.......idle jottings

Would love to go Luxury but to expensive

I need a rich boyfriend, lol

Hi Bocadance,

Welcome to this zany and irreverent SD forum.

"You gotta speculate to accumulate"! they say

So come on SD ..... so many single billionaires looking for the right gal especially with a sense of fun and humour like your good self.

That's what Hum did and up pops Blondie though sadly not a billionaire but somehow Hum "scrapes by": the Puligny-Montrachet, rarely Le Montrachet.

And don't go mindin' Jim neither ...... it was funny though ("send picture of boat"....haha). As you can gather he is a seafarer, so maybe it wasn't a joke.

He only pists like this when he likes someone!

And he also only pists like this when he's drinking the dregs from his 50 gallon tequila still ..... So yes once a week but he brews up another batch and he's just "tickety boo" for a few days!

So dont be a stranger Boca. No. cruising experience necessary. Sense of humour here, will come in very handy.

Delighted to make your acquaintance.

If anybody "out there" spots a single gentleman billionaire in his late 90's and declining health, onboard, please let Boca know. Sadly the Commander is in "rude health" and is actually decades younger ...... there are one or two other factors that make him an un-satisfactory candidate but Hum wont bore you with the other details.

Good morning Hum,

I must agree with you again! Montrachet, is such an elegant wine and truly one of my favorites.

May I suggest to Ms. Boca, that if she is actually from S. Florida, in that area there are many, many extremely wealthy 90 year olds that would love to meet such a woman with her sense of humor.

However, make sure she checks to see if SD has a lift for the dear man's scooter or wheelchair, prior to taking him on such an adventure. It would be so unlucky to have that wheelchair roll off the deck and he suddenly disappears into the deep blue sea ;-)

Dear Boca, please don't let Hum's innuendos put you off.

I am in remarkably good health, cut quite a dapper presence, and am

quite financially secure ... also very humble, as you can see.

While I do on occasion fly business class, my preference is

"the front cabin" with all its amenities.

With that very brief CV, perhaps we can further explore our mutual

interests on an upcoming SD holiday. This all to say that Hum

frequently suggests I am a little "light in the loafer" ... but one

must always consider the source.

Anyway, wonderful to see you post here from time to time. :)

[quote=ho-hum;

And don't go mindin' Jim neither ...... it was funny though ("send picture of boat"....haha). As you can gather he is a seafarer, so maybe it wasn't a joke.

He only pists like this when he likes someone!

And he also only pists like this when he's drinking the dregs from his 50 gallon tequila still ..... So yes once a week but he brews up another batch and he's just "tickety boo" for a few days!

Sadly, 50 gallons just doesn't last like it used to. Must be the humidity! But yes, Boca, jump right in with this band of Pirates. People on this board rarely bite and are full of information. Boy are they full of it........:D

Dearest hum,

congrats to 200.000 views - 50.000 of them are views from Herr and Frau gcmv. :)

 

Gcmv had to work quite hard during the last weeks, but fortunately this has an end on Friday.

On Saturday we will be flying to Sardinia and will spent two lovely weeks there with excellent wine, food, accomodations, beaches and golf.

Only to make ho-hum curious, there's the link of our beach view at Villasimius.

 

http://backnang.tv/porto-giunco/

 

Btw. will hum and blondie cruise on any of the SD-wine-connaisseur-cruises in 2017?

Thanks GCMV. Your contribution on this silly post was invaluable especially as you had to translate everything!

Villasimius looks amazing GCMV!

Very jealous.

You will have a great time.

Promise you will try the Vermentino di Gallura? Yes, a white wine but from the north of Sardinia and amazing and naturally great with fish, octopus, calamari, salads etc..

Hum should love to support the "wine voyages", after all Hum adores wine. It is essential to Hum's life and here is SD shoreside management doing something innovative.

And they are inclusive of the voyage cost except you pay for paired wine at the Winemakers Dinner/s.

Hum is not quite sure how it works.

Do they have minimum number requirements ?

