Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[spinnaker2]

Lux.

The proverbial pot stirring.

:-)

[mysty]

Thanks for the kind comments all! I must apologize for passing on some bad information in regard to the port of Puerto Limon! In fact, it is still on the itinerary. We have another sea day tomorrow and Puerto Limon will be on deck for January 9. It might be the alcohol pickling brain cells. :) I'll be more careful in the future!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning Coolers a cool zero degrees here @ 02:10 ....

 

Snowdrops in the church and a past reminder for M of Manly and where to eat in Singapore one evening .... and a piccy of a snack home stir fry ..

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2016 by UKCruiseJeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Welcome back mysty! Those look yummy. Now I'm hungry.

 

 

Then bleedin' well eat!

 

How about mssing all the normal tourist piccies of Barcelona and just post piccies of what was unique about your trip ie the food ... perhaps the market .... and a nice piccy of chris and you in a selfie. Don't feel the need to post a whole travelog if you are busy .... we all understand .

 

:)

 

Jeff

[mysty]

J.... I have mapped the location for both Manly locations! :) We are good to go. :) Have to say that so far we are very happy with this cruise! Have met many interesting and friendly fellow passengers and our dream trip is truly that! :) Unfortunately, because Myster has always wanted to see Bhutan, we will miss Singapore. We leave the ship in Bangkok and return to it in Singapore just before sail away. I am disappointed but this is his dream and I want to support him.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Unfortunately, because Myster has always wanted to see Bhutan, we will miss Singapore. We leave the ship in Bangkok and return to it in Singapore just before sail away. I am disappointed but this is his dream and I want to support him.

 

I'm sure that it is exactly the right thing ..... all that way and he must see his dream! I'm sure you'll love the experience of Bhutan.

 

Jeff

Edited January 8, 2016 by UKCruiseJeff

[Mark_K]

Last night our daughter and four year old granddaughter arrived down here for a visit. The four year old had two questions for us:

 

Do you have snacks?

Do you have Internet?

[Catlover54]

Last January we stayed in Venice for five nights at Ca'Sagredo, a lovely low-key palazzo beyond the Rialto but still only 15 minutes walk from the PSM. We loved that hotel and personally I'd always recommend doing Venice as a hotel stay rather than a cruise stop. The best thing about our trip was going in January - maybe we were lucky but the weather was fabulous, even warm enough to sit outside for lunches, and there were very few tourists around. Another great thing about going in January was the total lack of big cruise ships wrecking the view of the lagoon!

 

Our favourite restaurant was Vini da Gigio, near our hotel.

 

My Venice pics are here if anyone's interested -

 

 

We're going the same thing in three days' time, only it's Rome instead of Venice.

 

DH and I returned a few days ago from 15 wonderful days on Hapag-Lloyd's Europa 2 Cape Town - Cape Town and went back to my work, which among other more rewarding things , unfortunately also involves dealing with government bureaucrats much of the day. I turned to the Cooler to get an evening food porn fix, as I often do to relax. Then I happened on Fletcher's quiet link to his Venice photos here and my blood pressure immediately started dropping at the site of these gorgeous, creative, mesmerizing works of art. I called over DH, who is a digital photography hobbyist and had done the live photolinks to the blog I posted on CC about the trip, to come look as I knew he would appreciate them. We spent a good part of the evening lying around and studying these, and then also the many other Fletcher pictures on Flickr, with DH perusing the technical settings and composition with great interest and trying to explain to me what Fletcher likely did to create these stunning and inspiring images, and also contemplating getting a new camera or two, and me mostly just gaping. I skipped the evening blood pressure medicine as I was already down to 110/70 just from looking at Fletcher's pictures!

 

Bravo, and thank you, Fletcher. Your photos are fantastic!

[spinnaker2]

Photos by Fletcher are wonderful.

Wondering too what techniques were used to capture and edit the images.

overlays?

[jpalbny]

Agree, Fletcher's photos really pop! Great composition and vivid colors...we have to get back to Venice some day!

[les37b]

After a trip last year on the Cloud, I found myself using one of those apps that shows you where ships are..... which led me (according to the wife) to being obsessed. This was later upgraded to stalker status after insisting on photographing and videoing my baby on its journeys up and down the Thames. If I had noticed when watching the screen that I had not been recording when using my drone, I would have got some even better images to share with you.

