Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

[TLCOhio]

We are relaxing on the porch of our friend's seaside cottage here in Binalong Bay (Tasmania). A dozen fresh oysters right off the boat, and a bottle of Tasmanian bubbly already down before dinner... What to open next? Had a nice birthday yesterday here in Tassie, lots of wine tasting and yummy local food. Trip has been amazing so far. May need surgery to augment my liver if it lasts much longer.

 

Happy birthday to J.P.!! Appreciate these great updates from Australia. Looks like that location in Tasmania is quite a bit NE of Hobart and up the eastern coast from Port Arthur that we visited in early 2014. Looked up more on that Binalong Bay area and it seems to be totally spectacular. Look forward to seeing your pictures and learning more details from this amazing parts of Australia.

 

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 199,142 views for this posting.

[MBP&O2/O]

Well, I am back home from my week on the Wind, and a few days in Nevis.

We flew out on an elderly American Airlines Boeing 777-200, and flew home on an equally elderly British Airways Boeing 777-200. Both legs were business class.

What a difference. the AA metal was clean, comfy seats, with a large screen IFE that worked, and staff that were pro-active. The food was debatable but that is personal[emoji846]

The BA? Dirty, tatty, the seat armrests were loose and rattled continually, the small screen IFE looked as if it had been salvaged from an old Spectrum XZ80 .. which was immaterial as it wouldn’t pull out more than one third of the way out and as such was unwatchable. In fact the first leg of the flight (from St. Kitts to Antigua) it had frozen and wasn’t working at all ... so no visual safety briefing.

 

If this is what our ‘Flagship Airline’ is offering then it comes as no surprise that they are struggling to compete.

 

 

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[rosepark]

 

RP....have you had your silver box yet? Mine came a couple of weeks ago.......not long now!

 

 

We haven't had it yet because our agent made a bit of a c**k up. I gather it should be with us before too long. OH pointed out last evening that in 8 weeks time we would be aboard. That was cheering.

I think Easter may be time to review the packing list - at this rate I will be taking a parka and Artic gear!

Rp

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning All,

 

Thanks RP and S ... as you'd expect from me a cheats version and it was worthwhile and quite easy though fiddly. Now I've done it I probably won't do it again.

 

Mike good to see you back home safely in Mike Towers! The ZX80 had no screen but I know exactly what you mean. With our stack of miles and decent use of Amex 241s we still use them and in the near future BA will be announcing an easier and more flexible way of using your miles on all flights whereas now it can be a demanding process finding convenient trips. We currently have six trips in BA booked over the next 9 months each and to be honest they are fine for us. Wifey is really looking forward to the Singapore trip and the trip to Vienna for our birthdays ... and we hope by Singapore they might have wifi up and running so I can watch some online stuff. I see they have announced free wifi on SS which is good news for most but bad news for the those that would pay for the premium service because it will damage contention and I fear make the paid for service very slow.

 

Tomorrow is our anniversary - would you believe 44 years .... we've been so lucky. We get on so well together and hate not being in the same room. Our kids tell us that we are the only parents amongst all their friends that are still together and I think it a great achievement to overcome things and have a good life together. I nearly forgot it - but ordered a card from Moonpig today - a very apt description.

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! Spectacular sunrise yesterday! Vibrant pinks, lovely lavenders, tinges of green. Awesome way to start the day! Still dark here now so I am hoping for a repeat performance.

 

Happy Anniversary J and Mrs. J! You are really blessed to have found one another! It will be our 40th this year and speaking for myself....I am one lucky puppy!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!

[Mudhen]

Morning All....!

Heard the peepers last night, so I'm guessing spring is, at least, coming...or so they say! Still very cold with it just barely above freezing.

Happy Anniversary to the Jeffy's....good job! In June, it'll be 48 for John and I....Lord willing and the creek don't rise!

.Glad to hear most of you are either on a trip or preparing for one. I hope we'll be given some reports, so I can pretend I'm on board with you!

[spinnaker2]

happy Anniversary to the Jeffs!

[MissSophia]

We haven't had it yet because our agent made a bit of a c**k up. I gather it should be with us before too long. OH pointed out last evening that in 8 weeks time we would be aboard. That was cheering.

I think Easter may be time to review the packing list - at this rate I will be taking a parka and Artic gear!

