Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[Mark_K]

It's a real money saver. Book a room that comes with a breakfast buffet, eat so much you're not hungry until late afternoon, then hit the Club and have hors d'oeuvres and free drinks for supper.

[lincslady]

Yes, Jeff, I do realise it is motivated by greed and determination to get as much as possible which is 'included'. We ourselves do tend to drink more when on a ship, I will admit, and probably sometimes eat more, but perhaps have a British fear of looking greedy - or at least the aesthetic sense not to put anything and everything on a plate at the same time, which could explain why we, and certainly the Brits we meet on the ships we love, generally appear not to be pigs at the trough. Also, sadly, it is often the people who look as they never really need to eat again who are most likely to be the guilty parties. It is more forgivable if you are looking at a skinny teenage boy, who needs more calories than you would believe.

 

Grumpy old woman/man

 

Lola

[UKCruiseJeff]

Yes Mark, I agree ... it can be good value .... but not really if you don't eat breakfast or go somewhere like Singapore where yopu're going there to eat out and it's so cheap. For is having some cocktails and wine before we go out is great though.

 

You rarely see thin people with those towering plates! :D

 

My worst experience which still wrankles was a couple of years ago I noticed that Flyertalk mates were having a "do" in Vienna when we were already booked to be there, so we booked one of the buffets to meet some people I knew but hadn't met ie put faces to handles. I think we paid around £80 for two of us. From memory around 50 or so people booked almost all from the US of which less than 10 were Europeans booked for the buffet.

 

When we arrived I hadn't noticed that tables were filling up fanning from the buffet table and I moved with wifey to the end of the room where it was quieter and where we met up with some really lovely Austrians and Germans who we "knew".

 

When the food wraps were removed you could almost here a "whoosh" and you have never seen so many mostly very large people move so quickly. They were very nimble footed. Plates were piled very high and were placed in the centre of communual tables ie forming a secondary buffet and some of those even then went back to the front of the queue to get further plates of food before us at the end of the queue had got anywhere close.

 

In the end wifey and I ended up with a completely empty buffet and managed to get two scrawny chicken wings between us and some bread with no butter. All of the food was on the tables of people who had basically cleared it all and the management said that they had generously over catered and were not going to add any more. They suggested we went to some of the tables where people were seated and took food from the plates centered on them, which of course we didn't.

 

Everyone at the event knew it was a "private pre-booked buffet" which was pre-paid and would have been portioned carefully and that essentially they were taking other people's meals. It was our first and last Flyertalk do.

 

:mad:

 

Jeff

Edited October 11, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[Mark_K]

On the bright side, buffet food usually isn't that good anyway, so they probably did you a favor. :)

 

I agree though, one of my pet peeves, whether it's at an event of just a get together at someone's house, is people without enough courtesy or thoughtfulness to look at the food and the number of people eating it and not filling their plates accordingly.

 

Another which I've seen on occasion that really gets me, is when you're sitting around waiting for the line to get a little shorter before getting your food and you see people going back for a second plateful.

[UKCruiseJeff]

...... and another thing as you mentioned "lounges". People dipping their fingers into nut and crisp bowls without using spoons and personal bowls. In IC Vienna it took me seven years to get them to put the stuff in wine caraffes so they couldn't get their fingers in. Seeing people dip there fingers into the bowls and putting stuff into their mouths and repeating ..... and even worst coming straight out of the lounge toilet and taking a handful of nuts or crisps as they go past just means I cannot use the buffet. Or buffets without sneeze guards. Or parents allowing their kids to use their fingers at buffets ... and ..... and ..... and ....:mad:

 

One of my pet peeves is when you join a large group going to a restaurant where it is established "let's just order stuff and split the bill" and you are at the end of the table.

 

Terrible in both Chinese and Indian restaurants. The waiters put the food in the middle of the table and the people there serve themeslves a handsome meaty plate and pass the bowl along. Then the waiters put the next dishes in the middle in the space vacated by the first dishes which are now empty and have reached you at the end of the table. You end up with a few grains of rice and a spoon of sauce. The people in the middle of the table are having a great meal.

 

I wish you hadn't raised pet eating peeves because thinking of the number of meals I have been hungry because I am over-courteous is terrible.

 

Jeff

[Mark_K]

Man to co-worker: "We had quite a tussle at dinner last night. There were seven of us and only six pork chops. Fortunately, the two I had were good."

[Mark_K]

Jeff,

 

That split the bill option never works out well for the low class beer drinker (me) when everyone else orders from the wine list.

