.......idle jottings

[lincslady]

As an (ex) Seadreamer, I would just like to point out that while Seadream has many lovely qualities, being obliged to have meals out of doors even in wet, cold and windy weather is one of the reasons we gave up on this line. And unless I am mistaken, you cannot have a proper meal in your cabin either?

[ctbjr1309]

We are booked Athens - Rome - Monte Carlo stopping off at St.Tropez on 25 September, 2014,

Where the first thing ho hum will do is by those damn shirts before more castigating remarks from abenaki !

 

Oh, my. I shall then look forward to being one of the first to observe the outcome of the shirt shopping extravaganza. Look forward to seeing you in Civitavecchia.

[lincslady]

Just a further thought on your 'miserable lady' - I think you said she was a Seabourn fan: this could account for a couple of her grumbles - being obliged to eat outside (on Seabourn at the Colonnade you have the choice always of eating outdoors or in, and of choosing from the buffet or being served), and there is never a problem with caviar hoggers, as caviar is always available, included.

 

I appreciate that she may well be naturally miserable, of course, and to be avoided on any line.

[DisneyJen]

Wow !

A tad busy then !

Cant wait to see and here from you.

Love

Ho hum

 

Oh, my. I shall then look forward to being one of the first to observe the outcome of the shirt shopping extravaganza. Look forward to seeing you in Civitavecchia.

 

When in Rome ...:cool:

 

How we would love to join y'all (oh wait I don't live in North Carolina anymore) ... I mean youse guys :p DJ's DH has limited vacation time. We'll have to live vicariously through both of your reports:D

[CDreamer]

We are booked Athens - Rome - Monte Carlo stopping off at St.Tropez on 25 September, 2014

 

What a fantastic itinerary, Ho Hum! And ctbjr & Ho Hum both on the same cruise?! Will look forward to reading firsthand trip reports from BOTH of you while you are on this cruise!

 

Ho Hum, thank you for another interesting - and entertaining - review. Have enjoyed following along and getting a sense of the various excursions offered (or not, when the weather didn't cooperate) & hearing about some of your fellow passengers! Probably a godsend that you didn't hear ALL of the griping, but do hope your ears settle down soon... NOT fun to fly with plugged up ears!! :eek:

 

DJ, welcome back to the board and to SD! Understand how life can get in the way sometimes - we recently moved too so understand how all consuming that change alone can be - but you must be over the moon to have another SD cruise to look forward to next year!

[DisneyJen]

What a fantastic itinerary, Ho Hum! And ctbjr & Ho Hum both on the same cruise?! Will look forward to reading firsthand trip reports from BOTH of you while you are on this cruise!

 

Ho Hum, thank you for another interesting - and entertaining - review. Have enjoyed following along and getting a sense of the various excursions offered (or not, when the weather didn't cooperate) & hearing about some of your fellow passengers! Probably a godsend that you didn't hear ALL of the griping, but do hope your ears settle down soon... NOT fun to fly with plugged up ears!! :eek:

 

DJ, welcome back to the board and to SD! Understand how life can get in the way sometimes - we recently moved too so understand how all consuming that change alone can be - but you must be over the moon to have another SD cruise to look forward to next year!

 

Thanks CDreamer! DJ's DH and I are counting the days! Air and hotel are booked as well.

[ho-hum]

We arrive at Le Lavandou: a first for SD.

Gareth, getting used to it by now, has arranged buses to St.Tropez. The cost of these buses eats into SD profit.

Blondie and ho hum heads out to Le Lavandou by tender for a stroll, along with part of the Brazilian group who have been patiently waiting for us. We offer our sincere apologies and ho hum acts a little goofy trying to demonstrate that a mans life seems to involve a lot of waiting round for women folk !

They find this sexist charge amusing and smile, even the ladies !

So some progress there then.

Meanwhile other passengers are gathering in the Main Salon awaiting the Captain and Gareth (CAD: no not a bounder, rascal, scallywag but Club &Activities Director) for a briefing about the day ahead. We hear that the natives (fellow passengers) are appeased !

Well almost all, except guess who ?

But ho hum is not going to sully your high mindedness with more tittle-tattle, gossip, mood on the streets, oh no.

