Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

Thanks, Terry! That sounds fun from the headlines!

Jeff, I feel your pain...currency values are cyclical. I lived through the pain of visiting Europe back in 2006-2008, when the Euro peaked at $1.60, and the Pound was running at $2.00. Neither that situation, nor this one, is normal I suspect. I can't figure out why the world thinks our Dollar is so strong. But I'll do my part to come over and contribute some $$ if that helps!

I think it's the charge for the suite for three weeks in January I'm most looking forward to! An uplift of around 15% .....

Still onward and upwards .....

Jeff

:-)

Welcome back, spinnaker2! We've missed you. Anything more to say about the trip?

Happy to say that I am done with the blogging about the Madagascar and South Africa trip. I just finished the last entry from South Africa today. It only took a month...though I'm sure that there are a bunch of typos that I haven't caught yet! :o Eventually I'll get back and fix them.

I am amazed at the amount of data that Google collects about you, specifically, where you are. I used a function on Google Maps called "my timeline" to reconstruct some of the South Africa days, and it is amazingly detailed. In ways, it's an incredibly cool diary of what you did on any given day...and on the other hand, it's a bit Big Brother-like! I have mixed feelings.

Now it's time to relax, and enjoy a weekend of more wine tasting in the Finger Lakes with two of the folks from this past trip. Hopefully we'll get out of work on time, and the roads won't be too bad!

Geneva plans are coming along. I read the article from Terry (thanks again) and happily, we'll have a few more options to add to our list. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thanks JP.

I have many thoughts and impressions about this trip on the Wind.

I will need time to gain some perspective. Right now I am finishing unpacking. I never do that right away.

Sad news from the TA thread:

Really sad to say goodbye to everyone this morning, friends, crew and Colin Brown, especially when he told us that Gianni Dotti had passed away last night, in his sleep. He will be sadly missed.

Greetings Coolers!

Welcome back spins! Looking forward to reading your thoughts about the cruise.

JP...Just finished reading the South Africa portion of your wonderful trip. Excellent blog!!! It took me a while to realize that it was a separate blog bit from the Madagascar portion but I found it. :)

Have a great day all!

Good Day All [emoji4]

Welcome back Spins.....do hope your crossing was as good as ours.

JP....great blog living vicariously.....

Jeffers......you must be looking forward to your trip now...we shall expect plenty of pics...[emoji6]

Terry....been enjoying your various pics.....I'm sure you will love the Spirit and a TA is a must!

A very dull and dreary day here so I've been busy looking at all the Christmas stuff and deciding what to put up.....

Voyage number three next year will see me on the Spirit from Dubai to Mahe....so looking forward to this trip as I haven't been to any of the ports before...Mumbai and Cochin being of particular interest.

Happy Weekend

S[emoji5]

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Sad news from the TA thread:

Originally Posted by Silver Spectre: Really sad to say goodbye to everyone this morning' date=' friends, crew and Colin Brown, especially when he told us that [b']Gianni Dotti had passed away[/b] last night, in his sleep. He will be sadly missed.

Yes, really sad news on Gianni's passing. We had only one opportunity to sail with him, but it was such a super, positive experience!! He was a TRUE PROFESSIONAL!! Very skilled and knowledgeable. It was on our first sailing with Silversea, July 2010. We had several chances to interact with him and he was so on top of the details, focused on great customer service, etc. At dinner with him and others, we learned that he had attended Cornell's top-rated school of hospitality. Below are a couple of pictures that I had posted from our 2010 live/blog from this sailing. Does anyone know if his son is still a chef and/or working for Silversea?

This is a real loss! You really remember interacting with an individual so highly productive and classy.

THANKS! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 206,146 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Here is Hotel Manager Gianni Dotti (left) with passenger Sharon Feldman and Hotel Director Jimmy Kovel on the steps of the main staircase of the Silver Cloud during our 2010 Norway cruise.:

As we were docking in Bergen, here was the “LAST BREAKFAST” for super Hotel Director Gianni Dotti (right) as he was back in civilian clothes and ready to fly out that morning for his son’s Saturday wedding near Mexico City. Also pictured, going towards the left is Captian Mino Pontillo, new Hotel Director Giuseppe Bagnato and the employee relations manager.:

Greetings Coolers!

