.......idle jottings

[popper]

When are you sailing ?

 

We are on Nov 29 sailing from San Juan.

Thanks all for the tips and suggestions.

"Friend of Jim", got it!

Edited November 16, 2014 by popper

[ho-hum]

.......was only pulling your leg about the telling off! We do have a laugh here.

Think your probably right about naming my animals after a few bevvies.

I also have two 'lodgers' (strays, but beautiful) who have an apartment in the garage and their names are even worse.

Miami airport. Not my favourite airport. 😱 Poppy arrived at Miami airport and greeted the passport control/ homeland security with a smile and asked if they were having a good day. Bad move. Was told to go and join the end of the queue as I wasn't allowed to smile or talk to them. I thought they were joking and laughed again. Bad mistake. Was marched to the end of the queue. Took over an hour to get through in the end.

Ho Hum, how was the food? I'm sure it was great.

 

Yes poppy it is fun on this thread and it makes time go fast in the viewer's various correctional facilities.

 

Ho hum is guessing this is the case because there are a lot of viewers compared to posters, so they must be pretty nasty felons if they are incarcerated and not allowed to post to the external world.

 

Maybe you should change your alias to "Cat Lady" or should that be "Posh Lady with Cats".

 

You have more ! You will end up like those people shown on TV documentaries completely surrounded in cats !

 

Come on, what are their names ? You've gone so far......promise we wont think you're a little crazy (hope she does'nt spot the fingers crossed behind ho hum's back).

 

Dearest friends of ours in Canada have two cats who get them up at 4.00am to feed them !

 

4.0am are you mad ! Down to the animal sanctuary with the pair of them !

 

One of them pops downstairs to feed them and make his first cappuccino of the day and then reads this thread...smugly tut-tutting what drivel is written here by ho hum. A sense of glowing self-satisfaction occurs that he is superior than this kind of thing combined with a frizz-ante of delight mixing with the "trashy plebs".

 

Ho hum digresses.

 

Miami airport is hell ...... you are obviously a charming lady. The neanderthals hired for immigration are akin to "thugs" in uniforms. Does ho hum have a story or does ho hum have a story.

 

It is rather long, so ho hum will post tomorrow .....

 

The FOOD: well ho hum liked it but one travelling companion was a tad disappointed and he's no "whinger" and his views are generally always on the safe side and for Sea Dream (he is a fine gentleman like that).

 

Ho hum was a tad disappointed with the menu at lunchtimes and on one day noticing Chef Tomasz at his customary position outside the galley, wanders over and we chat and ho hum finally chooses a steak (medium rare).

 

"Well ho hum, you can order it yourself. Phone down to the galley" Chef Tomasz says

 

The galley were a little surprised that a guest had ordered directly but all the deck staff and waiters had a great laugh at this.

 

A brilliant steak arrives at the table and our table of 13 chums (yes 13 !) all look over and protest that they did'nt see steak on the menu.

 

"Well you numb skulls, if you listened to Chef Tomasz, he said he could make you anything you wanted and here is the proof"

 

Oh and how they sulked...........well they were told, ho hum cant help it if they dont listen.

 

So generally speaking the food and service was brilliant-ish.

[ho-hum]

Thanks Ho Hum. Pardon the request but remind which vessel was the venue for the most recent voyage, 1 or 2? Any reports of trouble on the other? I'm not sure which one our friends have booked for May but I will find out do some more research.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

The problems on the crossing related to SD2 but the soot issue may have been resolved and the air-conditioning too but no confirmations yet.

 

See CDreamer's post on the 13 November, regarding condition on SD1.

[Jim Avery]

Sorry you had to endure Miami Airport. For whatever reason, MIA has long had the reputation you allude to. Most folks I know from living in the South will inevitably fly into Ft. Lauderdale (a totally better experience) and hire a cab for the drive to Miami. Miami is a beautiful, exciting city but they have always had a calamity of an airport experience. You wonder where they go to consistently hire such performers. Looking forward to your recounting. A question. What did they do to repair the soot issue? New injectors is one possibility but if you know, curious minds want to be enlightened.

[ho-hum]

Well as you all know by now, ho hum is not a fan of shoreside management and feels that they lack any sort of initiative.

 

Well that was up until 15.01, 17 November, 2014 !

