Lirio

Spring is coming. My aunt garden.

My apartment "garden"

3 hours ago, drron29 said:

I am well known for getting along with birds and i often talk to them. I have a new little friend who loves coming and sitting alongside of me when I am gardening. I disturb plenty of insects so he has a good feed. today however he decided to join us for drinks and a snack on our patio.

 

 

Turns out he likes a good brie and sweet potato crisps but oat flakes if nothing else available.

Lovely patio!

All my best wishes for all on board.

Newspaper in Brazil is also covering it.

6 hours ago, MJN1 said:

Having been driven away by Silversea's constant cost cutting under its previous owner and happily encamped on Seabourne for many years, we finally returned, tempted by the CPH to CPH itinerary on the Silver Dawn, circling the Baltic Sea.

Here are some first impressions after boarding last Friday, including 'apple to oranges' comparisons with the smaller SS/SB ships.
Boarding was a breeze. We arrived 15min after the scheduled 2p.m. boarding time, with many pax already on board, judging from the crossed out names at the first security control. Check-in was at the Venetian lounge and we were in our suite within 15min after leaving the taxi. Wet towels handed once on board, but no glass of Champagne in sight anywhere.
Lunch at La Terrazza was OK. Wide selection of food, beautiful, spacious lay-out of the buffet area. Less than average quality of sashimi and sushi.
Luggage was at the suite after we returned, fastest delivery we ever had.
Suite: standard Verandah cabin, mid ship; appealing color scheme, sufficient hanging space, manageable drawer space.
Bathroom: tub and separate shower, a major upgrade vs the previous climb into the tub experience on the older ships. First major plus point!
Finally met the Suite attendant just before dinner and the butler next afternoon, i.e. no personal welcome or glass of Champagne while unpacking. First minus point….
Restaurants: we had a great dinner at S.A.L.T the first night, OK lunch at Kaiseki the next day. Two great dinners at Altantide, a below average hamburger at the Grill (while not a big fan of TK, I do miss the Napa burger) and a very good pizza at Spacanapoli. The variety and number of restaurant choices is a huge plus. Atlantide being open (every day) for Breakfast is simply wonderful (and beats breakfast at La Terrazza hands-down)!
Bars: again, a huge choice. Dolce Vita is maybe a bit too large for us, but is was great to see MaryBeth again after so many years. The S.A.L.T. Bar (and staff) is another gem!
And the ship? The Dawn is simply BEAUTIFUL. Spacious, well designed, automatic doors to nearly all outside areas. One does not feel that there is a significantly higher number of guests compared to Whisper/Shadow or the Quest.
Sofar, glad we came back. 🥰

 

MaryBeth was in my 1st SS cruise several years ago. She is great.

Someone asked me about things to do in Rio. So here it is:

1.     Obvious places: Corcovado and Sugar Loaf. For Corcovado I highly recommend the Tram. Sugar Loaf: In fact, there are 2 hills connected by the cable car. The 1st part of the cable car one goes up to the first hill (Morro da Urca) and 2nd part to Sugar Loaf itself. Should you like hiking, there is a beautiful trail to get to the 1st part (Morro da Urca) and from there, take the cable car to the Sugar Loaf.

2.     Historical part of the city: close to the maritime terminal. A guided walk tour is a good suggestion. Somes places I like: 1) Cinelandia where is located Theatro Municipal, Biblioteca Nacional and Museum de Belas Artes. You can visit them all these, but in case you a short on time, the buildings themselves are worth seeing from outside. 2) Praça XV where is located Arco do Teles and some small old streets. 3) Real Gabinete Português de Leitura (hidden gem). 4) Pequena Africa (little Africa) walking tour.

3.     Historical churches: The most beautiful is Mosteiro de São Bento, walking distance from the cruise terminal. Should you have to choose just 1, I recommend choosing this one. Other interesting churches: Convento Santo Antonio that can be reached by a tram that departures from the cruise terminal. Should you like to see more churches: Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Antiga Sé and Outeiro da Gloria. The first one is in the historical neighborhood and the second one a bit further, but still close.

4.     Museums: There is one just very close to the cruise terminal Museu do Amanhã (Tomorrow Museum) and some others in the historical neighborhood. There is lot of specific museums and art and culture centers in the historical area and further away.

