jpalbny

Just a quick update, as we are busy like usual, running around Darwin like mad people. Our two bags arrived in Darwin along with us, right on time at 2:45PM on Saturday. Because we were the first two off the plane, we were through immigration and customs within 20 minutes. Caught a cab and we were at the hotel by 3:20PM. Amazing efficiency! After a shower and a change, we headed out to explore Darwin. The Botanical Gardens were about 30 minutes away on foot, and a nice walk was in order after sitting on our butts for the past day. My phone had recorded a record low of 57 steps for Friday. The gardens were pretty. There were several weddings going on. We didn't crash them. We found our first saltie! Looks friendly. And a dragon. From here we went to Mindil Beach. A monument to the Original Inhabitants, who had used this area as a burial grounds. Nearly sunset. My energy level was flagging as well. Time to stumble back to the hotel. On the way we caught the actual sunset at Bicentennial Park, just across from our hotel. We rested our feet for a bit and then went for a light dinner. Some cheese and charcuterie at a wine bar fit the bill nicely. After the walk home we had exceeded 20,000 steps so we'd officially made up for Friday. Time for bed!

All good. They are on board with us.

I could not make this itinerary work using SkyTeam. We didn't have extra time to spend in Sydney, and the connections onward to Darwin were awful. Since Virgin Australia left the SkyTeam alliance, there's really been no substitute. And no more nice flights between LAX and locations other than Sydney on VA. Much harder to travel here now. We would have had to fly JFK-LAX-SYD, then switch carriers, and fly SYD-MEL-DRW. Without a few days in the middle to break that up, it would have been too much. So we decided to try Singapore Air. One stop and done. So far so good! Did you manage to find any direct flight from Sydney to Darwin?

Hi from the SilverKris lounge in T3, Changi. We survived the 18h flight and even arrived a few minutes early. Very pleasant flight, and it didn't even seem excessively long. Thanks for the tips, Jeff. Maybe we'll look into that on the way back, when we'll have 5h to spend here. But inertia won out this morning. And the Piper-Heidseick in the lounge helped solidify our choice. Singapore Airlines is now very careful about turbulence, as one might expect. So every time there was a bump, the seat belt sign came on, and cabin service stopped. We were actually hungry by the time they could serve the second meal! On to Darwin. Our flight leaves in an hour. Only 4h45, barely time for a nap! The weather looks delightful - low 80s and sunshine. Updates once we arrive.

Unlikely. I'd be careful about this. We're also D2D with flight credit, and I bought our own tix from Broome to Perth because that flight is NOT included. Better have a look at flights ASAP. Both Qantas and Virgin fly that route.

Lois, we arrive in Singapore around 5AM Saturday (local time) which will be 5PM New York time. We'll have about 3h for a layover, then we fly another 4.5h to Darwin. The time will move ahead 1.5 hours so we'll arrive there around 2:30PM (which will be 1AM home time). Just over 8h to go in this monster flight. We passed over the outer Aleutians, and along Kamchatka, and will be approaching Japan next. Our plane is located where it says "Pacific Ocean." The business-class seats are comfortable and they recline nicely for resting, but if you want to sleep then you pull the seat forward and it lies flat. If you're much taller than I am, the bed may seem short. The food was good, but not a huge amount. I had some shrimp dumplings in a thin but flavorful broth, with noodles and lots of delicious garlic chips. I couldn't decide between the Piper-Heidseick or the German Riesling, so I had both. I made up for the light entree by having extra garlic bread - it was delicious! I stayed up about 5h and watched a movie, then slept for a couple of hours. I'll nap again after our next meal, since it's getting to be bedtime at our destination.

Not yet, Lola. Having too much fun. The garlic bread is very tasty. And the Champagne is delicious! I will try to stay up as long as I can, and sleep more during the second half of the flight. At least that's the plan for now!

Hello from JFK T4, Centurion Lounge! We made it. And our plane arrived on time. We worked half of the day, then picked up a one-way rental at ALB airport. Home for a few hours to finish preparing for being away for the long trip. Lots of last-minute stuff to do, aNd I'm sure we forgot something! But we still had time for a lap around the block, and a shower, which our fellow passengers might appreciate for the next 18 hours. Set off about 3:45 and drove through some torrential downpours on the Thruway, but it cleared by Westchester County. Just in time for the traffic! We made a small detour to gas up the rental near JFK, and got back to Hertz just before 7PM. Quick AirTrain ride to T4, then a wrong turn before we found the SQ check-in desks. Not a bad wait. Security was slow, but we were in the lounge shortly afterwards. We got a prime table in the Speakeasy, despite it looking very crowded in the main club. Snacks, cocktails, and a smidge of wine for good measure. The vacation has started! And Chris is advertising Silversea. Ninety minutes to boarding. Looking forward to experiencing Singapore Airlines for the first time! More from the air, Wi-Fi allowing. Time for some Duolingo.

We are! The Earth may fall off its axis! I hope our plane doesn't get lost as a result. We are bringing our usual carry-on sized luggage, but checking them because we're bringing lots of sunscreen and bug spray.

Thanks for giving me something to worry about...we're checking our bags for this trip later today!

