Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Ok love glove, or perhaps an oven mitt?

 

:D

 

I have often wondered how our world might be different if men worked slightly shorter hours and spent the time released cooking for their families and sitting around a dining table and talking to them. And then their children would be cooks as well, and do the same with their children. Ho .. hum ...

 

:)

 

Jeff

[spinnaker2]

j:

So you mean instead of spending time to build better bombs, it would be time spent to make a better bombe?

[UKCruiseJeff]

I see what you did there .....:D

 

Jeff

[Tothesunset]

I want all people to cook. Particularly men. :)

Wouldn't that be cannibalism?

Edited March 4, 2015 by Tothesunset

[UKCruiseJeff]

Wouldn't that be cannibalism?

 

I did it again didn't I! :eek:

 

My pafetic use of the Inglish langwage has got me into deep water. A bouillon. Just like that poor man in the pot.

 

I made her a spit roasted corn-fed chuck today with home made coleslaw (she turns her nose up at bought stuff ....) and a little bit of colour salad wise and a bottle of Pecheur! Slapped on a plate with no titivating. :o

 

 

[jpalbny]

Deutsch Nacht!

 

Had a craving for German food tonight so made some homemade "quick" sauerkraut for dinner:

 

 

It went very well with schweinschnitzel and some egg noodles with butter and parsley:

 

 

I really wanted to make homemade spaetzle but got lazy and used the egg noodles instead... A Zweigelt from a winery we discovered last fall in Pennsylvania went very well with everything:

 

 

Well, enough German food for now. Off to France in just about 2 weeks!

 

***

 

Jeff - the homemade cole slaw is the best! I almost never like store-made. The cabbage is cut too thinly so it turns into mush, and they overload it with sugar so you can't even taste the tang from the vinegar. I make my own too. The only way to go! Yours looks like it has great texture - though I eat mine with a nice rack of ribs...

 

***

 

It got above the freezing point today so I'm thinking I'll shovel the snow off the barbecue and grill a steak for dinner tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

 

Good night all.

[lincslady]

Reading various recent reports on Silversea and Seadream - I wonder if the fact that these two lines are family/privately owned contributes to the sort of problems I have read about, which certainly are not noticed as much on the other 'little luxury' lines like Regent and Seabourn? What do you think Jeff and everybody? We for instance felt that the standard of wine and drinks available on Seadream the last time we were on might well reflect the fact that the owner is, I was told, teetotal. And we did not like the automatic 'charity' cost added on Silversea.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Deutsch Nacht!

 

I really wanted to make homemade spaetzle but got lazy and used the egg noodles instead... A Zweigelt from a winery we discovered last fall in Pennsylvania went very well with everything:

 

Jeff - the homemade cole slaw is the best! I almost never like store-made. The cabbage is cut too thinly so it turns into mush, and they overload it with sugar so you can't even taste the tang from the vinegar. I make my own too. The only way to go! Yours looks like it has great texture - though I eat mine with a nice rack of ribs...

 

 

Hi JP ....

 

Lovely piccies. Von schwein oder vom kalb bitte?

 

Funny you should mention spaetzle .... have you considered a cheat I always use.

 

Boil some decent "bought" gnocchi ... to be honest I cannot make better than I buy .but this is also true for pasta generally ... and then allow steam to evaporate off and then fry in a mix of butter and olive oil.

 

I know you make your own pasta but it's better to use my cheat than not have spaetzle at all isn't it!

 

:)

[MrsWaldo]

Jeff,

 

Kudos to you and the other loving men :)

 

I would have felt deprived if Mr W had cooked more than one night a week. Cooking for several hours has always been my switch off. Possibly the same enjoyment you get…

 

I do agree that all men should be adept. Waldo JR has a good repertoire including an amazing slow cooked lamb shanks and an awesome strudel.

 

This is a tip from Saffire for pasta….

 

100gm durum flour, 1 60gm egg, high speed in the blitzer one minute, (still be a bit crumbly) rest 20 mins in the fridge in plastic wrap

 

Use the pasta roller to combine the final bit…. 4 x through the first stage turning 90 degrees each time :)

 

Gnocchi/spaetzle i use a 1:1 mix of flour and old potato…then add a small amount of egg to consistency :)

 

and yes… cheats are always a good thing..