 

So we arrive at a marina port that has collected more modest boats more suitable for the working classes of French society for this does indeed seem to be the holiday destination equivalent to Blackpool, Magaluf and Benidorm to which British holiday makers and their grubby children are rounded up from their Council houses in open trucks, put on cargo ships and dis-embarked by grabs collecting bundles of the great un-washed from where they are dropped onto the sandy beaches and scurry up them into holiday towns and dine on the very same fast food that they consume at home, always accompanied by chips, mounds of them washed down with copious amounts of the very cheapest beer or sangria coupled with shots of highly toxic alcohol produced in stills from the mountains of Albania, far from prying authorities !

 

The hoildaymakes of Le Lavandou and the holidaymakers of St.Tropez are the ying and yang of holidayers. If St.Tropez is the gleaming, new red Ferrari Testorossa then Le Lavandou is the 12 year old, bashed up white van with scratches down both sides, missing wing mirrors, spouting,,

out black smoke and where some intellectual and artistic giant has shown an outline of a face peeping over the wall mouthing "wash me".

 

Is ho hum making it clear ?

 

However the actual layout of this large bay features a wonderful wide walkway that must be at least a mile long with very deep, beautifully sandy beach one side, narrow one way road the other side and a collection of holiday villages (for members only: tres exclusive) interspersed with numerous pizza, burger and snack bars run by colourful blousy women with cigarettes hanging from their mouths whilst sweeping the piles of fag ends that had gathered from the night before ! There are of course French restaurants all serving exactly the same fare, with exactly the same differing menus (menu du jour, menu sueperieur, menu deluxe) at exactly the same prices. The only difference is how garishly colourful you wish your table cloth to be and the level of indifference preferred by the proprietor who seems as she has just finished in a colouring book of the works of Jean-Paul Sartre (Nausea is a particularly fine example of existential despair actively promoted by these stalwarts of French restauranteurs).

 

We stroll in the beautiful sunshine with fantastic views of the sea and beaches with the walkway interspersed with fine trees. Having strolled for a quite while we return on the opposite side, off which is a cobbled paved road and path taking us into the older part of the town.

Well what a difference !

How lovely is this: the transformation is amazing. Beautiful individual shops, real restaurants with chalked board menus and flowers ! It is truly so pretty, it's as if you have passed through an invisible portal into nirvana from samsara or jumped an evolutionary time gap from primates to human beings !

 

We are in heaven. We stop to buy a favourite rose wine at €5.80 !

Ho hum's being telling you, Provencal rose wine is simply a quaffing wine to impart a refreshing cool mouth feel with the faintest of taste to accompany their famed al fresco food.

We enter a shop stocking all kinds of olives, pates and spreads (tapenade black, tapenade green, anchovy, tomato and chilli etc..). We buy three pastes and three types of olives: the dark, partly shrivelled olives in oil and rosemary are divine. Finally we buy a baguette and a cheese and tomato drenched fougasse (type of bread).

 

We return to a practically abandoned ship though there are pockets of passengers around who decided against the one and half hour trip to St.Tropez: can you blame them ?

 

To the TOYB. See Frank who chills the wines but meanwhile we need some rose and so we order the Domaine Ott.

Yes it is a great wine but .......oh, it's good, but not deserving of the €74 reduced from €85. Now that is a scam !

 

We are informed, lunch is in the Main Salon. You gotta be kiddin' ?

No we have it at the TOYB in the "Office": so named by a legend of SD (and his missus).

(Hi Charlie keep the amusing one liners coming. Love your humour.)

 

Seeing the inevitably that "we aint eatin' in no salon". June the waiter brings up all necessary eating utensils etc...

And then out comes the fare ! How frigging wonderful is this !

Gareth comes to join us having discharged his duties admirably and seeking a short respite before welcoming back returning passengers.

He is an admirable young man that SD must keep.

 

Back to the doctor who pronounces no improvement to right ear but considerable improvement to left.

[ho-hum]

Oh, my. I shall then look forward to being one of the first to observe the outcome of the shirt shopping extravaganza. Look forward to seeing you in Civitavecchia.

 

Great news !

[ctbjr1309]

...the "Office": so named by a legend of SD (and his missus). Hi Charlie keep the amusing one liners coming. Love your humour.)

