Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

[TLCOhio]

Good Morning Coolers, I guess you shouldn't count on decent food in this place .... Jeff

 

Super loved and appreciated this earlier picture of the "dining" place in Singapore. So funny to be named as Yu kee Food. Enjoying the various pictures, food items, etc. from Jeff and Singapore. Keep 'em coming!!! Still have that Singapore location on our to-do list. Won't get that visit done during planned SE Asia trip in early 2018, but we are looking forward to being there at a later date.

 

The sun has risen here in the USA and below is our warm weather forecast for today and the next few days here in Central Ohio. For mid January, it is almost like "Spring Fever"!!! Can do lots of outdoor work today!!

 

For us doing the Amazon River two years ago and Africa a year ago, I did the yellow fever shot, etc. No problems, bad dreams, etc., from these various meds. All worked out well.

 

Understand that the UK Prime Minister will be heading to the U.S. and the White House for meetings this coming week. Glad she is coming here and that these "things" are a priority. Very complex in figuring our the "Exit", the Euro future, etc.

 

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 207,639 views.

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

 

 

From AccuWeather in Columbus, Ohio, here below is our upcoming weather forecasts. Does it seem like Spring here? That 62F today here is about 17 Celsius!:

 

[specialcruisegirl]

Hello All.....

 

Thanks Terry for your feedback on the YF shot...glad there were no problems for you....l declined the flu shot this year as I've suffered greatly with it in the past....hence my wariness of having anything!!

 

Full speed ahead here as l plan for my long weekend in Alicante....shock and horror last week when parts of Spain saw some snow....happy to see that temps are warming up this week so fingers crossed for some spring warmth....l love to sit in the outside cafes people watching with a coffee and brandy...[emoji6]

 

Happy Day

S[emoji4]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon all ...

 

Returned back to home after 15 hours on the plane which is far too long .... I wish Singapore was in Europe.

 

A nice Julian Bream for our first lunch back.

 

Jeff

 

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

S.....Have a wonderful time soaking up the warmth. If possible could you scoop up a bit of the warm and send it this way please? :)

 

J...Welcome back! Your lunch looks yummy! And I agree that 15 hours in a plane is not a lot of fun. One of the downsides of living on this side of the pond is that it takes a while to get anywhere beyond the rest of Canada or the US. Of course there are many upsides! :)

 

Have a great day/evening all!

[Joc123]

I wish Australia was in Europe! Although sometimes it's good to be tucked away down here :D

[jpalbny]

I wish Australia was in Europe! Although sometimes it's good to be tucked away down here :D

Just wait a few hundred million years. Maybe continental drift will move Oz closer by then!

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Good morning coolers,

 

....... menu for return leg for thoes interested in such things.

 

Except for a few mouthfulls of curry I gave it a miss for some nice large Otard cognacs. Had some ham sandwiches in the departure lounge instead.

 

Today is some London Cure smoke salmon bagels with a schmeer for luch 'cos we're having a Chinese takeaway delivered tonight ...

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

I wish Australia was in Europe! Although sometimes it's good to be tucked away down here :D

 

 

If Oz was in Europe, do you think the fruit bats would stand on the branches rather than hang upside down?

 

:)

 

Jeff

[specialcruisegirl]

Hi All.....

 

Welcome back to Blighty Jeffers......always good to be home ....nice looking menu in F....doesn't seem to change much though...in the throws of booking Emirates for December here which is going to be a long trek home also but I'm lucky that l can at least sleep!

All packed up for the Alicante departure tomorrow...thankfully the fog that has been swimming around lately shouldn't be a problem after tonight so hoping for a smooth journey.....

 

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend....

 

S[emoji4]

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Have a really lovely break .......

 

Yes, never much change and also very dissapointing quality.

 

The small new First lounge at Singapore was pathetic. The food was just cheap and nasty.

 

Jeff

[Joc123]

I find airport lounges can be hit or miss - especially if you are not flying the country's line. SA first lounge is lovely.

We always fly Emirates first as they fly direct from Adelaide to Dubai and connections to Europe are good. (Qantas no longer have international flights out/ in to Adelaide and transit time in Asia is usually 6 - 8 hours). They use Qantas domestic lounge here which is grim at the best of times and the Emirates flight is the last out at night (we have a curfew). So we are greeted with food they are trying to get rid of, bar staff packing up and people vacuuming (hoovering). That's the price we pay for not living on the east coast - I know, stop whinging!

