SLSD

And later, one of them was feeding the dog under the table.

I have some breaking news. There is a DOG on this cruise. Imagine my surprise about five minutes ago when a little poodle type dog came scampering into the Observation Bar where we are enjoying a leisurely tea time. There are three people who may be part of a family--none of them especially elderly or infirm. Of course we don't know about disabilities. I don't want to start an argument here--because I love dogs and service dogs--but I've never seen a service dog of this type. Of course it COULD be. I know we have discussed this ad nauseam previously. I don't THINK the dog has on a special vest signifying that he is a service dog, but I can't tell for sure because the dog is now under the table next to us--about six feet from where I am sitting. The people who own him are either from Spain or Mexico. Add to this, they had saved their table with a jacket draped over a chair for a full 45 minutes when other people were looking for chairs to enjoy tea. (Some other passengers sitting nearby were very annoyed by the saving of a tea table with a jacket and talked about removing the jacket.) Shades of the pool lounge savers with a dog in the mix. The hand you see on the right of the photo is my husband's hand. We are that close to the dog. Hmm.. I think they may be slipping the dog some of the tidbits from tea under the table. I even managed to get a photo.

Yes, I use an Apple laptop.

We decided to upgrade to the premium Wifi. It has solved most of my issues so far. I use two devices and got tired of logging on and off. It's a small price to pay to alleviate my frustration. Mr SLSD agrees. Now, it's more like using my devices at home. I'm sure others wouldn't need the premium package, but I've always been challenged by my iphone. I'm an Iphone klutz and prefer my laptop, but need to use the Iphone for Source--especially around the ship.

We try to never dine indoors in the Colonnade. And we never go through the buffet line. I guess I should never say never--but on a 23 day cruise we never went through the line one single time. I enjoy dining outdoors at the Colonnade---and from the menu only.

Here's the menu from the Patio Grill and the results of our order. It's the Napa Burger. A good burger--I've had better, but don't have real complaints about this one. But Mr. SLSD says these Napa Burgers did not have quite the "zing" of Napa Burgers in the past. Service was absolutely superb at the Patio Grill--in fact, it was the best service in that area we have ever had on a Seabourn cruise. As we were leaving the Patio Grill, a waiter (perhaps the manager of the are) told us that they have just unloaded Danish Carlsberg Beer onto the ship. Mr. SLSD was glad to hear this as he likes it.

This has been an enjoyable sea day so far. We attended a lecture this morning on the history of the Vikings. The presenter was a specialist in Russian History who imparted so new insights. While I knew of the range of the Vikings concerning Europe, I had not realize that they also left a legacy in what is now Russia. The evidence is archaeological and language. Some of the classic Russian. names come from Scandanavia with some changes. An example would be Helga/Olga. The lecture was accompanied by very clear slides of maps and artifacts. The Viking "era" ended with William the Conquerer in 1066--a very important date. We look forward to subsequent lecturers by this presenter. IMG_5297.HEIC

For the record, we have liked ALL the Cruise Directors (now Entertainment Directors) we have had in the past. All have made our cruises interesting, fun, and special.

Here is today's Herald--June 12, 2023 which is a sea day.

I'll be careful from here on out employing the word "best". Here's a few things we have learned so far on this voyage. The guest count is 540 according to Wien Oban, the Restaurant Director. I hope I have his first name spelled correctly. He told us at breakfast today that this is 140 more than the last cruise. 300+ had dinner in the Restaurant last night and all went well he said. He says that he has an excellent team right now. So no--it should not matter who your waiter is--but we like Cristian very much. We heard today that The Restaurant is going to be open everyday for breakfast and for lunch. Another guest told us this--but she had been told by a staff member. Of course it is only open for an hour for each meal--8am-9am for breakfast and 12:30-1:30 for lunch. I don't know that we will be on board every day to take advantage of these times--but I was happy to hear this. Today, we did go to The Restaurant for breakfast. The service was wonderful and the food was very good. I had the western omelette with emmenthaler cheese on the side and Mr. SLSD had French toast and sausage links.

We just boarded yesterday, so I don't think I can give a qualified opinion yet about the food. The service has been great. As I explained above, we got "adopted" by a waiter a lunch on the Colonnade Patio who asked us to request him in The Restaurant at dinner. We did exactly that and the service was superb. His name is Cristian and he has been with Seabourn since before Covid. He told us that he is hoping to be assigned to Venture. Last night's dinner was good. Mr. SLSD had a chicken entree and I had "the chef's special" which involved cod. I liked it. For dessert I had the lemon curd tart and Mr. SLSD had the warm berry cobbler. Hopefully, I'll get my devices working better for me later today so that I can post some photos of food, menus, and such. I'm not the best when it comes to adapting to Seabourn's wifi and figuring everything out. I may have to go in for remedial tutoring. We are very casual wine drinkers. Yesterday, I had the Clarandelle White Bordeaux which I. have enjoyed on previous cruises. Perhaps I will get a list of the included wines at some point.