 

Hi there h-h. I must say that I'm pleased to see the most recent adjective ascribed to me or my behavior is "amusing". So much more flattering than "imperious" I must say.

 

Just to set the record completely straight, I can not take credit for naming the "Office". I can and do however take credit for perfecting its utilization and for perpetuating the brand.

 

Details (if you are truly interested and trust me it's not a particularly interesting tale) shall be disclosed on Sept. 20 where else but in the Office!

 

Ciao.

[ctbjr1309]

Great news !

 

Indeed. Now, we have 2 months to develop a plan to keep Blondie and you know who out of the local jewelry establishments en route from Civitavecchia to Monte Carlo.

[Jim Avery]

Hi there h-h. I must say that I'm pleased to see the most recent adjective ascribed to me or my behavior is "amusing". So much more flattering than "imperious" I must say.

 

Just to set the record completely straight, I can not take credit for naming the "Office". I can and do however take credit for perfecting its utilization and for perpetuating the brand.

 

Details (if you are truly interested and trust me it's not a particularly interesting tale) shall be disclosed on Sept. 20 where else but in the Office!

 

Ciao.

 

With Ganttc trying to sit in your lap no doubt.:eek::D

[ctbjr1309]

With Ganttc trying to sit in your lap no doubt.:eek::D

 

Ganttc and I have an understanding. He doesn't sit in my lap and (fortunately for him) I don't sit in his. So far, it has worked very well for us both I'm happy to report.

[DisneyJen]

Hi there h-h. I must say that I'm pleased to see the most recent adjective ascribed to me or my behavior is "amusing". So much more flattering than "imperious" I must say.

 

Just to set the record completely straight, I can not take credit for naming the "Office". I can and do however take credit for perfecting its utilization and for perpetuating the brand.

 

Details (if you are truly interested and trust me it's not a particularly interesting tale) shall be disclosed on Sept. 20 where else but in the Office!

 

Ciao.

 

You have done an excellent job of both perfecting the use and branding of the "Office."

 

Indeed. Now, we have 2 months to develop a plan to keep Blondie and you know who out of the local jewelry establishments en route from Civitavecchia to Monte Carlo.

 

Good luck gents!! My money (actually your money) is on Blondie and Mrs. Ctbjr:cool:

[Poppy1966]

So we arrive at a marina port that has collected more modest boats more suitable for the working classes of French society for this does indeed seem to be the holiday destination equivalent to Blackpool, Magaluf and Benidorm to which British holiday makers and their grubby children are rounded up from their Council houses in open trucks, put on cargo ships and dis-embarked by grabs collecting bundles of the great un-washed from where they are dropped onto the sandy beaches and scurry up them into holiday towns and dine on the very same fast food that they consume at home, always accompanied by chips, mounds of them washed down with copious amounts of the very cheapest beer or sangria coupled with shots of highly toxic alcohol produced in stills from the mountains of Albania, far from prying authorities !

 

The hoildaymakes of Le Lavandou and the holidaymakers of St.Tropez are the ying and yang of holidayers. If St.Tropez is the gleaming, new red Ferrari Testorossa then Le Lavandou is the 12 year old, bashed up white van with scratches down both sides, missing wing mirrors, spouting,,

out black smoke and where some intellectual and artistic giant has shown an outline of a face peeping over the wall mouthing "wash me".

 

Is ho hum making it clear?

 

 

Yes very clear and very very funny:D. Enjoy the final days of your trip. I thoroughly enjoyed following it.

[ho-hum]

You have done an excellent job of both perfecting the use and branding of the "Office."

 

Good luck gents!! My money (actually your money) is on Blondie and Mrs. Ctbjr:cool:

 

Right and right again DJ.

We have absolutely no chance ctbjr1309 !

They are just too damn smart for us !

[ctbjr1309]

We have absolutely no chance ctbjr1309 ! They are just too damn smart for us !

 

Oh, h-h. I know you better than that. Don't ever ever give up:

 

[Jim Avery]

Oh, h-h. I know you better than that. Don't ever ever give up:

 

 

One of the best movies ever! Word for word my fraternity at the U of Alabama. Roll Tide!!:eek::D

[ho-hum]

Oh God !

Is there some kind of virus effecting posters on this thread recently ?

Firstly lincslady, then ctbjr1309 and now Jim !

