TRAVELIFE MAGAZINE: On a shining, Silver Sea

TRAVELIFE MAGAZINE

TRAVELIFE MAGAZINE

ON A SHINING,

Silver Sea CHRISTINE CUNANAN sails from Bali to Singapore onboard her favorite ship

F

ew journeys are about the trip rather than the destination, but this Silversea cruise I am on right now, as I write this piece, is one of these.

Almost every morning, we stop at a port somewhere along the pristine coast of Indonesia, on our way to Singapore.

Today, we’ve just spent a pleasant few hours in Jakarta, battling traffic and sampling spicy food; and then just in time for that perfect sunset moment, we returned to our ship and set sail for Singapore – a leisurely voyage that will traverse over 500 nautical miles in just under 30 hours.

A WONDROUS JOURNEY This 11-night trip began in Bali and ends in Singapore. Between these two major ports, the Silver Shadow, one of the ten ships in Silversea’s multi-awarded fleet, is taking us to some of Indonesia’s most fascinating destinations.

So far, we’ve watched children perform a bathing dance at the historic Majapahit Hotel in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city; and driven through the quaint kompong neighborhoods of Semarang, its third-largest, to observe daily life in real-time.

In Lombok, we explored a village where old ladies spend their days sitting on mats, weaving traditional fabrics on wooden handlooms that have been passed down from one generation to another; while in Probolinggo, we visited the picturesque Wonosari tea plantation in the middle of nowhere.

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TRAVELIFE MAGAZINE PORTS OF CALL We stopped at these destinations on the way to Singapore.

BALI The beautiful island of Bali is blessed with a fascinating culture, pristine beaches, picture-pretty terraced rice fields and an extensive eco-system that includes mouse deer, monkeys, dolphins, giant turtles and over 300 species of birds.

LOMBOK A neighboring island to Bali and similar in cultural heritage, Lombok offers unspoilt beaches and a genteel, non-commercialized way of life, as well as the opportunity to witness the unique Sasak culture and see the Mayura Royal Court.

Bali

PROBOLINGGO The highlights of this destination include a visit to the Wonosari tea plantation to observe the processing of tea leaves, and to the Lawang Buddhist temple, one of the largest in East Java.

Sema rang

Jakarta

SURABAYA

Sura bay a

The main attractions of Indonesia’s second-largest city include the Sampoerna Museum, a museum dedicated to the manufacturing of tobacco located in a stately Dutch colonial-style building, and the elegant Majapahit Hotel, once one of the grand hotels of Asia owned by the Sarkies brothers.

SEMARANG Located on Java’s northern coast, this is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia. In 1677, it was ceded by King Amangkurat I to the Dutch West India Company to pay for his debts, and this eventually became the headquarters of the Dutch governor of the northeast provinces.

JAKARTA

Silver Shad ow

Indonesia’s capital is a sprawling and crowded metropolis of over nine million residents. While most of it is an urban jungle, the city has a charming old center with museums and a vintage-inspired café right on its square, and an orderly new business district with tree-lined avenues. Some of Indonesia’s best shopping can be found in its shopping malls.

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TRAVELIFE MAGAZINE

LA TERRAZZA Enjoy slow food in the fast lane Silversea’s Italian restaurant is currently the only Slow Food-inspired dining establishment on a sea vessel. It serves delicious Italian dishes using authentic ingredients like buffalo mozzarella from Naples, organic olive oil from Umbria, 24-month-old parmesan cheese from the Emilia-Romagna region, and air-dried ham from Parma.

Most of the pasta dishes are made fresh daily.

Slow Food is an international movement founded in 1989 by Italian Carlo Petrini to reflect a slower way of living and eating, and to encourage followers to reject fast food and the “fast life.”

In Singapore, we’ve signed up for an evening trishaw ride that will take us to some of the city’s most interesting and yet lesser-known areas, such as the backstreets of Little India and the narrow alleys of the Arab district.

We’re ending this trishaw ride at the Raffles Hotel, for an iconic Singapore Sling at the bar.

LIFE ABOARD THE SILVER SHADOW However, interesting as these excursions have been, my most enjoyable moments have been onboard the Silver Shadow, simply enjoying the views of islands and coves from a lounge chair on my terrace or on the swimming pool deck, or just relishing in the Silversea experience at sea.

The Silver Shadow is my favorite ship in the Silversea fleet.

Through the years, I have boarded this same vessel in exotic ports all over the world, resulting in many happy adventures and memories.

I’m partial to smaller ships, and the Silver Shadow, as well as its sister ship, the Silver Whisper, are manageable enough in size to offer a country club atmosphere, while still maintaining enough restaurants and facilities to keep passengers happy.

When you’re at sea with nowhere else to go, the kind of ship you’re sailing on really matters. The Silver Shadow has four dining outlets, 24-hour room service and a relatively flexible attitude regarding food. You can order a full English breakfast – or tomato soup, sage ravioli and a tenderloin steak, if you fancy – at from room service at 730 AM, and the staff at the other end of the line will not bat an eyelash.

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TRAVELIFE MAGAZINE Sunset from the deck

Champagne before dinner

Breakfast onboard

AT YOUR SERVICE Then there’s Silversea’s famous butler service, which makes the sailing experience ever more comfortable. Each cabin is assigned a butler who takes care of passengers’ needs throughout the trip – from unpacking and packing luggage to making restaurant and tour reservations, to coordinating food preferences with the ship’s chefs and restaurant managers.

Silversea’s butlers offer polished, seamless and efficient service.

And you get so accustomed to having a butler that you find yourself actually contemplating hiring one when you get home.

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TRAVELIFE MAGAZINE SAYING GOODBYE Home is another thing you don’t want to think about when you’re on a Silversea cruise, by the way. Few passengers truly want their journeys to end, after a wonderful combination of pampered experiences onboard and fascinating destinations on land.

The cabins do little to make you want to go home, as well. Most of Silversea’s cabins have private terraces, and all have walk-in closets, an ample sitting area, and a spacious bathroom In fact, some travelers have practically made a Silversea cruise ship their home. I have clocked up a respectable number of sailing days with Silversea, as I love cruising and try to do so whenever possible. However, during a cocktail party for frequent Silversea passengers enroute to Singapore, I was surprised to learn that I probably had accrued the least number of days vis-à-vis my fellow passengers.

MUSIC ON THE HIGH SEAS Enjoy Silversea passengers can enjoy a variety of afterdinner entertainment onboard, including concerts of wellknown operatic arias like Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” and Bizet’s “Habenera,” and favorite hits of more contemporary performers like ABBA, Michael Jackson and the Motown.

Over half of the passengers at this party had done over 100 days of sailing with Silversea, and at least a dozen of the passengers had logged 500 days. One couple from Switzerland, who were not in the least elderly, had actually accrued over 2000 sailing days with Silversea.

“This is like our second home,” they told me. “Whenever we get a chance to take a holiday, we’re on a Silversea boat.”

Sailing sometimes means never having to say goodbye, after all. n

The pool deck

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