Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Daveywavey70]

7 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Davey, is that a late posting, or an early breakfast drink?

 

On our way to Santiago. Almost midnight. Flight delayed but only a little, so we still have plenty of time to make the final connection in Santiago. Late dinner coming soon! 

Hehe a late posting JP. 

Happy travels. 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Enjoy the travels JP ......

 

Our last rib-eye for a few weeks ......

 

 

[Daveywavey70]

Lovely Jeff,

Rib eye is my fave. Had a beautiful one Christmas Day. Shame I had to eat it on the move though. 

[Daveywavey70]

And to celebrate the 4th of Ginuary.

The Cosmopolitan.

Brockmans Gin, Cointreau, Lime and Cranberry. 

Cheers

[UKCruiseJeff]

Dave,

 

If you ever get a chance to got to LHR T3 Qantas has a new lounge there that you can use if you are on BA that has a Gin Bar with loads of really nice stuff. 

 

 

[Lois R]

Good morning,

 

 

 

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

We are in San Fran!  Much warmer here than home but others are finding it chilly.  🙂

 

Lois...thanks for the funnies!

 

J..your rib eye looks yummy!  And DW I am loving the Ginuary concept!

 

Up at 3:30 am this morning.  Myster is still softly snoring.  Time to start the day!

 

Have a great one all!

[spinnaker2]

Happy travels JP.

 

mysty the excitement is palpable.

 

jeff, thanks for the comments on my odyss

[Lois R]

Hi Spins, good to see you again hope you are doing well.

 

Mysty, I LOVE San Francisco.  So many good restaurants!

[Daveywavey70]

Glad you made it safe and sound M. 

 

And on the 5th day of Ginuary my true love gave to me

 

The Seville sunset. 

Tangueray Sevilla and Fentimans Clementine Tonic.

 

Bonne Voyage to all my WC friends. 

Hve an amazing time. Xxxx

[UKCruiseJeff]

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Wonderful start to our adventure last night!

 

Safe travels Mr & Mrs J!  Have a great trip!

 

Loving the gins DW!

 

Have a great day all!

[Daveywavey70]

Have a fantastic time Jeff and Mrs Jeff.

Glad your there safe and sound M, looking forward to hearing all about your adventures.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks both .... 14 hour flight is a long way for a few bowls of decent noodles ..... 🙂

[Daveywavey70]

1 hour ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Thanks both .... 14 hour flight is a long way for a few bowls of decent noodles ..... 🙂

 

But worth every minute of it  I’m sure. Have a great time Jeff.

[jpalbny]

Hi from Atacama! I have 4G cell service for now. Having a great time and eating far too well for our own good. The altitude isn't bothering us. Today we were up over 15000 feet and within 2 miles of Bolivia. Amazing here.

 

Back to Santiago tomorrow and then on to Patagonia! Glad to hear that M is safely in SF and J is enroute too.

 

Moon Valley 

 

Mars Valley

 

Catarpe Valley Overlook

 

Sunset colors projected on the Andes 

 

Driving along the Altiplano

 

Geysers and Andes 

 

Edited January 6, 2019 by jpalbny

[Bill B]

That looks like nice luggage Jeff. What brand is it?

 

I purchased new bags - large checked & carry-on - for my upcoming, 'round-the-world odyssey including the Cloud, 'Cape to Cape', as my (not that old) Sampsonites had been completely destroyed by Asian (mostly China Southern) luggage handlers.

 

My new bags are Conwood - BAYMAX (never heard of them). Made in... Vietnam, China??? (it doesn't say). The girl at the 'Lug' store (Vung Tau) says they are "good", others I was looking at, she said were "no good" (of course, the Conwoods are more expensive... LOL). The tags say "Shell material is made of injection molded polypropylene, a highly impact-resistant plastic that is strong, lightweight,flexible, and moisture resistant. They have a 2-year guarantee. We'll see... 

 

 

[Bill B]

jp,

 

Oooooh. I'll be on the Bolivian Altiplano at the beginning of March as I make my way: Lima - Cuzco/Machu Picchu - La Paz - Santiago, to start my Cloud 'Cape to Cape'. Getting excited (I haven't been excited about a cruise in years), doing research and booking tours/day trips. 

[Daveywavey70]

In celebration of Jeff's travels and the 6th of Ginuary, I present...

The Singapore sling

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks Dave  .... the LPGS has commenced ......:)

 

 

[MLeh]

Greetings all, and a wave in passing to Mysty.  I hope she finds the Whisper in good condition.

 

We made it home at midnight yesterday from our Panama Canal cruise on the Whisper.  The weather in San Francisco was horrible - pouring rain and windy - which had all the flights landing slower and thus taking off late.  Our luggage was left out in the rain by the baggage handlers and upon arrival we discovered all our checked clothes had received an extra 'rinse' cycle courtesy of mother nature.  So today has been deciding which can just hung up to be dried out, and which need to be completely laundered again.  My husband isn't too thrilled with his good suit being soaked, but we're hopeful a good cleaning will be all that is needed.

 

One note:  If you ever end a cruise in San Francisco, don't take the Scenic Tour Airport transfer.  Possibly the worst tour I've ever been on in my life.  The woman was an idiot, and instead of getting to the airport at 1:15 pm, as advertised, we actually arrived at domestic departures at 1:50, and international departures after 2 pm.  Fortunately our flight wasn't scheduled until 5 pm (and didn't actually depart until after 7 pm), but there were some domestic passengers who had to do a run to catch their 3 pm flight.

 

As pertains to the cruise itself:  I hope Mysty will take some pictures and post them.  The ship is looking lovely.  The new furniture in the suites is a bit bigger than the old stuff, which makes the suites seem a bit smaller, but that is compensated for by the fact that it is all very comfortable!  The new beds were top notch.  I'm fairly sure the room attendants were emptying the vacuum cleaner bags after every room for the first few days, as the new carpets were shedding quite copiously.

 

Being the 'shake down' cruise after the refit, there were some obvious issues.  The pool didn't get filled for the first few days while they worked on some final repairs.  Handrails were missing in a couple of areas, but were soon replaced.  Automatic doors didn't open automatically

 

There were a lot of new staff who joined the Whisper in Fort Lauderdale, and service suffered while they got to know their new roles, general ship procedures, and learnt to communicate with others.  This was cleared up after a few days however, and towards the end of our 17 days on board you wouldn't know the newbies from the old pros.

 

I'm sure the World Cruisers will appreciate the hard work we put into the whip everything into shape for their arrival.

 

For this traveler though:  that's the last time I'll book at cruise immediately following a refit!

[Daveywavey70]

To celebrate the 7th of Ginuary, Elderflower Gin with Pink Lady Apple Juice.

 

Great photos JP, looks amazing there. 

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Thanks so much for the whipping into shape for the Lady Whisper MLeh!  Your efforts are much appreciated.

 

Loving the Gin days DW!  And enjoy the LPGS J and Mrs J!

[Stumblefoot]

On 1/7/2019 at 2:26 PM, MLeh said:

For this traveler though:  that's the last time I'll book at cruise immediately following a refit!

 

In all of the reading I've done on CC over the years I think one of the greatest pieces of advice I've received has been not to take voyage on a ship immediately before or after a refit, or a new launch.  Thanks for reconfirming that bit of advice again for us all here.

[Lois R]

I have read the same thing over the years.