Come Dine with Me? Lunch on Silver Shadow

The quality of food is always a great reason to take a cruise and Silversea excels itself each and every meal time.  Their association with Relais and Chateaux shows through in the dishes that always meet and exceed expectations.  With a full a la carte offering at every mealtime there'll always be something to tantalise your tastebuds.

I thought as a quick post I'd share my lunch with you.  It's making me hungry just reviewing the pictures.  

Firstly a nice cold soft drink: 

I think this day had an English theme so firstly I had Omelette Arnold Bennett:

Then penne pasta:

Then good old fish and chips:

And finally dessert, Lemon Meringue:

As you can see even what could be thought to be fairly mainstream dishes are given the full gastronomic treatment and taste as good as they look.

Crossing the Equator - King Neptune Arrives

It's always great fun onboard when crossing the equator as ships present a King Neptune ceremony on the premise that it has upset the great king that permission has not been sought for the ship to pass and it is necessary for the uninitiated - i.e. those whose this sailing is their first passage across the equator at sea - suffer some unusual punishment for annoying the great King.

It is quite a jolly affair with the crew getting an opportunity to dress up, the band to play some music by the pool deck and for some unfortunate passengers (but mostly new crew - on the Silver Shadow, two cadets were targeted, although one of them escaped and the other hunted down when they missed their cue!) to get thoroughly gunged by the respective players.

Overseen by the Judge, his trusty companions of mermaids, pirates, hairdresser and doctor, each do King Neptune's bidding over each victim as they are accused of various crimes.

Various food stuffs are poured over the person and at least one person on the guise of having been blindfolded then allowed to feel a good looking chap then gets to kiss a wet fish.  I've heard stories that on some vessels the food is rotten and people are covered in paint and all sorts of dreadful rubbish.  Thankfully not on a cruise line!

When all is said and done, King Neptune permits the vessel to pass and each passenger and member of crew is installed as a trusty shellbacks and recognised by Neptune himself as true mariners.  I'm gathering quite a collection of certificates...

Christmas Island - More Pacific Goodness!

Today Silver Shadow arrived at  and anchored off Christmas Island or Kiritimati, just 2 degrees north of the equator and part of the Republic of Kiribati.  Like Fanning Island yesterday, it is a coral atoll in the Pacific and at 150 square miles has the largest land area of any coral atoll in the world.

Sadly, I guess due to the remoteness of these islands, they were subject to nuclear tests back in the 1950s and 60s by the United Kingdom and United States and locals, as well as servicemen are said to have suffered from exposure to the radiation in the blasts.

Thankfully, nowadays the island is a wildlife sanctuary.  A much better use of such a beautiful location!

Fanning Island, Kiribati - A remote paradise

After nearly three days sailing from Honolulu, the Silver Shadow has arrived at Fanning Island in Kiribati and I must say it is absolutely beautiful.  An absolute remote paradise.

Situated about 185 miles north of the equator and around 7 miles in diameter, Fanning Island is a coral atoll with a lagoon that is almost entirely surrounded by the atoll.  The colour changing of blues where the ocean meets the atoll and lagoon is amazing.

It is an island of spectacular natural beauty and inhabited but around 2000 residents who have no electricity nor indoor plumbing, so it doesn't get much closer to being the often dreamt of tropical desert island.

As we cannot navigate into the lagoon at English Harbour and there appears to be no port area, we are being tendered ashore as the ship stays off-shore.  Tomorrow we arrive at Christmas Island.