Cloud Ft Lauderdale to Lima 11/10-30/10

[Silver Spectre]

We had a great day in Salaverry yesterday with a great guided tour around the Temples of the Sun and Moon. Pics to follow when WiFi is reasonable. We left at 1pm and were chased out to see by massed Inca Terns feeding in our wake. At around 3:30 and until it got dark we sailed through an incredibly rich fish area surrounded by thousands of dolphins and enormous numbers of birds, Albatrosses, Cormorants, Pelicans and massed ranks of dive bombing Boobies. Never seen anything like it and neither had any of the Xpedition staff!

[jpalbny]

Wow, what an awesome sailaway!

 

The year we were there was an El Niño year, so the warm water had disrupted the Humboldt current and the waters were much more barren. Not nearly as much sea life to see, and as a result, the birds were less numerous as well.

 

Have enjoyed your posts very much. Safe travels post-cruise - any plans in Peru before going home?

[Silver Spectre]

5 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Wow, what an awesome sailaway!

 

The year we were there was an El Niño year, so the warm water had disrupted the Humboldt current and the waters were much more barren. Not nearly as much sea life to see, and as a result, the birds were less numerous as well.

 

Have enjoyed your posts very much. Safe travels post-cruise - any plans in Peru before going home?

Thanks JP. We have a day here and then fly overnight Iberia to Madrid and back to the U.K. tomorrow afternoon. SS is putting us in the Miraflores Hilton. If I can stay awake we may have a stroll to the Rosa Nautica for lunch.

[Silver Spectre]

This was an interesting addition to our cruise.

[spinnaker2]

1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

We had a great day in Salaverry yesterday with a great guided tour around the Temples of the Sun and Moon. Pics to follow when WiFi is reasonable. We left at 1pm and were chased out to see by massed Inca Terns feeding in our wake. At around 3:30 and until it got dark we sailed through an incredibly rich fish area surrounded by thousands of dolphins and enormous numbers of birds, Albatrosses, Cormorants, Pelicans and massed ranks of dive bombing Boobies. Never seen anything like it and neither had any of the Xpedition staff!

Amazing stuff to witness.

Lucky you!

Can't wait to see the photos!

[Silver Spectre]

One thing that is done very well on here is the Xpedition video. It played to a full theatre before dinner last night and was extremely well put together. The two highlights for me were the shocked crash dive by the Olive Ridley turtle and the mother Humpback and calf, both of which we were lucky enough to see with Denis, the photographer and video editor. Kudos to him and Silversea.

[Silver Spectre]

After a reasonable day in the Hilton, Miraflores we had an horrendous journey to the airport through some of the worst traffic we have ever seen, including a confrontation between our bus driver and a car within sight of the airport, police called, but luckily after 10 mins we were allowed to proceed. Total journey time of almost 2 hours. We then had a long queue for immigration concluding with being told that our entry into Peru had not been logged into their system and we each individually had to be processed by one senior lady, very slowly. Finally through about 10 mins before boarding.

[Master Echo]

Dear Silver Spectre,

 

Many thanks for your, as usual, excellent commentary and lovely photos.  However what an awful ending to what appears to have been an excellent cruise.  

 

Are the expedition videos now free, or are they still chargeable, because I was informed that these were going to be complimentary.

 

Would be interested  to know whether you are considering another expedition cruise?  Or is the sleep deprivation too much of a disincentive?!

 

Hope journey home was more benign & the jet lag not too severe.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, Master Echo said:

Are the expedition videos now free...

 

 

Yes, they are free.

[Silver Spectre]

8 hours ago, Master Echo said:

Dear Silver Spectre,

 

Many thanks for your, as usual, excellent commentary and lovely photos.  However what an awful ending to what appears to have been an excellent cruise.  

 

Are the expedition videos now free, or are they still chargeable, because I was informed that these were going to be complimentary.

 

Would be interested  to know whether you are considering another expedition cruise?  Or is the sleep deprivation too much of a disincentive?!

 

Hope journey home was more benign & the jet lag not too severe.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

 

 

Yes the video is complimentary and it comes on a DVD and also a USB drive. Moss made a great point at both beginning and end the cruise about it being complimentary, which now makes sense if it was chargeable before.

 

That was our first and last Xpedition Cruise, it’s just too full on for our taste and to be blunt I believe they run the Zodiacs in challenging conditions and occasionally IMHO, dangerous conditions. The Tenders are now only to be used as lifeboats.

 

We were also lucky to have Moss as a Social Director, and whilst his position is not as important for the shorter Arctic and Antarctic voyages, when the ship is transitioning between the two you need someone of his caliber. When he leaves for the Shadow dry dock he will be replaced by someone who is a crossover between a cruise director and an Expedition staff member. Good luck with that!

[Silver Spectre]

For Stumblefoot 

 

 

[Silver Spectre]

[Silver Spectre]

[jpalbny]

Thanks, Silver. Nothing better than a few bottles of wine with my morning coffee!

 

Haven't seen the Dom rosé on the list in a few years. Oh well. Looking forward to working on this list in 2 months (it's November so I can say that now)!

