The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[May B]

On 9/5/2020 at 1:37 PM, rafinmd said:

After 2 planned trips and 2 pandemics I've decided that my planning a round the world adventure is a sure jinx.

 

Roy

Roy, it doesn’t go all the way around, so you can get there by going east and return home going west, to avoid a true circumnavigation!

[wearesiamese]

Ok, Here is a WAY  off topic, off topic !!!

    I just got my invite for the upcoming pro football season picks from KZOK Seattle/CBS for the CBS national pro football challenge( I listen to Danny Bonaduce in Seattle so have joined via their group and pay attention to their results)  .You just need to pick the winning team per week, with tiebreaker determined by your pre chosen scores  $$cash prize for grand prize winner I am no foot ball or sports follow for that matter, other than tennis, so I picked some who statistically look like they have a better chance of winning,  but also chose  some underdogs or  you have no chance in winning the overall  contest, as inevitably there are upsets in every "bracket" in basketball so I assume there would be here too !! And the most interesting thing to me is it is MOL an even playing field because there has not been any real training season  due to covid 19 and the stats shown are from last year and due to trades in off season, and lack of pre season(I assume) that those stats don't mean a hill of beans/diddly squat for 2020-21 LOL I am posting this contest,  for entertainment purposes of course,  as most of us are really in need of having something to look forward to until we can cruise again, and I find playing brackets(basketball college level) and now here with pro football, a way to do just that and enjoy some friendly rivalry/competition between   friends/cities etc I think you can replace the city name by your favorite team's city where it says Seattle-just check the CBS local website Good luck!!

https://seattleprofootballchallenge.cbslocal.com/#/registration/login

Edited September 7, 2020 by wearesiamese

[rafinmd]

My penultimate photo from my 2010 Alaska cruise on Cruise West's Spirit of Columbia.  On September 8 we visited Petersburg:

 

 

Roy

[wearesiamese]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

My penultimate photo from my 2010 Alaska cruise on Cruise West's Spirit of Columbia.  On September 8 we visited Petersburg:

 

 

Roy

I think I would like to hire Roy and Keith as my future travel  photographers  ❤️

[rafinmd]

You don't get a sunrise every day at sea and despite several September voyages I didn't get one on September 9.  Sometimes there is a sunrise even when the weather doesn't cooperate, and this one is from my 2012 transatlantic on September 11 as we came into Reykjavik:

 

 

Roy

[Noggins]

6 hours ago, rafinmd said:

You don't get a sunrise every day at sea and despite several September voyages I didn't get one on September 9.  Sometimes there is a sunrise even when the weather doesn't cooperate, and this one is from my 2012 transatlantic on September 11 as we came into Reykjavik:

 

 

Roy

Roy, I am very sorry but I struggle to accept that the sun made any sort of showing on that trip once we left Dublin (where all the flies jumped on board to hitch a ride)! But maybe, just maybe, you got up earlier in the morning than I did.......

But I bet you can't produce a sunset picture!

Adrian

[nancygp]

53 minutes ago, Noggins said:

Roy, I am very sorry but I struggle to accept that the sun made any sort of showing on that trip once we left Dublin (where all the flies jumped on board to hitch a ride)! But maybe, just maybe, you got up earlier in the morning than I did.......

But I bet you can't produce a sunset picture!

Adrian

memories!!! 😁

 

despite the really rough ride, it was a great cruise.

 

Nancy

[rafinmd]

52 minutes ago, Noggins said:

Roy, I am very sorry but I struggle to accept that the sun made any sort of showing on that trip once we left Dublin (where all the flies jumped on board to hitch a ride)! But maybe, just maybe, you got up earlier in the morning than I did.......

But I bet you can't produce a sunset picture!

Adrian

I seem to seldom get sunsets.  I am usually either in the dining room or the Galaxy.  And not a single sunset on that cruise.

 

Roy

 

 

[ctjon]

29 minutes ago, nancygp said:

memories!!! 😁

 

despite the really rough ride, it was a great cruise.

 

Nancy

Interesting how many on this board were on that cruise   It was the "worst" one I have taken on Crystal due to weather and other issues - decision not to use tugs to get out of dock in Reykjavik - the first try  - causing us to miss a stop - taking hours to disembark in NY, etc.   BUT it didn't stop me from cruising on Crystal again.  As said in another thread it is the on board crew that makes Crystal fabulous.

 

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, Noggins said:

Roy, I am very sorry but I struggle to accept that the sun made any sort of showing on that trip once we left Dublin (where all the flies jumped on board to hitch a ride)! But maybe, just maybe, you got up earlier in the morning than I did.......

But I bet you can't produce a sunset picture!

