Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[les37b]

Amalfi tendering was cancelled today its too windy for the Wind!

 

I think well be leaving shortly to Messina. Does anyone know lf passengers are allowed on the bridge? I would quite fancy a nose and a few photos.

[TLCOhio]

Hi coolers! We've been way too busy to post but we had a great time in Budapest, and then the river cruise. We just finished with one night in Salzburg before spending last night in Munich. All was fun and looking forward to catching up with my blog, as well as all of your travels too!

 

Fletcher: A lot of people might regard that as the Golden Age of traveling. What irritates me is that it now takes just as long to fly to Brisbane in 2016 as it did in 1966. While some aspects of air travel have seen amazing advances they are all rather cosmetic (more movie choices etc) compared to the speed of travel. In this respect I regard the air industry as regressive rather than progressive. And am I the only person here who really dislikes the current fad for those business class pods? OK for solo business people' date=' I guess, but surely not vacationers. Coming back recently from Antigua in Virgin's Upper Class we were squeezed in like sardines, you couldn't talk to your partner, the flat beds were rather uncomfortable and so on. The staff were fab, though. [/quote']

 

Super glad to hear from J.P. that things have been going so well from Budapest, with the river cruise, etc. YES, want to see and hear lots more!!!

 

Appreciate the comments from Fletcher. Whether TV, travel, automobiles and/or movies, it is always interesting and challenging to debate and discuss the various "Golden Ages" as to what was the "best" and why, etc.

 

Regarding the "business class pods", we had those earlier this year in flying with Qatar Airways on their Boeing 787 Dreamliners earlier this year going to Cape Town and back to Doha from Johannesburg. My wife and I could not sit side-by-side together. She was spared the burden of listening to me!! Trade-offs? Pro/con factors?? BUT, each of us had a windows and we did not have to go over the others feet in getting in and/or out to the aisle. Liked how that airline had the various spaces, places to set things, plugs, controls, switches, etc., with their pod arrangements. Overall, we were very happy in doing these pods with Qatar and how they had them set-up, the excellent service, great food, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 38,380 views for these postings.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good to see you back JP ... looking forward to hearing about the adventures Chris and you had ... and hopefully with a slant towards the pilsener and the bratty!

 

Les, I see no one has answered. It use to be that there were organised bridge visits, but the better approach was to give that a miss and just ask whether a private visit is ok. This means you'll see a more authentic bridge, although on my visits not much goes on. Still interesting to see that they know if you are having a quiet ciggy in your suite or a bit of doings in a corridor. I was quite certain that most of the captain's tannoy on one cruise was him saying "this is your captain speaking from the fridge". My sort of bloke!

 

Back home from the balcony.

 

Jeff

[duct tape]

Les37b, Bridge Tours are often offered during the cruise. Read the Chronicle early and call Reception to get on the list. Enjoy!

Edited April 20, 2016 by duct tape

[les37b]

I will have another attempt a bit latter regarding the bridge. Concierge told me they do have tours but none on this trip. I should have insisted she at least tried. I will try to find a crew member.

 

Will be arriving in Messina shortly, after an awful night. The seas were a bit rough when we left Amalfi just as they'd said. But it was fine. I don't suffer too badly from motion sickness and I think this was just about bad enough to be a problem for those that do.

 

Anyway, the issue wasn't about movement (though possibly connected). Near enough all night we were kept awake by loud banging noises. The best I can think to describe - it was very similar to the noises you get when central heating pipes turned on and the water starts to flow and make clanking noises. Well it was similarish but much louder and much worse. I had noticed the noises before but only last night did it cause a sleepless night. I've spent the last hour looking for comments about banging noises on the wind, but some seem a bit vague and some talk about the anchor. We are a fair way back from the anchor not far off being central.

 

It's nigh impossible to tell in which direction it's coming from, but whilst it does let up occasionally, it happens between 10 second intervals to up to a 2 minute gap then returns.

 

Unfortunately I didn't drink too much last night.... It may have helpe if I had!

 

Suite number is 429

Edited April 20, 2016 by les37b

[Fletcher]

In rough seas that sort of banging noise is often caused by the stabilisers.

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! Welcome back JP. It sounds like you had a great trip! Spinnaker2 and Sophia and Les - hope you continue to enjoy yours!

 

It has been busy here. We took the 13 hour tour to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings from the port of Safaga. Long trip but we enjoyed it. Here is a picture from Luxor Temple.