[UKCruiseJeff]

Reading various recent reports on Silversea and Seadream - I wonder if the fact that these two lines are family/privately owned contributes to the sort of problems I have read about, which certainly are not noticed as much on the other 'little luxury' lines like Regent and Seabourn? What do you think Jeff and everybody? We for instance felt that the standard of wine and drinks available on Seadream the last time we were on might well reflect the fact that the owner is, I was told, teetotal. And we did not like the automatic 'charity' cost added on Silversea.

 

I cannot speak for SD as I have no first hand knowledge. I'll try to be brief.:)

 

My view is that these issues are generally a series of conspiring events and converging trends that all conspire together to set things in certain directions .....

 

When SS started there is no doubt in my mind it was a pioneering line with a unique set of high quality hard and soft product aspirations (ie ships and service levels) led autocratically by the owner. Some of the philosophies were quirky but all led to a product that I suspect met with my yardstick ie that 95% of customers would say that the product met or exceeded their expectations. As the business grew management were bought in and delegated to. At the same time a decision to expand - which in my view had to inevitably mean seeking volume through decisions leading to lowering soft standards ... and this was done at a time when largely Americans were edgy about travel and also at a recession. One set of background trends.

 

Secondly there appears to be management by misplaced instinct rather than effective customer consultation. For our clients for example we pioneered and formed what we called Customer Advisory Panels (CAPS) where if a board was contemplating a significant change to a product we (for a fee) would ask several thousand customers to give us feedback within 24 hours and feedback to a board the likely outcome of such a plan. This approach would have been a great approach for proposals like the new inclusive excursion programme which to me seems a fundamental change and therefore an essential topic to consult on. The CAPS approach gives boards meaningful feedback from several thousand on-line customers within 48 hours. It feeds back detailed comments and scorings and ideas and suggestions. We would often call people and explore in more detail their suggestions and often call them back with their agreement during a board meeting to hear them first hand.

 

(By the way customers loved being invited to be a part of these groups because they felt flattered to be asked to help form future products and services. The process itself increased loyalty. They were also incentivated ... in the computer industry for example - we would give away a computer at random to a member of the advisory panel each month which would be presented by the ceo. )

 

It is really risky if you make fundamental changes to high value products and services with high levels of loyalty reliance without this level of effort and consultation but also reassuring and based on substantial levels of customer involvement when you spend the cash and do so.

 

This lack of consultation conspires with other customer detachments which concern me.

 

It seems that the end of cruise surveys are collected by staff rather than handled independently. They are then presumably sent to someone employed by SS to enter into a system, analysed and a management report made. You now have to levels of weakness. Inevitable interference and also people often producing reports incompetently and in a way to provide conclusions they know the management would wish to hear. The problem is that everyone thinks they can "do surveys" and this is a highly specialised are of marketing that requires special skills and personalities that are cuttingly direct. You are telling people that pay you things they do not want to be told. There is also another essential aspect. Actually often even more important. Experienced consultants might also point out things that haven't been complained about. We turned around one major corporation by pointing out that too few customers complained about their pricing and helped them increase prices that helped them both survive at a point they were in trouble and also helped them fund quality improvements. Everyone won. People are often prepared to pay more for more and it is a false presumption that everyone just wants the lowest price.

 

I would often say that we told management one or both of two things. We were either telling them stuff they already knew and/or didn't want to hear. You need to employ people that irritate you. That was our role and you might guess we did it well.

 

You might think that the feedback process is a small issue but it isn't. It is better not to have feedback at all from customers if the feedback received provides false reassurance and causes complacency and incorrect directions. I think SS's feedback process is providing them with information that tells them that they are doing well. So their response is not to improve but instead to cut variable cost and move towards a competitors model ie Regent.

 

You mentioned the charity issue. To me this is symbolic. Many people in SS will know this is a "no no". This indicates an owner that will not be told and a management that are failing to confront him. That is why external and expensive consultants and advisors can often achieve with an owner what your own staff might not.

 

So in summary - I would say a detached poorly informed management who do not seem to see the need to ask the right people the right questions. Some disjointed thoughts on the topic ... which are not facts but opinions.

 

:)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Jeff,

 

Kudos to you and the other loving men :)

 

I would have felt deprived if Mr W had cooked more than one night a week. Cooking for several hours has always been my switch off. Possibly the same enjoyment you get…

 

I do agree that all men should be adept. Waldo JR has a good repertoire including an amazing slow cooked lamb shanks and an awesome strudel.

