Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, Lois R said:

Hi Jazz,😃 so when do you fly out for your cruise Downunder?

Sitting in the Greenwich Lounge at JFK T8 now. Boarding in a few minutes. [For 17 1/2 hour non-stop to AKL]

[Lois R]

14 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Sitting in the Greenwich Lounge at JFK T8 now. Boarding in a few minutes. [For 17 1/2 hour non-stop to AKL]

Ohhhh.....didn't realize you are leaving today. Have a safe and UNeventful flight and a wonderful cruise.🙂

[jpalbny]

Jazzbeau & Jazzbelle are well underway. Just under 15 hours to go... Have a great trip!

 

 

This June we will fly the JFK-SIN non-stop route. Should be fun!

Edited January 22 by jpalbny

[Emtbsam]

45 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Jazzbeau & Jazzbelle are well underway. Just under 15 hours to go... Have a great trip!

 

 

This June we will fly the JFK-SIN non-stop route. Should be fun!

I hope you are on Singapore Airlines!

[jpalbny]

56 minutes ago, Emtbsam said:

I hope you are on Singapore Airlines!

 

We are. And we are excited to try it!

 

First big trip in at least ten years where we're not flying with an airline in the SkyTeam alliance. But SkyTeam has nothing useful in Australia, now that Virgin Australia isn't in the alliance any longer, so this made much more sense. Just a simple hop from JFK-SIN-Darwin on the way to join Silver Cloud, and Perth-SIN-JFK coming home. Simple. Other than the ridiculous flight times...

[Emtbsam]

4 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

We are. And we are excited to try it!

 

First big trip in at least ten years where we're not flying with an airline in the SkyTeam alliance. But SkyTeam has nothing useful in Australia, now that Virgin Australia isn't in the alliance any longer, so this made much more sense. Just a simple hop from JFK-SIN-Darwin on the way to join Silver Cloud, and Perth-SIN-JFK coming home. Simple. Other than the ridiculous flight times...

If you are in First Class, do the champagne taste test Krug vs Dom.

[jpalbny]

Just now, Emtbsam said:

If you are in First Class, do the champagne taste test Krug vs Dom.

 

We're slumming it in Business. Next time!

[drron29]

1 hour ago, Emtbsam said:

If you are in First Class, do the champagne taste test Krug vs Dom.

You really should try Japan Airlines in First Class. We did 3 weeks ago and the champagne was Salon 2013.You could have tried Dom as well but I stuck with the Salon. 

[DavyWavey70]

22 hours ago, lovedecruise said:

Hi DavyWavey, we watched your ship leave port tonight - what a sight to behold. We’re glad Tauranga put on a lovely fine day for you. Hope you had a wonderful time at Hobbiton. 
You may not be aware but there were two lots of pier runners. First a group of five and then a group of two. We were talking to the security workers and they were worried they weren’t going to make. First time we have seen folk running for the ship.  
Here are some photos of your departure from the port. Safe travels. 
 

Fabulous pics. Thank you for those. I wasn’t aware of the 5 runners but got up to have a look over the rail when the captain kept blowing the horn!

[DavyWavey70]

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

@drron29 I'm about to find out how dinner on Qantas compares.  What airline are you on?

Well I can vouch for how grim the sausage rolls are on a 5 hour internal. I Declined the kind offer of a second one (as did everybody else). Have a great trip JB.

[DavyWavey70]

So yesterday was Hobbiton! What an incredible day. We planned it with my friends months ago. I’m so glad we did. 7 of us had a mini bus and driver for the day. We set off around 7.30 and first stop was the hot springs at Rotarua. Our guide was superb and showed us a much he could in the time we had. No time for a mud bath though! A Quick wander around Ohinemutu village and all aboard the skylark and Hobbiton bound. We arrived in plenty of time for our 11.40 tour which was to be followed with a Hobbit feast. The weather was stunning and just made the whole place sparkle. The detail is quite something. Spotted many places memorable from the film. The highlight though was getting to go inside one of the Hobbit holes. They’ve only just been given interiors and reopened last month. They even had the smell of freshly sawn wood. The detail and craftsmanship involved in the interiors is next level.

[drron29]

 

 

 

[highplanesdrifters]

19 hours ago, Lirio said:

Today we biked alongside Rambla, followed by a parilla lunch (very good) and the rest of the day by the hotel pool.

 

 

 

 

 

What an interesting building in the last photo.  Do you know anything about it? Thanks for sharing. 

[Lirio]

1 hour ago, highplanesdrifters said:

 

What an interesting building in the last photo.  Do you know anything about it? Thanks for sharing. 

