Silver Wind Live! Helsinki to Hamburg, June 4-16, 2023

[bitob]

On 3/12/2023 at 10:47 AM, Mr Luxury said:

Shocking really and the way NC tells us all that the line is award winning and all that stuff.

Stretching the truth somewhat.

It'll catch a few that don't know I suppose

 

On 3/12/2023 at 10:58 AM, Mr Luxury said:

Yes the website is rather embarrassing and patronising to those that really know and economical with the truth for those that don't.

 

 

On 3/16/2023 at 8:28 AM, Texas Tillie said:

I’d never book a private excursion with others I didn’t know. Too afraid I’d end up with someone with issues. At least on the cruise ship excursions and the large coaches, you can get away from the ones who are nuts. The coach is large and there are 20 plus others to hang with. 🤪😵‍💫😱

 

Patty

 

On 3/25/2023 at 5:10 AM, Gilly said:

 

I think we're talking managing expectation here 🙄

 

On 3/25/2023 at 6:46 AM, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

Huh.  Just from a business prospective when a large part of your revenue comes from a particular group you tailor your product.  Not to speak running a considerate organization.  So your remedy is to have every person with mobility issues spend thousands extra on private excursions.  Patently absurd.

 

On 3/25/2023 at 7:08 AM, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

I changed my post because I felt it was too harsh, please re read it.  If you go back to my recommendation it mentions the differences in mobility issues.   I guess you and I have different interpretations of how a cruise line should handle folks with mobility issues on excursions. 

 

On 3/25/2023 at 8:04 AM, HappyInVan said:

 

I'm a finance guy. So, its the timing that matters.

 

NC could have started with friendly prices. At this stage, NC is a speculative proposition . Instead, they started with a high list price. Naturally, they're not going to poach pax from the other luxury lines.  

 

So, they offer a discount (over multiple trips) to old OC pax with a grudge. This is a sign of weakness. So, my instincts tell me to wait for more meaningful discounts. Are they going to sail with half occupancy??

 

Typically, its the impulsive people who will have regrets.

 

On 3/26/2023 at 8:13 AM, Stickman1990 said:

Surely they would need to provide your identity in order that the Administrator knows who they are checking? They aren’t going to take your word as to the amount of the debt - they will need to validate it 

 

I really can’t see how it can be done without providing that level of detail 

 

So when you submitted the claim with NC that didn’t include a release or agreement to the terms of the offer? - one of those being that your claim would be validated 

 

On 3/27/2023 at 3:53 PM, May B said:

Darlin’, I understand that in YOUR experience, that has been the case, on Crystal and on other lines. In MY experience, NO Crystal cruise ever sailed without a bridge instructor in the a.m. on sea days, and a sanctioned game around 2 pm.

 

I agree there were no lessons on port days. I might even agree that on one day in a particularly juicy port, the 2 pm game was not ACBL-sanctioned.

 

On 3/27/2023 at 4:19 PM, May B said:

What I meant to explain is that I think you purposely chose Crystal cruises for the at-sea days.

 

I think I told you that Steve Smolen ran the bridge program on our only Oceania, but I don’t know if he ever had enough of a turn-out any day for a sanctioned game. It was late afternoon. Only one other guest besides Mr B and I showed up. It was a VERY port-intensive Mediterranean cruise. He did quite a few B2B2Bs.

 

On 3/28/2023 at 3:49 PM, May B said:

Perhaps b/c the previous cruise and the next cruise have more sea days. I was talking to a friend today who reminded me that the bridge people are often booked for several cruises in a row.

 

On 3/29/2023 at 2:26 PM, May B said:

And honestly, do we sometimes thank our lucky stars that we can live the lives we do? I certainly thank a power I cannot see. My mother, who didn’t really believe in powers, would be speechless.

 

On 3/29/2023 at 2:28 PM, May B said:

Wow.

