OctoberKat

Thank you, patnicc.

gnomie, if you are concerned about privacy, then you should be more worried about Cruise Critic, which uses 3rd party ads extensively, as opposed to Regent, which does use them at all.

 

In every modern browser that I know of, there is a way to see cookies. On Cruise Critic, I can see cookies from Cruise Critic, but also from googleads, flashtalking, and googlesyndication. On Regent, I see only Regent. (Note that most cookies have no nefarious intent at all. Html pre-processors use them to set a session id - a unique code to aid in communication between the client, i.e. you, and the server. This is what I see on Regent. If you had asked Regent to remember your login, there would probably be other cookies related to that.)

 

If you are worried about cookies and browser history, one simple thing you can do is browse in incognito mode. I don't know that all browsers have it, but since I browse mostly in Chrome, I know it does. In Chrome, go alt-shift-n to open an incognito window. Everything will get wiped clean when you close that window. This is not to say that a web site can't obtain information about you - they can still get your IP address, for example. There is more sophisticated ways to prevent that kind of thing - but if you use them, then there's a chance that a web site might not work properly at all for you.

Always something new to learn.

This cookie-memory business also determines, in part, which ads one is shown. I'm often amused at how off-the-mark these can be.

In any case, clear your browsing history often.

Gnomie, pleased to see your font.

Good advice. At the least, as a general rule, good internet hygiene mandates routinely purging cookies by clearing your browser history. Which, regretfully, is not the same as consuming cookies.

Next summer we are on a Fjords cruise (Seabourn Quest) ported in Copenhagen so I am sorting out Danish accommodations pre- and post-cruise.

Starting early because our first stay will be a small inn with limited room: http://www.falsledkro.dk/frontpage in Millinge which we understand to be 200km outside Copenhagen or about two hours from CPH.

Post-cruise we are looking at a suite at the D'Angleterre.

Any insight into either of these would be welcome. Also interested in other suggestions you might have for Copenhagen.

Would it be useful on this voyage to have reals? We will be on some excursions and want to have currency for tips and incidentals. We'll be in Barbados a week split between pre- and post-cruise. Should we have Barbadian dollars?

If you would still like to have it organised from the ship as per your original post, then you could email the Guest Relations Manager onboard, currently I think Marina, and ask her to organise for you.

 

You can contact her on whguestrelationsmanager at silversea dot com.

 

Hope it all works out for you.

Doubly covered now. Thank you, Silver Spectre, for this.

There is a wonderful florist in the shopping area attached to the port which I am sure would be delighted to deliver to the ship.Sorry can't remember the name but you may be able to find on the port website.

If you have time in Barbados, it might be fun to go to a florist, pick out the flowers you want and hand carry them to the ship. I have done this in a number of ports with great success.

Both great suggestions, thank you.

How about contacting a florist in Barbados? I imagine there is a Boarding Option for flowers via Guest Relations in Ft. l.. Probably not much help, but all I know.

Good idea, however. I'll start there, thankee.

thanks Lyn

 

I will be checking it out ;) I always bring something but am used to finding something on the ships that intrigue me. Looking forward to it ;)

I travel loaded for readerly bear as well but am easily swayed by a book on the shelf.

Thanks, newbiecruiser09, for the assist!

Yay Crystal!

You really need to check out some other ships' libraries. Many of Holland America's are quite extensive - the Prinsendam probably has the best.

 

And yes, they accept donations and some are even signed or marked who they are donated by.

 

Here you will find Travel, Science, Biography, Non Fiction, Fiction, etc. There are 1,000's of books and in fact on that ship, the library is really two rooms - that many books. It's pretty hard NOT to find something worth reading there if you are so inclined.

 

There is even a reference section with tons of travel info, etc and of course, like any reference section, the books may not leave the library.

 

How many credentials the librarian has I don't know, but there is no question the ones I have experienced have expertise in libraries and not the internet (which is what they also do).

Thank you for this, good to know.

Books is books and we all love them. So:

Libraries onboard = GOOD

Staffed libraries onboard = BETTER

Libraries onboard staffed by a professional librarian = BEST (more jobs for us!)

