Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[mysty]

Thank you J! :)

[tgh]

Jeff may be "warmed" to know that I have just enjoyed the most entertaining dining experience sitting at a tired old plastic table in the middle of the road alongside both my hotel and the Telok Ayer market. The pressure among the servers and the "maitre d" is super entertaining as they attempt to seat the passing throng and serve those they have "captured". What a hoot, I haven't had so much fun since nanny caught her pinny in the mangle. Half a gallon of Tiger beer later , I return to my humble abode .. satiated..

[spinnaker2]

Mysty...

I will take time to relish the blog, it's a wonderful journal of your trip.

The preparation is monumental, but the experience was as you stated, a once in a lifetime.

Would you do it again?

I have a good friend who has done the world cruise 5 times, all by herself, as she is a widow.

She says she packs everything and even requested, on the last cruise, that an extra bureau be put in the suite. The wish was accommodated!

[mysty]

Thank you spinnaker2! I would do it again in a heart beat! There are a number of lucky people who get to do this trip multiple times. I really wish I could be one of them! :) Not in the stars for me though. That's ok as I will dine on and savour the memories for as long as my mind cooperates! :)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Jeff may be "warmed" to know that I have just enjoyed the most entertaining dining experience sitting at a tired old plastic table in the middle of the road alongside both my hotel and the Telok Ayer market. The pressure among the servers and the "maitre d" is super entertaining as they attempt to seat the passing throng and serve those they have "captured". What a hoot, I haven't had so much fun since nanny caught her pinny in the mangle. Half a gallon of Tiger beer later , I return to my humble abode .. satiated..

 

 

Are you in Satay Street ie Boon Tat?

 

Jeff

Edited July 28, 2016 by UKCruiseJeff

[jpalbny]

 

In preparation for and throughout our grand adventure I wrote in a blog entitled (not very creatively) “Around the World in 115 Days”. I started the blog on February 3, 2015 with a post titled “To Dream…”– almost a year before the sail date. The blog was intended to be a record of the research and planning that went into the trip as well as a day-by-day account of the actual cruise. There are pictures (even some food shots). I am going to provide a link here to the January 4, 2016 post – “Pre-Cruise Miami”. The previous posts all relate to the planning and research.

 

 

Mysty! Great job. I've had a bit of time today to read a lot of the pre-cruise portion and I'm looking forward to reading the rest. Quite the undertaking. :D

 

 

For JP, I am very interested in the up-coming visits to those interesting parts of Africa that you listed. What's your plan and where for your week in South Africa?? Love to hear more details.

 

 

Terry, after two full weeks of tromping around the wilds of Madagascar with our travel group, we will need a relaxing, laid-back week in South Africa. This is unsual for us; we typically don't relax on vacation but we may be forced to do it this time. :/

 

We have visited SA by cruise in 2011 and because of that, we've seen a fair amount and we don't feel the need to cram a ton of stuff into this trip. Pre-cruise we did a safari near Kruger (at an amazing private reserve), and post-cruise we spent 4 days in Cape Town on our own. The one thing we didn't do was spend enough time in the wine country. So...

 

We're starting off by spending four nights at a small boutique hotel outside of Stellenbosch. We have a guide and driver for 2 full days of wine tasting. We will be using the same outfit that you used while you were there - Glen at Vineyard Ventures. Really looking forward to lots of nice wine tasting, as well as beautiful landscapes. Lunches will be at Tokara one day and La Motte the other day (thanks for that recommendation too, BTW).

 

After the four days in Stellenbosch we will head off on our own for one night in Hermanus (on the south coast), for whale watching and also great white sharks, while our friends head to CPT. Then we'll finish up with a night in Cape Town with the group, and the whole next day there as well, as our flight home doesn't leave until almost midnight.

 

So excited for this trip! It's been agony to wait...over two months still to go.

[mysty]

Mysty! Great job. I've had a bit of time today to read a lot of the pre-cruise portion and I'm looking forward to reading the rest. Quite the undertaking. :D

 

Thanks so much JP! I'm really glad that I kept a record of this! Time-consuming but worth it!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Meant to say ...... nice food JP. That pork looks very good. One of the few meals where everyone competes for the skin rather than the meat .....

 

We had a break from travels since last August and our next trip is a long five months away.

 

Jeff

[lincslady]

Thanks for cheering me up folks. I am looking forward to have time to read Mysty's blog - just looked at the pics of Luxor, which took me back years.

 

I have been a bit quiet here; just had a series of tests done over a few weeks which very luckily showed no 'nasties' as had been feared, and now have a big lump on the nose which has gone funny and have to go to hosp. tomorrow for lancing etc.

 

So a bit hacked off with oneself at present. As one door opens another shuts in your face. Hope to post cheerfully in the near future, in the meantime thanks for keeping my spirits up a bit.