Once again, apropos of nothing, I just finished reading Dead Wake by Erik Larson. It is a non-fiction account of the sinking of the Lusitania off of the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland by U-20, a German U-boat in 1915. A very interesting account and scary as hell for people who love cruising. There had been no life boat drills for passengers on the Lusitania and no instruction as to how to put on their life jackets. As a result, passengers put the jackets on incorrectly and ended up head down in the water. Life boats could not properly deploy due to the cant of the ship after the torpedo hit. So thankful that times have changed! People need to pay attention to life boat drills! Sorry for the rant! It just hit a nerve for me!

It was a fascinating, if disturbing, read. And the incident was partially responsible for the US joining the Allies in WW1.

Hi Coolers.....[emoji5]

Sounds like a brilliant read Mysty......and l so agree with you that people should take Boat Drill very seriously....l get so annoyed when folk laugh and chat throughout the whole procedure as though it's some sort of chore.....having witnessed a mayday at sea many years ago l can say with hand on heart it's very very frightening.

Oh dear....rant over .......cold, cloudy and very foggy here today.....hope Jeffers is enjoying the Christmas Markets.....[emoji16]

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Hello cruisers, snowy and cold here in Michigan. I am not ready for snow.

Despite having the Christmas decorations up, I struggle with winter!

79 days until the cruise, 77 days until I fly! Dreaming of the Caribbean and spending way too much time (and money) shopping for warm weather "cruise" items!

Good evening coolers ..... from a very cool Vienna.

Not posted only because it is all trivial so I'll confine myself to those bits. I prefer trivial to momentus.

Two carry'ons packed with everything other than sink.

Chris the Merc picked us up on time and I had threatened wifey to take a flask with me for the journey and I wish I had.

What is it about drivers and the need to share their life story and all events since you last listened to them. I gave him a good listening to and provided incisive advice and views from everything from marriage, to Trumpo, to Brexit to divorce settlemetns and pesnions hw ever much I tried to avoid it.

I'm not going to talk about the Galleries Lounge in LHR T3 other than to say all they offered was croisants and porridge at lunch time and whilst I have never been officially confined to a detention center I had at least been in a simulator.

The flight was the usual motley crew of passengers trying to keep awake. This was our neighbour across the aisle up front.

I hate to say it but lunch was actually lovely. Lots of this ....

Followed by Linguine with salmon which was actually lovely.

BA Mixed Fleet have had a bad wrap recently and we had a lovely newby on board by the name of Adam. I wish I understood why gay men make such wonderful cabin crew but they seem to be well represented and I find myself always flirting and jabbering with the male crew. It was I think I could tell his first flight and I told the CSM that I thought he was really lovely, and later in the flight she came to us and said "thanks for your kind comments, it means so much," and gave us a bag with three bottles of champers to lubricate our stay.

Jeff

Some snow would make it more festive but it was in the 80s today.

Last night we went out to Rathausplatz via a punch stall or four ...

Today we went to Naschmarkt and then SchonbrunnChristmas Market for a punch and maroni or three .....

..... and then the u4 and 38a to Grinzing to Martin Sepp for a porky and gruner lunch. This chap kept the whole carriage maused by managing not to fall of his seat for the whole length of the u4 line. Apologies for no more pics but the camera get's forgotton too much on repeat trips. But here is chappy defying gravity on the U4

.... and this evening was happy hour in the Intercontinental Club Lounge.

.... and this is the suite ....

Jeff

Some snow would make it more festive but it was in the 80s today.

I find that mucho Alcohol makes it very festive

:)

J....Looks like awesome fun! Thanks for posting pics! And mucho alcohol makes things very festive for me too! :) Enjoy!

Jeff, glad you're enjoying Vienna! Not long now until our Christmas getaway. Looking forward to it!

Thinking I'll bring at least one of the wine checks to pick up some Swiss wine to bring home. It would make a nice souvenir! Maybe something special from the wine shops in Paris, too... :D

J....Looks like awesome fun! Thanks for posting pics! And mucho alcohol makes things very festive for me too! :) Enjoy!

M, ta muchly. My trips are always fun but very trivial. There is far too much important stuff in life for a peasant like me to add to it.

Tomorow we're off for a maroni safari to freyung, karlsplatz and spitelberg. I intend to drink a lot of ameretto punch and erdbeeren punch and to do my best to let the side down.

;)

Jeff, glad you're enjoying Vienna! Not long now until our Christmas getaway. Looking forward to it!

