Jump to content

jpalbny

Members
  • Posts

    10,386
  • Joined

Posts posted by jpalbny

  1. 6 minutes ago, Lois R said:

    Bringing good news😃my biopsy results came back negative. I will have another cat scan in 3 months but i can go on my upcoming cruise which is only 2 weeks away.

    I had really put it on the back burner but now I can actually think about it.

    Thanks for all the good wishes.

     

    That's awesome! I've been thinking about you and hoping for good news.

     

    Have a wonderful cruise! 

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1
  2. In olden times you could order a pizza for lunch at the LT buffet. There was a menu with about 8 choices on every table and your waiter would take the order. It was a great lunch option.

     

    Last cruise, the menus were not on the table though they had pizzas on the buffet as usual. I bet they would have brought one to the table had we asked, but we didn't need one...as if we ever "needed" one but that's a different story!

  3. A few photos of our suite. We splurged for a Privilege Suite on deck 8 (516 SF) because we thought we'd spend lots of time there. We loved the space but ended up spending more time outside, and also in the Observatory Lounge. 

     

    Bedroom, with bath near left and closet far left.

     

    A long balcony runs the entire length of the suite, on the right of this photo.

     

    20241012_122612.thumb.jpg.d4404d2da454103c97295c1e9de85ca0.jpg

     

    Closet. There's a mirror on the left wall so it's not as big as it looks. Plenty of space for us though. 

     

    20241012_122623.thumb.jpg.dff5cea1758728646648c2c4fa2e69de.jpg

     

    Very nice bathroom. Deep sink with lots of room. Big tub, nice for a soak on a chilly sea day.

     

    20241012_122637.thumb.jpg.dae4751bdd801665e7c9debe5ae7351c.jpg

     

    Living room opposite the bedroom. A half bath on this side as well.

     

    20241012_122647.thumb.jpg.fef3a6a4eb51afe4a42c1b9b2a54f812.jpg

     

    Nice suite. We'll miss it next time as we're in a Deluxe suite on deck 6 (301 SF). We'll be just fine. I hope!

     

    A few shots of the main restaurant. 

     

    20241012_141347.thumb.jpg.12959768aacde3a7c6778efb6672b36e.jpg

     

    20241012_141413.thumb.jpg.3086d538894db978c7e7db9da5ca241c.jpg

     

    20241012_141540.thumb.jpg.0a1cc321a1a0979b6dac277a57f5312f.jpg

     

    Until next time (next month!)...

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 3
  4. We just did an Ocean Voyage on Le Commandant Charcot last month. We have done two "regular" Ponant cruises on the explorer class ships. You're on Le Laperouse which is one of the explorers. We were on that ship last March, to Indonesia.

     

    Because our OV was on Le CC, some of this may not apply to your voyage, but for what it's worth...

     

    The ship was only about 1/3 full so you could make any eating arrangements that you wanted. Plenty of larger tables or tables for two; your choice. We were traveling with another couple so we always ate as a group of four.

     

    Champagne and cocktails flowed freely at any time.

     

    Surprisingly, we DID have shows every night. There were three singers, two guitarists, a pianist, a violinist, and a dancer. In addition to the shows they were often in the lounges during the evening as well. It may be different on the smaller ship.

     

    Best advice? Just relax and enjoy the onboard experience. And buy the nicest cabin that you can afford - the prices are very cheap compared to regular cruises so it's a good chance to splurge. Or, you can wait until boarding and see about upgrades. If the higher-end suites have not sold out they will offer you the chance to upgrade for a fee, upon embarkation.

     

    Have a great trip! February will be a very nice time to leave Canada for Southeast Asia.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  5. 10 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

    Coming back from CDG we'll be on Air France, so I assume we'll be at 2E – concourse K like you?  I read a lounge review from 2023 that said the AF concourse K lounge was due to be upgraded.  Did that happen yet?

     

    Random, whether you'll leave from K, L, or M IME. Sometimes your gate (and terminal) changes after they print your boarding pass. I've had the printed copy say one concourse, and the monitors say another. Then the people manning the entry to the (now correct) updated concourse tried to tell me that I was in the wrong place...

     

    The L and M lounges are newer and quite nice. Tall ceilings, windows, lots of space. K is the original terminal and the lounge is in the same old place it's always been, one level down. We liked it 15 years ago but last time, not as much!

     

    Definitely looking forward to trying the DL One lounge in T4 some time. Might have to book a Christmas getaway just for that. After all, we'll be retired by then...

    • Like 1
  6. Saturday, October 19th. Last day!