 

There is a God !

 

Shoreside management sent an email to ALL passengers on the SD2 Transatlantic crossing addressing the issues and offering generous compensation !!!!

 

We are most delighted and our love affair with Sea Dream surges forward (but it was at an all time low).

 

WELL DONE SHORESIDE MANAGEMENT !!!!! Did ho hum just write this !

 

It is joyous to be able to say it ....... is this a turning point ?

Certainly it is a last minute save and all we can do is congratulate them for it.

 

Shoreside management you have stepped up ........ the goodwill factor is immense ......

 

Please learn this lesson: TALK TO US ! Dont be afraid.

And sooner rather than later.

 

Answers are still required before cancelling future voyages and booking others, kindly answer the following points:

1. Has the soot issue been rectified and what did it require ?

2. Has the air-conditioning been overhauled and again what did it require ?

 

You have nothing to lose by answering these points, unless you "bodged" a repair, so trust us and tell us, please.

This is an opportunity to be open as a policy from now on and the goodwill that this will generate will be immense, unless of course, you are not doing a thorough job.

 

Shoreside management you are approaching a crossroads, we very much appreciate you communicating and taking this bold step, stay with us.

 

Copy of email Sent to ALL passengers set out in next posting.

 

Ho hum will be opening a bottle ......

 

Ho hum urges everyone to email shoreside management for their grand gesture and encourage them to continue in a more open policy.

[CDreamer]

The problems on the crossing related to SD2 but the soot issue may have been resolved and the air-conditioning too but no confirmations yet.

 

See CDreamer's post on the 13 November, regarding condition on SD1.

 

Keep in mind my post was based on current reviews: Ho Hum's on SD2 and whatnot and Vandrefalk's on SD1 - I have not been on either ship recently. I do know whatnot and Vandrefalk so I trust their honest opinions, especially since they are both fans and long time cruisers of SD.

[ho-hum]

Dear Ho hum and Blondie,

 

Thank you for again sailing with SeaDream. I’ve reviewed the letters and guest comment cards from your recent voyage aboard SeaDream II, October 28, 2014. I’ve also completed a post-voyage discussion with the Captain and Hotel Manager as means to fully evaluate the experience had by all guests aboard.

 

Regrettably, many guests describe problems they encountered with air conditioning, combined with another issue of black exhaust soot on outdoor surfaces. Clearly, as the air conditioning was undergoing maintenance, it made for an uncomfortable situation for guests and crew. We want our guests to feel cared for and relaxed, unfortunately we didn’t achieve that. Please accept my sincere apologies for any dissatisfaction you experienced.

 

We understood maintenance to the air conditioning could be done without interruption to guests. That was not the case and we are already working to improve our internal process to develop a better approach to handling specific issues that arise when maintenance work is needed aboard.

 

I understand this voyage was not truly representative of a typical SeaDream holiday. As a gesture of goodwill I’m providing you with a 25% future voyage savings. Sail by December 31, 2016. The savings is based on double occupancy and has no cash value, is non-transferable and is only to be used by the persons to whom this letter is addressed. The savings is taken from any of our “Book Today & Save” pricing as seen on our website. It is not be combinable with certain other savings offers.

 

Please present this letter to your travel professional or SeaDream yacht club when you are ready to reserve. We look forward to seeing you back aboard soon to show you a purely enjoyable SeaDream holiday.

 

Cc; Posh Travel Agent, UK

 

Best regards,

Big wig at Miami

[ho-hum]

Big Cheese to Alpha Leader

"Return to base, I repeat return to base"

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

They recirculate some of the hot air from this thread to fully oxidize the carbon...

[kathyanddanny]

Ho Hum,

 

Call me slow, but I have not figured out who you may be? I do however believe you have the right to your anonymity! (As you retire ) :)

I have enjoyed your idle jottings especially in regards to Seadream and travel experiences. Hubby and I just returned from a wonderful stay in Grenada ( sandals La Source ) loved it! Very relaxing... Traveling back home to Montreal, we had an overnight stay in Miami at the Betsy! Charming hotel!

You mentioned you will be on a feb 14 voyage with Seadream . Do you plan to keep with this trip after such a bad experience on your last one?

Some of the other c.cers have made us a little worried also. :confused: especially since we have been raving about Seadream to our friends.

