Yesterday, Saturday, June 12, 2010 was a day filled with interesting contrasts. We woke up--as usual--way too early in London, but I found a McDonald's that had pretty good coffee and opened at 5 am. Brought back some "take away" lattes and Ronna and I waited until 7 am breakfast at our hotel. Saturday, at that hour, we were the only people in the lavish dining room at The Goring. We had a leisurely breakfast, then went back to our cozy room to chill and pack up.
At 11:30 we checked out of The Goring and remarked that the only thing we would really have liked improved was WiFi in the rooms. The GM said, "We start installing wireless internet next week." Our timing was just a bit off on that amenity!
We wandered around Belgravia and finally fell into a cute Italian delicatessan for a light lunch. We returned to the hotel just in time to meet up with the driver of our car service vehicle who would take us the 60 miles to Southampton where we would embark the Silver Whisper. We used an internet-based car service that was much more reasonable than the rate quoted by the hotel, and of course far less than a taxi would cost. Only one problem... the driver got us to Southampton, but had no clue where our ship was berthed. We drove around lost for a half hour looking for "Berth 38." Turns out our ship was indeed at Berth 38, but that's at Pier 4, and that's what we should have been looking for! But we made it and boarded our stylish little cruise ship of about 375 passengers and 250 crew.
Southampton cruise ship facilities are not much to write home about... about the same as San Francisco... but nothing like new facilities in Ft. Lauderdale or Vancouver. We entered an old shed of a pier building with marginal entry points and delapidated gang-ways. Not an auspicious first impression for a line billing itself as "ultra-luxury."
But that was compensated for when we got on board our ship. Gorgeous public spaces and our suite is the most lavish we've ever experienced. We learned early on that Sivlersea had a pricing abberation. There are 16 "Silver Suites" on the ship, that are priced just a bit more than the next lower-priced suite, but are over TWICE as large. "The best bang for the buck at sea," we've read on cruise message boards, and indeed is it ever!
You enter our suite through a long bookcase-filled entryway which has a beautiful wood desk module, hidden refrigerator, glassware and bar amenities. Walking through brings you to our large living room area with a full couch, two arm chairs and two lighted end tables, plus a media cabinet with a 30-inch Phillips flat-panel TV. On the cocktail table was an iced-bottle of French Champagne. On the bar, full bottles of Dewer's Scotch and Grey Goose Vodka, which Ronna mentioned in our pre-cruise on-line "notes" section that we preferred. They also stocked the mini-fridge with Chardonnay in addition to soft drinks. To the left is our dining room area, with a table and four chairs and a built-in buffet counter with cabinets, drawers and scounce lighting. On the counter is a new Bang and Olufsen BEO CD/Radio and also an older Nagamichi wall-mounted stereo, that fortunately has jacks to hook my iPod (unlike the fussy and proprietary BEO unit.) The rear wall of the suite is all windows and includes two large sliding patio doors leading to a double outdoor veranda with lounges, chairs and tables. Adjacent to the dining room our diagonally-positioned bedroom is enclosed with walls of glass and French doors. Floor to ceiling drapes can be pulled for light control and privacy. In the bedroom to the left side of the bed is a sit-down vanity for Ronna with three sections of mirrors and a separate make-up mirror. On the right another 30-inch Phillips flat-panel TV sits on a built-in cabinet. A door at the rear of the bedroom leads to huge walk-in closet with more than 12 feet of hanging space, and a built-in dresser with 10 drawers and a safe. The closet in turns leads to the fully marbled bathroom with double sinks, a full-size bathtub, large walk-in shower and storage space everywhere. Another door leads to the toilet room with its own sink and a second door that leads out to the suite's entry way. So the bath toilet area can be used like a powder room for visiting guests! It's truly amazing!
We dressed for dinner and had a pre-dinner drink in The Bar. We arrived at the spacious Dining Room at about 8 pm asking for a table for six so we could meet new friends. We had a lavish dinner with more choices than I've ever seen on a cruise menu and had fun conversations with a transplanted Manhattan couple who now live in Florida and two older women from Perth, Australia. We passed on the after-dinner dancing or shows and went to bed relatively early, proud of ourselves for not having an afternoon nap!
At 9 am we landed in Zeebrugge, Belgium, the port town about 10 miles north of Bruges. We had pre-booked a shore excursion billed as "Romantic Bruges" and had to be ready to board our bus at 10:15 am. We had a too-chatty Dutch tour director who seemed to have hosted one-too-many shore excursions. But Bruges was so spectacular it didn't matter. Amazing medieval architecture, picturesque alleys and streets and an active network of canals bordered with fabulous private homes, hotels, churches and museums. (Ronna kept hoping to bump into Colin Farrell--remember the quirky movie "In Bruges?") After walking through several neighborhoods, we boarded little motor boats for a half-hour waterway tour. Then on our own (finally) for some lunch and shopping. I must have taken 200 photos and it's such a photogenic little city, I'm sure they all will be award-winners!
We were back on the ship at 5 pm and at sea by 6. Dinner is formal tonight (one of three formal nights) but we might pass on the fineries and enjoy room-service dinner in our own suite's dining room or in the more casual restaurant option! And perhaps we'll take in the late evening show "Broadway Rocks" to assess the corniness-factor!
Tomorrow: A trip across Nothern Germany's Kiel Canal... a waterway too narrow for most cruise ships.
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