Tothesunset

Before SS sold itself to the devil it had a loyal band of repeat cruisers who clearly enjoyed the product. Since the passenger capacity has doubled in the blink of an eye the line needs to appeal to a wider audience. Part of that, along with the brashness of the new ships, seems to be a gentle diminution of dress requirements. Clearly, there are plenty of cruisers who don't want to dress according to the cruise line's code, clearly, too, the line will have to accede to that desire or lose customers. Those of us who know the line from its previous ownership were attracted by the understated elegance of the ships, the personal attention and the common good manners (mostly) of fellow guests - including the observation of dress codes. It was a particular vibe and suited the line at the time. Seems that those days are passing. Everything, in time, regresses to the mean.

When Manfredi sold SS to RCL he not only sold its ships but its soul too. SS worked because it was small and intimate with high standards and many repeat customers. Now it's bigger, clearly more corporate and sliding into average. It's such a shame.

It's also the postcode for Birmingham, England. Considering that Birmingham's only purpose is to make everywhere else, even Detroit, look good I'll take Bermuda. Thank you.

For all our American cousins: This is my granddaughter on holiday yesterday in Dallas at the George W Bush Presidential Centre. She's getting ready to be your next President:

It took a moment, but once I realised they were ear plugs...

They say in Scotland you can experience all 4 seasons in one day. In the Falklands it's half an hour.

This is a true story: On the West Coast of West Falkland my Cpl and I decided we'd had enough of being cooped up in our temporary lodgings (essentially a muddy hole covered with canvas) and would have a stroll to the nearby beach. There was plenty of Air cover and naval patrolling going on and no known mines so I thought, "Sod it, let's go find some penguins". The CO said OK as long as we were armed and in radio contact and confirmed the location of other "blue" forces. Not being short of ammunition, but being bereft of common sense, we thought it a great idea to lay down a good few rounds in the direction of the sea - just because. Well, my Browning 9mm jammed on the first round so we blatted away with the SMG for a while. Took my weapon back to the armoury and gingerly handed it to the armourer explaining that there was a live round jammed and 12 rounds in the mag (which was also jammed). He took it from me, looked me up and down as if I was something unpleasant he'd just stepped in and said "Mmm, been playing have we, Sir?" I felt about 2 ft tall! Never did see the penguins.

That's actually quite frightening.

Oooh. Not good.

We make the donation by getting them to debit our onboard account. No temptation for sticky fingers.

They saw you coming. So will everyone else when you're wearing that jacket!

What an excellent account of your voyage. Keep the instalments coming!

It's the free of charge Silversea inoculation program. All part of the service.

Rather less than joint relief cream and denture fixative, I expect.

My wife just informed me that she thinks vacation sex is the best. Not the sort of postcard I'd hoped to receive.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus: https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/index.html#:~:text=Respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-,severe RSV and need hospitalization.

If you're paying I'll take any of them.

Just one?

We know exactly how much - 20%.

This is focusing on travel. In fact the very point is about travelling to somewhere that certain people would be potentially open to criminal proceedings were they to visit the place. There are plenty of posts about the attractions or otherwise of many destinations, how visitors support the economy, provide jobs and so forth. Equally political. If you can seperate travel from politics, enjoy your visits to N Korea, Russia etc.

Spoilsport.

I've no problem with people needing the facilities but can they really not last without comestibles for 3 hrs? Especially before and after the eating-fest that is Saga? Mind you, judging by the appearance of the average adult these days, going 20 minutes without a pie would be a challenge!

The downside of sharing transport is that when you make the pit stop you have to accept the whim of the other party. For example, we would rather just get to the ship or get home. It's a 3.5 hour journey - surely even the most voracious can forgo a face-full of motorway services fare for that length of time. Well, apparently not! Maybe it's being ex-military, or maybe I'm just impatient but, for goodness sakes, let's just get there!

We live about 180 miles from Dover and Southampton. On the 2 occasions we have sailed Saga the transport has picked us up around 0900. Stop on the way and at docks around 1300-1330.

While we were at the shop collecting our watches we had a good look at what was available. That would be nothing! Rolexes are such a fashion statement that, in the UK at least, you just can't wander in off the street to buy one. Only to order with no firm delivery date. However, they had several watches for display and I have to say that we thought some of them were vile - massive clunky things encrusted with diamonds and other embellishments of questionable taste. Having said that I came within an inch of ordering a Submariner before common sense prevailed. And OH very nearly ordered a steel and gold ladies watch with a girly pink dial. A quick punch to the temple disabused her of that notion.