Joc123

Jeff,

I'm constantly amazed and impressed by your kitchen gadgets. You must have a large kitchen with lots of storage.

For years, my family have given me the latest "maker" for Christmas, eg, pie maker, ice- cream maker, pizza maker, crepe maker etc. (it's become a bit of a joke). After the initial enthusiasm, they all sit in the cupboard taking valuable space.

A big thank you for your advice - I think will leave the "whites" home.

I would like some advice please.

We are in Boston 10th October (DH has a conference) and then we are on a cruise, Boston - Montreal, on the opposition line, sorry.

I know SS does a similar itinerary so can someone tell me how cold it is likely to be? When we lived in Ontario way back in 1979/80 I seem to remember we had snow in October (quite the occasion because it was the first time we had seen snow - novelty soon wore off ;p) so do you think we will need heavy coats?

Also, at some stage on CC, I'm sure I read something about rules regarding wearing white pants and Memorial Day. Does this really apply or is it an urban myth? When is Memorial Day? I presume there will be a lot of Americans onboard so I don't want to offend anyone by wearing the wrong thing- down under we wear white pants all year round!

I know, in the scheme of things, this is not that important, but just want to be on the safe side.

Thanks

Because of the time difference, by the time I wake up and read the cooler, I'm always 3 pages behind. I'm not clever enough to highlight passages of posts so I will just have to refer to previous posts.

Jeff, thank you for making me feel welcome. I find your comments about Mr Murdoch interesting. He is an Adelaide boy who inherited the family business- The News - and became drunk with power. Eventually he relinquished his Australian citizenship and became an American citizen. However, he still holds a lot of power here and through his papers, TV (Fox) and radio, he virtually controls our government. When he returns to Adelaide, the powers that be hang off every word he says - can never work out why!

Mysty, we loved our time in Venice. It was crowded and hot but the water didn't smell (and improvement from the last time we were there) but I have to say, it was lovely to hop onto the hotel boat and escape to the Cipriani (and advantage of staying there). We are early risers and traveling with 2 children (7 and 4) we made sure we were the first in line for any of the tourist destinations. We did the gondola ride after dinner (we were first in the restaurant too) which was perfect as the sun had gone down. We went to restaurants which were recommended by the hotel (please don't ask which ones because I have no idea and would never be able to find them again) and they were wonderful. I think local knowledge is essential in Venice. We have sailed in and out of Venice many times, in fact we will be sailing out again next May, and it is truly spectacular. I'm feeling a bit guilty about it as I'm now in favour of stopping the huge ships coming in - sorry to all those who haven't done it.

Boy, sorry about the long post - tell me I'm welcome and you can't stop me -

I hesitate posting on the cooler because I'm not a SS sailor (tried them once but sadly not or us) but I have some information for JP re his trip to Adelaide, if he is still interested.

JP, you asked about wine tours in the Barossa. I've asked around (we have not done any ourselves) and one seems to be mentioned often - Auburn Tours Day Tours. Trevor will drive you around in a classic car (convertible) and finish at Maggie Beer's Farm Shop which is a must see for all foodies. He will design the tour to your taste so it really is a personalised trip. If interested, "Google " him to see if that is the sort of thing you may like.

Lovely places to eat (fine dining) in the area are Hently Farm, Appellation @ Louise, both at Seppletsfield and both offer accommodation.

On the casual side, FermentAsian, Tanunda, Jacobs Creek Visitor Centre, Rolland Flat, Charles Melton Wines, Tanunda.

The Farmers Market in Angaston is held every Saturday morning and is a wonderful display of local produce.

Hope this is helpful.

Something completely different, we have just returned from a family holiday in Italy. If anyone is looking for wonderful hotels, we stayed in The Grand Tremezzo Hotel on Lake Como and the Cipriani in Venice. Both were above and beyond what we expected (we have stayed in top hotels all over the world). I wish we lived closer so we could visit more often.

JP, we are still in Tremezzo and absolutely loving it here.

Some answers to your first questions.

Give Hahndorf a miss. It consists of a Main Street with craft, coffee, local food shops etc. and apart from the names of places and the German flag flying from some properties, it bears no resemblance to any part of Germany I have been to - IMO!

Adelaide is a small city, 1.2 million, but in March we have a lot of festivals on. Also a city car race if that's your thing.

We have the usual chain hotels, but I think the Intercontinental is in the best position. If you prefer smaller hotels I can let you know of some.

KI is a lovely place but I would think twice about taking the ferry. Although the weather should be calm at that time of year, if it turns bad the ferry will be cancelled and you could be left stranded.

I will investigate wine tours when we return from Italy (being a local we haven't actually done one). It will be vintage at that time so there will a lot of activity.

Hope this helps a little.