 

 

Next day we took a 9 hour tour to Petra from the port of Aqaba. Here is a picture from Petra.

 

 

Yesterday we were in Sharm El Shiekh. This place is beautiful. The tourist trade has been heavily affected by world events and it is now almost a ghost town. Many hotels are closed as well as a number of shops. It is definitely suffering. We did a glass bottom boat tour that was excellent.

 

Today we are transiting the Suez Canal.

 

Have a great day/evening!

[les37b]

In rough seas that sort of banging noise is often caused by the stabilisers.

 

Thanks Fletch. Perfecting plausible as it only seems to happen when its moving. Last night was the noisiest and coincided with being the roughest seas.

 

Not knowing much about the stabilisers, it would be interesting to find out where they sit and which cabins are afflicted!! I would certainly avoid this location in the future.

 

Just setting off at Messina Central at 9.15 on our way to Taormina.

 

Mysty, Sharm was a nice place to visit and glad we got there a few years ago. I doubt we would return. Great place for diving too.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Lovely pics M!

 

Les .... why are there no Lesoramas?

 

:)

 

Jeff

[jpalbny]

Luxor and Petra...some amazing places!

[TLCOhio]

It has been busy here. We took the 13 hour tour to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings from the port of Safaga. Long trip but we enjoyed it. Here is a picture from Luxor Temple. Yesterday we were in Sharm El Shiekh. This place is beautiful. The tourist trade has been heavily affected by world events and it is now almost a ghost town. Many hotels are closed as well as a number of shops. It is definitely suffering. We did a glass bottom boat tour that was excellent. Today we are transiting the Suez Canal.

 

les37b: I will have another attempt a bit latter regarding the bridge. Concierge told me they do have tours but none on this trip. I should have insisted she at least tried.

 

Really enjoying the wonderful pictures from mysty in these historic areas of the Middle East. BUT' date='[b'] wanting more and more[/b] of these interesting images. Keep 'em coming!!

 

On bridge tours, last year on the Silver Cloud in doing the Amazon River, we did that tour of the bridge. But, however, there was a policy change from 2010 when we did the bridge tour while sailing along the Norway coast. The change? No picture taking allowed during that most recent tour of the bridge on the Silver cloud. In fact during the tour, the Captain's wife was there and asked me to take a picture of her and their cute, young daughter. BUT, I had to decline as the "no pix's" policy was the rule. She understood and appreciate me being a "good boy"!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Super loved Dubrovnik!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at this link. Have had over 31,706 views on this posting and appreciate those who have tuned-in and dropped by.

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

 

 

During our July 2010 Silver Cloud Norway cruise, here is the Captain reviewing some of the past weather info from earlier during our trip.:

 

 

 

On the Bridge deck, the Captain spent a good amount of time with us and was answering questions during our 2010 tour.:

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon from a sunny Hampshire .... we made our way back from the balcony yesterday!

 

Terry, presumably they have stopped bridge visits and as you explained in some detail, they had previously banned pictures being taken, presumably out of a security considerations. That seems a reasonable concern and whilst there might not seem much to you to give away with your pics, I wonder whether it is a good idea having heard their request to then ignore the spirit of what they are trying to do and post a couple of earlier pictures that you have taken on the bridge up on the net? I mean not to cause offence, it just seemed odd to me. Just a thought:)

 

Today was ribeyes.

 

Jeff

 

Edited April 20, 2016 by UKCruiseJeff

[Fletcher]

Mysty - How do you get into Petra these days? We went way back in 1981 on a Jordan-Syria archaeological tour and at Petra we rode down the Siq on rather emaciated nags. A great experience which I'll always remember.

 

Taormina can be lovely, depending on the number of tourists. There is a wonderful Graeco-Roman Theatre up there and lots of little squares off the main drag.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Fletcher

[UKCruiseJeff]

Fletch,

 

I often wonder whether Taormina might be a nice place to go to out of season and if you can conspire such a thing, when there appears to be a week or so of less cruise ships. I think it wouldf be a magical place for a week or so.

 

Jeff

[Tothesunset]

Just to wildly take this thread in another direction, here are a couple of snaps of the newest addition to the household (and also to check that I'm doing this photo thing properly):

 

 

Edited April 20, 2016 by Tothesunset

[UKCruiseJeff]

Well done .... a lovely doggy.

