A Silver Shadow Over The World - December 2023 to May 2024

[mysty]

15 hours ago, mysty said:

 

Thanks so very much for taking the time to post this Deck!  Much appreciated!  Some yummy places on that list! 😁

 

Today the ship excursion options appeared for San Francisco.   One of the included excursions is a combo of Alcatraz and Sausalito.  It's a 5 hour tour beginning at 10:00 am with a walk to Pier 33, the ferry to Alcatraz for a self-guided look-see, ferry back to San Francisco, bus to Sausalito,  bus back to the ship.  We booked it thus ticking two boxes from @Deckhawk's wonderful list.  Only fly in the ointment might be the return time to the ship.  The pre-cruise gala dinner for the World Cruise part of our adventure will be held that evening.   We are hoping to attend.   We will need to arrange something with Reception prior.   And if we would need to leave the ship before the return time for the excursion we will just do Sausalito on our own and cancel the excursion booking.  All good!

[crusinbanjo]

On 1/9/2023 at 9:25 AM, mysty said:

 

You were definitely blessed with enlightened parents crusinbanjo!  Mrs must be as happy as a clam! 😁

Thank you for that compliment. My mother came from a family of 16 Children, her mother didn't let the kids do any of the house work.  My mother had to learn on the job when she got married.  From that time on she swore that her children would all learn, starting at a young age.  All of us had to chip in with household chores, including cooking, laundry and caring for the ones younger than you. 

 

Yes this was a blessing, as all 15 of my mom and dad's children were and are still sought after in work situations as hard workers, innovative problem solvers, and independent thinkers who are ready to lead.    Early life training has made myself and most of my siblings pretty well off.......   ......(at least well off enough to enjoy SS cruising!)

[mysty]

9 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

Thank you for that compliment. My mother came from a family of 16 Children, her mother didn't let the kids do any of the house work.  My mother had to learn on the job when she got married.  From that time on she swore that her children would all learn, starting at a young age.  All of us had to chip in with household chores, including cooking, laundry and caring for the ones younger than you. 

 

Yes this was a blessing, as all 15 of my mom and dad's children were and are still sought after in work situations as hard workers, innovative problem solvers, and independent thinkers who are ready to lead.    Early life training has made myself and most of my siblings pretty well off.......   ......(at least well off enough to enjoy SS cruising!)

 

WOW  cruising!  You're one of 15 children!  You should write a how-to book on parenting.   It seems like a lost art now! 🤔

[crusinbanjo]

2 hours ago, mysty said:

 

WOW  cruising!  You're one of 15 children!  You should write a how-to book on parenting.   It seems like a lost art now! 🤔

Haha, you are correct, it is almost a lost art. My mom should have written the book.  I am the 7th child of Bernard & Rolande.  Together they were married 72 years and had 15 children……. We really know the book “Cheaper by he Dozen”.

Edited January 11, 2023 by crusinbanjo

[mysty]

Just now, crusinbanjo said:

Haha, you are correct, it is almost a lost art.   And, I am the 7th child of Bernard & Rolande.  Together they were married 72 years and had 15 children……. We really know the book “Cheaper by he Dozen”.

 

Is Rolande French crusin?  In Canada, French families in that era had many children.  My dad's family had 8 siblings and mom's had 6.  I came from a smaller family of 4.  I was the oldest.  Interestingly,  my dad was thrilled that his oldest child was female.   His mother had died fairly young and his oldest sister was tasked with the job of raising the rest of the kids.   Thankfully I did not have to take on that responsibility. 

[crusinbanjo]

3 hours ago, mysty said:

 

Is Rolande French crusin?  In Canada, French families in that era had many children.  My dad's family had 8 siblings and mom's had 6.  I came from a smaller family of 4.  I was the oldest.  Interestingly,  my dad was thrilled that his oldest child was female.   His mother had died fairly young and his oldest sister was tasked with the job of raising the rest of the kids.   Thankfully I did not have to take on that responsibility. 

