A Matrix Moment

Retirement Life

Do you remember that moment in The Matrix, when Neo "wakes up" in the pod, and suddenly realises that he's not in Kansas anymore? That's a Matrix Moment - a sort of how-did-I-get-here situation where what seemed impossible actually happens. Well something like that occurred for me this week; read on if you like.

This was a prop on set!

Some may not know this, but the Good Doctor is wrapping up forever, after a seven season run. Most of it was shot nearby at Bridge Studios, and I've had a number of days working on the show, starting from the original pilot, right up to this final season. While I'm not a fan of the show, there's a bunch of background (BG) folks that I've met and worked with over the years, and so it's a bit of a bittersweet time for some. Famous for their indoor BG holding, fantastic Craft Services, and amazing meals (Raincity Catering), it had set a high bar for the best BG show to work on. And so, during the last few weeks as we were winding down, a number of the regulars were being given their hospital ID badges as token souvenirs. 

Sometimes they use BG photos on badges

I didn't have a photo badge made for me, but it was a neat thing that Johnny (props) was doing; after all, they'd just be going into the plastic recycling. But I got to take home something even more unique instead. So my BG friends that have jumped ahead are thinking, "So you did a stills shoot, and then found your picture? Big deal." But that's the thing, I didn't.

But let's back up and start the story at the beginning. We're working at the studio on episode 708, on a scene where there's a number of the actors, including Will Yun Lee. While we're waiting for the team to get ready for the shot, Will's stand-in, Charles, walks up to me.

"Richard, there's a portrait of you hanging in Studio 9."

Wait, what?

"There's a portrait of you, hanging in the hallway over in Studio 9."

I don't get it. I didn't do a stills shoot for this show.

"I'm certain it's you. You're flashing the pearly whites. But it's labelled Dr. Gutierrez or something." 

Could it be this stock photo?

After a bit of back and forth, he suggested that after the scene finished, that he'd take me over to look for it. So we jogged over to the Emergency Ward, and wandered around, trying to find it. After a minute or so, he said, "I guess set dec has already taken the portraits down". Rats, I thought, that would have been neat, taking a selfie of me playing a doctor, standing next to a portrait of me as a doctor, hanging in the hall on The Good Doctor.

Stock shoot w/ Shannon Fagan

A week or so later, I'm back on set for episode 709, and we’re waiting in holding when Johnny props sits down in a chair next to me, and we start chatting about things, like what he's going to be doing after the show wraps, etc. He volunteered to make me a souvenir ID badge as well, so I Airdropped him a recent head shot for him to print out. I then tell him the story about Charles seeing a portrait of me, but not being able to find it. I had hypothesised that I had done a stock photo shoot a number of years back, and maybe someone had selected my picture from the thousands of images on Shutterstock or Getty Images, and had it printed and mounted for use at the hospital. But what are the odds of them picking an image of me, someone who works on their show, as Background, AND as a doctor? Then Johnny proclaims, "I'm going to find it. Set dec probably has them stacked up somewhere." Anyhow, we got wrapped for the day, and I never got a chance to see him before I left to see if he had printed that ID badge, or exchange any contact info if he did locate the portrait. Thinking I'd get back before the show wrapped, I didn't think much of it.

I kept waiting to get re-booked on The Good Doctor before the final episode, but it didn't look like it was going to happen, and my week started to fill up with bookings for other shows. So I reached out to other regulars, including the "50-something Asian male BG" FB Messenger group, to see if anyone else was going to be at the studio, and could grab my souvenir badge (Ed, I still have yours). I joked about someone finding my portrait too, and then Arnie chimed in that Johnny props had found it! But how was I going to get there to get it? When you're booked on other shows, you can't just leave whenever you feel like it. Kristi, another regular BG I had reached out to, suggested that I just go to the studio, but they don't just let anyone walk onto the lot.

I'd pretty much given up any hope of getting my souvenir badge (which would have just ended up at the bottom of a drawer somewhere anyways), and the portrait story would have been just that… a good, tall-tale. But late one night this week, Kristi texted me and said that Sarka, another BG we knew was booked for The Good Doctor, so I reached out to her. She said she would let Johnny know I was looking to catch up with him, and try to get his mobile number. Ok, first problem solved! Now, when would I be able to get to the studio before they closed the doors on the show? And while Sarka was going to be there and could probably grab an ID badge, I couldn't ask her to haul around a framed portrait of me.

