Tothesunset

Although we shall sadly not benefit from Mysty's tips on this thread 😔, I think a round of applause is in order for taking time to produce this meticulous resource. https://media.tenor.com/_kBHclUREHcAAAAM/çrpik-kurdî.gif

After flying half way round the world on an oil powered jet, taking a diesel coach to the port and boarding my ship powered by whatever petrochemical the auto industry spurns I'm not sure ditching the Chronicle will totally assuage my eco-guilt.

The tour does include a pint of the good stuff. But it's another €6 per pint after that. That's the credit card maxxed out, then.

We're going to Dublin for a few days week after next and in all my years have never visited the Guinness Brewery. I know! Anyway, I had a look online to book a couple of tickets. Got quite excited when I saw there was a concessionary rate for age 65+. So, regular entry is €22 but for over 65s it's, er, €22. How Irish is that?

It's not customary; a matter of personal choice. SS operates a Crew Welfare Fund to which you can donate to recognise the efforts of all staff including those we never really see - deckhands, launderers, engineers etc.

Can open. Worms everywhere!

Just for old times' sake:

My OH was a catering officer in the RAF and therefore only too familiar with Compo rat packs, especially when supporting the RAF Regt on exercise/operations. A good chef can do wonders with Compo - mainly by throwing it in the bin and frying up some bacon!

Ahhh... Compo rations. The sausages were unbeatable, mind.

Clearly, while money can buy dinner at La Dame it can't buy class.

Give my OH a few drinks and she'll take on all-comers.

Surely nobody will be ungentlemanly enough to demand photographic proof...

I don't know how to put this without sounding a bit snobbish but I'll give it a go. We sailed Saga for the first time last year because we were still concerned at the impact of Covid disruption on international travel. Previously we had sailed 7 nights Cunard Grill, 14 nights Seabourn and 201 nights Silversea, the latter two lines advertised as 6-star luxury lines. So? So we expected Saga to be a bit Darby and Joan meets Butlins. Isn't that an awful thing to say? I know, I know but bear with. Well, we thought Saga acquitted itself well against those other lines and we weren't in the least disappointed. An equivalent itinerary on Silversea, for example, would be around £150 pp per day more expensive but wouldn't include the wonderful home-port-home transport. So (yes, it's sometimes permissible to start a sentence with so. Again) we are on SoA again in May. To be honest, at first glance some of the Saga pricing seems a touch ambitious until you consider that everything is included. But there's a difference between price and value; I'd say Saga offers excellent value. (I noticed some previous posters were comparing Saga to cheaper lines so I've tried to approach that price point from the other direction. No animals were harmed in the making of this post.)

I don't think so. I'm not on that cruise.

Great. Thanks for that.

Doing our first exped cruise on the Wind May 24. Some of the stops have bookable excursions but at others there are Zodiac landings that can't, currently, be booked. My question is: At what point do the zodiac excursions become bookable? Are numbers limited; i.e. could we miss out or are there sufficient Zodiacs to get everyone ashore? Wind is our favourite ship, 738 our favourite suite. What's not to like?

Outstanding.

Quite right. Here on the SS board we have a much better class of argument.

Had a look at the Crystal offerings. Eyes haven't stopped watering.

How can they? Do you have WiFi in the cellar?

Naughty man.

Want to step outside and say that?

I should add that the confrontation with the lounger hoggers occurred at a resort complex. It's much more straightforward on a ship where abandoned possessions can be handed in.

The following happened in Mexico maybe 20 years ago: A family of 4 who happened to be German (not that the nationality is particularly relevant) would, each morning, put their towels and sundries on 4 loungers then sod off until early afternoon. The pool area was large but there were fewer loungers than people sometimes. On one of those occasions we, as a family of 4, also decided that we'd like those reserved loungers. So we neatly removed the items, laid them on the ground and took the loungers to another area of the pool surround. When Herr und Frau Entitledgruber turned up they got really cross. I mean shouting out loud angry. They went round the pool asking who had stolen "their" loungers. Luckily I cannot only speak German but have the full range of explicit words and phrases needed in the full and frank discussion that followed. He was a big man but I reckoned I could run faster (the first line of self-defence being a good 400 metres time). Anyway, we never saw them again although the hotel manager spoke to me and said I should have asked one of the staff to sort out the loungers - like that would have worked! This is now what we always do. If someone has clearly left their things to reserve space that we want we simply do as DW suggests above. It works. If only everyone stood up to the sort of self-entitled narcissists that feel they have a right to deprive others of facilities then I think we'd all rub along much better. Edit to add that I'm a naturally placid character but on the rare occasion that some pompous oaf acts selfishly it lights my blue touchpaper. They only get away with it because nobody stands up to them.

Great tip, Mysty.