Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

[UKCruiseJeff]

You are most welcome M! I always find it a bit odd when we offer best wishes for 4th July .....

 

Another confusing aspect is whether TTS is a Brit!?! :D

 

Northern Ireland isn't in Britain but is in The British Isles. But so is The Republic of Ireland - but they aren't "Brits"!

 

I'm told that English footballers are good at dribbling. But so am I.

[mysty]

This sounds like a math problem....if a=b and b=c then a=c. Thus TTS is a dribbler. :)

[TLCOhio]

I hope that’s explained the very different meanings between UK, Great Britain and British Isles.

 

Appreciate Jeff's added info, maps, etc. Assume these different areas all speak "English", except for certain parts of Wales with those signs we saw in dual language back in 2000. Right? Will be cheering for the English Saturday against the Swedish. Hope I won't bring them back luck.

 

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 235,152 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

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

[Tothesunset]

Another confusing aspect is whether TTS is a Brit!?! :D

Under the Good Friday Agreement, those born in NI have the choice of British or Irish nationality. Or both (which is my position). However, those born in Southern Ireland don't have the choice of British nationality through birth.

 

Better still, if you have a parent born on the island of Ireland then you have an automatic right to Irish citizenship unless your current nationality prevents dual citizenship (you would have to renounce that initial nationality). Furthermore if you were born before 1 Jan 2005 you have a right to Irish citizenship if you have a grandparent born on the island but if you were born after that date you must first apply to be placed on the Register of Foreign Births. These rights obtain whether or not the parent/grandparent that you are claiming through was an Irish national but you can't claim the right if that parent/grandparent claimed nationality through descent.

 

Furthermore residence in Northern Ireland, even though part of the UK, is reckonable as residence on the island of Ireland for those wishing to claim Irish naturalisation through residency whatever the nationality of that person. So you could be Malaysian living in part of the UK long enough to then qualify for Irish naturalisation.

 

Simple really.

[Tothesunset]

Appreciate Jeff's added info, maps, etc. Assume these different areas all speak "English", except for certain parts of Wales with those signs we saw in dual language back in 2000. Right?

Whoa. Hold on one cotton-pickin' minute there Musky.

 

There are many Britons (a term which includes the Northern Irish even though it is in the UK not GB) that have as a mother tongue a language other than English (or as well as English) such as Welsh, Gallic, Irish, Cornish and a peculiar argot centred round Birmingham. There are still areas in the Scottish Islands and parts of North Wales where English is rarely spoken although most will understand English.

 

The maintenance of regional languages is considered by many to be a fundamental aspect of regional identity - indeed Welsh and Irish had all but died out in the UK, Gallic has a decreasing number of native speakers and Cornish is all but dead. Yet interest in Irish is increasing rapidly in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, Welsh is now a compulsory subject in Welsh schools (much to the disgust of most Southwalians how neither speak it nor want to) and Gallic and Cornish have their new devotees.

 

Personally I reckon these people would be better learning Mandarin or French or something useful, but there you go.

[Daveywavey70]

The Welsh are not English. The Scottish are Not English. Etc.

 

The UK includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are separate countries. Though they all comprise the United Kingdom of Great Britain, a common misconception is that the countries are common entities. Though they share a monarch, they are different countries.

 

To be clear:

 

The United Kingdom

 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (to give its full name) refers to the political union between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK is a sovereign state, but the nations that make it up are also countries in their own right. From 1801 to 1922 the UK also included all of Ireland. The Channel Islands and Isle of Man are not part of the UK, but are Crown Dependencies.

 

Great Britain

 

Great Britain is the official collective name of of England, Scotland and Wales and their associated islands. It does not include Northern Ireland and therefore should never be used interchangeably with ‘UK’ – something you see all too often.

 

 

British Isles

 

This is purely a geographical term – it refers to the islands of Great Britain and Ireland – including the Republic of Ireland – and the 5000 or so smaller islands scattered around our coasts. Remember this only refers to geography, not nationality, and while the Republic of Ireland is part of the British Isles, its people are not British – a very important distinction.

 

I hope that’s explained the very different meanings between UK, Great Britain and British Isles.

 

 

 

 

Jeff that sounds like my better half when I get a mouthful about being an English invader! Usually meant with good humour though. The Welsh language is really strong around here with most lessons in school now taught in Welsh medium. I think most people around here would claim to be proud to be British but call them English at your peril!

 

Anyway I had a rare afternoon off. It was great.

We went on the Fforest rollercoaster 5 mins down the road.

 

 

Then had a G&T and a fab stone baked Pizza which to be honest could have been cooked directly on the table top.

 

 

Followed by an Turkish delight Ice Cream and a sit by the River.