Yes, Rolande was named because her dad wanted a boy, so they feminized the name.  My grandparents on moms side were in fact from Canada.  My grandfathers brothers were ship captains on the St Lawrence Seaway for years.  My Grandfather, Lorenzo, was a stone mason who came to the US about 1910.  During WWII, he was building housing for soldiers on the Allusion Islands, in Alaska.  After the war he taught my uncle and my dad in the construction biz, they were very successful and taught us to be the same.

[mysty]

This World Cruise originally had 6 events planned for the folks who would be on for the full ride.  Two of those events were planned for Russia which is no longer on the itinerary.  Events in Vladivostok and Korsakov are no more.  My hope is that there will be an event planned for a port in Japan.  That would be amazing!

[HappyLadyTravels]

On 1/11/2023 at 8:10 AM, mysty said:

 

Today the ship excursion options appeared for San Francisco.   One of the included excursions is a combo of Alcatraz and Sausalito.  It's a 5 hour tour beginning at 10:00 am with a walk to Pier 33, the ferry to Alcatraz for a self-guided look-see, ferry back to San Francisco, bus to Sausalito,  bus back to the ship.  We booked it thus ticking two boxes from @Deckhawk's wonderful list.  Only fly in the ointment might be the return time to the ship.  The pre-cruise gala dinner for the World Cruise part of our adventure will be held that evening.   We are hoping to attend.   We will need to arrange something with Reception prior.   And if we would need to leave the ship before the return time for the excursion we will just do Sausalito on our own and cancel the excursion booking.  All good!

Hi. Where did u see the S.F. tours. None I could find on Jan15, 2024. Thx.

[mysty]

8 hours ago, HappyLadyTravels said:

Hi. Where did u see the S.F. tours. None I could find on Jan15, 2024. Thx.

 

The San Francisco tour I found was for January 14, 2024.  January 15, 2024 is the debarkation day for the Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco cruise that comes just before the start of the World Cruise on January 15.  There are no excursions typically on the embarkation day of World Cruise. 

[mysty]

Another bit of research I do relates to the currency in use for each port on the itinerary.  The ship does not do currency exchange and passengers are advised to get the foreign currency they need prior to the voyage.  Depending on where the ship is sailing, USD and EUR may be available from Reception.

 

For our adventure there will be 14 ports on the Holiday Season cruise from Bridgetown to San Francisco and 63 ports on the World Cruise.  Here is a list of the various currencies in use and the count of the ports using each.....

 

BBD - Barbados Dollar - 1 Port        
XCD - East Caribbean Dollar - 2 Ports        
EUR - Euro - 2 Ports                
USD - United States Dollar - 19 Ports        
COP - Colombia Peso - 1 Port            
CRC - Costa Rica Colon - 1 Port        
MXN - Mexico Peso - 2 Ports            
AUD - Australia Dollar - 10 Ports        
WST - Samoa tala - 1 Port            
FJD - Fiji Dollar - 2 Ports            
NZD - New Zealand Dollar - 9 Ports        
IDR - Indonesia Rupiah - 4 Ports        
SGD - Singapore Dollar - 1 Port        
MYR - Malaysia Ringgit - 2 Ports        
VND - Vietnam Dong - 2 Ports            
HKD - Hong Kong Dollar - 1 Port        
CNY - China Yuan Renminbi - 2 Ports        
JPY - Japan Yen - 11 Ports            
CAD - Canada Dollar - 4 Ports

 

We will be purchasing USD, AUD, NZD and JPY for our adventure.  We have a very reasonable currency exchange option here that is much cheaper than banks offer.

  

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, mysty said:

We will be purchasing USD, AUD, NZD and JPY for our adventure.  We have a very reasonable currency exchange option here that is much cheaper than banks offer.

Probably stupid questions, but here goes anyway for my education.

 

1) Why do you purchase in advance in Canada instead of just using an ATM in country for free?  
 

2) Why do you only use four currencies instead of each country’s own currency?