 

 

As far as your identity?... Regardless of who you are? You seem like a nice enough , easy going , like able guy to me! :D

 

Kathy.

[Jim Avery]

Ho Hum,

 

Call me slow, but I have not figured out who you may be? I do however believe you have the right to your anonymity! (As you retire ) :)

I have enjoyed your idle jottings especially in regards to Seadream and travel experiences. Hubby and I just returned from a wonderful stay in Grenada ( sandals La Source ) loved it! Very relaxing... Traveling back home to Montreal, we had an overnight stay in Miami at the Betsy! Charming hotel!

You mentioned you will be on a feb 14 voyage with Seadream . Do you plan to keep with this trip after such a bad experience on your last one?

Some of the other c.cers have made us a little worried also. :confused: especially since we have been raving about Seadream to our friends.

 

 

As far as your identity?... Regardless of who you are? You seem like a nice enough , easy going , like able guy to me! :D

 

Kathy.

 

Ho-Hum is one of the true Legends of Rock. He must, of course, travel anonymously or he would get no rest from his legions of fans. You must respect his need for quality rest in between his world tours playing his own hits as well as his former household name Legendary Band's hits. It is amazing at his age and financial massiveness that he still endures these grueling tours. He loves his fans and loves people. If not, he would just charter a large private yacht for his "quiet time".

Edited November 17, 2014 by Jim Avery

[Jim Avery]

Ho-Hum, did you get the latest special offer that includes the Feb 14th cruise? If you can combine the special offer as well as the compensation offered, they will just about be paying you to cruise. They probably should do that anyway.

[ho-hum]

For some silly reason, the "Quote" button aint working but ho hum wanted to reply to Ragnar's mierable posting.

 

You old cumudgeon

You Scrooge, you

Xmas will be fun with you !

Ha !

 

Aint nobody going to wipe this huge smile off ho hum's face today !

 

Feel the love Raggy, feel the love man.

Haha

Your new name is Raggy .... Haha

Edited November 17, 2014 by ho-hum

[kathyanddanny]

Ho-Hum is one of the true Legends of Rock. He must, of course, travel anonymously or he would get no rest from his legions of fans. You must respect his need for quality rest in between his world tours playing his own hits as well as his former household name Legendary Band's hits. It is amazing at his age and financial massiveness that he still endures these grueling tours. He loves his fans and loves people. If not, he would just charter a large private yacht for his "quiet time".

 

Jim, LOL

 

As I mentioned... Ho Hum seems like a likable guy, regardless of who he is.:rolleyes: I suppose legends of Rock are allowed to travel amongst us aswell!?

:D LOL the secret is safe with me ...as I prefer traveling anonymously also!

 

Kathy.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

For some silly reason, the "Quote" button aint working but ho hum wanted to reply to Ragnar's mierable posting.

 

You old cumudgeon

You Scrooge, you

Xmas will be fun with you !

Ha !

 

Aint nobody going to wipe this huge smile off ho hum's face today !

 

Feel the love Raggy, feel the love man.

Haha

Your new name is Raggy .... Haha

 

 

Thanks ho-hum, it's not often that I get to indulge my predilection for iconoclastry.

[ho-hum]

Thanks ho-hum, it's not often that I get to indulge my predilection for iconoclastry.

 

 

Indulge, indulge anything goes here Raggy.

Haha

[ho-hum]

Ho-Hum is one of the true Legends of Rock. He must, of course, travel anonymously or he would get no rest from his legions of fans. You must respect his need for quality rest in between his world tours playing his own hits as well as his former household name Legendary Band's hits. It is amazing at his age and financial massiveness that he still endures these grueling tours. He loves his fans and loves people. If not, he would just charter a large private yacht for his "quiet time".

 

Stop licking that toad Jim ........ put it down now !

Better idea.

Send it to Raggy !

[Jim Avery]

Stop licking that toad Jim ........ put it down now !

Better idea.

Send it to Raggy !

 

Yessir! Right away G'uvnor. Done. Probably should not send to Raggy as his Pony would eat the toad.