 

 

 

I Love Wales

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mysty]

What a glorious day you had DW! Meal looks delicious and the scenery is a delight! The coaster looks wonderful too!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Sounds like a lovely day Dave .... but it is a shame you left the best part of the pizza ....:D

 

(See below ......) :)

[Daveywavey70]

Sounds like a lovely day Dave .... but it is a shame you left the best part of the pizza ....:D

 

(See below ......) :)

 

It's all my Nan's fault! As a kid I hated having curly hair

[Daveywavey70]

What a glorious day you had DW! Meal looks delicious and the scenery is a delight! The coaster looks wonderful too!

 

It was a lot of fun M. I don't eat pizza very often but that was a good one. It's a great little place, they raise £1000,s for gorillas.

[jpalbny]

Yummy meals everyone!

 

We had grand plans today but the weather was still pretty hot so we did less than intended. Got up reasonably early and got some weeding done in the back yard before it got too hot, then cooled off in the pool. It had cooled off a little overnight - down to about 88 degrees.

 

We had Kaiserschmarrm for breakfast and then did a little shopping. We tried running around lunch time but it was just too hot to go more than a lap. Time to cook instead - I made a rack of ribs.

 

 

They were juicy and delicious! Along with that, some potato salad

 

 

And tomatoes with balsamic and olive oil. And some fresh basil from the garden.

 

 

 

Rosé, of course!

 

 

It was still too hot to go outside so we watched a movie until the shade crept into the back yard. Then it was time to swim some more. After we got some shade, we washed one of the cars and now we're going out for another lap - walking, not running. Might be nice in the early evening.

 

Back to work tomorrow and Friday, then my brother and his family are visiting this weekend. That's the brother who lives in Denmark. It's been a year since we saw him. Looking forward to it!

 

Enjoy the rest of the day, everyone.

[mysty]

Meal looks delicious JP! Enjoy your evening and your weekend visit!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Nice plates JP ...

 

Well ... we had a long chat this evening. What to do! We'd been pretty convinced that we were going to spend some time each year on SS and wifey had even sort of worked out how long I'd last for and divided into how much she thinks we have and divided that into cruises. :D Sort of. She'd so looked forward to the Med one and her confidence has really been shaken by it. Her normal ritual was to go straight to the pool bar on embarkation which has never been too busy and was a great way to start a cruise, and on this one, she opened the door and it was like she'd stumbled into a pool party in Ibiza. It was absolute bedlam. It was weird and horrible.

 

The ideal thing would be to try and resurrect the idea of sharing an apartment on World but that will end up as nought. We found three other couples last time giving us three months or perhaps 4 months if we lost one, but in the end we lost one and we couldn't make it work. It's a shame there isn't someone that has done a sort of World time-share. The idea of my own kitchen and drifting slowly around the world for say a month at a time, then off for a couple of months then back on again. It seems bliss now thinking about it but there has to be some disappointing defect with the idea. It is weird that none of the lines have really got the idea that there is a market for a line to have a genuine reliable premium product with transparent honest no nonsense pricing.

[Lois R]

Hi folks, JP your ribs look DELICIOUS:)

 

I went to my sister's and bil for dinner...…..we had burgers/dogs/potato salad/coleslaw and strawberries/blueberries/cake for dessert:)

 

Oh we had some appetizers too....goat cheese and crackers and guacamole too...….(with chips).

[mysty]

J...sorry that your apartment on the World did not work out as you hoped. I agree your vision is appealing! Hopefully you and Mrs J can find something to fill that void.

[UKCruiseJeff]

M, I suggested we hired a boat on a boating lake but that didn't seem to excite her. :D

[tgh]

For someone who has done so well I was amazed at your expectations of SilverSea , as the lines race to the mean has been so well documented.

There is only one way to have things exactly as you wish ,and that is to do it all yourself ; there is always some small insufficiency no matter how carefully plans are made and paid.

Many people find cruises , hotels , et al to be an improvement on their day to day lives, and to that end they view the exercise with rose coloured lenses.

Others, in an oft times fruitless pursuit of perceived excellence , expend substantial funds and energy, often in vain.

 

You seem to find great peace in your alcohol , your food , your cigars and your little CC fan club, perhaps you must be happy with that.

 

I cruise for the people and the places ; the food and the accomodation is secondary .

I always board with low expectations and, with SS, I am usually pleased with what I find.

 

The trip from hell was almost certainly an aberration , the next cruise may be a hoot...

[mysty]

Oh...that sounds like it would be fun J! When I was much, much younger a group of my female co-workers and I rented a houseboat for a weekend and traveled the Rideau Lakes. It was great fun. Some dangerous moments because there are no brakes on boats. At one point we were attempting to fill up with fuel at a pump poised on a floating wooden dock. It was a little nerve racking but we did not blow anything up. We did however pull a cleat out of the dock in our attempt to tie off.

[UKCruiseJeff]

For someone who has done so well I was amazed at your expectations of SilverSea , as the lines race to the mean has been so well documented.

