OUR FINAL DAYS ON THE SILVER SPIRIT –This itinerary ends with two days at sea. It is fun to be around the ship now because we have met so many people during these past 12 days. We have gotten to know members of our trivia team, our competitors at the daily putting contest, the speakers and those we travel with on shore excursions.
Today we followed our usual pattern, taking in the two speakers, a quick lunch, a couple of quiet hours in the cabin (I write and get the photos organized and Chet reads or naps), then trivia, and then dressing for our last formal dinner.
Today our winning trivia team, the Eggheads, hit the rocks. Bad day. We always have scored over 20 and today we had a 12. Oh my. Really, really tough questions. Oh well, just a game…
I have noticed that there are kind of two groups on the ship…those that spend all of their sea days outside and those that spend much of it inside. And much as I love sea and sun, we seem to find ourselves in the latter group. It is very hot and humid outside and neither of us can take direct sun anymore.
One criticism of the Silver Spirit (and I just read this in the new Berlitz Guide to Cruising 2013) is that there are not enough chairs/loungers in the shade in the pool area. We found that to be true. We did find a couple of other shaded outdoor areas for reading, notably behind the Panorama Lounge. Mostly, we hung out on our veranda when it was shaded, and otherwise stayed inside.
?Today is Thursday, our final day of the trip. Time to drag the suitcases from under the bed and fill them up. We really did not purchase much of anything on this trip so no problem there. Plus, we are just getting off the ship and driving a rental car across Florida to our winter home. So no worries about flights or winter clothing.
One thing I did acquire on the trip was a necklace designed by Maureen Knox Jones. She designs big, bold and beautiful necklaces and bracelets and she is aboard this cruise to sell her works in the retail shop. We had dinner several evening with Maureen and her husband Hal, who live in Stratford, Ontario…not so far from our Michigan home.
Maureen’s designs are dramatic and the ship promoted her in several ways, including a fashion show yesterday during high tea.
The only areas of the ship that we have not visited at one time or another are the casino and the spa. The casino has very out-of-the-way location – on the same level as the retail shops – so we rarely pass by it and, quite honestly, forget about it. Maybe will get there tonight. The spa is lovely, I am sure, but these many days of pleasant weather have kept me from visiting there. Prices are very high and they do not offer specials, even on port days, so I have passed on it for this trip. Many people on this cruise have fairly substantial shipboard credits and many are using those for spa treatments.
This has been a lovely cruise in all aspects. The Silver Spirit is now three years old and so is going into drydock after its next cruise for some sprucing up. As the newest and largest ship in the Silversea line, it carries it flagship status well.
Photos by Cynthia Boal Janssens
November 29, 2012
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