 

This is a tip from Saffire for pasta….

 

100gm durum flour, 1 60gm egg, high speed in the blitzer one minute, (still be a bit crumbly) rest 20 mins in the fridge in plastic wrap

 

Use the pasta roller to combine the final bit…. 4 x through the first stage turning 90 degrees each time :)

 

Gnocchi/spaetzle i use a 1:1 mix of flour and old potato…then add a small amount of egg to consistency :)

 

and yes… cheats are always a good thing..

 

Mrs W, you are clearly a culinary star.

 

I took up cooking because I felt that whatever I professionally did I always made sure I succeeded at. Cooking is something a perfectionist always feel they are not doing well enough at -so it represents both an opportunity to learn but also scope always to improve at.

 

I'm now at a different point to were I was. I think cooks can delude themselves into believing that what they do is better than it is. Often what you can buy is as good as what you can do from scratch but we just don't see it. I think that about fresh pasta for example. I don't think I personally make better than I can buy ... so I may as well spend my time doing something else.

 

So my "new self" is to only do myself rather than buy where I genuinely add quality. Icecream .... muffins ....lots of things.

 

Yesterdays coffee and walnut muffin!

 

[MrsWaldo]

LOL Jeff

 

In the house of Waldo there are 2 descriptors for a meal

 

a) is fine. that means it was pretty darn good but has room to grow

 

b) is beyond any words…. this happens maybe 2 or 3 times a year… (and this is the motivation to which you refer) 90% of the time this is when there was no recipe and I was playing and tasting and sniffing and have no idea how much of anything went in. Miss W always sighs when I say add a sploosh, or a glop..

 

 

There's always a c) but not all that often if we can avoid it…

 

and that's the oh dear….

 

There's nothing close to the home made pasta available here…

 

 

ice cream OTOH…. we have a local place that churns daily based on fresh fruits etc…. italian family. i can't beat them :( although Mr W came close with his amaretto ice cream.

[lincslady]

Wow! Thanks for your long reply Jeff. To me it seems definitely true that the owners of these lines like to make their own decisions, even when these are not best for the line.

 

Regarding comment cards, Seabourn used to ask you to write one up and put it into a box at the end of the cruise. Possibly not the most brilliant idea! Now you get an online survey a week or so after your cruise, which goes straight to Head Office. Much more satisfactory, to my mind. Although the comment cards were supposed to be anonymous if you did not wish to give your name, they were not, and staff on board could see what you had written. (I know this is the case).

[UKCruiseJeff]

Wow! Thanks for your long reply Jeff. To me it seems definitely true that the owners of these lines like to make their own decisions, even when these are not best for the line.

 

Regarding comment cards, Seabourn used to ask you to write one up and put it into a box at the end of the cruise. Possibly not the most brilliant idea! Now you get an online survey a week or so after your cruise, which goes straight to Head Office. Much more satisfactory, to my mind. Although the comment cards were supposed to be anonymous if you did not wish to give your name, they were not, and staff on board could see what you had written. (I know this is the case).

 

Our process encouraged but did not mandate identifiable and attributable comments and feedback but of course we were independent of our clients and feedback always came to directly to us and were untouched and unseen by their employees. This was because at the heart of the process I designed it seemed pointless to be told that a customer had a problem that disappointed them if the process prevented you from putting it right for that individual customer. To do this you needed to know who they were. We however specialised in high-value relationships.

 

This was so that if respondents express consent with respect to resolvable issues, these could then be individually addressed and corrected. Our process was designed to be highly management coercive. In summary this in practice meant that every group of questions was departmentally segregated and had an identifiable VP / director owner who was responsible for the responses to his span of control. In most clients he/she was paid and hired or fired on the results of our work. He/she had responsibility of managing the expectations of what customers should expect and then meet or exceed those expectations. If he /she failed it was seen as that - failure. He/she was also responsible for arguing his corner with the President/CEO to get the budget and resources he needed to discharge the promises the company had made to customers. Everything was always clear who was responsible and what they had to do.

 

Our process were designed to make the customer the centre of the organisation. It was great work and highly enjoyable.

 

Still back to food .... my muffins are in the oven ....