You're all mad ! (tho' YT clip was very funny).

[ho-hum]

Oh forgot to tell you. Sanary-sur-Mer cancelled, Port Vendres (Couillioure) cancelled.

We are off to Menorca and Ibiza instead !

Why ?

The weather and sea conditions are worsening. We must escape the French coastline if we are to make it to Barcelona on time and salvage the remaining days with half decent weather, well this is the plan. Later in the evening a note from the Captain is sent to each cabin advising that sea conditions are expected to worsen dramatically and whilst the boat is more than capable of dealing with even worse sea conditions, the passengers might not: so sea sickness tablets are available at the Concierge.

Never had a note like that before.

He instructs the crew to tie down all equipment, goods etc.. Lets hope this instruction extends to miserable woman ! Tie her up and gag her, ho hum says !

 

At cocktails everybody is in a good mood becoming much better acquainted as we fall into one another but still oblivious as to what will unfold very, very soon !

Ladies remove their high heels. Men remove their Cuban heels ! A low centre of gravity is what we all aspire to and some take up very odd positions to achieve this. True it is not very feminine but it helps: provided skirts allow it.

Most are eating inside except we few.

We are dining with Head of Housekeeping and Chief Purser. Two ladies of exceptional talent, fortitude and wicked humour who look gorgeous in their uniform ! Akarumba ! Ho hum's turn to go all "gooey eyed".

 

We seat and there is no one else on deck. Everyone else at this stage is in the Main Salon. Wines are poured into glasses and on a table behind, all the empty wine glasses suddenly fall as a wave hits to the side: some smash.

Ho hum suggests we all drink wine out of the water tumblers. Amar the waiter arranges this and actually does the same to all the other tables.

Ho hum is seated with his back to the railings allowing our lady guests an outward, sea view. How gallant. Yes, c'est ho hum.

Well his back and un-kempt mop of hair feel rather wet. A wave from the side has smashed into the boat and a dense shower/spray has landed on ho hum. Another wave and a water glass goes over and drenches the legs and shoes of our guest and now we are a rockin' !

 

But more and more guests are arriving on deck for dinner !

Why ?

Well those two waves shuddered everything in the Main Salon and 50 guests left immediately, some coming to dine outside believing that it would be an improvement to at least benefit from fresh air and see a horizon. Does that help ? And if so, how ? Calling "bright sparks" Jim Avery.

 

Well back to dinner. The sea swells were 5-6.0 metres and the side winds creates a force 8 gale (so informed by Captain the next day) so the motion was side to side; very odd.

One minute we were sitting in the middle table then our group all slid to the port side then back passed our middle table to starboard side ! T'is true. Well true-ish.

Now this made for instant group bonding and the atmosphere was very exhilarating in fact or terrifying depending on your perspective.

We decide to return to our cabin and bunk down: it's that dangerous.

Several passengers continued the exhilarating effect and went partying.

Ho hum's personal view was it was too dangerous.

Now ho hum doesnt want to be a "kill joy" but all the bars should have been closed to avoid potential falls with resultant potential broken bones.

 

There were quite a few casualties (of sickness only) amongst the crew including waiting crew and senior ship side management/officers which surprised ho hum (no naming to save reputations though if you feel ill, there is certainly no shame: ho hum survives due to complete in-sensitivity to most things. Think hippopotamus.).

Blondie considered taking a few sea-sickness pills then the next phase of "fun and games" began !

Waves crash over our window on deck 3 !

All objects ended up on the floor.

Fell out of bed three times !

 

Now ho hum has done the transatlantic crossing a good number of times (both ways) and has never experienced conditions like this ! Nor have long serving crew !

 

One gentleman, presumed lost at sea by his hysterical wife was found praying on the Pool Deck !

Why the outside Pool Deck ?

Is reception somehow better there ?

Or are God's eyes unable to see through the sheet metal walls ?

Maybe the Almighty needs glasses. Surely he was able to once, well that was what the Jesuits told the young ho hum.

And why this need to keep checking on everybody anyhow, does he suffer from OCD too ? Should'nt he see someone about it ? It will only get worse if it remains un-checked.

"So G, may I call you G by the way, ven did you first notice your compulsion to be all seeing ?"