One thing about working in BG, is you never know what your schedule will be like, or when you'll be wrapped. But after arriving at Superman & Lois and checking the call sheet, it looked like I might be wrapped in time to get to Bridge Studios while their BG group was there (after all, the prop master for BG would only be around if there are BG required for the scene). So I get to the studio, and tell the guard at the gate who I am, and that I'm there to pick something up from Johnny props. As expected, he won't let me in. So I text Johnny, and wait a minute or two to see if he responds (this slight delay will be relevant in a bit), then call him so that I can get onto the studio. After a bit of a scolding from the gate guard, he finally lets me pass. 

Things are about to get weird

Now that I’m on the studio lot, I head over to the entrance to Stage 11, and I catch Johnny just as he's coming down the stairs from his prop room, and sure enough, he's got a big, framed picture of me - Dr. Diego Alvarez. We're not there for more than a minute when another guy walks into the elevator area with a "what's up?" kind of look. Johnny and I briefly explain the strange circumstances of the portrait, until it gets even more strange.

Chad K. Art Dept. Director

It turns out that this guy, Chad, is the Art Dept. Director, and he's the guy who would have had the portrait made! Incredulous, I said, "So one of the people that works for you, went onto some stock photo site and just happened to pull my image down for $20 or whatever? There must be thousands of pictures of Asian male doctors." (on iStock.com alone, there are tens of thousands) He said, "It would have been iStock, but it gets even better. When we originally printed that, we put my name on the bottom, thinking it would be funny. And then someone said no, we can't do that. But my mom knew about it, and she just texted me today saying, you need to get that portrait." No shit. He showed me the message.
What are the odds that at the exact moment that Johnny and I are exchanging the I-can't-believe-that-this-happened portrait, that the guy who commissioned it walks in? And has his own story about it? Chad then went on to say how this was a "Matrix Moment"; one of those strange things that you'd swear couldn't happen unless you were there to witness it.

Anyhow, thanks to everyone that had a small, but crucial part to play in this, my Matrix Moment.

The Scenic Difference

Travel and Leisure

Ok, so this isn't an advertisement for Scenic river cruises. I’m not a travel advisor, nor am I affiliated with Scenic. But I have always been curious about Scenic river cruising, and so I thought I'd go check out the local Scenic river cruise seminar that was taking place here in Vancouver, and see what all the hubub was about. Having sailed on four different river cruises, I can tell you that the river cruise experience itself is pretty much the same regardless of who you go with. What does change however, are the little details that some of you may find worthwhile and/or worth the extra cost. So I jotted down some notes where I thought that Scenic offered something unique or different, perhaps versus the other middle tier operators. Having cruised with their little sister company, Emerald, I’ll try to compare and contrast the experience with them. It won't be my place to tell you if Scenic is the brand for you; that's up to you to decide.

It's all about luxury

Apparently the Scenic Founder and Chairman, Glen Moroney, was hearing from his land-based tour participants that they wanted more luxurious experiences. From what I saw today, you are taken care of from the moment you step out of the baggage claim area, until you are returned to that airport at the end of your trip. Judging by the seniority of the audience participants (late 70s to early 80s), it would seem that age has something to do with this requirement for river cruising i.e. this demographic of clientele appears to want to have someone accompanying and guiding them from start to finish. I learned that Scenic goes to great lengths to take the guesswork work out of travelling in Europe and making sure that their guests experience a minimum of pain and stress while on their vacation.

Scenic adds 2 days to the typical Danube route

This also seems to equate to longer river cruises with Scenic; where other providers offer cruises starting a 4 or 5 days, Scenic seems to have a starting point of around 8 days, pulling in frequently visited cities as pre- or post-cruise destinations and stopping more often to make longer itineraries. i.e. instead of having to coordinate your own pre- and post-cruise extensions, Scenic makes a point of including those from the get-go.

