Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

WOW! I'm so touched! What a lovely welcome! Thank you all!

We'll be doing the fall transatlantic on the Spirit. It's a great one for us as we only have to fly over to London, and we basically sail home. We live in the Hudson Valley, so we're a short drive home. Part of the selling point of this trip is that there is some sort of a themed "wine and food do" on this particular cruise. That got John's attention right away!

Looking forward to the re do of the Spirit. I thought it was lovely just as it was before the stretch!

Chicken and rice for dinner tonight!

Have a good evening, all !

Linda

Hi all from the friendly skies over Newfoundland! Flying home from Reykjavik to Boston tonight then a 3h drive home.

We've had a blast. Brussels was absolutely charming and so easy to get around. We spent two days walking and one on public transport. Our hotel was great - Hotel Amigo (a Rocco Forte property).

And we loved the food. Ate way too many frites, lots of mussels, plenty of tasty beer and the best part for Chris was that every restaurant had Alsatian wine! Once for lunch, we had his and hers half bottles. Yum!

We spent last night in Reykjavik. Total change of plans but more on that later. Short version, bad weather and road closures meant that we could not get ro our hotel last night... Not sure how much the onboard Wi-Fi can handle.

Unfortunately we missed the Aurora again but we visited the museum in town and took pictures of their movie clips. Does that count?

Will close with a quintessential pic from dinner one night in Brussels. Time for some serious dieting now...

PS. Welcome Linda! We're your neighbors to the north (Albany).

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

WOW! I'm so touched! What a lovely welcome! Thank you all!

 

We'll be doing the fall transatlantic on the Spirit. It's a great one for us as we only have to fly over to London, and we basically sail home. We live in the Hudson Valley, so we're a short drive home. Part of the selling point of this trip is that there is some sort of a themed "wine and food do" on this particular cruise. That got John's attention right away!

 

Looking forward to the re do of the Spirit. I thought it was lovely just as it was before the stretch!

 

Chicken and rice for dinner tonight!

 

Have a good evening, all !

 

Linda

Enjoy your Chicken and Rice!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

JP! Chips and Mayo! Safe and speedy return home. :)

I, too, have been lurking for a while. After reading so many posts about clearing out unneeded things and downsizing, I spent the day sorting through many St. John's that were once so prized and now have no use in this wonderful post-work world. There is a great thrift shop that will be glad to have so many almost stylish outfits. It is sad that so many of our inherited treasures will have to find their way to eBay or a thrift shop in the not too distant future. I am now using all the fine china and crystal, and if I break something, it is not a tragedy. Thanks to all who inspired me to get moving on the decluttering project.

Best wishes also to Lois for an easy recovery from surgery. I'll be riding the ambulance in the snow tomorrow evening. Should be interesting.

Hi all from the friendly skies over Newfoundland! Flying home from Reykjavik to Boston tonight then a 3h drive home. We've had a blast. Brussels was absolutely charming and so easy to get around. We spent two days walking and one on public transport. Our hotel was great - Hotel Amigo (a Rocco Forte property). And we loved the food. Ate way too many frites, lots of mussels, plenty of tasty beer and the best part for Chris was that every restaurant had Alsatian wine! Once for lunch, we had his and hers half bottles. Yum! We spent last night in Reykjavik. Total change of plans but more on that later. Short version, bad weather and road closures meant that we could not get ro our hotel last night... Not sure how much the onboard Wi-Fi can handle. Unfortunately we missed the Aurora again but we visited the museum in town and took pictures of their movie clips. Does that count?

Great updating and pictures from J.P. and Chris. Yes, having mussels and beer in Belgium is about as good as it can get. Love that combination. Sorry, a picture of an Aurora movie clip does NOT count. Sorry!! But, that picture looked good until shared how you "cheated" to get it.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Panama Canal? Completed Feb. 28-Mar. 15, 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through the Panama Canal with our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Lots of fun, interesting pictures!! Those visuals start on the second page, post #26. See more at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

I, too, have been lurking for a while. After reading so many posts about clearing out unneeded things and downsizing, I spent the day sorting through many St. John's that were once so prized and now have no use in this wonderful post-work world. There is a great thrift shop that will be glad to have so many almost stylish outfits. It is sad that so many of our inherited treasures will have to find their way to eBay or a thrift shop in the not too distant future. I am now using all the fine china and crystal, and if I break something, it is not a tragedy. Thanks to all who inspired me to get moving on the decluttering project.

Glad that Emtbsam stopped lurking and posted here at the Cooler. Welcome!! I remember you doing other posts in the past. Right?