 

A rather ugly Lola

[mysty]

Hi Lola! I hope things settle down for you soon! Tests and waiting for results is scary and weighs on the spirit. I'm glad the Luxor pics provided a walk down memory lane for you. :) Best wishes!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Lola,

 

Good to hear that your results doesn't give you anything for concerns, and sorry to here of the nose!

 

For what it's worth, I was just clearing off my security pics and the pictures of me and my tummy have made me reconsider tonights icecream.

 

Jeff

[spinnaker2]

Eat dessert first!

[TLCOhio]

Terry, after two full weeks of tromping around the wilds of Madagascar with our travel group, we will need a relaxing, laid-back week in South Africa. This is unsual for us; we typically don't relax on vacation but we may be forced to do it this time. :/ We have visited SA by cruise in 2011 and because of that, we've seen a fair amount and we don't feel the need to cram a ton of stuff into this trip. The one thing we didn't do was spend enough time in the wine country. We're starting off by spending four nights at a small boutique hotel outside of Stellenbosch. We have a guide and driver for 2 full days of wine tasting. We will be using the same outfit that you used while you were there - Glen at Vineyard Ventures. Really looking forward to lots of nice wine tasting, as well as beautiful landscapes. Lunches will be at Tokara one day and La Motte the other day (thanks for that recommendation too, BTW). we'll finish up with a night in Cape Town with the group, and the whole next day there as well, as our flight home doesn't leave until almost midnight. So excited for this trip! It's been agony to wait...over two months still to go.

 

Appreciate this great follow-up and the added details from J.P. about your upcoming Africa adventures. Glad you have had those previous experiences in parts of South Africa and that you will be able to focus more in-depth for the Winelands area. AND, super wonderful that you re doing a couple days with Glen. She is so knowledgeable and skilled. Look forward to hear more details about what you see and do there.

 

We did stop at La Motte near Franschhoek and it was very nice. Our key, super lunch was at Delaire—Graff that has been totally upgraded to the highest levels by a very rich German-UK jewelry store owner. Below are a couple of pictures from our Winelands tour. Can share more if you need more "pumping up".

 

Have enjoyed doing some glancing through portions of mysty's very nice world cruise postings. Will follow-up with more questions and comments later.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 201,366 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

From our visit to South Africa's Winelands, here are just a couple visual samples, including two views at Vergelegen, the historic estate of the old early Dutch settler/supplier and early Governor of the Cape, Willem Adriaan van der Stel. This includes in the second picture my wife and super guide Glen Christie in front of the historic Camphor trees going back to the late 1600's on this charming estate.:

 

 

 

[mysty]

Thanks Terry! Glad you're enjoying it! :)

[Ex-derivativeTrader]

I am a bit mystified, to use the most benign word I can conjure up, after reading the post about meeting one's TA.

Maybe it's just me...

I just don't get it.

I don't mean to be intolerant or unappreciative of what may be true exuberance.

I may be too old. Or my values a bit skewed.

Sorry.

 

Maybe its the "Too Old" like you mentioned. I try to post something nice about a great experience we have had, only to have a few stodgy old timers poo-poo it. WOW! Talk about too much time one one's hand. Maybe you should concentrate on worth while things like a menu change on the ship ?? Like that is important ? Oh, and for ever posted about the Kennedy's on Nantucket - Get a history lesson! They are from the CAPE, and the ONLY connection with Nantucket would be their compound is on Nantucket Sound!

WOW.... Maybe it's jealousy... :confused:

[specialcruisegirl]

Whoa.....what a post from Ex-............how amusing [emoji5]

 

On a lighter note.....sorry you are going through the mill right now Lola...hope you'll feel better soon.

Mysty.....I'm so enjoying your blog....keeping some for bed time reading.....I'll hopefully fall into sleep dreaming of being at sea!

Jeffers....good to see you back on form you old devil you...[emoji6]

JP.....lovely pics as usual....your forthcoming trip sounds wonderful.....I've never been to SA....

 

Spins....we are all getting "old" ....it's all part of life's rich tapestry l guess but what a party we can have along the way.....oh..and I've never been very good at history...[emoji17]......along with every other subject l attempted to study......no qualifications at all but what l have achieved is experience of life having been enjoying life at sea since 1971......amongst other stuff along the way shoreside.......

 

Happy Days To All Coolers.....

 

Sophia [emoji4]

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mysty]

Evening Sophia! You are a gem!!!! I'm definitely with you on the party aspect of aging! :) And I'm so very glad that you are enjoying the read! Thanks so much for that!

[spinnaker2]

Sophia,

Thanks, I think I have been working on my tapestry for awhile.

Lots of gold threads among the silver.

I am amused to be characterized as stodgy. Is that an insult??

