it as much as we did!

If you have too much time on your hands and want to whet your appetite for some of the sights you'll be seeing, there's a link to pictures below.

Hope you are taking some time before and/or after the cruise to spend time in Cape Town, or do a safari, or wine tasting in Stellenbosch, or something else... It's too long of a trip from the East Coast to just go for the cruise, and it's even further for you!

We will be there! Enjou the above pix...they do a good job!

JP,

Thanks for sharing the pictures! They are great. Yes, it's a long way from the West Coast and we will be staying an additional week in Cape Town after the cruise. Still gathering information on getting around. Did you rent a car or hire a driver?

Duct Tape,

Perhaps we can meet up on the cruise. We can't wait. See you there

JP,

 

Thanks for sharing the pictures! They are great. Yes, it's a long way from the West Coast and we will be staying an additional week in Cape Town after the cruise. Still gathering information on getting around. Did you rent a car or hire a driver?

We rented a car and drove ourselves everywhere - one day in the Cape Point area, and a second day in Stellenbosch. It was pretty fun! The best investment in that regard was a Garmin mapset for our GPS unit which completely took the worry out of getting lost - so I could concentrate on staying to the left.

We had heard stories about how dangerous, difficult, etc. the driving was, but did not encounter any difficulties. We stayed on the waterfront and rented from a Hertz location downtown; our hotel had free parking so it all worked very well. Even the city was fine though there is traffic during the morning rush hour, as you'd expect.

If driving on the left using a right-drive car worries you, then there is no shortage of available drivers. All of the cab drivers will try to sell you their services; when we took the cab from the hotel to Hertz, the driver spent the whole ride trying to convince us to hire him instead of the car!:rolleyes: In the end we were very glad we went out on our own.

Glad you enjoyed our pictures - have fun!

We were in Cape Town before the Silver Wind Cape Town to Las Palmas cruise in March this year. We pre-booked private tours with a small but extremely efficient company called Discovery Tours. Totally flexible and they did what we wanted them to do. Just us and the driver each day. They were fantastic.

We were in Cape Town before the Silver Wind Cape Town to Las Palmas cruise in March this year. We pre-booked private tours with a small but extremely efficient company called Discovery Tours. Totally flexible and they did what we wanted them to do. Just us and the driver each day. They were fantastic.

Thanks for sharing your tips on the drivers. That is the way we were leaning but at $500 U.S. per day (from other sources), I can find a lot of other adventures to spend my money on. I'll check out Discovery Tours as you recommend and see what they can offer. Thanks again for your input!

We rented a car and drove ourselves everywhere - one day in the Cape Point area, and a second day in Stellenbosch. It was pretty fun! The best investment in that regard was a Garmin mapset for our GPS unit which completely took the worry out of getting lost - so I could concentrate on staying to the left.

 

We had heard stories about how dangerous, difficult, etc. the driving was, but did not encounter any difficulties. We stayed on the waterfront and rented from a Hertz location downtown; our hotel had free parking so it all worked very well. Even the city was fine though there is traffic during the morning rush hour, as you'd expect.

 

If driving on the left using a right-drive car worries you, then there is no shortage of available drivers. All of the cab drivers will try to sell you their services; when we took the cab from the hotel to Hertz, the driver spent the whole ride trying to convince us to hire him instead of the car!:rolleyes: In the end we were very glad we went out on our own.

 

Glad you enjoyed our pictures - have fun!

I appreciate your feedback. To be honest, driving on the left side does concern me a bit but after reading your post, I may give it a go! Way cheaper than hiring a driver and my wife and I do enjoy blazing our own path on our own time. Looking at your post, it appears that a full day is sufficient to cover several areas leaving enough time to enjoy the sights as well. We will have around 3 1/2 days to cover as much as possible. Any suggestions as to the best way to go about it? Furthest away and work our way back to the waterfront? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks

We had three (almost) full days in CPT after the cruise. We stayed at Table Bay Hotel which was great; even better, it is literally at the pier where the ship docks. So the luggage porter at the pier can bring your luggage to the hotel's front desk for you - very convenient. We checked in and then set out.