     

    We slept a little later and reluctantly dragged ourselves down for one last breakfast. Then we went for a stroll around town in the bright morning sunshine!

     

    Here's the Cathedral of Our Lady on the left, with the Arctic Cathedral way off in the distance. I need to digitally remove that light pole which ruins the picture...

     

    20241019_100927.thumb.jpg.bc758ac775c0ee5ac259a4c7e196c46f.jpg

     

    A cute pavilion with a statue of King Haakon.

     

    20241019_100945.thumb.jpg.1994781cde4b8d4b62ba8f72a7ee401b.jpg

     

    The Theatre.

     

    20241019_101117.thumb.jpg.2b115c9f140f94cf6e2fafbbfb3ab926.jpg

     

    And the very modern, visually striking, library.

     

    20241019_101442.thumb.jpg.7936f1dfab24cdcf4d974eced9f2656c.jpg

     

    The beautiful clear sky is killing us! After a few nights of solid cloud cover, we were hoping for one more aurora sighting but it looks like we'll miss it by a day.

     

    A statue of another King - Olav.

     

    20241019_101658.thumb.jpg.fe76cf0d16e80d9262ade6a3ec080e17.jpg

     

    Eventually we made our way back to the hotel. This view is from the harbor, and our hotel is the building on the right. Our room is at the far end (of the hotel, not the photo), where the tower is, looking out towards the water. 

     

    20241019_104348.thumb.jpg.602c434806d9ca8604a7fc191c007046.jpg

     

    Well, look who's in town today! A Hurtigruten ship, with a prime docking location. I wish we'd had that spot on Thursday. We could have walked to the hotel from here. I'm taking this picture from the hotel entrance.

     

    20241019_104554.thumb.jpg.2c43e06d85abb52ffcd9f71152da2424.jpg

     

    We headed to the room and changed into our flight suits, then finished packing. The view was fantastic. Where were these blue skies yesterday?

     

    20241019_113417.thumb.jpg.8201bfce19397b74158ecc99cb645282.jpg

     

    We checked out and stored our bags at the hotel. The four of us found a pub at the harbor and had one last fish and chips. Chris had a crab sandwich. A "sandwich" in Norway seems to be open-faced, every time we've ordered one. More filling and less bread; fine with us!

     

    20241019_122703.thumb.jpg.abc9143a2af81233a3ac9691f9ebfe14.jpg

     

    20241019_122748.thumb.jpg.acfd20648cd2a9871983f30aa31dd81d.jpg

     

    We'd put it off as long as we could, So, back to the hotel to claim our bags and wait for the FlyBus. Our flight out of Tromso was at 2:55PM so we figured the 1:10PM FlyBus would be fine. Even though it left 15 minutes late it was a quick trip so we were at the airport before 1:40. They were running a special - the usual price is 125NOK per person but I got tickets on my phone for 50 each - so the trip cost just under $10. Finally, a bargain in Norway!

     

    Check-in was quick because we'd already done it online. We were able to keep our bags for carry-on, so just a bit of a wait for security. Then they were obsessed with power cords! Every charger that I had for my phone, computer, etc had to come out of my backpack. It took them three times through the scanner before they allowed me to pass. No issue with the laptop itself, liquids, anything... Just the cables! I have no idea why. And there was no signage advising us of this, so it really slowed things down.

     

    We got to our gate and to our surprise they were boarding early! We hopped on board quickly and settled in, and pushed back 25 minutes before scheduled departure. We were airborne 10 minutes before we were scheduled to push back! No worries about the 1h45 layover in Paris.

     

    We landed early and were at the gate 20 minutes ahead of time. Fortunately our JFK flight is departing from the K gates, so it's a direct walk from 2F to those gates, as opposed to having to take a train or a navette. And we did not have to clear security either. Just passport control which was empty and very fast (e-gates), and then we were in the AF lounge.

     

    Now, the bad part of the K gates is that the AF lounge there is the original older space which is one floor below the terminal. It was hot and very crowded, and we were carrying our parkas which made it doubly uncomfortable. But we found some cold bubbles to counteract the heat.

     

    We walked to our gate where there was a massive line of group 1 and 2 waiting to board, so we took our place at the end. The process was reasonably efficient so we didn't wait too long. We pushed back on time and took off 15 minutes later. 

     

    I love the food on Air France! Especially the delicious bread and the rich butter. No foie gras appetizer this time though; just some nice chunks of salmon and a quinoa salad. They are looking out for my waistline.

