British Isles & Iceland – Day 7 can be found here.
Thankfully – after some children’s gravol – the kids crashed out hard and slept through the rest of the night. I had a bit of a tough time trying to fall asleep, particularly as we’re right at the front of the ship and – on an air mattress – and it felt as though I was trying to sleep on a trampoline while someone was slowly bouncing next to me.
But sleep finally won out, and we enjoyed a nice lie-in after some very busy days. Kids even made it past 7:30 am, which is close to a record for us.
We’d initially though that clocks had turned back an hour, and that we’d have to wait an extra hour before heading off to breakfast. But we were pleasantly surprised to find out that would happen tonight, instead. So we might get two lie-ins in a row. Unthinkable luxury on an expedition!
With nothing but time on our hands, we went to the Restaurant for breakfast this morning and very much enjoyed ordering off the menu. The kids and I ordered waffles and various varieties of eggs, along with crispy bacon and home fries. All very tasty, though sadly unphotographed.
We headed off to the observation lounge for a bit, and then my son and I once more joined our group for trivia and… we won! It was a tremendous thrill for both of us, though I doubt we’ll be able to repeat it another time this cruise. But, always nice to have a reason to come back…
To make the victory all the sweeter, our group has very kindly donated their points to my son. So we’ve gone from 8 points to some 268 points. We’ve been joking that if my son is able to buy the ship, he’ll have to give us a ride on it. Seriously, though, we are now very hopeful that he’ll be able to pick up a t-shirt, if nothing else.
After trivia, we got changed and went for a trip to the “wave pool” (or the “pool”, as we’d call it on regular days – though it’s gotten quite wavy now that we’re fully underway). The kids really enjoyed that, and even the regular pool was warm enough to stand up to a cool Atlantic wind.
We went back and forth between the pool and the hot tub twice, and by then it was time to head for lunch. We sadly skipped the seafood buffet, opting instead to have a look at the buffet at La Terraza. Tempted though I was by the sushi, we elected for the Restaurant instead. My wife and I had clam chowder followed by arctic char and risotto, while the kids had pizza – everyone very happy with their choices.
I went back to the room for another glorious power nap, and then back to the panorama lounge for the ‘handicraft’ meetup. I’m currently knitting a scarf, so I was curious to see if anyone else would show up – and a guest from Tasmania joined me for a bit as she worked on a lovely pair of socks.
Second round of trivia started at 4:30 pm. We weren’t as lucky as last time, but it was hard to be disappointed after the prior generosity of our team members. Nor was there much time, as we needed to dash downstairs to the Explorers’ Lounge for a lecture on Arctic cold weather animal adaptation at 5 pm. Very informative, and well suited for kids and adults alike.
My wife and daughter headed down to Dolce Vita to find a quiet corner where they could hang out and play with some of her toys. They’d called in to request a cheese plate and some bread to fill in the gaps until our dinner at La Dame tonight but unfortunately the food still hadn’t arrived by the time the lecture started, about 50 minutes after they ordered. A rare miss by Silversea, though it was waiting for us in our room after the lecture wrapped up – so, could’ve been worse.
And that catches us up – off to La Dame tonight, then Iceland bright and early tomorrow morning.
We’d initially thought we’d have to skip La Dame because we were travelling with children, but it appears that kids are actually allowed. Still, we’d only recommend it if you’re certain that the kids in question are able to behave very well for an extended period of time.
Which ours did – for the most part. There was one moment at the beginning when my daughter attempted to tear up some mini-baguette and instead launched it across the dining room, but otherwise it all went well.
For that meal, the adults had the Foie Gras Williams and the Lobster Bisque. My wife then had the Dover sole, while I had the rack of lamb. Our kids also had the bisque, and our daughter had the filet of beef and our son also had the rack of lamb.
Because I’m rubbish at taking pictures, I got the menus but missed most of the dishes. I did get the desserts, however! I got the pistachio dark chocolate souffle, while everyone else got the mousse. All very delicious.
Tomorrow’s Chronicles:
11:37 pm and the sun still hasn’t quite set on the Cloud…
Continue reading British Isles & Iceland – Day 9 here.