[ho-hum]

Ho Hum,

 

Call me slow, but I have not figured out who you may be? I do however believe you have the right to your anonymity! (As you retire ) :)

I have enjoyed your idle jottings especially in regards to Seadream and travel experiences. Hubby and I just returned from a wonderful stay in Grenada ( sandals La Source ) loved it! Very relaxing... Traveling back home to Montreal, we had an overnight stay in Miami at the Betsy! Charming hotel!

You mentioned you will be on a feb 14 voyage with Seadream . Do you plan to keep with this trip after such a bad experience on your last one?

Some of the other c.cers have made us a little worried also. :confused: especially since we have been raving about Seadream to our friends.

 

 

As far as your identity?... Regardless of who you are? You seem like a nice enough , easy going , like able guy to me! :D

 

Kathy.

 

Jim, LOL

 

As I mentioned... Ho Hum seems like a likable guy, regardless of who he is.:rolleyes: I suppose legends of Rock are allowed to travel amongst us aswell!?

:D LOL the secret is safe with me ...as I prefer traveling anonymously also!

 

Kathy.

 

 

Yes, The Betsy, we stayed there a few years ago but the room was a tad noisy at the time.

 

But we loved it and especially the restaurant: BLT.

In which we ate there just recently with three Dutch chums and it was magnificent including the service.

 

But ho hum was really upset that the photo of Rory Gallagher "The Irish Wizard" (see photo below) had been taken down and replaced with The Beatles photos.

The photo was really good though: Ringo Starr with a gun to his head.

Yes it sounds sinister but it was funny actually.

 

Montreal !

Our chums live in a small remote settlement a few husky rides away....... Go out of town and turn right after the big maple to Bottoms Creek (funny story about that) then through the reservation and over the river and you just a few hundred mikes away.

And Commodore Dave is a native too methinks. No it was Toronto.

 

Yes Kathy, ho hum and blondie will keep faithful with Sea Dream because there is really nothing to compare out there and we love the crew.

Even before you board......you relax.

There are problems but recent postings suggest they MAY be being partially addressed.

Please refer to the advice given to popper yesterday (16.11.14) at 8.46am.

 

Ho hum likeable ! Ho hum is adorable !!!

Well at least to his mother.......err his second mother (the first one returned ho hum...yes t'is true: second time lucky though......wonderful lady).

[ho-hum]

.......was only pulling your leg about the telling off! We do have a laugh here.

Think your probably right about naming my animals after a few bevvies.

I also have two 'lodgers' (strays, but beautiful) who have an apartment in the garage and their names are even worse.

Miami airport. Not my favourite airport. 😱 Poppy arrived at Miami airport and greeted the passport control/ homeland security with a smile and asked if they were having a good day. Bad move. Was told to go and join the end of the queue as I wasn't allowed to smile or talk to them. I thought they were joking and laughed again. Bad mistake. Was marched to the end of the queue. Took over an hour to get through in the end.

Ho Hum, how was the food? I'm sure it was great.

 

As promised Poppy, here is ho hum's true story about Mayhemi airport.

 

The US customs guys at San Juan are friendly and polite. Not like ho hum's experience in Miami a year ago.

 

So we get off the plane from a transatlantic flight from Blighty, meander our way with hundreds of others around construction work within Miami airport for over an hour and finally stop ! No, not at our destination but at a queue from hell and we wait and we wait and we wait until finally a huge, Afro-American (hope that's the politically correct term in your neck of the woods), uniformed guy standing on a pedestal calls ho hum forward as if he is backing in a lorry full of food waste.

 

Now beforehand, standing in line in front of ho hum is a man snivelling and sneezing away who is without a hanky or tissue and decides to sneeze into his hand. Well maybe you are ahead of ho hum on this one. Well you know there is that inclined screen that records your fingerprints, well he put his mucus dripping and covered digits on the screen and walked away. Hum's turn ! But before hum's microbe free digits intertwine with mucus gumph oozing off the screen, ho hum gets a tissue from his pocket and wipes the screen clean.

 

"Whoah ! What the hell do you think your doing ! That's US government property, you cant touch that man"

 

Is'nt the reason for it, to touch it, ho hum enquired.

 

"well, we're a comedian now are we"

 

Its just one person, no we.

 

"Well, we're being clever now are we"

 

Obviously the "we" clarification went straight over his head as he looked at hum as if his "hot momma" had been insulted and animatedly looked around at the line of cubicled and thoroughly bored other custom officials.