The Emirates first lounge in Dubai is wonderful.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I find airport lounges can be hit or miss - especially if you are not flying the country's line. SA first lounge is lovely.

We always fly Emirates first as they fly direct from Adelaide to Dubai and connections to Europe are good. (Qantas no longer have international flights out/ in to Adelaide and transit time in Asia is usually 6 - 8 hours). They use Qantas domestic lounge here which is grim at the best of times and the Emirates flight is the last out at night (we have a curfew). So we are greeted with food they are trying to get rid of, bar staff packing up and people vacuuming (hoovering). That's the price we pay for not living on the east coast - I know, stop whinging!

The Emirates first lounge in Dubai is wonderful.

 

For an extremely long time I think it was "informally" accepted that the best First lounge in the world was Sydney. I have to say that when we found ourselves after a few weeks based in Sydney looking forward to the food in the Q lounge .... we knew it was time to focus more on Singapore. :eek: The Q lounge is the best BA lounge in the world for sure.

 

The flagship BA lounge is Heathrow's T5 Concorde Room which is an utter disgrace. Torn furniture, abysmal food, invisible service when sitting on the terrace - far too often you have to go and find some service, even toilet's with broken door locks, pre-booked facilities more often than not "lost"apart from a few long-timers mostly cluless untrained contract staff who avoid eye contact at all costs. The only good thing is the quality (price) of the booze. LPGS! For example we had three visits in 2015for and they lost cabana bookings for all three. All three meals they got the order wrong.

 

On our last visit thay had trumpeted a new menu that was extremely short and some of the items - I think something like tarte tatinfor example hadn't even been delivered. I mean if there are only a choice of three desserts, you think they might be able to serve all three. They are going to renovate the lounge and it will be accessed from a new shorter walk to be called First Wing. Suppose to open in April.

 

BA have just localised all their BA operations at Gatwick to the South Terminal. They have brand new South lounges. ALL have failed their electric safety check inspections and have been condemned and are all closed. News hasn't yet been released. So BA passengers are being decamped to other lounges, some of which have max number flow controls and will undoubtedly be turning away BA passengers in favour of their permanent ariline clients.

 

The Qantas Sydney lounge always seemed to me to be the standard by which others should be judged by. It is a nice thing to be able to grumble about but I suspect that as with the current SS product people that have't experienced it proably think it is a lot better than it really is.

 

It says a lot about SS that has been a lurker for some years but hasn't ever pariticipated and that some of it's loyal customers genuinely believe that if they post suggestions SS will now listen and change the product. I mean not once have they posted. Nice to be positive about this but I am totally bewildered. What could possibly explain registering but not participating once. I can easiy predict justifiications - but really. It says a lot about SS loyalty that customers are prepared to hang on and offer help. I haven't seen any evidence whatsoever of either BA or SS listening to customer feedback. The sad fact is that too many organisations have realised that there are enough customers who will enjoy and accept products that are over promised and under/short delivered and that they can still cashfeul the business. Continued complaints seem no longer to work. Cashflow is the only driver of improvement.

 

I think wifey and are are just relieved that we do have memories of a time - for example - when SS and BA were truly market leading providers of unsurpassed products. As with places you have loved it is sometimes best not to return and compromise a great memory. I see no reason why I should have to lower standards of expectation each year so as not to be dissapointed. Many will pay more for more. As I use to proselytise in my day ... their are clear blue skies above the clouds of those average competitors when you decide to charge quite a lot more for a really superb expectations beating product, and there rarely is genuine competiton when you choose to compete on excellence. Matching mediocrity is for mediocre managers.

 

Me rambling on again ....

 

Jeff

Edited January 25, 2017 by UKCruiseJeff

[mjnvoyager]

Ramble on Jeff, ramble on. It's always entertaining. We finally gave up on BA a few years ago when we flew first to NY for a special anniversary. We lost our booked seats ( to we discovered, staff members and were placed at the back of first apart! To add insult to injury when they reached us for the dining they had run out and offered us business class food!! After complaining DH was offered a £100 voucher to be used against another flight within 6 months. Needless to say we haven't flown with them since. Now happy with Emirates, Etihad and Singapore.

 

We are still hoping against hope that SS will regain its glory days but not holding our breath. It would be brave of them to put the price and the standard up but could pay dividends.

Jane

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon coolers ..... and thanks Jane.

