Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[Mark_K]

Spinnaker2,

 

Have a good cruise and leave a little liquor for those of us getting on when you're getting off. :)

 

It definitely can take a little work, and thought about alternate airports, to get use of FF miles, and not all options will show on line. When I was thinking about doing the cruise you're on, I couldn't get online availability in business to BCN, but I could get availability to CDG, and CDG-BCN. (Which would have been extra miles if I booked online but not if I called the airline).

 

Sophia,

 

I totally agree about not wanting to fly coach. It's particularly bad for me as a horizontally challenged person. Normally, I make sure I can get a good deal on First/Business class flights before I get serious about booking a vacation. For the cruise we're going on next, we got round trip first class seats Detroit-Ft Lauderdale on Delta for $414/pp.

[UKCruiseJeff]

 

Jeff I do have status on several airlines, believe me I tried to use miles to book or upgrade. No go.

 

Will post again I hope.

 

Yes, I'm thinking of it as a part of your longer term retirement leisure travel. We only do long-haul in First and a bit of knowledge and effort rewards well. Sometimes you might see a cruise you like ..... but it is currently full price. So book redemption flights on spec and wait for the cruise price to come down. If it doesn't cancel the redepmtions for often a very small penalty.

 

It really makes a difference. For example in 2014 we had a few purely paid for flights but in addition there were 6 flights ie 3 trips for 2 in First on dates we chose that were in practical terms fully flexible and had a full price of up to £52k that cost us I guess around £12k in total. Sometimes I have to pay more .... but opportunism is better.

 

Also, do not presume (logically) that First is always more expensive than Business. Oddly on one of my First trips to Singapore I noticed that my fares - eyewatering as they were - were less than Business. Loading and revenue management plays a big part.

 

:)

 

Jeff

Edited November 8, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[spinnaker2]

Jp,

Sitting outside on delta sky club deck at JFK.

Lovely fall evening!

Brrrr

[jpalbny]

That's a great lounge when the weather cooperates! Last time we were there, they gave us a "free" snack for flying in business class. That was nice, and a pretty decent glass of wine with it. Like you need that, with all they feed you on board, but nice anyway!

 

Safe travels! We'll be on that same 7:30 flight to BCN in 6-1/2 weeks! Hoping to get a little time in the lounge pre-flight, but we'll see how early we can leave Albany, and how bad the traffic is...

Edited November 8, 2015 by jpalbny

[TLCOhio]

Jp, Sitting outside on delta sky club deck at JFK. Lovely fall evening! Brrrr

 

Safe travels and lots of fun for Candy and DH. It's now 45F in Columbus, but going down to 29F tonight. Yes, winter is coming!! "Brrr" seems to fit.

 

Look forward to hearing more updates about Barcelona and your other stops at Valencia, Cartagena, Malaga and Funchal/Madeira. Have loved Barcelona, but have not yet been to these four other locations. With eight sea days to cross the Atlantic, I will be interested in your summaries and details for the levels/options of ship activities, size of customer numbers/quality on this sailing, etc. We have not done such a trans-ocean crossing and would like to learn/hear more for its various pro/con factors.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 206,345 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[UKCruiseJeff]

I see Spins has abandoned us for JP. :eek: I do understand ... he is much better looking! :D I do not take this personally Spins. ;)

 

Today was an opportunity for a really long walk and so I decided to make it Osso Bucco day. The pictures are terrible because I don't do presentation and the juices are in an esspresso cup to pour over ,,, so this looks dryer than it really was. But it was lovely. So it was Osso Bucco in a Rosso Thyme gravy with lot's of stuff with it, with scallion dumplings and some other fresh and braised veg. All heaped onto a plate. The bones has wonderful marrow and this is a cut of meat designed for braising slowly but terrible for photographs. Apologies.

 

It meant that we could walk for hours and it was ready without intervention later.

 

 

Jeff

 

 

[jpalbny]

Love osso bucco! Haven't made it in a while. Shanks are usually quite overpriced here.

 

Yesterday I also prepped a few pounds of short ribs. I seared them nicely, then added tomatoes, beer, and water before putting the whole thing in the oven for a few hours...and though I didn't pre-coordinate with Jeff, great minds must think alike because we also went for a long walk while they simmered. The smell when we got home was incredible.