 

And so all souls on board tried to find security as best they can.

People were demanding sea sickness shots from the doctor and amidst all this, one passenger wanted to discuss anomalies in his interim bill to a petrified and green gilled young lady at Concierge !

Oh well, ho hum.

[gcmv]

We are booked Athens - Rome - Monte Carlo stopping off at St.Tropez on 25 September, 2014

 

Ho-hum, do you really want to start a SDII-cruise on September 13th? :eek:

 

!WARNING!

 

There is enough time for ho-hum to reebook; there will be at least two German guests (one of those two is writing these lines right now) on board... :D

 

But if ho-hum and blondie join the cruise, it would be a pleasure for us to drink a toast to the World Cup Winner Team at the TOYB with you. ;)

Edited July 14, 2014 by gcmv

[ho-hum]

Ho-hum, do you really want to start a SDII-cruise on September 13th? :eek:

 

!WARNING!

 

There is enough time for ho-hum to reebook; there will be at least two German guests (one of those two is writing these lines right now) on board... :D

 

But if ho-hum and blondie join the cruise, it would be a pleasure for us to drink a toast to the World Cup Winner Team at the TOYB with you. ;)

 

Firstly gcmv, it is with extreme pleasure that ho hum congratultes the German football team.

Germany not only won fans around the world for their team football skills but much, much more besides.

They now play fairly. There are no big egos. They work for another. They are modest and well presented.

Germany's worldwide credibility has reached the highest level since you know when...

Well done.

 

And so has the USA. The country everybody loves to hate has demonstrated wonderful qualities (led by a German and former diver).

Well done USA.

Your international resputation has soared for teamwork also and "true grit". Yes, you lack the individual skills but as a team you were amazing.

 

And so it would be with extreme pleasure that ho hum buys you the best German wine onboard.

 

Ho hum was most impressed by the fair play amd sportsmanship of all teams except maybe the fans from Brazil and Argentina and Chile let themselves down sadly.

 

Well old friend (if ho hum is allowed to say that) look forward to seeing you.

May ho hum also offer you the similar courtesy of considering re-booking. For you in a far greater danger.

 

Ho hum's one regret is not being able to celebrate the triumph of the German team with Werner: a true hero of ho hum's and always in ho hum's thoughts.

 

Until 13 September, 2014 dear friend '

[ho-hum]

Disclaimer: the best German wine currently for sale !

Roughly $20 !

Haha

[Jim Avery]

H-H, sorry for the fits of Poseidon. SD can become quite confining when the beautiful outdoor spaces are not available. Mal de Mer is truly miserable. Yes, even though I used to sail for a living, I was (and still am after protracted stays ashore) prone to seasickness. I gave up actual emissions :eek: shortly after going to sea but still can become very uncomfortable. In several very rough crossings of the North Atlantic on QE2, we both became big fans of the injection available at the ship's medical facilities. It works like a charm. As far as fresh air and looking at the horizon, I find fresh air helpful but staring at a bouncing horizon? Not so much. I advise all affected passengers to get the jab. The good news is that all storms eventually subside.:D

[gcmv]

And so it would be with extreme pleasure that ho hum buys you the best German wine onboard.

 

Well old friend (if ho hum is allowed to say that) look forward to seeing you.

May ho hum also offer you the similar courtesy of considering re-booking. For you in a far greater danger.

 

Ho hum's one regret is not being able to celebrate the triumph of the German team with Werner: a true hero of ho hum's and always in ho hum's thoughts.

 

Until 13 September, 2014 dear friend '

 

Ho-hum, I like your (british) wry sense of humour; you're allowed to say (nearly) everything to me ... :D

 

After your absolutely generous (20 $) invitation, re-booking is out of the question for us! ;)

 

Look forward to seeing you, too in September - but ho-hum, please explain to me as a SD-newbie - who is Werner? (Let me guess - has he something to do with beverages?)

[DisneyJen]

Sounds like dinner was quite an adventure ho-hum:eek:

 

My maternal grandfather was an admiral in the US Navy and taught me to always look at the horizon (not the water at the horizon but just above) and to breathe in the fresh ocean air when the seas get angry. It has worked for me on boats and ships of all sizes. I also find that a Bombay Sapphire and Tonic (diet for me please) also helps;)