 

Last nights Chinese delivery and today's lunch was lamb brochettes/kebabs .... I'm on a bread and water diet for a while to get me down to a mere 5 months pregnant look rather than the 18 mentioned elsewhere ....

 

Jeff

 

 

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

Jeff, food looks disgusting.

Hope the diet works

Suggest you don't eat anything in the pictures

 

 

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[spinnaker2]

 

 

Lux...you love to provoke!

 

Food looks interesting, especially the kebabs and lovely salad.

[TLCOhio]

Lux...you love to provoke! Food looks interesting, especially the kebabs and lovely salad.

 

Appreciate and agree with the wise comments on the food pix's, etc., by Spins. Yes, yes!!

 

Just got done watching UK Prime Minister Theresa May make an excellent speech in Philadelphia to U.S. Congressional leaders and members about her views for the global challenges and how our countries have worked together in the past. And, looking ahead about the need to provide such strong, smart world leadership for the future.

 

I have been impressed with her previously. Now, even more so. My wife was super loving her speech today and its depth that was just completed here in the USA. Remember and appreciate when Jeff was one of the first on these boards to highlight her great potentials. That was before she won the battle to be PM.

 

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 220,309 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]

Thanks ….. yes it was nice to get back to more familiar Chinese food and some fresh salad and grilled meats.

 

With respect to May, this is the second extraordinary speech she has given over the last week or so. The first was one of the best crafted speeches we have heard a British PM give for years. It was the right blend of mature conciliation towards the EU leadership with just the hint of menace. They are it seems to dumb to recognise that there is no appetite amongst the ordinary citizens of Europe to punish British citizens for their decision to take the difficult decision to roll back to a democratic UK. In fact it is my sense that there is a majority of the EU majors' citizens who have envy us our opportunity. That is why any “punishment” of us will simply backfire on the EU leadership and will hasten what is in my view an inevitable implosion of the EU caused almost entirely by the clueless hubris of EU leadership.

 

To those that think that Thatcher was the last great PM we had I think they will slowly realise that May is her natural successor and I think will turn out to be the best leader since her. For those that hated Thatcher they will see May in the same negative light although she will be a far less divisive leader. What I see is an unusual blend of personal skills. She is a very patient when need be, but decisive when need be pragmatic well-informed leader.

 

I see parallels between the Thatcher / Reagan partnership to a May / Trump one. Trump seems to see people as friend or foe and treats each category in a black white binary way. The problem is that I do not see him seeing them as friend or foe of the US but personal friend or foe and the danger is that his foreign policy may be somewhat clouded by that approach. “Putin says some nice stuff about me so I like Russia” is not a sound basis for a foreign policy.

 

I think with the clarity of hindsight we mostly underestimated Reagan. He was sharper and wiser than I think he was given credit for and he admired Thatcher for her skills and more often than not, wisdom. I think Thatcher knew how to handle Reagan and get the most out of him. You will recall she described him publicly as “the second most important man” in her life which did no harm. She also instinctively knew how to get the best out of George Bush. “Remember George, this is no time to go wobbly.”

 

I think that May will be, possibly one of the only leaders who will know how to get the best out of Trump. Her patient, pragmatic skills will make her work with what she has rather than what she hasn't.

 

I think she will turn out to be one of our greatest leaders, and will make a decent job in the EU separation where at least half our population is going to be extremely grumpy, if not most of them for most of it. I think she will be seen to be one of the few people that Trump might admire and trust for her wisdom, experience and pragmatism. That is what I hope at least.

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

With respect to May, this is the second extraordinary speech she has given over the last week or so. To those that think that Thatcher was the last great PM we had I think they will slowly realise that May is her natural successor and I think will turn out to be the best leader since her. For those that hated Thatcher they will see May in the same negative light although she will be a far less divisive leader. What I see is an unusual blend of personal skills. She is a very patient when need be, but decisive when need be pragmatic well-informed leader. I think that May will be, possibly one of the only leaders who will know how to get the best out of Trump. Her patient, pragmatic skills will make her work with what she has rather than what she hasn't. I think she will turn out to be one of our greatest leaders, and will make a decent job in the EU separation where at least half our population is going to be extremely grumpy, if not most of them for most of it. I think she will be seen to be one of the few people that Trump might admire and trust for her wisdom, experience and pragmatism. That is what I hope at least. Jeff

 

Appreciate this great summary and background from Jeff. Hope you are correct that Teresa May does do a spectacular job in guiding the future for the UK. And your nation's global partners, like us!! I shared your reporting details with my wife. More loving it from my wife.

