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The Virtual Explorers' Lounge


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On 6/1/2020 at 10:45 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

Clay - when the stout is poured first they tend to mix, rather than being layered. Never did bother with the science, when I tried it years ago, but it must be due to respective specific gravity.

It does have to do with specific gravity .. and what you think is "heavier" may not be.  Also .. and this took me a long time to do for myself after a few hours of shoveling snow a few winters ago .. a drink called a "Corsair" .. with a coffee liqueur like Kahlua on the bottom followed in order by Drambuie and Amaretto.  Involved carefully & slowing pouring the ingredients down the side of the glass with a baby spoon so the layers would form -- prevent mixing. Another one I came up with on my own (through experimentation) was a 4 layer drink -- drambuie, amaretto, bailey's irish creme, grand marnier (in that order bottom to top). Again .. lots of very careful, very slow, dribble down the side of the glass pouring .. but worth the 30 min spent at it!

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10 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

It does have to do with specific gravity .. and what you think is "heavier" may not be.  Also .. and this took me a long time to do for myself after a few hours of shoveling snow a few winters ago .. a drink called a "Corsair" .. with a coffee liqueur like Kahlua on the bottom followed in order by Drambuie and Amaretto.  Involved carefully & slowing pouring the ingredients down the side of the glass with a baby spoon so the layers would form -- prevent mixing. Another one I came up with on my own (through experimentation) was a 4 layer drink -- drambuie, amaretto, bailey's irish creme, grand marnier (in that order bottom to top). Again .. lots of very careful, very slow, dribble down the side of the glass pouring .. but worth the 30 min spent at it!

 

Did you at least take pictures of your experimental results??

 

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41 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Did you at least take pictures of your experimental results??

 

Of the Corsair yes. Not the experiment. Will post later. Did find out happens when the Baileys is in the wrong layer. Simply awful. 

 

Correction - I did. Will hunt down the other one. 

 

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Edited by CharTrav
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On 6/1/2020 at 12:38 AM, Peregrina651 said:

If we are discussing cameras, we need a backdrop...

Kind thought however, I may be retiring, but those are even just a little before my time 😁

We seem to have moved on to photos of drinks now so a reminder to people without SSBP that you are always welcome to "bring your own" to the lounge. 

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I could not resist making the joke about the cameras being before my time Peregrina but your comment about your father reminded me that, although the cameras in your pictures were very old, I did use cameras that worked in exactly the same way.

The studio cameras of the 70's and 80's would have been perfectly understandable to photographers of the Victorian era with a lens connected by bellows to a ground glass screen at the back which served as a viewfinder. This meant using the classic black cloth over your head when setting up the shot! They used 5x4 inch sheets of film which were loaded into darkslides and then slid into the back ready for exposure.

The reason that we were still using this kind of equipment was not just because of the high quality image that came from using such a large film size. The cameras also allowed the lens and film plane to be adjusted separately in relationship to one another. This allowed us to correct distortion, such as the the way that the sides of buildings often seem to tilt in when the camera is pointed upwards. 

In the mid-eighty's I persuaded the company I was working for to buy one of these cameras called a Sinar P for car photography in the studio. As I recall it was around £2500 with lenses and accessories, an eye-watering amount to spend on a camera back then.

Most if not all of what these "rail" cameras, as they were known, could do can now be replicated in photoshop and I expect that people like me (and your father if he is still around) who know how to work them are getting to be few and far between. I had better leave it there because I really am starting to feel my age 🧓 Which reminds me........

On 6/2/2020 at 3:10 PM, Jim Avery said:

Will one of you wake me for lunch???😎

It is nearly lunch time Jim...... 😁

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2 hours ago, photopro2 said:

(and your father if he is still around)

 

Alive, well -- and fully transitioned to digital and digital printing. The first of his cameras that I remember was a twin lens reflex (don't remember if it was a Rollei or some other brand) bought when he was in Germany at the end of WWII. And, I remember him taking pictures of us with it. He made the transition to 35mm in the early 60s -- a Zeiss Ikon -- which was also my first 35mm, and eventually my daughter also shot with it.

 

Original Baby Rolleiflex 4x4 Model 4RF TLR Camera by Bruneau & Co ...

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Just settling in to a forward facing chair with a glass of wine... what a view! 

 

Regarding cameras...

Back in the early 70s my younger brother convinced my father to convert an old closet for him to use to develop film. It was a short lived hobby, as often is the case with grade schoolers... but I still remember the smell of the chemicals.  I also remember lots of fuzzy images handing from string.

 

Alas I have not actually be on a Viking ship yet... but I'll tell you why I THINK I am going to love them...

