bdrcole

5 hours ago, kazu said:

If anyone has done this and you have any tips, please share.

@kazu I just sent you an email with the subject line - Ivan Dogsitting.

If you do not receive it my email is my cc nickname @gmail.com

We are scheduled to stop in both Runavik and Torshavn this July.  Last week I was messaging with a tour guide and he said that in 2023 there were 2 cruise ships that could not dock in Runavik due to weather.  The port of Torshavn did not have any cruise ship cancellations due to weather.

16 minutes ago, superoma said:

@kazui just looked up clutch auto and it seems it is available only in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

That is where their main offices are and they will pick up your vehicle in both NS & NB along with many locations in Ontario.  It doesn't cost you anything to submit a quote on line.

2 hours ago, kazu said:

I sure wish we had Carvana here.  

Check out Clutch Auto as it is the Canadian version of Caravan.  I sent them the details of my vehicle and I received a quote the same day.  They would come pick up the vehicle or I could deliver it to them and they would give me an additional $200.  I accepted their offer, drove the vehicle to their location and 15 mins later everything was done.  I would use them again in a heartbeat.  I have friends from NB that sold theirs to Clutch along with another friend from NB that bought a vehicle from Clutch. They offer very good pricing and you don't have to deal with any tire kickers.

I would not say that all ties have been cut between Azamara and RCI/Celebrity.  Our August sailing on the Azamara Journey has showed up in my Celebrity Past Sailings.  

@cloudninecat Like you we are booked up with cruises to 2025 and we are looking to book this cruise with AMAWaterways in the Feb/March 2026 timeframe.

Have you given any thoughts on avoiding the Ramadan period which is scheduled from 18 Feb to 19 Mar 2026?  It may or may not have an impact on daily activities depending on your itinerary during this period.

Thank you @Host Jazzbeau for proving the link for Scenic's Egypt/Nile cruises as I'm also interested in options for this cruise.

Even if you enter all of the information they still only show you a limited number of available cabins.  

Prior to the website migration I would receive confirmation emails from Azamara when I booked excursions or placed a deposit on a cruise.  

Since the migration I have booked excursions for an upcoming cruise and I have not received any email confirmations.  I did speak to an Azamara agent a week ago and she told me that they are having issues with sending email confirmations.  She said that she did not know when this would be rectified.

What a mess. Up until yesterday I cold see my future cruises and my loyalty info was correct but both have disappeared from my account.

10 days ago my AMEX was charged for 2 excursions for our upcoming cruise in August.  The problem is that the excursions were paid for this past January and I have confirmation emails from Azamara showing that they were paid in full.  I have been dealing with their accounting team and I have sent them the confirmation emails along with copies of my AMEX statement that shows they were paid for in full.  Their accounting team is confused and they cannot figure out why my AMEX was charged these amounts 10 days ago.  They are in no rush to try to figure it our and issue a refund. 

My next step is to have AMEX dispute the charges.

7 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

I wonder if Female Vets day is veterans or veterinarians.

 

Roy

NATIONAL VET GIRLS RISE DAY

On February 19th, National Vet Girls RISE Day recognizes the immense dedication of the nearly 2 million U.S. veteran women.

#VetGirlsRISEDay

On National Vet Girls RISE Day, not only is it a day to recognize women veterans, but it is a day for women veterans to support one another and to share resources, build relationships and spread awareness concerning the needs of women veterans

Check out Azamara's 16 night Norway Intensive Cruise departing on 1 August 2023.

41 minutes ago, kazu said:

Could have sworn I once heard it used in a James Bond movie many years ago, but my memory may be playing tricks on me.

The quote is from the Shawshank Redemption. Andy says it to Red in the prison yard near the end of the movie.

I believe Celebrity is one if not the only cruise line that has a partnership with Apple to sell their products.  Celebrity ships have the Apple Store in their Internet cafe locations.

8 hours ago, JAM37 said:

We ended up booking our first Celebrity cruise for October 8th.

Congrats on booking your first Celebrity cruise.  We have many cruises on both the M & S class Celebrity ships.   I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about cruising with Celebrity. (We have not sailed on the Edge class so I cannot answer any questions about it). 

My email is my CC nickname @gmail.com

4 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Good morning! Yesterday’s embarking seemed different by first separating those who had utilized the new app versus those who had not. Then there was a lot of confusion and disorganization on final boarding on who was priority and who was not.

I guess you did not have the 10 Second boarding experience.  

After running a pilot program on their new cruise ship Rotterdam, Holland America Line is rolling out the use of mBark facial recognition and the VeriFLY vaccine verification program in all U.S., Canadian and European homeports.

