Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[Mark_K]

Canada received its first family this morning at the airport in TO. Scurry of activity to find accommodation for these families across the country. The Donald will want a barbed wire fence for certain now.

 

 

If he gets elected it might be Canada building the fence. ;)

[mysty]

Good One Mark! :)

[TLCOhio]

From the Times today in London, they have this headline: "BA threat to abandon Heathrow" with a very good chart about the three options for expanding that prime London mega airport (by adding a third runway or a long lengthening of one existing runway). . . OR . . . adding a second main runway at Gatwick.

 

From our limited experiences, Heathrow has its challenges and the overall London area needs more airport capacity to compete in the future world economy. And, make business people happy and produced future jobs. BUT, what's best and most likely to happen? Insights and predictions from Jeff? Or, others who have to "live with it" for what is or is not done? And, how much longer will take for the government to study this issue and decide? Or, is the idea of an island airport in the Thames estuary possible or even probable??

 

The British Airways CEO is against expanding Gatwick, saying airlines and customers do not want to go that far away to the south of London. The BA executive worries that the cost of about 14-18 billion pounds is too high and calls some of the spending for new terminals, highways, rail routes and parking garages to be too "gold-plated". Tell us more and predict the future as to when and how this gets decided.

 

Full story at:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/transport/article4638360.ece

 

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 55,556 views.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

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

[UKCruiseJeff]

Terry,

 

The present situation is that there has already been a firm but unpublished decision to add a third runway at Heathrow.

 

The delay in announcing it is more to do with public announcement is political fallout with respect to avoiding the immediate resignation of several cabinet ministers and the next Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, Zac Goldsmith. The most likely timing for the annnouncement is during the third quarter of 2016 and may include approval for another runway at Gatwick in addition to Heathrow.

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Unserer Weihnachts-Stüberl heute.

 

 

 

 

[mysty]

Morning Coolers! Such a very inviting scene J! Warm enough to enjoy the outdoors! :)

[TLCOhio]

Terry, The present situation is that there has already been a firm but unpublished decision to add a third runway at Heathrow. The delay in announcing it is more to do with public announcement is political fallout with respect to avoiding the immediate resignation of several cabinet ministers and the next Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, Zac Goldsmith. The most likely timing for the annnouncement is during the third quarter of 2016 and may include approval for another runway at Gatwick in addition to Heathrow. Jeff

 

Appreciate Jeff this added background on the "dances and delays" about a Heathrow decision. Yes, had read about the speculation/claim that much now is about trying to protect their Conservative candidate for Mayor and that things would get finalized next year after that election is completed.

 

BUT, what's your view on the need and wisdom for doing the third runway at Heathrow versus the other options, including for Gatwick? Assume you agree that Heathrow and/or London needs added airport capacity, right? Any other insights, background and aspects that have not been covered well in the media? From Jeff and/or others??

 

THANKS, Jeff, for your help! You are my "London/UK expert"!! 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 128,509 views for this posting.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Terry,

 

The UK hub is at Heathrow not Gatwick.

 

Jeff

[brimary]

In my opinion the expansion of Heathrow will never come to fruition and rightly so for the following reasons, UK cannot afford it,Many influential individuals live in the surrounding areas and are against it,It is the worst managed major airport in the World and expansion will only make things worse,the motorway and other approach roads more often than not resemble a car park,public transport links are a nightmare.My suggestion would be to find a country with a massive amount of spare capital to invest in the building and infrastructure of a completely new airport that will be fit for purpose and failing this do not throw good money we do not possess on developing further an airport that is appalling for today's requirements.

[UKCruiseJeff]

In my opinion the expansion of Heathrow will never come to fruition and rightly so for the following reasons, UK cannot afford it,Many influential individuals live in the surrounding areas and are against it,It is the worst managed major airport in the World and expansion will only make things worse,the motorway and other approach roads more often than not resemble a car park,public transport links are a nightmare.My suggestion would be to find a country with a massive amount of spare capital to invest in the building and infrastructure of a completely new airport that will be fit for purpose and failing this do not throw good money we do not possess on developing further an airport that is appalling for today's requirements.

 

 

I must say I have read a wide range of opinions on this topic but not seen the suggestion so far that (a) tax payers would be funding it rather than passengers or (b) it should be buit in a different country. Have I understood you correctly is that your theory is that it will or should either not be built at all or built in another country? :confused:

 

I haven't been able to compare Heathrow with every other airport in the world and I have to say that many are nicer places to visit but I'd say that for the elments that Heathrow controls it is very well run. It packs capacity into an inadequate space and the major let-downs are operations outside it's control namey immigration queues. Baggage and security use to be dire but is so much better than it was.

 

There are no viable alternatives to a third runway and doing nothing is the least likely.