 

Anyway, JP invited me over to share some of them...

 

 

 

Dartford Bridge

 

 

 

 

Luckily for me, I'm in the Wind in 3 months..... and she is on the Thames runs this rear!

Edited January 8, 2016 by les37b

[specialcruisegirl]

Evening Coolers.....

 

Lots to read and catch up with again with lovely pics all round.

 

It's been a tiring day, one of my oldest and closest friends lost her mother two days before Christmas so today was the funeral and quite beautifully moving it was with some of the Chester Cathedral Choir singing so wonderfully...the family did 'Mum' proud.

 

DD is arriving soon for dinner with me this evening so I've cooked a chicken casserole to be served with Creamed potato and petit pois.

 

S[emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jpalbny]

Aw S, tough day but glad it was done in a way that was special for the family. Have a great dinner.

 

We're finally home for the weekend after going to Barcelona, and then New York, for the Christmas and New Years weekends. Will be good to rest and catch up around the house. Chris' birthday is Sunday so we should have a nice dinner somewhere in celebration. Haven't decided where yet!

 

Les37b, welcome and thanks for posting. Hope everyone else enjoys your videos as much as I have.

[mysty]

Happy Birthday Chris!!!

 

Sea day today. We had a very interesting and entertaining speaker from the UK - Michael Buerk. He spoke on "How Scotland Tried to Build an Empire in Panama and Lost Its Independence". Many of the Brits on the ship enjoyed him as did we. :)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Lovely videos etc Les ..... and JP please send happy birthdays to Chris!

 

Mysty, knowing you, you googled Michael and presuming he is the same one ... and you may have gatherered from the reaction of the Brits he is a very highly respected BBC journalalist and newsreader. Was he the same? I only seem doubtful because it would seem an odd topic for him. I could think of a better topic for him, but he does have a history Scotland wise.

 

If so, it was his reporting from Ethiopia that nudged Band Aid. He must be really interesting.

 

 

Jeff

Edited January 8, 2016 by UKCruiseJeff

[les37b]

Les37b, welcome and thanks for posting. Hope everyone else enjoys your videos as much as I have.

 

Lovely videos etc Les .....

 

Cheers.... happy to be onboard!

 

Edited January 8, 2016 by les37b

[spinnaker2]

les,

thanks for the cloud videos. i was on the cloud in July last year and we sailed under the tower bridge on july 18. someone caught it on video and posted to you tube as well.

i must say it was a very moving experience!

 

s, sorry for the loss of your friends mum.

 

jp wish your lovely wife a terrific b'day.

 

waiting for food fotos...

 

intermittent dreariness here today.

time to out away Christmas stuff, came and went quickly. still cant figure out how to reuse the gingerbread house. surely its inedibly stale. if it didn't have all that candy on it i'd put it out for the birds.

[les37b]

les,

thanks for the cloud videos. i was on the cloud in July last year and we sailed under the tower bridge on july 18. someone caught it on video and posted to you tube as well.

i must say it was a very moving experience!

 

You are right, it was very emotional. My office is within 50 yards from where she parks next to the Belfast. To be on this ship I've seen a couple of times with such a wow factor, was really very very special.

 

It was probably me that posted it arriving on Youtube. For some reason, most have been deleted. (I expect by me - I will search my laptop and put them back up.

 

July 18th was one on my Stalks and I videod her at the Dartford Bridge using my Drone and video camera (as well as camera), before speeding off to the train station and train to London Bridge to watch and video coming through. I only just made it - and didnt get to where I was hoping to. Ive definitely got the footage still - along with a ton of photos - and you were onboard!!

 

I was then lucky enough to tender over at 10am on the 19th. You had probably already dissembarked. I was already hooked by this time and had booked the Wind trip before the revisit.

 

 

waiting for food fotos...

 

Remember this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then to wash down......... cheers

 

 

Edited January 8, 2016 by les37b

[les37b]

And how could I forget the Beef Wellington that was prepared for us?

 

[mjnvoyager]

We were on a cruise some years ago fro Singapore to Dubai and Michael joined the ship in Sri Lanka and entertained us all with his fascinating talks. We dined with him and his delightful wife and all the Brits on board were immensely proud of him. It was I believe his first trip lecturing on SS. He obviously enjoyed the experience if he is repeating it.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Cheers.... happy to be onboard!