That first day we explored the city proper - first the aquarium, then we did the hop-on, hop-off bus for the rest of the day. To be honest, we had also spent the day of embarkation in Cape Town, so we had already done Robben Island and the Cable Car to Table Mountain before the cruise. We still did Table Mountain a second time; it's awesome.

The next morning we picked up the rental car and drove to Bloubergstrand, then back to CPT for Lion's Head, then down to Cape Point for a few hikes and the view from the Point itself, back up through Simon's Town / Boulders Bay to see penguins and get a late lunch, then off to Steenberg for an evening wine tasting.

The third day we checked out and left our luggage at the hotel, and drove to Stellenbosch. Over the full day we made it to 5 wineries, but we were careful to spit more than we swallowed. We also spread the wineries out and interspersed some non-wine activities such as petting the Cheetahs at Spier, and a visit to a berry farm. If you're not careful with this, then a driver for the winery tours may be safer - but the wine tastings in SA are much slower than they are in the US, in our experience. You sit down at a nice table and order what you'd like to taste, and they encourage you to take your time.

Our flight out wasn't until 1AM that night, so we had time to come back to the hotel to park the car, and have dinner on the waterfront. After dinner we picked up our luggage, and changed into airplane clothes before driving over to the airport to come home.

We would have loved an extra day in Stellenbosch, but would not have given up one of our other days to do it. Next time we will strongly consider staying a night or two in that area!

PS my guidebook said that SA petrol stations don't take credit cards. I did not find that to be the case - we refueled at a rest area on the main highway coming into CPT and they took my AMEX just fine. However, my experience of one may not apply everywhere!

Hope this helps with your planning...

JP,

Thanks for the info. It sure will come in handy. We too will have a full day in Cape Town when we arrive (after a very long flight) so maybe we could sqeeze in Table Mounain or something close. Thanks again for you help.

Duct Tape,

I see you are pretty familiar with the staff on SS cruises. This is our first Silversea cruise and have only cruised on larger ships, Royal Carribbean and Princess. We are looking forward to a smaller, more intimate cruise for our 30th anniversary. Do you know who will be our CD on this cruise and how is he? Any other tips you can share to enhance our SS experience? Thanks for your help!

Thanx, MCCooch. We will be boarding the ship before you join so I will be posting then. Rather than speculate on the crew, I will be able to give you better info closer to the sailing. Looking forward to it!

We're also spending 3 days in Capetown before boarding the Wind, and given there's so much to see & do in and around the Cape, we opted not to try to cram too much into the 3 days we have. We've booked days tours with CoffeeBean Routes - anyone had any experience with this outfit?

BTW - was online at "My Voyage" to book my cruise land-tours and I don't find anything at all about Dinner under the Stars in the Namibian desert, which I understand is a highlight not to be missed. Some posters have indicated this is a SilverSea Experience on this cruise, but I've not seen anything about it. Duct Tape - do you have any intel on this? :confused:

That segment is R/T on the east coast of SoAfrica. The ship will not be going into Namibia until it starts up the west coast to Las Palmas. You will get to do it eventually!

Thanks. Looking forward to it. Until then...

Thanx, MCCooch. We will be boarding the ship before you join so I will be posting then. Rather than speculate on the crew, I will be able to give you better info closer to the sailing. Looking forward to it!

Hi Duct Tape,

I have been following your adventures heading up to our cruise in Capetown Feb 3rd and look forward to meeting you.

On a side note, my wife and I have decided to renew our vows (our 30th) during the cruise and would like to invite you and other fellow CC'rs that will be with us on the cruise to join us with an after party. Not sure what day yet but most likely the first full day at sea if we can get that arranged that quickly. Hope you can join us!

Mike

What a lovely idea. We are honored to be invited! Will give the Captain a "heads up"!

What a lovely idea. We are honored to be invited! Will give the Captain a "heads up"!

Wonderful! See you on board.

Mike & Wendy

What a lovely idea. We are honored to be invited! Will give the Captain a "heads up"!

Duct Tape, Just to let you know we received confirmation toda for our vow renewals. They will be held on Saturday, Feb 4th at 6:30pm on the Navigation Bridge. Looking forward to meeting you next week.

Glad it worked out. See you soon.