Yes, "decluttering" is a fact of life (or something else). Must be done, one way or the other. Agree that many younger folks are not as interested in the "old stuff". For us, we like most of our "things", but our son and his wife are NOT at all interested.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Venice: Loving It & Why??!! Is one of your future desires or past favorites? See these many visual samples for its great history and architecture. This posting is now at 70,616 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

I'm a little embarassed to be posting here, as I confess, I've been somewhat of a lurker! I haven't had any lovely food pix to post and we don't know any former passengers very well....BUT we're very excited to have deposited a cruise on the Spirit!! WHOOPEE! We were aboard the Spirit for a Med cruise in April. It was our first time on SS. We're Regent and Crystal repeaters but liked SS's itineraries so much more!

In the little that I can add, I'm sending Lois good wishes for her up coming "ordeal"...will be looking for updates!

To those who cook and report...keep the food porn coming!

Best,

Linda

Hi Linda, thank you so much:)

Hi friends, so tomorrow morning is the day.......and if you don't hear from me for a couple of days it is only because

I won't be on line.

Thanks for all the good wishes:)

Lois, some freshly made lahmacun for you to take with you .... as it cures everything and I don't believe flowers do .......

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I, too, have been lurking for a while. After reading so many posts about clearing out unneeded things and downsizing, I spent the day sorting through many St. John's that were once so prized and now have no use in this wonderful post-work world. There is a great thrift shop that will be glad to have so many almost stylish outfits. It is sad that so many of our inherited treasures will have to find their way to eBay or a thrift shop in the not too distant future. I am now using all the fine china and crystal, and if I break something, it is not a tragedy. Thanks to all who inspired me to get moving on the decluttering project.

 

Best wishes also to Lois for an easy recovery from surgery. I'll be riding the ambulance in the snow tomorrow evening. Should be interesting.

Lovely of you to drop by and we I hope have more French conversation because my franglais is extremely rusty and needs exercising. :D

We unluckily have filled a large main house with clutter from both our lives and work, and also filled a smaller four bedroom place on the beach. The problem is I am so much a boring person who likes familiarity that when we buy something for one house we duplicate it in the other house, so it has many of the same electricals and beds and stuff in both. So decluttering and moving for us would mean such an undertaking we are worn down into submission by the thought of it and that means probably staying here. We have for example eight or nine newish Vispring beds to get rid of ......

Do come back to the Cooler as your place in the bar with our other new members of today has been placed carefully for you and your name plaque is on the back pf your own personal stool. All we ask is that you refrain from dancing on the bar in stilletos as it leaves deep marks and the only person allowed to dance on the bar is Mysty who does the flamenco in trainers. :)

Four weeks till our removal. About 40 boxes packed with books, linen and wine so far. Lots still to pack but the removalists will do our crockery and glasses.

If it was up to my husband we would be all packed and sitting in an empty house surrounded by boxes!

It will go into storage till May when our new house in the retirement village should be finished. Slab and walls are up with interior framework in. The street behind us have their roofs on so won’t be long till ours go up.

We are lucky that our daughter has a holiday house in a pretty area, about 2 hours away, so we will set ourselves up there and get into holiday mode.

We will swap places with her at Easter and some weekends and get our "big city" fix in Melbourne.

Safely home. Time for sleep! Seems like we've been up forever. But only about 20 hours.

Thinking good thoughts for Lois tomorrow. Good night all!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

Sent from my iPad using Forums

WOW! I'm so touched! What a lovely welcome! Thank you all!

We'll be doing the fall transatlantic on the Spirit. It's a great one for us as we only have to fly over to London, and we basically sail home. We live in the Hudson Valley, so we're a short drive home. Part of the selling point of this trip is that there is some sort of a themed "wine and food do" on this particular cruise. That got John's attention right away!

Looking forward to the re do of the Spirit. I thought it was lovely just as it was before the stretch!

Chicken and rice for dinner tonight!

Have a good evening, all !

Linda

Hi Linda,

DH and I have booked that same TA on the Spirit.

Don't forget to sign up for the meet and mingle, a nice way to greet compadres from CC.

We unluckily have filled a large main house with clutter from both our lives and work, and also filled a smaller four bedroom place on the beach. The problem is I am so much a boring person who likes familiarity that when we buy something for one house we duplicate it in the other house, so it has many of the same electricals and beds and stuff in both. So decluttering and moving for us would mean such an undertaking we are worn down into submission by the thought of it and that means probably staying here.

Welcome back to JP and Chris. WOW, what a future de-cluttering challenge for Jeff and his DW with not just one large home, having two large locations to tackle. My wife and I are very slowly working in the direction of narrowing down with our various home items. BUT, she keeps liking to buy more!! Surprised?? Such a difficult series of choices.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Super loved Dubrovnik!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at this link. Have had over 39,845 views on this posting and appreciate those who have tuned-in and dropped by.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439227

Hi Linda,

DH and I have booked that same TA on the Spirit.

Don't forget to sign up for the meet and mingle, a nice way to greet compadres from CC.

We're delighted to have some CC "buds" on board with us!

However I'm having trouble registering for the M&M....It only shows two dates...both of which are in Feb. of this year.

