Tothesunset

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

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

Remind me never to order the grilled rump steak. 

We had a night at the grill somewhere in the Aleutians when the temp was around 5c.  God, it was cold. However, the heaters, layers and blankets did the trick and it was good fun. So much fun that we didn't do it again!

2 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

In 4 days? That must be a record! 🤣

 

Have to admit La Terrazza was always our favourite, but less so now the menu choices seemed to have been halved. 

Yes, the menu choices have certainly been reduced but, I hope, that allows the kitchen to concentrate on the quality rather than quantity. 

Certainly our meal last night was very good, better than we remember on previous sailings.

32 minutes ago, turtlemichael said:

Yes, sorry, I was assuming that is what you meant. If you are correct and if the market is as strong as we tend to believe on these boards, there might be some good opportunities for an enterprising business out there.

Crystal? 

9 hours ago, LAexNY said:

What entertainment?  

Dunno. Just a couple of people were complaining about poor entertainment. Maybe that's what they meant? 

I did say it was hearsay, your honour. 

It's the end of an era! 

What will we all do without those magical reports from Mysty? 

Even the UK Prime Minister is so disappointed he's called a general election. 

Entertainment

This will be a short post.

We don't do entertainment. Sorry about that. According to some we have spoken with they haven't been impressed. That's hearsay and I mention the subject only to ignore it! 

3 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

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?

It was ground. Recently the ragu was more like soup but tonight's had just the right amount of sauce, plenty of duck, was nicely seasoned and the pasta cooked perfectly. It was like the duck ragu of 10 years ago. 

Just a quickie. 

We must have had 30 or more dinners in terraza and each time been disappointed. Yet still we go back. 

However, tonight's dinner was superb. Really. And, best of all, the pappardeli with duch ragu was outstanding. It really was. 

I mention this only because some recent reports have been less than wholly fulsome. So we might have been lucky, on the other hand I've got to say it as I see it. 

And the icing on the cake was that my Tokaji arrived precisely with the sweet. Kudos to Mike the sommelier for being on top of this. 

5 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Continuing my education here in the Cooler, I had to look up one of the words Jeff used.

 

Copying from whatever search engine my PC currently defaults to:

 

The term "noily" has two meanings:¹²

1. It refers to a dry white vermouth drink from France, also known as Noilly Prat.
2. It can also be an adverb, meaning in a way that makes a lot of noise.

Learn more:

 

It's also the term a Brooklynite uses for "nearly". 

Suite

We are in 738, notionally a Vista suite, but 50% larger. My assertion earlier that it has had the 2 windows converted to Juliet balconies is erroneous. One of the windows is now floor-to-ceiling but doesn't open. 

The fixtures and furnishings have been substantially, and I think tastefully, updated since our last sailing in (I think) late 2018. The walk-in wardrobe (closet) is plenty big enough and there is a surfeit of cupboard space. 

I like a shower, never use a bathtub and am happy to relate that this suite has no tub. Yay! Rainfall shower and conventional shower head on a snakey metal thing. Since just about all one can ask of a shower is to provide a good dose of warm water, it fills its remit. The Otium products we've abandoned in favour of Bulgari, the smell of Silversea. 

Pleased to see power outlets that can cope with US, European and UK plugs plus USB sockets and USB C fast-charging sockets Lovely jubbly. No more mucking about with adaptors. 

Afternoon tea time. See ya, later. 

If anyone can recall, I did say that this was our 1st SS since RCI and Covid but I wasn't aiming to compare. Yeah, well, ignore that. It's impossible not to compare largely because we have noticed little that has changed. 

I'm not intending to do a travelogue because other contributors - Drron, Mysty, Fletcher and many more - do it so much better than I ever could. So what I'll do, if it's OK with everyone, is share some thoughts and observations as the days pass. These may (take that as will) be random and based solely on subjective rather than objective views. 

However, I'm happy to have a go at answering any direct questions but reserve the right to be wrong. If you see what I mean. 

Back again. Since leaving you all a couple of days ago we now find ourselves in Vigo, Spain having successfully boarded in Lisbon. Yesterday was Porto. 

Now, before going any further I'm going to make my pitch for the Crew Welfare Fund. I've always felt it unfair that while front of house staff benefit from direct tipping, those we rarely, if ever, see remain unrewarded. And where would we be without the laundry staff, deck crew, engineers etc etc?  So how can a passenger show some pecuniary gratitude to all the crew? By donating to the Crew Welfare Fund. 

It's not advertised nor, I think, widely known but provides a fund for the benefit of the crew. We donated yesterday at reception and the amount donated is debited from the payment card presented on boarding:

Busy boy. News later! 

20 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

 

Anyone going soon might look at alternatives dates

 

Fresh airport chaos looms as Heathrow workers are posed to stage more walkouts at half-term in a row over a new staff roster | Daily Mail Online

If you want only bad news and articles to make you fearful, the Daily Mail is your Cassandra of choice. 

