jpalbny

That is distributed to everyone free of charge. In ancient times it was $150 (as in, our first few expedition cruises in 2009 and 2011) but not recently.

After having taken five cruises each on them, I can say that we adore Wind and Cloud but reluctantly agree that they are getting a bit long in the tooth. We had a fantastic voyage on Silver Wind just a few months ago (with daddyo et at), with no hiccups, but can't turn a completely blind eye to the serious issues that these almost 30YO ships are having with their mechanical systems. Guess age catches up to all of us. It will be sad when they sail their last voyage, but we do have an Endeavor cruise booked for July 2025!

Not far behind you, M! But I'll happily raise a glass to you when you hit that number.

You can rest your camera and/or lens on it to hold it still while taking pictures. Helpful on safari with long lenses that don't have wide aperture, where you need to do a longer exposure. You can avoid blurry photos. Much less bulky than a tripod.

Who burned that steak? For shame. Thanks for posting your nice synopsis. Having migrated to SS from Princess and Oceania some 14 years ago I have to agree that it's a very pleasant step up. The problem becomes, that it's hard to go back after this!

Beautiful scenery - love that waterfall! I'll put that on my list.

Don't let Chris see this. She already thinks that I talk to you more than I talk to her...

Not likely. You average my consumption out, so they need to make up the loss! Much appreciate the kind assistance.

It's been 12 years since we visited the Galapagos and you're sorely tempting me to go back. Thanks for taking the time to put together this great report! And the pictures were spectacular. Much appreciated.

Here you go, Silver. Some of those bottles were uncorked and I didn't want them to spill. Some weird timing for formal nights for sure! On our last Spirit cruise we had the usual night 2 then the second was mid-cruise for Venetian night as well, and no farewell. It felt strange to do it that way.

We have not been to Japan, so looking forward to following along!

Yes, the same ones work at both poles.

This can be arranged. If you're going west to east I'd change the order a little bit, but nothing major. Niagara then Carleton then Albany, down to NYC and Lady Liberty, then JFK.

That, and wine. The important stuff!

I'll vouch for that!

Amazing! I'm exhausted just reading your post, and duly impressed! Here I was all proud of my tomato salad garnished with fresh basil, both from the garden. Looks like I've got to move to a better climate. Kudos for all of that incredible work.

Enjoy it Lirio! We have only been there once. The French Quarter just begs for a slow wander through, taking in the atmosphere. Lots of good food to try. The beignets at Cafe du Monde are famous too. I'd say just soak in the atmosphere and enjoy the food. It's a lot of fun.

Ouch! That makes my head spin just reading it. From Albany, it's not that much further to Toronto compared to PHL; might have just driven there instead! Korean flies direct from Kennedy though; that's how we got to Indonesia earlier this year. If only there was an ALB-JFK flight like there used to be years ago. Now for NYC, we only have ALB-LGA, which is completely useless for international connections.

They are. We are loyal to SkyTeam as much as able because we've amassed a ton of miles. So we fly with DL,KLM, AF, etc whenever possible. Chris detests the drive to Kennedy and it's not my favorite either, so the one stop itinerary to JNB from Albany is a very acceptable tradeoff. Plus DL is flying the A350 on the ATL-JNB route and those business class suites are not a bad way to spend 15 hours. But Albany airport definitely has some advantages. We can leave our house in an Uber and be through security in Albany, at the bar ordering a drink, in 20 minutes of less. So if we can get a routing from Albany to our destination with only one change of planes, we do that over a drive to one of the 3 big airports. When the Albany itinerary becomes three legs, or a lot more $$, or we need the direct flight, we suck it up and drive.

I think their cruise was only a week long so it's over now. Ponant's expedition cruises would be just fine for someone in that age group. We are "about" 10 years older and we did their trip to Indonesia in March. Loved it. Trip report in my signature. Ultimately you'll have to try it and see for yourself but we are very happy with their product. One thing I'll say about Ponant; when they go hiking it's NOT a slow amble like many other cruise lines do. You can get lazy if you're used to other "hiking" speeds. You've got to move it to keep up (which we actually like)!

We bought our own too, super cheap, and have used them for a few expedition cruises now. I use them at home if I have to shovel the walk or when walking down the driveway for the newspaper in the morning if our snow plowing guy hasn't been there yet. PS a little envious that you're back on the Wind so soon! Have a great trip.

Fanny Pack

From our perspective (East Coast, and within 3h of Newark, Kennedy, or Logan), Europe is a quick hop. There are a ton of good, direct flights from those airports. Not much more time than California, and way easier than Hawaii. We've gone to Europe for long weekends before and we'll do so again over Christmas. This year we're taking an extra day - leaving the 21st and coming home the 25th. We'll fly direct from Newark into Paris, rent a car, and then spend a few days in the Loire Valley. I love visiting places in the off season. On the other hand, the flights to Southern Africa are long! Getting there we'll go Albany-Atlanta then the long but direct 15+h flight Atlanta-Johannesberg. We get into Joberg and we'll overnight at the Intercontinental before flying to Botswana the next day. We've done that flight once before and it's a killer. It's such a weird feeling to settle in, eat your meal, sleep for a long time, and wake up only to find out that your flight is barely half complete! We were booked on the reverse itinerary coming home (JNB-ATL-ALB) but a month or so ago, Delta canceled the JNB-ATL leg on the day we were coming home. So I had to really work hard on them to come up with an acceptable alternative routing. Now we're going JNB-CDG-ATL-ALB which is a longer journey overall, but the longest leg is only 11 hours. Oh well, more FF miles to boost our status ahead of the upcoming changes for 2024! Enjoy the train rides through the West - so many beautiful places to see.

We leave for Botswana in 6 weeks and definitely wish it was sooner. Work is killing us and I second your notion that all of the great cruise reviews are a lifesaver, even though they also make me envious of those off having a good time! We have 3 or 4 going at once over on the Silversea boards and it's nice to follow along vicariously. I still have some unripe tomatoes in the garden which can stay out a few weeks longer if it doesn't get too much colder. They probably won't ripen too much more on the vine but I can bring them in at some point and leave them in the sunroom to finish up. One year I didn't have to bring them in until mid-December and we had fresh tomatoes until New Year's! T-Mobile FTW! I hope you are taking advantage of their discounted plan for people of my age and older. Best bargain ever and the best part of turning that age so far! Looking forward to your blog when you finish it. Enjoy the cruise! Summer was here in full force until about 2 weeks ago and then left very suddenly. Cool mornings, clouds and mist, and sunny days with warm sunshine but it doesn't last and there is very much a chill in the air letting us know that autumn has arrived. No danger of frost that I can see in the near future though so I'm hoping that my orange and lemon trees can stay outside a bit longer. I have a couple of blood oranges starting to ripen and I'm hoping that the cool nights will trigger the red compound to form so that they get the proper "blood" coloration. Last year's harvest never got that color because I had to bring them inside too soon.

Definitely making me want to retire early as well.