RachelG

We have been to Ecuador many times, and I would hardly refer to it as a cesspool. We have walked around on our own in both Quito and Guayaquil and felt safe. Went to church in Mantas. I would happily go back in normal times.

But the real and most important question for me is who will acquire Endeavor and maybe the River boats. I have no interest at all in the traditional ships. I will stick with Regent for that type of cruise. But Endeavor would be a great acquisition for Silversea and would definitely be a ship I would sail on.

I was told on our cruise last week, by a staff member who should know, that they are restricting capacity to a certain degree to have enough cabins available for isolation and quarantine.

Great to hear you are onboard and will be following.

I got my refund for a cancelled cruise with Oceania in about 8 weeks. I was fine with that. Contrast with Crystal where refund took over 9 months.

We switched to bubbly in order to avoid the issue.

We ask for Perrier or Pellegrino and this far have not been refused. We think the very water smells and tastes weird.

June 19, 2022–disembarkation in Rome I had set the alarm early as our driver was to pick us up at 8 am. Of course, when I woke up, there was the message that the Delta flight was delayed. Not so much that we wouldn’t make the connection, but we could have scheduled the driver for an hour later. Oh, well. Going outside after getting our luggage, I was really glad we had a driver. There were lots of people looking for taxis and no taxis to be found. We had a quick drive to the airport, maybe 35 minutes. Going from the airport toward the port was the opposite, with that side of the freeway being really backed up. The driver said it was because of it being Sunday morning, and people going to the beach. The airport was an absolute zoo. Even with the priority check in and security, it took almost 2 hours to get to the lounge. Delta uses the ITA lounge, and it is comfortable and clean. Not particularly fancy but good seating and a buffet where you point to the food and someone serves you. Really good yogurt (the type I had hoped to have onboard the ship but was not available) and fresh strawberries (also not available at breakfast on the ship in La Veranda except the first day). At least I got some before flying home. The gate area was also crazy. As soon as they announced boarding, there was a crush of people. The gate agents made no attempt to all by groups or rows, so it was a free for all. Once on the plane, everything was good though. The Delta One seats were comfortable I thought—George did not agree, so maybe they fit short people better. Service onboard was excellent, and the food was good for airplane food. Long layover in Atlanta as there are fewer flights these days.

We were required to get insurance that covered covid to enter Israel on our recent cruise. We got covid only insurance for $100 for the two of us. So it depends what you want the insurance to cover.

Turkish food is so good, and Greek, And Italian. I am afraid to weigh myself. May wait a few days.

Back to work tomorrow. I don’t know how I am feeling about going back into the building, but it has to happen.

At last, our much delayed and much anticipated trip has arrived. We were scheduled for this in June 2020. Obviously that didn’t happen. I was getting worried about this time, but it is a go. As usual, we had precruise drama, but this time, far more serious and far reaching. You can read about it in the news. Won’t go into details here, but it happened where I work every day, and I lost a close friend. So I have been stressed to the max. I am hoping the cruise will be the tonic for recovery. We are currently in the Flagship lounge in Chicago after a totally uneventful and ahead of time flight on AA. We fly to Madrid on Iberia then on to Tel Aviv. I haven’t flown Iberia in several years, but it is supposed to have gotten better. The tickets were using miles and a bargain as far as miles go. We have a long layover in Madrid so plan to visit Parque Retiro and walk around some to fight jet lag. i had not been in the Chicago Flagship lounge since pre covid. It is totally remodeled and very nice. Big buffet is on offer with good choices as well as a self serve wine and beer bar, also with good choices. Not crowded at all. So far so good. masks were not required on the AA flight, but I have some in my tote bag just in case we need them. i will as usual report every day, so I am happy to answer any questions or check on anything people want to know.