Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Lois R]

Hi Anne and Peter, welcome!  Great picture!  You are sailing on that TA?  Have you sailed Seabourn before?

Happy with food and service?   I was a Celebrity cruiser for many years...…..now that I have moved on

from mass market, not sure I want to go back...... 

[Lois R]

6 minutes ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

Lois, you posted this while we were writing our post.  Perhaps we are psychic!

 

LOL.....would love your take on Seabourn...…..have you sailed with them before?

[Daveywavey70]

Welcome to the cooler FlyingScotSailors, pull up a chair and join in!

Lois, I what is the SB itinerary? I'd certainly prefer that to Celebrity, esp after the recent "incidents" with the mass brawl that broke out when someone turned up in a clown costume!

[Lois R]

2 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Welcome to the cooler FlyingScotSailors, pull up a chair and join in!

Lois, I what is the SB itinerary? I'd certainly prefer that to Celebrity, esp after the recent "incidents" with the mass brawl that broke out when someone turned up in a clown costume!

 

Davey, that clown thing was on Cunard and it was strange to me for sure. I doubt a fight would break out on Celebrity about it but you never know.

The itinerary for SB crossing......leaves from Miami and ends in Barcelona  9 sea days and then Maderia, Spain---Tangier, Morocco---Malaga, Spain----ends with more sea days and final destination is Barcelona.

[Daveywavey70]

Sorry Lois got my thingemes mixed up. It was reported here as being on the P&O  Brittania.

[FlyingScotSailors]

Lois and Davey, thanks for the welcome.

 

Wow, we did not realize the fast pace of this thread!  We just copied the itinerary for our cruise, and before we could paste it here, Lois already posted it!

 

We have sailed 9 cruises on Seabourn, with the 10th booked this week to Alaska at the end of August.  We tried Seabourn after becoming disenchanted with Holland America (we are 3 star mariners).  We are booked on the April Seabourn Quest TA, which will be our 3rd Seabourn TA, the previous 2 on sister ship Odyssey.

 

We meet with the Executive Chef at the start of the cruise, the explain that while we want low-sodium meals, we also want flavor and taste.  We have generally found the food to be wonderful,  with the occasional problems.  However, we had dinner last Tuesday with a Cruise Critic couple who were visiting Saratoga, and had a rather disappointing meal in what was touted to be one of the best restaurants in the city.  Our last cruise, in January to New Zealand, had perhaps the best food we have eaten.  We have also found, except occasionally at times when Seabourn was staffing a new ship, that the service actually achieved the lines' hype of "exceeding our expectations".  As we believe we have read also happens on Silversea, crew members remember you from previous cruises.

 

We do not want to hijack this thread, unless that is acceptable cooler protocol, and can discuss our Seabourn experiences elsewhere or by email.

 

Ann  & Peter

 

 

[MHF]

Would love to hear SB experiences as I just booked Encore for May 2020.  Headed out on Whisper November 2019.

[jpalbny]

The rule of the cooler is that nothing is off topic. Welcome, Anne and Peter! Glad to have you here, and yes, I know Clifton Park well. Was just at SHE Lighting last week to pick up my ceiling fan, and we regularly visit Exit 9 wine...

 

Lovely pizza. 

 

2 hours until check in! Wonder if I can make it?

[jpalbny]

We made it to check-in! My sister and niece were up for the evening so we were up later than usual. Shared some pictures from the Ukraine trip and had a nice visit. I showed them some of our distant ancestors... 😉

 

We have our mobile boarding passes stored on our phones and now vacation has officially begun! After we finish a delicious G&T it will be time to try for some sleep. The Hendrick's Midsummer Gin pairs nicely with Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic. There are so many different flavored gins to explore. Wondering what the Cloud will have on board for us.

 

Davey, great to see you back here on the Cooler. Have missed you. Great news on OH"s agency opening up. Lots of work for sure, but glad that things are going in a good direction.

 

Lois, you were correct about our departure date. By now, it's today, but not for another 23+ hours. We decided to change plans yet again and rent a car at Keflavik rather than take the FlyBus. So we'll drive from Keflavik to our volcano tour, then to the hotel, and return the car Monday morning before embarkation.