Rp

 

I think it should be pleasantly warmish but l always take a light rain jacket for early morning walkabouts and a pashmina for evenings on deck....😊

[MissSophia]

Happy Anniversary Mr & Mrs Jeffers....I’m sure you will celebrate in your own way....🍾

 

Mike, hope you enjoyed the cruise......such a downer when the airlines disappoint...l always favour BA but after the Emirates experience last year l do think it’s time to up the game.

 

Have had a busy morning out choosing paint and colours for the final lap of the renovations......looking forward to a four day weekend without the builders in!

 

😊

[Camillus112]

A very Happy Anniversary wish for Jeff and wife!! 44 years and counting! We have only 33 years in our backs, but they have been so very good years.

 

Happy and safe traveling wishes to our Cooler friends. No cruises for us, unfortunately, only three pond crossings coming up for music affairs. And, talking about BA, yesterday we were on the phone with them for seat assignments on business class travel and we had to pay for the service! Also, it was somewhat funny that the BA call center rep had a very hard accent and we had to make her repeat almost every word...however, we must have had a very hard and funny accent to her as well as she made us repeat incessantly. It was almost from the Abbott and Costello repertoire!!!

 

Hope everybody has a great week!

[rosepark]

Many congrats on the anniversary, Jeff, I am sure a tumbler or two of Grand Siècle will be suitable dealt with.

Miss S, I was reliably informed by a London cabbie yesterday that there is to be a heatwave in May - I still might pack a woolly jumper or two.

Rp

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks all! :)

[MBP&O2/O]

We will tot up 40 yrs next year ... quite remarkable really.

Mrs B has found a cruise she fancies for next year .... strangely enough it finishes before our anniversary so a present will still be required. Cruise 3930 on the Shadow ...... good ship?? Subjective really I suppose.

I feel quite privileged to have visited most countries in the world, and at other peoples expense to boot[emoji846] I never managed Israel though and have always fancied it and 3930 goes there so it won’t take much persuading on Mrs B’s behalf.

Just looking for the best price now .. SS say I get a discount for being a repeat customer so if my TA offers me a loyalty discount as well I will be quite happy....and I have just got a refund from the airline that mucked my flights about ... well it all counts!

Happy days ...

 

 

 

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[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi Mike,

 

Fwiw, we’ve never been on Muse or Spirit because we found Shadow and Whisper to be a perect size and layout with Wind and Cloud being for us a touch small.

 

Half true ... you get a Venetian discount on desgnated cruises not all. Sophia introduced me to her agent who has been very good and friendly and rebates.

 

It is so sweet getting refunds from airlines. On our best BA year I spent around 650k miles but had service recovery refunds of 420k all without asking. That was a cheap year.

[UKCruiseJeff]

....... must admit, I know it is selfish but I’m really sorry to hear that SS is rolling out more free wifi.

 

To most this will be great news but for those that would have paid for premium this will probably be bad news unless they significantly upgrade as the extra contention with all the extra demand will probably mean a considerable reduction of speed. I bet it causes as many complaints as it causes plaudits.

 

It’s a shame no one has started a thread on upload and dowload speeds on the different ships in different parts of the world.

[mysty]

On the subject of "day of this" and "day of that", I read an interesting opinion piece about the over-supply of "days of" entitled "Awareness overload? We've had 13 different World 'something' Days in just 1 week".

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/second-opinion-awareness-days-1.4596570

 

 

From the article:

"What day is it? Last week, there were 13 possible answers to that question — it was International Day of Happiness on Tuesday, World Water Day on Thursday and World Tuberculosis Day on Saturday.

 

Wednesday was really busy with five different designations including World Poetry Day, International Day of Forests, World Down Syndrome Day, and International Day of Nowruz — a rites of spring celebration.

 

"There certainly are a lot of these," said Kate White, president of the United Nations Association in Canada, a charitable organization that is independent of the UN but advocates on UN issues.

 

In total, the UN has designated 152 days, and there are even more special weeks and years. Next year has already been designated three times: International Year of Moderation, International Year of Indigenous Languages, and International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements.

 

Right now, we're in the midst of nine different designated decades, including the Decade for Action on Road Safety, and the Decade of Action on Nutrition. "

[rosepark]

We will tot up 40 yrs next year ... quite remarkable really.

Mrs B has found a cruise she fancies for next year .... strangely enough it finishes before our anniversary so a present will still be required. Cruise 3930 on the Shadow ...... good ship?? Subjective really I suppose.

I feel quite privileged to have visited most countries in the world, and at other peoples expense to boot[emoji846] I never managed Israel though and have always fancied it and 3930 goes there so it won’t take much persuading on Mrs B’s behalf.