 

On 3/30/2023 at 5:18 PM, wearesiamese said:

not to mention significant fare increases and stateroom changes for some

 

On 4/12/2023 at 8:40 AM, Texas Tillie said:

 

Let me get this straight, you are honest and objective and I am biased? Got it! 🤪😉😱

 

On 4/13/2023 at 4:35 PM, Roland4 said:

I realize you are pretty booked up, as are we, but even for one cruise, 20% of what we lost is significant, and is 100% more than what we expect to get back from Moecker. Will we book five cruises by Dec 31/25, most certainly not, but we may fit in a couple, and 20% off the fare is 20% in my pocket. 

 

On 4/11/2023 at 11:33 PM, TRIPACIAN said:

In regards to the crew returning I believe it will be a very high (80+%] 

 

We are currently on board the Seabourn Encore and there are several former Crystal members. Every one of them wants to return.  We have been approached by several including our room attendant and they recognized us as Crystal cruisers thus starting the conversation.  
 

We had a similar experience on Silversea last year.

 

On 4/12/2023 at 6:59 AM, TRIPACIAN said:

The entire cruise has been great, almost as good as Crystal.  The food overall has been excellent!  The only complaint we have relates to baked goods and cakes being very dry and somewhat tasteless.  We avoid these anyway but something we noticed. The Earth and Ocean venue is great and packed every evening.  
 

We are really impressed with the entertainment.  We have a very good bridge instructor and five to six tables.  Unfortunately he will be leaving in Athens.

 

On 4/14/2023 at 11:12 AM, May B said:

That’s quite an itinerary! I haven’t been paying close attention to the bridge cruises. I think the Salobs’ clients booked as much for the whole experience, Salobs planning sightseeing and dining and camaraderie amongst group members, as they did for the bridge. Perhaps I’m wrong.

 

On 4/16/2023 at 9:00 AM, nancygp said:

Currently sailing with John…terrific CD

 

Nancy

 

On 4/16/2023 at 11:45 AM, nancygp said:

ovation crossing to Dover…rocking and rolling as I write this! 😄🤣.  Overall, life is good 

early bon voyage 

 

Nancy 

 

On 4/17/2023 at 6:07 AM, nancygp said:

There are 375 paxs on this crossing!!!!

 

Nancy

 

On 4/17/2023 at 7:39 AM, Roland4 said:

 

Thank you both. We booked this one with the FCC they gave us due to Fiona last September. Decided we would try the larger ship for this one. Interesting itinerary as well. The only other time we have been in Iceland was on the Symphony "Trans-Atlantic From Hell" in 2012! I suspect this time it will be a bit calmer! 😉

 

On 4/18/2023 at 7:58 AM, the_dylaness said:

 

They are almost impossible to book online, too! 🙂

I finally got a break today during their business hours and called; they were able to sign me up for one of the 10am classes.  They did not know why I could never submit the payment online.

 

What else am I supposed to know or be doing in advance!? I did make shore excursion reservations and I know dining reservations open for me in October...

 

On 4/18/2023 at 8:59 AM, the_dylaness said:

@bitob Thank you for sharing that info. I meant though, the fact that I could not get the purchase to go through even though some had openings. It is all sorted now though and I'm in for Wok Cooking.

 

On 4/18/2023 at 2:47 PM, Stickman1990 said:

Still no roll calls for the early voyages including the inaugural? - that just seems strange to me

Are roll calls on CC a thing anymore?

 

On 4/19/2023 at 8:25 AM, Texas Tillie said:

As a longtime Crystal cruiser/Cruise Critic participant, the decline in the people posting on Roll Calls started a while before Old Crystal went kaput, actually before the Covid shut down. The reasons are probably as varied as the people who no longer post. I have 2 bookings with Crystal but haven't posted on the roll calls and probably won't. I have my reasons, others have theirs.

 

Patty

 

On 4/20/2023 at 4:22 PM, History&Wine said:

Really?

 

Looking over 2024 and 2025, I see:

 

Seabourn

MSC

P & O

Holland America

Windstar

Viking

Silversea

Azamara

 

All stopping at Sharm El Sheikh.  Guess the word is out! 

