Ya'll Are Going to Think I Am a Bit Nuts.......Just booked Muse!

[Lois R]

On 7/22/2021 at 7:37 PM, Fortunate2 said:

Hi Lois!  What a great idea heading back to Alaska, wish we were going with you.  We were on the Muse in June 2019 and Wrangell was one of our two favorite stops, Prince Rupert being the other.  The Stikine River Jet Boat excursion ranks as our all-time favorite excursions and we'd do it again in a heartbeat.   The jet boat is comfortable and takes you up the river all the way to the glacier head with a stop at some of the remaining glacier along the way.  The actual river experience is great fun, it's beautiful country and the Captain took us out to the spot where the glacier extended 30 years ago when he made his first runs. It was sobering.  Here are a couple of photos we took along the way.

 

Hi again, well, I went ahead and reserved a spot on this jet boat excursion.😃

[Fortunate2]

On 7/24/2021 at 9:33 PM, Lois R said:

Hi again, well, I went ahead and reserved a spot on this jet boat excursion.😃

Good for you!   We loved it hope it's a perfect day.   My bride reminded me that the reason we had our jackets on was that it was drizzling when we were leaving the Silver Muse.  Enjoy!!

[Lois R]

8 hours ago, Fortunate2 said:

Good for you!   We loved it hope it's a perfect day.   My bride reminded me that the reason we had our jackets on was that it was drizzling when we were leaving the Silver Muse.  Enjoy!!

Thank you🙂 I am not sure I will do an excursion in every port but will try this new one.

[Lois R]

This is the first cruise with Silversea that I booked a GTY cabin.......I know when I sailed to Alaska before I never used my balcony (that was on Celebrity) so I decided to save some $$ and I booked a VISTA GTY.......my SS rep told me there is a possibility they will offer me an upgrade to a balcony but so far that has not happened.  Actually, I sail 3 weeks from today and still haven't been issued a cabin yet.........anyone else ever book a GTY? I am guessing they will assign me a cabin before we sail🙂 and I think this cruise is sailing at less than capacity too.

[spinnaker2]

11 minutes ago, Lois R said:

This is the first cruise with Silversea that I booked a GTY cabin.......I know when I sailed to Alaska before I never used my balcony (that was on Celebrity) so I decided to save some $$ and I booked a VISTA GTY.......my SS rep told me there is a possibility they will offer me an upgrade to a balcony but so far that has not happened.  Actually, I sail 3 weeks from today and still haven't been issued a cabin yet.........anyone else ever book a GTY? I am guessing they will assign me a cabin before we sail🙂 and I think this cruise is sailing at less than capacity too.

We have done a GTY suite and it all worked out fine.

We wanted deck five but there were none, so we did the GTY and ended up on 8.

It was all good.

 

 

 

[Lois R]

Thanks Spins🙂 will just wait and see (that is all I can do).

[FauxNom]

When we did GTY on the Explorer they upgraded us but we didn't know until we got on the ship. I don't know if we just weren't paying attention, or if it really was that last-minute. 

 

Wishing you a great trip! We've seen the Muse chugging around Puget Sound for a couple weeks now, and it's exciting even as a bystander!

[TLCOhio]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

I know when I sailed to Alaska before I never used my balcony (that was on Celebrity) so I decided to save some $$ and I booked a VISTA GTY.

 

Agree with Lois that a Vista will work just fine for sailing in and around Alaska.  We had a Vista two years ago on the Silver Muse.  For our purposes, all was well, in part because the Silversea ships are smaller, easy to get around, quick to go up and down, etc.  

 

Good luck to Lois for getting an upgrade.  Have heard that it might only be a week ahead when they let you know your specific suite assignment.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Live/blog, June 2017 from Portugal to France along scenic Atlantic Coast on the Silver Spirit.  Now at 31,839 views.  Many interesting pictures, details for history, food, culture, etc.:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

[Capri73]

Hi Lois. We have done a GTY numerous times. We have had better luck on Seaboune getting a pretty nice upgrade. Last time on SS we did not get one. Our trip in Dec an upgrade was issued immediately. Nor sure if it made a difference .We booked a balcony at the lowest level, they moved us up 1 deck. The location is not what I would have chosen but that is the chance we took.

