rpfarris

I just got my passport back from traveldocs.com who solved my China visa issue. That cost about $200. They said that the Vietnamese visa would be issued on the boat and that I should bring a passport photo with. I think it is $50.

You have "free excursions?" I don't. My excursions add up to almost $4k. Other than the bus rides downtown. Which ones are free for you?

Ah, you're doing Singapore to Hong Kong. Well, I'm doing the reverse this October. I'll check out how my phone works in each port and report back. Anything else you need?

You guys know that you can take your own booze onboard with you, right? I'm a bourbon drinker and I'm not that fond of Jim Beam or that charcoal tasting Tennessee whiskey that they stock, so I'm taking 3 bottles of Angels Envy Finished Rye with me. Two for my cabin and one for the Panoramic Lounge.

I did email Special Services first to make sure it was ok.

Les,

When I sailed on the Shadow in May I planned on doing business onboard. It didn't turn out all that well, but yes, there is ONE printer and ONE PC available in the computer room next to the library. I suspect that the folks in reception would probably print something for you, also.

Internet banking was more problematic for me because I have two-factor authentication (2FA) on my business banking accounts and the delays in satellite communication would not let me connect with 2FA. I eventually turned off 2FA for the period of the cruise and it made me very nervous. I'll point out that there were no issues at all when I was in port and had a good cellular connection.

What really squashed my business was that my process requires a notary at one point and it flabbergasted me that not only wasn't there a notary on the boat; the hotel administration did not even know what a notary was. My fallback of going to a notary while in port failed completely in Japan, and only partially successful in Alaskan ports.

If you can do your banking when you're in port you'll be fine. Are you going to be in port each day? What cruise are you on?

Hmmm....

Yesterday you received an email from us indicating a change to an upcoming voyage. Due to an error in the email list, it was sent to you incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. Please note, there is currently no change to your itinerary on Silver Shadow. We look forward to welcoming you onboard.

I wonder who *was* supposed to get the email...

Ishigaki looked really nice when we had an (originally) unscheduled stop outside their harbour on the Whisper in the spring this year. Are you going to be allowed off?

Looks like yes:

Oct 6, 2017

Friday

Ishigaki-jima

12pm

6pm

Those of us on this cruise (SS 3727) already know this, but others follow itinerary changes. l received this email about an hour ago (followed by the detailed itinerary):

As one of our guests scheduled to board Silver Shadow on September 22, 2017 - voyage 3727, we are looking forward to welcoming you aboard soon. Please let us know your suite setup preferences and reservations through MySilversea if you have not already done so.

Due to some unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, we have had to make some important changes to your itinerary. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, but rest assured we are committed to making your voyage through Asia a memorable and enjoyable one.

You will find below your new itinerary. The important changes to note are:

 

• The call to Jeju, South Korea will be replaced with a call to Ishigaki-jima, Japan on October 6
  
• The call to Incheon, South Korea will be on October 2
  
• The call to Tianjin (Beijing), China will be on September 29 – 30
  
• The call to Shanghai, China will be 2:00am October 4 – 2:00am October 5
  

If the medium is moving, the speed of (air) movement will be added to the speed of the wave propagation. So sound travels faster (and therefore further before dying out) when it's moving downwind...

This is clearly the real and accurate answer, but if you want a way of thinking about it, consider that you can "bounce" echoes off a canyon wall which shows that the sound is really a physical object and if it can be bounced, then it makes sense that it could be affected by the wind.

http://newatlas.com/heineken-sub/29480/

 

https://uk.the-sub.com/age-gate/?origin=https%3A%2F%2Fuk.the-sub.com%2Fbeers%2F

 

48% discount for the red one ...... making it £69 ..... discount code is "UKROUGE"

I think I've seen some of those at the supermarket. I always wondered what the tapping tackle looked like... Thanks for the image.

The new beer machine is wonderful. 2c fresh Pilsner with a mousse head ........ just a sip in a small frozen glass each time you pass .....:D

Could you post a picture of one of the refills? I mean, how do you load the machine?

Thanks for all the tips, Terry. I'll try to keep them in mind as I shoot. That was a good picture and then magnificent after the edit. What application do you use for editing? How do you transfer photos to your MBP? Do you use an SD reader on the MBP? I have a D7200 and never could get the wifi transfer working.

On this trip, I took about 2800 different pictures. Most of these were focused on the various cities, sights, etc., in Portugal, Spain and France. I always try to focus on just posting the "best of the best"...

