turtlemichael

13 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

Today we have mice

 

Shhh. Keep it to yourself or everyone will want some.

7 hours ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

Tonight I found myself looking for the best version on Youtube that I could find of “Summertime” which is of course sublime and goes well with smoke salmon sandwiches and cold wine.

 

Out of interest does anyone else have musicality associations?

 

Jeff

Funny you should say that. An amazing coincidence. Last night partner and I saw the final of five Australian concerts by Broadway superstar Audra McDonald at Hamer Hall in Melbourne. Audra McDonald, I am sure many of the erudite people who hang out here will know, has won more performance Tonys than any other person. She is simply an amazing performer and entertainer with the near perfect soprano voice. Our conclusion was that it was the best concert we had ever seen. Audra starred in the 2012 Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess (and got the Tony for Best Actress of course!). So, inevitably and thankfully, last night she sang Summertime, but with no microphone or amplification to a packed hall of 2500+ people. I will remember it for a long time. Here is a link to another performance. I'm thrilled you mentioned it as 24 hours later we are still on a high. 

Everyone knows there is no "l" in the pronunciation. But the is a double yy,  Ostrayya. Best said without moving your lips. This also protects you from moisture seeking bush flies.

3 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

I need to understand Eurovision

 

When you are bored and have a spare few minutes, have a look at the Wiki on the voting system. Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest - Wikipedia .  Be aware though that they will be a few minutes you never get back again. 😂

3 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

May 11 Chronicles 

 

Day 12 - 11 May Day at sea_print.pdf 1.57 MB · 1 download
 

 

Once again apologies for no detailed posts recently - please don’t take that as 

 

a) a sign of dissatisfaction

b) poor internet service

c) anything else negative 

 

Nothing could be further from the truth as we grind our way across the North Pacific en route to Dutch Harbor. The seas have quite a swell but I wouldn’t describe them as particularly rough although many are feeling the impact - we’re very lucky not to feel the impacts of the seas motion except needing to be careful when moving about the ship. I do think it’s fair to say the Muse does creak and groan a little more than other ships we’ve experienced but again it doesn’t bother me as I sleep like a log 

 

We’re enjoying the sea day activities and dining options and the entertainment where we have welcomed a new female lead vocalists, Sona Varpetyan, who is very very good and has bought life to the two shows we’ve seen with her over the last couple of days 

 

Roy Perez as cruise director is a lot of fun and his energy and enthusiasm are infectious 

 

The crew are great - good service and a lot of fun to interact with 

 

No complaints here and looking forward to the next couple of weeks onboard 

Your posts are a breath of fresh air.

4 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 Both @spinnaker2 and @Silver Spectre have reported recent experiences with several varietals of wine running out onboard.  

Apparently, Shadow was not provisioned in Japan as scheduled causing, of course, a number of shortages. I have no idea why.

10 minutes ago, DavyWavey70 said:

This map reminds me of my complete and entirely uncharacteristic lack of getting my bearings in my first few days in Oz. I Was furious. My sense of direction beats anything out of any SatNav but my first few days down there I hadn’t a clue what was where. It felt like I’d lost my superpower and had to ask people where my Hotel was. So much shame.

I've been told that I never know which way is up at the best of times!

On 5/9/2024 at 9:04 AM, jpalbny said:

Mysty, you need a Pacific-centered map for this voyage! No crossing from one side to the other.

 

Accurate map. Australia and New Zealand are in the right place. Centre of the world. Or at least in the place where we think they should be!😍😁

1 hour ago, Tothesunset said:

Now here's an interesting thing: I'm in Poland just now and when I click your link I'm denied access to the site, a message saying something to the effect that "my" country has been blocked. So I changed to my UK VPN and, guess what, the site opened. 

 

How odd. 

I can see the site in Australia. I just ordered home delivery from the nearest store (Honolulu) for Aussieflyer.

On 5/3/2024 at 10:25 AM, jpalbny said:

Brr! Sounds like it's time to reinstitute the late morning boullioun service...one thing that we look forward to while cruising in Polar climes. Stay well and stay warm!

It was certainly there this time last year on Shadow. It was morning sustenance for many in the knitting circle in the Panorama Lounge as well as many around the pool.

