Bellanina

On 7/12/2023 at 4:20 PM, Sea-n-Ease said:

Has anyone used this lens on an Alaskan or other scenic cruise with a full frame body?   Wondering if photo quality is still decent on the long reaches.  I realize it’s a budget lens, but I’m hoping to lighten my camera load and leave my better (but HEAVIER) lens at home. 

Why not test it out and rent a lens from an online source like Borrowlenses.com?  Just be sure to buy the insurance- saved me a lot of worry when i dropped an expensive lense onto pavement in Italy.  

On 7/20/2023 at 3:31 AM, irvington said:

Love this, men's emotional reaction to ties. 😃 We won't discuss all the things women go through in the name of beauty (let alone to bring life in the world). More seriously, I do think women's dressy fashion is more elastic these days (no pun intended). I think we should give men that grace too while still expecting both/all genders to look fabulous on occasion. 😅

Spanx for saying this !

On 7/20/2023 at 3:17 AM, irvington said:

This seems more loaded here for men and not women. Any thoughts about why?

It's easier because many dress styles exist for women, whereas menswear is limited. Also, you can take a simple LBD or black gown and transform it with eveningwear accessories.

9 hours ago, Rothko1 said:

 

I've never heard of Silversea throwing a costume party before.  Are you cruising over Halloween?

We will be on Silvermoon for Halloween, and I wondered about this. 

Makes sense- but we did receive both at times. I think I now have it squashed. 👍

On 7/10/2023 at 1:45 PM, bitob said:

Thanks.  I am on a b2b - one leg is 14 days; the other leg is 7 days.  Should be interesting.

If anyone cares, I will post something about the current status of the dress code.  Maybe I can get some clarification of formal optional.

Yes please. Thanks

Have done this-still happening. Just occurred to me a local TA may have added us back! 

I should note that Silversea isn't the offender, it's another cruise line that keeps bombarding us.

On 6/14/2023 at 10:00 PM, drron29 said:

Just to point out the entertainment on Silversea will be changing. I got on very well with the Voices of Silversea on our last cruise on the Moon finishing at the end of May. Their contract finishes in mid August and they were certain they will be the last of the voices on Silversea.

Contracts on the other ships they thought would be finishing June or July.

So by September the entertainment is likely to be very different.

Yay 

We opted for door to door for upcoming cruise, then deviated when we found better flight options. We also opted out of pre and post hotels. Our  TA advised this negates our transports from airport to ship and reverse, but that we still qualify for private transfers from home to airport and airport home. I believe we will not be compensated for those fees for transport from hotels to ship and reverse, so I'm not sure if there is still an advantage for us to book door to door- anyone?

11 hours ago, drron29 said:

I have however had quite a few I didn't like. That doesn't make them bad wines. So I just ask for a different selection and have never been refused tha

A sommelier once told me that when asked what determines a good wine from bad, their reply was, if you like it, it's a good wine- if you don't it's a bad wine. 

I posted this in another area and it was suggested that it would be a good topic for a new thread:

Nearly every day we receive beautiful catalogs and brochures from multiple luxury cruise and travel companies in our USPS mail. Most go to our recycle bin.  Marketing costs must be enormous, still, I wonder how effective are they? Am I correct in assuming that frequent seasoned cruisers are not drawn in by printed literature? Has this always been the case, a glut of literature,  or has it ramped up since Covid? I would be happy to pay a bit less for specialty suites- surely, excessive literature must have an impact on cruise fares. 

12 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Sounds like a good topic for a new thread.

True! I'll do that! Thanks

Here's a great way someone in tech taught me to remember passwords- It's almost fool proof

1) Begin with site name, (capitalized if a cap is required) so Cruisecritic

2) Next add any word or name you'll recall easily, IE blue

3)Your fav number or symbol, say 30

So password for this site would be Cruisecriticblue30

Same for each site, using site name, IE Amazonblue30, or Appleblue30, or Krogerblue30

Always works unless a site won't allow site name as part of password- in that case, use a nickname for site 

Nearly every day we receive beautiful catalogs and brochures from multiple luxury cruise and travel companies in our USPS mail. Most go to our recycle bin, so I need to request to be off lists. Marketing costs must be enormous, still, I wonder how effective? Am I assuming incorrectly, that frequent seasoned cruisers are not drawn in by printed literature? Has this always been the case, or has it ramped up since Covid? I would be happy to pay a bit less for specialty suites to compensate for the numerous marketing mailers.

