jpalbny

Bistecca alla Florentina. It's what (was) for dinner, last night. After doing lots of work around the house, we deserved a treat. Found a nice-looking Porterhouse at the local butcher shop. Sel gris and a bit of rosemary. Went out for a walk while it warmed up. Did about 90 seconds per side on the grill. Almost done. After the quick sear, I let it rest off the flame for a minute or two. It looks too pretty to eat. But we enjoyed every bit. This might even satisfy Dr. Ron's definition of appropriately cooked? I had a bottle of Carignane from Italy which went nicely. I even shared it with Chris! And just like that, it's Sunday already. Where do these weekends go?

Thanks for the memories. I often gazed at those plaques while wandering around Silver Explorer. Will not have time to have another cruise aboard her SS tenure, sadly. PS thanks for the many pictures that say PAII. We still have our parkas from December 2009 that say Prince Albert II, not Silver Explorer. I wonder if I could sell them on eBay for a profit? 😉

Definitely off the beaten path! We are eagerly anticipating a follow-up report - but enjoy that ice-cold G&T first. Then have another while you're writing your report. And tourists? Don't fall in!

And now you're back with your original screen name! BTW I am always logged in on multiple devices. At a minimum, on my laptop and my phone (both running chrome).

Yay! Welcome back - we have missed you. But did you change your name?

It's not essential but it does have some information - you can take it or leave it. The main advantage is that when you're on board and connected to the ship's WiFi you can access your daily newsletter and the dining menus from the app. In practice this works for me less than 50% of the time - the rest of the time the app says "you're not actually connected to the ship's WiFi" when I actually am!. SMH. IIRC it worked better in Corsica on Le Bellot, than it did for me in Indonesia on Le Laperouse. Question for you - when you're logged in to the Ponant site using your login credentials on a regular computer, does it show the details of your upcoming cruises? If so, this information should also show up on the app if you're using the same login credentials. The app frequently gets buggy and there will be days that you can't log in at all, or it displays incorrect information. As I said, not essential and you can take it or leave it.

If cats played hockey...

Cloud 9 is my favorite place to be! Non-traditional expedition cruises do have their challenges.

I like my Bombas far too much to leave them out on a chair!

Je suis trop occupé en riant pour écrire une réponse. L'équipe ici est très amusant! Thanks for the laughs everyone. Those socks have a life of their own!

She's adorable! But where have I seen that mouth before? Separated at birth?

How interesting! On my laptop I have video but no audio. But yeah I get both on my android phone.

Well, Chris likes gardens quite a bit, so they always make it to her to-do list. When we spent a weekend in Frankfurt, we definitely visited the Palmengarten. Very nice. There's a Geldmuseum nearby vhich we enjoyed. And of course, Lohrberg is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.

Have a great time and looking forward to following along! Your breakfast view is spectacular, and much nicer than mine as I'm getting ready to head in to work.

Thanks for taking one for the team, Fletcher! I've heard great things from people who have visited "Utopia" so maybe I'll heed your advice.

That's a very rational concern. Glad you're on the mend though.

When in doubt always take Stumble's name in vain!

One of our covid projects was a wine cellar. We used a contractor we'd used a few times before so his crew knew us well. When the project was done they bought us a bottle of that as a gag gift for the wine cellar! It's still aging in the cellar... Anyone know the optimal "drink-by' date?

I see what you did there but in spite of it, I enjoyed your post! Have another restful sea day tomorrow and eagerly awaiting your update post-Djibouti!

Hey now. We cut our teeth on that back in the '90s. When we were feeling like something extra special we went for the reserve!

No wonder I can pack less; I only do color blocks. They take up less room without the extra vowel.

Yes. It appears on board magically. And disappears just as magically once the wine list is inspected. Enjoy!

Looks like a nice itinerary! Haven't been on L'Austral yet so don't know the difference between the MDR and the Gastronomic Restaurant. Yes - we wear casual clothes around the ship all day. Even shorts and T-shirts are fine for dining in the MDR, if appropriate for the ambient weather. We were just in Indonesia with Ponant last month and it was hot, so casual clothing was appropriate. I've never turned the TV on in our stateroom in two Ponant cruises. But as an Anglophone who also speaks two other languages (not French), Chris has never felt out of place on Ponant. I can speak plenty of French if necessary, but it isn't a requirement. You can do just fine if you only speak English. @AussieBoyTX has a thread about this on these forums. I'm too lazy to search for it as it's too close to my bedtime... Jacket not required. Dockers and collared shirt are more than sufficient. Hope that you enjoy your cruise!

That pizza looks perfectly cooked to me. It's not beef, so let that fire rip, and cook it to well-done! A few charred spots are desirable. Ron, loved your humour about the name of the port and its resemblance to a well-known GI pest. And the Kinder throwing rocks. I would have joined them, being a big kid myself...

We sailed on River Beatrice (before she was upgraded to SS Beatrice) on a similar itinerary - Budapest to Passau. That was in 2016 so obviously things could be different now... Yes, the CD gave a talk about all the excursions as part of an overview on the first night. That was SOP on all of our Uniworld cruises. Hope you enjoy Uniworld as much as we have!