 

:)

[spinnaker2]

JP

Schnitzel looked so good.

Number 2 son lived in Germany while in the army and learned many things, to include becoming fluent in German and perfecting schnitzel. He has cooked it for us on a few occasions. He also bakes scruptious and decadent desserts.

Thanks for sharing the results of your culinary skills!

Terry seems to be missing, maybe he took you up on your challenge Jeff and is ensconced in a kitchen wearing a toque and apron emblazoned his initials!

[jpalbny]

JP

Schnitzel looked so good.

Number 2 son lived in Germany while in the army and learned many things, to include becoming fluent in German and perfecting schnitzel. He has cooked it for us on a few occasions. He also bakes scruptious and decadent desserts.

Thanks for sharing the results of your culinary skills!

Terry seems to be missing, maybe he took you up on your challenge Jeff and is ensconced in a kitchen wearing a toque and apron emblazoned his initials!

 

Thanks! Love cooking... most days. Great way to decompress after an annoying day, and fun to do together. When work used to be busier we ate too much prepared or over processed food and I didn't like the effects on my physique. Around the time 40 was looming we decided thay it was now or never, and we better take control of what we ate so that we didn't continue growing.

That's been the best benefit of us cooking our own meals. And since we eat well and healthy at home, we do not feel guilty at all about indulging when we travel.

 

We read Food & Wine magazine and get ideas from that for the times we want to cook fancier meals but most of what we cook is simple fresh ingredients put together in a way that doesn't require a lot of fussing, or complex methods. And we always pair food with wine, which makes us slow down and enjoy... That way we have leftovers for lunch!

 

Jeff, I only occasionally make homemade pasta so no worries. The quality of what you can buy is indeed quite nice, and our local supermarket even sells fresh stuff. But the fettuccine that I made on Friday was to die for. So I may make my own more often...

 

Travel has been such an eye opener into different cuisines. I don't know what we like more - the sights, or some of the unexpectedly incredible meals we've had in faraway places. We love to bring little bits of foreign cuisine home with us - exotic spices, etc - to use so we remember the trip. And wandering through a foreign supermarket is a great time to me. For example - in Paris we went straight to the food section of the Galleries Lafayette and came home with different sea salts. Now every time I grind salt on my dinner I think of Paris...

 

So the fancy cuisine of Silversea, for example, is very different from what we eat at home. That is part of the reason we enjoy it, even if every meal doesn't knock our socks off, or if the ingredients aren't what they seem.

 

***

 

Have to smile at the image of Terry in his monogrammed apron. I hope he posts a picture!

 

***

 

The mercury reached 37 yesterday! Below freezing again today but it was nice while it lasted. Spring is getting closer. Enjoy!

[TLCOhio]

Have to smile at the image of Terry in his monogrammed apron. I hope he posts a picture!

The mercury reached 37 yesterday! Below freezing again today but it was nice while it lasted. Spring is getting closer. Enjoy!

 

Do NOT worry, JP, you will NOT have to have your eyes shocked and the truth being distorted by any photos of me in a monogrammed cooking apron. Such a picture would be "false advertising!!! Appreciate Jeff's earlier thoughts and comments about me and such kitchen skills/benefits. Will share more reactions and details shortly. Been busy the past few days and am now catching up.

 

Knowing that Jeff likes snow, below are a few visuals from within the past hour at our home. As you can see, we still have lots of snow on the ground. But, it was our wildlife visitors at the surprise!! These pictures were taken from the glass windows/doors of our kitchen, family room and second-floor bathroom. Up close and personal for seeing these various members of our within-the-heart-of-the-city herd of deer. There were eleven of them doing their "DINING" on our bushes and other backyard plantings. They jumped right over our fences. Easy and quick for these wild deer in our treed and ravine area within Columbus.

 

Our weather is improving here and I will have more on that coming improvement soon.

 

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 101,343 views for this posting.