     

    20241019_220213.thumb.jpg.72e6675ef08c1782d7f0fd9388d20292.jpg

     

    They are more generous with the wine these days so after a few glasses I thought I'd catch a nap since it was now almost 11PM. But sleep eluded me so I got a G&T and settled in with Dune part 2. Even that didn't put me to sleep! Fortunately, we landed at JFK 15 minutes early. I was hoping that we'd get to the TWA hotel quickly but unfortunately, AF uses T1 at JFK and it's a complete cluster there due to construction.

     

    First it took 40 minutes to get to our gate. Then there was a big line at Global Entry. Eventually we got through, and luckily we didn't have to wait for luggage, but due to the construction the AirTrain isn't stopping at T1. I had looked online and it had seemed that the AirTrain disruption should have been finished, but I guess not.

     

    So we had to walk to a shuttle bus to take us to T8, then walk into the terminal to find the AirTrain, take that to T5, and then walk to the TWA Hotel. Even though we had touched down about 10:10, we didn't make it to the hotel until midnight. Which is 6AM Europe time, so hopefully we will get some sleep!

     

    Sunday October 20th.


    We did end up sleeping enough and woke up at a reasonable hour. We found breakfast at the hotel - there is a food hall in the entryway, where the old check-in desks used to be. Last time we had noticed a crepe maker, but unfortunately we'd already ordered bagels, so we couldn't have crepes. This time we went straight to him and had one sweet and one savory. Yum!

     

    We took the AirTrain to Hertz, grabbed a car, and made it home in under 3 hours. Sunday morning is the absolutely best time to drive near JFK. We were surprised to arrive home and find the cat sitter there; she had mixed up the dates and thought we weren't home until the next day. It was nice to see her though, and the cats got a "warm handoff" from her back to us, so they were happy too.

     

    So ends this great trip - we absolutely loved the ship and are ecstatic to be joining her again in just seven weeks. And since this TR is late, it's now only FIVE weeks until we're back on board! We found Le CC to be a great expedition ship. So many outdoor observation points, and such luxury. Can't want to board again in Helsinki next month.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 2
  7. Friday, October 18th. Tromsø.

     

    We slept in and met our friends for breakfast at 8:00. The included breakfast at the hotel was quite nice. Lots of hot and cold food stations, and also a coffee station with a barista. They also offered to pack extra food for lunch, for a fee of course! Considering the price of food in Norway, that would have been a bargain.

     

    We set off for the Troll museum, right next door to the hotel. We chose it for our first stop, mainly because it opened at 9AM. The museum had very mixed reviews but we ended up enjoying it a lot.

     

    There were quite a few VR stations in the museum and they were amusing. This one was right after the ticket desk. Unfortunately you can't pick a different face; you're stuck with this one! Still, a fun way to take a "mirror" selfie!

     

    20241018_093835.thumb.jpg.8bbcdd9424f8f2634f71b7740dca84c5.jpg

     

    The program would match your facial expressions. There was a short lag between when you changed your expression, and when the screen updated, but it was fun to play around.

     

    20241018_094338.thumb.jpg.e3b85afaebdacf68c90ab7c44793bf7b.jpg

     

    Some other cute trolls here as well. I think he's sniffing Chris's hair!

     

    20241018_100029.thumb.jpg.ead7e48af9269f0f86c15b30334766df.jpg

     

    A waterfall spirit, AKA a Fossegrim. Very talented fiddlers. Apparently they will teach you their skills if you make an appropriate offering. We didn't try to get his attention.

     

    20241018_102256.thumb.jpg.6a4fdce0b8fe69551dc4fdff24f2b776.jpg

     

    There were a number of dioramas and exhibits tying the troll legends to Norse mythology. I found it interesting, because I'd read those legends as a youngster.

     

    We were done with the Troll Museum before 10:30. The Polar Museum didn't open until 11:00. So we walked past that, to a newly developed part of the town called "Vervet" which we had not seen last time. It seems to be reclaimed land from what used to be a shipyard.

     

    We had seen the area from the bridge yesterday, so we were glad to have a spare minute to see it up close. In this new development, there was also a wine bar and a brew pub. All the necessities! Something to file away for later if we ever come back.

     

    The "Gateway to the Arctic," with the Arctic Cathedral lined up in the middle.

     

    20241018_105200.thumb.jpg.555e954f123eb6a25369cddade15090e.jpg

     

    That bridge is tall!

