Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome!

[UKCruiseJeff]

I am ok with some fantasy and fun.

These times we live in are all too serious, somber and down right scary.

Just watch the news for two minutes.

Destruction of the most dastardly kind.

History being erased and somehow the horrific history being repeated in the name of some higher being.

 

Too true.

 

I could have done with you yesterday Spin. A bit of legal beagle. Their Barrister came over in her £1000 shoes and actually tried to intimidate me outside of the court room! :eek:

 

Got my own back .... :D

 

We haven't had an update on your retirement progress for a while.

 

 

 

Glad to see you back on form, Jeff. Maybe you-know-who has acted as a catalyst, but speaking personally I can live without his snidey comments, and considerably-richer-than-yow posts. Practically the first post I put on received a putdown from his previous incarnation; maybe this has spoilt my appreciation of his wit and wisdom?

 

I have just been watching |(old lady's afternoon habit) Countdown with Rufus Hound. What a sweetheart.

 

I use to love Countdown .... I just really miss Richard and indeed Jeff Sterling and really can't deal with Nick Hewer. Just ghastly and it's clear that Rachel finds him .... wearing! I think they have lost lot's off viewers and I often think about who I'd like to see as the next host. The start of a new "name that host" game I reckon. :D

 

 

Glad you are posting again, Jeff. A big thumbs-up to everything you said in your most recent post. Especially the food piccies!!! ;) Looking forward to many more.

 

How bleedin' kind!

 

You would like some more piccies. I'm a bit trepidatious about this. But. I know it isn't a blokey thing and I don't want you to think I'm going all soft ... but I make my wife a little muffin each day for when she goes and puts the kettle on. I've just finished her "todays" muffin which is a banoffee muffin. Hope you can taste it. She hasn't seen it yet as she does tea at 16:30 ....

 

[borntocruz]

Oh, my! I know I'm safe saying this because my husband, whom I love more than anything, does not read CC. :D Your wife is one lucky woman!!!

[57 varieties]

Welcome back Jeff. Always enjoy your sense of humour. It's easy to scroll through the unpleasantness. LLJ (Long live Jeff)!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[spinnaker2]

Jeff, my husband makes me espresso every morning.

Somehow I gotta figure out how to get him to include FOOD too.

Glad that we are seeing some scrumptious food photos.

It's pure escape!

I vote for that voyage.

[tgh]

I have just received a deputation representing the remnant cellulite community residing around my waist.. they have been checking out Jeff's pictures and are asking for a transfer.

They based their argument on my recent track record for fat cell genocide and for the obvious comfort that Jeff could offer….

Where do I send them Jeff ?

[UKCruiseJeff]

Oh, my! I know I'm safe saying this because my husband, whom I love more than anything, does not read CC. :D Your wife is one lucky woman!!!

 

I told her what you said .... and she told me to tuck my shirt in and sit down and be quiet. So I did. Seriously .... I'm the lucky one. She doesn't have an ounce of badness in her and only sees good in people. She is a gem that deserves much more than me and my muffin.

 

Welcome back Jeff. Always enjoy your sense of humour. It's easy to scroll through the unpleasantness. LLJ (Long live Jeff)!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thanks ..... I am pleased you like my sense of humous. It is a pita about those with a large sense of pompuss ain't it. :eek:

 

Jeff, my husband makes me espresso every morning.

Somehow I gotta figure out how to get him to include FOOD too.

Glad that we are seeing some scrumptious food photos.

It's pure escape!

I vote for that voyage.

 

It isn't the espresso or the muffin that matters, it is the though behind it. Your hubby is a lovely bloke to make your coffee. He is doing what he can do. That is good enough. :)

 

I have just received a deputation representing the remnant cellulite community residing around my waist.. they have been checking out Jeff's pictures and are asking for a transfer.

They based their argument on my recent track record for fat cell genocide and for the obvious comfort that Jeff could offer….

Where do I send them Jeff ?

 

How lovely ... thanks ... that's nice. I am also expanding and trying hard not to.

 

The most important thing is not to eat all that's on the plate. Stop eating when you have had enough. You can have fries every day as long as you don't eat them all. The first chip is the best chip ... the 10th adds little value after the ninth ... We'll that's my view. The only thing I have to do through lack of self-control is put the wine out of reach otherwise I'll carry on until it is all gone. I have no known mechanism for stopping myself drinking all the wine.

 

Yesterdays meal I promise wasn't kitchen foil. Not rack of lamb ... but bbq'ed Welsh lamb chops with sweet corn baked in caramelised butter and some baked charlotte potato. Not scenic but very tasty and she smiled and soffed it all down.

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

So how are people going to spend the weekend!