[Master Echo]

Dear Silver Spectre

 

Glad to hear that the videos are now complimentary.  I am inclined to agree with you that xpedition life is a bit of a route march, and it would be preferable to have some time in between ports, to re-energise.  I also think that on occasions, the expedition team can run a fine line between risk taking and the ability of some passengers.  However on the Discoverer I felt they were conscious of the capabilities of all the passengers, although we numbered less than 90 in total.

 

I have kept in touch with one of the expedition team that I met on Silver Discoverer.  She has moved to Scenic Eclipse and describes its programme as 'soft' expedition.  Perhaps Silversea can be a bit too adventurous for the prevailing conditions,  but I judge expectations vary considerably between passengers as to just how strenous the activities should be.

 

Do hope you are now nicely settled in the land post brexit and have managed to completely recharge your batteries!!

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[Silver Spectre]

53 minutes ago, Master Echo said:

Dear Silver Spectre

 

Glad to hear that the videos are now complimentary.  I am inclined to agree with you that xpedition life is a bit of a route march, and it would be preferable to have some time in between ports, to re-energise.  I also think that on occasions, the expedition team can run a fine line between risk taking and the ability of some passengers.  However on the Discoverer I felt they were conscious of the capabilities of all the passengers, although we numbered less than 90 in total.

 

I have kept in touch with one of the expedition team that I met on Silver Discoverer.  She has moved to Scenic Eclipse and describes its programme as 'soft' expedition.  Perhaps Silversea can be a bit too adventurous for the prevailing conditions,  but I judge expectations vary considerably between passengers as to just how strenous the activities should be.

 

Do hope you are now nicely settled in the land post brexit and have managed to completely recharge your batteries!!

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

Working on the later and looking forward to the Final tomorrow morning 

[tgh]

IMO,  a recent "expedition" on the cloud was no such thing.

Soft and safe and quite entertaining it certainly was.. but expedition, in the traditional sense , ??…nope.

SS has to sell what will sell and,  for most perhaps, the softer the better.

I will consider  future "expeditions" (sic) with great care, with the cloud now a most unlikely future candidate.

 

Diffrn't strokes…..

[Stumblefoot]

On 11/1/2019 at 4:50 AM, Silver Spectre said:

For Stumblefoot

 

Thank you so much Mr. Silver!

[Stumblefoot]

On 11/1/2019 at 6:49 AM, jpalbny said:

Haven't seen the Dom rosé on the list in a few years.

JP, I think the ‘07 Bollinger Grande Année is a steal @ $110 ($155 retail) and would be a great choice to start our first celebratory dinner with Rachel and George.  Wine Spectator describes it as a “bright, lacy Champagne, offering a tapestry of finely woven flavors; graphite and ground spice, crushed blackberries, and dried apricot, toast, and honeycomb. ~94 points

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by Stumblefoot

[nzchick]

The Silversea “spelling gremlins” are at it again I see - they spelt New Zealand wrong in the Whites section of the Connoisseur List... 

Thanks for posting the list, I’ll be sure to use some of my OBC on some nice wines on my Muse cruise in January! 

(Spectre, you may remember me from the Athens to Muscat trip last year on the Muse..? Ann is my name 😊).

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, nzchick said:

The Silversea “spelling gremlins” are at it again I see - they spelt New Zealand wrong in the Whites section of the Connoisseur List... 

Thanks for posting the list, I’ll be sure to use some of my OBC on some nice wines on my Muse cruise in January! 

(Spectre, you may remember me from the Athens to Muscat trip last year on the Muse..? Ann is my name 😊).

Well spotted, it is really embarrassing that they cannot spellcheck or even editorially check. The worst one on our cruise is the Quietvox’s which were called Quitevox’s on every single briefing slide, and they have been that way for ages! Good to hear from you again Ann, and yes I remember you well 😻

[nzchick]

It seems so easy to run a spellcheck over a document, and for such a quality line I would have thought presentation was important.

 

I must confess I am always “that person” who notices (and points out!) spelling errors in restaurant menus. Not sure my friends/family appreciate that, haha. 🤣 

 

Looks like you’ve had a great cruise, I definitely want to do an expedition cruise at some stage. Though my January one is a Sydney-Sydney cruise via a number of Pacific Islands on the Muse, so much more of the relaxation variety. I do like that ship a lot though, so happy to be back on her again.  At see you on another trip again sometime! 😊

[Silver Spectre]

Courtesy of some left over OBC on the Wind 18 months ago. We had to struggle to find a home for this years contribution on the Cloud though.

 

[CruisinPashmina]

Thank you for such an interesting sail along. I love all the details you put in your posts including your personal opinions. I want to know about the handling of the zodiacs as well as first hand impressions of the ports. I want to know the minutiae of each particular itinerary. I now know for sure that an Expedition Cruise, even a supposedly “Soft” one is not for me. Thanks!

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, CruisinPashmina said:

Thank you for such an interesting sail along. I love all the details you put in your posts including your personal opinions. I want to know about the handling of the zodiacs as well as first hand impressions of the ports. I want to know the minutiae of each particular itinerary. I now know for sure that an Expedition Cruise, even a supposedly “Soft” one is not for me. Thanks!

Thanks Pashmina, there’s not a lot of point in posting anodyne rubbish if it’s going to be helpful.