[Tothesunset]

And another - just to make sure I've got it right:

 

[Tothesunset]

Well, it took a while to get into this photobucket upload, copy photo link onto site thing going but I seem to have cracked it. Please forgive my indulging myself on this thread in an attempt (successful - Yay!) to sort this out.

[jpalbny]

Well done! It is a pain to learn but once you get the hang of it, works ok. Unfortunately I have been using Picasa, which will be phased out shortly and migrated to Google photos. So, time to relearn. :(

 

And, that is one really cute pup! Thanks for posting.

[mysty]

Mysty - How do you get into Petra these days? We went way back in 1981 on a Jordan-Syria archaeological tour and at Petra we rode down the Siq on rather emaciated nags. A great experience which I'll always remember.

 

Taormina can be lovely, depending on the number of tourists. There is a wonderful Graeco-Roman Theatre up there and lots of little squares off the main drag.

Fletcher - We walked down through the Siq. The ridden horses are not allowed through the Siq these days. You can take a horse drawn cart through. They seem to travel at break-neck speed and walkers have to move to the sides to avoid getting hit.

[jpalbny]

Can't beat the walk down the Siq, IMO. Lots of cool carvings there, and walking that narrow chasm added to our experience. When you round that final corner and get your first glimpse, then pop out of the Siq into the wide open space, with the treasury before you...wow!

[mysty]

Agreed JP! The walk with a guide to point out things of interest in the Siq and then the final reveal was amazing!

[Fletcher]

I have some memories of Petra that I'll never forget - that's why they are called memories.

 

It was 1983 (not 1981 as I said earlier, 1981 was Libya) and we joined a tour organised by a company called Serenissima which was run by a Roman Empire buff called Jim Smith. There were a dozen of us in a minibus and off we went to Palmyra and the Meridien Hotel. They served us a whole roast lamb with couscous and Ch.Musar, the best wine in Lebanon. We also had a picnic lunch on the ramparts of Krak de Chevalier. I also remember my wife and opting out of the restaurant lunch in Deraa (site of TE Lawrence's humiliation) and watching everyone on our tour throwing up an hour later.

 

Into Jordan. We had become very friendly with two members on our tour, George Rainbird and his wife Leila. He was a publisher and loved fine wine and had published his own books on it. George was in his 80s and had been everywhere - Bali in the 30s, Easter Island, everywhere. Petra was the last place he needed to visit before he conked out.

 

We arrived in Petra and stayed at the Petra Rest House. This was the only hotel in those days. We had paid extra for a luxury room which meant we had a private bathroom. The tap was on one wall and the basin was on the other. Dinners consisted of those little triangles of processed cheese, some nice bread and wine bought by Mr Rainbird, usually Ch.Musar.

 

The first night our tour manager, Jim, walked us all down The Siq at midnight to a chorus of barking wild dogs. At the end the Treasury was lit up by a full moon and was cast in silver. Jim opened a bottle of Chivas Regal and we all drank the lot. We staggered back to our luxury dwelling.

 

The next morning emaciated nags were lined up for us and we rode into Petra like the Light Brigade after the Charge. On the entire site there was just our little group. My wife and I walked up to the High Place and it was there that we looked down and saw Mr Rainbird being taken back down The Siq on a stretcher. We feared the worst. He was way over 80 years old.

 

We carried on touring the site and eventually got back to the Rest House. And there was Mr Rainbird, drinking French champagne! The heat had simply got to him.

 

We did two more trips into Petra and the last one was in the company of a group of Japanese tourists, all wearing suits and ties, led by an Arab man on a white charger. We had a witty chat with him and, lo and behold, he swept my wife off her feet a few days later when we were at a buffet dinner at the Holiday Inn at Aqaba.

 

Those were the days!

Edited April 20, 2016 by Fletcher

[specialcruisegirl]

Hi All....smooth seas all the way into Horta.....damn shame as l quite like a bit of action! Everything on board is excellent ...pub lunch yesterday so Spins got her mushy peas! Not so keen on the cod fish this time but the cottage pie was delish.

Dinner last night was a taste of the Muse....some interesting choices including deep fried Dover sole with the mushy peas and chips again!!!

Bridge visit on here two days ago....don't know how many went as I've done it before....Les I'd have a word with your CD...

 

Just about getting ready to leave Horta, pretty cool out with snow on the volcano....[emoji15] casual attire tonight so a chill evening and hopefully an early night....[emoji6]

 

S [emoji5]

 

 

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[specialcruisegirl]

PS......TTS.....love the new pup.....did you lose the old one?

 

 

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