The coast of Croatia is off our port bow. So is some rope and a funny looking metal thing that has some sort of chain on it. It holds the ship when we stop where there is no jetty-thingy. I'm sure you are impressed with my understanding of this boat thing stuff. I will try to impress the new captain who came on yesterday with my boat knowledge. He has a very nice hat, but for reasons unclear his middle name is Macaroni. It says so on his hat which has "Captain" on one side and his full name on the other. Otherwise, he seems like a nice guy and greeted me by name. Uh, oh.
I thought I'd post a few more of pictures of Venice and environs. When we sailed in to Venice a couple of mornings ago, we approached the end of the apparently miles long breakwater which is part of the multi-billion dollar flood control project that will protect Venice from its enevitable destruction for maybe another 5 years. Very sad and a very inconvenient truth as Venice is cleaner, more livable, and more vibrant than I've seen it in years. The Lido beach area is clean (a big surprise since Venice is at the very end of what was a not very pure Adriatic Sea during the Yugoslavia era), and even the Vaporetti are under (ignored) traffic light control. Despite the difficulties of moving goods and materials in a city without roads, there is a lot of construction.
With the new cruise segment, the ship is full. The GROUP of Australians are still on board and still telling me (whom some actually talk to--at least until a fellow member of their group approaches) that they are "Members of The Group", but an additional 80 or so folks have joined the ship. The averaged age, despite The Group, is quite a bit younger including a large extended family of middle aged parents and a few very bored teenagers. There's also some young Italian couples, perhaps newlyweds, who wear very tight clothes. The women are dressed nicely, too.
It continues to amaze me that unlike years ago the guest make up of every cruise is so different. Ages, economic situation (within the limits of this sort of product, of course) and nationalities can be very different. There are still only a minority (but larger group) of Americans on this segment, and there are more Brits but fewer Australians. We've met a couple from Philadelphia and heard a few European tinged very US accents. Should be fun meeting some people if we want to, but this was a very high per diem cruise--even with my 7 day freebie applied. It is quite possible that these two segments are full of people who are just too well off for us to have a lot in common with. I suspect that the more frequent (and very enjoyable) "re-positioning" cruises with more sea days are more our style and that of like minded people.
The slow cooking ("sous vide") vacuum bag system is being used in the two main galleys now on Silversea. The process allows for the preparation of very tender meat that is cooked exactly to the proper temperature throughout. This, and the hot rock grill by the pool, plus the much more daring chef who is not afraid of highly seasoned and more international recipes, has resulted in fantastic and varied dining. Even the buffet lunch has been a most unusual gourmet experience. The wines are well beyond those on the previous cruises of recent years, and the service has oddly become less intrusive without any attention being sacrificed. The Hotel Director who just arrived for this segment was on with us last cruise. He told me in private that a lot of changes were made in just the last few months, and some (apparently) were caused by underlying factors that resulted in the very frustrating confusion (or combining) of my "no lactose" needs with "no gluten" diets of others. Our butler is trying very hard and actually succeeding frequently. (He does need to stop doing a medical history whenever we pass him in the hallway. He does try a bit too hard, I'm afraid.) The art lecturer is still on board and is about to give a lecture to the three or four folks who want to sit in a dark instead of watching the beautiful arrival. She has promised to tell them something "that they don't know" no matter what they may or might know. She has put in a lot of effort in her work, but if this is possible, she is trying too hard to the point of alienating some of the guests. Oh, for the intellectual and nuanced scholarly lecturers of the old days. Fantastically educated and urbane folks, if I must say.
Now to go on deck and watch the approach and anchoring in the bay at the SW corning of the island of Hvar. I've never been there before. Hvar is considered the "sunniest place in Croatia." There are no clouds today, but there haven't been clouds anywhere during the entire cruise. There are lots of nude beaches, the guidebook says, in Hvar. And it has the highest proportion of dermatologists. (I made that up). Tomorrow we spend the day in Dubrovnik, one of the most beautiful walled cities in the Med. I'm sure I'll take a picture or two and have something to say in a couple of days.
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