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Silver Dawn - Barbados-Fort Lauderdale - December 21-January 5

Abuckett

By Abuckett,
in Silversea

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Abuckett "Live from...." Rare

Abuckett

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Host Jazzbeau
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Abuckett was awarded the badge '"Live from...."'

We have checked in at the Marriott in Tampa Airport. We fly to Barbados tomorrow through Miami departing at 7.00 am. We will stay in Barbados at the Tamarind for two nights before boarding the ship on Thursday. I will try to report regularly on our trip.

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Abuckett "Live from...." Rare

Abuckett

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One glitch - a wheel got broken off a suitcase. American took a report and said they would send the suitcase to Dallas! Great - what would we do with the clothes! We declined. Doubt anything will happen going forward. Sorry for the several posts but I’m a bit tired today.

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Abuckett "Live from...." Rare

Abuckett

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Yesterday we checked in at about 1.15 pm although our official time was 2.00 pm. We were dropped off at the first location where we got luggage labels and our bags were taken. Back on a shuttle to the next location where the official check in was done. Then on to another shuttle to the ship. We went up to the pool deck for a drink and chips, salsa etc. about 2.30 pm we went to our suite where our luggage was waiting. The earliest luggage ever I think. Our butler, Ian, appeared promptly to introduce himself. We watched the security video and unpacked. Muster drill was at 6 pm. After that we changed for dinner (casual) and went to Dolce Vita. Drinks and chips and nuts appeared promptly and canapés a little later. These were better than the ones on Nova last summer. We had reservations at La Terrazza which was excellent and service also. Sadly the outside was closed because of wind. Besides the usual antipasto I had lamb chops and David had a fusilli pasta and saltimboca. All were excellent. We passed on dessert but had a limoncello. We then went to Panorama and had drinks outside with a couple of Australians. Today we are in Tobago. We had breakfast at La Terrazza. I love the buffet there. The outside was open. We had a glass bottom boat excursion booked which wasn’t the greatest. Bus took us to the wrong pick up point. The boat was very rustic to say the least! Back onboard we headed for the pool deck again for a mezze plate and a couple of drinks. We will be heading for trivia shortly followed by putting for David. Tonight is formal but we have reservations at The Grill so David will wear a nice shirt and slacks. It is also the Captain’s welcome so he will wear a jacket for that. Last night dress was appropriate - no shorts etc but we did see a couple of jeans. Have to go to trivia so will check back in later

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LouSea2

LouSea2

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Hi - thanks for starting a live blog ABuckett, we are also on the same cruise. We are having a great time albeit a few issues which I hope are teathing pains. Food thus far has been excellent, we have eaten at The Grill for lunch and dinners at Salt and Atlantide. Service in the restaurants on the other hand has been sub-par at best. I feel like the cruise is a bit understaffed. We are constantly trying to flag down waiters, we have had wrong orders and need to ask for everything (water, coffee, wine etc) multiple times. Dinner in Atlantide (Formal Night)  took 3 hours and we didn’t get acknowledged by anyone once seated for 45 minutes. It’s appears to be a full cruise but the crew to passenger ratio should accomodate for this, hence why I believe it is understaffed. Our excursion yesterday was a disaster. We were supposed to go on a snorkel and we got to the destination only to find out they dropped us off in the wrong location and the buses had left 100 of us in the blazing sun. The Silversea chaperone was useless.  Needless to say once it finally got sorted over an hour later standing in the hot sun, we opted to go back to the ship with many others and wasted the entire morning. Not a great first day. I should mention that our Butler and Room Attendant are excellent. 
 

In any case, we have 13 nights left and I am sure it will all get much better. As a famous captain once said, “If you want to have a good time, you will. If you don’t, you won’t” 

 

We are in it for a good time!

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Abuckett "Live from...." Rare

Abuckett

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We paid for Fast Track so it was smooth for us through immigration and finally through customs. Our luggage took a long time to arrive and then we had lost a wheel on one suitcase. The woman helping us knew where we should go to report it and helped us with getting a taxi.