1 hour ago, julmops said:

Good morning all,

 

We are on the Muse from Seward to Vancouver on June 6 and have are on a GTY Vista Suite.

 

We are still waiting for the stateroom assignment at 38 days before embarkation.

 

In your experience, when can we expect to get the stateroom number ?

 

Many thanks in advance for your help !

 

Any time from now until you get to the ship.  It varies but a week or so in advance is not unusual.

Great pics Mysty. Thank you. We loved South Korea. What did you think of your tour?

2 hours ago, mysty said:

 

I have to admit that this adventure has involved more post time than other adventures.   I need to resize photos to post and that requires more of an effort.   However,  I made a commitment here and I intend to honour it! 😁

Your dedication and the quality of your output deserve an award. Thank you very much and enjoy the remaining days of this cruise.

We are booked on a back-to-back on Nova from Cairns to Auckland in November/December. The two legs booked separately attract the discount but not the combined voyage. Oh well.

For us, a very important aspect of our cruise is the fellow passengers. I can identify differences in the four lines we've sailed on - Celebrity, Regent, Seabourn and, of course, Silversea. Silversea has suited us very well in this respect. We have many long term friends in Australia and overseas who we maintain contact with and have visited with too.  What are the differences with Crystal?

4 hours ago, commodoredave said:

I didn’t get the “esteemed guest” salutation, but Bert did say as per below that he was looking forward to meeting me onboard in due course. DW is very upset she wasn’t included and would like to make it very clear to Bert that I will not be sailing without her.
 

 

I am looking forward to meeting you onboard in due course.  Best regards,

If he had put an s on you to get yous, he would have covered all possibilities.

That Drayton Vermentino is a passably decent wine. I'd be very happy to have it with my dinner.

50 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

the locals at least - stood still and a Chinese copper came running towards (at?) me furiously blowing his whistle. I was given a good old dressing down (actually he was shouting in Chinese so for all I know he might have been giving me his favourite pulled pork recipe). 

 

Apparently, I had commited the offence of approaching the statue. But how else to read the plaque? 

 

Top tip for Mysty. Take binoculars. 

That was his one job and you were maybe his highlight of the day. Petty bureaucracy is similar everywhere, just more so in China! Let's hope his boss appreciated his efforts.

7 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Re The comment about no fruit bowl in suites. We had no fruit bowl for the first 2 days of the current cruise. So I asked our butler if they were no longer supplied. He said they were available on request so I requested one. I was asked what fruit I wanted so that is a positive. 
 

 

Our experience of automatic fruit bowls on Silversea was the fruit was usually so under ripe that it would not get eaten. Peaches like cricket balls for example. The only bits we would eat were the grapes! On request seems reasonable but you have to be told by Silversea that that is possible.

The OP was asking whether they would be disappointed on Silversea, compared with their last sailing 5 years ago, given the increased number of adverse comments in recent times. A perfectly reasonable question to me.  My last cruise was the World Cruise 2023 on Shadow. Prior to that it was a Pacific Island cruise on Muse in 2020 and the World Cruise in 2019 on Whisper. All were excellent in most respects. Of course, you'd expect a WC to be good given it is their premium product. The next is on Nova in November. I haven't deserted Silversea for anyone else. I've just done a lot less cruising as there are many other things on land to do and the attractions of cruising after 600+ days are fading.

Now, I'm interested to know what are the intentions of the many people here with significant adverse comments. Is it to move to another line, keep sailing with Silversea or cut back sailing overall? Is it so bad now, for the price, that you don't want to sail with Silversea any more? I'm particularly interested in the views of those who have done many trips on Silversea rather than just one, or even none. 

1 hour ago, DavyWavey70 said:

In a very disturbing turn of events, tonight whilst watching some YouTube videos in the interest of future adventure planning, an American gentleman during a suite tour pointed at a kettle and called it a coffee maker. Upon my exclamation my DH informed me that Americans don’t have kettles and make their tea in a microwave. Please put my mind at rest that these are just scurrilous rumours! The British method of making tea isn’t quite as ritualistic as the Japanese method but not far short. The thought of making tea in the pobty ping sends shivers down my spine. 

You mean it's not the night bottle?

2 minutes ago, mysty said:

 

At the Temple of the Tooth!  Vegetarian meal!  It was interesting! 😅

I'm nearly over the indigestion!