Just over 48h until liftoff. Had to chat online with Singapore Airlines this morning, because the website was being wonky, but I got the meal choices that we wanted. Tonight after work we decided to pack our suitcases. Dora protested vigorously. We'll miss her. Unless she manages to sneak into the suitcases tonight. We're going to check our bags this trip, because we're bringing a few gallons of sunscreen. It goes against my principles but it will be easier to deal. Now, what are we forgetting? Better remember soon, or we'll have to buy it.

That does look good! I've only seen that blend of Riesling and Gewurztraminer in the Finger Lakes, and very rarely at that.

T-3 days. The piles of clothing have made an appearance on our dressers. Lots of laundry. Time to figure out what to wear on the airplane! And to choose our three meals from the extensive menu. This has been fully booked since we started looking at tours for this sailing. I guess we'll have to come back for that!

Sunday night and our flight leaves almost exactly 100 hours from now. Here I am, sitting at the computer instead of packing. I was supposed to get some of that done this weekend but I was unexpectedly out of town on Friday, and we had a long-planned dinner event at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America, not in Washington DC) last night, so I've got absolutely nothing done. Luckily this is a warm-weather expedition cruise so I can throw some casual clothes in a suitcase and go from there. And I'll probably check our bags - not because they will be too big, but because we'll be bringing a whole lot more than 3oz of sunscreen. This will be our third trip to Australia, but our first to this region - the unique, rugged, isolated, northwest area of Australia called the Kimberley. I first read about this fascinating part of the world more than 20 years ago, and I've wanted to visit ever since! Even though it's winter there it will be quite warm - though the forecast looks relatively pleasant with nothing higher than 85 degrees for the next 10 days. We'll see! 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? After all of that crazy travel across 12 time zones, we embark on Sunday, and we celebrate our 29th anniversary on board the following Monday. We might be awake. But even if we're not, we'll be enjoying our upgrade to a Silver Suite, so all will be good. We've never done a flight this long although we've come close with JFK-Seoul and ATL-Johannesburg. This flight is so long that we get three meals, and the inflight menus look great. I've heard lots of good things about Singapore Air and we're excited to experience this for ourselves. And to add to the excitement, the night of June 6th is supposed to have a powerful solar storm, so the aurora might be more intense than usual. Will we see the aurora from the air as we fly over the North Pole? That would be the icing on the cake. Enough procrastinating for now - I need to go mix up a G&T or two for packing purposes, and get to work. More to come.

Feel better soon, Lois. Is your cruise really over so quickly?

Glad to be home (for a minute or two). Just finished a quick sprint out of town for a cousin's funeral. Left Albany at 5:30 AM yesterday on Delta, through LaGuardia, to Norfolk. Worked like clockwork and had time to meet my aunt at the airport and we went to lunch before the service. Spent the afternoon reminiscing with lots of wonderful cousins, spouses, kids, aunts, uncles, and friends who are part of the extended family. Lovely day despite the reason for the gathering. I was originally going to reverse the itinerary home on DL, getting in around noon. I was up against some time constraints because we're meeting up with another cousin for dinner at the Culinary Institute of America tonight, and the event starts at 5PM. So I worried that a noon arrival into Albany might not leave much room for error. So I canceled the return leg on Delta and instead, drove back to DC with my brother last night after the services. I got a nice one-way flight on United leaving at 8:45 and arriving in Albany at 10:30. Lots of time to spare. And no layover. Safer? Sure... One might think. Until I got a text at 6AM today informing me that the inbound crew was going to be late and my flight would leave at 12 noon. If I could trust that would be the final answer, I'd still be OK. But, I didn't. So I found the last ticket on a Southwest flight from BWI to Albany leaving at 10:30, and made my poor brother drive me 45 minutes to BWI (instead of 10 to Dulles) but he said it was OK. Touched down just before noon. And the United flight is delayed again, now estimated departure is 2PM. Glad I could find another option! Off for a shower, and then heading out to dinner!

I read this line too fast... Monopod, monocle...

Was hoping that the sail-in went according to plan! Hope everyone on board enjoyed it, and thanks for the video, Les!

Yes, we've done this (well, actually our TA has done it) every time since 2014.

For an example like yours: We are on a Kimberley Cruise in two weeks, which we booked last June. We booked D2D but took the air credit, which should have eliminated the airport-to-hotel transfers along with the flights. The airport to hotel transfers showed up on My Silversea for a few months after we made the reservation. Eventually they disappeared. Yours probably will too at some point. Oops - I reread your post and I see you're talking about the Blacklane transfers. Mea culpa. I guess I'm no better than Silversea when it comes to attention to detail!

Sometimes people cancel and spots open. Sometimes more spots are added. Sometimes neither one happens and the tour remains full. It depends on whether Silversea can arrange the additional tour spots which is more likely in a larger area with lots of tourism infrastructure, and probably less likely in a small port with few cruise ship visitors. The Adriatic is probably more like the former, but my advice would be to have a Plan B just in case.

Uh-oh, have we made a mistake doing a WC '25 segment? I'm sure we'll have fun regardless.

Some good news about our upcoming Kimberley cruise this week... Our TA sent an email, asking if we'd be OK with an upgrade from Veranda to a Silver Suite! We didn't have to think too long about that one. Now we're even more excited for this trip - 11 days until we fly!

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"