5.     Fortress – Due to the war against the French in XVI century and WWI there several fortresses around Rio. 2 are in Copacabana beach, one in each side. Forte do Leme is up in a hill that is reached on foot and a paved road. It is very steep, so if one is not fit, I do not recommend hiking it. The view from the above is very beautiful. The other one is flat and very ease to visit (Forte Copacabana) and the view from the cannons roof top is great. Should you be seriously interested in fortresses, the most interesting are those in a near by city Niteroi on the other side of the bay. But it is necessary 3 hours to visit all the 3 fortress there. One of them you will probably see from the ship while she gest into the Guanabara Bay approaching the maritime terminal. It is Fortaleza de Santa Cruz.

6.     Botanical Garden is beautiful and should one is very interested in flowers and plants, Sitio Burle Marx is a must do, but it will need more time because it about 50km from the maritime terminal.

7.     Rio is a city for jogging, biking and hiking. Should want more information just ask.

Someone asked me about things to do in Rio. So here it is:

1.     Obvious places: Corcovado and Sugar Loaf. For Corcovado I highly recommend the Tram. Sugar Loaf: In fact, there are 2 hills connected by the cable car. The 1st part of the cable car one goes up to the first hill (Morro da Urca) and 2nd part to Sugar Loaf itself. Should you like hiking, there is a beautiful trail to get to the 1st part (Morro da Urca) and from there, take the cable car to the Sugar Loaf.

2.     Historical part of the city: close to the maritime terminal. A guided walk tour is a good suggestion. Somes places I like: 1) Cinelandia where is located Theatro Municipal, Biblioteca Nacional and Museum de Belas Artes. You can visit them all these, but in case you a short on time, the buildings themselves are worth seeing from outside. 2) Praça XV where is located Arco do Teles and some small old streets. 3) Real Gabinete Português de Leitura (hidden gem). 4) Pequena Africa (little Africa) walking tour.

3.     Historical churches: The most beautiful is Mosteiro de São Bento, walking distance from the cruise terminal. Should you have to choose just 1, I recommend choosing this one. Other interesting churches: Convento Santo Antonio that can be reached by a tram that departures from the cruise terminal. Should you like to see more churches: Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Antiga Sé and Outeiro da Gloria. The first one is in the historical neighborhood and the second one a bit further, but still close.

4.     Museums: There is one just very close to the cruise terminal Museu do Amanhã (Tomorrow Museum) and some others in the historical neighborhood. There is lot of specific museums and art and culture centers in the historical area and further away.

5.     Fortress – Due to the war against the French in XVI century and WWI there several fortresses around Rio. 2 are in Copacabana beach, one in each side. Forte do Leme is up in a hill that is reached on foot and a paved road. It is very steep, so if one is not fit, I do not recommend hiking it. The view from the above is very beautiful. The other one is flat and very ease to visit (Forte Copacabana) and the view from the cannons roof top is great. Should you be seriously interested in fortresses, the most interesting are those in a near by city Niteroi on the other side of the bay. But it is necessary 3 hours to visit all the 3 fortress there. One of them you will probably see from the ship while she gest into the Guanabara Bay approaching the maritime terminal. It is Fortaleza de Santa Cruz.

6.     Botanical Garden is beautiful and should one is very interested in flowers and plants, Sitio Burle Marx is a must do, but it will need more time because it about 50km from the maritime terminal.

7.     Rio is a city for jogging, biking and hiking. Should want more information just ask.

Jogging around Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas today. Winter has gone away early and temperature is around 30C.

In 2 weeks, I will be in New Orleans (1st time) for a conference. It will be very busy, but I hope I can visit some places.

4 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

The Edition is in the middle of the shot.  This was taken from our verandah. So close and easy to embark.  

I was at the Edition in 2022 and it is a great hotel and almost everyday a new cruise ship arrived.....Should I be in Iceland again (I hope so) that's my firts option! 

3 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

For port-to-port:

Your deposit will be nonrefundable. The initial deposit is 25%, while on some Door-to-Door itineraries there is a reduced deposit of 15%. 

The refundability schedule for the remaining payment balance is different (more restrictive) than that for door-to-door. See Terms and Conditions (link below)

Fare guarantees do not apply - if the price for the cruise goes down or a new offer such as suite upgrades comes out, you will not be able to take advantage of it unless you cancel, forfeit the deposit and rebook

Venetian sailing offers and Venetian Society milestone reward savings cannot be used with port-to-port fares

 

The detailed terms and conditions spell out these differences: 

Terms and Conditions. Silversea Cruises | Silversea

Considering all this we are looking for other options to cruise.

Visiting houses is one of my favourite tour, every where, any type of house. This time I pictured handle/knobs:

Fusina (Venice) to Fusina (Venice) – Silver Spirit 9 to 16 of August

We made our reservation directly with Silversea port to port. For this cruise we did not get the Venetian Society discount or any OBC.

