SteveH2508

As would the exhale from a non-smoker so irrelevant in terms of smoke v. non-smoke. There has been some speculation that smokers are actually less likely to contract COVID-19 (not proven though).

Duck fat is also good for roasties - I just shake them in the pan after a bit of heat to drive off the remaining water after draining.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is Tanqueray gin, Cointreau and a teaspoon of orange marmalade shaken up in it. Very strong but very nice.

Do they still do Breakfast at Tiffanys? It's been a few years since we cruised Princess but that was rather good. We do make it at home with home made marmalade.

You may already know this but all three of Azamara's ships are R-class.

The take away from this thread is that it is an individual decision based on circumstances, cruise preferences and indulgences, travel requirements, timings etc.. Today we have booked a 35 day Cruise and Maritime voyage for next September (premium it is not - see upthread). The price was right, the itinerary was right and it sails from London. We can walk to pick up the transfer coach at Victoria if we felt so inclined. We go in tailoring our expectations for the onboard experience accordingly. It would be a very dull world if we all liked the same things!

Yes we have - loved the itinerary and would thoroughly recommend it. We did not get to Kirkwall on our trip but that is meant to be very good - worth keeping an eye out for that one. We would do a round Britain again, provided there were some different ports of call.

We keep a spreadsheet where we track every cost on each of the cruises we have taken. It quickly became clear that our onboard spend on a mainstream line was at least as much as the base fare. We then started to check out other premium lines and worked out the cost per day for us. The difference in cost was small but the better experience more than made up for it. If you can find some deals (they are out there though this is an unusual time), you might find that the premium lines actually work out cheaper than the mainstream nickle-and-dime lines when you reckon in everything.

Well we decided - sod it - we (and our cruise buddies) booked it today. No-fly from Tilbury was an attraction and the itinerary is great. Let us hope that the service and technical hiccups we had on Magellan do not re-occur.

DW tried a few weeks ago but the communication seems to have flown off into the ether somewhere. We shall try again when things return to some semblance of normality. Thanks.

We have just noticed that both mine and DW's Venetian Society numbers are the same. Is this usual for Silversea or is it an IT gremlin? Every other line's loyalty scheme give me and DW different numbers. We are getting this 'crossover' of information as well.

The itineraries that the premium lines offer tick the ports box much better than the mainstream same old itineraries. Smaller ships can go to places that the 'Elephant of the Seas' cannot. Added to that, they are more flexible about dining etc. if there are long trips to places (e.g. Safagah to Karnak/Luxor you will get back late - the dining times are shifted to accommodate that). It's all about your personal priorities - ours is itinerary, decent food and no hard sell of inches of gold/art daubs etc. Run the numbers for a premium line cost compared to your mainstream line overall cost and you might be surprised by the results.

If the Channel Islands and/or Republic of Ireland would play ball then those issues might be overcome. They also could all change after Dec 31 2020 because of Br***t.

We are very much itinerary driven then look at the value for money. If a CMV trip goes where we want to at a decent price (and is not Magellan) we may book it - uncertain times at the moment though. Next autumn 35 days from London to Canada, Greenland etc. and back does look tempting though. We actually have a Silversea booked (which is unlikely to sail) and are looking at another Silversea - chalk and cheese to CMV!

Ours was on Magellan. Rather smelly with exhaust fumes at times. We would not sail on it again. We are seriously considering their 'new' ship Amy Johnson for a Canada trip next autumn however.