 

The pot is in the fridge and tonight we'll enjoy tender meat. Not totally sure yet how I'll serve them. Hope I can manage to save some leftovers!

Edited November 9, 2015 by jpalbny

[Mark_K]

Safe travels and lots of fun for Candy and DH. It's now 45F in Columbus, but going down to 29F tonight. Yes, winter is coming!! "Brrr" seems to fit.

 

 

 

Look forward to hearing more updates about Barcelona and your other stops at Valencia, Cartagena, Malaga and Funchal/Madeira. Have loved Barcelona, but have not yet been to these four other locations. With eight sea days to cross the Atlantic, I will be interested in your summaries and details for the levels/options of ship activities, size of customer numbers/quality on this sailing, etc. We have not done such a trans-ocean crossing and would like to learn/hear more for its various pro/con factors.

 

 

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

 

We did the spring, 2014, Spirit crossing, which did the same Spanish ports. If you play bridge, you'll have plenty to do on the sea days. If not, there were cooking demonstrations, lectures by guest speakers, wine seminars, etc. On Malaga the chef took a group to the farmer's market. In Valencia we did a wine tour/lunch excursion we enjoyed.

 

This was one of the wines they sold, I'm sure you would enjoy it:

 

[mysty]

It's only 11 am here but J and JP's meals are making me drool on the keyboard. Makes the keys a little slippery. :) Today's chore in preparation for winter was to deal with the leaves in the back yard.. I decided not to go the rake and bag'em route this year. Too much bending involved. I put on my gumboots and my safety glasses and ran the lawn mower repeatedly over the leaves. Mulched them down to confetti pieces. And DONE! Just remains to deal with the back deck furniture and wrap the shrubs in burlap.

Have a great day coolers!

[TLCOhio]

We did the spring, 2014, Spirit crossing, which did the same Spanish ports. If you play bridge, you'll have plenty to do on the sea days. If not, there were cooking demonstrations, lectures by guest speakers, wine seminars, etc. On Malaga the chef took a group to the farmer's market. In Valencia we did a wine tour/lunch excursion we enjoyed.

 

Love osso bucco! Haven't made it in a while. Shanks are usually quite overpriced here. Yesterday I also prepped a few pounds of short ribs. I seared them nicely, then added tomatoes, beer, and water before putting the whole thing in the oven for a few hours...and though I didn't pre-coordinate with Jeff, great minds must think alike because we also went for a long walk while they simmered. The smell when we got home was incredible. The pot is in the fridge and tonight we'll enjoy tender meat. Not totally sure yet how I'll serve them. Hope I can manage to save some leftovers!

 

Glad that Jeff has made it an "Osso Bucco day"!! Looking good and very tasty. Love the added details from JP's tasty posting. Show us the finished pictures fro that meat/meal!!

 

Appreciate these details on Mark's trans-Atlantic sailing. Bridge is not our thing. Sorry!! Would need a good mix of speakers and other ship programs. BUT, this type of cruise is not on our immediate priority list. Focused on Africa, SE Asia, China, added stops in Europe, etc., as our needs in the more immediate, future upcoming years.

 

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 125,868 views for this posting.

[TLCOhio]

It's only 11 am here but J and JP's meals are making me drool on the keyboard. Makes the keys a little slippery. Today's chore in preparation for winter was to deal with the leaves in the back yard.. I decided not to go the rake and bag'em route this year. Too much bending involved. I put on my gumboots and my safety glasses and ran the lawn mower repeatedly over the leaves. Mulched them down to confetti pieces. And DONE! Just remains to deal with the back deck furniture and wrap the shrubs in burlap. Have a great day coolers!

 

Yes, we feel the "pain" of misty on dealing the challenges of leaves. We have 1.4 acres on a heavily-wooded ravine lot. Lots of big, big trees. Move of them oaks. I have been busy the past week or so with my mulching lawn mower, the leaf blower, etc. Fortunately, it was mostly super sunny and nice during most of the time I was outside doing this work. Now, about 85% are leaves are down. A little more work to go, but we are "over the hump" with this annual fall fun.

 

Below are some Sunday brunch dining treats from entertaining some long-time and out-of-state friends. Look good? All credit goes to my wife.

