Review of Silhouette Adriatic, Nov. 18 2013

[Iamthesea]

Enjoying your review. :)

 

Wanted to let you know that you didn't miss much in Perast. The best part is seeing the city from afar and from Our Lady of the Rocks.

 

We did not get up early enough to see the full approach, but did take a private water excursion back to Our Lady of the Rocks and then onto Perast. While OLOTR was very nice, the town of Perast was disappointing. Not anything to do or see. We took a walk and made some photos of the surrounding area. I'd be glad to share those photos with you.

 

We enjoyed the boat ride excursion the best as we were able to see the spectacular views like you saw on the approach. Plus, we saw the approach in reverse as the ship left for Dubrovnik. :D Beautiful!

[cruise kitty]

Enjoying your review. :)

 

Wanted to let you know that you didn't miss much in Perast. The best part is seeing the city from afar and from Our Lady of the Rocks.

 

We did not get up early enough to see the full approach, but did take a private water excursion back to Our Lady of the Rocks and then onto Perast. While OLOTR was very nice, the town of Perast was disappointing. Not anything to do or see. We took a walk and made some photos of the surrounding area. I'd be glad to share those photos with you.

 

We enjoyed the boat ride excursion the best as we were able to see the spectacular views like you saw on the approach. Plus, we saw the approach in reverse as the ship left for Dubrovnik. :D Beautiful!

 

Hi, thanks for the info on Perast, since almost all of our port arrivals were early, I was usually up by 5, I can assure you, that's not my usual waking time at home :)

[cruise kitty]

a few last shots of Kotor, they finally loaded:

 

Doggy, enjoying the view of the square from his private balcony:

 

 

Sail away was around 8pm, so it was pitch dark when we left, that evening's entertainment included a Hynotist David Knight, Sin City Comedy, learn to dance to What Does the Fox Say? & Bring on the Motown dance party. We did our usual bar tour, & headed to bed a bit early, Dubrovnik was coming up next!

Edited January 10, 2014 by cruise kitty
oops, forget to write

[cruise kitty]

Dubrovnik, Croatia, Day 5

 

We were due in port at 8 am, so I got to sleep in till 6:30 that day. We decided to have breakfast in Blu, as it was raining & we clearly were behind schedule, there was some question as to whether we would be able to dock at all. Luckily our fantastic Captain was able to get us in port, about an hour late, since there was a steady rain, we decided we'd take it easy today, we had planned on walking into town, & then taking the bus back (it's an easy 30 minute walk) but instead we took a cab (10 euro each way, or 90 kuna cheap, but you're inside, which I hate)

 

The Cab driver was terrific, & gave us a little free talking tour on the way, we gave him a tip as we appreciated his insight.

 

We picked up some Kuna from the ATM, there's one right outside the port entrance:

 

 

For the bus stop & ATM you go thru this gate, & turn right, ATM on your right hand side, bus stop is on the street

 

 

See the palm trees in this photo? Look how the one is bent sideways, windy & rainy!

 

[cruise kitty]

Dubrovnik, Day 5, continued

 

 

Entrance to the walled city:

 

 

the locals are friendly:

 

& playful

 

We purchased our tickets & headed up to walk the walls:

[cruise kitty]

Dubrovnik Day 5, Continued

 

 

 

I had my umbrella today:

 

 

No crowds here on a day like this:

 

[cruise kitty]

Dubrovnik, Croatia continued

 

 

 

 

 

[cruise kitty]

Dubrovnik, continued:

 

time for a beer break, none of the cafe's were serving draft or food... the season had officially already ended, but most everything was open with canned & bottled drinks, & of course, free wifi, Steve got in an hour or so of work & I tried to get dry & thaw out

 

 

 

Apparently the birds never actually get caught, they were not very concerned

 

 

 

[cruise kitty]

Dubrovnik, continued

 

Well, if we had waited a few hours to get off the ship, we would have been dry, but you can never know, so I'm ok with what we did, we decided that the chair lift would wait for another trip & headed back to the ship by 2 Persian gardens, & dry feet awaited us, our shoes were soaked!

