CGTNORMANDIE

Norway was unique…one of a kind. I sailed on her in 1973 when she was the SS France and also in 1993 when she was the SS Norway.

Those mini suites were nice…floor to ceiling windows. We also sailed in one and had a ball. The service was top notch. I remember Room Service calling me when we first got onboard. They told me to call them if I needed anything at all. Every afternoon they would send a big shrimp cocktail if you wanted it. Those were the days.

Give me an Asiago bagel grilled with butter!

Hi Rob and welcome to Cruise Critic. Your TA should be very enjoyable especially once you have cleared the English Channel and head South by South West. The farther south the better the sea conditions and temperatures. Your time in the Caribbean should be ideal. Stop worrying and start planning to have a great adventure.

Hey you are on vacation! Why not have both??? LOL! Gotta love those sticky buns!

An Asiago bagel…my favorite.

Right…I always chill the glass first!

All the highest rated restaurants around here use Berkshire pork.

Sounds like a high quality chop!

What is a Kansas City pork chop??? Is it anything like Berkshire pork?

Unless they are making the bagels on site you are not getting a good bagel. Frozen bagels just don’t cut it. I recall that I really enjoyed my lox and bagel on MSC. It was the best I have ever had at sea. I suspect that they were making their own as all their bread products were outstanding.

Love the seltzer chaser! When I was a kid you could go to any soda fountain and get a milk shake for a quarter. If you added a scoop of ice cream the shake became a frappe and it cost ten cents more. Imagine…an ice cream frappe for 35 cents! Those were the days…sighhhhh.

Great to hear you enjoyed your Cunard experience. We have done the Cunard TA 4 times. My first crossing was on the original Queen Elizabeth in 1965…😳. Crossing on the QM2 certainly beats flying.

They are out there and very satisfying on a hot day. We had a deli with a soda fountain, now gone, just down the street from my house. They introduced me to the joys of egg creams and ice cream sodas long ago. They always served them with a cold seltzer chaser on the side. As Commander Schweppes once said, “Curiously refreshing!” We always called them “New York egg creams”.

I love these…2 ounces of half and half, 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee, 1 ounce of good chocolate syrup, 1 packet of Sweet and Low and stir well. Top off with chilled black cherry seltzer and stir gently. Sometimes, in the warmer weather, I even put in a scoop of chocolate or vanilla ice cream to make an outstanding ice cream soda.

A mocha egg cream made with dark cherry seltzer! Also classic Coke on ice and definitively root beer…A&W in a frosted mug is just fine.

LOL LOL 😂 a chili dog?? All you can do is laugh!

Hi Bea! Lanson is very good…it was a favorite of the late Queen Elizabeth.

Auto Spell get ‘‘em” every time!

I like tongue…even pickled lamb tongue!

WOW! There are so many great hotels in Barcelona! I prefer hotels with classic architecture and not the usual Hiltons, Continentals, etc. I always try to find a hotel with local flavor. Barcelona has great Belle Epoque architecture. There are some magnificent examples on or near Las Ramblas…the main pedestrian friendly thoroughfare in Barcelona. These are the ones you should look for as Barcelona is a great city to explore on foot. The Hotel Continental Palacete is a grand classic but make sure you book one of the suites…very palatial…very reasonable. The El Avenida Palace is another beautiful hotel…also reasonable. There are many modern hotels with great amenities and reasonable prices. The hotels that are slightly off the Ramblas are the best value. Make sure you get a room with breakfast included. The hotel breakfasts are not to be missed!

Pretzels are boring…unless there is a really good mustard to go along with it…lol.

Stella Solaris was The Sun Line…not Epirotiki. The food and service were outstanding.

Barcelona is easy…just grab a cab to your hotel.

OK…for the ultimate French toast…make it with Pannetone! Challah is very good but Pannetone with raisins and fruit peel is out of this world. Portuguese sweet bread with raisins is a very close contender.