Joc123

Even hotter in Adelaide, sorry. hope you enjoy our lovely city anyway although the heat does make it difficult.

Thanks for photos especially the ones of the gym. It's the only way we will know what it is like 😄

We board in Sydney on March 6th.

Received the docs today so the excitement level is rising.

Terry I have just finished watching the Super Bowl. I love watching sport and in my time have played many (mostly badly 😄) but I'm sorry I just don't understand your game. I appreciate it was close and exciting and I guess the best team won but it is so stop start and so technical I can't actually understand what is going on. Congratulations to all the Patriot supporters. When you support a team and they win the top game there is no better feeling- I do understand that!

Have you ever seen a game of Australian Rules Football? If not, see if you can find a tape and watch it. I would love to know what you thought of our game. It's fast, and tough and the players don't wear any padding, only mouth guards!

Hope the seas calm down as I've just booked a car in Mooloolaba so we can visit family in Noosa 😄

My Daughter in Law is an Australian of Persian descent born in Tehran. Her family came to Australia 22years ago after the Shah was overthrown. She is NOT Muslim. She is an Australian citizen and DOES NOT hold an Iranian passport but no matter what you do, you can never change your place of birth. She is a highly respected respiratory physician who has worked at Beth Israel in Boston and whist there, she had papers published in Lancet and New England Journal.

She is no longer welcome in the USA.

Australia, along with Canada and U.K have been told they are exempt from the ban but my D I L (who has a meeting to attend in March) was told she still has to apply for entry and it will take 90 days minimum before her application will be looked at.

There must be 1000's like her who will be affected but this is how the ban has hit our family.

JP sorry to say I can't get your photo

Lovely. We live so close to each other but have to catch up in Venice :D

We have booked the Ovation Venice to Barcelona May 5th 2018 (Maiden Voyage). Has anyone else? We can't be the only ones as we couldn't get the room we wanted. Not sure if Maiden Voyage means shake down cruise or if she will be launched in Venice. Time will tell. Anyone know?

+1 We love Uniworld and the SS class ships are beautiful.

That's right, we are not too fussy down here. Beef, chicken,pork (not seen lamb used but I'm sure it has been somewhere) wrap it in rice and nori and its sushi. If you are ever down this way, try it, you may even like it :D

I find airport lounges can be hit or miss - especially if you are not flying the country's line. SA first lounge is lovely.

We always fly Emirates first as they fly direct from Adelaide to Dubai and connections to Europe are good. (Qantas no longer have international flights out/ in to Adelaide and transit time in Asia is usually 6 - 8 hours). They use Qantas domestic lounge here which is grim at the best of times and the Emirates flight is the last out at night (we have a curfew). So we are greeted with food they are trying to get rid of, bar staff packing up and people vacuuming (hoovering). That's the price we pay for not living on the east coast - I know, stop whinging!

The Emirates first lounge in Dubai is wonderful.

I wish Australia was in Europe! Although sometimes it's good to be tucked away down here :D

I'm with you Henry (I hope you don't mind me calling you Henry as we have not met). We had a similar incident over a table at the grill. We were sitting there when another "lady" wanted it. No one came to help. It does leave you shaken.

On another cruise a couple of "gentlemen" decided the GS was a boxing ring. It was left to other passengers to separate them but it was during the show so perhaps staff didn't realise there was a problem. I sometimes wonder about the general public

Happy for you. Ours were just a bit "off" - maybe it was us not them 😄

Disembarked the Sojourn this morning, experienced more disappointments than ever before on Seabourn, and we were certainly not alone.

Is there something wrong with Sojourn? Our last 2 cruises were on Sojourn and were ordinary. It seemed to us it was not a "happy ship". That makes a big difference to the cruise experience.

The launch was a marketing exercise by Carnival, preaching, no, lecturing to the converted; Seabourn passengers paying an absolute premium to be on board. Seabourn passengers squashed in seating in a cavernous shipping terminal. We booked this leg of the cruise, following the Athens Dubai leg, because we enjoyed the launch of the Quest so much. A gala evening in Barcelona, held on the deck, with a short, studied, appropriate speech by Blyth Danner, the godmother, massive fireworks and a wonderful party atmosphere. It was also held on time. We talked friends into joining this launch cruise of the Encore. Embarrassing.

We were also on the Quest for the launch in Barcelona and thought after that we couldn't miss the launch of the Encore. As things turned out (or perhaps luck had it) we had to cancel. We really only wanted to experience the launch party as the itinerary didn't interest us much at all. Sorry to hear it was a disappointment but at least you will have your names on a wall!

Thank you Henry for your wonderful video. Personally I'm in awe of anyone who can post photos on cruise critic (I know it's easy and I've been given instructions many times but I don't seem to get it right somehow). To attend a master class of video making and posting would be fantastic.

I agree about Katy. I hope she is still on board in March.

Greetings Coolers!

 

Joc123.....We adore Adelaide! Myster and I were there in March of 2004 and we fell in love with the city. I would move there in a blink!

 

We are currently at -9 C (about 16 F). I know that as a Canadian who has lived here all her life, I should be used to winters here. As I age, I am definitely not adjusting as well as I used to. Warmer climes are sounding a siren call.

 

J....enjoy the hell out of Singapore!

 

Have a great day all!

We lived in Hamilton Ontario in 1979 / 80. DH did research at McMaster university. We didn't cope with the weather at all and we often think back and laugh at how stupid and naive we were. Happy to hear you liked Adelaide - we were both born and bred here and now our boys have returned with their families it is perfect

Just thought you may like to know here in South Australia we are expecting over 40c for the next 2 days. Then a cool change, down to 30c!

Lovely photo. Thank you for your reports, I have enjoyed them. If I'm reading correctly, I would say you are impressed with the Encore and all of us who were concerned about the size can relax. We were originally booked for the inaugural but had to cancel. We now have to wait until March, I hope it still has that brand new feeling.

Note to Joc123......I finally found a reference to the location for the Hallelujah video by Pentatonix. It was filmed in the California Mojave Desert, near Barstow and the video features the group singing while walking across stark Coyote Dry Lake. It was a spectacular setting.

Thank you Mysty.

Thank you so much for the photos - that should keep us happy for awhile!

She does look lovely, similar to the other ships but different enough to make it exciting.

Thank you for answering all the questions so promptly. It is much appreciated.

Well, I for one fell for your heading. Can't wait to hear all about it. I don't remember feeling the same excitement with the O class ships, but maybe I've forgotten

We were on the very first trip SB did to Antarctica and if I was clever enough to post photos, I would show one of us eating at the pool grill. It was open everyday. In fact there was a party of 4 who only ate there - they said it was the best food on board! We were dressed in our on shore gear and wrapped up in the rugs and with the heaters on we weren't cold. The white wine was beautifully chilled! I have to say it was a special experience and the scenery was spectacular. How many people can say they have had a BBQ in Antarctica?

If I remember correctly the DR was not open for lunch or breakfast and they used R2 when the Colonnade was overflowing.