 

I also gave my wife more info on her parents, education at Oxford, financial work early in her career, being the Home Secretary, etc. I also shared that Teresa May is famed for her colorful and interesting shoes. That really got my wife's attention and heighten the level of interest and cheering for your new PM. Need I share some visuals here on the shoe styles for Teresa May?

 

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 167,546 views for this posting.

[TLCOhio]

Things seem kind of slower here at the Cooler??!! Where's Jeff, Spins, etc.?? Will share more to fill the void. In looking ahead for the next month here in Central Ohio, there will be eight days with the temperature daily peak at 40F or higher. Nothing too bad expected for it being very cold and/or snowy weather. That's great!! Not suffering too much during the month ahead before we depart Feb. 27 for Ft. Lauderdale and to start our 15-day Panama Canal cruise to San Francisco, etc.

 

Just picked up yesterday from the library and started reading the David McCullough book titled "Path Between the Seas". Fascinating!!! It's really a very special history in the context of the shrinking world at that time as railroads and canal were being built, etc. And, the health and weather conditions there were really challenging. Love to be reading more about what an accomplishment was this project and all related aspects.

 

Below are some graphics showing the cover of this book, a picture of its author and then three different visuals from that period of the construction and its early use. Great to be learning so much more about this period of time and what it took to make it all happen.

 

Maybe I had asked earlier, but would love any added experiences from others doing this Panama Canal trip, history related to these major building projects from a hundred years plus ago, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Lots of interesting and dramatic pictures can be seen from my latest live/blog at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

Now at 28,983 views for this reporting and visual sharing that includes Cape Town, all along the South Africa coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta area.

 

 

From the Bing website's visual library, here are some pictures of the book cover, the author and three samples of the canal construction and its early use. Looking forward in early March to seeing it all "in person", "up close and personal", etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

Pretty slow around here. Chris worked last weekend and I'm working this weekend. Gray and cloudy with temps a little above freezing, but no precipitation so we'll head out for an afternoon walk a little later.

 

Definitely time to start thinking about packing. Always fun! We leave one week from today. Didn't realize that we'll miss the Stupor Bowl but that's an added bonus. :D

 

Ashley is doing pretty well but it's still a bit unsettling to think about leaving her. I decreased her prednisone to 2.5 mg every other day, but then she started getting unsteady again, so I went back up to 2.5 mg daily last weekend. She seems OK but who knows how long it will last. Ugh. Hopefully, the pet sitter can reach us if she needs advice, or failing that, one of our friends is a Vet Tech at our vet's office. So she will be in good hands, and we wouldn't be doing anything different if we were there.

 

We've been reading a few guidebooks about the places we'll visit and getting excited for the trip. Looks like this upcoming week will be cold, but Delhi and the surrounding areas should be 20C during the day at least, and Kolkota may potentially be 30+C. So even though there's very little snow here, we like the forecast!

 

We arrive late on a Sunday night into Delhi, and we have the entire next day free (Monday) before organized tours start on Tuesday. We are torn between trying to arrange some sightseeing for Monday, or just enjoying the facilities at our very nice Oberoi Hotel. We will likely be pretty tired after almost 20 hours of travel and 10.5 time zones, so I'm thinking that this will be a rest day, even though that is very unusual for us. If we wake up and feel the need to do something that day, I'm sure it can be arranged.

 

Last weekend I went though our "travel room" and we tossed a bunch of old guidebooks that had been gathering dust for a number of years. Some were quite outdated! I also ordered a very large wall mural that's a world map, so when it arrives we'll put it up on one of the walls of that room and use it to mark places that we've already been, or where we want to go. The whole mural is 10 feet by 5 feet, and it's a satellite view of the world, not a political map. Hoping it's as pretty as I expect!

 

Terry - the Panama Canal is awesome! We went through on Silver Explorer in October 2013. In fact, that's the cruise where we met our travel companions (the group of 6, with whom we visited Rwanda and Tanzania in 2015, and Madagascar last year). It's an incredible experience. If you get the chance to see it both by land and also by sea, that's best. I did a full review of that cruise with lots of pictures of the canal. Looking forward to some new pictures from your trip, and especially some new pictures of the new larger locks. They were still being built when we were there.

Edited January 28, 2017 by jpalbny

[spinnaker2]

Hello all.