Suppose you go on the voyage and there are insufficient numbers: you might not be able to go. Or is it bound to have a sufficient number anyway.

How do you have a Winemakers Dinner separate from other guests?

Well take a look yourself at the 13 Wine Voyages for 2017 by opening this link:

http://brochures.seadream.com/pdfs/WineVoyages_2017.pdf

Now if you like the idea of cruising and wine events, consider the British wine touring specialists "Arblaster & Clarke".

Link: http://winetours.co.uk/cruise/

True, they are likely to have a lot of "old English farts" onboard but they are the best. They were recently taken over and have "trimmed" the more expensive tours, sadly, but they are very well established and concentrate on the region they are sailing.

Are you tempted by them GCMV?

it's been announced!

OK, I give up. It has certainly been determined after last week that you know more about what is going on on the yacht than I do even when I'm on board.

So, don't keep us in suspense. WHAT has been announced?

Zimmy

OK, I give up. It has certainly been determined after last week that you know more about what is going on on the yacht than I do even when I'm on board.

 

So, don't keep us in suspense. WHAT has been announced?

 

Zimmy

I think they announced Ho-Hum is banned! We will miss you. Ok, just kidding. I am with you Z.....What the heck is announced???

Haven't posted on here for a loooong time since we haven't been on SD in quite awhile so nothing new to contribute... but HH your last post has me curious too!

Could the answer be ---- Cuba??

Haven't posted on here for a loooong time since we haven't been on SD in quite awhile so nothing new to contribute... but HH your last post has me curious too!

 

Could the answer be ---- Cuba??

CUBA ?

No !

We missed you.

Good morning Hum,

I must agree with you again! Montrachet, is such an elegant wine and truly one of my favorites.

 

May I suggest to Ms. Boca, that if she is actually from S. Florida, in that area there are many, many extremely wealthy 90 year olds that would love to meet such a woman with her sense of humor.

 

However, make sure she checks to see if SD has a lift for the dear man's scooter or wheelchair, prior to taking him on such an adventure. It would be so unlucky to have that wheelchair roll off the deck and he suddenly disappears into the deep blue sea ;-)

Are we speaking from experience (wheelchairs rolling off deck) Porto?

Portofino and Italy is not all that you love: Machiavelli too!

Haha

Dear Boca, please don't let Hum's innuendos put you off.

 

I am in remarkably good health, cut quite a dapper presence, and am

quite financially secure ... also very humble, as you can see.

While I do on occasion fly business class, my preference is

"the front cabin" with all its amenities.

 

With that very brief CV, perhaps we can further explore our mutual

interests on an upcoming SD holiday. This all to say that Hum

frequently suggests I am a little "light in the loafer" ... but one

must always consider the source.

 

Anyway, wonderful to see you post here from time to time. :)

Hum can fully testify to all of the above claims by the Commander of his unique and highly entertaining personality so adored by his chums throughout the civilised world (and a few in Australia too!).

But he failed to mention his "crooning" which has all the ladies swooning and the men wishing they could be just like him: the style is "ol blue eyes" himself (and in appearance too: remarkably so).

Sadly performances are becoming more rare, though his annual monthly appearance "on the strip" is "set in stone": all tickets are sold immediately on release being "snapped up" by the A listers.

"Quite financially secure" he says!

That's the biggest under-statement Hum's heard in a long time.

He is a "big player" in the art world.

His growing collection of "Modigliani's" alone must be the largest in the world though Hum has heard one or two are being contested for authenticity!

Oh and the Commander, claiming himself to be "very humble", now that really "take's the biscuit"!

Haha

He would be quite a catch that's for sure!

And so, innuendos, if any, allude to him being a great chum with many wonderful qualities.

Sadly, 50 gallons just doesn't last like it used to. Must be the humidity! But yes, Boca, jump right in with this band of Pirates. People on this board rarely bite and are full of information. Boy are they full of it........:D

Haha ......... your'e on wicked form Jim!