 

 

From late morning today in the middle of our Columbus at our city location, here are some quick visuals for the "dining" visitors seen from our home windows. These samples of the herd of eleven deer show them looking to survive during this winter snow/cold period. They were targeting the area where we have a number of our bird feeders. These creatures are cute, but I don't like them munching on our various bushes, plants, etc. See the two deer kissing? In the final picture, you can see one of the deer "licking" in delight after these tasty treats at hour home.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TLCOhio]

Terry, I have been chatting to your wifey and she has confirmed your love of sorcery and thinks you should make a bit of an effort in the kitchen to master a sauce or two. An important and handsome man like you she says should have more bows to your armoury. Not just the good looks. She says your not saucy enough in the kitchen. I think she may be looking abroad at the moment so if I were you I'd heed this warning. ;)

On another forum I've helped several men learn how to make bread. Without recipes but instead by "feel" and instinct. I'd like to help you with your sorcery. "Sauces maketh a man". I promise you that all this stuff you read that makes it sound tough or difficult is rubbish. It is easy peasy. Even I can do it. Many of your favourite sauces are cousins of Hollandaise. Béarnaise for example.

Imagine you making your lovely wife a nice steak with your own Béarnaise lovingly whipped up. Over the candle light, a little tear comes to her eye "After all this time and all his bleedin' blue fonts and photographs .... he really loves me " she says ....

If you are up for a bit of sauce mastery I am happy to help. You must make one before you go to the great Photoshop in the sky.

 

spinnaker2: Terry seems to be missing' date=' maybe he took you up on your challenge Jeff and is ensconced in a kitchen wearing a toque and apron emblazoned his initials! [/quote']

 

Appreciate so much Jeff's kind thoughts and encouragements to get me more busy and active in the kitchen. BUT, I have to share a little "reality check" on our schedules, time options, etc. . Since getting back eleven days ago from the Caribbean and Amazon, things have been busy, busy for both me and my wife. Even though my wife is retired, she still has only had a chance to do one "home cooking" meal during this recent period. We've been on the run, catching up, etc.

 

Thursday is a good example. Had challenging traffic/weather that morning, needed to be at a 9:15 am meeting downtown, needed to review a number of cases and others things in my office overlooking the Statehouse. Plus a variety of catch-up phone calls in the afternoon, appointments to schedule for later in the month, etc. Then, there was a 7 pm TV taping and grabbing dinner with our food friends at "City Barbeque" after doing that program. Not a lot of spare time that day to be able to focus on the kitchen things.

 

WEATHER WE MISSED?: While at the local NBC station Thursday evening, their two top TV weather experts were there and we chatted much before our show taping. Their Chief Meteorologist has been there at this station for 36 years and is a super, top-rated weather expert/junkie. Their number two meteorologist has been at their station nearly that long and has an amazing weather, science, nature, academic, etc., background. BOTH were very, very interested in the details on the Amazon River, what we did there, etc. BUT, the shocking part was about how bad, BAD was the weather that we missed while our sailing on the Silver Cloud. There were fourteen different record lows set during this period when we were gone. WOW!! Neither of these weather experts had seen anything in recent history this bad for low, LOW temperatures. Actually, early 2014 produced more snow, but nothing like the early 2015 cold conditions. One town in Central Ohio dipped down to MINUS 39F during this recent period. That was not a wind-chill reading, but an actual temperature. It was fun talking with both of them and learning more about what we missed. Plus, their interest in the Amazon.

 

For our south Florida friend, hopefully this clarifies that I am not MIA, Missing in Action.

 

Also, have been busy getting lined up through American Airlines Frequent Flyer miles for how to use OneWorld airline partner Qatar and their base in Doha to make our flights getting down to Cape Town work for late January 2016 trip and Silver Cloud sailing. AND, doing it with Business Class on nice, new Boeing 777 and 787 aircrafts with 78-80" lay-flat seating, etc.!! Plus, in high gear with other research and planning efforts in connections with this Africa adventure next year.

 

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 173,667 views.

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

 

 

From AccuWeather, here is the outlook for the next two weeks in Columbus and Central Ohio. Relief is coming. Spring will be here soon!! Fortunately!! We like getting those temperatures up in the 50'sF.:

 

[spinnaker2]

Hi Terry

Just worried you maybe fell into a snowdrift, or couldn't get out of the snowdrift after snow jumping out of your window in your bathing suit.

cloudy but quite warm here in south Florida. I am taking advantage of the weather to cook some stuff that can be easily frozen in small packets for our dog sitter aka, daughter.

So I am making tomato gratin with fresh Greek basil (from the garden)leek soup with Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream, chicken thighs with Meyer lemon(from my tree) fennel olives and capers, seasoned with ground fennel and fresh rosemary(from the garden) and lastly, pulled pork.