     

    20241018_105217.thumb.jpg.89783ecdee5e3d8692601b7a993a8581.jpg

     

    We circled back to the Polar Museum, just as it opened. Of course, a large tour group was storming the museum just as we got there. Oh well. It wasn't much of a delay for us. We hung back for a minute and let them barge ahead, then we had it mostly to ourselves before another horde entered behind us.

     

    A representation of a trapper's hut on Svalbard. This is a phone picture but somehow it looks like a painting to me.

     

    20241018_110508.thumb.jpg.ca53ea1e82387e8ec08794f8c44a49dc.jpg

     

    Sealing boat.

     

    20241018_111745.thumb.jpg.032e9bfa9e76653c308f6b7668df3bbc.jpg

     

    And, Chris was happy to reacquaint herself with an old friend! I have a picture of her with the same bear from 2011.

     

    20241018_123141.thumb.jpg.45853bcb25c72a98bea332ac2517b575.jpg

     

    Amazing how much better the cell phone cameras are in low light! I actually darkened the previous picture but I can't make the lighting look anything like the older one.

     

    3Tromso2011_08-07.thumb.JPG.bf04b32574a613713865b96ca0fc9915.JPG

     

    Now off to find lunch. We stopped by the #1 restaurant on another web site but they were fully booked. I'd tried to make a booking yesterday but they hadn't replied. Oh well. So we went to a place off Storgata called Bardus Bistro. The food and drink were great!

     

    The burger was cooked a little more than the Ponant burger but it was still delicious.

     

    20241018_134433.thumb.jpg.8df77bc2b25138088a2bd3544bd976c6.jpg

     

    And I had a massive bowl of mussels. It was hard work reaching the bottom but I did it!

     

    20241018_134550.thumb.jpg.bdd475f4353de9228922e27a5ab801b1.jpg

     

    I'd definitely recommend this place for a meal.

     

    We split up from our friends at this point so we could each do our own thing - they wanted to go shopping for sweaters, and we looked at a few souvenirs, but didn't buy anything. As per our usual!

     

    We did enjoy the views of the town instead. All of the cloud cover means no Aurora, but it was still pretty.

     

    20241018_143707.thumb.jpg.14bb33f439bcc8ee2e9b36d0116e2797.jpg

     

    We spent some time repacking our bags at the hotel before dinner. We met up with our friends again, and started off at a beer hall for pre-dinner drinks, where we tasted a number of samples. The sours were delicious - one with raspberry and another with passionfruit. Even Chris liked them, which is high praise.

     

    The place was cozy and it started filling up as we finished. Friday night looked lively.

     

    20241018_171741.thumb.jpg.33704e60dea8fdbeb673fe635328859a.jpg

     

    Since we had been unable to get into the top restaurant for lunch or dinner, we'd made a reservation for the four of us at Walter & Leonard. The menu looked great and the food didn't disappoint!


    We split the Bolinhos for a starter. Very tasty fish fritters with parmesan mayo. Note the arugula salad which makes the dish very healthy.

     

    20241018_185946.thumb.jpg.6d03329ffdc731850ba046ea6a048711.jpg

     

    Chris and I both had the baked cod for our main. Superb - the cabbage and apples accompanied it well and luckily the browned butter was calorie-free so we didn't feel guilty about eating all of it.

     

    20241018_192840.thumb.jpg.8f3d05ec8e7db80f3b737cb4d01a4012.jpg

     

    Back to the hotel for a nightcap. The four of us kicked the last bottle of wine that we had brought from the ship. A Corsican red which was OK. The cloud cover was persistent so no Aurora for us.

     

    Off to bed to prepare for tomorrow's trip home.

    • Like 4
  8. No extra deals on cruise fares when we were on board Le Commandant Charcot last month, other than the usual 5% on-board booking discount. But, definitely some attractive itineraries!

     

    On our cruise the Future Cruise Consultant did a quiz on the last sailing day. The winner of the quiz got an extra €250 in OBC on a cruise booked on board! First time that has happened on a Ponant cruise for us, and definitely worth giving it a shot.

  9. 11 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

    @jpalbny

    Thanks again for taking us along!

    Sounds like you've got a lot in the pipeline.  Weeeeee!

     

    Planning our Canadian Artic trip which starts in Reykjavik. Go figure.😆  Looks like you're daytime flight out of BOS worked well? Thanks for heads up on that. Might I ask if you were in Saga Premium?  If so, how did you feel about the seats?  If they were bad, did the Gin make up for it?🤣

     

    Thanks HPD. We do have a lot planned in the next 12 months! Six more cruise vacations, the first of which commences five weeks from tomorrow! And four weeks from tomorrow is our last day at work. We are beside ourselves with excitement!

