Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

[highplanesdrifters]

14 hours ago, jpalbny said:

We got our luggage from the car and checked in. The hotel receptionist had told us about a light show in town so we figured that we'd check it out on our way to dinner.

Magical, thanks for sharing.

[drron29]

[Lois R]

[Lois R]

Wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy 2024...........and of course whatever cruises and other trips you want as well.🙂

[drron29]

[jpalbny]

Our cats are already thinking about their New Year's resolutions. Dora is stretching and getting warmed up for a run on the treadmill. I think her resolution is to exercise more.

 

Duma is oblivious and looking out the window. He has no intention of doing anything. 

 

[spinnaker2]

Happy 2024!!!!

[jpalbny]

The worst part of New Year's Day is taking down the tree. Oh well, that's done. Now time for a program on the treadmill, if Dora is done using it.

[Dolcevita Diva]

14 hours ago, Will Work for Tiramisu said:

Ever since this country club started putting on a fabulous NYE fireworks show a few years ago, I’m always puzzled when friends ask where I’m going for NYE.  “To the foot of the driveway with a bottle of champagne!”   Happy New Year, Coolers!

Edited January 1 by Dolcevita Diva

[UKCruiseJeff]

A shorty to wish all Coolers the very bestest for a cool and lovely 2024.

 

It is extremely lovely to “pop” in and not only see so many founder Cooler members seated in their allotted stools at the bar and posting - but also so many who have opened the door and sat on a stool by the bar, ordered a drink and now stay and chat.  I do so hope they stay and welcome every newby who ventures in.

 

Some here (mostly me) enjoy reading of other people’s every day sustenance and in that spirit I share today’s eatings of sushi for lunch with Laurent Perrier and later supper on a plate on the lap in front of the TV of a bacon and chip with sea salt and Sarsons sandwich in tiger bread (with some dipping fries left on the side) and a lovely second bottle of frozen LP.

 

Always bestest.

 

Jeff

[Grand Duchess]

Wishing you a happy New Year filled with exploration of our wonderful planet, cherished old and new friendships and lots of happiness.

[DavyWavey70]

5 hours ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

A shorty to wish all Coolers the very bestest for a cool and lovely 2024.

 

It is extremely lovely to “pop” in and not only see so many founder Cooler members seated in their allotted stools at the bar and posting - but also so many who have opened the door and sat on a stool by the bar, ordered a drink and now stay and chat.  I do so hope they stay and welcome every newby who ventures in.

 

Some here (mostly me) enjoy reading of other people’s every day sustenance and in that spirit I share today’s eatings of sushi for lunch with Laurent Perrier and later supper on a plate on the lap in front of the TV of a bacon and chip with sea salt and Sarsons sandwich in tiger bread (with some dipping fries left on the side) and a lovely second bottle of frozen LP.

 

Always bestest.

 

Jeff

A Very happy new year to all in the cooler. Are you still on your BA LP Jeff?

 

[DavyWavey70]

An offer I Couldn’t refuse. Rude not to really!

Edited January 2 by DavyWavey70

[UKCruiseJeff]

7 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

A Very happy new year to all in the cooler. Are you still on your BA LP Jeff?

 

 

Hi,

 

Great memory.   Yes, and I think we’re only half through the champers lake. I’m so pleased I converted all my miles to something more userful.

 

Jeff

[DavyWavey70]

46 minutes ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

Hi,

 

Great memory.   Yes, and I think we’re only half through the champers lake. I’m so pleased I converted all my miles to something more userful.

 

Jeff

I Just used 70,000 of mine last night 🥳 

[drron29]

[DavyWavey70]

Well I’ve survived leg one (MAN-DBX) feeling more human after a nice hot shower and a couple of glasses of Moët for breakfast. Long stretch now to Melbourne then a 5+ hour connection to AYQ.Arriving lunchtime Thursday.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

11 minutes ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Well I’ve survived leg one (MAN-DBX) feeling more human after a nice hot shower and a couple of glasses of Moët for breakfast. Long stretch now to Melbourne then a 5+ hour connection to AYQ.Arriving lunchtime Thursday.

