kazover40

cgtnormadie Thankyou for your welcome.

The queenies are quite delicious however cooked! Thise Swedes they love their fish! I adore Gravalax.

I an really quite excited about our cruise to the Chillean Fjords. Not really keen on NCL, hubby and I still love formal nights and will dress up regardless. I hope he polishes both shoes lol It was such a fantastic deal and and we have a Owners Suite! So will be utterly spoilt with a butler and concierge!

We are joined by a Belgian gentleman we met on a Fred Olsen Baltic Cruise and have been firm friends ever since!

Ruby I have never battered a plaice in my life, it is a very nice flat fish, similar to a Sole. Just a quick grilling is all it needs. I suppose it would be quicker to just batter and drop in the deep fat fryer, but not really an English thing as far as I am aware!

By the bye, most of the Brits on my Saga Rose cruise had sailed on Fred.Olsen. They prefer Saga Cruises because it is a bit more luxury and slightly better service but, in their view, it is splitting a fine hair. They are quite enthusiastic about cruising on Fred.Olsen. One passenger told a great story about the real Fred Olsen (Jr.) being onboard on a cruise - he does not in any way welcome a chat with one of his passengers.

 

Ruby

We where once unfortunate enough to be on the same ship as THE Olsen Jr. He was the most obnoxious rude person I have ever met! He hogged 1 of the 2 Blackjack tables all night.

I found out from the Captain that he was using the Casino’s money. This explained his erratic gambling! He ended up playing alone with the croupier! We were so glad when he left the ship. The Captain actually said he would love to throw him overboard!

We had met the Captain on a previous cruise; this was his first sailing as captain. When we all lined up for formal photo’s he politely shook everyone’s hand. Me, I got a big hug! It certainly made some of the female passengers green with envy! Lol

Donald Indeed the Tower of Refuge is only small!

 

 

 

 

 

The Tower of Refuge

The traveller arriving by sea at Douglas cannot help but notice, depending on the state of the tide, either a fortress-like building rising directly out of the sea, or, if it is low water, a long menacing reef of rock on which this structure is built. Despite its appearance, this tower had no military or defensive function. Rather, its purpose was the humanitarian one of providing shelter for the crews of the many vessels which were wrecked on the reef. It also served to indicate the presence of the dangerous rocks. The building is called the Tower of Refuge and the reef on which it stands is known as St. Mary's Isle, or Conister Rock. The name Conister derives from the Manx Gaelic, Kione y Sker, meaning the end of the reef.

Probably the best known wreck on Conister Rock was that of the St. George in 1830. The Douglas lifeboat rescued all 22 persons on board. Sir William Hillary, who lived on Douglas Head at FortAnne, now demolished, was the founder of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Hillary was a member of the Douglas lifeboat crew and took part in the service to the St. George. On that occasion he was washed overboard and injured.

In the following year Hillary had the idea of building a refuge on Conister rock. This consists of three stout towers linked together to form a triangular shaped structure. It was designed by John Welch and was erected in 1832. The cost was £255 and £181 was raised by public subscriptions. Hillary made up the difference himself.

 

 

Could someone explain that delicacy? I assume the aristocracy is lurking in the background of that story. (cough cough) Karen, your captain is hereby requested to extinguish all smoking materials.

 

 

Conte - the photo of Saga Rose is breathtaking and thanks to Karen for identifying the Tower of Refuge. So refreshing to see a proper ship. Even better to sail on one.

 

Ruby

Ruby This is a photo of queenies. They are a shellfish similar to a scallop, but smaller! Taste sweeter! We usually fry them with a little bacon and garlic and occasionally add fresh cream (Definitely the food of Kings lol)

The pipe is just a soother lol Not actually lit lmao

Took our 12yr old black lab to the kennel today. Always very sad. At his age we are just never too sure if he will still be with us on our return.:(

Would rather have left aforementioned FIL at kennel & taken dog on cruise. Wife agreed. Unfortunately HAL do not take dogs but do take FILs.:(

 

Kazover40: I note that you are heading off to South America with NCL in November. Sounds very interesting. I hope you will let us know how it goes. How about trying Saga (or are you not mature enough yet; like me!)?:D

Graham.

Graham Have a wonderful cruise! Losing a dog n gaining a FIL mmmm could have been a MIL which is even worse lol!

I qualify by default for Saga! MY DH is 65 next year lol! I'm the spring chicken in our relationship OR Is that old broiler lol

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We had a wonderful time. How lucky your are to live in such a beautiful place! We walked around Douglas and had a wonderful lunch of local "queenies" at MacFarlanes and then toured Castletown in the afternoon. Saga Rose looked particularly lovely in the harbour as she made her first "official" visit to Man. I thought the others might enjoy seeing what we did on that day.

Saga Rose at Douglas, Isle of Man

Hey! Great photo, with the Tower of Refuge in the foreground! You couln't have chosen any better Manx delicacy. We sure love our Queenies!

Glad you enjoyed your stay!

