BWIVince

Im glad you mentioned it, I didn’t know they opened in Pike & Rose! …Though I feel like there’s a half dozen or more restaurants in Pike & Rose that I need to try. One of my oldest friends lives near there and I should use that as an excuse to go spend time with him. (..and he loves Italian.) I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve driven through there since they relocated Montrose Rd…. I think my greatest fear is Magoo’ing around Rockville (what’s North Bethesda?!?) and not even knowing how to get anywhere, since they moved all the roads/access. I still can’t get the image of Mid-Pike Plaza, which used to be there, out of my head. That was our Toys R Us when I was a kid, one one of my best friends worked at the Linens ‘n Things there when we were in high school. Syms bounced around, but at one point they had the upstairs space, and I can remembering going with my dad to buy suits there, back when dads (generically/stereotypically) had to wear suits to work every day…. Hence why we had to go to Syms. Lol. We couldn’t afford to get all of his suits at Raleigh’s. (I’m not sure I love today’s “just wear a tshirt and turn your camera off” thing, but I’m definitely glad I don’t have to wear a full suit M-F.) Anyway, thanks for the update!! I’m definitely taking notes and creating a list! 😊 Vince

I think this was expected by many (most?) of us given the timing. Given the extremely tight window they're giving themselves to refit the ships (assuming they stick to them), there is no way they're going to be able to blow up the general arrangement to such a degree as to overcome the capacity issues for the former Prego and Umi Uma spaces. They could shuffle the venues and move the more popular concepts to Marketplace or some larger venue, but that would have a seriously negative impact on atmosphere. Until they have a couple of years to plan a proper future refit, or until they build new ships (more likely), it was hard to imagine how they were going to get away from the extra-visit surcharges. Cutting capacity a bit only goes so far, and at least on Symphony, they only have so many more rooms they can combine. Vince

I'd just write them back for verification... I suspect there are links coded for each offer, and either the confirmation was miscoded for that link or the wrong link was promoted somewhere (which may not even have the current verbiage on the page). Verifying the offer with them will also clue them in to the issue. Vince

This was always a fundamental divide in my house growing up. My mother loved eggs. I never knew poached eggs could be a side item for another egg dish until I took a cruise with her. (...Or that you could have more than one egg course at breakfast -- potentially still with said side item of eggs in addition to the egg app and egg main... But I digress.) She loved to cook and hated to bake. A frittata was all upside for her -- eggs without the crust that she didn't want to eat and certainly didn't want to make. I, on the other hand, will eat eggs with no problem, but don't have a passion for them. My mother may or may not have encouraged that lack of enthusiasm so there would be more eggs for her -- I can't prove that. The more that you can add to them or dress them up with, the better. A frittata is an improvement on plain eggs because of the yummy fillings, and a quiche ups the stakes even higher by adding a yummy crust. If I had to give up an ingredient in the quiche, I'd sooner give up the eggs and keep the fillings and crust, and just have a hand pie. This is in no way a criticism of the Chez's menu, just an appreciation for why there's a menu in the first place. Frittata or quiche, there's an audience for both, and a mutual respect for the chef's direction. Vince

Yeah, fall is busy in the events industry, and this year was a struggle. Just about every supplier was short staffed this fall just because conference onsites bounced back pretty much in one season. Not only did hotels and venues not have enough staff, but the staff they did had have had a fractional load (of mostly smaller events) for the past few years, and many/most of them weren't working in those jobs pre-pandemic. It's been a rough fall, but we're almost there. haha. I don't know how that seemed to become the official Christmas song of my generation, I really don't. Vince

I was doing ok in that department until the host of my first Zoom call of the day today played Mariah Carey's video of All I Want for Christmas is You as the lead-in music for the meeting. For the next month subsequent songs will stick in my head -- someone finally flipped that switch.. Vince

Today has to be the most beautiful day we've had since Spring. Supurb choice. Vince