[quote=ho-hum;Are we speaking from experience (wheelchairs rolling off deck) Porto?

Portofino and Italy is not all that you love: Machiavelli too!

Haha

HA! No 90 yr olds for me or wheelchairs yet. Word of advice to many of you gentlemen: The real "Catch of the Day" are those ladies that just so happen to have their own resources/$$. It really makes life much easier and who then really needs a wife OR husband for that matter? 2 were enough for me ;-)

the BBC2 documentary!

Whoopppeeeee! Now wheres my copy?????

Whoopppeeeee! Now wheres my copy?????

[quote=ho-hum;

the BBC2 documentary!

Why do you build us up, build us up ButterCup Baby, only to let us down, let us down........Where is it? Searching!

......sorry, keep losing internet con.....

Found this article in Travel Weekly, about former CEO of SD talking at the Cila conference in May, 2016.

No room for a third ship!

What of SDIII then? Though it would be a different category of sailing: more "discovery". An area of cruising that the new "Scenic" looks to capture.

Crystal's venture into small ship cruising is forgettable, so no competition there.

Anyway here is the reported speech to Conference (well a part of it).

"When Azamara Club Cruises president and chief executive Larry Pimentel declared unequivocally on stage at the Clia Conference last week that there was way too much capacity coming into the luxury cruise sector – and too fast – there were a few audible gasps.

When he went on to say the inevitable outcome would be discounting and consolidation among the smaller lines, many in the room were quite taken aback by such honesty.

He also stated publicly for the first time that such a climate had made him rethink his previously concrete plans for a third ship and said Azamara would be sticking with the two it has for the time being and letting everyone else fight it out.

It was a refreshingly frank assessment and one that is worth noting by agents, who have previously been urged to make the most of the high prices, commission rates and satisfaction levels on offer in the luxury cruise sector.

Pimentel warned that anyone selling a “standard” luxury cruise would be dragged into the minefield, with customers shopping around for the cheapest agent.

He told delegates that Azamara was improving its yields each year by constantly differentiating its cruises from those of rivals.

And, like other speakers at the conference, he urged agents to have the same mindset – to be innovative, creative and personal in their own approach to ensure that what they offer their clients is not only bespoke, but can’t be copied – and then discounted – by rivals.

Those who don’t take heed of his advice could find themselves caught up in his predicted cruise sector price war."

Larry is a very smart guy. A real loss for SeaDream when he left. I think he is right on with his predictions. World events are making some parts of the planet less attractive which will even more concentrate the excess capacity. Might be great for us cruisers for a while but, as he says, consolidation and layups will inevitably follow. The Europe River cruise industry, if you look at the offers we are receiving, is already overbuilt. I guess most areas of business do this boom and bust cycle over and over.

Larry is a very smart guy. A real loss for SeaDream when he left. I think he is right on with his predictions. World events are making some parts of the planet less attractive which will even more concentrate the excess capacity. Might be great for us cruisers for a while but, as he says, consolidation and layups will inevitably follow. The Europe River cruise industry, if you look at the offers we are receiving, is already overbuilt. I guess most areas of business do this boom and bust cycle over and over.

Yes LP was a big loss and so was Pam Conover, who is now CEO of "The World" and which Hum will soon be visiting!

Yes, promise to tell you all about it.

LP is definitely correct about the Azamaras. They are 700 pax each and Hum cannot see how having another ship would help them.

SD is different. The ships are older and significantly smaller. These two factors mean they would benefit from replacing (even need replacing) but frankly they haven't got the funding nor are they geared up to deal with greater numbers.

Best stay as they are.

Oh boy the river cruises! Far too many now and with Crystal joining too! At least there will be a lot of bargains as you look out of your cabin into someone else's cabin 20' away!

Anybody wanna see the promo of THAT documentary ?

No.

OK

No problem.

See ya around.

Maybe popper will source it for you.

Hum's off from Oz, travelling almost a day.

I practically got whiplash as your closeup flashed by......