There is only one way to have things exactly as you wish ,and that is to do it all yourself ; there is always some small insufficiency no matter how carefully plans are made and paid.

Many people find cruises , hotels , et al to be an improvement on their day to day lives, and to that end they view the exercise with rose coloured lenses.

Others, in an oft times fruitless pursuit of perceived excellence , expend substantial funds and energy, often in vain.

 

You seem to find great peace in your alcohol , your food , your cigars and your little CC fan club, perhaps you must be happy with that.

 

I cruise for the people and the places ; the food and the accomodation is secondary .

I always board with low expectations and, with SS, I am usually pleased with what I find.

 

The trip from hell was almost certainly an aberration , the next cruise may be a hoot...

 

I think you have misunderstood the situation.

 

I thought my wife would enjoy a quiet aimless week bobbing around the Med on Whisper, and just wanted to spoil her a bit. There were no high expectations. We just decided that we had managed our expectations to such a degree, that there was nothing that Silversea could do that would stop us really enjoying that quiet week and having a really great time. Nothing was going to prevent that.

 

Our only error was that we had not factored in 220 boozecroozers.

[Daveywavey70]

For someone who has done so well I was amazed at your expectations of SilverSea , as the lines race to the mean has been so well documented.

There is only one way to have things exactly as you wish ,and that is to do it all yourself ; there is always some small insufficiency no matter how carefully plans are made and paid.

Many people find cruises , hotels , et al to be an improvement on their day to day lives, and to that end they view the exercise with rose coloured lenses.

Others, in an oft times fruitless pursuit of perceived excellence , expend substantial funds and energy, often in vain.

 

You seem to find great peace in your alcohol , your food , your cigars and your little CC fan club, perhaps you must be happy with that.

 

I cruise for the people and the places ; the food and the accomodation is secondary .

I always board with low expectations and, with SS, I am usually pleased with what I find.

 

The trip from hell was almost certainly an aberration , the next cruise may be a hoot...

 

TGH i’m So pleased that Silversea never fail to fulfill your low expectations. I’m very pleased for you that you are so happy to pay for something that you are promised but don’t receive. I wish that I could be so forgiving.

 

If you expect so little from your food and accommodation I wonder why you pay double what you would pay for an almost identical cruise with a seemingly superior line?

 

As for being a member of the Jeff fan club, I Have been cheated by Silversea, had my money taken on false pretences, been made false promises, been ignored and my partner has been professionally threatened by a CEO of the company. Jeff was one of the few voices here that offered me constructive support and advice on my situation. Just because he holds a different view to your own I believe that in this friendly place it is not appropriate to be so belittling about somebody that has personally been such a help to people in need of support.

 

The advice that has been given to me by Jeff has been invaluable as somebody coming here after being treated badly and being treated with contempt by an “ultra luxury line”. It has been far more valuable than your input into the dabate.

 

Perhaps we should all take a leaf out of your book and when we don’t receive the product that we have paid for, disregard what we read on the Silversea website and not be upset.

 

I Believe firmly as a businessman that a business has a responsibility to provide what they have promised their guests. If they fail to deliver what they have promised then they should make every endeavour to put right their shortcomings. If they don’t believe that they have any obligation to provide their guests with what they have been paid for then let it fall to a judge to decide their responsibility.

[tgh]

Daveywave.. I have no issue with keeping them honest and look forward to a positive outcome from both pending actions.

My comment was a philosophical response to the musings of UkcJ , no more and no less….

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny........keep hydrated when dealing with heat...

 

 

Have a great day all!

[Lois R]

:DGood morning...….2 more work days.:eek:

[jpalbny]

Longest two days of work ever, I bet! Good luck and hope that it passes quickly for you.

 

We still have 9 weeks until we arrive in Europe (London) for our Silver Wind cruise. It's hard to work all summer while everybody else is on vacation, even though we prefer to go on vacation after school starts up and things get a little less crowded. Every year I feel the same way but it's worth it once we put the time in.

 

We are thinking of meeting our Australian friend for her 50th birthday next April. She is looking at a Mekong cruise in Vietnam and Cambodia, on Scenic. The reviews on this site look good. It might be a bit much after the big January trip but oh well, it would sure be a lot of fun!

 

Hopefully a cold front will be passing through tonight and the temperature will finally drop. I have been putting ice in the aquarium for a few days now to try and keep it at a temperature where the fish don't cook. I have four seltzer bottles filled with water and I rotate them 2 at a time between the tank and the freezer. Hopefully I can stop doing that tomorrow, as the high will only be about 80 degrees.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Lovely funny M .... it is sweltering still here. Hopefully down to Seaside next Tuesday night. We have been held back by (would you believe) a bulk coal order which arrives hopefully on Tuesday! Then I have to do the log order .... and find someone who will deliver and stack. Winter draws on ....

 

JP that time will pass and you will get the just rewards of all that effort. London is wonderful in September with the lower warmer light. :)