SLSD

A former neighbor is cruising with a group of 12 family and friends right now in Iceland. They are on a Royal Caribbean ship, but hired a private tour out of the capital city on their own small bus. She posted photos of that day and it is incredible. We have other friends on Ovation in Iceland right now. This friend is a crack photographer--and nothing he has posted can compare with what our friends on Royal Caribbean have seen on their private tour. Perhaps it would take a group of 12 to make such a tour more economical---but the difference in phenomenal. I'll be asking when they return for information.

I figured you were making a joke, but responded the way I did anyway. Dallas is basically a dressed up city, at least in areas we frequent. This is not meant to be a snobby comment. We do live half the time in a rural area of the state (only 85 miles from the city) --and it is a different world in terms of dress--which is my point. The two twains do not meet.

Very interesting about Oceania. We are not going to be able to cruise next April/May which is prime cruising time due to an already planned domestic trip. Probably not good planning on our part--but we are looking forward to that trip as well. We have not cruised with Oceania either. Today, while grocery shopping, I ran intoa dear elderly woman who lived in the retirement community where my mother lived and I reminded her of hearing about all of her fun Oceania cruises. She told me that she stopped cruising at age 82 because flying to the embarkation cities became too difficult.

We did this same itinerary on Seabourn in 2019 and enjoyed it. Ours started in Kobe, Japan (we spent several days pre cruise in Kyoto) and then there were several ports in Japan before the Kamchatka Peninsula. I think starting in Alaska in much easier for the time changes.

I would love to hear what you are considering.

Which is just one reason I avoid the buffets like the plague.

Mr. SLSD had a several years long legal case in Hawaii. All the local lawyers were wearing Hawaiian shirts at all times except when they were in court. He finally purchased a selection Hawaiian shirts so that he would not stick out in his suit like a sore thumb. He would also wear them home on the plane and scare me to death when he woke me up upon getting to our house at about 6am in the morning! I think they are great in their setting, but not necessarily appropriate everywhere. Mr. SLSD does not bring his cowboy boots on cruises--or his western shirts. Perhaps we are all being too judgmental.

I don't think it is proper etiquette in the US to cut up all food at once. I wonder where that is the custom.

Uncouth people come from everywhere. It is never ok to wear a cowboy hat indoors... I live in Dallas and have never seen a cowboy hat worn indoors here. In fact, in everyday life, very few cowboy hats seen in the city at all.

I totally agree with you here. While our room service orders were only breakfast--and only a few items, I saw room service waiters with HUGE loads on their shoulder. Why not give them carts? Probably because the carts would make noise going down the hallways. It's such a shame they cannot use them.

I'm ready to move on from worrying how people dress on a Seabourn ship. While my husband always wears a sports coat to dinner in the restaurant, it is not important to us that others do the same. I think the real issue has become the fact that passengers come from different cultures--even if they are from the same country. What is smart casual to some, is very dressed up to others. What others wear as smart casual, some would not wear on a Saturday errand to the hardware store. I don't think it really helps to criticize others and some just don't understand because in their world people dress like they do. I could see this so clearly on our last cruise (which ended a bit over a week ago). Jeans are the least of the issue. We met people from rural areas of the United States who didn't have a clue about smart casual.

Very good to know this. Thank you.

Just a note about looking for Seabourn itineraries. I usually use Chrome as my browser but it doesn't work for the SB site. I have to switch to Safari. I am looking as we would like to book our next cruise soon so that we can plan around it. Any suggestions are welcome. We are open to sailing on another cruiseline--but it would have to be because of itinerary.

I just did a bit of googling and found this. Evidently, the Hagia Sophia is a mosque again,..https://theconversation.com/hagia-sophia-has-been-converted-back-into-a-mosque-but-the-veiling-of-its-figural-icons-is-not-a-muslim-tradition-144042 We had no difficulty seeing the Blue Mosque (with a private guide) so perhaps the Hagia Sophia is equally accessible. I hope so.

We will continue to consider the Quest itinerary to Japan. You are so right that its the other aspects that matter most to us. In Istanbul, We loved the Top Kapi Palace of course--and there was a more obscure Church of the Virgin Mary which had fabulous and interesting frescoes. There was also a small market right outside. I still have the embroidered items I bought there. We had a fabulous lunch overlooking the Bosporus. Our guide made the reservations and we had the best view. We let her order for all of us. It is memorable. I'm sure I'll remember more. The Blue Mosque is a must see. There is another palace (wooden) that I would skip. It felt like a fire trap to me and it is much later. There is the bazaar to see as well.

I think it was a museum back in 2005 when we visited. I'll have to so some research to know for sure.

I first learned of the word lagniappe in a cookbook of all things. It was one of Helen Corbitt's cookbooks (she was a well known chef for Neiman Marcus back in the 60s).