From Wikipedia:

 

"The Pittamiglio Castle. The façade facing the promenade exhibits a replica of  the Victory of Samothrace, representing "the victory of life", made by the Italian-Uruguayan sculptor Pedro Piccioli, which makes the building emblematic of the Montevideo coast.

It was the residence  of the architect Humberto Pittamiglio from 1910  to 1966, who kept it under permanent construction from the time he bought the land in 1910 until the day of his death, with the premise that its construction would never end, as a metaphor that life is a boat trip."

 

I just passed in front of it. Didnt stop. Maybe next time.

 

[Lirio]

Someone is sailing away from Montevideo........the picture is not very good, but a cruise ship has just passed-by in front of my window

 

 

 

[jollyjones]

Norwegian Star according to MarineTraffic. 

[QueSeraSera]

On a bit of a serious note

But maybe just encouragement for cooler denizens so wanted to pass on to you...

The spacing got degraded by my cut and paste, just punctuate and separate as you choose.

 

from Pablo Neruda (Chilean poet):

 

You start dying slowly ;

if you do not travel,

if you do not read,

If you do not listen to the sounds of life,

If you do not appreciate yourself.

You start dying slowly :

When you kill your self-esteem,

When you do not let others help you.

You start dying slowly ;

If you become a slave of your habits,

Walking everyday on the same paths…

If you do not change your routine,

If you do not wear different colours

Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.

You start dying slowly.

 

 

[drron29]

 

 

[jpalbny]

5 minutes ago, drron29 said:

 

 

This meme is missing someone taking a selfie!

[highplanesdrifters]

22 hours ago, Lirio said:

From Wikipedia:

 

"The Pittamiglio Castle. The façade facing the promenade exhibits a replica of  the Victory of Samothrace, representing "the victory of life", made by the Italian-Uruguayan sculptor Pedro Piccioli, which makes the building emblematic of the Montevideo coast.

It was the residence  of the architect Humberto Pittamiglio from 1910  to 1966, who kept it under permanent construction from the time he bought the land in 1910 until the day of his death, with the premise that its construction would never end, as a metaphor that life is a boat trip."

 

I just passed in front of it. Didnt stop. Maybe next time.

 

How very interesting,  thanks.

[spinnaker2]

Need new furniture???

 

[DavyWavey70]

So day before yesterday, I think, Bay of Islands was another desperately mediocre ships excursion. It’s a shame there wasn’t a brewery there but I’m not sure a p*ss up would have gone any better. The one big weakness on Celebrity in this part of the world is the excursions. Mis-sold and overpriced buses full of bewildered people being driven around the Island thinking they must have got on the wrong bus never makes for a good day out. I was so disappointed with my last port day that I took the shuttle bus to town and with an hour before sailing I found myself a helicopter trip. The South African “gentleman” on the trip was really disappointed that he lost the coin toss and had to sit in the back with his wife but I suspect not as disappointed as she was. Turned a very poor last day into a fabulous one. 

 

I’ve been told by quite a few that their excursions are usually better but they need to work much harder at it for next season. The driver of the buses have to do everything. Not a guide or Celebrity rep to be seen anywhere. 
 

Sea day yesterday and a fabulous dinner at Eden. 
 

Our last day today and the weather was fabulous. A Volleyball match between officers and passengers was good fun. The Captain threw a few heroic moves but the passengers won in the end. 
 

Well my natural aversion to short grumpy people with loud voices, elbows spaced too far apart, wearing visors and velcroed shoes and carrying plates much heavier than they should be able to has pretty much kept me out of harms way so far by avoiding the buffet, I do love a wildlife park and observing creatures in their own environments. Here you are allowed to feed them but you mustn’t pet them. I couldn’t face the full battle so just nipped to Carvery corner to grab a few bits and scarpered. The Kangaroo loin had a bit of a kick to it but wasn’t as challenging to my new teeth as my first attempt. The wild boare  was nowt but fat but the turkey was ok. Cocktail tasting followed. Time to pack now and then off onto the next part of my adventure! 

Edited January 24 by DavyWavey70
The ongoing impossibility of uploading anything in a meaningful format whilst aboard a ship.

[drron29]

Well DW we are now at home. happy to drive down to old brisbane town on Saturday night. Findit hard to find a half decent restaurant near North lakes so am making a few enquiries with the locals. if you have any preferences let us know.

My hotmail account is dr_ronnie.

[drron29]

 

 

 

[Port Power]

 

i don’t know know which specialty restaurant those photos are from, but the plating looks far better than Atlantide.