 

I'm still trying to work out where to take wifey on a trip as we're getting bored and the next Singapore is three months away. Just been given another 70,000 BA miles from BA on "service recovery" ... they are good. Was thinking of Nice for the last few days of Carnival. I'd like to see the Mick Jagger float and the fireworks. Or Cannes. But the upgrades at the Carlton is a lottery and I'm too mean to pay the dosh up front. The last suite they upgraded us to was around 6k euros per night. Or there's Vienna ... but we are all Vienna's out.

 

Perhaps Porto. There's a new Intercontinental there.

[lincslady]

Pleased we seem to be back on track.

 

My DH can't stand Nick Hewer either - it is the hand wringing and repetition especially. At present I have no good ideas for a replacement. I notice people like Tim Rice and Rick Wakeman are not appearing any more, sadly.

 

The weekend - for once we are doing something moderately exciting - going to a pub in Cambridgeshire to meet children, spouses, and grandchildren for a family birthday do. Daughter says the Thai food is wonderful; it does get v.g. reports on Tripadvisor. Will report back in due course.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I'm interested to hear from a recent "cruiser" whether they are still retaining the questionnaire we designed for them. It asked about each and every part of the various elements of the experience along the following scale.

 

Much better than I expected



Generally better than I expected



About as I expected



Generally worse than I expected



Much worse than I expected



 

.... or are they using a standard Likert type simple satisfaction scale?

 

Just interested. Thanks.

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Pleased we seem to be back on track.

 

My DH can't stand Nick Hewer either - it is the hand wringing and repetition especially. At present I have no good ideas for a replacement. I notice people like Tim Rice and Rick Wakeman are not appearing any more, sadly.

 

The weekend - for once we are doing something moderately exciting - going to a pub in Cambridgeshire to meet children, spouses, and grandchildren for a family birthday do. Daughter says the Thai food is wonderful; it does get v.g. reports on Tripadvisor. Will report back in due course.

 

I'd like to see Rod Brydon or Jack Dee or David Mitchell.

 

Miss Cambridgeshire. We use to live in Little Paxton!

 

:)

[TLCOhio]

I'm interested to hear from a recent "cruiser" whether they are still retaining the questionnaire we designed for them. It asked about each and every part of the various elements of the experience along the following scale.

Much better than I expected



Generally better than I expected



Just interested. Thanks. Jeff

 

After getting back Monday afternoon from San Juan/PR and our Amazon-Caribbean adventure, I can respond in part to the above, good question from Jeff.

 

YES, we were definitely in the "better than expected" category for rating our 26-day experience on the Silver Cloud. Not totally and exactly sure on "much better" versus "generally better". Those two phrases/ratings are somewhat close. What were the various elements to be rated? Happy to share more.

 

Now that it's Saturday, have been busy Tuesday through Friday with various work duties, taping a TV program, unpacking, catching-up, etc. Now, I can do more postings/sharing here, etc. The snow is on the ground in Ohio and more is coming shortly. Not going to be busy today mowing the lawn, planting flowers and/or painting outside at our home.

 

In general on the Silver Cloud, there were some areas for improvement and fine-tuning. Overall, however, it was a wonderful experience!! Compared to some earlier postings on the Silver Cloud that said the food and conditions on the ship had slipped so much, we did not see anything dire, terrible and/or suffering. For our 17-day Amazon River segment, there were only 179 passengers on the ship compared to its staff of 222 and a maximum capacity of 296. WOW, what a "personal" experience to have those numbers and ratios. On our nine-day sailing portion, there were only 18 carry-over passengers. For this shorter cruise segment, it was "different" in some ways. That sailing had 256 passengers. Busier, but things were fine. Clearly shorter, more port-intense sailings have a varied "style", but nothing bad or unexpected compared the longer segment with more sea days.

 

We were considering to do an early Feb. 2016 Silver Cloud, ten-day South Africa sailing. BUT, we wanted, first, to wait until we could check out the ship's conditions personally. The Silver Cloud passed the test. The info I got from the Hotel Director, Captain, etc., were helpful and informative. On the ship, we did that booking for next year as we were happy with the current conditions and what is coming for the future with Silversea and this ship.

 

Does this help? Need more?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo back-to-back sailing over 26 days on the Silversea Silver Cloud, here is the link below to that series of posts on my live/blog. Lots of great visuals from the Amazon and these various Caribbean Islands, plus many food pictures, etc. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at over 16,800 views for these postings.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks Terry ... no not really.

 

I simply asked whether they were still using our questionnaire.

 

Great to see you enjoyed the cruise.

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Crispy Peking Duck for lunch .... with Hoisin sauce and chilli with my choice of veg which is always shredded sweet pointed cabbage, red pepper and red onion .... and some crispy spring rolls. And a pint or two of Bredon Champagne ...

 

 

So what is being eaten and done on all fronts today ....

