Emtbsam

Forgive me for posting about a cruise, but after last year’s fiasco on the Nova, I seriously reconsidered our future cruises on Silversea. Well, I can say that I am thrilled with our current cruise in Svalbard on the Wind. It feels very much like the “old” Silversea. The ship is lovely and the food is spectacular. Even the free pour wines are pretty good. Now if I could just throw a few passengers overboard it would be perfect!

We saw her this morning!

Obrigada! I was able to open Spotify and listen to it. One of the highlights of my travels with my parents was attending the Carnival Ball at the municipal opera house in Rio in 1967. We were on a round trip cruise from New York all the way to Buenos Aires and stopped in Rio two times. Between our two visits, the currency was devalued! I learned a lot of Brazilian music before the trip and continue to listen to much of it to this day. Insensatez is one of my favorites.

Not a clue how to do it. I tried to get a copy of A Banda, the song Chico Buarque introduced at Carnival in 1967 without any success. I have the record but no way to transfer it to a digital recording.

I created a list of the music which has impacted me throughout my life. I hope the flash drive can be copied and distributed to my friends at the appropriate time. The music begins with the somber Pomp and Circumstance and ends on a more upbeat note. In between is a mix of English, French, Brazilian and Italian music which I love.

Lvshack - I believe it will be September 20.

I think our friends in the ping pong crowd will be on board. Some of them are solos.

we will see you in October. We get on in Southampton and off in Athens.

We will see you in Longyearbyen!

We will be there soon on our way to Svalbard. It will be quite the change from the 90’s (32) here in Maryland.

We were extremely lucky to take the National World War II charter cruise on the Silver Cloud in 2014 to visit Normandy on the 70th anniversary of D-day. We started in Lisbon, spent three days in Caen and got off the ship in Dover. There were several WWII veterans on board the ship as well as several historians and Tom Brokaw. The events orchestrated by the museum on the beaches and other places in Normandy were extraordinary. We also participated in the Franco-American ceremony at Colleville-sur-Mer cemetery. You can find a recording of the ceremony on Youtube with Presidents Obama and Hollande. A high point in my travels.

I have been known to put my key card in an envelope in the "mail slot" next to the door on the outside and use it to enter the suite. Not the most secure way of doing things, but anything of value is put in the safe, so I'm not really worried.

We will see you on board. We will be with a family group of 12 - aged 25 - 86.

You can special order food items or even request a certain cuisine for dinner. We have requested Thai, Filipino and Indian meals. This is better done with a group, but if there is a special dish you would like, by all means speak to the Maitre d’. if your reservation for Silver Note does not come through, you can still go there and sit at the bar. I do not know if they would serve food at the bar, but you could go after having dinner somewhere else. You should go to the singles event at the beginning of the cruise and also join a trivia team. Teams are always looking for Canadians who can broaden out the knowledge base.

Thank you for the suggestions.

I like Indian cuisine and don't have the opportunity here in the boondocks to get any. In the 1950's, I went to Veeraswamy with my family but don't remember much except the name. In those days, we stayed at the Park Lane Hotel or the Hyde Park Hotel. In 1972, I also had great Chinese in the West End in a tiny restaurant(with Pearl Bailey who was also alone). I am really open to anything.

I wish I had known that I could book a future cruise with a 5% discount while on board. I also didn't know that I could special order just about anything with 24 hours notice. The Moon is a great ship. I suggest that you try Silver Note. It might be hard to get a reservation, but give it a try.

We will be in London for several nights pre-cruise this fall, and I was hoping someone would have a restaurant recommendation for us. We would like something that isn't too expensive. I haven't been in London since 1975 so things have changed a lot as have we! I believe we'll be at the Royal Lancaster unless that gets changed, and we don't mind a good walk to the restaurant. TIA.

Jeff - Thanks for the information on the espresso maker. I have a wonderful grinder which I love, so I do not need an all in one machine. Since I also have two houses, I need two of everything. One of my Gaggias is still working which helps. I hate to admit, but my palate is not particularly refined due to life long allergies which have dulled my senses. For many years, I did get custom roasted beans from Schapira coffee in NYC, but they have been out of business for a while. There is a local shop that roasts coffee, but I am not sure what I would ask for. I currently do half decaf which probably instills disgust in you, but it is necessary if I ever want to sleep. I get an organic decaf Milano roast and mix it 50/50 with either a French roast or an espresso roast. I will check out the website you posted.

What espresso maker do you use? My Gaggia Factory lever machine similar to the La Pavoni Professional needs to be replaced, so I am looking for something that will please me. On the subject of music, my family was in the music publishing business for 75 years, so I was raised with a lot of music. I grew up knowing which songs they published and which they didn't. Although they did publish some Rodgers and Hart, they also published a lot of Ernesto Lecuona and George M. Cohan.

We love Indochine and SALT Kitchen and have no problem going to them if Atlantide is backed up.

There was sunscreen in our Royal suite and I assume it was in all the suites. I forget the brand, but it was fine.

You can get some clothes at fairly high prices and a few pieces of jewelry at fairly reasonable prices. We loved our time on the Silver Origin and had the best suite and butler of any cruise in over 700 days!.. If you go and have the good fortune to have Joāo as your Butler, you are in for a treat. I so wish the ship were in the Mediterranean - I would take it in a heartbeat!

We generally try to avoid the musical entertainment since it is frequently too loud and drowns out the possibility of a quiet conversation. We like the Observation bar on the Spirit. If possible, we will sit outside Panorama or the Arts Cafe to avoid the noise.

We enjoyed the location of the hotel and the Concierge Lounge on the roof. Sydney is a favorite place to visit, and we hope to return soon. It is a bit of a hike from the east coast of the US!