 

 

Les ... welcome aboard ...... you are a very welcome new member of the coolers. I love both your posts and piccies ..... particularly the food which is of a nice quality!

 

Looking forward to hearing lots more from you.

 

:)

 

Jeff

[spinnaker2]

Scallops look yummy.

I want them now.

 

Les, the youtube video taken by lilac is still up.

You can hear the crowds on the bridge cheering.

 

The crew aboard the cloud was playing o Britannia and other songs

So loud.

Not a dry eye.

[UKCruiseJeff]

We were on a cruise some years ago fro Singapore to Dubai and Michael joined the ship in Sri Lanka and entertained us all with his fascinating talks. We dined with him and his delightful wife and all the Brits on board were immensely proud of him. It was I believe his first trip lecturing on SS. He obviously enjoyed the experience if he is repeating it.

 

That's nice to hear.

 

Is it an exaggeration to say that Band Aid and Live Aid changed the world to a degree, and that as without his reports it wouldn't have happened? If so, then he has made an enormous contribution.

 

It must have been a memorable evening for you both.

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

After a trip last year on the Cloud, I found myself using one of those apps that shows you where ships are..... which led me (according to the wife) to being obsessed. This was later upgraded to stalker status after insisting on photographing and videoing my baby on its journeys up and down the Thames.

 

Catlover54: Fletcher's breathtaking photography DH and I returned a few days ago from 15 wonderful days on Hapag-Lloyd's Europa 2 Cape Town - Cape Town and went back to my work' date=' which among other more rewarding things , unfortunately also involves dealing with government bureaucrats much of the day. I turned to the Cooler to get an evening food porn fix, as I often do to relax. Then I happened on Fletcher's quiet link to his Venice photos here and my blood pressure immediately started dropping at the site of these gorgeous, creative, mesmerizing works of art. [/quote']

 

spinnaker2: Scallops look yummy. I want them now.

 

UKCruiseJeff: Lovely videos etc Les ..... and JP please send happy birthdays to Chris!

 

misty: Greetings Coolers! We got internet access today!!!! Yesterday we were in Key West. We had not scheduled tours. We just went walk about. Really enjoyed the port. We had lunch at Garbo's Grill - agave margaritas and fish tacos.

 

Appreciate these various' date=' wonderful pictures[/i'] and many interesting details. Glad to see the nice views on the Silver Cloud being in those great London locations, etc. Love the scallops treats and other food items, especially for the Beef Wellington.

 

YES!! Super welcome to Les and best birthday wishes to Chris, etc.

 

Great to see the Key details and visuals from misty. Keep it coming and crank it up with many more.

 

Been busy with work and projects this week. Just got our Silversea "Silver Box" for our Feb. 2-12, 2016 Silver Cloud sailing. More on that shortly.

 

Has catlover54 posted more elsewhere on Cape Town and your South Africa sailing?? Would love to read and access more info and details. Hint! Hint!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 131,515 views for this posting.

[Catlover54]

Appreciate these various, wonderful pictures and many interesting details. Glad to see the nice views on the Silver Cloud being in those great London locations, etc. Love the scallops treats and other food items, especially for the Beef Wellington.

 

(snip)

 

"

Has catlover54 posted more elsewhere on Cape Town and your South Africa sailing?? Would love to read and access more info and details. Hint! Hint!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio" (snip) . . . . "

 

Yes, I posted a member review, and a blog on CC with scattered links to DH's photobuckets within the blog as we cruised along.

 

The blog (long and rambling) is in the luxury cruising forum, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2290219

 

The DH PHOTOs, which you are likely most interested in, are at the following post numbers within the blog thread, they link to his photobucket

 

Number 12 -- Cape Town, Table Mountain, Signal Hill gun, Bo-Kamp, Kirstenbock gardens, also pix of Europa 2

 

Number 18 -- German diamond mining ghost town in Namibia with lots of photo ops in the town DH loved

 

Number 23 -- Moonscape Namibian Desert

 

Number 29 -- Dinner in the Namibian Desert with all the pax, beautiful place

 

Number 35 Mossel Bay ( excursion to fascinating Cango Caves and Ostrich farm ner the Karoo

 

Number 46 Durban -- Tala game preserve, many animals

 

Number 54 -- Port Elizabeth, Addo Elephant Park etc

 

 

Number 67 -- Cape of Good Hope, penguin colony