The dog sitter has requested white bean soup and also chili. Those will be made in the coming days. We still have 20 days til sailing!

Where is Jeff...maybe he fell in the muffin batter.

[TLCOhio]

Hi Terry. Just worried you maybe fell into a snowdrift, or couldn't get out of the snowdrift after snow jumping out of your window in your bathing suit. cloudy but quite warm here in south Florida. I am taking advantage of the weather to cook some stuff that can be easily frozen in small packets for our dog sitter aka, daughter. So I am making tomato gratin with fresh Greek basil (from the garden)leek soup with Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream, chicken thighs with Meyer lemon(from my tree) fennel olives and capers, seasoned with ground fennel and fresh rosemary(from the garden) and lastly, pulled pork. The dog sitter has requested white bean soup and also chili. Those will be made in the coming days. We still have 20 days til sailing! Where is Jeff...maybe he fell in the muffin batter.

 

Appreciate the concern and interest from our south Florida friend. No snow drifts and/or big ice slips here. Fortunately!!

 

Am now in the front row at National Geographic Traveler photo seminar in Columbus. It is titled: "The Travel Assignment". Among the topics covered will be:

 

Shooting for a Story: Train your eyes to look for photos that tell a story. You can prepare yourself by researching the local culture and landscape before you go. You'll see examples from stories that were shot for specific assignments and hear how you can best capture a sense of place to bring home.

 

Photographing People: Photographing people can be intimidating once you get up close. Learn how to capture their character and the special moments in their lives while making it a rewarding experience for both of you. Find out how to connect with your subjects so you will be able to transform ordinary candid shots into extraordinary images.

 

Here are the two speakers doing the presentations today:

 

Dan Westergren: As Senior Photo Editor for National Geographic Traveler magazine, Dan Westergren is responsible for the magazine's photographic vision. While under his watchful eye, National Geographic Traveler has won numerous awards for photography. Besides photo editing, Dan is an accomplished photographer who has photographed a variety of articles for Traveler magazine. He particularly enjoys cold, high places, having photographed the summits of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Blanc, and the Matterhorn for the pages of Traveler. He is also an experienced teacher, having led workshops for National Geographic Expeditions in places such as Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tuscany, Italy, Baja, Mexico, Antarctica and the Arctic.

 

Jim Richardson: Spending the last 25 years traveling the world for the National Geographic Society, his first story appeared National Geographic Magazine in 1984. He has also been a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler with more than 40 stories published. Besides traveling around the world five times and photographing the Arctic and Antarctic, he is also known for his documentary photography of small-town life, looking for the memorable and precious wherever he goes. CBS Sunday Morning has profiled his work twice, as did ABC's Nightline.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 195,516 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[Lord Horace]

Hello Terry

Have read and looked at your Amazon and Home pictures/diary with great Interest and thank you for taking the time to educate the world. A question, how do you post a photograph from your camera/mobile/computer onto this sight. I too have deer albeit a different type to yours, squirrels etc in our garden/land. The latter are grey not alas the red. My late husband used to call the grey squirrels ....tree Rats... But I have to admit they are very hard working and indeed very clever in the ways they'd get to the bird feeders. If I can master how to post the pictures you will see what I mean. I am lucky to live in a beautiful part of England within a National Park that is full of wild.ife. With not having neighbours many have become somewhat tamer than they should.

On a different note we did the last part of the 2012 Whisper cruise from Cape Town to FLLthen onwards to Southampton. South Africa is so cheap (albeit much more expensive than it use d to be) and so beautiful. The Cape Grace is excellent, book a mountain. Kew and book a day/days chaffeur car from the hotel. So worth while. If time allows do a safari......you will never forget the experience...all good. With thanks to all your diary entries with wonderful photographs

[TLCOhio]

Hello Terry Have read and looked at your Amazon and Home pictures/diary with great Interest and thank you for taking the time to educate the world. A question, how do you post a photograph from your camera/mobile/computer onto this sight. I too have deer albeit a different type to yours, squirrels etc in our garden/land. The latter are grey not alas the red. My late husband used to call the grey squirrels ....tree Rats... But I have to admit they are very hard working and indeed very clever in the ways they'd get to the bird feeders. If I can master how to post the pictures you will see what I mean. I am lucky to live in a beautiful part of England within a National Park that is full of wild.ife. With not having neighbours many have become somewhat tamer than they should.