 

 

 

 

 

On 4/21/2023 at 4:46 PM, calliopecruiser said:

I've always been treated very well as a solo cruiser on Crystal in the before-times; my only experience with another luxury line has been Seabourn, and their service was nowhere near as good, for a higher price.  I was very disappointed in my Seabourn cruise.  I have not and suspect will not sail the small ships of < 500 people, so I haven't looked at their options or prices for solo travel. 

 

In the next 18 months, I'll be on Azamara, Crystal, and Silversea, so I'll have a wider range of experiences sailing solo. 

 

On 6/2/2023 at 7:34 AM, Windsurfboy said:

Things are only as complicated as you make them.

 

I know my wife wouldn't let me wear an untucked shirt at night. Something to be worn with shorts in the day.

 

Untucked shirts even with long trousers are a fashion statement by the young and slim and can look very elegant. 

 

Or unfortunately an admission that it won't fit, which is something that definitely should be hidden under a jacket.

 

On 6/4/2023 at 6:10 AM, foodsvcmgr said:

It appears everyone is making similar points leading to a similar conclusion that the confusion emanates from many prospective passengers not familiar with dressing anymore in the manner stipulated.

As I stated, being a F&B Director I still wore suits, albeit with no tie.

A tech Director though might only wear jeans to work despite his rank and salary.

Cunard and travel agents need to do better explaining the dress code up front so that new passengers can decide if they wish to buy the clothes required or would be more comfortable elsewhere.

What I have difficulty understanding is why anyone looking for a casual evening experience would select Cunard?

 

14 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

That'll go over some peoples heads on here 😀

Don't underestimate this group!

[jpalbny]

16 minutes ago, Tothesunset said:

And Francis

 

4 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Let’s not forget Kevin. 

 

Only.one Sir though 

[lincslady]

I would like to think it shows that it shows that I am fairly well educated when I say that I had of course heard of Francis Bacon, but had to look up Kevin, and realise he is the strange looking man advertising phones.  However rubbishy my posts on the Cooler are.

 

Just hope there are no Francis Bacons on board to frighten the passengers.

[LAexNY]

Bird watching today in Rauma, Finland

[Daveywavey70]

7 hours ago, RachelG said:

Yes.  I had a rather spectacular outfit of black satin slacks with feathers at the bottom and a sparkly silver jacket, so maybe the Maitre’d was blinded.  

The last time I dressed like that on SS people kept asking me what time the show was on that night. 

[Mr Luxury]

9 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

The last time I dressed like that on SS people kept asking me what time the show was on that night. 

Ok Lily Savage

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, LAexNY said:

 

Why did the Canadian geese remove their Venetian masks?

[Hezu]

5 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Why did the Canadian geese remove their Venetian masks?

Because those are not Canadian geese, but barnacle geese.

[Lirio]

16 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

I've a cat who takes on the demeanour of a crack addict whenever she smells bacon cooking but I don't think even she would eat that. Sorry Lirio but that's not identifiable as any bacon I've ever seen. 

Oh ....we always called this bacon....what I gonna do now?

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Let’s not forget Kevin. 

Six degrees isn't nearly hot enough to cook bacon, no matter which kind ...

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, Lirio said:

Oh ....we always called this bacon....what I gonna do now?

 

Enjoy eating it! I'm sure it's delicious. Just about every part of the pig is. No matter if it's cut differently. 

 

Enjoying all of the bacon chatter. I might have to go to breakfast for real one of these days.

 

Speaking of smoke...Hope everyone is doing OK with the smoke from the wildfires. Some of the pictures that I'm seeing from home are making me very glad to be here instead! 

[Camillus112]

16 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Speaking of smoke...Hope everyone is doing OK with the smoke from the wildfires. Some of the pictures that I'm seeing from home are making me very glad to be here instead! 

Hi JP & Chris, keep enjoying your cruise.  We at Central New York are feeling the impacts of the smoke and haze from the Quebec wildfires.  At 1pm our air quality measure was 438, labeled hazardous to your health.  Thankfully we fly to Puerto Rico next Monday...where a dangerous and unusual heat wave is threatening the electricity grid...now, should we be dismissing climate change?