JP - as you know I don't post often but I'm a dedicated lurker. I'm currently in Italy enjoying a wonderful holiday with family at Tremezzo on Lake Como and I'm just catching up with the Cooler.

You mentioned your trip to Adelaide (not many people even know we exist) March next year. I must say, you have picked the best time of year to come. The weather is usually lovely with the extreme heat over. As this is my home town, if I can help with any questions you may have please ask. We also have a hobby vineyard in the Barossa and know that area well. Very happy to help.

We may, but not always, book a tour for the first day in port - often the first day of the cruise is a sea day.

We will go to the talk about the tours offered then make a decision on which ones we want to do. In 200 days, I don't think we have missed a tour that we wanted to do. Some have been waitlisted but we have always got on.

With all the Occ Heath and Safety Rules and Regulations how does this happen? I understand the tower was built in the 70's.

This means it is probably full of asbestos.

What a disaster.

Words fail me.

Once again, I have been watching BBC World all day following this latest disaster.

So sad, I love London, having been there well over 30 times and I know this area.

The emergency services must be completely exhausted.

I feel for you all.

I have had BBC on all day watching the results - I know, I need to get a life!

In my uneducated, but fascinated opinion, a hung parliament is the worst possible result.

To all the Theresa May's supporters, I believe her campaign was run by an Australian - I apologise

OMG! Just returned to tv after my shower and Labour candidate in Newcastle Central already giving acceptance speech! How fast is that? I love it!

And now Sunderland South - WOW!

Just woken up here in Oz and turned on BBC World to watch election results - it may not be a long night after all Jeff! Looks like Mrs May isn't going to get the result she was wanting.

I love the fact that you get a result so quickly. Here we have a preferential system which means that counting can go on for days, sometimes weeks before we get a result.

They just announced the pound has gone down - as we use a U.K. TA, I might pay the balance of our next cruise today! :D

In so many ways I think Tihany and Keller are taking Seabourn for a ride. They have too much input with little benefit IMO. Having said that, with all the problems with Encore, we loved our cruise on Encore in March. We are on Quest in October and already missing the Sushi Restaurant :D

I'm not sure it's absolutely necessary to book for TK Grill online because they say they guarantee everyone can eat there at least once. Of course, if you want to eat at a specific time then I think you could book TK when you book excursions, spa treatments etc.

The new Thomas Keller Grill is the only restaurant that can be pre booked online. It is not absolutely necessary but the option is available. They also say they will not allow you to go for a second time until all passengers have had the opportunity to book. I'm not sure how this works in practice. We left our name at the restaurant and they rang if they had a vacancy, we ended up eating there 3 times in 26 days.

I have only sailed on SS once - I'm not likely to do so again with all the pre booking that is required. I know it's mainly on Muse that this is required but on our cruise on Shadow we didn't get to go to LChampagne because we didn't pre book or line up to book when we boarded. We actually believed the advertising and asked our butler to make a booking for us. It was too late, we were wait listed but never got to dine there. I really think that every passenger on any cruise should be given the opportunity to dine at least once at these restaurants. Clearly SS don't.

On Quest, (don't remember exactly when but would be around 2015 I think) DH and I were enjoying a quite drink at a Patio Grill table whilst watching the sunset. We then decided to stay put and have dinner there as it was such a lovely evening.

We were surprised to be asked to change tables as the one we were at was booked for dinner!

First and last time that has ever happened.

Again on Quest, last year, it was necessary to book in Colonnade every night for dinner, not just TK. It was a trial and fortunately they dropped that idea after many complaints from passengers. Bookings are still required for TK nights.

I never met Duct Tape but I loved her signature because I fix everything with duct tape! May her family and friends find comfort in the memories they have.

Getting back to the question about seating in Colonnade. When needed R2 has been opened to take the overflow but now that space has been converted to the TK Grill. Will he allow his Restaurant to be used for the overflow? He won't allow the outside space of the Grill on Encore to be used!

It seems to me this new arrangement is cost cutting exercise.

It must help to know 6 months in advance how many people will be eating at each restaurant on any given night.

We would go back to Antarctica in a heartbeat but have no interest in doing South America again.Wish they would offer Ushuaia - Ushuaia like Silversea and Ponant and I'm sure many other lines. I did mention this but it fell on deaf ears.

I love this description of the tour - it sounds identical to the one we took with Seabourn several years ago - nothing has changed! We have since been there on our own and loved it! Such a difference.

Great site and I'm sure it will help many travellers.

So pleased they said NO tipping in Australia but I'm surprised the thumbs up gesture was marked obscene. To my knowledge it's perfectly ok and I've been using it all my life along with everyone I know!

I think it would be a good idea if these links were posted on every cruise site on CC.

At so many levels he is the best CD Seabourn has - IMO