One last entry to the trip journal for the 11,000 mile trip up, down, and around Africa.
Barbara's enthusiastic, factual, and complementary blog for this fantastic trip is now complete. Read it all at:
http://barbara-africa1202.blogspot.com
And if you couldn't access the video I posted on Facebook of our "standard" accommodations on Silver Wind, I've posted the short video of my walk around two room (well, actually section) cabin on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GvQpihVlQ4
The Silver Wind is the 2nd oldest ship in the six ship Silversea Cruises small ship fleet. It was built in 1995 and modified two years ago to add some features not on the originally identical one year older Silver Cloud. Cloud is due to be similarly enhanced next October. Silver Wind is 514 feet long, rated at 17,400 metric tons, and sails with a practical maximum of 285 or so guests. Crew count is usually 222. This is luxury "all inclusive" cruising and can not in any way be compared to what you see on television commercials. Check out www.silversea.com for more information or drop me an e-mail. The suite depicted in my video is a "Mid-ship Veranda Suite", but just about all of the accommodations are pretty much identical. A handful of suites called, "Vista Suites", omit only the outside porch or "veranda" in cruise line speak. The Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper are truly twins, hold about 100 more guests and 80 more crew than Wind and Cloud and are a couple of years newer. These two ships are quite similar to Silver Wind but have larger baths and a few other improvements. They are 610 feet long and are rated at 28,258 tonnes. The Silver Spirit is quite new but a bit bigger than the others. The Silver Explorer (originally the oddly named "Prince Albert II" to honor the prince of Monaco but not the, uh, personal adornment of the same name without the II. Hint: don't google the phrase, "Prince Albert") is an "expedition ship" that is mostly in the far Arctic and Antarctica. We sailed it a few years in Central America. My blog for that trip, http://cbu-pan.blogspot.com/, as the others, can be accessed by clicking on my "profile" on this blog.
When we booked the recent Africa to Europe cruise, we were a bit concerned being 39 days on a small ship. After returning to Boulder about a month ago and reflecting on missing Winter this year, we have decided to book a 50 day (!) cruise from Los Angeles to Hong Kong via a circuitous 17,000 mile sea journey via Polynesia that more or less circles New Zealand, Australia, and stops in Indonesia, Borneo, and the Philippines. This will be on Silver Whisper. Stay turned for the blog, or should I say blogs.
Thanks for your comments and questions. And please keep in touch.
Mike