First, bravo. Second, to me, this is sort of the visual representation of one of my biggest struggles in the COVID era — the availability of Martin’s buns in slider vs. sandwich size. Not that the sandwich size bun isn’t perfect here, the protein vs. bun ratio is probably perfect, but I’ve always leaned towards the slider size because I’ve never really needed a higher ratio of roll and 12 smaller rolls almost perfectly suits my week, vs. 8 larger sandwich buns, especially with the smaller sandwiches I prefer. Alas, since the start of Covid, Martin’s has trimmed stock in most of our stores up here to sandwich rolls, long (hot dog) rolls, and sliced bread — the top sellers. I went to Wegman’s last week and used the opportunity to buy things that I can’t get anywhere else, like Martin’s slider rolls, but alas that line of thinking ended up with a receipt over $300 and a half-cart that was less about half-full. 😳😒 I guess I still have to mark the mission as a success though, as I ended up with bags full of items that I couldn’t get anywhere else up here, none of it individually overpriced…. Though speaking of the (now paper) bags, that’s a separate rant. It’s too nice of a day here for me to to be on multiple rants, so I’ll stop here. Vince

I always love their MSC videos! They always start out on a “you get what you pay for” footing, which is really fair when the cruise is that cheap, but then some of the experiences are just shocking no matter how cheap the cruise is. MSC Cruises — Yelling at Passengers Until They Cry, Since 1989. 😳 Vince

That's interesting... MarineTraffic is still showing both ships moored at the pier, but considering the dry dock that Serenity would fit in is adjacent to that pier she's showing at, I wouldn't bet anything on MT's precision. 🤷‍♂️ Vince

Yummy!! Is that a Martin’s potato roll? You weren’t kidding about the weather…. I opened the door this morning and started to panic at just how many weeks I must have been asleep last night. I forgot what it felt like to have air that didn’t feel like you’re swimming through jello as you walk. (The Maryland Office of Tourism Development obviously couldn’t sponsor me enough to make up nice things about summers here.) Vince

I’m better with finding cars than I am with finding Waldo… That shifty SOB. 😒 Vince

So the one with the gray Ferrari in the middle is the alpha of the pack? 🙂 Or just showing off? Vince

Someone must have been less amused -- it looks like the headline on the same article in the app got edited this morning to "France's Mustard Shortage Fuels Drama and Panic in Grocery Stores." Sometimes I miss the paper copy you can't "fix". Vince

I _LITERALLY_ had a Bologna sandwich today on this premise -- I concur completely! Where are the food pics?! Vince

Unless there's emergency work that needs to be done before their actual refits, I can't see how they're going to go into dry dock immediately... There won't be any furnishings or machinery to refit with for some time. Vince

If you hadn't said that, I would have guessed you took that after you'd been up for 4 or 5 hours, had your workout, coffee, etc.. 😄 Vince (On a similar sleep schedule)

I can remember when at least Symphony's used to spin... But IIRC you always had people messing with them on one side or the other, so you'd get traffic jams when people thought they were following directions only to face oncoming traffic from people who also thought they were also following directions. I think now that we just get some free thinkers, but most of the traffic flows in the same direction, it probably does work a lot better. As far as I can remember, the main advantage of alternating directions was the chance to even out your farmers tan. 😄 When the direction is always counter-clockwise, your right side usually gets a lot more sun than your left -- no matter how you rotate the time of day you walk or direction the ship is sailing in. Vince

Thanks Ivi, sorry to be gone so long, work has been crazy and I haven’t had enough free time lately to participate on the board. 😞 I’m going to try to come around more often, I miss everyone too, and I need the socialization. 😊 Vince

Oh no! That summary is kind of what I expected, as with many tourist destinations, but I’m still kind of jealous…. All I got to experience was a photo of the outside. 😞 Vince

I hope both you and your husband have a speedy recovery, Ivi! 😞 Vince