Not too much information at all. I appreciate all the suggestions. Way back in 2005, we sailed Silversea with a number of Turkish ports and we loved it. Istanbul is one of my favorite cities in the world. I often think of the Hagia Sophia--as its interior decoration told the story of early Christianity melding with older pagan religions in that area. It was fascinating. Also, the huge ramps for horses inside that building are like nothing else I've ever seen. Our cruise ended in Istanbul and we had a private guide we were sharing with friends we were traveling with. Truly memorable. I'll look at the Encore voyage(s) I've been looking at the Quest itineraries around Japan and they interest us. My only concern is the Quest itself. Last time we sailed on Sojourn (2019), I found it a bit down at the heels and wonder if I would see Quest in the same way. Keep the idea coming everyone.

Almost everyone tried to actively avoided these people on our recent cruise. Unfortunately, they were everywhere!

We are not the kind of people who will threaten to never sail on Seabourn again because of an annoying non service dog. I've learned by age 71 to never say never. Surely, the powers that be at Seabourn are smart enough/savvy enough to get ahold of this issue and find out what the airlines already know about fake service dog credentials. I WILL contact Seabourn about what I observed. I expect only a pat reply if anything. There was a cat in a carrier on our flight back home from Copenhagen.

Wow. We were on your same cruise and did not have the difficulties you have shared. It is a shame your suite was not thoroughly checked before you embarked. Which deck were you on? We noticed that there was no pen or paper and requested some which was duly delivered. I did wonder if the laundry bag was slightly smaller. Everything we needed washed still fit inside of it. We qualify (the two of us) for a total of four free laundry bags washed now (two per week each)--and only used three. Since we never dined in the Colonnade during the two weeks, I didn't see groups of waiters talking. I only encountered one crew member that I thought was lacking in demeanor/training. He delivered our room service breakfast one morning and complained nonstop about this and that. I tried to be sympathetic and encouraging. He later was one of our waiters at the TK Grill. I think it is a case of life at sea not being for him. Hopefully he will find other employment. You observed the dog being even less appropriate than I observed. The dogs owners truly did not care who they inconvenienced. The staff member who told you about all the paperwork they had to comply with was giving you the spiel they were instructed to give. I'm sure no one on staff or crew believe this was a service dog. All the wait staff (save that one) that we encountered had outstanding attitudes and were always smiling. We were so fortunate in that regard. I did find the food in The Restaurant to be wanting--in very subtle ways. I just read in a FB group that the chef has changed since we disembarked a week ago today. Our room service breakfasts were always warm to hot. We found disembarkation to be very smooth and well organized. We were on a Seabourn transfer bus straight to the airport. I am always a bit nervous about transfers so I went down to Guest Services three days before the end of the cruise to inquire. I find I get better service if I go to Guest Services in person--or maybe that is just my perception. The only muster drill was walking to your muster station and being checked off a list there. The rest was done by video on the suite TVs. It WAS announced---several times. Perhaps you missed the announcements? This is another example of being on the same cruise---with different results. It happens!

I like the way you think. The afternoon we first saw the dog was at the same time as the jacket on the chair to save a table. There were people sitting at another table who were seriously considering removing the jacket and turning it in to lost and found. They never quite got the nerve to actually do it. Where was WaveyDavey when we needed him? We only shipped one bag and only one way. This resulted in very light packing for us as the one shipped bag was for the two of us. I had enough in my carry on to survive for two weeks if necessary. It worked out well, except for some poor planning on my part. I think women sometimes need more space because we don't always feel like wearing what we have packed! I kept thinking of things I had left at home that I would rather be wearing. If I had more space, I would have packed them. Meanwhile, I am looking for our next cruise and have not been inspired yet by an itinerary. I'm up for suggestions. We are avoiding the Caribbean and the seven day segment anywhere--looking for longer cruises up to 21 days. Watching the news today, summer travel has become a nightmare--with over 100 flights cancelled at Chicago O'Hare--and that was early in the day. We do have an international airport in Dallas--and we would love to fly somewhere nonstop. Aren't we picky!

And this is exactly why we made sure our carryons conformed to the stated restrictions. After all, we had shipped one bag (and did not know for sure if it would make it) and if we had to check our carryons and THEY didn't make it, we would be in a really bad way. It was annoying to see almost everyone else ignore the restrictions. I think the gate agents ignore it because they don't want to risk getting in an argument with someone. In the end, both my carry on AND my personal item could BOTH fit under the seat in front of me together. I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise.

When we want to go to tea, we usually arrive early to sit at the table we would like to have. I would never consider throwing a jacket over a chair to reserve a table.

I take your comments to heart. I consider myself to be a considerate person--but some of our bus stops were only for 10 minutes and I could not get off of the bus! I saw no harm in asking the elderly man's wife If I could "pop off" ahead of him. Even though I am 71, I am very agile and can exit quickly. After her disapproving glare at me, I felt terrible and questioned my request to "pop off" the bus. I did admire the woman who always said she would exit last as she wanted to take her time. I don't love bus trips either, but the sights we saw in Norway made them very worth while. Could we have taken private tours? Perhaps. I did look at some choices there, but the prices were quite high as Norway has high prices. I was content to do what we did. Any comment on carry on etiquette for international flights?