     

    The daytime flight was great in many ways. Iceland Air Saga Class is pretty much like domestic first so the pitch of the seats is not great, and they don't recline much, so they are not good for sleeping on an overnight flight. Plus, the flight time from Boston or New York is barely 5 hours so that's not enough time to sleep. So the daytime flight solved all of those issues. We were still very tired upon arrival and were definitely ready to sleep.

     

    They had 7 or 8 gins to choose from. Only 2 tonics IIRC. But it was still fun to try a few different ones. The seats were fine for a short flight from the East Coast. I do love the view when flying over Greenland but unfortunately it was clouded over as we passed by. 

     

    The flight lands just before 10PM which is good because the airport was completely empty at that time. There was no other flight within an hour of that time so immigration was totally empty except for our flight, and since we were among the first few off the plane with carry-ons only, it was a very quick process. HOWEVER (lesson learned), if you're taking the FlyBus, it will not leave until everyone from that flight has a chance to catch it. So the wait there was interminable! Next time I will skip the extra G&T and rent a car...

     

    When is your Canadian Arctic trip? We have one which starts in Reykjavik next summer as well, July 9th I think, on Silver Endeavor. Our cruise friends who we met on board Explorer in 2013 will be with us, and Mysty and Myster are also on that trip. We are still figuring out the flights and other logistics, as the cruise includes a flight back to Montreal after it ends in Churchill. It would be perfect if Iceland air flew YUL-KEF but they only fly out of YYZ.

     

    This reminds me that I still have to post some highlights of the last day in Tromso. And the trip home!

    • Like 1
  10. 1 hour ago, highplanesdrifters said:

    I rarely wore anything but earmuffs. If it got really windy on the zodiac I'd just pull my hood up.  On the occasional really blustery days I wore a hat with ear flaps. They are often called trapper,  or aviator hats. It's just not that cold down there. 

     

    That's one creative way to deal with the 50# weight limit for the charter flight! You must have had lots of room for souvenirs.

    • Haha 2
  11. Have a great trip! SEA-ICN is a long haul for sure, so I'm wishing you a relaxing flight and hope the time passes quickly. But Seoul airport is super efficient. And pretty - with lots of flowers, and cute robots wandering the concourse which I think can help you if you need guidance.

     

    There is security after landing, before you get to the gates for your next flight, but both times we've been there it was pretty much empty and took minimal time. In fact, coming home from Singapore in 2023, we were late getting in and had only 40 minutes to make the connection - and we did so with time to spare. We went from gate to gate in 15 minutes!

     

    Your stops look great! We visited some of the Indonesia stops with Ponant last year, and Darwin with Silver Cloud in June. Have not yet been to Cairns. I'm very curious what you will do at some of these places with a larger ship as opposed to an expedition ship. Looking forward to hearing all about it!

    • Like 1
  12. 25 minutes ago, drron29 said:

    Rojaan and I are definitely outdoorsy on that definition.

    5pm every day we are home it's drinks on the patio. Last few months we have had a female butcher bird for company which makes it way more outdoorsy.

     

    2 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

    Hey, we’re 5 o’ clockers too. But we have to use a balcony without the bird.

     

    I want to grow up like you guys! Soon, we hope.

    • Like 4
    • Haha 2
  13. 6 hours ago, arcadia78 said:

    I have just booked my first Silversea cruise on the Silver Dawn - I'm very excited!

     

    Excellent! Have the best time.

     

    6 hours ago, arcadia78 said:

    I have read that Silversea has butlers for every cabin category - I guess it's just a fancy name for a cabin attendant?

     

    They can do as little as that, or they will do more if you ask. Some are more proactive than others. But they deliver your room service food, and they can take care of dinner reservations for you, among many other things. We don't use them for much at all but others with more experience can undoubtedly tell you more.

     

    6 hours ago, arcadia78 said:

    Do you need to book SIlver Note and what is it like exactly? I can't find any videos on Youtube and the description on the website is quite sparse.

     

    You must book it, yes. It's small and very popular. It's a small cozy place with live music and a tiny dance floor (at least that's what it was like on Spirit). The food is hard to describe; some love it for its creativity and some think it's weird. Try it and see. I'm sure I put some pictures of the place and the food in my 2021 Silver Spirit trip report.

     

    6 hours ago, arcadia78 said:

    Does Silversea offer hosted dinners?

     

    Yes. 

    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...

If you are already a Cruise Critic member, please log in with your existing account information or your email address and password.