[jpalbny]

Wednesday June 7th. Rauma, Finland 🇫🇮 

 

We docked alongside the pier about 7 and we were up for coffee shortly thereafter. No zodiac rides needed today.

 

There are two World Heritage sites here. One is the Old Town of Rauma. The other is a Bronze Age burial site called Sammallahdenmäki. Pronounced just like it's spelled, of course! 

 

We disembarked about 8:30 and caught a coach for the ride into town. We began walking near the Church of the Holy Cross. 

 

 

 

Nice blue skies, and sunny. About 50F. Beautiful weather! 

 

We walked slowly around the Old Town. Our guide giggled a lot and showed us a few buildings here and there. She ducked into a building that was a "Rauma Museum" and showed us the food storage facilities...

 

 

And the inner courtyard of another complex of buildings. 

 

 

Back on the main street, we stood next to this building but she never told us what it was. Another "Rauma Museum" according to Google. 

 

 

Beautiful woodworking on the door.

 

 

More nicely painted wooden houses. The more money the owners had, the more fancy the window trim.

 

 

We passed by this abandoned building. It used to be a restaurant with some hotel rooms too. It's available for the small sum of about €170,000. Not bad until you consider that you're obligated to restore the building once you buy it. That will run you about €1.5 million...

 

Looks like we could set up a dance venue here! Not sure about the ROI.

 

 

Next stop was the main square, where we saw City Hall.

 

 

There was a market on the square. A big line for the merchant selling smoked fish. We resisted the urge.

 

Now we backtracked to the church where we'd started. And visited the interior. At first I thought we were interrupting this devout lady, but then I saw that she was a statue.

 

 

We got back on the bus for the drive to Sammallahdenmäki. One of us fell soundly asleep and doesn't remember the drive at all...

 

But we piled out for a walk in the woods. Typical Finnish forest with rocks, lichens, thin soil, and trees growing despite the adverse conditions. A very pleasant stroll.

 

 

The Bronze Age burial sites were large piles of stones scattered around the forest.

 

This one was called "Church Tile" or "Church Floor" and it's the largest site. Legend has that it was built by the Hiide (Hiids), a legendary race of giants from Finnish mythology. 

 

 

From the website:

 

"According to the legend, the giants and humans competed for a place to live. They decided to start a competition, the purpose of the competition was to decide who gets Lapland as their place of residence. Whoever built the church faster would be allowed to stay, so the Hiids and the people started building the church. The Hiids built a foundation for the church, a stone floor, but the people then cheated a little, that they just built a support for the church bell from two trees and attached the church bell to it. When people were able to lift the bell up, they rang the bell. The Hiids heard the ringing of the bell and thought that the human church would already be ready. The Hiids got angry and threw stones around and they left."

 

Yesterday we learned about some mythological Finnish creatures. Not sure if this "Hiisi" is similar to the Hiids.

 

 

Note: Lapland in this story refers to this area, not the far north. Apparently there are two areas in Finland called Lapland. They like to confuse each other with this too. Our guide explained that someone once asked her if she was of Sami descent...and she said, "No, I'm from Lapland!" 

 

On to more burial sites.

 

 

 

Further on, there was an encampment with people dressed in period costumes. And some Bronze Age craftsmanship going on. The ladies in the distance are weaving rope to make fish netting. 

 

 

We took our leave of the forest and it was a short ride to the sausage factory. 

 

 

We had a pre-lunch of sausage, meatballs, and potato-pasta salad. They had nice products for sale but too late, I realized that I should have bought some of their smoked pork chops for Hot Rocks tonight! 

 

Back to the boat for lunch. 

[Hezu]

34 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Yesterday we learned about some mythological Finnish creatures. Not sure if this "Hiisi" is similar to the Hiids.

Actually, "hiisi" is the singular base form of the word, in Finnish when you inflect words that can trigger vowel harmony and consonant gradation and in case of this word inflection triggers some changes and thus the plural (in nominative case) becomes "hiidet".

I guess certain features of Finnish language may not be that simple for those who are more accustomed in English (or should I say Indo-European languages in general) and first time encounter this Finno-Ugric language.