Adrian

 

Actually we did get a very nice first day in Reykjavik eventually. It was windy and rather cool, but it was also sunny! The evening was clear and we sat up in Palm Court hoping we would see the Northern Lights. Alas, not to be. I am pretty sure that was the last sunset we saw though!!!🙃😁

[rafinmd]

That was a rough fall for the Symphony.  I was booked on 3 cruises.  I actually fared fairly well on the transatlantic and while disembarkation ran on the late side I had plenty of time to make a 12:35 train.

 

I skipped the next cruise which was Atlantic Canada to Montreal and then sailed a Montreal round trip.  We missed St. Pierre and Miquelon because the anchors would not hold in the wind.  I think the next cruise the Symphony had a breakdown and was about 2 days late leaving Montreal.

 

My final cruise was the Panama Canal, supposedly New York to Los Angeles.  I was in New York when Sandy came and the Symphony skipped New York going to end the cruise in Charleston.  Transportation in New York was stalled but my TA figured out that while the airports were closed LaGuardia had rental cars and she got me a car back home (Halloween night) and a flight to Charleston.

 

Roy

[Noggins]

11 hours ago, Roland4 said:

 

Actually we did get a very nice first day in Reykjavik eventually. It was windy and rather cool, but it was also sunny! The evening was clear and we sat up in Palm Court hoping we would see the Northern Lights. Alas, not to be. I am pretty sure that was the last sunset we saw though!!!🙃😁

I've checked my holiday photos and to my surprise do have some sunny scenes in Iceland which I had clearly forgotten about. It seems the memories of bad weather on that trip had completely obliterated the better times. Maybe I owe Roy an apology for appearing to doubt the authenticity of his sunrise photo? (Of course, I never actually doubted him!)

[rafinmd]

I'm actually surprised at how many sunrises there were on that cruise.  They were cruises better than this for weather but  morning walks do have their results.  This is September 10:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

My 9/11 sunrise is from my 2016 Northwest Passage.  As the sun rose we were just entering the Strait of Bell Isle, the body of water separating Newfoundland from Labrador and Quebec.

 

 

 

Roy

[travelberlin]

Virgin voyages plans to restart cruising with better air filters.

 

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/virgin-voyages-to-set-sail-with-contactless-food-delivery-upgraded-air-filtration?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=cnt&utm_mailing=CNT_Daily_091020&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5cb4dc09fc942d6faa574c57&cndid=50068126&hasha=0d644a19345bfa8cf398bff5f83301c6&hashb=2c0e8fb5c9a05b1ac2ec313b28642c50505996f5&hashc=a0bac3756229c61a98145b6bdcb90ff0504a9ea7450bc492f4615bd0826ee50a&esrc=survey_rca_2017&utm_content=Final&utm_term=CNT_Daily

[rafinmd]

Another sunrise from my 2012 Crystal Symphony Transatlantic; probably the nicest of the voyage.

 

 

Roy

[oakridger]

This is a nice one Roy!  Can't wait to be on board again to take the sunset pictures (sunrise not likely for this Night Owl!!).

 

~Nancy

[rafinmd]

I only have one sunrise photo for September 13, and it's from the 2016 Northwest Passage cruse.  We were on the way into Bar Harbor.

 

 

Roy

[Mike808]

These sunrise pictures are interesting.  I have enjoyed a lot of midnight pizza on Crystal.  I have never seen a sunrise.

[rafinmd]

This is the final sunrise from my 2010 Alaska trip featuring Cruise West.  On September 14 I was headed home on Amtrak's Empire Builder, probably at the service stop at Whitefish, MT.

 

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

My first ever night at sea was on the Matanuska, an Alaska ferry.  My first cruise in the traditional sense was on the Carnival Fantasy, and I hadn't really planned to return.  In 2014 I joined my brother at a reunion of his submarine crew in Charleston and the Fantasy was sailing from there so I made a last minute decision to visit that ship.  one more time.  On September 15 the sun rose as we approached Freeport:

 

 

Roy

 

 

[rafinmd]

Surprisingly. I got several sunrises from my 2014 Carnival Fantasy cruise.  I goofed yesterday and that was actually the sunrise from September 16.  This is the one from September 15 when we were at sea:

 

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Yet another sunrise from my 2014 Carnival Fantasy Cruise.  On September 17 we were in Nassau.

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

My last sunrise from the Carnival Fantasy (although there will be one more from the trip).  On September 18 we were on the way back to Charleston from Nassau:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I do not have any sunrise photos from Septerber 19, so I'll post the last one from the trip where I sailed the Carnival Fantasy.  I spent a couple of additional days with my brother in Charleston, and stopped overnight on the way home in Rocky Mount, NC.  This was taken that last morning, September 22.

 

 

Roy