 

FlyingScotSailors, what was the restaurant in Saratoga that disappointed you, if I may ask? Our favorite is 15 Church, but there are a lot of nice places in Saratoga. Sometimes we stay at the Adelphi Hotel and make an overnight out of it. We also had a great meal at Hamlet and Ghost a few months back.

 

Will try to post from Iceland as time and internet allows. Good night/morning all!

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Have a wonderful time JP and Chris!  Safe Travels!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!

[Lois R]

JP, have a wonderful trip!!!!

 

Ann, do you do the postings? Or is it Peter?  Either way, you can't really hijack this thread as we talk about all kinds of stuff

I am hoping that the April cruise will be my retirement celebration

 

Have a great weekend everyone.

[Lois R]

10 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Sorry Lois got my thingemes mixed up. It was reported here as being on the P&O  Brittania.

Davey, maybe it was P&O...I just thought the whole thing was ridiculous.  A fight over a costume?  Just ask Mgmt on board  to step in or giving them feedback but to get into a fight? NO THANKS!

[Lois R]

Well, I booked that Seabourn TA crossing this morning....the first part is 2 weeks and I am staying on for the last leg so it is 22 days total!!!!!!!!!!!   Miami to Rome and looking at all the ports, there are several I have yet to visit so it is all good. Put a deposit down and I have to get through the end of the year and then in 2020 I have to talk to my boss and tell her I am retiring as of March 31st.....she has no clue I am even thinking about leaving.

[jpalbny]

Lois, that's fantastic news! Very happy for you.

 

We will start the trek towards Logan in just a few hours. Didn't get much sleep last night with the house guests, and tonight we lose 4 more hours. Might be a rough start, but we'll deal!

[FlyingScotSailors]

Lois, that is great!  We love retirement and we love the Seabourn Quest.  (Each ship seems to have a different "feel'.)  Looking forward to sailing with you, but we have to disembark in Barcelona to visit wineries and drink Spanish wines. 😎

 

We will organize our thoughts and respond to the questions in the last few posts, but we wanted to be the first to welcome you to Seabourn.  Also, we can offer you a referral for OBC as a new Seabourn cruiser; more info later.

 

Ann & Peter

 

ps:  Peter generally writes and Ann reviews and supplements.

 

 

[FlyingScotSailors]

JP, you are still home.  Again we have been beaten to the post. 🙁

 

We can often be found at Exit 9 Wine, depending on what is being sampled.  Ann appears in their TV commercials.

 

The Saratoga restaurant was Osteria Danny.  We had a very good ramen dinner at Hamlet and Ghost a few months ago, as part of a Japanese whisky dinner.

[jpalbny]

13 minutes ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

JP, you are still home.  Again we have been beaten to the post. 🙁

 

Leaving in less than 2 hours. Hopefully! 

 

Haven't tried Osteria Danny. We go infrequently enough that 15 Church keeps us happy. The chef there (Michael M) had his first place less than a mile from our home and we've been fans ever since.

[UpstateJan]

Greetings Cruisers!  I haven't been on much, and wow ... Capital District is making a statement today!   

 

First off, JP & Chris, bon voyage, enjoy Iceland, we loved our 4 days there - when  Jeremy officially hit the big 50.   We also would love to pick your brains when you get back about Alaska.  Now, go get ready to make your mad dash to Boston!

 

Welcome to Ann & Peter, we are also in Clifton Park, for another week and a half, then we are moving all the way to ..... Halfmoon!  If I was more athletic, we could pretty much sling-shot our belongings across Route 9.   Yes, the first part of June, Jeremy found his dream retirement home, things moved extremely fast, as we listed our house on the last Monday in June, and accepted an offer on Tuesday evening.  Our purchase closing is Monday, and the selling closing is 8/23 (and we have a SPAC concert that night, so it better go quick 🤣   We'd love to meet up with you sometime (not the next 2 weeks, packapalooza and moveapalooza).   Yes, we can often be found at Exit 9 Liquor, and will be there tomorrow to replenish our Wine & Cidre for the upcoming week of moving & unpacking the little stuff before the furniture arrives the following week.   I miss Shmaltz....

 

Davey, best wishes on your OH business launch, exciting times.  Sorry to hear about your loss, but congrats on your new bundle of love.