4 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

 

BTW, I've had no joy with the issue we are aware about and its still not showing up as you board. I'll check again on Monday and have another go. Might be an idea to speak with the HD to advise your name needs to be on that list or you wont be coming in (and ask if they understand how it works!) Please post if you do get some feedback. My fingers and toes are crossed for you.

I hope you're wrong! But being forewarned puts us in a good position. 

(I know nobody understands what Les and I are talking about. But all will become clear in 2 weeks. Mysterious, eh?) 

1 minute ago, les37b said:

 

Enjoy. Was the last time in 738 on the rather rough seas to Tower Bridge from Fort Lauderdale? At least you can be sure you wont get those seas on this one! 

Spot on. We were warned of 11 metre swells (36 ft) but it settled at a tame 9 metres (30 ft). Had the dining room pretty much to ourselves! 

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

I know one should always try something different but tonight we are going for the tasting menu at Prado in the Alfama district:

https://pradorestaurante.com/

It really is such good food and something of a bargain at €80 each. Oh, I do like a bargain. 

I might have mentioned that we are staying at the Avenida Palace Hotel. It's about as central as you can get and charmingly old-fashioned but with all modern amenities. Oddly, they don't have a proper restaurant, just a breakfast room. Not that Lisbon is short of eating places. The rooms are quite small, though. Comfortable but probably around 22 sq mtr (I think that's something like 200 sq ft) so there's no cat-swinging potential. 

We noticed 2 cruise ships docked at the cruise terminal. One was a Costa something-or-other disgorging passengers onto the quayside in a human avalanche. It's a big ship. Yuk! The other ship was farther along and I didn't recognise the funnel insignia nor was I sufficiently interested to be bothered strolling any further to identify it. 

24 hrs from now we should, with a fair wind, be in our favourite suite on our favourite ship. 

Sometimes we just need to step back and remind ourselves how privileged we are. 

52 minutes ago, highplanesdrifters said:

 

Hear Hear!

 

As a side, just watched 'Trainwreck: Woodstock 99' on Netflix. Worth a look see.

 

Fair winds.

Yes, I've seen that. Horrific. 

2 hrs of sitting on the tarmac at Gatwick really didn't get the day going well. Our scheduled 10.35 departure became 12.45 getting into Lisbon at 15.10

Sailed through immigration but OH had to endure the queue of the great unwashed who aren't EU citizens. Bless. 

Both feeling lacking in vim and pep so wandered about 200 metres to the Hard Rock Cafe, which offered its now corporate, but still tasty, menu. Burgers and brownies later we waddled back to the hotel for a lie down. Until morning. 

I feel sad for those who never got a chance to visit the 2 original HRCs in London and (of all places) Stockholm. In the late 70s/early 80s it was tremendous. The food was better for a start but the music was brilliant - bearing in mind that all good rock music happened between Woodstock and 1979.  I'd often stroll down Piccadilly after a meeting or whatever, still in suit and tie, and perch at the bar like Billy no mates. Then it was bought out, went all corporate and slightly lost sight of what made the place unique. 'Twas ever thus. 

27 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Lots of bons mots this morning, Tts. I wonder if you are in a lounge at Gatwick waiting to fly out and getting bored?

Got it in one. It's a lounge that I get free with my bank account. So it's pretty grim but saves having to pay silly prices in the terminal for bad coffee and worse food. And you know me and spending unnecessary cash... 

5 hours ago, LocoLoco1 said:

Ah, yes…mysterious aromas signaling the approach to yet another exotic Port

You can take medicine for that. 

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 I was worried for a while in NZ/Oz that I would fall off the Earth...  🤣

There's time yet... 

16 hours ago, MJN1 said:

With the S Dawn scheduled to arrive at 7:00 on a Thursday morning, our best flight connection would be a 9:40 a.m. departure (LH to FRA in Business). Is this a) stupid/forget it, b) possible with a stress factor of 8 on a 10pt scale or c) manageable (take the bags yourself, pre-order a taxi)?

Not a cat in Hell's chance. 

Now I'm impressed. The TA arranged for our car to arrive at 1400 for the trip to LGW. 13.58 he arrived at the gate in a new Audi A6. Nice smooth ride to the Sofitel. 145 miles, 3 hours. Typical airport hotel but it's only for one night. 

Isn't online check-in wonderful? When it works. Did mine, boarding pass on Google wallet. All good. Did OH's, got to the final screen and no option to download, copy or anything else concerning a boarding pass. Oh, flipping heck (or similar expletive). Started to go through the check in process again and it told her she had already checked in and did she want a boarding pass? Well, duh. So we are each checked-in. Phew!

As an aside, last week elder son and I returned from Warsaw and landed just as the entire UK Border Control systems failed. A mere 5 hours to get through immigration. Oh, I do love air travel. Not. (Warsaw is a wonderful city. Why it isn't more visited, at least by Brits, I don't know. I'd live there tomorrow.)