The Silver Shadow
October-November, 2017
A Bon Voyage – Preparing for the cruise
A very empty cruise ship terminal.
A six minute taxi ride landed us at the cruise ship terminal where our vessel was being prepared for the voyage ahead. Since we had flown into Singapore ahead of time, and didn’t come to the cruise ship terminal directly from an incoming flight with all the other guests, we arrived at a seemingly deserted terminal. Perfect, no crowds! We couldn’t have asked for anything better.
The bunkering barge filling our ship with fuel for the voyage ahead.
A fuel barge was rafted alongside, pumping who knows how much fuel into our thirsty craft. It would be several hours before it was done, and during that time the ship’s crew busied themselves with taking on other supplies, and ensuring everything was shipshape for the voyage.
It was just after 14:00hrs when we arrived at the terminal, and since we were at the ship well before the rest of the guests, our checkin was quick and without hassle. Since our luggage was left with the ship staff at the checkin, we made our way up to our cabins to drop off our hand luggage and then spent some time wandering about the ship.
The ship reception area where passengers could go if their butler couldn’t solve their problem.
Our Cabin
Our 345 sq.ft. residence for the next 13 days.
Located on deck six, starboard side towards the front of the ship, cabin 623 had all the amenities one could ask for, even a butler. Although he didn’t see much work from us as we’ve always looked after our own requirements. Having someone there to do things for us was unfamiliar, and a hard concept for us to adopt. But there was one exception.
Being somewhat like the fabled Goldilocks, the butler’s biggest challenge was in finding a non-allergenic pillow for Warren. It seems that this request is not that common, and the ship either did not stock many of these pillows, or they had an unusually high number of requests on this voyage and simply ran out of inventory. In the end, he did manage to find one that worked. But it took several tries to find one that was “just right”, comfort wise. (As an aside, we see that Silver Seas must have addressed this topic since on their website under cabin amenities, they now list a “Pillow Menu”.)
A look at our cabin from the veranda. It’s bright and airy, with loads of room.
A little while later the rest of the passengers started coming in at a frantic pace, barely having enough time to register, and get to their cabins before an important announcement came over the ship’s intercom.
Unfortunately, the Captain stated that none of us could dive head first into the dinner buffet until we had participated in the mandatory life boat drill scheduled at 17:30hrs. It was a simple process of going to our specific muster point on the ship, donning the terribly uncomfortable life preservers we had brought from our cabin, and then standing there in the 35ºC afternoon sun for a half hour or more while they called the passenger names for that muster point, and we all responded one by one.
By the time the life boat drill was finished, and we got back to our cabin, our luggage had been delivered and set up on suitcase racks for our convenience. We quickly unpacked before taking a shower to cool off. Then at 19:00hrs it was just a matter of following the ships example of loading on tons of fuel. The difference in this case, however, is that instead of the ship taking on fuel, it was now dishing it out to the barges moored up alongside the buffet table.
Exploring The Ship
The forward Observation Library where you can take in the sights from the bow, read a book, have a cup of coffee or even all three at the same time.
Over the next few hours and days we made our way around the various decks of the ship to see what other amenities there were for our use. Despite its relatively small size when compared to the floating cities that sail the seven seas, this ship had everything we’d need or want. In contrast, however, the one thing our ship had that those other behemoths didn’t, was intimacy and calm. There are actually areas of the ship where you can go to relax that aren’t overwhelmed with crowds of other people, and the people that might be there, are there for the same reason. Peace and tranquility. We had no need for video game arcades, shopping malls, water slides, go-cart race tracks or other noisy time wasters.
Vertical movement options for everyones needs.
The very bottom of the staircase where it opened into the entrance to the grand dining room.
Just aft of the centre of the ship was the location for vertical access to all decks. Aside from the elevators, there were also two elegant staircases that made their way from the top of the ship to the bottom. Those who chose to always use the elevators for their vertical travel certainly deprived themselves from experiencing some really terrific art that was on display in the staircase areas. Sculptures and fine paintings adorned the walls and floors in these unique spaces.
The main dining room, one of three venues to enjoy a full service delicious meal.
The corridor that led to the show lounge at the aft of the ship. Our cabin was at the opposite end of this same deck.