Terry, I've been wanting to ask about this for a long time. Your photos are so good that I always wondered how many shots you took to get the supremely good pictures you post here.

I'm sure you've posted your photo equipment before. Would you mind mentioning it again? Don't tell me you're getting these pictures with an iPhone 7P. ;)

No one has mentioned it yet, but I've been told that Viking doesn't have casinos on their ships. I don't gamble, but a casino is a make or break for some folks.

The people on shore were not waving to us but shaking their fists because we were making them late for the trains home...

Are you certain those were fists they were shaking? ;p

Our voyage will all be within North America, would that make it easier and cheaper...

Oh, and this part: No. The SS Internet access is via a satellite mesh network, that is, all access is via satellites, no matter where on the globe any particular SS ship is.

It's pretty interesting how all the ships are on a kind of global network that shares satellite access as the ships move around the globe. For instance, ships that are in late night are given reduced bandwidth while ships in daytime (while passengers are up and using the service) are given more bandwidth.

Les could come along and explain it better.

The wifi access isn't done by minute/hour. You will be offered a cruise-length package of the two speeds you mentioned. I signed up for the e-mail speed package on a 15-day cruise in May. I can't remember what the charge was, but I think it was around $300. I don't think there was a daily access, but maybe there was.

Yes, I believe that is the policy unless the cruise is a L'École des Chefs voyage

You don't know how happy that makes me. I'm going on http://www.silversea.com/destinations/asia-cruise/hong-kong-to-singapore-3728/ in September, and it's marked "Ecole des Chefs / Gourmet Cruises." Do you think that meets the requirements?

Rpfarris, no Norway game but lots of Norwegian fish (Salmon, Hake, Halibut) and hopefully with L'ecole des Chef, David Bisland's Bergen market visit they will bring back some fresh Salmon to enjoy for tonight's dinner....

We saw our executive chef in the Aomori morning market earlier this year and hoped that meant that we were going to have fresh salmon also. Actually, I was hoping that we would be feasting on king crab once we reached Dutch Harbor.

Unfortunately, we never got any king crab, nor any fresh local salmon, either. We were told that it was SS's policy not to source local food-stuff; that they only loaded food at embark/debark points. I'm very interested to hear that they have different policies on different ships. Please ask at dinner tonight.

...Single travelers, as always, will be welcome to experience these new dining arrangements together across all venues....

Anybody know what this means?

...moose, reindeer, hare...

Are they serving any of that in the MD, Wes, or La Terrazza?

Single travelers, as always, will be welcome to experience these new dining arrangements together across all venues.

The thing is that the dinner venue shouldn't be the highest point of your cruise. Dinner *is* a high point, but because SS is a master at bringing people together before dinner - an excursion, team trivia, solo travelers daily cocktail party, etc, so that dinner is where you continue the party. The food is good. Way better than the cafeteria food they serve on Carnival, as Jeff pointed out that some people will call "great food."

Once you've been on an SS cruise you will probably realize that Silversea food is plenty good; if I wanted a gastronomic vacation, I'd stay in San Diego and dine in a *fine* restaurant every night. That's not what cruising is about.

Hello again:D.........I decided to book a private car through my hotel. It may be more $ but this entire cruise is a major

treat so I am just doing it this way:D

There you go!

I have to say I'm quite taken back with the suggestion food on the Muse has mostly extremely bad in reviews.

What doesn't get discussed very often is that "excellent cruise food" is not the same as "excellent food in a major metropolitan area." So if you are new to cruising and you have heard the advertisements about how the dining venues on the Muse are "world class," and you are from London or New York or LA, or even San Diego and used to that form of "world class" cuisine, then you might be surprised with the actual food that you find on the ship. None of the venues on a cruise ship (even SS) come anywhere close to a AAA restaurant in a big city.

I'm wondering if a lot of the bad reviews (I'm talking about food, NOT reservations) are from people on their first cruise who are comparing the advertising spin to the actual food. The food is great, especially for a cruise ship, but it's not something that would impress someone that normally dines in AAA restaurants.

By the way, where does "fresh fish" come from on the Muse?

Yep Rick.

Or not...each to his or her own.

Purely my opinion, should I have added a disclaimer?

:-)

Actually I'm with you, Spin. Depending on my mood I get either amused or annoyed by folks that don't do anything to help themselves. I've seen a few...