 

:)

[lincslady]

Funnily enough, Jeff, duck legs with (home made) orange sauce. We had Thai food last night at the little country pub, which has two Thai cooking ladies. The food was delicious (at least to our taste), things like crispy squid, tempura prawns, chicken and cashew nuts stir fry etc. etc. Some more hot and adventurous dishes which the younger generation had. It seemed pretty authentic, but we have only once been to Bangkok so do not know the cuisine well. Certainly the ingredients were wonderfully fresh, and the prices of about £4.50 for a starter and £9 to £11 for a main pretty startling. House red was Chilean Isla Negra merlot; not bad - a bit like one of Seabourn's included offerings of course.

 

Main pleasure for me was seeing our kids and their spouses who we had not seen for some time, all talking loudly at a big table.

 

Anyone else in a ducky mood? We have not heard from Sophia for a while; hope we will soon.

 

LL

[TLCOhio]

Crispy Peking Duck for lunch .... with Hoisin sauce and chilli with my choice of veg which is always shredded sweet pointed cabbage, red pepper and red onion .... and some crispy spring rolls. And a pint or two of Bredon Champagne ... So what is being eaten and done on all fronts today .... :)

 

Wonderful food treats and pictures. Makes me hungry! My wife is fixing now a couple of poached eggs and two bagels.

 

In Columbus now, we are getting 3-6” of snow today, plus what has been on the ground from the previous weekend. Will be high of 36F today and 30F tomorrow. Not as COLD as things were here while we enjoyed the Amazon and Caribbean.

 

Just saw an item on the CBS Sunday Morning program that mentioned the Philadelphia Flower Show. We’ve wanted to do that event for some time. Have any others done that show? Is it that good or great? Understand it is the world’s oldest and largest indoor flower show, attracting more than 260,000 people annually with its large-scale gardens, elaborate landscapes and over-the-top floral creations.

 

Maybe that can be a future to do in 2016 or later???

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 100,289 views for this posting.

[UKCruiseJeff]

LL, all things ducky ..... That meal sounds nice. We're finding it tough finding any decent Asian food hence me always being up to my arms in noodles.

 

Well Terry back from all the warmth and food to snow and bagels! Still ... I wish we had some snow. I love the snow. You must spend time with the orchids in Singapore. I'll supply the wine.

 

I bought one of these little pie makers to play with because I'm fed up with the nasty cheap under-meated pies supermarkets sell. I made a variety of fillings for the freezer and today it was minced Welsh lamb and soffritto with a mug of Rioja ... and a close up. :)

 

[jpalbny]

I am working all weekend; had to go in early today at 6AM for a call... Tired today and working the night shift until Wednesday night. Ugh.

 

Tough stretch coming up for us between work and travel - on Friday night after work we fly to San Francisco for the weekend as my little sister is turning 40. All five of us will be together for the weekend; she doesn't know it yet and still thinks that only three of us are coming. But we don't get back until Sunday night...

 

Then two more weeks of work until we leave for the Rhone River cruise! It's getting really close now and we are so looking forward to that!

 

On Friday night I broke out the pasta maker that we use on rare occasions and made some homemade fettuccine. Half white flour and half semolina flour so the dough was really stiff and difficult to knead by hand, but it came out delicious! We had a few slices of prosciutto in the fridge so that, plus some garlic slivers, lots of good olive oil, and a few cherry tomatoes made for a nice supper dish:

 

[spinnaker2]

The peas are back.

Good gracious we missed the green.

 

All food photos look great...

 

I just made sautéed zoodles with fresh garlic, evoo and fresh grated Parm.

Have been working in the garden all day, until just now.

Weeding, planting, mulching...

Yesterday we had torrential rains, streets flooded, and drains could not keep up with the downpour.

Today is gorgeous and everything is blooming.

 

As you are thinking of your cruise JP, so are we. Ours is also coming up in about three weeks as well. We are going from LA thru the Panama Canal to Ft Lauderdale on the Spirit.

[UKCruiseJeff]

That pasta looks good JP ....

 

Was this the same sister as in Paris?

 

Spin, the peas were for you! I know you miss my peas.

 

Today, I made her a freshly squeezed orange and almond Madeira muffin with a couple of drops of Grand Marnier. She scoffed it whilst making tea! :)

 

[spinnaker2]

Ok Jeff.

I am challenged. But maybe not. How do you make a single muffin?

Do you have a basic batter to which you add flavors?

And I mistakenly told my husband about the muffin you made.

He feels slighted I did not make him a muffin.

Really I said, yes, he said, because he's still going to the emporium..,In his parlance that means he's still working.

Did I mention he's a psychiatrist?

[UKCruiseJeff]

Sinkins,

 

I of course cheat. I am proud of my scheming and cheating. I do not believe I have ever tasted muffins any better than I make ... there I have said it! But I cheat.

