Gourmet Gal

Trip insurance is a must these days, especially for river cruises.

Just a note, “designer” jeans are just jeans and not the best choice for an elegant dinner. Black slacks can work in a variety of ways day to evening depending on occasion. If you have space in your luggage there are now some really great midi skirts and culottes that work well day to evening and are no shorter than cropped pants. I cannot imagine a venue on a river cruise that would require dresses, even a concert in Vienna unless it’s an actual ball - not likely for a boatload of tourists.

How disappointing. I would feel very motivated to cancel both bookings and press the point that the advertising is false. However, Scenic may have already covered themselves with legalese, either online or in your documents, allowing for substitutions or that not all equipment will be available. Perhaps consider another line and ask your TA to go to bat for you.

Just an observation but you could drive from Minneapolis to Rochester faster than your layover outbound and inbound. Looks like you have 1hr 45 min. at CDG. That’s a little tight but if flights are on time should be fine. You may be able to look up which terminals are likely to be your flights’ incoming and departing. Otherwise, be prepared to walk as fast as you can. As for Basel, it’s a lovely town but there are lots of beautiful places to go in Switzerland by train or car. Switzerland is very easy to drive - the roads and tunnels are marvels. We ended a cruise in Basel and drove to Lausanne, stayed a couple nights then on to Interlaken and Lucerne for several more days. I never sailed on Viking so not sure how their air works. If they haven’t yet actually purchased and issued the tickets yet I would think you could make changes if they operate as other cruise lines do. I would also definitely look at all the routing independently to see if there are better flight or routing options with an eye towards that CDG layover. HOP is a regional owned by Air France. If you are in business class you should be able to select your seats. It’s a short flight so perhaps it may not matter?

Well, sounds like you’re short on time. I tend to stay multiple weeks whenever I go there. I would need 3 days in each city.

I would never miss a chance to spend a night or multiple nights in Paris! What exactly is your reason for hesitating?

Yeah, that Tony. Such a classy guy. He would have fit right in on an SS cruise, being such a stickler for proper attire.

Wish I could pay more income taxes, too, said nobody - ever.

Lot’s of comments about Oregon pinots. They’re are certainly some great ones but the CA Anderson Valley pinots can be pretty fabulous too.

Yes to Bulgari and yes, yes.

Nice article but it’s business as usual for Tauck and very typical. I’ve had several palace, winery and ranch meals with them. It’s something they do rather well. My favorite special meal was at the bull ranch in the Camargue. Wonderful hospitality from the family, great meal, music and then a hayride tour of the pastures to see the beautiful horses and bulls.

Some sailings especially on the Douro have some daytime, usually scenic cruising so definitely more chill.

Let’s hope! Not that I’m fan of baseball caps or wads of money unless it’s my own. 🤪

Each cabin has a number on or next to the door.

Wow. What does that really mean?

Sounds like a lovely trip. A river cruise is a nice intro to cruising. My advice would be to have an open mind and go with the flow. The somewhat rigid schedule and fairly tight quarters can be a bit of a shock if you’re used to independent travel but I find it’s nice to relax and just show up and see what each day brings.

I can answer a couple of questions just based on my observations. I’ve only seen binoculars on a Four Seasons charter with SS in the Galapagos but then, they were actually among the gifts that we took home. They were the smaller more compact style so not sure how good they really are. I’ve never seen door decorations on a cruise ship before. What would be the purpose?

I don’t recall how heavily SS marketed the Italian aspect early on. There’s really nothing on the current SS website that espouses any sort of Italian heritage to the line and there doesn’t seem to be a marketing angle that promotes it. Newer cruisers probably have no idea. To me, the Italian connection was never a draw. I love Italian fashion, textiles, cuisine but quite honestly when I think of elegant service, haute cuisine, high level of luxury travel anything Italian is not my first thought.

Which ship? I’m also from the Bay Area and am used to easily available great wines but just don’t care enough to lug wines on vacation. Part of the fun of travel is to try new foods and wines of the region and though the included wines are pretty average if your ship has the new SALT restaurant you’ll get to try local wines. There is also a alternate range of wines for purchase and I’m sure there are cruisers here who can provide you with the latest list on your ship.

I didn’t know any staff on SS had an expectation they would be tipped. I expect excellent service to begin with and do not feel obligated to leave a tip for something I’ve already paid for when I’ve booked a gratuities included trip.

It could be difficult for some people depending on their background or just simple job training for others. What really matters to me in the service arena is if the person takes pride in their work. If they do it’s a pleasure to interact with them and always brightens my day.

It’s only a more casual type afternoon tea served in the Arts Cafe, not a true afternoon tea with the tiered platters that used to be served pre-Covid. I love a proper afternoon tea but can’t say I enjoyed the silly costumed affair on Crystal ships.

I think the point is some new to SS cruisers are intimidated by the “Butler” moniker.

Interesting take and thanks for reminding us of the traditional role of butlers. So those highly regimented, formal times are mostly over in society today and perhaps what used to be a butler is now a personal assistant in more affluent households. Regarding cruising, aside from a marketing angle, the intent seems to be an elevated service experience for passengers. This topic could be a little less contentious if SS dropped the pretension of calling a glorified steward a butler and considered a different title. I’ll take a stab at an alternative: Does Suite Assistant sound too similar to Suite Attendant? How about Suite Liaison?

Many of the better and newer artesan vermouths are in small bottles.