bennybear

Good morning and thanks all! We love Burratta that we first had in Italy, it is so creamy! So the dinner sounds good, but maybe as a side dish? I’m sorry to share the smoke with Anne and Gerry. It did rain over night but it is still very bad. Hoping for improvement tomorrow. DH went to the dentist and in just going out once you can smell it in the house. Grateful for hepa filters! On a happier note we saw this little guy and his mom presmoke.

I would,love to walk,part of the way, too! We visited Santiago del compestela and it was very inspiring. Hope you have. A good night! Glad he’s feeling better but make sure Pat has clearance to drive, I couldn’t for two weeks after. surgery

Thanks for the concern. We are staying inside, windows closed with two hepa filters running. it reached numbers of over 500 today, for reference Beijing is 98. We had been okay until the wind shifted today, so it may be a few more days. I cannot imagine how bad it must be closer to the fires. They have evacuated more people. Even King Charles sent messages to those affected. Scary times.

Good day and thanks all! Welcome back @richwmn @aliaschiefhappy anniversary @NextOne hope all goes well for you. I agree about the trees. A week ago a new neighbour took down 6 mature trees, so sad! For the book club, I’m reading an interesting novel about Cyprus, The Island of the mIssing Trees, and one of the narrators is a fig tree. It sounds like @ger_77 has the nice weather we had yesterday. Today we are over four times worse than Beijing for air quality; this is the worst we’ve ever seen

I think most of the winter, you’d need to check your dates. I don’t think it’s everyday

If you’re cruising out of Vancouver there’s no need to go through Seattle. West jet is fine, newer planes. They’re one of the two big Canadian carriers.

My photo in the above picture, we thoroughly enjoyed our Westerdam cruise precovid. These were the first cruises in Japan since the shutdown, so I’m sure there was some impact as well.

West jet

Yikes! Sorry to hear that, we avoid YYZ as much as possible. Flights out of YYC or YVR are usually better

Curious as to details?

Depending on dates there are some nonstop flights from Calgary and possibly Vancouver to FLL and Orlando. Should cut the time in half.

Great advice, Vancouver is a great city to explore and the restaurants….

We’ve been on both ships. A few things to consider depending on what matters to you: The Westerdam has a complete promenade. On the Royal it not possible to walk all the way around due to the design. The Royal is much taller so don’t know how that will affect a crossing. Westie has bathtubs and love seats. The international cafe on the Royal is a plus, on Westie we loved Canaletto. Other considerations would be to compare itinerary and price.

Good morning and thanks all! That wine and dinner sound great! Thanks @dfishand @cat shepardand @summer slopefor all your efforts. Many thanks to @superoma and @JazzyV and @StLouisCruisersand @rafinmdfor stepping up. And apologies to those I’ve missed! welcome home @richwmn good news @Cruzin Terriand @kazu love the quote! Very fitting!

She was half English 😀

We were once fortunate to witness the miracle of birth of a couple of twin fawns

Good morning and thanks all! Happy Mother’s Day! The cutest mama bear video, sorry couldn’t share it another way. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0GRagSug3F4dkniCKGA5f4uV4g3tU2bgnoEaJAsEVMVUxUWVvu5NKuVcwCnzsC7Rtl&id=100010077750613 My mom and grandmother, and my daughter who is also a mother.

@cruisemom42 thankyou for your insights. I am concerned that you witnessed disturbing incidents. Hopefully those things can be addressed. The world seems to be a much less kind place of late, with less compassion and understanding.

And if they could only pronounce Bruschetta! Sigh! No one massacres Chianti!

My point is that is not an apples to apples comparison, crew on a luxury line or ship within a ship. Genuinely wondering how the non Yacht club service in MSC compares? Not sure they sail in Japan. Princess, Cunard and Celebrity do but mostly have shorter cruises, with less ports, I would agree that suites are another matter. We enjoy the egalitarian approach on HAL, where some may prefer a more segregated experIence. On HAL, The service and dining room are the same whether in an inside cabin or suite. That may be a double edged sword for some.

Otto always has his way…. 😂

Found the same issue son ancestry numerous times. Makes it hard to trust the info. I agree, I prefer the HAL Eleanor mats!

Interesting that you find only a luxury line or ship within a ship surpassed them in service. We found the Neptune concierge outstanding as well. Wondering how you would compare that experience? Or regular MSC? I always prefer comparing apples to apples.

Such a great book!

Nice to read other comments.