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Abuckett "Live from...." Rare

Abuckett

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Sorry I haven’t kept up with the blog. Just been too busy. The first trivia we came in third. Since then we haven’t placed. David came in first at putting but since 2nd. That evening we dined at The Grill. Food was excellent as was service. I had a Caesar salad, David had a roast vegetable and mozzarella salad. He then had a filet and I a strip steak. We both had baked potato and no dessert. The next day we went on. Catamaran and snorkeling excursion in St. Lucia. It was very enjoyable. The port is good with a number of shops. I was able to buy a beach bag which I had forgotten abd he some tee shirts as he hadn’t brought enough. We ate dinner at Kaiseki. It was very good. I had tuna tartare with an Asian twist, I can’t remember what he had. We both had wagyu and lobster tail. The lobster was excellent but the wagyu was a bit gristly. Christmas Eve we were in Bequia. We went on a safari jeep tour which we enjoyed. The highlight for me was the turtle sanctuary as I love turtles. Also baby goats which I also love. Last night we ate at La Dame which was outstanding. We both had caviar, then he had lobster bisque and I had a small bouillabaisse. It was good but not as good as the fish soup I had on Nova in the summer. We then had bass for him and lobster tail for me. (Do you think I like lobster?!😊). We both had the cheese plate which, for those who have posted recently, was excellent. 5 different cheeses perfectly served including a blue. Several types of crackers (not the Jacob’s cream kind). I prefer bread with my cheese so stuck with that. We also had a glass of port with that. Everyone has been beautifully dressed on this cruis. The ship is also beautifully decorated and the crew are all joining in with the spirit of Christmas. Santa arrived a short while ago in the Panarama Lounge. Apparently he came down the funnel!🤣🎅. Today is a sea day so I am off to the pool and will post some more later.

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Abuckett "Live from...." Rare

Abuckett

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Yesterday there was Bingo as well as Trivia. We played both and came in second in Trivia. Roy asks some tough questions. We joined some of our team for the Gala Dinner in Atlantide. It was excellent and was also served in 2 other restaurants. There were even Christmas crackers on the table. Everyone but me wanted to pull the crackers immediately but as the lone Brit at the table, Mrs. England (as they call me) laid down the law that they couldn’t do that until after the main and before pud (dessert). I was obeyed! I had an asparagus dish for starter, David had foie gras. I then had a small salmon dish and he had ravioli. A sorbet was then served. I never see the point of them. My palate really doesn’t need cleansing! For mains I had lobster tail (of course) and he had traditional turkey. Then we pulled the crackers and put on silly hats! Three of us then asked if we could have a cheese plate instead of dessert which was allowed. It was good but not as good as the one at La Dame. We again had port with it. Again as the lone Brit I was asked to choose between Ruby and Tawny. I chose Ruby. It was excellent. The dress in the evenings continues to be very elegant. I have never seen so many tuxes on formal nights. Today is an underwater excursion to see fish, coral etc. we are in Curaçao. 

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broker1217

broker1217

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We also used Fivestar. We arrived December 3 and the line for immigration was quite short, so not sure we saved any time there. It took an hour to get our bags and we were AA with Priority bags.

The Five Star person stayed with us and escorted us to the taxi stand. Took 45 minutes for the 5 Star taxi to arrive.

I don’t think we saved any time.

edit to add: We would not willingly arrive in Barbados again-not a fabulous experience or airport.

Edited by broker1217
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Host Jazzbeau Great Review Rare

Host Jazzbeau

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9 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

Thanks for suggestions. We really have no desire to arrive in Barbados but there is no other option.

I share your sentiment.  Jan. 2025 we will be taking a Windstar cruise from Barbados to Panama City, so we will have to fly into Barbados.  Luckily JetBlue seems to have good non-stop service from NYC, and Windstar will be putting us up for the night in some hotel and then taking us to the ship.  So getting through the airport and to the hotel is the only issue...  Will look into FastTrack.

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