HatesPopups Posted July 15 #51 Share Posted July 15 Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffElizabeth Posted July 15 #52 Share Posted July 15 Barcelona is one of our favorite European cities to visit but I won't mind going to less crowded ports. Always up to see new sites and I hate overwhelming a city or town like cruise ships do to Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandryl Posted July 15 #53 Share Posted July 15 On 7/10/2024 at 6:02 AM, Mrs Miggins said: One of the issues is that cruise passengers typically spend very little money on land. How many times have we read “we went back to the ship for lunch”. There were three of us in Saint Thomas having pizza & a beer at real nice little restaurant/pub atmosphere. We sat outside lots of shade enjoying the time spent & PW'ing all heading back to the ship to eat! 😄😄 We laughed at them bc it was so typical. You are absolutely right when you read “we went back to the ship for lunch” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted July 16 #54 Share Posted July 16 Bear in mind for those with food allergies in a country where English is not universally spoken heading back to the ship for lunch is part of the “risk management” process. We do however head back out and as well as leaving money in the shop tills may enjoy a coffee or drink ashore. So accept not everyone can eat lunch ashore easily! 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CDNPolar Posted July 16 #55 Share Posted July 16 1 hour ago, uktog said: Bear in mind for those with food allergies in a country where English is not universally spoken heading back to the ship for lunch is part of the “risk management” process. We do however head back out and as well as leaving money in the shop tills may enjoy a coffee or drink ashore. So accept not everyone can eat lunch ashore easily! Yes. We eat and try everything, but I have met many people on ships that are terrified of any food that is not "American" and typical for their diet. (I am not bashing anyone here....) These folks go back to the ship. I think that we were "back to the ship" people in the beginning because we thought that we had paid for that food, we should take advantage of it. Now we look for authentic local cuisine - if available - break from the tour and stay on shore for lunch. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Miggins Posted July 16 #56 Share Posted July 16 3 hours ago, uktog said: Bear in mind for those with food allergies in a country where English is not universally spoken heading back to the ship for lunch is part of the “risk management” process. We do however head back out and as well as leaving money in the shop tills may enjoy a coffee or drink ashore. So accept not everyone can eat lunch ashore easily! Hi, yes of course, but I know you and others do spend money in local businesses. The thread was about Barcelona but my comment was directed also at the many other destinations, eg Venice, that have decided (or are deciding) that there is not a sufficient net benefit to the local economy of large numbers cruise passengers overwhelming their beautiful locations. One of my criticisms of Viking is their repetitive itineraries so perhaps new locations need to be further investigated. As others have said there are many beautiful places to explore. The other problem is that often I see criticisms of destinations being "crowded with tourists". Surely anybody arriving on a cruise ship is a tourist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted July 16 #57 Share Posted July 16 Barcelona like many places has a problem- the protests currently are rooted in issues about the cost of housing. It’s the same on the Spanish islands. IF people spent more ashore and did not use short term rentals there would be more money in the economy and the housing stock would improve for locals. It’s no different to what is happening in Edinburgh although two solutions are being worked on - a tourist tax that’s added to port fees for cruisers/ hotel fees for others. And more importantly very tight licensing of short term rentals and higher local taxes on them. In future they will be licensed and the number of licenses heavily restricted. I do not blame the cruise lines. Guests want to see iconic places and they want turnarounds in locations with good flight connections to the US. I responded because there has been an undercurrent on several threads here that eating ashore is good eating onboard is bad. It is not. Barcelonas issues are repeated around the world. It’s a very complex supply and demand conundrum affecting availability of staff for the hospitality sector, their wages and the supply of living arrangements. My father used to complain about the tourists from Edinburgh coming to Fife. Beyond our front door we are all tourists to a greater or lesser extent. Good luck anyone coming to Edinburgh timing their holiday to coincide with the festival and tattoo. Unfortunately the refuse collectors are cute these days and intent to coincide their latest pay dispute then as they did two years ago. Edinburgh stank then 😡 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJD117 Posted July 17 #58 Share Posted July 17 On 7/16/2024 at 2:18 AM, CDNPolar said: Yes. We eat and try everything, but I have met many people on ships that are terrified of any food that is not "American" and typical for their diet. (I am not bashing anyone here....) These folks go back to the ship. A risk of generalizing — in the above case, about Americans and American food — is that you can lose the forest for the trees, metaphorically speaking. One member of our household is immuno-compromised with colitis and an adrenal insufficiency; the other has blood sugar issues. So when we take tours that overlap lunchtime but don’t include food, it often works best for us to go back to the ship after the tour ends. Then we can go directly to the World Cafe or the Pool Grille and get lunch right away. In that case, the need for prompt food availability takes priority for us. (Takeaway snacks help bridge the time gap between meals, but in our experience aren’t a full substitute for the meals themselves.) On other occasions, and when food intake isn’t an urgent issue, we’re more than willing to enjoy the local cuisine. In my case, I’ve done this in more than 70 countries around the world. Neither of us is afraid — much less “terrified” — to try something new. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CDNPolar Posted July 18 #59 Share Posted July 18 16 hours ago, SJD117 said: On other occasions, and when food intake isn’t an urgent issue, we’re more than willing to enjoy the local cuisine. In my case, I’ve done this in more than 70 countries around the world. Neither of us is afraid — much less “terrified” — to try something new. I should not generalize that some Americans are "terrified" to try new foods, because as a Canadian I know an equal number of Canadians in my circle that will only eat certain things and the word "terrified" fits because they would rather starve than try something new. To me food really is not that much different around the world but we are very open to any food and extremely intrigued with anything that we are not familiar with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OneSixtyToOne Posted July 18 #60 Share Posted July 18 43 minutes ago, CDNPolar said: I should not generalize that some Americans are "terrified" to try new foods, because as a Canadian I know an equal number of Canadians in my circle that will only eat certain things and the word "terrified" fits because they would rather starve than try something new. To me food really is not that much different around the world but we are very open to any food and extremely intrigued with anything that we are not familiar with. Personally, I’m terrified of poutine. 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CDNPolar Posted July 18 #61 Share Posted July 18 20 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said: Personally, I’m terrified of poutine. Then you have not had GOOD Poutine. Please, please, please do not look at Burger King's Poutine as representative of amazingly good French Canadian Poutine. Many out there mimic and try to say they are serving Poutine but most fail. And, if we are saying it the french way, it is "poo-tin" not "poo-teen". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OneSixtyToOne Posted July 18 #62 Share Posted July 18 6 minutes ago, CDNPolar said: Then you have not had GOOD Poutine. Please, please, please do not look at Burger King's Poutine as representative of amazingly good French Canadian Poutine. Many out there mimic and try to say they are serving Poutine but most fail. And, if we are saying it the french way, it is "poo-tin" not "poo-teen". Had it at an AHL hockey game 🤮 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CCWineLover Posted July 18 Author #63 Share Posted July 18 48 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said: Had it at an AHL hockey game 🤮 Had it in Montreal. Like eating shark in Reykjavik, once was enough. But interesting. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OneSixtyToOne Posted July 18 #64 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 8 minutes ago, CCWineLover said: Had it in Montreal. Like eating shark in Reykjavik, once was enough. But interesting. I’m definitely passing on the shark. I’ve seen the videos. They fooled me once with Vegemite. Fool me twice? No way. This begs the question. What do foreigners think the weirdest thing Americans eat? And don’t say hot dogs because they are just another form of sausage. Edited July 18 by OneSixtyToOne 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarhoosier Posted July 18 #65 Share Posted July 18 (edited) The cheese curds must be so fresh that your teeth make a "squeek" sensation when you have the best poutine. Yes, the French spelling of poutine the food and the leader of Russia are spelled the same. edit: Quebecois spelling of poutine the food, as I very seriously doubt France has awareness of the dish. Edited July 18 by tarhoosier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted July 19 #66 Share Posted July 19 16 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said: I’m definitely passing on the shark. I’ve seen the videos. They fooled me once with Vegemite. Fool me twice? No way. This begs the question. What do foreigners think the weirdest thing Americans eat? And don’t say hot dogs because they are just another form of sausage. Grits 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squawkman Posted July 19 #67 Share Posted July 19 5 hours ago, uktog said: Grits I’m a born in New York City guy - and I totally agree with you. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CDNPolar Posted July 20 #68 Share Posted July 20 On 7/18/2024 at 11:53 AM, OneSixtyToOne said: This begs the question. What do foreigners think the weirdest thing Americans eat? And don’t say hot dogs because they are just another form of sausage. I have American cousins in up-state NY. They hunt Canada Geese and they grind the breast meat and make sausage. The grossest thing ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarhoosier Posted July 20 #69 Share Posted July 20 I believe the least favorite thing for visitors to the US is (should be) the ubiquitous American mass market lager beers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBs mum Posted July 20 #70 Share Posted July 20 On 7/18/2024 at 4:53 PM, OneSixtyToOne said: This begs the question. What do foreigners think the weirdest thing Americans eat? And don’t say hot dogs because they are just another form of sausage. Anything that is thought of as being from another country (thinking of establishments not run by people from that country) Example would be the Viking British bangers, which are usually a type of German sausage, and the English muffins, which are the US version. In the US itself, Mexican which is actually tex mex, and bread that is sweeter than cake. Don't misunderstand, we like that odd lot across the pond, and enjoy meeting them on cruises🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJD117 Posted July 20 #71 Share Posted July 20 16 minutes ago, KBs mum said: Don't misunderstand, we like that odd lot across the pond, and enjoy meeting them on cruises🙂 We’ve been called worse — a lot worse! 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cienfuegos Posted July 20 #72 Share Posted July 20 On 7/19/2024 at 4:03 AM, uktog said: Grits scrapple would be a contender as well 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted July 21 #73 Share Posted July 21 Gator tail, Frog legs, Crawfish (mud bugs)? 😉 Gotta love the south. 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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