We do our own pre-cruise extensions

We normally like to establish our own agendas for European travel; e.g. the time we went on an Emerald river cruise, we arranged our own self-guided, 8-night trip through Croatia and met our ship in Budapest. We feel that doing our own pre- or post-cruise extensions not only allows us to tailor things exactly to what we want to do, but also is far less expensive than doing it with the river cruise operator.

Anyhow, back to the Scenic differences; in no order of priority, here are the things that I noted that would appear to differentiate Scenic from Emerald and other middle-tier operators.

Butler service

I have a hard time wrapping my head around this, so I had to Google what a butler does on a river cruise; I came up with this website if you care to read. Having been on four river cruises, I have never had need for these services, but maybe you do. There was that time on our Emerald cruise, where we got poured on while using the bicycles in Budapest, and so we used up all of our towels trying to dry out. But a simple call to the front desk had our housekeeper dropping off fresh ones moments later. I find that part of the fun of being on such a small ship, is walking down the hall to the bar to grab some ice, and having a friendly chat with the bartender. However, if you like staying in your room and are not particularly excited about running down to grab an espresso in your terry towel robe and slippers, then perhaps butler service is something you are willing to pay for.

Staterooms and suite choices

Having not been on any European Scenic ships, I can't say just how much more luxurious their staterooms are, but from the videos, they seem to be like the Emerald ones, but larger. Specifically, where the Emerald Panorama Balcony rooms are contained within a rectangle, the Scenic ones have the bathroom off to the side. As such, Private Balcony Suites start at 205 sq. ft. and go up to 225 in the Deluxe one (vs. Emerald's Panorama Balcony Suite at 165 sq. ft.). I don't like how they have a divider or curtain that separates the "balcony" area from the rest of the room, as it would seem to just get in the way and offer little value. The extra room in the bathroom would definitely be a bonus, and one of the things we'd look for when choosing rooms on any river cruise (e.g. Gate 1's Monarch Empress and Queen ships).

And then there's the selection of more spacious suites that Scenic offers. Where most ships offer staterooms that are larger than the standard French balcony ones, Scenic has a number to choose from, obviously at elevated price levels. Moving up from the bottom, "swan-view" rooms to a balcony is about US$130/night (compared to Emerald, where it's about $50-60/night difference), and about $300/night to move into the Royal Suite. However, a quick peruse of their website shows that all but their bottom level rooms sell out very quickly, so if you want a bigger suite, you need to act fast.

Enhanced dining experience

A significant difference that I saw during the presentation, is the level of dining that Scenic cruisers experience. Not only are there more restaurants, but from the videos I saw, it looks like Michelin-star dining (can't vouch for the taste). I've only eaten in about 4 or 5 Michelin-star restaurants, but it would appear that supper on Scenic comes pretty close to that experience. Of course, you'll still have buffet options at breakfast and lunch, but I think you should expect an elevated dining experience in the evenings. The European ships offer two separate restaurants that are reserved either for a once-per-sailing dinner, or for specific guests on the Diamond deck or higher-end suites (by invitation). There is also the River Café where guests can grab a casual bite, or even get a lunch packed for them (I've never heard of this on other cruises), if they should choose not to return to the ship for lunch. Most other mid-tier river cruises will offer 1 to 2 dining venue options; in the Emerald case, the lounge was used for a light lunch alternative, but not used as an alternate dinner option. And food on Emerald was good, but certainly not the calibre of a Michelin-star restaurant.

More excursions and "Exclusive to Scenic" events

In addition to the included typical walking tours, Scenic offers a number of choices that give their guests greater variety for other excursions. Over and above those options, Scenic offers exclusive events that other operators don't, and the presenter harped on this benefit quite a bit; their website touts, "Scenic Enrich events are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that will bring to life the rich cultural heritage of Europe's waterways". With any river cruise operator, you can count on one daily walking tour in each port (sometimes two), but Scenic has also secured private venues for art, music or cultural events. From the slides and videos I saw, it seems to be heavily weighted towards classical music or similar performances in a castle, palace or otherwise historical setting. If this is your jam, then you'll definitely experience something special with these events.

On the French itineraries (not sure if other routes offer these), the options add food-based activities like their Culinaire Cooking School, which may include tagging along with the chef while they shop for local ingredients at the market. In the wine regions of France, you might be offered a vineyard cycling tour (which I am almost certain would be using e-bikes). 

Other niceties

If the inclusions above haven't already reeled you in, here's a few more little details that I picked up that Scenic offers. Of course all your drinks are included, including the in-room mini-bar and premium alcohol cocktails. One free bag of laundry is included with all room types; I believe the benefit enhances as you go up in room category. There's an onboard Wellness Coach, if you need that sort of encouragement, as well as a Salt Therapy Lounge and spa services.

While we've not done a Douro cruise, apparently Scenic is the only operator that docks on the Porto side of the river (vs. Vila Novo de Gaia). The story goes that Glen negotiated with the local authorities to build a dock for his ships that is walking distance from the popular Ribeira district. Similarly, he arranged to build more docks on the Douro, allowing for enhanced itineraries and increased stops along the way; this might explain why sometimes ships moor at spots overnight where there really isn't much there (or so I've read).

Scenic has schedules that allow for "Cruising Combinations" 

Scenic has proven that they listen to their guests, who had suggested that they would like even longer cruises, so Scenic has made a point of structuring their schedules so that cruisers can dovetail cruises back-to-back. Visiting Normandy? Scenic ships will get you all the way to Honfleur, reducing the amount of time you'll spend on the coach getting to and from there.

A parting note on pricing and promos

As some of you might have noticed, the US website shows Full Fare prices that far exceed the Canadian ones, especially with the exchange factored in. I took a few minutes to pull the Scenic representative aside at the end of the presentation, and asked about this. He sort of shook his head, and indicated that the US has a different marketing team and strategy. "Americans want to feel like their getting a deal, so they price their cruises high, and then offer big discounts". My research indicates that sometimes even when the US offers 2-for-1 deals, including free air, that the equivalent price is not as good as when the Canadian site offers a 2-for-1 only. And no, an American guest cannot buy from the Canadian website; well, not unless they have a Canadian residential address that they can bill against.
Over the years, I've priced out many Scenic offers, and while the price is definitely much higher than other mid-tier operators, sometimes the promotional offer brings a Deluxe Balcony down into the somewhat palatable US$450-550/night range. By comparison, the best Emerald deal for a similar cruise and room category can get into the US$270/night territory. 
Someone asked about single cruising, and the presenter indicated that most ships have two single rooms on the bottom level that sell out quickly. However, he suggested that you can call in an inquire about waiving the single supplement, as they often offer it up as an unadvertised promotion.

Why we don't sail with Scenic

After reading the differences that set Scenic apart from say, Emerald, you're probably thinking, "why wouldn't I want to cruise with Scenic?"
Well obviously budget is a factor. We can, and have cruised for 12 nights on a 1st Class river cruise in a French balcony room, including trans-Atlantic flights for about US$7,000 including all tips and add-ons. For the two of us. Can we cruise with Scenic on that budget? Not even close. 
And for us, most of enhanced benefits are not going to be relevant or add value for us. I don't drink a lot, and she doesn't drink at all. Butler? Can't really figure out why we'd need one. 5+ star dining? Nice to have, but not typically our style. An evening at the symphony? Pass. A private opera concert? Hard pass.

Indeed, there seems to be two distinct categories of river cruisers. There's the "cruise experience" one that wants a fully-encapsulated end-to-end tour, where every minute of every day is carefully crafted and curated, packed with luxury and exclusiveness fit for royalty. Then there's the other side of the coin, where folks are really looking for a European adventure, without the hassle of packing and unpacking every day; to these cruisers, the ship is really a boutique hotel with a great restaurant, that happens to follow them down the river, and everything else is a bonus. Independent travellers? Then you're more likely to fit into the second category; e.g. once you've finished the included 90-minute walking tour in Vienna, you'd rather venture off on your own than be escorted back to the ship for lunch and off to your included private symphony performance. The additional differences and add-ons might be appreciated, but since you're paying for them whether you take advantage of them or not, they may be wasted on some.