English Channel

It’s been a while since we were last on a big ship … four years since we were last on a Celebrity ship … five years since Silhouette returned us to the US by way of another westbound TransAtlantic (that one from Civitavecchia to Ft Lauderdale).

Our first contacts with the crew were with those tasked with selling drink and specialty dining packages. Oh, and yes, the photographers who wanted to take our embarkation photo. “No thanks,” we said in every instance and kept going.

We made our way directly to our stateroom — #6304 on deck 6 aft. It’s a typical veranda stateroom … except that the veranda is larger than most … deep enough to keep us protected from the elements in the days ahead should that become necessary. Perfect for someone like me who spends every spare moment sitting out … reading … writing … solving crossword puzzles. Even better … for enjoying wine and snacks without mingling with the crowds.

A magnetic sign on the door encouraged us to leave our bags and enjoy the ship while housekeeping put the finishing touches on preparing our stateroom. We wanted to get a bite to eat anyway, so we grabbed our keycards and made our way up to the Oceanview Café. Taking advantage of the now comfortable temps, we took our food out to the open terrace to enjoy an al fresco meal before returning to the stateroom

We were happy to spot our three bags standing at various points along the hallway on deck 6. We grabbed them and got to work settling in. The sooner that was accomplished, the sooner we could begin enjoying the veranda.

By the time everything was stowed away, it was 3:45p … the ship would be leaving her berth in 15 minutes. Time to crack open the bottle of Kavaklıdere Egeo red we had brought with us. Mui poured the wine and brought out some snacks from his stash. All set to enjoy happy hour on the veranda as the ship sailed out of Southampton Harbor.

Not so fast! Just at that moment, Captain Georgios Iatrou [Capt G] came on the P/A to advise of a delay due to ongoing provisioning of the ship’s stores for the eventual crossing in a week’s time. Alrighty then … we will enjoy the wine anyway. With the sun playing peek-a-boo, we were definitely comfy on the veranda … the temp at 75F. Perfect.

At 6:00p, with Silhouette still tied up at her berth, we went down to Grand Cuvée (the main dining room) for dinner. A nice change since we were last on a Celebrity ship … jeans are now allowed in the dining room for dinner. Not that we plan to wear jeans every night, but it was nice not to have to change clothes tonight.

While we were at dinner, Silhouette finally moved out of her berth to begin the 800.8-NM trip to Lisbon … at 6:30p … 2½ hours later than scheduled. With Capt G’s announcement that we were throwing off our bow lines, we also got some bad news.

It looks like tomorrow’s day at sea is going to be a rough one. Capt G mentioned winds in the 55-65 knot range and waves up to 18 feet. Not too big a deal for us as we have been in worse conditions. But there was a brief mention of possibly having to skip Lisbon, our port of call two days hence, in order to get to Tenerife on time four days hence. Capt G sort of glossed over that bit of news, saying that he was consulting with HQ in Miami and would have an announcement for us tomorrow.

What can I say? We have no control over the conditions. So we’ll roll with whatever punches the weather throws at us. In the meantime, let’s just enjoy the veranda before calling it a day.Read more