I readily believe the larger ships have some library staffing and whether clerical, professional or paraprofessional, most of us are called to the work because of fundamental associative values having to do with hard or soft covers, dust jackets, French flaps, the smell of old books, deckled edges, good stories, love of words and a profound appreciation for the written word and the progress of humankind.

Does anyone know how I can arrange flower delivery to Whisper in Barbados? I'm not so much asking for florist suggestions (however welcome) as I am for the process of getting the flowers onboard and delivered to our suite, considering logistics and security.

Yes, I have emailed Silversea and my TA yet info from folk who know is what I'm after with this request. I think we've all had the experience of actual circumstances not correlating to official dogma.

Actually. Many ships have an assigned librarian. Although not there all day, the hours are usually posted. I spend a lot of time in ship libraries and have often seen a libriarian checking in books, re-shelving returned books and misshelved books. This has been true on HAL, on Oceania, and on NCL.

I have had ship librarians answer questions for me and help me find a book.

OK, then, I want that job!

I have experienced only two shipboard libraries: one on the long-defunct Panama Line and the other aboard Regent's Navigator. Neither staffed librarians, both are smaller ships passenger-wise. The Navigator's library is combined with the computer/internet access area and I expect that is a common approach on many vessels. Navigator does staff an IT (computer / internet / mobility) specialist to assist with information technology issues which I expect are legion. In this case he (which he was) may shelve books and be responsible for general tidiness but he was not a librarian.

I expect it would be unusual for most passenger ships to maintain serious collections of even minimal scope. The norm would be routine popular fiction and of-the-moment tomes with a sprinkling of current light-history, non-fiction titles and some biographies and memoirs. Oh, and some Hollywood books. Large ships may staff a librarian position or detail help with some degree of library background. Librarians typically have both an undergratuate and master's degrees and have a great deal of expertise in assorted areas.

My expectation is collection development and ordering are fulfilled centrally with some variation as to itinerary and much emphasis on fiction, picture/coffee table books, travel and modest non-fiction. It would make sense that Disney and other mass-market large ships have a selection of children's literature which was lacking aboard Navigator. Collections naturally would be selected for what is a leisure-traveling sudience thereby limiting many sorts of topics routinely chosen for, say, a modest public library.

Another possibility is professional librarians may be "hired" as are lecturers and other professional with modest recompense in addition to room, board and other considerations including free cruising and exotic of not-so-exotic itineraries. Even so, most acquisitions and even cataloging would occur centrally with the ability to process additions on board in the case of donations. The truth is most library processes long have been centralized (economies of scale) thus much of the work the public sees in front-of-house (barring reference and training) is performed by paraprofessionals and clerks.

I may be wrong in any or all of my assertions and am confident I soon will learn of most exceptions because in real life, even on the seas (low or high), exceptions often prove the (general) rule.

Meanwhile, I look forward eagerly to leaning about the libraries aboard Silversea, which we sail in Nov/Dec, and Seabourn which will host us in March/April and again in June/July.

Finally, I adore this thread (thank you, OP) and am enjoying all the posts. So gratified by all the book lovers here. You are my people!

With good cheer,

Kat

BA, University of New Orleans

MLIS, Pratt Institute, NYC

35 years in the trenches

http://littlefreelibrary.org

 

Little Free Library is an international book-sharing, community building and literacy project. I have dropped off and picked up many good books this way.

Click on the link below for a photo of my curbside Little Free Library:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206715282019904&set=a.10204282235395259.1073741827.1209731742&type=3&makeprofile=1&profile_id=1209731742&pp_source=photo_view

Disregard

Jim and I cruise Silversea next month aboard Whisper from Barbados to the Amazon and back. Our first Silversea cruise and only second ever cruise (mostly, some backstory here having to do with my childhood).

I'm very excited; Jim is a more go-with-the-flow sort. After our first cruise aboard Regent Navigator earlier this year, I have a tentative baseline and am eager for a new ship. Not to mention, the AMAZON!

I have good vibes about this cruise and that's even before I ask about the coffee.

I am belatedly getting around to booking excursions for our November cruise to the Amazon aboard Whisper. I delayed booking because I'd heard on other boards, e.g., Regent, about how expensive are excursions, so, imagine my delight at learning how affordable are Silversea excursions.

