Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

Jeff, I would just like to apologise to you for the hateful abuse that has been aimed at you for doing nothing other than trying to be supportive and helpful. I’m really so very sorry that this has happened. Some people are just beyond my comprehension.

Dave, you have nothing at all to apologise for, but the thought is appreciated. :)

Cameron Falls in Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta) has a stunning waterfall. It normally flows with clear water, however, during periods of heavy rain the water gets stirred up with a sediment called argillite. The result is an incredible pink waterfall.

Photo Credit: Brian Coffey

We are very lucky to live in such a beautiful country!

Lovely piccy M.

Here I am a voice from the past - I haven't looked at CC for months but decided I should probably see what is happening on the Roll Call for our upcoming cruise in a few weeks time (not on SS).

Good to see the food pix are still around and JP and Chris are still having wonderful trips.

We were thinking of booking SS next year but after the news of the takeover that probably won't be happening.

Then I read Jeff's account of his ordeal the whole thing sounds absolutely ghastly. I said to DH maybe the time has come to just stay at home.

Oh well.

Mary

One of the earlier posts was deleted by someone Jeff so all of the responses to it were too. Hopefully this post doesn’t break the rules too. One of my other posts wasn’t deleted but I reported it myself as soon as I knew that it broke the rules by referring to a previous post. Hope that all makes sense.

Mysty, I Love the pink waterfall! That must be quite something to see.

Glad you like it J and DW! We love visitors to our country! :) Welcome mat is being rolled out! JP and Chris seemed to enjoy it! And I am not in fact an employee of the Alberta Tourist Office! Ha Ha!

Ah well .... :)

I must say that I was never really a fan of Anthony Bourdain I think largely because he seemed to resort to course language merely to shock and I felt it trivialised his work. However, he did make some great food programs and when I heard that he had taken his life, I found myself curiously angry at him.

It is such a growing epedemic depression and anxiety and it is often the case that the more successful many become the more isolated and lonely and depressed they seem to be. I also think that success is at the end of a period of tremendous effort and sacrifice and whilst striving along that path, many anticipate and presume that once they achieve what they set out to achieve then they will be content and happy, only to find that it is it seems rarely true and illudes them. People must be taught to share their depression with others and not see it as a sign of weakness or failure.

Anthony Bourdain and the Wisdom of Talking to Strangers

Thrillist

EAT When I tell polite strangers, as we scrounge for small talk over free drinks at parties that neither of us wanted to attend, but had to, that I’m a food writer and a video producer, they tend to respond in a particular way. Here is how it goes: Them: What do you do? Me: I’m a writer. I cover food & drink across the country. Sometimes I get to make videos about it, too. Them: That’s cool! Like Anthony Bourdain? It’s easy to respond to the first bit. Food journalism is not unmitigated fun at Read the full story

Thanks Jeff - things have been busy round here - we had the patio out the back replaced so "boys" to be supervised - once a Project Manager always a Project Manager LOL. Then foolishly in April I put the wonderful stuff on the lawn that eats the moss and makes the grass grow (all organic so safe for the various 4 legs who run across it including ours). The result has been rapidly growing grass - I have to mow every 5 days max - it looks good but oh dear the work! Then there are the weeds - all good fun!

Mary

Jeff, I don't know about how often it happens around Europe or in certain countries but here in the states, Suicides have gone up dramatically over the last few years.:(……..it is quite sad. Folks seem to be taking their lives at a rapid rate on a daily basis.

..……..stress/loneliness/feelings of despair...……..I guess some people feel like there is no other way.:eek:

We were thinking of booking SS next year but after the news of the takeover that probably won't be happening.

Mary

Actually, this makes me more inclined to book further SS cruises. I worried a bit about the solvency of the company with the 10% off for full payment promotion. Did they need cash? Having a big well capitalized company behind them is reassuring. I really don't worry about decline in quality. Perhaps I should. :)

We are (so far) keeping the three SS cruises that we have booked. Wind, and Cloud expedition x2. Time will tell if we have chosen wisely!

M, cool pink waterfall! Have visited Glacier NP in Montana which I believe is contiguous with Waterton Lakes Park in Alberta. We love the Rocky Mountain parks, and have gradually worked our way north from Yellowstone, to Glacier, to Banff. What's next? Maybe we should have started in Rocky Mountain NP in Colorado, but we'll get there eventually.

Nice to see mw8811 back here. We plan to travel as much as we can until we can't any more.

Thanks for the picture compliments, all. It is easy to take beautiful pictures when the subject is so pretty...and I'm talking about the mountains, or Chris... ;)

Happy weekend all!

It is with a mixture of: incredulity, laughter (I want to see a video of the driver-less car wedging its self between the ship and the pier) and (almost) tears I have caught up with the last four or five pages of the 'Cooler'.

One of my favorite sayings has always been "The truth is stranger than fiction... you can't make this stuff up." Good luck Jeff and Daveywavey (although I suspect luck will have no bearing on the outcome). ;)

We were thinking of booking SS next year but after the news of the takeover that probably won't be happening.