 

Mark

[UKCruiseJeff]

Jeff,

 

That split the bill option never works out well for the low class beer drinker (me) when everyone else orders from the wine list.

 

Mark

 

I'm also just a beer drinker generally when out, on the basis that I can drink wine and spirits at home but want local beers ... particularly draught beers when out. And have you noticed how if it is a "split the bill but order a la carte" arrangement how the person suggesting it then always pick the most expensive stuff on the menu, when you are paying a share of their meal? :eek:

 

Sadly, there is always social pressure to agree to these things .... you always will look mean and unclubbable and unsociable if you disagree ... and the person who organises these things always sits in the middle of the table and get all the choices spoonfuls don't they?

 

I'm not doing it anymore. :)

 

Jeff

Edited October 11, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[TLCOhio]

Man to co-worker: "We had quite a tussle at dinner last night. There were seven of us and only six pork chops. Fortunately, the two I had were good."

 

UKCruiseJeff: And have you noticed how if it is a "split the bill but order a la carte" arrangement how the person suggesting it then always pick the most expensive stuff on the menu' date=' when you are paying a share of their meal? Sadly, [b']there is always social pressure to agree to these things[/b] .... you always will look mean and unclubbable and unsociable if you disagree ... and the person who organises these things always sits in the middle of the table and get all the choices spoonfuls don't they? I'm not doing it anymore.

 

Appreciate Mark's wonderfully funny comment on having two pork chops. Yes, lots of interesting viewpoints and perspectives on buffets, people's habits, splitting bills, etc.

 

MICHIGAN??: Have not heard, yet, from Mark and Candy about how well Michigan looked in winning big yesterday and being on a fast-rising upward direction. Coming up Saturday will be a big, big game when Michigan State visits rival Michigan in Ann Arbor at the Big House. There were a number of ranked teams losing this past week and/or having close scraps/battles. That's what makes college football fun and exciting.

 

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 123,489 views for this posting.

[UKCruiseJeff]

M,

 

Thought you might be interested in some time lapse taken and posted by another co-owner taken on our Frances ie Sony DSC100 M3.

 

Jeff

 

 

[TLCOhio]

M, Thought you might be interested in some time lapse taken and posted by another co-owner taken on our Frances ie Sony DSC100 M3. Jeff

 

Appreciate, Jeff, this very interesting video. Is that Sony DSC100 M3 camera like the one you have? Can it do such time-lapse videos? Will have to check if my Nikon D7100 can do such special types of image captures.

 

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 187,224 views.

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

[UKCruiseJeff]

Appreciate, Jeff, this very interesting video. Is that Sony DSC100 M3 camera like the one you have? Can it do such time-lapse videos? Will have to check if my Nikon D7100 can do such special types of image captures.

 

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 187,224 views.

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

 

Yes, that is the one Mysty and I both have.

 

It takes it in 4k. An in camera app does it all. The panning within the time lapse is all done within the camera ... by an app, within the app.

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

Yes, that is the one Mysty and I both have. It takes it in 4k. An in camera app does it all. The panning within the time lapse is all done within the camera ... by an app, within the app. Jeff

 

Glad to hear!! Did a Google search and found that there are ways to accomplish that time-lapse photography with my Nikon D7100. Have not had time today to read-up on it fully. BUT, I will put it on my "future to-do" list. Seems like a very interesting and exciting way to capture some images and record memories from certain locations. I assume it is best done on a tripod, right?

 

It is amazing what all can be accomplished with these many and varied new digital cameras. Lots is hidden inside these devices. With earlier mentions on this thread, I discovered and tried out doing some HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography. Had heard of and been interested in HDR. Now I know how to set-up and do it with my Nikon SLR. BUT, I need to do more practicing.

 

THANKS for Jeff's pushing on these interesting digital potentials! 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 30,166 views for these postings.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Yes Terry, time lapse photography I think rather mandates that unless you are going to sit from sun down to sun up perfectly stilland not drop off .... you'll need a tripod. ;)

 

Basically, you download the app from Sony, put the camera on a tripod set the piccies interval you want and the length of time and other settings .... then wherever you'd like the panning additions and if so what type ... then wander away and let it get on with it. An addition I would like to see in that series the guy took was Toy mode to make the whole thing look like toytown. That poster simply joined them together and added some music and titles but all the donkey work was done by the camera without any work ... just put itmon the tripod, set it and go off and do other things.