Mind you, I've yet to enjoy any of these excursions but I am expecting good times. Especially the ones that don't leave until 9am or later.

When we cruised on Regent last January, I slipped a dozen books into the onboard library. Can't imagine any ship would object and, if so, what could they do?!

Can't specify a location as I haven't sailed on the Shadow, but do try the Silver Spirit cocktail. (I believe it's available fleetwide, not just on the Spirit!).

I don't really care for gin, or NZ sauvignon blanc, so I was very surprised how much I enjoyed this one. Very refreshing.

 

Edited to add : do take it easy with this one. I had three of them one evening and let's say I underestimated my own ability to hold my alcohol on this one!

 

 

SILVER SPIRIT SIGNATURE COCKTAIL

 

2 oz Plymouth gin

2 oz St Germain elderflower liqueur

1.5 oz New Zealand sauvignon blanc

1/2 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker half filled with ice cubes. Shake until very chilled; serve straight up in martini glass with wedge of lime.

That looks mighty refreshing. I'll give it a try (or three) next month on our Amazon cruise aboard Whisper.

In addition, we have just returned from that cruise in December. I wrote a daily blog (not anywhere near as good as terrys) which now appears in the cruise reviews under the Silver Whisper.

 

If you have 10 minutes spare you may want to read through it, I did put some tips and guides on there, sorry no photos.

This is mighty tasty blogging, good reading and informative, thank you Fudge.

Only three more weeks until we fly to Barbados to meet up with Whisper.

Appreciate the feedback, Emtbsam.

I would recommend reading David McCullough's Path Between the Seas. Understanding what had to be overcome to build that, and the people that conquered those challenges makes the canal transit so much more interesting.

Excellent suggestion. McCullough is very good at recounting the engineering and managerial aspects of the U.S. in building the canal, and the book is a good read in and of itself.

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough http://amzn.to/1NX9QNF

For insight into the labor situation, the continuous blasting, cultural and socio-political issues, these tomes fill those gaps:

The Canal Builders: Making America's Empire at the Panama Canal by Julie Greene

http://amzn.to/1F9Mkuq

Panama Fever: The Epic Story of the Greatest Human Achievement of All Time -- The Building of the Panama Canal [also the most modest title ever imagined] by Matthew Parker

http://amzn.to/1O7OJqU

The Panama Canal: The Crisis in Historical Perspective by Walter LaFeber

http://amzn.to/1i7dMP8

How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal by Ovidio Diaz Espino

http://amzn.to/1g4KzT0

Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. In Panama by John Lindsay-Poland

http://amzn.to/1ir7J7N

And, these tomes represent recommended fiction set in Panama:

God's Favorite, novel by Lawrence Wright

http://amzn.to/1g4I4zWq

The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carre

http://amzn.to/1RiYykU

Canal Dreams, a novel by Iain Banks

http://amzn.to/1OpObuH

Come Together, Fall Apart by Christina Henriquez

http://amzn.to/1UwmoQ8

The World in Half by Christina Henriquez

http://amzn.to/1JLBWoM

For more on three of the novels cited above: http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/likefire/short-shelf-tres-novelas-de-panama

OctoberKat, if there's anything you'd like to know in preparation for your own cruise on this itinerary, do let me know and I'll try to help.

Nigella, would welcome any comments on excursions you choose to take, as well as other bits of ship lore of interest. Many thanks.

Port Everglades is quite a big port, but on entering the port area for cruise traffic there are excellent directions to each berth. Illuminated signs have the ship name and berth number and you just follow them.

I've done three SS cruises from there but they didn't all go from the same berth.

 

 

As for hotels. We're booked on a cruse departing from Fort Lauderdale later this year (not SS), and we'll be staying further down the coast in Miami as I've given up on finding something I like in Fort Lauderdale. Many recommend the Ritz Carlton but I wasn't impressed.

It will also depend on your budget.

Are you flying into Miami or Fort Lauderdale?The FLL airport is very close to the port so you may want to look at something like the Hyatt Pier 66.

Which hotels do you prefer in Miami? Earlier this year we booked into the Four Seasons on Bricknell and quite liked it. Not too far at all from the port. Open to trying other upscale hotels.