 

"Hey we got a clever, comedian over here damaging US property !"

 

The neanderthals in the other cubicles stirred from their morose stupor and looked over aghast.

 

The line behind ho hum thought "OMG we'll be here for days now, this limey has caused trouble".

 

Time for hum to politely explain the situation, once the situation is explained everything will be back to "hunky dory".

 

Knowing these officials love respect, ho hum begins "Sir, if I may explain, you might not have noticed whilst doing your very important job protecting the US borders but the gentleman in front had rather a heavy cold and was bereft of a tissue and continually sneezed into his hand thus quite probably transmitting disease to everyone who touched the self same screen thereafter, do you see ? I simply wiped the screen to prevent the possible transmission to myself. Do you see ?"

 

"Well we now we have a lawyer here guys who knows the law better than us !"

 

The neanderthals look up from their cubicles again throwing disdainful glances, the crowd of passengers groan, now thinking they will be here for weeks now !

 

There is nothing hum can say any more and remains silent, head bowed in defeat.

 

"So nothing to say Siiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"

 

Ho hum shakes his gently head submissively. The customs officer is finally silent and is not taking offence. Thank God. Finally after much excessive banging of things into his passport and flicking of forms, he hands back the documents without a word. Ho hum takes them without looking him in the eye and says nothing.

 

"Next !" He barks

 

Blondie nervously approaches the guy. Documents are handed over.

 

"You travelling with anyone today ?"

 

No, no no one, all by myself officer, blondie replies.

 

The betrayal !

 

Well who can blame her............,,,,,,, and welcome to America !

 

Did ho hum mention the very abrupt and rude taxi driver......... exact fare paid over, no, not a dime more, the driver aint happy and says "What NO tip !"

 

"Why, yes, I do have one. Try being polite to your customers old chap in the future, it works wonders, toodle-oo, old chap and DO have a nice evening wont you !"

 

And recently the crazy air-conditioning levels set between 10 - 13 degrees !

 

If you complain, you wonder whether they will put you on a list of ne'er do wells, if you know what Ho hum means. Must be the worst airport ho hum passes through and the Premium Lounge ! Ha.

 

And we had to wait 55 minutes for our bags ! But seeing our Miami friends made it all worthwhile. We will check out flights to Orlando next time ........ there is a great guy and his lovely lady living there........!

[ho-hum]

.....and compare the Miami customs official to the behaviour of a British "bobby" talking to a speeding motorcyclist on this link below:

 

[gcmv]

Ho-Hum is one of the true Legends of Rock. He must, of course, travel anonymously or he would get no rest from his legions of fans.

 

He loves his fans and loves people.

 

@Jim: Thank you so very much indeed for this solution - now gcmv knows where he met ho-hum in former times (at many concerts) - Kathy look at the attached photo - whenever you see somebody like him on SD - it is ho-hum himself!

 

But - to tell it with the words of a very famous female singer: "His greatest love of all" is blondie! ;)

[kathyanddanny]

Thanks gcmv,! I'll keep my eyes and ears open for him....does Ho Hum sing like Mick Hucknall also ? :D

 

On another note! Whats happened to Zoltan and the waiter Nick? Or Nicholas?

They were on SD2 last time we sailed with seadream. Nice to see Goran will be a recognizable face, he was such a sweety to us! :)

 

Kathy.

[JES4845]

Congrats on the customer friendly response!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ho-hum]

@Jim: Thank you so very much indeed for this solution - now gcmv knows where he met ho-hum in former times (at many concerts) - Kathy look at the attached photo - whenever you see somebody like him on SD - it is ho-hum himself!

 

But - to tell it with the words of a very famous female singer: "His greatest love of all" is blondie! ;)

 

 

The world is going mad !

 

First Jim, then Raggy and now gcmv........oh and Sea Dream shoreside management offering a generous compensation for the SD2 voyage across the Transatlantic !

 

Gcmv, ho hum looks nothing like Mick Hucknall of Simply Red !

Go easy on the schnapps ............ It is strong stuff, mate !

Oh and while you are at it, go and get your eyes checked immediately !

Mick Hucknall !

Ho hum will give you Mick Hucknall !

He has red hair for God's sake !

 

Please see advert:

30% off for the over 60's.......haha