AusMum

You are going to have to get some more of these crustaceans so we can get a better look 😉

I hope you get to see the whale sharks in Exmouth! we were there in July, a few years ago, and got to see Orcas - sadly, they were hunting baby humpbacks, but were pretty amazing to see. Perth's population has doubled in the past few years - it's crazy! Ahh, that would have been Kings Park.

Tiger prawns are really common in Asian and Australian waters, but they have a prominent red tiger stripe to them, and a different head. https://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/Home/Seafood/Species-Information/List/tiger-prawn

they don't look like tiger prawns or king prawns (like we get down here)

Ohhh that's awesome! it will be pretty cold in Perth, but should be lovely when you get to the Kimberley (it's amazing how many climates we have in one state). What do you have planned for Perth? does the ship stop in Exmouth on the way?

They look a little bit like scampi? I'm keen to eat them, not matter which crustacean they are 🙂

Thank you! we have a caravan here in Australia, and anywhere is a long drive from where we are. We are off to a place called Exmouth next month (famous for whale sharks). It's a 13 hour drive (without a caravan), we will only have covered half our state, and there will be miles and miles of nothing. Sorry your husband got Covid whilst you were away. I caught it (for the first time) about 3 weeks ago. I've just gotten over feeling like I'm constantly drowning, so it would be scary to go through it in a foreign country!

is that a lobster on the left hand side?

Isn't that part of why we travel though? to experience different food. I don't expect to find vegemite on any cruise we go on. When we go to the US, we struggle with a lot of the food, because it's sooo different to Australia. Much of the food is too sweet for our palate (especially the bread), the chicken is a weird colour (being corn fed), the ham and bacon is just too different to what we are used to, and the eggs just 'look wrong'. BUT, you try new things and accept you're not at home. I'm super fussy, so always lose weight when we travel (we self cater when we can). I'm pretty excited about there being lobster available, as I could live off that, and who can stuff up lobster? 🙂 I guess Silversea still has a relationship with some Italian suppliers, and it's more economical to source some foods from the closest countries to the ports they get supplies from. I do agree with you about Italian beef - compared to US and Australian beef it seems to be a bit insipid. We almost accidentally purchased horse from a butcher in Venice because "at least it had some colour". We have previously traveled on P&O Australia, Carnival, RCCL and Celebrity. This will be our first Silversea cruise. We picked our cruise for the itinerary (Iceland and Greenland), but I am also looking forward to the 'Italian influence' that I hope still exists, despite RCCL now taking ownership.

It was something like 17C in Perth (Western Australia) and most people looked like they were on a ski holiday lol The media is reporting on how we are all "freezing". It is Winter 🙂 https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/weather/wa-weather-state-shivers-through-start-of-week-with-temperatures-plunging-in-the-wheatbelt-c-11021006

I think these junkets are designed by teacher/for teachers. My son's school (in Perth Western Australia) offered a surf trip to The Maldives, science and music trips to NYC and Florida, and trips to Turkey for ANZAC Day. Some of the schools do regular trips to Indonesia, but it's considered to be 'just down the road' for us. We have traveled a lot with our son. We took him to Alaska when he was 4, and he was one of three children on that particular cruise. He got an award at school for doing a presentation, in front of the entire school, on 'glacier calving in Alaska', and now (at 25) is working his way to a career in renewable energy. Your kids will gain so much from any travel you do with them! I'm curious about what camera you are using? In the past I have dragged a Canon SLR (and lenses) across the globe, but it does become a pain. I'm thinking about investing in something smaller for when we do Greenland and Iceland. Thanks so much for your informative updates!

ohh then we should get one on our Iceland/Greenland expedition? that's pretty cool. I know we get jackets, but we don't get to keep those?

Thanks! we are on the 16 night Endeavour - Iceland and Greenland

We have a wedding to go to in Denmark in late August 2024. We have added a Reykjavik to Reykjavik 16 night Iceland and Greenland cruise on to our itinerary, but we have about 9 nights between leaving Denmark and the commencement of our cruise. My original plan was to spend those nights in Scotland (another country on my bucket list), but now thinking we might be better off spending those extra days in Iceland. Thoughts? what have others done when doing a similar cruise?

What are the in-room dining menus like, especially for breakfast? we are on The Endeavour

May I ask which cruise? We are booked on one from Iceland to Greenland in September next year.

This is one of the top reasons I love living in Western Australia - the sunsets are like this all the time 🙂

In the end, I think I could have booked the cruise myself for the same price, but decided it helps to keep a TA employed for when I do need her. I think she was helpful with travel insurance, which is important with such an $$$ cruise.

The quotes came out the same with two x Australian TAs, SS direct, and an agent in the US. They believe it's because of the popularity of the cruise, and it's almost full already.

This is in Australian dollars. Have received the same quote from SS direct, two Australian TAs, and another in the US (who swore he could better it, but then agreed he couldn't). We chose a superior veranda as the ones available in the lower category weren't very good.

The cruise we booked meant we would be flying via Sydney during their New Year period, and it was almost 'impossible' to get flights. This was for 2021.

It's about half I think, or a bit more. It's around $11,000 each! If we pay in full now we get 15% off the fare.

I have until August next year to get us sorted! 🙂. I had never heard of SS until we saw an advertisement on tv showing ice and polar bears. We had booked to go to Antarctica on Celebrity in 2021, following a 2019 Med cruise, and 2018 Alaskan cruise with them. Of course Covid meant this didn't happen, but we had already been struggling with how we were going to get from Western Australia to Argentina to get on the cruise in the first place. We have a wedding to attend in Denmark (August 2024), and had a light bulb moment where we realised we could more easily access the Arctic than Antarctica, for a similar wilderness experience, taking advantage of already being in Europe. I came very close to dying in 2021/22 from septicaemia. Even though I'm only in my 50s, the reality is you can't always rely on, "I'll wait until we retire to experience our dreams."

I can easily throw in some nice dresses (silk is so light these days), but more worried about hubby taking a jacket etc via Singapore, London, Copenhagen, rural Denmark, then by train to Amsterdam and London, before our departure in Iceland. We might be able to come up with a nice jacket that 'travels well'. He's an accountant, so has loads of suits and ties, but the airlines are becoming even tighter on how much we can travel with.

Thanks! it's really confusing, and I do understand where some are coming from. I've traveled on a few cruises to The South Pacific where it's traditional to have theme nights and formal nights, and you do get disappointed when people show up at the dining room on those nights in shorts and flip flops. I'm hoping the Arctic cruise will feel more like a David Attenborough expedition than ..The Titanic 🙂