 

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 32,022 views for these postings.

 

 

From our Sunday brunch at home for Jim and Pam from Arizona, plus their daughter from Baltimore and their son/daughter-in-law from Texas, here are some of the tasty items done by my skilled wife. Like the baked rolls? Next are some potatoes getting ready on the cooktop, one of a couple different Frittata in the iron skillet, colorful fruit and then our happy friends/visitors, plus my hard-working/skilled wife.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mysty]

Really cool that you celebrate your wife's skills in the kitchen Terry! :) Food looks delicious!

[jpalbny]

As always, Terry - our wives do make us look good! The short ribs were delicious...pictures forthcoming!

[jpalbny]

So as I described yesterday, I seared the ribs after a nice coating of sea salt and crushed pepper, then cooked them for a few hours in the oven in a simple mixture of leftover canned tomatoes, an ancient beer that was a few years too old to drink, and some water. After cooling off, the pot sat in the fridge overnight so that I could remove a very thick layer of solidified fat tonight before eating the ribs.

 

I put half of the ribs in a frying pan (dry; no oil) and re-seared the edges for a minute or two. Then I added a few spoonfuls of the braising mixture, and gave them maybe 10 minutes on low heat on the stove while Chris cooked a side dish of boiled golden potatoes tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped parsley.

 

After the ribs were heated through I plated them with the potatoes, and then reduced the sauce a bit, crushing the remaining tomato pieces into a thick chunky sauce. A splash of balsamic vinegar at the very end brightened it up and added some bite to the thick sauce. Finished product was not so picturesque, but the taste was incredible!

 

 

The side dish was light and acidic, which was the perfect accompaniment to the juicy fatty rich short ribs. The lemon juice cut through the thick sauce perfectly. Thankfully we only cooked half of the ribs because I would have eaten the whole pot of them had they been in front of me!

 

We decided to make tonight special and broke out a nice California Cab Sauv - a 2010 from Ledson, one of our favorite wineries in Sonoma.

 

**

 

The duck ragu is simmering in the oven and that should be ready for tomorrow's dinner.

 

And we have half of the short ribs left for another meal - though I have not come up with an exact plan for serving them yet. I am really amazed that $15 worth of meat, some leftover canned tomatoes, and a beer too old to drink came together to make such a great meal.

Edited November 10, 2015 by jpalbny

[mysty]

Nicely done JP and Chris! Another gorgeous meal!

[TLCOhio]

Really cool that you celebrate your wife's skills in the kitchen Terry! :) Food looks delicious!

 

jpalbny: As always' date=' Terry - [b']our wives do make us look good![/b] The short ribs were delicious.

 

Appreciate the great looking ribs and comments on the advantages for having great wives. Smart!!

 

Nice details by JP on preparing the short ribs and making them so good.

 

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 188,763 views.

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

[mysty]

Appreciate the great looking ribs and comments on the advantages for having great wives. Smart!!

 

And of course the advantages of being a great wife! :)

[spinnaker2]

hello all:

 

we have done the crossing three times. we loved it each time.

we arrived safely, all bags accounted for and we were met at the airport.

quick taxi to the port, a half hour wait and we were aboard.

only another half hour until our suite was ready. lucky to be on the early boarding list.

 

since we have been here before, there is no pressure to get off in any hurry. i did spend some time before the cruise scoping out places i might like to visit on my own, but we are so tired from the flight and time change we slept in and almost missed breakfast. i don't know if we will get off.

 

it was chilly during the night and early this morning, but the sun has quickly warmed the air. our suite has an espresso machine, and it was delightful to wake up and spend some time on the verandah with our coffees looking out over the rising sun.

 

DH is now reading the paper (which is available in the library) while i type this. in the following days we have decided to spring for the printed version at $7.50 a pop delivered to our suite since DH enjoys reading it in more leisurely fashion. he won't read it on an ipad.

 

we have seen so many of the crew with whom we have sailed before and we are most happy to see them again.

 

also several friends from prior cruises who are delightful. it promises to be a great cruise.

 

ship is not full. that has been our experience in the past.

 

ship in great shape and no worries mark, plenty of liquor. since i only drink wine, there will be plenty of other ETOH for you.