 

Jeff

[Mark_K]

Today's little historical tidbit:

 

John Tyler, 10th US President, born 225 years ago this past March, has two living grandchildren.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Mark_K

[MrsWaldo]

I'm also just a beer drinker generally when out, on the basis that I can drink wine and spirits at home but want local beers ... particularly draught beers when out. And have you noticed how if it is a "split the bill but order a la carte" arrangement how the person suggesting it then always pick the most expensive stuff on the menu, when you are paying a share of their meal? :eek:

 

Jeff

 

It's often the beer here that costs more than a wine... a bottle of craft or boutique can be $12-15, whilst a bottle of wine will be around $30

 

LOL.. we had a friend like that and we all knew his ploy... we schemed and got even. he would also order an incredibly expensive wine and have it placed in the bucket beside him..

 

We were dining at a restaurant where my parents knew the owners really well. They would have an additional blackboard menu. We went on an evening where the most expensive main was $10 more than everything else but there were only 8 serves available (not advertised). As we were in a group of 10 the waitress went around the table, making sure she got to them last, by which time that dish was no longer on the menu...and then we did the same at dessert.

 

 

He got the message.

 

On the subject of kids and buffets.... The Line at the Shang in Singapore many years ago.. There were a group of children standing with their hands/palmsekunder the chocolate fountain..... remove, lick and replace.... :eek:

[Mark_K]

MrsWaldo,

 

That makes sense when you sell your beer in oil cans.

[spinnaker2]

Terry,

Nice win by the Wolverines.

I am having internet issues. Finally narrowed it to the splitter and cables.

Waiting for replacement from Amazon.

Until then sporadic reception.

I will hold my comments about the Buckeyes for another day.

[mysty]

M,

 

Thought you might be interested in some time lapse taken and posted by another co-owner taken on our Frances ie Sony DSC100 M3.

 

Jeff

 

 

Thanks for that link Jeff! Frances is definitely multi-talented. We took the grandkids to Saunders Farm today for their Halloween displays. I took Frances along but I haven't had the chance to download her art work yet. Grandkids and parents just left and I got a "talking to" by my daughter for using a "tone" with her son when he was misbehaving. I'm still licking my wounds. That video link made me smile.

[Mark_K]

A little early in the year for a sun dog, we see them more often in winter.

 

[TLCOhio]

Terry, Nice win by the Wolverines. I am having internet issues. Finally narrowed it to the splitter and cables. Waiting for replacement from Amazon. Until then sporadic reception. I will hold my comments about the Buckeyes for another day.

 

UKCruiseJeff: Yes Terry' date=' time lapse photography I think rather mandates that unless you are going to sit from sun down to sun up perfectly stilland not drop off .... [b']you'll need a tripod[/b].

 

Happy Columbus Day!! Yes, it's not the biggest holiday in the USA, but for those of Italian heritage, it is a major event. I will be at a dinner tonight (Italian themed) with one of our local Congressman whose parents immigrated from a small village in rural Italy east of Rome. The speaker will be New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte. She is the second youngest of the 20 female Senators in America and is often seen on many national TV programs.

 

For Mark, your picture looks good, but, Hint! Hint!, we would like to see them bigger!! Needs tips and the secrets for posting them larger so that our aged eyes (except for JP, etc.) can see them better?

 

Yes, Candy, I have noted about how very, very good has Michigan been playing during the past few weeks. Looking forward to this week's dramatic battle of Michigan State versus the Wolverines. Remember that this new UM Head Coach was born in Toledo, Ohio!! Fire away about Ohio State and this year's football team. They have been inconsistent with their offense. They miss their previous Offensive Coordinator who is now the Head Coast at the University of Houston and has his team at an excellent 5-0 record. Good luck on your Internet challenges. Get your smart tech Ph.D son involved to fix things!!

 

Appreciate Jeff's added follow-up the need for a tripod in doing time-lapse photography. BUT, do I use the lighter and smaller table-top tripod? Or, bring one of the two larger tripods that I have. Choices?! Choices?!

 

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 205,444 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

[mysty]

Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. Happy Turkey Day to all who celebrate! :)

[Mark_K]

Terry,

 

Unless I start taking them with something better than an iPhone 4, they're not going to look any better bigger, just fuzzier.

 

Mark

[Mark_K]

Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. Happy Turkey Day to all who celebrate! :)

 

 

Seems like Canada Goose would be more appropriate than turkey.

 

Much of the PC crowd in the US no longer celebrate Columbus Day, they celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day.

[mysty]

Seems like Canada Goose would be more appropriate than turkey.

 

Much of the PC crowd in the US no longer celebrate Columbus Day, they celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day.

That might be a popular meal. Canada geese can make quite the nuisance of themselves!