[mysty]

1 minute ago, Stumblefoot said:

Probably stupid questions, but here goes anyway for my education.

 

1) Why do you purchase in advance in Canada instead of just using an ATM in country for free?  
 

2) Why do you only use four currencies instead of each country’s own currency?

 

There is a charge for us to access ATMs in foreign countries.   The other issue is that excursions don't always involve easy access to ATMs.  We are only going to purchase currency for the countries where we will visit the most ports.  We have currencies in hand left over from previous voyages.  The option we use for currency exchange has a minimum purchase for some currencies that sometimes exceeds what we want to purchase.  Thus,  the four currencies.  😁

[Stumblefoot]

Thx Mysty.  Makes sense. Sounds like we’re lucky our Bank of Montreal account doesn’t impose any ATM fees or have minimum amounts.  Maximums can be a pain for us sometimes, so understand your hassle.

[mysty]

We learned the hard way Stumble.  With ATM fees and higher bank exchange rates it was more economical to handle the foreign funds with currency exchange prior to departure.  Your questions were good questions!  😁

[MrsWaldo]

10 hours ago, mysty said:

AUD - Australia Dollar - 10 Ports        
WST - Samoa tala - 1 Port            
FJD - Fiji Dollar - 2 Ports            
 

 

We will be purchasing USD, AUD, NZD and JPY for our adventure.  We have a very reasonable currency exchange option here that is much cheaper than banks offer.

  

They will most likely take AUD in Fiji.  You pay a bit more though.

[mysty]

Thanks MrsWaldo!  It's good to "see you" again!  Hope you are well!

[mysty]

33 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Thx Mysty.  Makes sense. Sounds like we’re lucky our Bank of Montreal account doesn’t impose any ATM fees or have minimum amounts.  Maximums can be a pain for us sometimes, so understand your hassle.

 

This is what our BMO looks like....

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, mysty said:

 

This is what our BMO looks like…

ABD!

[Host Jazzbeau]

OK so I'm probably about to expose my ignorance here [just as I exposed my lack of awareness earlier today when I tripped over the fuel hose at a gas station and did a major job on my forehead – 10 stitches above the eye and 4 below], but ...

 

Could Canadians open a Charles Schwab Bank account in the US?  This would allow you to maintain a supply of US dollars and get a fee-free Debit card to use anywhere in the world.  You would also be a currency speculator, just like the big boys in finance!  😀 

 

[It might also put you on various government lists of money launderers?  As I said, this all comes from a vast reservoir of ignorance – plus maybe a little concussion  😉]

[mysty]

Perhaps we could Jazz.  At this point in our lives we are attempting to simplify things.  Your suggestion has merit though.  Except for the currency speculation.  😅

[jpalbny]

Agree; the Charles Schwab card works well overseas and in 5+ years of using it all over the place, they have meticulously refunded every cent of ATM fees. BoA is getting better; in many locations they do provide totally free ATM withdrawals, but their international network doesn't have the blanket coverage that Schwab does.

 

Jazz - Ouch! Feel better.

[highplanesdrifters]

21 hours ago, mysty said:

We learned the hard way Stumble.  With ATM fees and higher bank exchange rates it was more economical to handle the foreign funds with currency exchange prior to departure.  Your questions were good questions!  😁

Have you thought of using Crypto?  It's safe, easy to use, accepted globally, and fun to speculate with. Why just this week Bitcoin was up 30%.  🤣

[mysty]

10 minutes ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Have you thought of using Crypto?  It's safe, easy to use, accepted globally, and fun to speculate with. Why just this week Bitcoin was up 30%.  🤣

 

Thank you High!  That is just a bridge too far for us!  And our kids would be roaring with laughter!  🤣

[mysty]

Apparently Scotiabank bought Charles Schwab Canada in February of 2022.  Not interested in opening an account in the US.  Nothing personal folks!  😁

[jpalbny]

It's OK M. I'll rent my Schwab ATM card to you.