Daisi

@Canal archive, I'm not in Ottawa, just saw he was there. We do get some info in our local online papers from Ottawa, but mostly it's federal stuff.

Sorry, I can't help much. I find Emerald & their parent company Scenic's websites so bad I rarely look at them. We sail with Avalon, so I can't really help you much more than what you can find online.

I'm out today, but if you post what cruise you are on, and your date, I can try if I get home tomorrow. Sorry, spending a lot of time away from home so it may be Saturday before I can help. This is the basic info for the CDN site, it also has a brochure you can d/l. https://www.emeraldcruises.ca/river/river-experience/discover-more

Thanks @pontac, I had seen the article yesterday, didn't open it, but was pretty sure they gave a gentleman's name. Was wondering why 2 people would choose to consume the same amount of wine while running. I hear the Mayor of Ottawa was in London for the marathon, not sure how he placed. Smart guy, he is apparently also drumming up tourism at the same time...gets the flight over & place to stay paid for by tax payers, just had to pay to run!

@CDNPolar you beat me to it. Server is what we use up here as well.

My sister is still moaning over the loss of her blackberry.

I just upgraded in December from my old 6 (passed on to my DH) to a 15. All of our family (except 2) are on iPhones, so it makes messaging so much easier when you are on pay-as-you-go with no texting. We tried an android (Samsung) tablet when we first started (only had old phones with no "smart" features) and although it was a brand new tablet, I got 2 upgrades and that was it. That's why we switched to Apple, at least we were pretty much guaranteed 5 years. With all the stuff you do on a phone these days, having the security (and I also have a separate virus protection with VPN) is very important to me. @Canal archive, if my 86 yr old Mother can learn to use an iPhone, I'm sure you can learn any new phone.

@Kristelle, I agree with you. As long as the tops on women aren't overly revealing so that my DH drops his jaw into the soup, or the men are dressed in a clean top (not a tank top), I don't care what they wear. I would rather have someone who can carry on a decent conversation than someone who is worried about how they are dressed. I tend to look people in the eyes anyway when talking to them, so don't really notice how they are dressed.

We register for the included tours with Avalon through the MyAvalon site, but can still change at last minute - handy when you are debating between a more gentle or hiking excursion and the weather isn't the best. 🙂 I tend to stick to croissants, cheese, sliced meat and fruit for breakfast, but I will occasionally switch over to the "hot" side and slip a bit of bacon. This is my ideal breakfast, and why we prefer to sail in the spring, so when we come home, we can get the fresh fruit to enjoy.

Ok, we've never sailed with Viking, but my S & BiL do. Interesting about the tickets, Avalon has little "baskets' out with tags, you get to choose which tour you wish to go on so can select the ones with fewer guests or change from one tour to a different one if you wish. I don't think we've ever had announcements on any our our cruises. I think I'd try the back bacon, probably more like our "peal meal" bacon which those south of us call Canadian Bacon!

I meant no more buffet lunch. Sit down as in "menu" only. Sorry, must be localised saying. 🙂

We lucked out with that, while wandering around Amsterdam on the day we landed for our first cruise, we saw a group of guys carrying a sofa down the street...followed them to watch them drag it up to the window by the hoist. They asked if we wished to help, but we told them it looked like they had it sorted, but thanks for the experience. 🙂 Does Viking only have the sit down meals now at lunch?

I even drink my espressos black. My after dinner drink is a double espresso when cruising.

Have to say, we weren't to impressed with the big buildup of the coffee, I also drink my coffee black (well, occasionally with the shot of Irish Whiskey). I don't mind a bit of cream on top occasionally, usually i tend to eat it off before getting to the good stuff. Maybe because I didn't find it much different than the fancy alcoholic coffees we usually go for when we want a desert in a restaurant. All that hype for nothing different really.

I'm another one who will usually pack a pair of jeans if we are travelling when it will be cooler. I find them warm enough (and wear them in -40 temps without long johns) and appreciate that they don't wrinkle or crease. Guess it just depends on how you live, and what you are comfortable with.