I have been busy with son who is still recuperating from the cervical fusion, necessitated by injuries sustained in a vehicular accident where he was hit by a driver who crossed lanes into him.

All other treatments failed leaving this surgery.

 

Thanks also for the good wishes.

Son cleared for work on February 1. Officially will have to wear cervical collar for six months.

 

Husband officially retires from practice after 49 years this coming week. An amazing journey and to think he loved his job. Can't think of many who do.

 

Our cruise is coming up on March 31. I think this may be our last cruise for some time. I feel cruised out, maybe it's just the cruise line which has been somewhat of a disappointment of late.

 

While unable to sleep last night I came across a website with some gorgeous pictures of England, aptly named PicturesOfEngland.com. I am thinking I would like to do some independent travel in a country, much as I have done in Italy. The website has whetted my appetite.

 

Fun to see the food pictures and hear of others travel plans...isn't Sophia in Spain?

 

Life is short, eat dessert first!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Evening all ...

 

Nice to hear Ashley is doing well JP, and your misgivings about leaving her, but I guess life must progress. So much sharing your anticipation of your trip with Chris and you. I like the idea of your travel room. We have something similar although it is a shared travel and cookery book room. I'm a sucker for any shiney cook book full of pictures. I have hundreds of cookery books .... and I reckon I have nearly a hundred on "Southern Cuisine" from the old days when I use to spend time in Atlanta and close. Some are clearly short run books.

 

Spins, I sympathise and identify totally with the sleepless night syndrome as it has always been with me. I have only ever needed 4 hours at max when I could sleep and it isn't unusual for me now to have three or four nights running when there is no sleep at all. It is a curse if you are a person that needs distration and absorbtion in things as watching TV is wearisome after a while.

 

I do so hope you start planning an extended trip to England, perhaps later on follow up trips to the rest of the UK. I found myself being curiously envious for someone who is yet to discover England as I still feel that it is a wonderful, wonderful place though I guess I'm biaised. I suspect we'll have a lot of fun helping you plan it although I guess you'll need to decide how much of real England you'll want as against the immunity you subject yourself to if you go to far up the expense scale.

 

I suspect that the latest decisions with respect to barring travel of some to the US is going to make travel for American citizens contemplating more carfeully where they go. It's a puzzling decision for a President intending to make American citizens safer, particularly when they travel.

 

Yesterday I made wifey a sort of chicken in Noily and Provencale herb sauce with mushrooms and small potato cubes with Yorkshire puds, and much to my suprise she has mentioned she really loved it ..."hint ... hint" so I guess that is on the menu in the future. It didn't sound as promising as it turned out to be for her so I am a happy cook.

 

We're all travelled out for a while now, although I've been thinking about a trip back to Vienna in a month or two to take in the seasonal opening of the Swiss House. They are planning to knock down the Intercontinetal in Vienna in March 2019 and replace it with a new property which is going to take two years to build and although some don't like the current property, we do and they really look after us, so perhaps we might pack a trip or three in before it is flattened.

 

Jeff

[Stumblefoot]

Just picked up yesterday from the library and started reading the David McCullough book titled "Path Between the Seas". Fascinating!!!

I hope you enjoy the book. Personally, I really struggled with it. It was a gift I received last March and I didn't finish it until this New Year's whilst sailing on the Spirit.

 

My favorite books by McCullough were "1776", with "The Wright Brothers" a close 2nd.

 

Our mountains are packed with snow this winter, already reaching 90% of our total seasonal snowpack and it's still just January. Thankfully, here in the foothills we remain wonderfully mild as temps in Denver are in the 50's & 60's this upcoming week.

 

 

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[jpalbny]

spinnaker2, best wishes to your son for his ongoing recovery. No picnic, for sure. And Dr. Spin is retiring! Lots of changes going on.

 

Speaking of food, yesterday we were stumped for dinner, and looked through some recipes that we'd cut out of Food and Wine magazine. Lo and behold, we found a simple one for which we had all the ingredients!

 

It was a sausage and potato roast. Cut up some potatoes, Italian sausage, and shallots. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then roast the whole mess in the oven on a baking sheet. When done, toss the hot stuff with chopped arugula and lemon juice. Simple. And it was tasty, just what we were looking for on a cold winter's night.

 

I'll try to post a picture. If Google doesn't show this one... :mad:

 

Edited January 29, 2017 by jpalbny