What am I doing wrong?

Warmest welcome to new Coolers!

Faulty internet, will report in detail whe at home. Very pleased with SB cruise, but miss my butler!!!!

Faulty internet, will report in detail whe at home. Very pleased with SB cruise, but miss my butler!!!!

Welcome back to Cams!! Yes, I am missing a Butler, too! I need lunch now, but there is no Butler to take care of my needs. Looking forward to hearing more details for your Caribbean cruise with Seabourn.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Wonderful Kotor and nearby Montenegro? Check these postings. Have had over 39,009 views on this posting and appreciate those who have tuned-in and commented.:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439193

We're delighted to have some CC "buds" on board with us!

However I'm having trouble registering for the M&M....It only shows two dates...both of which are in Feb. of this year.

What am I doing wrong?

Mudhen,

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. CC has to load the dates of the voyages into their database first, before you can select them and sign up for M&M. If you were (for example) choose the Wind instead of the Spirit, you would see that all of the Wind voyage dates through 2019 are available, and you can sign up. But yes, the Spirit seems to have its list quite truncated! I also only see the two voyages next month.

If you send an e-mail to Meet_and_Mingle@cruisecritic.com asking them to update the voyage list for the Spirit, I bet that would solve the problem. Good luck!

Thank you for that info. I'll give it a try! There's still some time yet....haha!

I just filled out the forms for John to renew his passport. It kicks in July. Figured I'd take care of that now...

John's making Chinese food for this evening.....shrimp somethingorother!

Talk of passports ..... I have to congratulate the British Passport Office.

We completed wifey's application on-line last Wednesday. Took a piccy in the hall and uploaded it. It took a couple of gos but it automatically approved the piccy on-line when it "liked it". It requested we send in the old passport before it would produce the replacement. Taken to the village postoffice Wednesday afternoon. Email from them that they had received it on Thursday and that the application was approved. Email on Friday to say it had been produced and despatched and it was here with us today. All trackable online and back with us within five working days inclusive of application and delivery days.

The world is now our oyster again. :)

Take a piccy of that shrimp if you can ........

Emtbsam,

Good for you! I wish I could tackle the clothes of my former life, but I am not there yet.

I just finished putting all the Christmas decorations away in anticipation of houseguests when DH and I realized my office room was filling up with humid air and dust...turns out the dryer vent may be leaking into the house.

this is a formidable and daunting thing. The wall has a huge wall unit from floor to ceiling and an L shaped desk attachment. Since Sunday afternoon I have been emptying the wall units...now my dining room is filled with all that stuff.

The workmen arrived late today. They moved the wall unit, and there was a huge hole at least two feet by two feet and damaged wall...so now to fix.

No wonder my house has been so dusty!

Houseguests will likely not get to eat in the dining room! I will order take out! We can eat outside under the stars if the weather stays nice or under cover if not.!

And I will be forced to go through all the "stuff" before I put it back. The silver lining!

Would love to hear more for your experiences with Qatar. Are you going back from Cape Town on a nice, new Boeing 787?

The trip was:

LHR - DOH Airbus 380

DOH - CPT 777

CPT -DOH 777

DOH - LHR A380

Of the total of 4 legs of the journey we had originally booked economy and flew out eco to CPT. When checking in for return were offered upgrade to Business for £370 each for the CPT - DOH leg. Accepted.

So I can give our impressions of Economy and Business. The A380 is a fine aircraft with a seat pitch in economy 2 inches greater than BA or Virgin Atlantic. Seat 68E has no seat directly in front and therefore acres of legroom. The seats are fine for economy and the service similar to any other major airline. We aren't too precious so found the A380 flights tolerable.

The Boeing 777 is an older airframe with an economy section where we perceived the pitch to be similar to the A380 but the width seemed less. The seats were also less comfortable. Service was the usual economy level of giving you only that which is necessary to keep you alive!

Business on the 777 was a 2-2-2 configuration (the 380 is the more popular herring-bone pattern, I believe). Compared with BA business and Virgin Upper we thought Qatar excelled. The seats are full flat affairs with their own pods and recline fully flat by electric motors (on Virgin while there is substantial seat recline by motor a crew member needs to make the bed flat). Food was outstanding - really outstanding - and service virtually one to one in this half full cabin. I should add that our attendant was probably the most attractive woman ever to have left the shores of South Korea and had the most charming personality. I am remain in a state of unrequited love!!!

We fly Upper or Premium Economy on Virgin depending on seat availability through Air Miles. Everything else is either Economy or PE. Qatar do not do PE. We have heard it said that Qatar Eco is like others' PE. Not true. Their eco section is fine, a little more room than BA, Virgin etc, but it's still pure economy. Their business section, however, we thought was exceptional and I dare say that their First would be amazing.

Hope that helps.

A couple of pics from Qatar Business:

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Forums mobile app