 

We have dear friends in Canada, Shawnna and Larry,  who had taken a cruise on Royal Caribbean with the family to the the Caribbean one spring break and loved it.  After we moved back to the states Shawnna called me one day and said that Larry had expressed a desire to take a cruise to Alaska for his birthday. She had remembered that I had once mentioned being interested in doing that as well. So we hatched a plan. We planned the trip and all the excursions... but never let Larry know that Malcolm and I would be joining in the fun! 

 

Shawnna and I texted madly the day of embarkation to ensure we did not bump... literally... into each other.  Then once they were seated in the buffet area we snuck up behind Larry and.... SURPRISE!  He really had NO IDEA that we we coming along. Such fun!  It was a marvelous trip!

 

Malcolm and I had always seen cruising as a crowded cattle call, with lots of drunk people fighting over lounge chair by the pool.  If we took a cruise it would be to Alaska but that would probably be it for us.  But we enjoyed the cruise because we 'did it our way'.  We chose a somewhat smaller ship, the Coral Princess. And we planned early excursions and did not bother will all the things that cruises nickle and dime you on.  We were not at all interested in the casino or the art auctions or having our picture taken with phoney lumberjacks. We did enjoy a nice bottle of wine.... or two at dinner with friends and we loved all the naturalist talks. One of our fondest memories we discovering a hidden wake facing veranda to watch the glaciers sail by.  One afternoon, when the bar was having 2 for 1, drinks Malcolm got two bourbons and met me on a pair of wooden deck chairs to watch the scenery go by one. We managed to carve out more intimate experiences than most folks I think.

 

Then a few years ago now... because I'm a planner... my friend Gail suggested we take a cruise to see the Norther Lights... then we realized how cold that would be and decided summer would be nicer.  So this week... we should be on the Viking Sky enjoying Norway, the Faroe Island and Iceland. DANG COVID 19!

 

Gail and Phil have sailed Viking before, but I am convinced they will be the cruise line for us. We love discovering new places and learning new things and a calmer less congested setting. I love that they didn't waste space on things we would not use like casinos and auction space and a kids club.  I don't mind well behaved children... but I'd rather have that space for a nice free to use spa space! I even love that they have laundry! (Coral Princess did as well and we used it as we tried to pack  light!) And complimentary wine and beer with dinner... that's just so civilized! 

 

So for now we have to wait... now we will sail in July 2021 on the Jupiter. I'm dreaming of enjoying a cocktail in the Explorers' Lounge before dinner at Manfredi's. 🙂 

 

 

 

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Edited by Liz Masterson
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On 6/7/2020 at 11:10 PM, Liz Masterson said:

Back in the early 70s my younger brother convinced my father to convert an old closet for him to use to develop film.

About the same time my Dad made a blackout board to fit our kitchen window so I could start that sort of processing and printing, for me the hobby stuck and the rest is history......

 

Thanks for the story. It is nice to meet you in this virtual lounge but I feel quite sure that you will enjoy the real thing even more.

 

July 2021 is not so far away and that is a fantastic itinerary to Iceland on the Jupiter, one of the newer ships. We were in Bergen last summer (Midnight Sun) and, as you said you liked to plan, can confirm that it is very easy to get around and make up your own tour, especially as the ship is there overnight.

It is easy to have a do-it-yourself pre-stay in Bergen too. We had Viking book our flight to arrive a day before we embarked. The bus trip into town from the small airport was straightforward and we overnighted at the Thon Hotel Orion. It was reasonably priced and included a light evening meal as well as breakfast, which was helpful as food/drink is generally expensive in Scandinavia. The next morning it was just a couple of hundred yards to the ship. This also allowed us to be one of the first onboard and ahead of the game when it came to finalising dining reservations and to generally get the most out of the lovely ship.

 

We also called at Geiranger which was one of the highlights of the trip. Google "twizy geiranger" I think you will be glad you did!

 

As it is late afternoon I think that I will make use of our VSSBP (Virtual Silver Spirits Beverage Package) and have a Prosecco to tide me over until it is time to eat..... 

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Good job Photopro.  And thanks for the wakeup. What is it about being at sea and sleeping?  Maybe the extra calories?  The additional prosecco here and there?  The Motion of the Ocean?  Probably the lack of cares but whatever the reason I sleep best on Viking.  Being well rested I think I shall wander down to the Virtual Gym (the best kind) and get a good workout in before dinner and sleep.........🍸

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On 6/1/2020 at 7:51 PM, PasadenaDave said:

I am intrigued about the better grade wines when you have the SSBP.

Sorry - I meant to comment on this before and the thought about the VSSBP in my previous post reminded me.