 

If you were starting from scratch, you wouldn't put Heathrow where it is but we are where we are. With the new runway there will be major new office development making Heathrow very attractive internationally, and the increase of train connections from 18 to 50 trains an hours making London much quicker for international businesess based in London. This is further enhanced by the quick connections to other hubs from City Airport. The third runway makes it competititve with Paris, Frankfurt and Schipol.

 

I mean this very respectfully but your comments indicate to me that you know insufficient about the actual plans for the runway and surrounding infrastructure, how it will be financed, and the degree of support the Heathrow option has and the resistance to all of the alternatives. Just because Boris is noisy it doesn't mean there are a lot of him.

 

An Airports Commission have been appointed to recommend and they say Heathrow very loudly and clearly and that is where it will be. I think Heathrow's summary to be reasonably accurate:

 

Government’s announcement to progress Heathrow’s expansion and undertake further environmental research follows the unanimous and unambiguous recommendation of the Airports Commission this summer after a two and a half year, £20m study – the deepest ever into UK aviation capacity.

 

The Commission confirmed that expanding Heathrow would have the biggest economic benefits for the UK and can be done while reducing noise for local communities and within EU air quality limits.

 

Expanding Heathrow will give Britain up to 40 more long haul destinations, such as Wuhan, Osaka and Panama City, making it the best connected country in the world.

 

It will more than double the number of domestic routes served, ensuring every region and nation of the UK can get to global markets and, increase cargo capacity, supporting Britain’s exporters. This will result in up to £211bn of economic growth, 180,000 jobs and 10,000 apprenticeships spread across the whole of Britain.

 

Expansion of Heathrow is backed by business, trade unions, politicians and airlines as the best solution to Britain’s aviation capacity crunch. Supporters include the CBI, BCC, chambers of commerce across the country, Unite, the GMB, 37 British airports and airlines such as easyJet, which plans to operate from an expanded Heathrow. Independent polling has shown that expansion has strong support in local constituencies.

 

Heathrow is confident that its plans meet tough environmental conditions and will move into the delivery phase. Logistics hubs are already planned across the UK, notably in the Midlands, the Northern Powerhouse and Scotland.

 

The news will put in motion billions of pounds of contracts for British companies, including SMEs, to deliver the largest privately financed infrastructure project in the country.

 

 

Jeff

Edited December 11, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[brimary]

Nowhere did I say it should be built in another country as your false statement states.The suggestion was use foreign capital like the government are doing with the steel industry with Chinese funding.My opinion is that expanding Heathrow would only add to the problems that already exist and cost a fortune.I apologise for not being as knowledgable as you but I merely expressed my opinion that developing Heathrow is not the best option available.

[UKCruiseJeff]

But it is foreign capital.:confused:

 

Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited is owned by FGP Topco Limited, a consortium owned and led by the infrastructure specialist Ferrovial S.A. (25.00%), Qatar Holding LLC (20.00%), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (12.62%), the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (11.20%), Alinda Capital Partners (11.18%), China Investment Corporation (10.00%) and Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) (10.00%)

 

Happy?

 

Jeff

[Mark_K]

[UKCruiseJeff]

:D:D

 

 

I know some like anecdotes and your picture reminded me of the old corporate days ...... and if this offends or bores then push on to another thread ...... :rolleyes:

 

I once had to travel with the CEO and board of one of our most prestigeous customers from a car factory based in Luton to visit a plant between Nice and Cannes called La Gaude that made the first advanced "switching" units which I wanted them to buy and we were able to secure one of the Europe corporate jets (a lovely big Falcon .... I must tell you one day about another job that particularl bird had to do .... ;);)) to take us there for a day and a night or so subject to fun.

 

Amongst the my corporate team was the most senior techy world-wide associated with the technology. We agreed to meet and pick up the customer team at their factory in Luton at early breakfast and they had decided to push the boat out and put on a champagne breakfast in the board room. It was all pretty stiff and as it should be until my techy made a beeline for the champers and his speed of operation and consumption was breathtaking. He was my type of bloke. :)

 

Anyway Long story to Short story. We had laid on a couple of exec minibuses to pick us up at the factory to take us straight to the plane on Luton Airpoert Exec area. Nothing I said to my techy would detatch his fingers from his last undrunk glass of free bubbly and he was now hopelessly drunk. So he travelled all the way from the board room of the car factory in Luton to La Gaude with this warm glass of half druink champers in his hand. And as soon as he arrived at the factory instead of giving an advanced presentation of the technology invloved, he nestled into a sleep and started to doze, then sleep and then snore with the drink gripped in hs hands that had stayed with him from Luton to Cote D'Azur.

 

In the end the customer formed an affinity with my techy and on the basis that he always worked on site with them before lunch and with no breakfast they spent several mil on stuff we though they should have.

 

"Thanks for the memories ......."

 

Jeff

[specialcruisegirl]

Hi All....

 

Great story Jeffers...good old days eh!

