jpalbny

Glad to be home (for a minute or two). Just finished a quick sprint out of town for a cousin's funeral.

Left Albany at 5:30 AM yesterday on Delta, through LaGuardia, to Norfolk. Worked like clockwork and had time to meet my aunt at the airport and we went to lunch before the service. Spent the afternoon reminiscing with lots of wonderful cousins, spouses, kids, aunts, uncles, and friends who are part of the extended family. Lovely day despite the reason for the gathering. 

I was originally going to reverse the itinerary home on DL, getting in around noon. I was up against some time constraints because we're meeting up with another cousin for dinner at the Culinary Institute of America tonight, and the event starts at 5PM. So I worried that a noon arrival into Albany might not leave much room for error.

So I canceled the return leg on Delta and instead, drove back to DC with my brother last night after the services. I got a nice one-way flight on United leaving at 8:45 and arriving in Albany at 10:30. Lots of time to spare. And no layover. Safer? Sure... One might think.

Until I got a text at 6AM today informing me that the inbound crew was going to be late and my flight would leave at 12 noon. If I could trust that would be the final answer, I'd still be OK. But, I didn't.

So I found the last ticket on a Southwest flight from BWI to Albany leaving at 10:30, and made my poor brother drive me 45 minutes to BWI (instead of 10 to Dulles) but he said it was OK. Touched down just before noon. And the United flight is delayed again, now estimated departure is 2PM. Glad I could find another option!

Off for a shower, and then heading out to dinner!

1 hour ago, les37b said:

If you see an odd looking fella with a monopod taking photos onboard, say hello!

I read this line too fast...

Monopod, monocle... 

Was hoping that the sail-in went according to plan! Hope everyone on board enjoyed it, and thanks for the video, Les!

7 hours ago, cadburysmom said:

want to use my own TA and am wondering if Platinum benefits are still given if not booked directly with Amex travel.

Yes, we've done this (well, actually our TA has done it) every time since 2014.

For an example like yours: We are on a Kimberley Cruise in two weeks, which we booked last June. We booked D2D but took the air credit, which should have eliminated the airport-to-hotel transfers along with the flights. The airport to hotel transfers showed up on My Silversea for a few months after we made the reservation. Eventually they disappeared. Yours probably will too at some point.  

Oops - I reread your post and I see you're talking about the Blacklane transfers. Mea culpa. I guess I'm no better than Silversea when it comes to attention to detail!

Sometimes people cancel and spots open. Sometimes more spots are added. Sometimes neither one happens and the tour remains full. It depends on whether Silversea can arrange the additional tour spots which is more likely in a larger area with lots of tourism infrastructure, and probably less likely in a small port with few cruise ship visitors. The Adriatic is probably more like the former, but my advice would be to have a Plan B just in case. 

44 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

It looks like most of the long term WCers we know and others we have talked to will be giving the 25 version a big miss and will be on GVs instead.

 

We won’t be segmenting on 25 either.

Uh-oh, have we made a mistake doing a WC '25 segment? I'm sure we'll have fun regardless.

Some good news about our upcoming Kimberley cruise this week...

Our TA sent an email, asking if we'd be OK with an upgrade from Veranda to a Silver Suite! We didn't have to think too long about that one. Now we're even more excited for this trip - 11 days until we fly!

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

where did that quote come from ‘water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink?

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

Sounds tasty overall. Chef Pia is our favorite though! Can you send her to Darwin so she's on Silver Cloud with us?

Vibrio would be less contagious than that other nasty you mentioned, though I guess you can get anything from oysters. Fingers crossed!

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

That said if it’s really cold then the grill is not the place to be 

They could always give you an extra "hot rock" to sit on, if you get too chilly...

2 hours ago, JoGay said:

Good luck with your next cruise.  It looks fascinating.  I would be interested in knowing how much wildlife you see on the trip.  

Since Chris and I will be on board with them, I suspect there will be a lot of wild life to be seen. Or did you mean something else?

18 hours ago, mysty said:

We did book onboard.

 

https://www.silversea.com/destinations/cruises-arctic-greenland/reykjavik-to-churchill-manitoba-ev250709016.html

 

We reached 500 Venetian Society days and applied the free 14 day cruise to the cruise link above.  Reykjavik to Churchill, Manitoba.   This will be our first expedition cruise. 😁

Can't wait to see you again, and introduce you to the joys of expedition cruising. 

47 minutes ago, mysty said:

This is our last full day on the ship.  We're spending it packing.  Tonight is the Farewell Gala dinner.  Tomorrow we leave the lovely Lady Shadow at 9:45 am.  Our flight leaves at 1:10 pm.

 

Thank you all for following along!

I refuse to "Like" your post so instead I will settle for (1) thanking you for the ongoing trip report and (2) wishing you and myster a stress-free and wonderful journey home. 

20 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

And, best of all, the pappardeli with duch ragu was outstanding. It really was. 

That's really good to hear! I have not ordered it in years - so thanks for the report. Maybe I'll try it again. Was the duck meat ground, or was it braised for hours so that it fell apart and was naturally tender?

Easy to do - cheveux vs chevaux. My French teacher in High School made sure that we knew the difference!

7 hours ago, lincslady said:

Sorry, jp, am I being bossy and pedantic again?

Not at all! You are correct with your spelling of Noilly, and your statement that it's difficult to pronounce. I can pronounce most French words without much stumbling over the sounds but that one does not roll off the tongue. I also have difficulty saying "Auxerre" because the "x" in the middle of the word behaves differently than when it's at the end of a word.

7 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I am confused here - I thought the drink was spelt Noilly Prat, with two lls, and therefore quite difficult to pronounce correctly in the French way.  Is this noily a completely different word?

 

The best  way I can describe it is nwa-yee..

Vous avez raison, Madame ! 

Thanks for setting us prats straight. 

Thanks for sticking with this and getting it sorted, Les! Now back to (hopefully) our scheduled itinerary! 

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I so hope there will be at least a bit of good news coming from Budapest in the next hours.

Me too. 🤞

3 hours ago, fdnycruiser said:

Not sure how long you’ll be in Seward, but renting a car may be an option for you.

Second that option. They picked us up at the port at disembarkation. When we returned the car later that day, they drove us to the train station. It was seamless, and we were able to do a lot that day on our own.

We'll see if they have any left on Silver Cloud in a few weeks. If so we'll try to put a dent in it.

13 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I hardly dare enter these august portals with my plebeian taste, but having not had any vinho verde for many years I bought a couple on advice from the Times, and discovered it to be not only delicious drinking but slightly petillant.  Is it always marginally sparkling?  I hasten to add that this is just the Waitrose own at about £7.50, and they have just temporarily sold out.

I believe that it usually does have a tiny bit of fizz. It's a very nice summer sipper!

5 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

I know nobody understands what Les and I are talking about.

I assume it's something to do with the opening schedule?

1 hour ago, Tothesunset said:

Footsore now from pounding the streets of Lisbon. Such a good city for aimless rambling. Bit like this thread. 

Lisbon is indeed a great place to wander. We didn't go there much at all the last time we were there two months ago though - just drove to Cascais and enjoyed the change of scenery. Glad that you are having a fun time and enjoy that tasting menu!

30 minutes ago, canderson said:

Just spare me the versions of the synthetic cork that require a 1/4 stick of dynamite to remove.  When even my Cork Pop struggles (great for removing very old, dodgy corks), it's definitely too tight.

Thanks for the reminder. I've not seen many of them lately! Maybe that's a sign?