[Lois R]

Thanks for all the replies🙂 The window will be just fine for me if nothing changes. I agree with Terry, the ships are small enough it is not a big deal (especially on this itinerary).  Normally I always book a basic balcony, which is not so basic on SS👍........and I know I will receive all the same amenities even in the basic window cabin.😃

[Fort_Worth]

3 hours ago, Lois R said:

Thanks for all the replies🙂 The window will be just fine for me if nothing changes. I agree with Terry, the ships are small enough it is not a big deal (especially on this itinerary).  Normally I always book a basic balcony, which is not so basic on SS👍........and I know I will receive all the same amenities even in the basic window cabin.😃

 

I have a differing opinion. We're booked on the Sept 9 sailing. 

 

The allure of Alaska is its vistas and wildlife. On our previous cruise to Alaska in 2009, weather permitting, we enjoyed being outside on our balcony with binoculars in hand. And, when the ship sails up Tracy Arm Fjord, we plan to be on our balcony drinking champagne and either having brunch or snacking on treats. 

 

Sure, you can do this from the public decks but it's so much more special and convenient to enjoy the sites from your stateroom balcony. Good luck! 

[Lois R]

21 minutes ago, Fort_Worth said:

 

I have a differing opinion. We're booked on the Sept 9 sailing. 

 

The allure of Alaska is its vistas and wildlife. On our previous cruise to Alaska in 2009, weather permitting, we enjoyed being outside on our balcony with binoculars in hand. And, when the ship sails up Tracy Arm Fjord, we plan to be on our balcony drinking champagne and either having brunch or snacking on treats. 

 

Sure, you can do this from the public decks but it's so much more special and convenient to enjoy the sites from your stateroom balcony. Good luck! 

Hi, differing opinions are always good🙂 and glad to have yours....but in my case? I have been to Alaska 3 or 4 times before.  I realize there are folks out there who will not cruise in anything but a balcony (not saying that is you) but in my case, for this sailing? To be honest, it was  a very last minute decision to book it and I wanted to go with the least expensive cabin.  I rarely use those binoculars and as for champagne? I know they always put a bottle in the cabin  but what If I told you on my last cruise to Greece (earlier this month) I never even opened the bottle.😲....I sail solo and no way I drink an entire bottle anyway LOL.

 

 

[QueSeraSera]

3 hours ago, Lois R said:

no way I drink an entire bottle anyway LOL.

I'm always ready to help out in such situations ☺️

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

as for champagne? I know they always put a bottle in the cabin  but what If I told you on my last cruise to Greece (earlier this month) I never even opened the bottle.😲....I sail solo and no way I drink an entire bottle anyway LOL.

 

They have Champagne stoppers which are quite effective. From what I'm told! 

 

1 hour ago, QueSeraSera said:

I'm always ready to help out in such situations ☺️

 

Ha, I know better. You'll have 3 glasses and not leave enough for me!

[Dolcevita Diva]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

They have Champagne stoppers which are quite effective. From what I'm told! 

 

And if they do not, here is a trick to keep it fresh another day (sometimes longer). Insert the handle of a spoon inside the open bottle with the "bowl" of the spoon on the outside.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Dolcevita Diva

[cruiseej]

4 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

And if they do not, here is a trick to keep it fresh another day (sometimes longer). Insert the handle of a spoon inside the open bottle with the "bowl" of the spoon on the outside.

 

Just curious: what does that accomplish? A stopper maintains the carbonization; what would a loose spoon in the bottle do?

[Gourmet Gal]

13 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

And if they do not, here is a trick to keep it fresh another day (sometimes longer). Insert the handle of a spoon inside the open bottle with the "bowl" of the spoon on the outside.

You have to try this crazy thing…it works!  Don’t know why  it it does!

[Lois R]

Sounds a bit different that is for sure🙂. It would probably take me 3 or 4 days to drink the full bottle.

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

It would probably take me 3 or 4 days to drink the full bottle.

You ought to enroll in Que’s workshop, “How to drink more than 6 oz. of wine in an evening”, before your voyage to Alaska.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Stumblefoot

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, Stumblefoot said:

You ought to enroll in Que’s workshop, “How to drink more than 6 oz. of wine in an evening”, before your voyage to Alaska.

I drink way more than 6 oz in an evening.....not necessarily wine though😉

[QueSeraSera]

3 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Que’s workshop

This is what I get for offering to help a lady....

[Dolcevita Diva]

15 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

Just curious: what does that accomplish? A stopper maintains the carbonization; what would a loose spoon in the bottle do?

I cannot explain how or why it works (magic?), but it does.  Try it!

[cruiseej]

39 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

I cannot explain how or why it works (magic?), but it does.  Try it!

 

I was curious, so I did some Googling and read a bunch of articles about this. Not to burst any bubbles (see what I did there? 😉 ), but it seems the spoon-in-an-open-bottle-of-champagne trick is apparently more legend than reality.