I worried a bit about the solvency of the company with the 10% off for full payment promotion. Did they need cash? Having a big well capitalized company behind them is reassuring. I really don't worry about decline in quality. Perhaps I should.:)

After giving Manfredi several thousands of dollars of my hard-earned money more than a year-and-a-half in advance, I too am slightly reassured the line won't be going 'tango uniform' a week or so before I'm supposed to embark the Cloud. :rolleyes: The only question was - would it be Carnivore Corp. or RCL.N? The question is now answered.

The quality will be what it is. You can't 'sweat the small stuff'. :) At some point we all have to make a 'leap of faith'; and I'm gambling there won't be 'groups' booked on my expedition cruise. :eek:

Greetings Coolers! Best wishes to all with upcoming cruises that they will not be disappointed!

Today's funny.....

Have a great day all!

...... very funny! :D

And on the positive side we earned 10,164 BA Avios! :)

Only another 465,836 miles for two First Class returns to Singapore ....... :(

That's great news J! :)

...... very funny! :D

 

And on the positive side we earned 10,164 BA Avios! :)

 

Only another 465,836 miles for two First Class returns to Singapore ....... :(

I'm hopeless at earning Avios.:o

Tesco Clubcard fill up on petrol is about the only thing I do to earn them, and flying of course. I really don't make the most of it and like other people often end up missing out on my Companion ticket on Amex.

I've only just found out about the 'storefront' through BAEC where I can shop at John Lewis et al online to earn Avios.

Good morning all,

Nice one mysty, although I must say someone told me a while back that gullible isn’t even a proper word as it’s not in the English dictionary!

😀

Ha Ha Ha! Your sense of humour is still intact!

[Ref: Banff trip - edited]

Loved it and would go back again tomorrow.

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to 'my' part of the world.

I've never stayed at the Springs or the Chateau LL, but I did get to make the trip from Vancouver to Calgary at least 6 times a year for the past 30 years. It never got boring.

Please do return!

I'm hopeless at earning Avios.:o

 

Tesco Clubcard fill up on petrol is about the only thing I do to earn them, and flying of course. I really don't make the most of it and like other people often end up missing out on my Companion ticket on Amex.

I've only just found out about the 'storefront' through BAEC where I can shop at John Lewis et al online to earn Avios.

To be honest it was much easier in the past and I guess my current total is around 1.4m miles banked.

Unless you are going to take a long view and bank for several years perhaps as a part of a retirement plan then it probably isn’t worth starting out today. If you were, then it is mostly about buying miles when on offer at less than 1p each and only if you plan to use them for First long-haul and are flexible about dates and have an Amex companion voucher in plan. To have as say part of a retirement plan say a trip to Oz for two in First is not a bad aspiration. We have been so fortunate to have all those miles - I’ve spent several million and we’d have never done everything we managed to do without them.

Two years back we had three extended stays in Singapore travelling BA First and many years of two stays and now just down to one trip per year to Singapore. All stays are around three weeks. It has been really wonderful.

Today’s low carbs .....

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Good morning all,

Nice one mysty, although I must say someone told me a while back that gullible isn’t even a proper word as it’s not in the English dictionary!

��

Gosh really .... you live and learn ......;p

Sorry to read of your lack of cooperation on the credit card front on the other thread. Answering here rather than there ....:)

Once you have decided to go that route then I would immediately invoke the complaint procedure with a view to fast-nudging their compliance before it moving up to the ombudsman. It isn't for the credit card company to decide that you must be forced to take a future cruise and they will **probably** reverse that position once the formal complaint process is initiated and is reviewed up the formal complaints line.

The bank have been great Jeff and really encouraged me to pursue it. I was initially reluctant because the chargeback goes to the TA. They really have been less than useless and the bank said it’s then up to them to pursue SS for the loss.

I Haven’t heard anything back from the TA since I pointed out to her that under the SS contract that they forwarded to me they are specifically our agents and not SS’s.

Sounds hopeful Dave.

My Week Donald Trump*

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/my-week-donald-trump-kp5sn2xpr?shareToken=4da36e2785f9aa31c32efa3d4d3e4ec7

Do you like jigsaw puzzles? Have I got a job for you! :)

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-394-the-trump-doctrine-nigeria-s-world-cup-kit-the-song-of-the-summer-unaccompanied-minors-more-1.4706807/they-gave-us-scotch-tape-former-white-house-archivist-had-to-reassemble-documents-ripped-up-by-trump-1.4706822

"'They gave us Scotch Tape': Former White House archivist had to reassemble documents ripped up by Trump

'It became a challenge, like when you’re doing a puzzle'

For the last year of his work at the White House, Solomon Lartey spent hours taping together documents that had been torn to pieces. They came, he said, from the office of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Lartey was a records management analyst with the National Archives in Washington, D.C. for 20 years, part of a team that collected and archived anything that passed through the West Wing.

Everything the president touches, from memos to emails — and even handwritten sticky notes — has to be documented under the Presidential Records Act as historical records.

But when Donald Trump took office, a new kind of document began coming into his office: scraps of paper that needed to be laboriously reassembled."

Anyone?????? :)

Enjoyed your article link J! Relations between our country's leader and the leader of our neighbour to the south are a little dicey at the moment. Both countries may end up in the soup if things don't improve.