KenzSailing

Oh sheesh, are ports many times missed/substituted. It's of course disappointing if one has booked the cruise for them specifically, but to jump to speculation that RSSC is doing it to save money on fuel or whatever? Time to start watching fewer "X-Files" reruns.

This thread has turned into a tribute band: not very good, but keeps the olds happy.

Yep, that's the United way. I've been Kennethrobert since forever.

I will take that wager. Casinos are coming, the only variable is time. TWT.

The Chez, dinner report for Saturday 4/15: Well, it was a quiet night, but our most important regular came in. Good thing too, as we were able to delight her with an appetizer of the first shad roe of the season(and probably the last as it's a short season.) Ordered her usual steak(strip this night) and a loaded baked. Satisfaction was proclaimed, so the kitchen was tranquil. Per the usual, no dessert and she left her typically generous tip. On a related note: if anyone runs into that guy named for an airport, tell him we're keeping his regular table open. But time marches on, and we had to turn Ralph Fiennes away from it the other night. Sheesh, the guy plays a cook one time and he thinks he owns the joint. Maybe I should have been a stockbroker... PS: apologies to the various managers of Keith McNally's restaurants, whose report format I am copying. Steal from the pros.

I just looked at the WC email Crystal sent out. It's not identified, but it looks like it contains a render of what I'm guessing is the dining room formerly known at Prego. Again, quite the update, and the Olive Garden look is gone.

May, the bad news is the Rays can't play my Nats 100 more times this season! Seriously, eleven in a row is hard to do and mighty impressive. They'll be interesting to watch(although they deserve so much better than playing their home games in that barn.) In more good news, now that the games are shorter thanks to the pitch clock, some teams are changing their alcohol policies and selling beer into the eighth inning. Now that's what I call "knowing your customer!"

It's sunny and 79F here which means I'm smashing some burgers. American(Murican!) cheese on mine, please. None for OLoPP(Our Lady of Protein Purity.)

Personally, I think the Crystal vs (insert other cruise line name here) posts are helpful, and I like reading them from posters about whom I have some idea of their POV, as opposed to folks I don't know at all on other cruise line boards. They've been useful to me in making rather pricey decisions about other lines. So I think they're completely fair game to post here. Besides, one can easily scroll past them. I do that with any discussion of luggage.

How so?

Don't know if this is new, but embedded in this otherwise run of the mill email from Crystal pitching Med Cruises is a rendering of the new Bistro on Symphony. More of a makeover than I anticipated.

"Blue Bell ice cream, it's to die for!"

So you came face to face with a real rock and roller, as opposed to a member of a very successful pop band. Exhibit A: Anyway(tm), I was always a fan of The Who. Bonus feature: this is well worth your time:

I have faith in you Phileas. May Neptune smile upon you.

As long as it wasn't that brand from Texas that, ahem, resulted in a few fatalities on land.

Are you a mind reader? Yeah, there was that one Big East team this year....

I quit filling out a bracket years ago. Found myself cheering for too many schools I really don't like. Now I just go along for the ride. Now? Go Huskies(gotta root for your conference.)

Presented without comment: https://wapo.st/3JKa641

IMO, any discussion that breaks on generational lines produces far more heat than light. To point out just one fallacy, it is freighted with cultural assumptions about the generations under discussion.

Thank you for this! This will be our first Regent cruise, and the cooking classes are something we very much look forward to. I've managed to snag a couple thanks to your post. Non-snarky question: Regent let me know when we can book excursions and optional dining. I'm not aware of seeing anything about this date for the cooking classes, either in "my account" or via email. Am I missing something?

Random observations: The calendar tells us it is spring in the northern hemisphere. My sinuses agree. In good news, the cherry blossoms survived our recent mini cold snap. Come to DC, spend some money. Less expensive than a trip to Japan, and we also have plenty of places that will over charge you for sushi. (There is an excellent one in the newly rebranded Intercontinental Hotel on Pennsylvania Ave.) OLoPP made her glorious stuffed shells for dinner. Apparently I have been good recently. Oh yeah, it's big fat asparagus season. Beav, please personally thank the underpaid harvesters in that wonderful land of bounty that is inland central California. Here in MD, the Shad Roe has yet to appear. If that doesn't happen soon, OLoPP just might lose her final "P." Going to have to roll the grill out of the barn soon(OK, it's the garage. This isn't Green Acres.) I wonder if Keith has plugged the Traeger in yet. Vince has apparently been buried by work for some time now. Really would like his perspective on the retirement announcement of Frank Del Rio. IIRC, he's had some pithy remarks about FDR. Roy, good to hear from you. Be well.

Oh relax, and don't listen to the RW goobers on this thread. It's easy: In a taxi? Round up 10% Porters? 5 bucks a bag Restaurant? 15 to 20% depending on your generosity Relax, it'll be fine.

Well, I admit my sense of "off" in off topic is, like me, a little more off than most. But I don't think it would be unreasonable to start a Crystal Reminiscences thread. I fact, I think that would be a fun place to post pix and memories of great cruises, Vince's incredible archival protos, renderings, etc. Thinking about it, there should be a thread devoted to Crystal memorialization. This is actually too important a topic to just be parked in a chit-chat thread. JMO.

A personal plea: Could we go back to keeping this thread off-topic and away from Crystal cruising? (Roy's sunrise/sunset series exempted. That's really about nature, not cruising.) The same old squabbles that seem to currently infect every other thread are starting to migrate here. Let's not encourage that development. Please and thank you.

Wow, that's some nice victim blaming right there.