 

Here are links to articles in reputable publications like Scientific American and Decanter which say that after testing, the spoon trick is mostly a myth. It's true that champagne will retain some of its bubbles in a refrigerator even when uncapped, but there's no basis in science for a spoon hanging down from the top of the bottle resulting in retention of an increased amount of effervescence.

 

Keeping an open bottle of champagne cold in the refrigerator -- which may not be easy in some ships' mini-refrigerators -- will preserve some bubbles overnight, compared to leaving it at room temperature, where the bubbles will fully dissipate overnight.

 

And in the interest of full reporting, some other tests did find that two open bottles stored in the refrigerator overnight, one with a spoon and one without, resulted in very slightly more bubbles in the one with a spoon. Why does the spoon help a little? The thinking is that the dangling spoon helps cool the air inside the bottle more quickly. Since colder air is denser than warmer air, so the air cooled by the spoon sits on the surface of the wine and prevents as many bubbles from escaping too quickly. (By this reasoning, I guess you'd get best results if you refrigerate or freeze the spoon, or stick it in the ice bucket, before you need to use it as a faux-stopper.) But it's nothing compared to a recently-opened bottle. And the next best thing to just-opened is definitely a champagne stopper, not a spoon.

 

So to summarize, the best options for bubbly champagne, in order are:

1. Chilled bottle freshly opened and fully consumed

2. Chilled bottle with champagne stopper

3. Chilled bottle with a spoon

4. Chilled bottle

 

Personally, I will aim to stick to #1. Why settle for second (or third or fourth) best! 😉

 

[Gourmet Gal]

11 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

I was curious, so I did some Googling and read a bunch of articles about this. Not to burst any bubbles (see what I did there? 😉 ), but it seems the spoon-in-an-open-bottle-of-champagne trick is apparently more legend than reality.

 

Here are links to articles in reputable publications like Scientific American and Decanter which say that after testing, the spoon trick is mostly a myth. It's true that champagne will retain some of its bubbles in a refrigerator even when uncapped, but there's no basis in science for a spoon hanging down from the top of the bottle resulting in retention of an increased amount of effervescence.

 

Keeping an open bottle of champagne cold in the refrigerator -- which may not be easy in some ships' mini-refrigerators -- will preserve some bubbles overnight, compared to leaving it at room temperature, where the bubbles will fully dissipate overnight.

 

And in the interest of full reporting, some other tests did find that two open bottles stored in the refrigerator overnight, one with a spoon and one without, resulted in very slightly more bubbles in the one with a spoon. Why does the spoon help a little? The thinking is that the dangling spoon helps cool the air inside the bottle more quickly. Since colder air is denser than warmer air, so the air cooled by the spoon sits on the surface of the wine and prevents as many bubbles from escaping too quickly. (By this reasoning, I guess you'd get best results if you refrigerate or freeze the spoon, or stick it in the ice bucket, before you need to use it as a faux-stopper.) But it's nothing compared to a recently-opened bottle. And the next best thing to just-opened is definitely a champagne stopper, not a spoon.

 

So to summarize, the best options for bubbly champagne, in order are:

1. Chilled bottle freshly opened and fully consumed

2. Chilled bottle with champagne stopper

3. Chilled bottle with a spoon

4. Chilled bottle

 

Personally, I will aim to stick to #1. Why settle for second (or third or fourth) best! 😉

 

Well certainly one would choose a stopper over a spoon but in the absence of a stopper the spoon is quite excellent when kept chilled and actually not so far off from a freshly opened bottle and hard to tell there was no stopper. This is from experience…not Googling (with all due respect cruiseej).  Cheers!

[Dolcevita Diva]

43 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

So to summarize, the best options for bubbly champagne, in order are:

1. Chilled bottle freshly opened and fully consumed

2. Chilled bottle with champagne stopper

3. Chilled bottle with a spoon

4. Chilled bottle

 

Personally, I will aim to stick to #1. Why settle for second (or third or fourth) best! 😉

 

 

Cheers to that!  Fascinating explanation - and agree with you 100% on the best  options for bubbly - especially when on Silversea where a fresh bottle is always at hand.  But the magic spoon trick has come in handy when traveling and no stopper was available and it definitely worked!  

 

cruiseej and Gourmet Gal - someday if we all end up on the same voyage, let's put this to the test, with one of using method 2, another #3 and the third #4. Then we can meet up the next day to do a side-by-side comparison. 😉

 

Now I just thought of one more option.  Would a S'well bottle maintain the bubbles?  Hmmm, perhaps I need to try that this weekend! 🍾

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by Dolcevita Diva