 

A very very wet day her in Wales, thankfully I don't have to go out!! More or less finished the festive prepping..now a tad worried that l may just be too organised! [emoji6]

 

Plaice and Chips for luncheon....calm before the storm of cooking next weekend.....

 

Happy Weekend

 

S [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[specialcruisegirl]

 

 

Love old blue eyes....remember reading about him tipping a valet $100 stating that he betted that's the biggest tip he's ever had....valet replied that it actually wasn't to which Sinatra was taken aback and demanded to know who tipped him more....Valet replied. " well you did Sir, just last week you give me $200......!!

My late Mum got to meet him at the Desert Inn Vegas not long before she passed....and for some unknown reason asked if she could have his camel cig dog end that he'd just put out on the stage.....she placed it in a small transparent box and treasured it.....l still have it and over the years it's made for some very interesting dinner conversation when folk ask about it!!

 

Useless trivia........S [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mysty]

Morning All!

 

Mark...That is a wonderful pic of Sinatra! Thanks for posting it!

 

J...that is a really funny story and it had an unexpectedly happy ending for all. Could have been a nightmare. I love stories like that!

 

Sophia...Stay dry! We continue to have unseasonably warm temps here. No snow. At this time last year we had a storm that dumped 15 cm of snow. I am not complaining about the weather now! :) And the story of your late Mum and her treasure brought a huge grin to my face. What a lovely memory!

 

Enjoy your day all!

 

PS.....Cruise ticket bundle was delivered yesterday. Very impressive packaging! :)

[duct tape]

Brimary, don't apologize. It won't matter to the Cooler Crowd. [emoji6][emoji319]

[TLCOhio]

Mark...That is a wonderful pic of Sinatra! Thanks for posting it!

PS.....Cruise ticket bundle was delivered yesterday. Very impressive packaging! :)

 

Appreciate the great mention on Frank Sinatra. Yes, today is his 100th Birthday. Lots of great specials, including by HBO, have been done on "Old Blue Eyes". As most reflect, Sinatra had a unique career with many ups and downs, personally and professionally. Lots of twists and turns!! For my iPod and iMusic collection, I have many Sinatra songs there as top favorites, including "My Way", "New York, New York", "Summer Winds", etc. I especially love the arrangements done by Nelson Riddle and the great orchestra work to back up his singing.

 

What are the Sinatra song favorites by others? Your top movies that featured Sinatra?

 

Glad that our Canada friend got her cruise ticket bundle. We are only a few weeks away from getting our for our Feb. 2-12 Silver Cloud sailing along the South Africa coast. Today, need to finishing paying the big chunk of credit card payment on the rest of our Botswana safari adventure.

 

LONDON HEATHROW: Appreciate the various and added insights about Heathrow. As I mentioned our luck has not been too bad in going through there a number of times. BUT, such as on our upcoming South Africa travels, we sought to avoid Heathrow with its massive/confusing lay-outs and high tax costs. We are flying through Qatar, which, interestingly, is one of the main owners of this London airport.

 

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 33,172 views for these postings.

 

 

In late June 2006 while in London after doing our first cruise (doing Greece/Turkey), we caught this Sinatra show at the famed Palladium that was super fun and very impressive. It had a 26-piece Big Band orchestra and featured lots of video/audio Sinatra highlights blended in with great singers and dancers. As an example, a shiny DC-3 airplane wing came down on the stage with dancer performing on it as the music to "Come Fly with Me" was being played. Impressive!!:

 

 

 

Here are three other visuals from the Bing search engine to represent a little on the wonderful Sinatra career. This includes Frank with second wife Ava who helped save his film career and with the Rat Pack in Las Vegas. So many great, interesting memories and songs from the Sinatra era. Fun memories!!:

 

 

 

 

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

I do so hope I do not inflame negatively, angry passions because of my pictures of my modest grub. :(

 

But today wifey left me to myself whilst she went off for lobster and steak at Bath with #1 daughter.

 

So today I had something that had been on the mind as a possible improvement. That is simply putting my Red Thai Chicken Curry into taco shells. It worked well.

 

And I have also imporved the Eccles Cake by making it into a roll and adding lightly dry fried sliced almonds. It is better.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2015 by UKCruiseJeff

[spinnaker2]

The sanitizer fairy has waved a magic wand and sugar plums now abound.

 

Here's to fairy dust and glitter to all.

[mysty]

Hear Hear to the fairy dust and glitter! Hope you are doing well spinnaker2!

[spinnaker2]

Thanks Mysty for asking...

We put Bromley to sleep about one week ago.

It's been very tough here for all of us.

Other dog is moping, not herself, hiding.

[mysty]

I read your post about Bromley and knew that the house must be grieving. I was really hoping that things were looking a little brighter for all! Your presence was missed here. Glad to have you back! And I hope the other dog feels happier soon!

[UKCruiseJeff]