5 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 

 

Good luck for hitting Dubrovnik when this charming town is not over-run with too many visitors and cruise ships.  Let us know any questions for Dubrovnik.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Great photos- thanks for the information re Dubrovnik! I hope its as spectacular during Fall!

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, drron29 said:

 

Informal. simple requires the wearing of a jacket. This I see as eminently reasonable. It is no problem bringing a jacket to the cruise even if you fly hand carry only. You do as I do just wear the jacket on the plane so it doesn't take up any more room or weight in your luggage. What intriques me is that quite a few have brought a jacket but then won't wear it to a restaurant. Had a real classic on this cruise with a gentleman was indignant at being asked to wear a jacket to enter Atlantide. However he was on the same excursion the next day and it was very cold so he was wearing........a jacket!

Appreciate your post & enjoyed following your thread.  Still wonder what the big deal is with jackets- but from what I understand, a sports coat will suffice for formal nights? Is a tie necessary? I saw mention that someone wore a leather jacket, and that doesn’t seem to suit. Sorry for the pun ! 

On 5/21/2023 at 3:19 PM, WesW said:

Will be visiting Zadar (Hiking KRKA National Park), Trieste, and Dubrovnik on the Spirit in August.

We will be visiting all three as well this Fall. Will look forward to whatever you may share!

1 hour ago, TLCOhio said:

2 hours ago, WesW said:

 

 

Appreciate the very kind comments and follow-ups by Wes and Bellanina.  For background, that pottery shop was in Ravello.  Wonderful, charming town among many along that  scenic coast.  

 

Just for fun, here is another "eye candy" sample from my files for traveling along this area. As I recall, this is a luxury hotel with great views along this coast.  What is not to love in this region??

Another dream destination- Ravello!  Spent one day there and would love to go back. 
Italy is certainly photogenic. 

18 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Many great options in this region!!!

Agree.  Maybe too many!  Since we’ve been to Amalfi coast towns, including visits to Capri and Pompeii from a week in Sorrento, maybe we should stick with Herculaneum.  Loved Positano. Great photos you captured. 

19 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Plan ahead by checking how many ships will be in port that day.  Super busy?  Figure out ways to adjust and avoid the mobs.  On bad weather days, maybe more indoor activities will be more enjoyable?   

Excellent point re ships in port. . Thanks! 

On 5/5/2023 at 9:59 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

On my original question in this thread:  today I started a fake booking on my cruise to see what cabins are still available, and the Silversea website now shows me up to 3 cabins at a time.  The most forward, the most aft, and one in the middle of the category on each deck.  Not total inventory, but progress?

This was my experience as well- followed through on Silversea site prompts as if I was booking, and it showed available cabins. 
 

Does Silversea ever upgrade or bump up those already booked to a higher cabin category to make more cabins available for new bookings? 

2 hours ago, nadia e famiglia said:

Visto che vi fermate 2 giorni a Napoli, vi consiglierei  il primo giorno di  visitare assolutamente la  Reggia di Caserta che si può raggiungere con il treno che parte da Napoli Centrale e tenere le altre mete per il secondo giorno, che sono più comode.

Se decidete di visitare  il Museo Cappella di S.Severo, dovete prenotare in anticipo.

Vi lascio il link

https://www.museosansevero.it/organizza-la-tua-visita/modalita-di-accesso

Thank you!  One excursion offered by Silversea in Naples is Reggia di Caserta, so I’ll research that option.

17 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Please do. Other than that, What Stumbles and Lois said. Would you care to elaborate on which ports you’ll be calling at as it seems you’ve already booked your cruise or would you prefer us all to ramble on for hours about places you won’t be visiting? 

Sure can-

Rome 3 days 

Naples 2 days in port 

Palermo

Siracusa

Malta

Dubrovnik

Zadar

Trieste

Venice-4 nights- 2 days in port

As posted earlier we’re going to focus on options for Naples for now. 
thanks 

18 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Herculaneum is super easy to DIY. (though we did it from Sorrento not Naples). The Circumvesuviana train runs between Naples and Sorrento, making stops at a number of handy places. We took it to Herculaneum and spent a few hours enjoying the site. It cost about E3 each way per person. Can't remember what the site cost but probably not too much. And we stopped at Pompeii too, on the way back, which was fantastic because we went at the end of the day as most of the tours were leaving. So we had it to ourselves in the evening which was amazing and a little spooky too.

 

I just looked and the Circumvesuviana starts from Porta Nolano, which looks to be pretty close to the port where you dock in Naples.

 

Can't tell you much else about Naples since every time we've been there we just take the fast ferry to Capri and wander around there. Once you get out of the towns it's just beautiful.

Thanks for your input!