 

 

That nights ship activities included Sushi making demo, a trivia game show against officers, & the Newlywed game show There was a Variety Showtime show in the main theatre. I'm sure by now you realize we don't do shows... We did hit up the casino for a bit, & then the martini bar for several hours, did a little dancing with some friends we met, all in all, stayed up too late, but really had fun, we were due for a sea day again!

Edited January 11, 2014 by cruise kitty

[cruise kitty]

Day 7, sea day, yea!

 

Did a glorious sleep in, DH probably would have slept till noon, but he his second massage scheduled.

 

After breakfast I did some stair climbing & then started seriously power drinking bottles of water, otherwise I tend to get swollen fingers on the ship.

 

It was a bit too cold to sit outside, in fact it was freezing! There was no one to take drink orders in the indoor pool area, the poor pool bartender was trying to stay warm but he kept me supplied with my water bottles when ever I knocked on the counter. He told me all the bartenders had been pulled to the inside bars & lounges as that's where most people were at. I laid by the indoor pool reading when I heard a sound that made me think something had crashed into the ship! I looked up, & hail was hitting the glass ceiling!

 

 

 

It was a pretty stormy day, & I really enjoyed it, I would love stormy sea days & clear port days!

 

There had been drama for days now as to whether we would be allowed in Venice, we were scheduled to be the last ship of the season, but it turns out we were probably the last ship of our size ever, after much negotiation it was decided that we could keep our dock spot! We went to bed with a sigh of relief & fingers crossed for a few days of good weather!

[cruise kitty]

We were scheduled to dock in Venice around 8 with the best part of the sail in to start around 7:30, but by 6:45, we were already near the entrance of the Giudecca Canal that takes you to the docking area, I was just finishing blowdrying my hair when I realized there were buildings next to my balcony, I finished getting ready as fast as I could, & headed up to the top deck... the sun was not up yet, & holy toledo was it cold! I had on gloves but had to wrap my scarf around my head babushka style, it was so cold!

 

 

We got a few last sprinkles (you can see them on my lens)

 

 

 

Steve made it up to the deck

 

 

you can see more people coming out on deck in this photo, I think our early sail in surprised most folks

 

[cruise kitty]

Venice finally!

 

For Venice we had to carry our passports (port rules) we were off the ship as soon as allowed & headed for the people mover, it's a little monorail type tram that carries you out of the port area & into Venice proper.

 

We bought our 36 hour vaparetto passes, & headed over a bridge, I'm not ashamed to say we both shed a tear or two over our first real sight

 

 

I am sorry to say that our next immediate stop was the nike store that for some unknown reason was open, I needed a beanie hat, & I needed one like now, it was that freezing!

 

Me in my not very stylish but very warm Nike beanie & so many layers of tee shirts I look like the stay puff marshmallow man:

 

 

Venice was cold, beautiful & magical, it literally sparkled in the sunshine!

We took a Vaparetto going the wrong direction, but it still took us to St Marks, just thru the Basin, not thru the Grand Canal, here's some shots from that very cold ride:

 

 

 

[Iamthesea]

a few last shots of Kotor, they finally loaded:

 

Sail away was around 8pm, so it was pitch dark when we left, that evening's entertainment included a Hynotist David Knight, Sin City Comedy, learn to dance to What Does the Fox Say? & Bring on the Motown dance party. We did our usual bar tour, & headed to bed a bit early, Dubrovnik was coming up next!

 

I was wondering why it was pitch black dark for your sail out, and then realized that your cruise was in November and ours was in May. ;) We left Kotor with a wonderful setting sun. I am sorry that you seemed to have such bad weather. However, that photo of Dubrovnik with the waves is spectacular! We have been there twice (one of my favorite ports) but have never seen the waters rough like that.

 

I have a feeling that the reason you arrived in Venice early was to throw off the protestors expecting the ship arriving a little later. Once again, the photos of Venice with the sun rising, even with the clouds and rain, was very nice. We sailed out of Venice for our cruise, and with the sun setting.

[cruise kitty]

I was wondering why it was pitch black dark for your sail out, and then realized that your cruise was in November and ours was in May. ;) We left Kotor with a wonderful setting sun. I am sorry that you seemed to have such bad weather. However, that photo of Dubrovnik with the waves is spectacular! We have been there twice (one of my favorite ports) but have never seen the waters rough like that.

