FlyingScotSailors

On 6/2/2024 at 6:36 PM, jpalbny said:

We're flying on the world's longest flight (currently) from JFK to Singapore, leaving on Thursday night, arriving in Singapore Saturday morning, and then proceeding on to Darwin where we'll arrive on Saturday afternoon. There will be no Friday for us next week. I wonder how we will keep our seven year Duolingo streaks alive with this crazy time warp?

JP, we flew the 5th longest flight, Aukland to JFK, but with a tailwind we made it in under 15 hours.

Our Duolingo streaks are only 4 1/2 and 3 years.  If you do not want to use a streak freeze, and you do not have internet access up front where you fly (😉), you can set the time zone on your phone ahead before you fly, or back after you land, and do a "Friday" lesson.

Hope, according to the photos on Ann's phone, there was a polar plunge on our Venture Greenland cruise in September 2022.

A&P

1 minute ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

Why would any sensible non-snob person use glass when a drink in plastic tastes exactly the same and doesn’t break when dropped and can be binned after it is used. 

 

We usually think of ourselves as being sensible, and not as snobs.  However, we can taste a difference between drinking wine or whisky from glass rather than plastic.  Unsurprisingly, we get a plastic taste when using plastic.  Perhaps US and UK plastic cups react differently.

As an after thought: While we "think of ourselves as being sensible", this should in no way be understood to mean we always act sensibly. 🫣 

Really Jeff?  A plastic cup?!!

Jeff, thank you for the ficelle suggestion.  I will post pictures as soon as I can pry them from my phone and get them onto the computer.

With regard to WWFT's dough, hydration should be measured in weight percentages, not volume.  A cup of the Bob's Red Mill bread flour weighs 144g, according to the bag I have.  Water is about 240g per cup, so 3 cups flour to 1 cup water is a hydration of about 55%.  My baguettes are about 61.5%, or still low for Jeff. 😉

4 hours ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

The boss declared she was in a cake mood this afternoon so  I set about making an almond cherry Madeira cake.  But even with the proper precautions the cherries sunk.  😞

 

So I’m too ashamed to post a piccy.

Jeff, your almond cherry madeira upside-down cake sounds great, and we are sure it looks great too.

11 hours ago, lincslady said:

A mug of tea laced with a little Scotch for me now, then maybe back to sleep for a while.

Sounds good, except maybe for the tea. 🥃

The famed river cruise port of San Juan, Puerto Rico?

@UKCruiseJeff Jeff, as you probably saw, we thought your analysis of current cruise pricing/offerings was very astute.

Back to this thread (😳), here is our pizza dinner tonight.  A bit of pent up passover demand.

Not as fancy as your oven, but it reaches 700F and produces a nice pie in about 9 minutes.

We just completed the survey.  We kept waiting for the write-in section where we could explain our preferences, rather than just choosing from a sometimes rather silly multiple choice.  Spoiler Alert - there was none!

@SLSD  As you probably already know, "belt and suspenders" is always a good approach.  Let Seabourn know ahead of time; there should be a place in your "preferences" selection to indicate dietary requirements.  Then, when you board, ask to see the Chef and/or Assistant Maitre D' responsible for special diets, and discuss your needs.  The Assistant Maitre D' will bring the next night's dinner menus to you at dinner so you can select what you would like to have and the kitchen can prepare it for you.  Then, you can be surprised like we are since we usually do not remember what we had ordered the night before.

The Assistant Maitre D' is also usually good at tracking you down if you are not eating in the Restaurant to give you the next night's menu.

We had to use the Haha button, since there was no "oooooh ow ouch" button! 🫣

The deck plans for the Odyssey class ships and the Venture/Pursuit show some larger suites that can accommodate a third quest.  None of the larger suites on the Encore/Ovation show third guest capacity.

@Tom F Hello Tom, we can help you with a referral.  Basically, you would get $250 US to use on your cruise, and we would get a voucher for $250 to use on board within 2 years of your sailing.

Please email us at flyingscotsailors "at" gmail "dot" com.  We will try to answer any questions! 🙂

11 hours ago, teamflames said:

I have read that they split into 6 groups which sounds like a lot and with the limited numbers allowed on shore was concerned there maybe only enough time for one expedition.

The Quest used 6 color groups, called 2 at a time, since it carried 400+ passengers.  The Venture and Pursuit have 1/2 that number of passengers, and can do 2 expeditions a day.

But they did a nice Birthday cake! 🎂 😉

(They did not have our previous preferences either.) 

Ooops, wrong ship. 🫢

1 hour ago, alexandria said:

 

Absent a published cabin tour video of one of those two cabins showing that Seabourn is mistaken, you should rely upon what Seabourn and the deck plan both indicate concerning those two cabins.  Just my opinion for what it is worth.

@notjaded today is turnaround day on the Ovation. We tried to take photos of 1023/1025 but they are occupied by continuing guests. We asked the suite attendants if they were wheelchair accessible suites and they both replied "No".

18 minutes ago, Capri73 said:

They recently told me that a referral credit cannot be combined with a OBC, The Stock credit can be combined with OBC.

I am not sure that I understand your post.  Referral OBC can not be combined with other Seabourn provided OBC; you will be given the higher of the two credits, not the total.  OBC from other sources, such as your travel agent, can be combined with the referral credit.  Shareholder credit can be combined with either of the other OBCs.

Quick answer: Yes.  We do this frequently.

@YYDS I replied to your email.  Hopefully you will receive it.  If not, please check your spam/junk folder.

@YYDS I sent you another email.  My email address is flyingscotsailors "at" gmail "dot" com.  😀

Robin, the basic TK Grill menu does not change (for 8 years?).  There are now changing "dailies" of 2 starters and 2 mains.  If you download the Seabourn Source app, you can see the menus for the day.

10 hours ago, iticlaudia said:

  Of course, in the show they visit a distillery, which really is something the hubby would like to do.  With all these ports can anyone suggest a fabulous distillery we could visit on our own?   I've attached a picture of all the stops.
 

Highland Park and Scapa distilleries are on the island of Orkney.  A taxi from Stromness should take less than 30 minutes.  Our cruise (on Seabourn Quest) stopped at Kirkwall, which is only slightly closer to the two distilleries.  We visited both.

On 1/15/2024 at 5:23 PM, Fletcher said:

Tastings are not of 'Scotch' but whisky, usually single malt which is not Scotch.  Nor do you ever do a 'Scots cruise.' You do a Scottish cruise.  Golf courses are Scottish, not Scotch which is a sort of whisky. But not a single malt.  

Fletcher, we trust your travel advice, but your whisky knowledge is a tad lacking.  Scotch whisky is a proper term for whisky made in Scotland.  Scotch whisky can be a single malt, a blended malt, a blended whisky, or a single grain whisky.  The photo below shows a Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

On the Seabourn "refer a friend" page on Seabourn.com select Club Members - Learn More.  On the next page choose Download Certificate on the right hand side of the page.  Fill out as many certificates as you need, one per booking, and send to seabournclub@seabourn.com.