We made our own arrangements for transportations and hotels pre and post cruise.

Our trip started with 2 days in Milano, and from there we took the train to Venice 1 day prior to embarkation.

We booked a hotel in Venice very closed to Piazzale Roma, where all public transportation arrives), just 2 bridges. Very convenient to go from the train station and to access the People Mover.

On the embarkation day we got the People Mover to Maritima Terminal where we met Silversea check in point and where the Silversea bus departed to the pier in Fusina (20-30 minutes ride).

Embarkation was pretty ease. When we arrived at the ship, our cabin was ready. It was a veranda suite close to elevators, stairs, and launderette. More convenient, impossible.

The amenities were from Seba Med that I didn’t know before.

Service can improve. In 2 days, we arrived from lunch and our suite wasn’t service yet and, in the evening, as well, sometimes service was very late.

In the pool bar, on some occasions, we aske for a drink an got another one.

Food was good or very good in all restaurants we visited, and we visited all of them. We only had the house wines and drinks, and we were happy with that.

Included tours: mixed feelings. It saves you from research but sometimes is just staying in a bus. Next cruise I will be more diligent in choosing the tours.

Entertainment is certainly a point to improve. I took my dancing shoes, but DJ started very late. First day at 22:30, 22:45; 22:45; 23:30…..and played a lot of Latin music that I do not like….Shows were not motivating…..

The ports of call were very good to excellent. All new for us.  Trieste (best pastries and ice cream for all trip); Zadar, Hvar (best beaches and trail), Dubrovnik (as crowded as Venice, Game of Thrones, very good street market), Split and Opatija (good beaches).

Disembarkation was easy as well. We got back to the same hotel for more 3 days in Venice. In From there we drove to Milano and have more 4 days around the city and cities nearby. The best one was Bergamo.

In Milano we had the opportunity to visit an exhibition about Amazon in Brazil, very good coincidence.

Now we are back home planning new adventures. 
 

D2D is not offered for all countries, Brazil for instances. One must choose between D2D without flights or P2P with restricted benefits. And the discount for flights in D2D without flights is very low compared to the cost of flights. This means that the difference of D2D without flights and P2P is due to the difference in the restrictions.

Usually, I have a land trip either before or after the cruise that I do on my own. Because of that I always arrange my flights. I consider that D2D is only suitable for those taking only the cruise.

I prefer close to laundry. No noise at all.

@ Silver Spirit. La Dame wine pairing. We had the house wines, not pairing.

@Silver Spirit.

Today was Informal (Formal Optional) what ever it is!

Today we came to Venice by train. Daughter is so happy……It is her first time in Italy. We are doing the basic things. In Milan: Duomo, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Galeria Vittorio Emanuele.

Tomorrow is boarding date.  Cant wait to be at the Spirit.

30 minutes ago, silkismom said:

Lirio, when you have time, could you please tell me if you know anything about the following stops in Brazil, we are doing a Buenos Aires to Rio Mar 2024. Itajai, Santos, Iiha Grande, Buzios, this is on Regent, also don't miss for Rio, we will be there 3 nights after the cruise.   

 

Anyone else who has been to those places, please jump in.  Thanks so much, other than BA these are all new ports for us.

I know them all! I will make some comments soon.

1 hour ago, Lirio said:

Our vacation started this way:

We were on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo and from there to Milan last Friday. The flight from Rio to Sao Paulo was cancelled.

We were transferred to a flight from Rio to Porto, Porto to Lisbon, Lisbon to Milan later in the same day. The flight from Porto to Rio had a 3-hour delay and it wouldn’t be possible to get the connection to Milan.

So, we were transferred to a flight Rio to Lisbon and then to Milan, the next day. Got back home.

Finally, everything went smoothly and on Sunday we arride here.

Daughter came from NZ (27-hour flight from Auckland to Dubai to Milan) without any problem and enjoyed her day without us in a walking tour.

Tomorrow we are heading to Venice.

@jpalbny 

I swear that I tried to travel with only a carry-on, but I failed.

First of all, my daughter has an endless list of requests from Brazil….So the carry-on is all hers…

Second, I was very impressed with the long discussion about dress code, I brought several flip flops to match the colors of the clothes……

Third, I was very concerned about the chair hogs, I brought more books, more sunglasses and more socks…….

I will try harder next time.....

Our vacation started this way:

We were on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo and from there to Milan last Friday. The flight from Rio to Sao Paulo was cancelled.