Using their mobile system, mBark allows guests to check in for their cruise in under 10 seconds. VeriFLY is a mobile app used to verify vaccination and pre-cruise COVID-19 test results.

27 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Well, today I did something completely out of character.  I normally book pretty basic cabins under the theory I would rather be on the best possible ship and cruise more rather than spend a lot of money on the cabin.  I still like that philosophy BUT:

 

2 years ago March 16 I was thrown off Queen Mary 2 in Perth.  Cunard was actually pretty nice about it putting me up in a Perth hotel until they could fly me home, and they gave me my ENTIRE fare for 40 days as a LARGE future cruise credit.  I think my days of long cruises are over and I need to use that credit which is not easy as Cunard's offerings from North America are pretty limited.  They have an annual late September round trip New York to Quebec that looked like a likely candidate.  I found the cabin I wanted in 2022 was already sold out so I went to 2023 in Princess Grill.  That is so not me! but it's booked and I still have some credit that needs a home.

 

What I have so far is:

Adventure of the Seas May 19-24-29 Bayonne to Bermuda and then Halifax in basic balcony cabins

Eurodam November 19-29 Panama Canal Sunfarer Oceanview cabin

Queen Mary 2 New England and Canada September 23-October 7 Princess Grill.

 

Roy

Roy, 

When you have a minute could you send me an email as I have a question for you about your future cruises.

My email is by CC nickname @gmail.com 

I cheated and called a friend.  Actually I called my Son-in-Law who is a Petty Officer 1st Class in the Royal Canadian Navy.

The executive curl, or the "Elliot's Eye", is the name given to the ring above a naval officer's gold lace or braid insignia. It originated with the Royal Navy.

@kazu I thought of you when I saw this one. 

Now it is time for me to head out as we received 25 cm's or 10 inches of the white stuff last night.

It seems that many folks are in the middle of completing their tax returns.  How many of you are in this situation?

@rafinmd...Roy I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I've had a busy couple of days with some at least moderately good news.  I think @NextOne yesterday had indicated that our expected snow did not materialize and I got to my eye exam without a hitch.  I was a bit surprised to see that the glasses I've been wearing were 3 years old (cant figure out what happened to the newer  ones) but when I had the exam things had not changed enough to warrant a new prescription.   I was still expecting to need to buy new glasses because the nose pads on the old ones had disappeared, but no, they were replaced on the spot.  I was also told that there had been no deterioration in my eye health.

 

It was a brutally cold day and I pretty much hunkered down in the afternoon.  I checked in for my 2/17 cruise on Enchantment of the Seas and installed the Royal Caribbean app on my IPAD and smart phone.  I despise the smart phone but have it for emergencies but it looks like everything will work on the IPAD while connected to the ship's wifi.

 

I also completed the renewal application for my NEXUS card yesterday.

 

Another brutally cold day but the roads were dry so no icing and i got to the mall early for about a half hour walk.

 

I started the transition last fall at the fire house from Treasurer to Treasurer Emeritus.  I'm still pretty much effectively Treasurer because the new one is very active on the ambulance and is dearly needed there with the Covid surge.  This afternoon I was able to finish the end of the year federal tax reports and all I need to do on the state tax reports.  It feels good to have all this out of the way.

 

I got an email from my oncology practice this afternoon about more test results coming in.  My cancer progress is measured by my PSA:

 

21 Apr 0.93

21 Jul 1.07

20 Oct 1.56

That was the point where they decided to add radiology to the mix.  My next PSA was for my annual physical 11 Dec.  I think without the radiology and with the spike I would have expected the PSA to be about 1.8 to 2.0.

After starting the radiology:

11 Dec 1.40

19 Jan 0.84

 

While the oncologist wants me to continue the hormone treatments for at least 18 months the side effects of that are minimal.

 

I like the trend.

 

Roy

Congrats on the downward trend Roy.

Just now, kazu said:

 

LOL 😂 Yup, the other taste of the pill pockets worked for one pill and then it was reject time again.

I think he has found the pills inside chewing and it’s now “ok Marley, we can do this the easy way or the hard way”.  He’s opted for the hard way.  Stupid (no he’s smart) dog. 😡 

Must be the pill sizes as he has used the pill pockets before with no issue.

Miniature marshmallows should do the trick.  My male Border Collie also quickly caught on to the pill pockets but he couldn't resist a miniature marshmallow or the pill hidden inside a piece of chicken.   Good luck.

Jacqui @kazu, I thought of Marley when I saw this.

8 hours ago, grapau27 said:

We have just had lunch.😋

Graham.

You and Pauline have the best pizzas.

Happy New Year.  I would like to wish everyone all the best for 2022.