I'm sure we have all had different experiences and it is wonderful that you had such a close relationship. It is so tough to lose friends.

I meant the best of the best in terms of his kindness and demeanor. It was really meant as a compliment to him instead of a comparison to others. But, your point is well taken. Before Mr. SLSD retired, we couldn't really plan long range travel very much as he always had court dates that were impossible to plan in advance.

We had Covid last September, so we are a bit out of the three month zone unfortunately.

We are hoping for the best when it comes to Covid. We brought masks of course, but I have seen absolutely no one wearing them on the ship yet.

Oh my! And yes, Handre is the best of the best as everyone knows. I'm sure he has seen all kinds of behavior.

What a horrible thing to say to someone. The boorish behavior of some always amazes me. Hopefully we won't see much of that this trip.

Thank you. It is just a bit surreal to be back after three years. Everything seems familiar, but I am aware that time has passed and the world is not really the same. I thought about this especially when the two dancers from Ukraine were introduced. I'm hoping we can truly focus on being in the moment.

The Captain is Emilian Cygan.

We went straight out to the Colonnade Patio and there were many tables available for the entire time we were dining. We also ordered from the menu and had a leisurely lunch with great service. It did take a few minutes for the meal to arrive--but nothing too extreme. When we left, we noticed that the indoor area of the Colonnade was really jammed. I did not understand why more did not dine outdoors. It was a bit cool, but comfortable. Afterwards we walked across the pool deck area and it was warm and sunny with people dining there as well.

I forgot to mention that our suite attendant Jessica came around shortly after we came to our suite after lunch. She came bearing mimosas and little salmon appetizers--but no soaps. There was also a bottle of champagne waiting for us--chilled in a bucket of ice. We had not made liquor requests, but there was a bottle of Vodka in our chlller. Now that I think about it, we probably ordered vodka last time we sailed. We let her take it away as we seldom use the alcohol in our suite.

I'm having a bit of trouble with photos and the wifi system at the moment. I'll try to figure it out sometime tomorrow so that I can post menus, the Herald and other photos.

Today was embarkation day! Due to transportation arrangements, we arrived really early at the port! We had been given a 2pm embarkation time, but we were on the ship by just a few minutes past noon and seated on the Colonnade patio shortly after at about 12:15. The process was quick and seamless. Since we are not buffet people, we ordered from the menu for lunch-salmon with vegetables. While not a spectacular lunch, we knew what we were getting as we have had this meal many times before. No dessert for us. We asked for white wine and were served my favorite included wine which is the Clarandelle. Our waiter was Cristian. Cristian is living in Peru when he is not on a Seabourn ship. At the end of our meal, he asked if we would ask for one of his tables in The Restaurant if we were dining there tonight. We asked for his table--he escorted me to the table and proceeded to give us great service throughout the meal. I forgot to photograph our meal, but did get a photo of Mr. SLSD's dessert which I will post in a bit. Passengers were wearing all kinds of attire at dinner. There was a smattering of men in sports coats (Mr. SLSD among them) and quite a few really dressed down--short sleeved summer shirts, etc. As a whole the woman were dressed up a bit more than many of the men. But there was one young woman guest. who came to the dining room in a pair of white short shorts. She was duly seated and no fuss was made. Earlier in the afternoon, there was a Sail Away event--appetizers and drinks were served. There was good live music and a presentation by Loula (I know I have misspelled her name and I will get it right next time). Our Luggage Forward bag DID arrive. We were getting a bit nervous as it did not arrive at our suite until 3:30pm. All wheels were intact---thank goodness. Now, we are sailing toward Alesund, Norway and will arrive the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is a sea day and the Restaurant will be open for breakfast from 8am-9am and will be open for lunch from 12:30-1:30. I'm sure that Mr. SLSD will not be awake early enough to go to breakfast there, but I will go and enjoy it. I have a bit of a cough. Mr. SLSD thinks I should explain to people that I don't have Covid, but have a bit of asthma--probably brought on by motor fumes from our canal cruise in Copenhagen yesterday and the cool air today. Fortunately, I did bring medication for that. We're looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow night, which is a sea day will also be the first formal night. While we have packed appropriate clothing for the evening, we may try to dine at Earth and Ocean. Today has been a good day! The staff is all smiles and working very hard to please everyone. So far, Seabourn seems much like it was pre-Covid--but it is too early to say for sure.

I will photograph the Herald and post it. I just now have the internet working.

Weather in Copehagen since we arrived here (day before yesterday) has been quite nice. High temp about 70 and sunny.