We were transferred to a flight from Rio to Porto, Porto to Lisbon, Lisbon to Milan later in the same day. The flight from Porto to Rio had a 3-hour delay and it wouldn’t be possible to get the connection to Milan.

So, we were transferred to a flight Rio to Lisbon and then to Milan, the next day. Got back home.

Finally, everything went smoothly and on Sunday we arride here.

Daughter came from NZ (27-hour flight from Auckland to Dubai to Milan) without any problem and enjoyed her day without us in a walking tour.

Tomorrow we are heading to Venice.

On 7/29/2023 at 8:59 PM, Stumblefoot said:

 

Attached is the current list by the bottle.  My thoughts (from an American pricing perspective) are as follows:

• Keeping with SS's heritage, Italian wines continue to offer the greatest value overall to passengers.
• Both white and red French Burgundy are priced fairly with some excellent bargains to be found.
• French Bordeaux continues to be over priced which has historically always been the case on SS.
• There are some gems to be found in the Champagne section.
• All three Spanish wines are priced below retail with two pushing 30% discounts.
• Those who like California Chardonnay will continue to be sorely disappointed in the boring offerings that haven't changed in at least four years.
• For those who like the always excellent Leeuwin Estate chardonnay are going to be sad to learn SS no longer prices the bottling below retail as the current price is now two-thirds higher than retail.

Happy Hunting!  Hopefully the color coding will help folks find the values on the list.  And, while I know wine ratings are always subjective, I have included Wine Spectator ratings when I could find them.

 

ConnoisseurWineListSilverSpirit20230721.xlsx 17.5 kB · 172 downloads

Thank you. We are boarding in a week. I will do some research.

Hello from Rio de Janeiro.

The main event of Carnaval is the parade.  But there a lot of popular get together on the streets follwoing bands so traffic sometimes can be hard. Be carefull with your schedule.

Because these popular bands on streets, pick pockets are all around be carefull with yours belongs.

In Sambodrome (for the parade) there are some options starting with stadium type (arquibancada), chairs on ground level (frisa) - red in the photo below and camarote which is the most exensive area (covered, private bath, air conditioner, and usually bar with food and drinks). In the picture below camarote is in between arquibancada (upper part, not convered) and chairs in the groun level.

I strongly recommend you get a guide or use the SS service. I do not go the the parade anymore, but if I would go, I would contract an agency to get the ticket, to pickup at and bring me back.

My daughter (who lives in NZ) loved the idea of the traim trip! It is now in our list. Maybe sooner than later.

1 hour ago, TLCOhio said:

Happy Birthday Mick!!  Is age 80 being old?  Or, just "Middle Aged" like us?  

 

From the French AFP newswire this morning, they had this headline: “Greatest rock'n'roll showman Mick Jagger turns 80" with this sub-headline:  "Mick Jagger once sang 'what a drag it is getting old' but the most senior swinger in town shows little sign of slowing down as he turns 80 on Wednesday.”

 

Here are some of their reporting highlights: “The Rolling Stones frontman is still strutting and gyrating in front of packed-out arenas, most recently touring Europe to mark the band's 60th anniversary.   The icon of 60s counterculture underwent a heart valve replacement in 2019, but his regime of running, kick-boxing, cycling and yoga has maintained his svelte figure and longevity as an energetic showman.”

 

Any here at the Cooler have experienced Mick and the Stones doing an in-person, live concert?  We have done three concerts with the Rolling Stones.  Below are some of my picture files illustrating that they put on "one hell of a show".  Even at his advanced age then, he moved all around a big, big stage set-up in this football stadium that could seat up to 100,000.  Great tunes and excellent showmanship. Right? 

 

Full story at:

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230724-greatest-rock-n-roll-showman-mick-jagger-turns-80

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio   

 

 

Barcelona/Med: June 2011, with stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Great visuals with key highlights, tips, etc. Live/blog now at 256,700 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1362155-solstice-livefirst-timer-reportspix’s-italycroatian-june-7-19/

 

From the summer of 2015 in Columbus at the giant football Ohio Stadium, Mick and the Rolling Stones put on a spectacular show for the massive crowd.  All of the great hits, including "Satisfaction", etc.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

yes, in Rio deJaneiro, at Copacabana beach several years ago (2006).

Has anyone done "Secret Itineraries" tour in  Palazzo Ducale in Venice?

2 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

Happy Saturday from the peninsula where it is absolutely scorchingly TORRID.

Intense heat. 

Hydrate everyone!

I know the feeling. Hello from Rio de Janeiro......