 

I use a series of base mixes. They come in 500gm packs. This one is the Madeira cake mix. I set the oven at 170c or so. I squeeze an orange into my mixing bowl on my scales and use around 80ml of juice and all the prestige pulp and some grated skin, around 30mg of ground almond and add 20ml sunflower oil and 167gms of the madeira cake mix. So the pack is 3 days of muffins. i hand mix until everything is together ... around 30 seconds or so. 3 muffin cases into the muffin tray and the mix into them. 20 to 25 minutes and they are done.

 

For the bannoffee I use a toffee cake mix. I put a cut up,banana in the bowl and into the microwave for a minute or so and that is the liquid. Again 20 ml of oil and 167gms of the cake mix and 25 minutes you have your daily muffin. It realy is as you can see no effort at all.

 

I am told by many I should be writing a blokes cheats cookbook.

 

Tomorrow I will probably be making coffee and walnut muffins.

 

:)

Edited March 1, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[jpalbny]

That pasta looks good JP ....

 

Was this the same sister as in Paris?

 

Same one; I think she was much happier to join us in Paris than she is to join us in the 5th decade... :p

 

She only knows that Chris and I are coming, and my other sister from Ottawa. She doesn't know that both of our brothers are coming too - including the one who lives in Denmark and is flying in for the long weekend to surprise her!

 

I just have to get through the next 3 nights so I can rest up on Thursday for our Friday flight.

 

I'm interested to hear from a recent "cruiser" whether they are still retaining the questionnaire we designed for them. It asked about each and every part of the various elements of the experience along the following scale.

 

Much better than I expected



Generally better than I expected



About as I expected



Generally worse than I expected



Much worse than I expected



 

.... or are they using a standard Likert type simple satisfaction scale?

 

Just interested. Thanks.

 

Jeff

 

This scale does look familiar. Cannot remember if they used it on one, or both, of our last cruises (August and October, on Silver Cloud). But I know I saw that scale at least once, instead of the 1-10 scale.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Same one; I think she was much happier to join us in Paris than she is to join us in the 5th decade... :p

 

She only knows that Chris and I are coming, and my other sister from Ottawa. She doesn't know that both of our brothers are coming too - including the one who lives in Denmark and is flying in for the long weekend to surprise her!

 

I just have to get through the next 3 nights so I can rest up on Thursday for our Friday flight.

 

 

This scale does look familiar. Cannot remember if they used it on one, or both, of our last cruises (August and October, on Silver Cloud). But I know I saw that scale at least once, instead of the 1-10 scale.

 

It must be lovely having little sisters .... it would bring out all me protective bits. Sounds like you will have a great time.

 

I so hope that they have dumped the 1 to 10 scale. and use the scale they bought from us It makes me sigh every time I see it and virtually everyone does.

 

I remember the VP of SS who Manfredi had asked to work with us sitting in my kitchen and arguing with me that they wanted to keep their 1 to 10 scale. I asked him "if you were ambivalent about a topic and were neither positive or negative, what score would you give?" "Five of course!" He thought I was mad to ask and that it was a dumb question. I had to make him hold his fingers up and count them in order to demonstrate that 5 is a negative score and that the mid point between 1 and 10 is 5.5 ......

 

:rolleyes:

[TLCOhio]

Well Terry back from all the warmth and food to snow and bagels! Still ... I wish we had some snow. I love the snow. You must spend time with the orchids in Singapore. I'll supply the wine.

 

Glad to know that Jeff loves the snow. We've got a bunch of "it" here in Ohio right now. I will try to get some snow pictures today and share those visuals here. Many here in the USA, especially around the Midwest and in Boston, will tell you that too much snow can be over-rated.

 

My ten bird feeders are now re-filled, plus our herd of about nine-to-ten wild deer have been busy in the ravine area where we live in the middle of our large city. Lots of fun winter sights when inside to see and enjoy. Should be mostly sunny today with a high of 29F.

 

Good luck to JP with your travels and upcoming river cruise.

 

Interesting and informative background from Jeff's work with the SS folks on their questionnaires, trying to measure customer satisfaction, etc.

 

Yes, would love to make a trip to Singapore, see SE Asia, etc., in the future. BUT, right now, the focus is on research and planning for South Africa and Botswana in late Jan. and early Feb. 2016.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 173,159 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[UKCruiseJeff]

Peasant street food again today with mugs of Rioja.

 

Turkish lahmacun ... and this was the outcome and the journey to it .....

 

This stuff is sold in places like Adana and you buy it, drop some salad on the top, fold it over and scoff it. Hope others find it interesting.

 

[spinnaker2]

Sorry. I am not a Turk. How do you make that? Looks delish.

Heading outside to the garden.

Thanks for confessing about the muffins Jeff. Not that you couldn't make a single muffin if you chose.

JP are we allowed to ask your specialty?

Terry, wonderful you are feeding the birds.