On a different note we did the last part of the 2012 Whisper cruise from Cape Town to FLL, then onwards to Southampton. South Africa is so cheap (albeit much more expensive than it use d to be) and so beautiful. The Cape Grace is excellent, book a mountain. Kew and book a day/days chaffeur car from the hotel. So worth while. If time allows do a safari......you will never forget the experience...all good. With thanks to all your diary entries with wonderful photographs

 

Appreciate these very kind and nice comments on my live/blog from this UK resident. Don't know that I am "educating the world", but it has been fun sharing. YES, we are looking forward to seeing South Africa, Botswana, etc. It will be our first visit to Africa. Have gotten nothing but great previews, tips and comments from many friends and others for what we will super love there. Keep the good suggestions rolling along!! Yes, we will do several "safari" experiences in order to get closer to the nature and the wildlife, plus capturing many exciting pictures, etc.

 

Below are my photo posting tips/secrets. Let me or us on these boards about any added questions. Look forward to seeing your visuals posted here.

 

For posting larger photos to these boards, your FIRST STEP is pick an outside web source that will store or “host” your pictures to be posted. Cruise Critic does not have the space to do larger pictures on their site. You can check such places as photobucket.com, imageshack.com, photoshow.com, flickr.com, picasa.google.com etc. I’ve used photobucket.com and have been pleased with how they upload, etc. SECOND, you need to make an export of your picture in a size such as around 1000 pixel wide by about 700 to your desktop of your computer. That’s the approximate size that I use for this purpose. If you make your file too big for posting, then it slows the process and takes long to upload, etc. THIRD, you use this outside web host to which you upload these different pictures sitting on your desktop. FOURTH, after uploading each picture, you will make a copy of that imbedded address in your file for future posting purposes. It will have have the square parentheses or bracket symbols before and after the capital letter IMG at the start and end of this location on your photo storage site.

 

Then as you want to post each different picture, you would, FIFTH STEP, copy and paste that imbedded address file for each picture as a part of your message on the CC Boards. In my files, I also have brief written description of each picture and have them grouped by the different city or country locations. With this imbedded file address, the reader on these boards doesn’t have to check on anything or paste to their web browser. It just pops up showing the picture. Does this help? Let us know how it works out and/or any added questions. It will hopefully pop up as these couple of pictures do below. You can preview your post to see if it's working OK before doing the actual post to these CC boards.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

If Venice is one of your future desires or past favorites, look at this earlier posting for many options and visual samples this city that is so great for "walking around", personally seeing its great history and architecture. This posting is now at 48,911 views.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

[TLCOhio]

From yesterday's National Geographic Traveler photo seminar in Columbus titled: "The Travel Assignment", here are a few of my highlights:

 

This is the fifth of their programs that I have attended. First was in Philadelphia, March 2012,, then previously three such presentations in Columbus (October 2012 plus May and November 2013). Each of these programs has two of their expert photographers sharing tips, insights and many photo examples. Very interesting and inspiring!! Lots of opportunities to ask questions of these experts who are so experienced and very well-traveled.

 

Jim Richardson has become a super expert for National Geographic on Scotland, especially for their scenic and unique islands. Jim lives in a small town (Lindsborg) in central Kansas near to where my wife's brother lives in Junction City. Jim's sense of humor was wonderful and both of them do not get too "technical" in suggesting their secrets for getting good pictures from your travels.

 

Dan Westergren is the Senior Photo Editor for National Geographic Traveler magazine and opened with some of the top, top visual highlights during the first thirty years with this magazine.

 

From Jim: Be interesting, don’t be boring. Do photo views from a higher location. For areas such as the Amazon or Africa, getting some from a higher angle, such an aircraft, can be helpful in putting the locations in perspective. Try for something more than just at water or ground level. Things have changed. Just taking a picture of a “place” is not your real or best experience. Make it about your “unique experience” to be more "personal"!! With a wide angle lens, you can change the scale, get more “involved” in the scene. A wide angle allows you to show more in the background. Doing festivals with its outpouring of local pride and character is always colorful. He summarized: “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.”