 

As has been said the wines that are included with SSBP are not vastly superior to the included wines that are freely poured for everyone. It is not like you are going from a 3/10 wine to one that is 8/10. This is very subjective of course but I would say the included wines are 4 to 5/10 and the listed wines are 6 to 7/10.  For a rating anything above that you are going to have to buy a bottle which is outside the scope of the SSBP. The main difference with SSBP is that it covers any wine that you choose from the selection available by the glass on the wine list - as I recall they were about $5.50 a glass pay-as-you-go. 

 

With the included wines you more or less get what you are given, the choice being limited to Red, White or sparkling. In practice though sticking to the included wine, at least some of the time, does have advantages. The included wine is changed every few days and it can be regarded as a bit of a wine tasting treat to be presented with something that you might not have thought to try before. It is also much easier to take what the waiter has to hand rather than to wait while they go to get the wine from the list. A work around is to get a glass of your preferred wine from the bar, take it when you go into the restaurant and then order up a fresh glass, if you wish, while you eat. 

 

We have taken the SSBP as a promotion and also cruised without. Assessing if it is good value in advance is difficult as this will depend completely on what you choose to drink and how much. We found that we generally drank less spirits than we thought we would (strange but true!) The bar prices are reasonable and when we ordered pay-as you-go the bar bill at the end of the cruise was less than the package would have been, even though we did not skimp ourselves at all. So we know for future reference it is not good value for us. It might well be different for you.

 

Summing up I think the clue is in the name Silver Spirits, if you drink several "shorts" and/or cocktails a day then SSBP is certainly the way to go - but just for the wine upgrade, I would say not but with one proviso...... You should also look at how often you intend to eat at The Chef's Table. If you want upgraded wine pairings in that restaurant there is a charge of $25pp unless you have SSBP.  As with the other included wines my personal opinion is that the difference is not all that great, but it is something to consider.    

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We will probably get the package next time if only to "use up" some credits. We have always found the included wines to be at least OK and if we want to spend too much time drinking we don't need a ship to do so. The nicer wines in the optional dining areas may sway us, we'll see.

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Thanks for all the input.  I like all types, wine, beer, and booze.  I also like seeing that the prices for drinks are not outlandish and as such, I think drinking the provided wine and beer at lunch and dinner along with purchased cocktails will be our plan.  I don't think my wife would have many days drinking more than one drink and given that both people in the cabin must purchase the package, purchasing drinks on a per drink basis likely makes more sense (cents) for us.  Yes, I have a tendency to overthink everything when it comes to parting with money...except making the decision to book a Viking Cruise!

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15 minutes ago, PasadenaDave said:

Thanks for all the input.  I like all types, wine, beer, and booze.  I also like seeing that the prices for drinks are not outlandish and as such, I think drinking the provided wine and beer at lunch and dinner along with purchased cocktails will be our plan.  I don't think my wife would have many days drinking more than one drink and given that both people in the cabin must purchase the package, purchasing drinks on a per drink basis likely makes more sense (cents) for us.  Yes, I have a tendency to overthink everything when it comes to parting with money...except making the decision to book a Viking Cruise!

 

You're in the same boat (sorry) as my wife and I. Between the both of us we simply are not fussy enough, or drink enough, to make the package worthwhile. Especially given there are two beers and four bottles of rum in the minibar replenished daily. I understand the value for those spend more time near a bar but that is not why we cruise. Enjoy your cruise!

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Do you have to sign chits when ordering non-gratis drinks?  Or just verbally provide a cabin number?  How about if you have the SSBP?

 

We’ve only been on one non-openbar type cruise, on Windstar.  We bought the beverage package.  After a day or two they stopped asking for our cabin number.   I guess all the servers/bartenders memorize who has the package.  Or else they memorize all the paxs’ cabin numbers :-0

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6 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

No signing of chits. Cabin number asked for either way. Also, after a few days most staff in your regular haunts know it. 🍸

 

Still recorded on their little gizmo? Are drinks tracked whether "free" or not?

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50 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Still recorded on their little gizmo? Are drinks tracked whether "free" or not?

yes, most orders are taken on the crew member's phone.  On the Inaugural WC, just out of LA, several passengers complained to the General Manager that the crew was always texting on their phones.  😳

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1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

yes, most orders are taken on the crew member's phone.  On the Inaugural WC, just out of LA, several passengers complained to the General Manager that the crew was always texting on their phones.  😳

 

 

Oh to have been a fly on that wall!!!!

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4 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

yes, most orders are taken on the crew member's phone.  On the Inaugural WC, just out of LA, several passengers complained to the General Manager that the crew was always texting on their phones.  😳

really???? Those phones are their "memory"! Enter your cabin number and .. altho I was never so bold as to ask to see .. am sure that what pops up on their "phone" is your picture and name .. And of course, there's also their phenomenal ability to remember your name sans phone helper too!

Edited by CharTrav
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