 

ok, pax sitting near me coughing her head off. i am signing off before the germs land on me...

 

later

 

:-)

[specialcruisegirl]

Hello All......

 

Great to hear that all is going well for you Spin....love Valencia so hope you will enjoy.

 

Having done many TA crossings l have to say that it's my preferred choice for completely relaxing...and IMHO the ship takes on a very different ambience.

 

Terry....just remember that behind every man there's a wonderful woman...[emoji6] your brunch looked amazing.

 

Loved your rib dish JP.....and l love them ...sadly our UK style 'diners' don't actually cut the mustard.....very hit and miss!

 

Very boring here in North Wales...weather has been very nasty along our coastline with flooding in some places..and whilst it's very mild we are suffering with gusty winds and heavy rain showers.

 

So to cheer myself up I'm looking at a quick voyage to the sunshine in January...airfares here are currently on sale with good deals in business to Lauderdale via Philly from my local airport.....we shall see!

 

Sophia [emoji4]

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mysty]

Good Morning Coolers!

 

Sophia- some time in the sun in January would be a treat! Go for it! :)

 

Terry - to add to Sophia's wise words - and sometimes in front of every great man there is a wonderful woman. :)

 

Spinnaker 2 - avoid that coughing woman like the plague! No pun intended! :) Your voyage sounds wonderful!

[Mark_K]

Looking pretty festive on my morning walk today ...

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon coolers ..... from a very grey and wet but disarmingly warm Blighty. When I say Coolers, let us all agree that we mean all, because none of us should develop a squint to think we are missing anyone or being missed. So coolers includes every posting ....:)

 

That meal by TerryWifey is superb .... the main thing about it is not is on the table but the fraternity of eating together serving yourself from large bowls that have been lovingly prepared. Aint that so? And JP's ribs are a picture. If you have hair on your face like me you know this might involve some cleaning up after those ribs.

 

I am envious of Spinkins and her balcony and Valencia. Valencia is another one of those European cities ... a bit like Nice where tourists are a side line and there is a lot of local to explore if there is time. Anyway Spins is esconced in her suite and hubby has been granted imunity from any grumbles at splashing out for printed papers.

 

And Soapy is planning another trip. I will assume my role of Rail Male and look forward to telling you the truth about her trip and spilling the bins.

 

There was something missing in our eating and it was stuff that she likes which I don't and stuff I like which she doesn't. So I have introduced one or two "Joker Lunches" each week where I give her something she loves which I detest but have previously been eating and then stuff I want which she refuses to eat. So today she had shop bought lamb stew with dumplings and mash (a slurry) .... and I bought myself a few of only British small artisan dairy hard cheeses. I also made some bread which was fairly rye and French style bakes ie with steam injection for the first 5 minutes. I didn't go to bed last night as I knew I couldn't sleep, so bread was on the list for finishing off. I use an hydrololysis stage. I also made it from a slightly different biga poolish appproach. It looks rubbish (although that shine denotes a crispness) but was so deep in taste and wife had some with her slurry meal.

 

Anyway ... nuff from me .....

 

Jeff

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[jpalbny]

If that bread looks rubbish, then the good bread must be a sight indeed! I am craving a slice. And several hours to wait until lunch. But the real treat will be the duck ragu for tonight's dinner...

[mysty]

Coolers is definitely a collective noun! :) It perfectly relates to this collective!

 

The cheese plate is my idea of a great nosh! And the bread looks amazing!

 

56 days to lift off. Getting visas in place and fine tuning packing lists. Excitement is keeping me up at night. I'll probably sleep through the first part of the trip. :( I am hoping to order the magic Bach's this week though.

[Mark_K]

Coolers is definitely a collective noun! :) It perfectly relates to this collective!

 

The cheese plate is my idea of a great nosh! And the bread looks amazing!

 

56 days to lift off. Getting visas in place and fine tuning packing lists. Excitement is keeping me up at night. I'll probably sleep through the first part of the trip. :( I am hoping to order the magic Bach's this week though.

 

 

14 days to embark for us, getting quite excited.

 

Good news, bad news: I managed to get back down to the weight I was on our last cruise, but my cruise clothes still don't fit that well. I think we just naturally get puffer as we get older.