 

Thinking I'll bring at least one of the wine checks to pick up some Swiss wine to bring home. It would make a nice souvenir! Maybe something special from the wine shops in Paris, too... :D

Looking forwward to your trip and your blogg. But JP ..... wine is for drinking a la moment and not for bleedin' transporting home. It never tastes the same. :eek: ;)

Last night we went out to Rathausplatz via a punch stall or four ...

 

 

Today we went to Naschmarkt and then SchonbrunnChristmas Market for a punch and maroni or three ..... and then the u4 and 38a to Grinzing to Martin Sepp for a porky and gruner lunch. This chap kept the whole carriage maused by managing not to fall of his seat for the whole length of the u4 line. Apologies for no more pics but the camera get's forgotton too much on repeat trips. But here is chappy defying gravity on the U4 .... and this evening was happy hour in the Intercontinental Club Lounge. Jeff

Appreciate the wonderful updates from Jeff and his holiday travels. Really love these visuals, especially the one shown above. Nice to have that Europe classic architecture highlighted with holiday lights, etc.

Below are some of my visuals from at a Charlottesville, Va., nursery decorated for the holidays, including some nice florals for the season. Finally is a picture of Santa being in Columbus, Ohio, last Friday night at a Columbus Symphony music program of the season with several hundred adult and young choral singers involved, plus dancers, etc. Nice program to set the stage for this holiday period.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 219,339 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

First, are three pictures from being at the Ivy Nursery in Charlottesville over the Thanksgiving period. Finally is a sampling of Santa visiting the Columbus Symphony and various choral groups doing their annual holiday program.:

Thinking I'll bring at least one of the wine checks to pick up some Swiss wine to bring home. It would make a nice souvenir! Maybe something special from the wine shops in Paris, too... :D

Sorry, I am with J.P. in voting for bringing home some wine from Paris. Sounds great!!! It's fun picking the wine to buy and then being able to enjoy it at home, telling others the "story" involved with its purchase, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

If Venice is one of your future desires or past favorites, look at this earlier posting for many options and visual samples this city that is so great for "walking around", personally seeing its great history and architecture. This posting is now at 64,426 views.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

Looking forwward to your trip and your blogg. But JP ..... wine is for drinking a la moment and not for bleedin' transporting home. It never tastes the same. :eek: ;)

Oh Jeff, you underestimate us! We do plenty of the former too! :D

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Good afternoon coolers

This morning we sampled punch at the oldest Christmas market in Vienna - Freyung, followed by the market at Am Hof ...... even the kids get their mug of punch.

Jeff

Jeff, glad you're enjoying Vienna! Not long now until our Christmas getaway. Looking forward to it!

Loving the added pictures by Jeff from charming and historic Vienna. Plus, looking forward to the sharing for the upcoming JP/Chris Christmas adventure site. What are your future plans for 2017 and 2018? Considering Lisbon? Below might be of interest as to why that city is a rising star. We are looking to be doing a visit there in June. From there, we would do a Silversea Silver Spirit Lisbon to Rouen sailing with lots of great port stops in Portugal, Spain and France, including two days for Bordeaux. What else can others share, suggest, etc., for Lisbon?

From the London/UK Telegraph yesterday, they have this headline: "19 reasons why Lisbon should be your next city break" with these opening highlights: "Lisbon rose nine places to 26th in the World’s Best Cities category at this year's Telegraph Travel Awards, voted for by more than 70,000 readers."

This story has a number of top ideas and suggestions to sample and enjoy in and around Lisbon.

Among the other highlights are: "Last week saw three restaurants in Lisbon awarded their first Michelin star - LAB by Sergi Arola, Loco, and Alma - reinforcing Lisbon's growing culinary reputation. There are now six one-star establishments in the city and one - Belcanto - with two. Portugal’s national drink, port or porto, is in abundance in the city. The city still supports century-old wooden trams and iron funiculars that lurch up and down the narrow streets. The custard tarts at Pasteis de Belém are world-famous and that’s why queues for the sweet, rich, perfectly crisp treats often stretch along the pavement."

WOW!! These are only a few of the many options and potentials offered for Lisbon. Lots more are available in reading the full story. As I went through this article, the excitement really builds up and UP!!

Full story at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/portugal/lisbon/articles/why-your-next-city-break-should-be-lisbon/

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 219,339 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474