jpalbny

Oh no! Not another dress code thread...

RachelG beat me to it and I agree with her. Svalbard IS the Arctic. Iceland is a great trip but it's not the Arctic. In fact only a part of the tiny island of Grimsey lies above the Arctic Circle; the rest of Iceland is to the south. If you go to Svalbard you may get to the 80th parallel or even a bit higher depending on ice conditions. And you'll have continuous daylight (except when it's cloudy). Here are reviews of both trips which should give you some idea of what to expect on each itinerary: Iceland, with pictures (from Rachel too; she was on this trip with us!): And our Svalbard trip from 2011. This was before I had learned how to post pictures. Pictures from the Svalbard trip can be found here: https://jpalbny.smugmug.com/Svalbard-and-Tromso-August-2011/

You certainly warm ours here in the Cooler, Ron!

A person I knew when I was in high school spent a good amount of time in France and said he knew he was comfortable in French when he started having dreams in French. Sadly I've done that and I'm still not what I'd call comfortable... The above examples sound more convincing.

Made some gnocchi for dinner. A container of ricotta and an egg mixed with Parmesan. Add salt and flour then put the dough in a plastic bag, cut off a corner, and pop them into a pot of water. It was all mixed up in a food processor so really easy. Finished with olive oil and fresh herbs. Delicious with a Vermentino di Sardegna. The only problem is that I'll be starving in a few hours. Chris said they'd be even better with bacon.

Terry, we have been there twice but only in the dead of winter. Our favorite hotel is l'Auberge Saint-Antoine down by the waterfront in the lower town. Château Frontenac is pretty and nice to walk through but we liked the smaller place. If we ever get back there in the summer we'd like to tour the citadel again (it was 40 below when we were there). Lots of parkland nearby which would be nice to wander and enjoy views of the river. The upper city is nice and there's lots of little shops along Rue d"Aiguillon. But we got to go ice skating too which I guess you'll miss out on this time of year. Out of town a bit visit Montmorency Falls and Île d'Orléans for a change of pace. Auberge Saint-Antoine has a great restaurant too. Otherwise I don't remember any particular restaurants. Enjoy!

Thanks for the laugh, @Dolcevita Diva!

If there is a time/date that you really want, book it ahead of time. If you are willing to be flexible, wait until you are on board, but you may get off times and you may get shut out of some restaurants. It's a risk. The bow ties will (usually, eventually) appear but the timing is highly variable. On one of our last voyages then never did appear, though! You can usually count on the second night being a formal night.

Yes. Just be aware that there can sometimes be a deadline for booking/canceling (usually 24h prior) so if you're going to change things, don't put it off until the last minute. This is more likely to apply to classic cruises than to expedition cruises, so you should have even more flexibility.

Glad someone appreciates our pal Stumblefoot! I'll let him know.

Me too, Lois. SS press releases are written by professional obfuscators. Or so it seems!

I assumed that's what they were trying to say - 160 on Nova, 60 for the rest of you plebes... I'm still struggling to speak French after 40 years so I understand how things get lost in translation. But yeah, hire a pro!

You'd definitely need a backup camera!

Chef Pia... I still blame her for shrinking all of my clothes. She is a favorite for sure!

My wife and I pack equally light (one carry-on each). So we definitely value suitcase space and don't waste room on stuff that's too fancy. My answer depends a little bit on whether or not this is an "expedition" cruise or not. We've been on two Ponant cruises so far, both "expedition" cruises in warmer climates (Corsica and Indonesia). And I'm a guy so take that with a grain of salt. But I travel with a lady who always asks me what she should bring, so: Any of those dresses could be fine IMO. The very first one might be on the casual side for dinner depending on the itinerary, but would be completely fine during the day and at lunch. You might feel slightly underdressed for a regular dinner but in a tropical climate on an expedition cruse - I bet it would fit in without any trouble. You'd almost certainly feel underdressed for a gala dinner, I think. Chris would probably not go as fancy as option #6, even for a gala. Though #5 isn't really her style, it would not feel out of place. And if you wanted to go with something as fancy as option #6 for the gala - go for it, but you can get away without it if it takes up too much room. Even #4 is probably fancy enough for the gala dinners. Hope that helps some. Don't worry about it too much.

It depends on how far they reach.

Cool! Now we can pack for a whole cruise in just one carry-on!

So many to try; so little time. I've had the Four Pillars gin before (the traditional one, not the Bloody Shiraz). Was nice. Looks like I'm way behind on the others!

What is Capricornia?

It will be, in that case.

Lirio, your post is awesome! I'm glad you finally made it to Milan along with your flip-flops and your extra books. Have a great time!

We will be in Amboise this December. Our hotel is closer to town though. Will try to remember to post some details about restaurants, etc during the trip.

Looks like a wonderful day! Thanks for posting.

Instructions don't always help. In the old days, we had an expression on the farm... "He's so stupid, he couldn't pour p* ss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel!"

Good thing you're not a cat.