OnTheJourney

It is. Seems like the mother will be ok, but what a tragedy. So you live near the Watch Hill property?

OK...confirming my suspicions of who owns it! You're pulling my leg on the "invitations" though 😁 LOL on the "football boy toy". See how long it lasts. I've decided to not watch the KC Chiefs anymore. Tired of them, and now even worse that the focus is on Swift. Speaking of her, though, just came across this: https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/02/18/teen-girl-dies-in-horror-crash-on-drive-to-taylor-swift-concert/

Ahh....nice to have such a friend!! How about some inside pics? 🤔 Wait a second...looks very much like Taylor Swift's "High Watch" estate....

Goodness...your house??? Wow....

About 9 in my driveway. Happens all the time due to there being nothing to break the wind. We're on top of a hill out in the country and so frequent drifts and larger accumulations. There can be 6 inches on the road and 3 feet in my driveway depending on the wind. Shovel it off and sometimes it drifts back in again overnight. This stuff was pretty light so I could shovel it. Last time needed to snowblow. Should be a lovely spring with having had some snow cover on the flowerbeds for slow-release moisture.

Here in PA..I believe I have now had enough snow....

Interesting. Generally, we've found CT to be excellent. Manfredi's also was very good except for one or two entree choices I had there. We greatly enjoy both. Restaurant, we feel, is also quite good to very good. But, yeah, can't hardly compare cruise ship food to a great restaurant in Italy. I'd never expect it to be the same. Cooking for 900+ people.

???

I was a solo performer representing the US at the Expo ’67, and always thought it’d be so interesting to go back to Montreal and revisit whatever remains of that event. I've never been back since, but I know that Parc des Îles was renamed to Parc Jean-Drapeau in 2000 based on info I received from this site: https://www.mtl.org/en/what-to-do/activities/parc-jean-drapeau It'd be so cool to go back. I'd surely recognize the former US Pavilion, now the Biosphère. Viking offers this cruise that, by using a pre or post extension, would allow a few extra days to explore. Thanks for any suggestions. I specifically mention the Viking trip because I have to use vouchers anyway from a previous cruise.

Then you should try the ocean ships. I think you'd like that as well.

Not really. Just from what I've been reading. Well, I'll say this. I didn't care for eating right next to that open kitchen design in the restaurant. It's interesting and all to watch what they're doing, but the noise factor is a bit much. So then we wound up finding a nice quiet place all the way in the back near the wine racks. That was ok till others discovered it as well. The one couple seemed insistent on always having the window table and went as far as to stop by before they even started serving and plopped a wine bottle on "their" table. Another couple that didn't know about this came in the one night and wondered why they couldn't have the window table - didn't seem too happy when they found out. At that point, yet, there was no wine bottle on the table but the waiters quickly explained the situation (that there would be shortly). Guess giving the waitstaff a big tip every night has its benefits! So anyway, we decided to bail out and ate the remaining dinners up in the cafe. Found it more relaxing, faster, and, of course, bigger food choice. Entertaining at times too with some of conversation and friendly banter between the bartenders and guests, etc.. Plus, the great views on either side. Mississippi is a unique ship. We really enjoyed it except for not getting to most of the ports. I don't think we'll do it again, but glad we did. Used vouchers from the Viking Sky 3/23/19 Northern Lights incident.

I know, but thanks for mentioning anyway. Thanks for all that great info! Sounds really nice. We wound up eating dinner at WC the latter part of the cruise on the Mississippi. Most other times, on ocean ships we were in the restaurant. I think we'll have to try the Great Lakes for the expedition ship experience.

I'm sure. Crazy weather patterns. I've never yet been to your part of CA. Hopefully a CA trip sometime that would incorporate a visit to our daughter. I thought this trip looks interesting. We have to book something to use the vouchers from the Mississippi trip by October (book by, not sail by). https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/caribbean-americas/pacific-coast-explorer/pricing.html

Just chatted and asked about this. Seems that reservations start at 6 pm. Not crazy about having to make them. I can understand it for Manfredi's and Chef's table (which isn't on Expedition anyway).

Really? Considering booking a Great Lakes cruise. Curious as to why reservations?

How'd you manage with the crazy "atmospheric rivers" out there recently? Our daughter lives in Arcadia - recently moved there from Irving. They had a lovely apartment there and hated to leave it but she got a different job (was working for the University) and felt it better to move closer to Pasadena than possibly have long commute times due to traffic.

Hey JD...likewise to you! DW is improving steadily following her surgery last November. It was dicey for awhile though. She wound up in the hospital over Christmas. 12/23/23 has now become the scariest day of our married life, supplanting the Sky event of 2019. Weirdly, both are on the 23rd! We got engaged 44 years ago on this day.

This is the direction we need to move for automotive transport, if and when feasible.

Interesting. Had not heard of this before. Wonder why they felt the need for a different sized ocean ship? Looks like basically the same layout.

True enough. I must admit I've often not considered what side might be best to book, but on a Viking ship never that far a walk to get out on the deck to see the opposite shoreline.

Do it. Looks like a fantastic itinerary, and one that I've looked at many times. If you've not done any sort of Baltic cruise yet, this is a good one. We've been to about half of the ports on this, but never got to Stavanger on our Northern Lights tour 5 years ago nor have been to Poland, so I could easily see all the rest again. And, I agree with port-intensive. Ours also included several days in St. Petersburg making it even busier. I wouldn't be too concerned about which side of the ship you're on.

The real dicey part with the Acropolis when we were there last year is doing all those steps during a snow squall! It made for lovely scenery from the bus as we traveled along that morning. Luckily, we got to visit the Acropolis again during a private tour during a post-extension and had lovely weather. To add something about Pompeii, my wife was most concerned about it being difficult walking and afterwards thought that it really wasn't as bad as she expected. Uneven - as already described - although we had some rain there which obviously makes it harder. Walking along the (more even) sides rather than right in the middle of the cobblestone street areas - if I recall correctly - was easier also - more like regular sidewalk. At Mycenae, if you have a chance to walk up the hill towards the top (pretty easy walking actually for the most part), I'd recommend it. Our guide took whomever wanted to do it and we made a big loop around and back down (the hardest part coming down but still very doable). The views were incredible. I got into taking lots of pictures and so the group was pretty far ahead. I debated on continuing on to catch up or just go back down (DW elected not to go) but then was glad I went on the rest of the way. The guide pointed out some fascinating things including a quite entertaining stop at what she referred to as a "creepy back door". This old wooden door creaked on its hinges when opened. She had a great sense of humor and really helped to keep things enjoyable and interesting. Don't miss the chance to experience the Tomb of Agamemnon (was part of our Mycenae tour). This thread brings back some fantastic memories. Go see ALL of it and enjoy. Do as much as you feel you can do. Viking surely accommodates and adjusts the walks as necessary or provides easier options for those who have more difficulty doing long, harder walks. For us, likely all the places mentioned in this thread are once-in-a-lifetime and so didn't want to pass them up.

Sure, especially since Viking does cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale