Live From The Golden w/ The Hag

[sunneesmile]

Hag,

 

An eye roller question... Were they many jeans in the dining rooms other than formal night? Getting a lot of mixed answers about that. Although I do remember wearing jeans to the dining room in February on the Golden and no one ever saying anthing about that.

 

We were on the Golden a few weeks ago..there were lots of jeans in the dining room on the non-formal nights. We had anytime dining so I can't speak for the traditional dining room.

 

If that is case, then my brown dockers and sweater will be fine huh?

[atdahop]

Teresa,

 

Are you still bringing capris?

 

Carole

 

 

Still have not gotten the suitcases down................Larry says there is plenty of time. He had better do it today. I like to air them out first. I am so compulsive, I just have to pack everything.

 

Carole

[PLHag]

Hag, An eye roller question... Were they many jeans in the dining rooms other than formal night? Getting a lot of mixed answers about that. Carole

Carole - We were in both anytime dining rooms (Donatello & Bernini) and there were many folks wearing jeans, dockers, etc. There was no sign up at the host stand this time indicating a dress code - just the suggestion in the patters of no shorts, tees, and the like.

 

I'll try to check back this afternoon to see if there are other questions. Formal nights were Sunday (day at sea) and Thursday (Ketchikan). Words of warning - - seas were a little rough on Sunday evening (daytime too) - we had no problems but I suspect other people may have.

 

We did the Chef's Table on Wed. night. There were 12 of us total and it was fantastic. I will include specifics in my full review but let me just say that if you're thinking about it and can afford it ($75/pp), do it. You must personally meet with the Head Waiter in advance and assure him that you do not have any allergies, or food issues. I was surprised to hear that there was only one Chef's Table dinner this entire cruise; we actually signed up the morning of and were extremely lucky to get the last four spots.

 

I will bring my notes and Patters down later to give H2o & her group a little more advance information.

 

Last thing before I forget - we're not getting off the ship in Victoria; there is very limited entertainment on board tonight b/c I suppose they suspect most people will go into town. But, there are many activities throughout the day which would otherwise be at night (comedian show at 3:15, etc.).

 

And for all you art action fans, there are a total of 4, but only the first (Sun) and last one (today) are "champagne" art auctions.

 

Ciao for now. No wait, just read SCL's message. Here is the official answer re: WiFi - short of having "Alvaro" from Columbia, who is the Internet Cafe Host standing next to me at this moment type this response, I can tell you this: WiFi was installed about two weeks ago. It is available in the 3 or 4 spots I mentioned in my previous post, and if you are Platinum/Elite, your $75 credit will go toward the entire cost of the WiFi usage package you purchase. Alvaro will still be on the ship in two weeks time and you can tell him "you're the one.";)

 

I do have a question for you though and if you don't mind, will post here instead of on the West Coast thread: We have a 5:00 pm flight Sat. from Seatac. We checked our luggage through and plan to spend the day in Seattle downtown area. Is there a specific place that we could purchase, on the spot, gray line tickets to the airport? There are 4 adults & 2 children in our party so I know that otherwise we would have to take 2 cabs. Not sure what we're planning to do, but any info, including travel time estimate, would be appreciated.

 

Ciao for now!

[sunneesmile]

Thanks so much for the info. I can't wait to hear more and I know that Carole and SCL will be glad to hear about the wifi.

 

Enjoy!

[SeattleCruiselover]

Carole - We were in both anytime dining rooms (Donatello & Bernini) and there were many folks wearing jeans, dockers, etc. There was no sign up at the host stand this time indicating a dress code - just the suggestion in the patters of no shorts, tees, and the like.

 

I'll try to check back this afternoon to see if there are other questions. Formal nights were Sunday (day at sea) and Thursday (Ketchikan). Words of warning - - seas were a little rough on Sunday evening (daytime too) - we had no problems but I suspect other people may have.

 

We did the Chef's Table on Wed. night. There were 12 of us total and it was fantastic. I will include specifics in my full review but let me just say that if you're thinking about it and can afford it ($75/pp), do it. You must personally meet with the Head Waiter in advance and assure him that you do not have any allergies, or food issues. I was surprised to hear that there was only one Chef's Table dinner this entire cruise; we actually signed up the morning of and were extremely lucky to get the last four spots.

 

I will bring my notes and Patters down later to give H2o & her group a little more advance information.

 

Last thing before I forget - we're not getting off the ship in Victoria; there is very limited entertainment on board tonight b/c I suppose they suspect most people will go into town. But, there are many activities throughout the day which would otherwise be at night (comedian show at 3:15, etc.).

 

And for all you art action fans, there are a total of 4, but only the first (Sun) and last one (today) are "champagne" art auctions.

 

Ciao for now. No wait, just read SCL's message. Here is the official answer re: WiFi - short of having "Alvaro" from Columbia, who is the Internet Cafe Host standing next to me at this moment type this response, I can tell you this: WiFi was installed about two weeks ago. It is available in the 3 or 4 spots I mentioned in my previous post, and if you are Platinum/Elite, your $75 credit will go toward the entire cost of the WiFi usage package you purchase. Alvaro will still be on the ship in two weeks time and you can tell him "you're the one.";)

 

I do have a question for you though and if you don't mind, will post here instead of on the West Coast thread: We have a 5:00 pm flight Sat. from Seatac. We checked our luggage through and plan to spend the day in Seattle downtown area. Is there a specific place that we could purchase, on the spot, gray line tickets to the airport? There are 4 adults & 2 children in our party so I know that otherwise we would have to take 2 cabs. Not sure what we're planning to do, but any info, including travel time estimate, would be appreciated.

 

Ciao for now!

 

Per their website:

 

"Tickets can be purchased from most downtown Seattle hotel concierge or Downtown Airporter drivers"

 

or, if you get online again, you can reserve and purchase online at:

 

http://www.graylineseattle.com/airportexpress1.cfm

 

Plan minimum of one hour for travel time, and then be happy if it is less than that, so plan to leave downtown no later than 2 pm to be there for your 3 pm check in.

 

PS--thanks for the answer on the WiFi. You can tell Alvaro that I will hold him to it, too. Much rather use my own laptop than their desktops. Have all of my apps in, and am planning a live from blog, so that I can write in advance and just upload in a few minutes' time rather than having to do it and use my minutes.

[atdahop]

Hag,

Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to find out all these pesky little details that keep us compulsive people happy. I have some pictures and notes from some past cruisers to bring onboard to give to some of the crew members.

 

How rough was it on a scale of 1 - 10. I am prone to sea sickness and wonder if I would be better off to start with the patch? I usually just take Bonine but that's for a cruise on a sea of glass.

 

Carole

[SeattleCruiselover]

Hag,

Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to find out all these pesky little details that keep us compulsive people happy. I have some pictures and notes from some past cruisers to bring onboard to give to some of the crew members.

 

How rough was it on a scale of 1 - 10. I am prone to sea sickness and wonder if I would be better off to start with the patch? I usually just take Bonine but that's for a cruise on a sea of glass.

 

Carole

 

Carole: There are quite a few pesky side effects to the patch that you may not like, particularly if you are very sensitive to meds, and it is also incompatible with some BP and other medications. Talk to your health care provider about it (and MAKE him/her tell you about the side effects, how often to change, et cetera). I, personally, won't use them because they make me hallucinate, but that's just me. Everyone's body chemistry is different.

 

I do ginger and sea bands and do fine, even with having Meniere's disease. I have only been actually seasick once, and that was in 30 foot seas on Sun Princess between SFO and YVR.

[H20 Lover]

Thank you so much Hag! I can't tell you how I/we appreciate you taking time out to do this. Now you go and have a great time and can't wait to talk to you when you get back. Cheers!!!!!

[PLHag]

Hag, How rough was it on a scale of 1 - 10. I am prone to sea sickness and wonder if I would be better off to start with the patch? I usually just take Bonine but that's for a cruise on a sea of glass.

Carole

Carole - I am not necessarily prone to seasickness (husband is a Captain of vessels up to 500 tons, but that being said, you can't control the seas.) Personally, I noticed it starting to get a little rough around 3:30 pm, just as we were going down for our ritual cruise afternoon nap. I decided to take a couple non-drowsy dramamine, and I'm glad I did. I napped like a baby and made it to dinner just fine. On the scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it an 7.5. Better safe than sorry.

 

Speaking of dinner, if anyone has anytime dining and wants a "for sure" fantastic table of 2, 4, 6 or 8, call DINE when you board and ask for a table in Laura Cristina's sections in the Donatelle dining room. She is from Romania, is excellent, and her assistant, Vladamir from Serbia, is very accomodating. We discovered her the 2nd night and have been w/her since, except for the Chef's Table dinner. Her table numbers are 122, 123, 124, etc. Can't go wrong.

 

Moreover, if you're on Dolphin Deck Aft, you will be very happy with the services of Jesus from the Phillipines. First, great service, second, the man does a wonder w/towels (yes, we've had towel animals every night). Third, he's very attentive, yet not overwhelming. It's been a pleasure having him as a room steward. Insofar as "aft port," I mean D710 back all the way to the D736 suite.

 

More later, I think I covered everything for now. And thanks for the gray line answer.

[timem]

http://seahag.wordpress.com/

[sunneesmile]

It has been so nice of you to post while you were onboard the Golden, you have no ideas how I soaked all that up!

 

Would you mind emailng me so I can ask you a coupole things off the board? I am trying to plan. my email is

sunneesmile1@yahoo.com

 

Thanks so much and have a great day