 

Mysty, hope all is well up north, love your funnies.   What & when is your next adventure?

 

Lois, how did you make out with the drs?  Hope work has settled down a bit.  Looking forward to hearing about your upcoming trips.

 

And all the rest, hope everyone's summer is going well, and for our folks in the southern hemisphere, winter is starting to wind down!  Looking forward to catching up on the thread, lusting after everyone's travel adventures.  I do miss Mr. Jeff's amazing food pics and interesting banter, I hope he & his wife are well.  Perhaps they are having much fun at Seaside.

 

I need to get back to packing, we have the walk thru tomorrow, closing Monday.  And ... Jeremy is going out of town on Tuesday, so that leaves me 3 evenings to get a lot of things done that I want to do before he gets home and messes up progress 😆   Perhaps we need  to have a small impromptu Cruise Critic meetup at Exit 9 Liquor, by far the coolest place in Clifton Park (actually in Halfmoon!!!), well except for the Kinns Road Park where those adorable fluffy baby owlets are, that is VERY COOL!    Ta ta, I'll be checking back in later this evening as I sit & relax with a heating pad on my poor old back.... 

[Lois R]

Hi everyone...Peter and Ann, someone on the Seabourn forum already reached out about that referral...sorry or I would have let you do whatever it is that needs to be done.  But I already emailed them about it.

 

I was going to disembark in Barcelona but figured I can do the last 7 as well, so why not?

 

JP, wishing you and Chris a great time.

 

Hi Jan, great to see you! Work? Well, I am planning to leave at the end of March so that tells you some...…..it has been 6 months since the transfer...…..I am not happy anymore.

 

And is anyone else having an issue with the boards today? It keeps giving me that 500 error

[jpalbny]

7 hours ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

We can often be found at Exit 9 Wine, depending on what is being sampled.  Ann appears in their TV commercials.

 

5 hours ago, UpstateJan said:

 Perhaps we need  to have a small impromptu Cruise Critic meetup at Exit 9 Liquor, by far the coolest place in Clifton Park.

 

Ok, sold! We killed our bottle of Hendricks midsummer gin last night. It may need to be replenished when we return home.

 

Jan, good luck with the closings.

 

Peter and Ann, I'll be on a plane with no WiFi overnight so I promise I won't post much from here out.

[Daveywavey70]

Thanks Jan, not sure I was. thinking straight taking on a pup with 42 and 46 field champions in their lineage but we all live and learn. 

[FlyingScotSailors]

2 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Peter and Ann, I'll be on a plane with no WiFi overnight so I promise I won't post much from here out.

 

But tomorrow you will have a 4 hour head start. 😳

[FlyingScotSailors]

Missy, here is the link to the Encore review we posted on the Seabourn board.  It was written with Seabourn cruisers in mind, to provide in part our comparisons of the "larger" new ships (600 pax) compared to the 450 pax Odyssey class.  It should provide some info, and we welcome any questions.  (Skimming the thread now, we are embarrassed to see various typos;  probably they were added later by someone else. 😟

 

 

Jan and JP, sounds like a good idea to have a CC meeting at Exit 9, when we are all home at the same time.  We may start posting the weekly tasting schedules here, to help coordinate and perhaps encourage others to fly into Albany for the weekend. 😉

[UpstateJan]

6 hours ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

 

Jan and JP, sounds like a good idea to have a CC meeting at Exit 9, when we are all home at the same time.  We may start posting the weekly tasting schedules here, to help coordinate and perhaps encourage others to fly into Albany for the weekend. 😉

 Absolutely, as you know, it's important to stay hydrated!  When we have house guests (usually Jeremy's family), we did the "drunk tour" - start at Exit 9 liquor, then head to Shmaltz for some tastings, and then across the drive to Yankee Distillery for some bourbon and a quick playtime with Barley the pug, back to the house for a nap.   

 

We'll be trotting over to Exit 9 later this afternoon, not sure if it will be before or after our walk-thru today.  It's such a fun store, there's always hidden little treasures to be found on the shelves.  When Jeremy's Montreal family were down visiting a couple weeks back, his brother found the Bob Dylan Whiskey that he's been dreaming of - we'll find out the reviews today on the weekly sibling call.  I'm certainly going to need something light and fruity for the week ahead 

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great day all!