Karen

Feel free to call me Ruby. I think of Saga Ruby as that magnificent ship along with her Sister.

 

I have indeed seen your captain. He was hurling invective on his Windjammer ship with its keel buried in deep, soft sand off an out island in the Bahamas. His passengers were too "three sheets to the wind" to care. Good old Windjammer.

 

. . . "harsher threads." Well put.

 

Ruby

THAT WAS FUNNY! LOL

Kazover40, welcome to Nostalgia Cruise! I've read great things about the Fred Olsen cruises. I think that a British chap has sailed on the Black Watch something like 77 times, or was that you?

 

Donald D'Maniac.

I WISH LOL

SagaRuby: Thankyou for your welcome, makes a refreshing change from some of the harsher threads on these boards.

As Graham says we are in the middle of the Irish Sea. On a clear day, from the top of Snaefell (a small mountain) we can see 7 kingdoms. Scotland England Wales Eire Northern Ireland Isle of Man and the Kingdom of Heaven lol

As for LATIN! HELP I need a translator!

Hope you like my little fellows:

Here's The Captain. Have you

met him on your travels! lol

.

 

Kazover40: Welcome to our quiet little backwater here. That certainly is a very active little fellow you. Is he under the influence of something, or just happy to have seen the beautiful Saga Rose in port?

 

Are you Manx, just living there, or visiting Douglas? It is many many years since I visited Douglas, on a ferry (yes, another one!) from Wales. Do many cruise ships visit the Isle Of Man? It used to be part of Scotland until the Vikings came along, doing their Viking thing. It is nice to meet someone from the British Isles on this cruise. Being a Saga one, I thought that there would be more of us here.

 

I see that you have sailed on the Black Watch, ex-Royal Viking (them again!) Lines, Royal Viking Star. Ruby is an old Royal Viking Line hand. How did you find Fred Olsen Lines? I saw the P&O Arcadia in Malta this year, when I was on the ex- Royal Viking Sun(Prinsendam). How was Arcadia?

 

?

 

VIKINGS!:eek:

 

Graham.

Hi Graham

OMG so many questions.

None of my happy little fellows imbibe lol.

I am English but have lived in Isle of Man for the past 30 years. We have had several ships in this year, always makes me green with envy when I see them!Love it here and it's laid back approach to life.

I loved Fred Olsen and could never find a thing to complain about. You are treated more like family than passengers. It is the best food I have ever had on ANY cruise line. The Captain and officers will join you for a drink and a chat! The staff go that extra mile to make your cruise that bit special! Why have I not cruised on them lately? No balconies! Although I think that is changing with the newer ships!

Loved Arcadia and P & O OB charges where half of that of the American lines lol Met some really great people.

I tend to now choose cruises for the itinerary and price. Who cares what ship it is! I'm cruising! Hey! IMHO there is no such thing as a bad cruise! Nothing, but nothing can spoil it!

I returned home last evening from our British Isles cruise on Saga Rose. Despite being on the melatonin regimen I awoke at 3 AM New York time so I am a bit jet lagged and face alot of unpacking and laundry.

Details will follow after I get myself together. It was a great trip. Enjoyed most of the ports. Ruby, the weather was excellent! I carried but never opened the 'brellie once although there were a few overcast days in Scotland and Ireland. The sun was often out and the temperature was usually in the 60's or 70's. The seas were mercifully calm as well. I'm off to make my own bed, cook my breakfast and clean the tub. Ugh! Where's Noel?

Please excuse me for butting in, but just wantd to say the Saga Rose sure looked pretty in Douglas harbour last week. I do hope you enjoyed your short visit to the Isle of Man and had a great cruise!

I wet myself laughing also Matthew !

 

There again i am incontinent :o you are at my age ! :eek:

Your safe with your diaper Gavin

Go to the hardware store and buy a 3 foot rubber hose. Go to your car and remove the gas cap. If you are smoking hold the cigarette off to the side. Don't put it out. Put one end of the hose down into your gas tank.

Put your mouth on the other end and draw the gasoline up into your mouth. Swill it around for several seconds. Now you are at a crossroad in your life. Do you swallow, spit the gas out or just end it all with the cigarette?

 

Paul

OMG That was so funny

In most if not all european cities and towns on the med, you have what I call opportunists rather than muggers!

I wear what I would wear in a city in the UK or the US. Sometimes valuable, sometimes bling whatever takes my fancy at the time! I stick to the major tourist routes and stay clear of the backwaters!

Whilst sitting in an outdoor cafe in Barcelona a couple of years ago, I glanced down to see an arab type going into my hand bag! I shouted and my DH jumped up! The waiter came running over and the guy got away. The waiter had said we where lucky as if my DH had tried to tackle him he would have more than likely produced a knife!

I had thought I had caught him in time, as I still had my purse. But when I came to take my insulin injection before I ate realised he had taken it! I hope he took the bl@@dy lot. lol

Fortunately, I had a spare back at the hotel!