 

I will be busy in the next few days working on menu changes for the ship.

Don't know if I will have time to post.

If you have a lot of time on your hands too, maybe you could make some suggestions for menu changes.

 

Carpe diem!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Maybe its the "Too Old" like you mentioned. I try to post something nice about a great experience we have had, only to have a few stodgy old timers poo-poo it. WOW! Talk about too much time one one's hand. Maybe you should concentrate on worth while things like a menu change on the ship ?? Like that is important ? Oh, and for ever posted about the Kennedy's on Nantucket - Get a history lesson! They are from the CAPE, and the ONLY connection with Nantucket would be their compound is on Nantucket Sound!

WOW.... Maybe it's jealousy... :confused:

 

 

Hi, .... welcome to the cooler. I genuinely suggest you are a bit circumspect with how you feel about the response to your post.

 

I'm making no excuse for anyone else and only speak for myself. I didn't respond simply because it seemed to be an exact copy of your original post where I think you started a thread for the purpose of posting and I'd exchanged some banter with you in that thread so it just seemed odd to me if I simply reposted and repeated what I'd previously said as though we hadn't chatted before.

 

I guess many of us who have been lucky enough to have what will seem to others to be extreme experiences or "an interesting life" often choose not to share them simply because they are sometimes received as boasting instead of someone simply sharing their memories or their own delight and joy in a wonderful or interesting or unusual set of experiences. I know that many of the better experiences in life when discussed with others even invokes doubt or perhaps just envy and you feel you are being accused of telling fibs .... so that's why many don't share their best experiences. What's the point? I had a pretty odd early life when I stumbled into the entertainment industry from sleeping rough in London - quite a transition - and whilst my family all know the stories to be true because they were either around for it or have seen a fair amount of the legacy to it all, others wouldn't believe a word so experiences just aren't shared. They also actually often feel mundane to those experieincing them because it was simply a normal day even though it might be abnormal to others. Perhaps when repeated as you did, it sometimesconfuses and invokes a more acute reaction whether the reaction is right or wrong - don't take it to heart.

 

I loved hearing about the wonderful set of experiences you had, and I'm glad you shared it.

 

My response to you hasn't been very concise and is a bit contorted, but in a clumsy way I'm offering my regrets for any slight you felt - I don't think anything was intentional - and asking you to give us a second chance and join in. I'd like to hear more fo your experiences.

 

:)

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Light salad and Picpoul in La Cucina today. S*d the world. :)

 

Jeff

 

[jpalbny]

Yum! Picpoul sounds tasty. Nice summer dish.

 

We're off to see most of my siblings this weekend. My sister rented a lakeshore house this week, and they have been playing there all week while we work. :( At least we can join them for a bit. Just a few more hours until we're sprung from work!

 

WRT Ex-derivativeTrader's post...it may have been received strangely because of the lack of context. Definitely an interesting and unique story. Let's take it for that and join in with Jeff's invite for him to come back and keep posting. The more the merrier.

[lincslady]

Thanks for the kind thoughts - sorry to be a misery; things looking up a bit after start of the treatment for the nosy problem.

 

I think if anything posters on the Cooler are inclined to be self-deprecating types - a well known British trait anyway, and applies to others here as well. This is probably why EDT's initial post came as a bit of surprise - just not the usual style found on this thread. Perhaps he would like to come back and tell us more about himself - and his cruising habits, which always interests everyone: which lines he likes, which parts of the world are favourites, etc. Oh, by the way, we are now not supposed to use etc.,

e.g., i.e. and so on, as the Latin is not understood by lots of Brits today!!!! So we must presumably type 'for example', thus using up a lot more space and printing ink.

 

Lola

[jpalbny]

Lola, glad your "nosy" (i.e., nasal) problem is getting better. I'll use all the Latin abbreviations I want. Much less work for my thumbs as I type on the smartphone!

[ShotsnCruises]

I miss a few days and have PAGES to catch up on! :p

Trying to stay positive and make positive changes at work, and it seems like the roadblocks are popping up faster than I can think a way around them. Yesterday someone asked me how long until my vacation.... 207 days until I fly! I am so excited about my first cruise on Silversea. It has been a dream to go on the luxury lines for a long time. Hoping the hubby likes it as much as I do.

(Also hoping world events don't continue to deteriorate in a way that negatively affects safety and the cruise industry:eek::eek:)

[UKCruiseJeff]

God afternoon coolers!

 

I have been alarmed to hear from my youngest son how many of his peers are receiving treatment for depression and anxiety. Is it that depression and anxiety is increasing or is it that it is being treated as such to quickly .... or both?

 

i'm so looking forward to our few weeks in Singapore in five months time. An open invite to buy some satay for any coolers wishing to join us.

 

Jeff