 

I have a feeling that the reason you arrived in Venice early was to throw off the protestors expecting the ship arriving a little later. Once again, the photos of Venice with the sun rising, even with the clouds and rain, was very nice. We sailed out of Venice for our cruise, and with the sun setting.

 

 

I think you're correct on the reason behind the early sail into Venice, there was a definite feeling of "sneaking in" (if a 122,000 ton ship can sneak)

 

When we talked with crew, they said we'd be the last big ship ever to make that journey, the rule change wasn't supposed to be in effect yet, but basically they're just not going to let the ships in any more.

 

As for the weather, this is our third Med trip this time of year, & it's the first time we hit poor weather, I still enjoyed every minute & will take cold & rain over hot & crowds any day most of the sites we visited were virtually empty. I'd like to head back to Dubrovnik in early October next time, I would love to visit one of the Buza bars, the waves were crashing onto the decks of the ones we saw!

[Iamthesea]

I know what you mean. Rain and cool, not cold...any time I can get to Europe, over hot and muggy.

 

We were able to visit both bars on our visit to Dubrovnik last May. The first time we went, we didn't even know about them.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Thank you for sharing and bringing back the memories. ;)

[cruise kitty]

Venice, day 1 continued: Well, after all the days of storms, the sunshine & blue skies were so welcome, what wonderful luck to enjoy Venice with such glorious weather!

 

 

 

 

 

Mechanized bronze men ringing the bell above St Mark's Square

 

[cruise kitty]

Venice, continued

 

We used Rick Steves St Marks Square audio guide, & then we just wandered Venice, we did a good 12 hours of walking that first day

 

 

 

there are good signs pointing the way to all the major sights:

 

 

 

[cruise kitty]

venice continued

 

 

We ate lunch at a cafe near the Rialto Bridge, I had a delicious grilled vegetable plate, DH had a cheese plate, free wifi, so DH got a little work in:

 

 

 

 

A lot of people as why we travel this time of year, & this is why, having Venice pretty much to your self is amazing! Here's Steve wandering a square with just pigeons & 2 others for company:

 

[cruise kitty]

Venice, continued

 

 

 

We headed back to the ship around 3:30, put on more layers, & headed back out, we used Rick Steves audio guide grand canal tour on the traghetto

 

 

 

[cruise kitty]

Venice, continued

 

 

 

 

We ate dinner at the same place that we'd had lunch, the food was very good, & we could watch the gondeliers floating past & singing.

 

When we headed back to the ship, there was a masque theme party going on, so we hung out at the Martini Bar to watch, it turned out to be a really fun evening!

 

[Tommy3putts]

Great review and even better pictures!

[cruise kitty]

Great review and even better pictures!

 

Thanks so much!

[NCMtnBoys]

I thought the masque theme party was really fun too!

[cruise kitty]

I thought the masque theme party was really fun too!

 

Hi Guys! It was fun, I'm not much for sitting inside a theatre & watching a show, but this was more of the show coming to me! It was one of my favorite nights on the ship.:)

[cruise kitty]

Venice, day 2

 

We were off the ship pretty early, we had booked the Secret Doge's Itinerary thru Ticket Italy & decided to just walk to San Marco rather than take the vaparetto, we managed to take a wrong turn & get completely lost, we showed up just as the tour was starting.

 

The tour was interesting, but for me a little claustrophobic, it was for me a very long time to be inside, you get to see Casanova's cell, learn about his escape, there are some very narrow stairways, & I just made sure I was last each time so I didn't feel too trapped, & tried to stand near a window whenever possible. We also toured the Doge's Palace after, & here I kind of lost it a bit, we couldn't find the exit, & seemed to walk in circles forever, I was pretty relieved to get outside in the fresh air again!

 

we saw lots of this around town:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent most of the day just wandering, eating a little, we bought DH a thinsulate hat to wear under his regular hat because it was so cold, we would be in Paris for a week post cruise & temps there would be in the low 30's in the daytime.

 

Later in the day we returned to San Marco, & used Rick Steves audio tour for the Cathedral, & as the sun was lowering we started heading back to the ship, the All Aboard time was 5:45