[jpalbny]

We had a nice lunch at LT. Split a pizza with lots of rose. Then a nap may have been taken. One must be in the right frame of mind for trivia!

 

We got second place. Didn't know the capital of Papua New Guinea. Or that pork is the most-consumed meat worldwide. I thought we were the only ones who like bacon. Apparently everyone else does too!

 

Had a walk on deck afterwards. Bright sun, mild wind. Hair isn't horizontal yet.

 

 

Then time for the evening briefing. We had a lesson in the Finnish language. This was an easy one.

 

Everyone knows that feeling where you'd rather just lie around at home in your underwear, and drink, with no plans to go out? According to Tomi, the Finns have a word for that! 

 

 

Finnish also claims the longest palindrome. It's a word for a soapstone dealer:

 

 

We had dinner at Hot Rocks tonight. The menu is familiar.

 

 

Chris went with her usual Caesar salad and I mixed it up with the New York salad.

 

 

 

We got a nice bottle from the Connoisseur's list. A red from Piedmont. 

 

 

Ribeye on the stones for a minute or two, until it leaped off of its own volition. 

 

 

For dessert Chris had the cheesecake and I had the apple-cinnamon rose.

 

 

 

It was still light out so we had a nightcap at the bar. The guitar music was too mellow for dancing, but Alfredo started up in Panorama at 10:30. So, some dancing before bed.

 

Tomorrow, another nature hike. Time for some sleep!

[jpalbny]

17 minutes ago, Hezu said:

Actually, "hiisi" is the singular base form of the word, in Finnish when you inflect words that can trigger vowel harmony and consonant gradation and in case of this word inflection triggers some changes and thus the plural (in nominative case) becomes "hiidet".

I guess certain features of Finnish language may not be that simple for those who are more accustomed in English (or should I say Indo-European languages in general) and first time encounter this Finno-Ugric language.

 

Thank you for the explanation! 

 

The Finnish word on the website was definitely "Hiidet" which was translated to "Hiids" in English. Glad they weren't there to greet us.

[TLCOhio]

9 hours ago, LAexNY said:

Bird watching today in Rauma, Finland

 

Appreciate the wonderful bird visuals from LAexNy, plus JP's excellent/varied building architecture and food porn.  Great comments and follow-ups on this fun thread.  Keep up the nice sharing.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[Mr Luxury]

4 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Appreciate the wonderful bird visuals from LAexNy, plus JP's excellent/varied building architecture and food porn.  Great comments and follow-ups on this fun thread.  Keep up the nice sharing.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

Come on Terry,you must know another type of bacon surely 😀

[TLCOhio]

10 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Come on Terry, you must know another type of bacon surely 😀

 

I'm not that unique or creative when it comes to bacon.  Just like it and do the regular American type as pictured below.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, TLCOhio said:

 

I'm not that unique or creative when it comes to bacon.  Just like it and do the regular American type as pictured below.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

Terry, looks delicious to me😀

[Host Jazzbeau]

That is perfectly cooked bacon, Terry.  I'm still full from dinner but I'm salivating!!!

[lincslady]

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

Terry, looks delicious to me😀

Me too, just the way I like it.

[RachelG]

So frustrating.  The Wi-Fi died last night. I had written my report in notes on my I pad, copied it, logged on to the site to paste it.  And no Wi-Fi.  I couldn’t download emails, log on to Facebook or anything else.  All I got was the little swirling circle.  I tried logging off and back on, rebooting my I pad.  No success.  And in notes, it now said the note I had written had no content.

 

if it turns back up, I will post, but JP gave a good synopsis.  Only a couple of things to add.

 

first, there were snakes, a lot of them , at the burial site.  They hang out in the rocks.  We saw probably a dozen, so there were many more than that. Our guide says they are not poisonous but will bite if bothered.

 

second, at the sausage place, the guy in charge is married to an American lady from Arkansas near where George grew up.  We had a nice visit as he has been there many times.

[RachelG]

Snakes

[RachelG]

Sausagesges 

Edited June 8, 2023 by RachelG