You definitely get a Road Warrior award – I couldn't imagine a flight itinerary like that!  I'm dreading our upcoming JFK-AKL: 17 1/2 hours non-stop, but at least we'll be where we're going at that point and can collapse in our hotel room...

[jpalbny]

Looks like DW is 5h into his flight now with another 8+ to go. That is a long flight for sure. I've found that 9-10h is my favorite flight duration. Long enough to get some sleep, but not so long that you wake up and still have 8h to go. The 6.5-7h red-eye flights to Europe aren't long enough for me to relax so by the time I get to sleep it's time for breakfast.

 

The longest one we've done so far is ATL-JNB which is about 15h. The first time we did that route I fell asleep right after dinner and woke up feeling refreshed...but the flight wasn't even half over! That was a little annoying; I was wide awake for about 8h, and going a little stir crazy being stuck in the plane. This last time, I knew better and I stayed awake for about 6h before I finally let myself sleep, so when I woke up there was maybe 3h to go.

 

We are trying Singapore Air in June for our Kimberley cruise. After (hopefully) surviving the 18h direct flight from JFK-SIN we have a few hours' layover before we continue on from SIN-Darwin. And yeah, we might have to take a nap after that - unless I can figure out when to sleep on the plane.

 

Jazz - what time of day does your flight leave? Is it the QF flight at 5:30PM? If so, that's not a bad time to start. I'd stay up until at least midnight NY time then try to sleep for the second half of the flight. The bad part is that you arrive at 5AM NZ time. Though I'd try to avoid it, a few more hours of napping might not be a bad idea upon arrival, then you'll be ready to seize the day!

[lincslady]

The mind boggles at the idea of doing those journeys in economy.  If Business is as good as it was some years ago on Singapore you will find it more than bearable.  The same used to apply to Air New Zealand, with lovely sheepskin to sit on.

[Lirio]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

You definitely get a Road Warrior award – I couldn't imagine a flight itinerary like that!  I'm dreading our upcoming JFK-AKL: 17 1/2 hours non-stop, but at least we'll be where we're going at that point and can collapse in our hotel room...

Are you flying Air New Zealand new direct flight? Please let me know everything about it! We are going to AKL next April in the tradicional way (Rio - Santiago - AKL) but I would like to try this new route w/ a couple of days in NY next time.

[drron29]

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Lirio said:

Are you flying Air New Zealand new direct flight? Please let me know everything about it! We are going to AKL next April in the tradicional way (Rio - Santiago - AKL) but I would like to try this new route w/ a couple of days in NY next time.

Qantas.  Seems odd that Qantas flies JFK-AKL non-stop and AirNewZealand doesn't!

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Jazz - what time of day does your flight leave? Is it the QF flight at 5:30PM? If so, that's not a bad time to start. I'd stay up until at least midnight NY time then try to sleep for the second half of the flight. The bad part is that you arrive at 5AM NZ time. Though I'd try to avoid it, a few more hours of napping might not be a bad idea upon arrival, then you'll be ready to seize the day!

That's the flight.  Got a reasonable Business sale deal ($9,995 pp JFK-AKL then SYD-LAX + LAX-JFK on American with points) that allowed me to switch from Silversea D2D to P2P and still save money.  I doubt that Silversea would have routed us this way.  I booked the Auckland Hilton from the night before we arrive, so the room will be ready as we sleepwalk into the hotel!

 

DW had set a limit on flight legs, but it keeps stretching especially for non-stops...  JNB-ATL at 16 1/2 hours was the longest so far.  This will set a new record.  [The original plan was NYC-LAX, LAX-HNL, HNL-AKL and similar in reverse.  But required two nights in hotels each way, so she admitted that was crazy.]