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If I may make a suggestion, re Israel, we did a very similar cruise and jumped ship for the night at Ashdod. We stayed in Jerusalem and it was, for us, the best choice. We had time to do an excellent private tour of Jerusalem one day and then go to Masada and the Dead Sea the next. We would not have been able to do both comfortably had we needed to travel in and out of Ashdod each day.

 

I think the Whisper and the Shadow are our favourites too, though the Spirit, pre-stretch, grew on us. The bathrooms on the two midsize ships are better than on the smaller ones, there is a separate shower and two hand basins, which sounds petty but is really useful.

 

Rp

[rosepark]

....... must admit, I know it is selfish but I’m really sorry to hear that SS is rolling out more free wifi.

 

To most this will be great news but for those that would have paid for premium this will probably be bad news unless they significantly upgrade as the extra contention with all the extra demand will probably mean a considerable reduction of speed. I bet it causes as many complaints as it causes plaudits.

 

.

 

I am being selfish too but I am delighted that this news has come out today. I have been a bit of a numpty on something and I am hoping to distract OH from the extent of my numptiness by trumpeting the free wifi. I just hope it works.

Rp

[UKCruiseJeff]

I am being selfish too but I am delighted that this news has come out today. I have been a bit of a numpty on something and I am hoping to distract OH from the extent of my numptiness by trumpeting the free wifi. I just hope it works.

Rp

 

Good luck. I think the annoucement will simply replace a situation where wifi worked adequately of the one hour and the premium service for those that paid to fairly miserable for all, unless against their previous MO they actually upgrade it all.

[UKCruiseJeff]

M,

 

I agree with the sentiments. It is a virtue signalling epidemic.

 

Hope others don’t mind but the over use of the word “hero” has also become wearisome. A hero is someone who does something knowing that there was a personal risk and not someone who does something completely unaware of any risk. No one is entitled more to the title hero than the wonderful French gendarme Arnaud Beltrame. What an extraordinary man. I know they are saying he is a national hero, but an international hero surely. Extraordinary.

[mysty]

Agreed!

[MBP&O2/O]

Rosepark ... thanks for the suggestion. Good idea. I take it that a trek would be involved otherwise?

Mike

 

 

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[rosepark]

Rosepark ... thanks for the suggestion. Good idea. I take it that a trek would be involved otherwise?

Mike

 

 

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I think Ashdod is about an hour and a half/two hours from Jerusalem depending on traffic which eats into sightseeing time. I am so glad we went to Masada and the chance to swim in the Dead Sea was great fun.

Rp

[TLCOhio]

Tomorrow is our anniversary - would you believe 44 years .... we've been so lucky. We get on so well together and hate not being in the same room. Our kids tell us that we are the only parents amongst all their friends that are still together and I think it a great achievement to overcome things and have a good life together.

 

Congratulations to Jeff and the Mrs. for that 44th Anniversary. Plus, the others mentioning their great marriage longevities. Our 46th is coming up this June for my wife putting up with me and all of the challenges.

 

ISRAEL? Rosepark said: "Ashdod is about an hour and a half/two hours from Jerusalem depending on traffic which eats into sightseeing time." We have our first visit to Israel upcoming in mid November. Our Oceania cruise for Athens to Dubai will be docked at Haifa as we make our journeys from this port to Jerusalem, etc. Understand it takes two hours from Haifa to the historic heart of this key city. The distance from Ashdod to Jerusalem looks much closer and shorter in time. Look forward to any and all tips and suggestions from those experienced from visiting and exploring Jerusalem and nearby. Lots to see and do there, but time is very limited.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

SE Asia/Mekong River, Etc.! Just completed a Jan. 21-Feb. 20, 2018, first adventure through Southeast Asia with stops in Hong Kong and Bangkok, before traveling all over Vietnam and Cambodia. This includes seven days sailing on the Mekong River. Lots of fun, interesting pictures!! See more at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2591474

[jillyf]

Happy anniversary J. We are 49 years in July. Next year we are cruising from Broome to Cairns to celebrate, but it is a month later than the anniversary. We will probably have a family dinner somewhere nice.

We don’t give presents but usually go out to dinner and celebrate with a nice bottle of wine.

 

My husband is home and recovering from his surgery. We will stay here rather than travel to Melbourne for Easter. The cat will be happy, no cattery.

 

Yesterday was a typical autumn day here, cold morning and a sunny warm day. We have had too few of them though.