 

From Dan: Their magazines like photos that have a “sense of place”. Likes to put their readers in the destinations where we travel. The NG approach is liking to have people in their pictures. Not just a sterile or post-card image. On defining light, photographs speak through light. The light defines the mood and the feeling of the place. Shooting at dusk is the best time of the day to shoot. They want "meaningful" pictures, not just pretty pictures that have been seen many times previously. Window light is our best fried for getting great lighting effects. Getting down low helps to separate the subject from the background. NG Traveler does much on cities and food/dining places, bars, etc., as locations where there is “action”.

 

On photographing people, Jim strongly suggests getting "below the surface". Get them in their environment, their setting. Let those things come out in the pictures. On tips for reflecting the character of the people you are shooting, he gave an example of photos with Mounties in Canada. Get to know them first. Make that personal “connection”. Look for "telling gestures". Let them be themselves.

 

For "capturing moments", it can be more difficult to get. You need to shoot lots of frames. Festivals are great and it could be good to get to the starting point or later at the end of the parade or program. Anticipate what is coming. Prepare and anticipate, watching for repeating moments. Set-up and wait!!?? Try lots of different things, angles, looks, ready for the moment.

 

From Dan on using light, we can see with our eyes in both shadow and bright light. But, the camera cannot do that wide of a range of lighting. Go when the light is good. Take the picture from a variety of angles. See what works best. Backlighting will often give it more depth.

 

These are only a few of my notes, but hopefully they inspire some encouragement to get better, more interesting visuals that will creative better memories from our life experiences and travels.

 

From the March 2012 National Geographic Traveler photo seminar in Philadelphia, here is what I had posted earlier on that program, their photo tips, ideas, etc.:*

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1590698

 

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 101,547 views for this posting.

 

 

Here are a few of my visual samples from the National Geographic photo seminar in Columbus yesterday. It shows photo editor Dan (the younger one) and experience field photographer Jim in action, sharing so much with the audience. Plus, a few of their photo examples were shown during this all-day program. These photo samples do not do full or even part justice to the quality of what they have produced. These visuals help give, however, a little "tasting" for the many exciting and interesting locations they have visited and documented over the years for the NG magazines.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

We had a chance to overdose on Vitamin D this past weekend - the weather in the San Francisco region was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday. We went out Friday evening for my sister's 40th on Saturday. Here's Chris enjoying the beautiful weather at the top of the Lyon Street stairs, looking out at the bay...

 

 

And here I am at Ledson Winery in Sonoma, where we went for a quick wine tasting Saturday afternoon. The thermometer in our car reached 81 degrees for a short time. What is this green stuff on the ground?

 

 

Back to reality - lots of snow on the ground at home still, and 20 degrees to greet us this morning. Oh well - only 10 days until we go to France for the river cruise!

[TLCOhio]

We had a chance to overdose on Vitamin D this past weekend - the weather in the San Francisco region was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday. We went out Friday evening for my sister's 40th on Saturday. The thermometer in our car reached 81 degrees for a short time. What is this green stuff on the ground? Back to reality - lots of snow on the ground at home still, and 20 degrees to greet us this morning. Oh well - only 10 days until we go to France for the river cruise!

 

Appreciate these nice pictures and details from your enjoyable San Francisco and wine country pictures. These are two of our most favorite areas to visit and enjoy. Yes, your Europe river adventure is getting closer. Keep us posted and be sure to share lots from those fun travels.

 

Today in Columbus, it is super sunny and we will have a high of 55F today. Some rain will come in during the next few days and over the weekend. BUT, this is much better than the cold, COLD, plus snow, etc.

 

Missing Jeff?? Need more food photos, etc. Plus, other smart insights and experience sharing. Have below for him, the last, hopefully, of our snow visuals from Central Ohio. Know that Jeff likes snow!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

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

Now at 18,719 views for these postings.

 

 

Here are two "snow views" from our family room window on Monday. Updating, the snow is now all gone and it is totally sunny on Thursday am. Spring is getting lots closer. Beautiful!! Flowers, bulbs, etc., for the season will be here soon, fortunately!!:

 

 

 

 

 

Our squirrels? Here are two different Monday views. First, one of our squirrels is busy on the snow. Second, an enterprising squirrel is trying to reach, but failing, to gain access to this bird feeder. With an effective guard to keep these creatures away, this set-up limited access to only our feathered friends and stopped the squirrel's efforts.: