cruzincari

5 hours ago, Denise T said:

Happy Wednesday. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet reports. 

Late start today as I had an early doctor's appointment. Everything looking good. Will be getting my bloodwork next week so we will see how well I am doing managing my diabetes. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate. It can be a hard day for us singles. It is extra hard as this is my mom's birthday and I lost her in 2000. I still miss her each and every day. 

We were able to get through the snow yesterday. We got maybe about 5 inches. It is hard for poor Fancy to go out and do her business as she is a short dog and keeps getting stuck in the snow. We kind of made a flat area for her to go potty. 

Working on my classes today and will see clients this afternoon. 

Thinking of all on the care list. 

Celebrating with all who are celebrating. 

Have a safe and healthy day. 

 

 

I feel for you .....my dad would have been 94 today.  I was due on Feb 14 w my 1st...he said if I blessed him w a grandchild on his birthday there would be some $ in it.   But she arrived on her due date Feb 8 (w 2 min to spare) so never got the cash🤣

Was it Luc’s Open Air Bus Tour?

On 1/12/2023 at 12:13 PM, Charlene1985 said:

Again, I’m late.  We are at sea today but this post will be for our day yesterday, in Aruba. 
 

We woke up and had breakfast in the MDR.  Disappointed to find “powdered” eggs as my scrambled eggs today.  Now in the future I’ll know to order an omelet to get real eggs.  I don’t mind powdered eggs honestly but I don’t expect them in the MDR.  Oh well. Lesson learned.  I’m certainly not starving. 
 

We did a tour of the island with a beach break.  Husband has been to Aruba before but I have not.  We saw a small church and the lighthouse.  The cacti on the island are beautiful and I keep wanting to touch them.  I have yucca at home and those things are just as violent so I refrained.  We paid the $5 each to climb to the top of the lighthouse.  It was 127 steps and after my husband’s huffing and puffing about not wanting to climb, he built his bridge, got over it, and we climbed.  It took 4 seconds but it was quite narrow.  I sort of have a fetish with tall buildings and towers so if there are stairs, I’ll climb the structure. The view was beautiful from the top but of course it was caged in so pictures were nearly impossible.  After those two stops, we made our way to Eagle Beach for 2 hours.  The beach was beautiful but it was sandy so no fish and poor visibility.  We didn’t buy any sodas or snacks but there was a “food truck” there.  I have no idea what they offered.  We spent the time at the beach chatting with another couple. 
 

Now let me say this.  I’m not good with strong smells, loud noise, etc.  So this tour was on an open air school bus with loud music, a funny sounding horn, a driver who sang, and it was painted a variety of colors, most of which I have never seen before.  This was not the tour for me.  People stared at us and I felt like the typical American tourist.  I enjoyed the day, but in some ways the embarrassment and high energy made me not enjoy it. The driver was 20 minutes late picking us up (1:05 vs the 12:45 he told us all to meet- and yes, this was a HAL tour). 
 

We were docked in front of two Royal ships.  Majesty OTS and Harmony OTS.  Harmony is 227,000 gross tons.  She is almost 2.5X the size of Rotterdam.  I don’t like sharing a cabin with my husband half the time.  I couldn’t share a ship with 5,000 other people.  Too much. Too big. But I have a friend that loves them. To each their own.  
 

We were missing a passenger and we left about 10 minutes late.  Harbor pilot saw us out and we were under way.  My husband says they make an easy $300K a year, at least in the US.  So I figured next life, that’s what I’ll do for a living.  Good money and a horn blast of gratitude from the ship when the job is complete.  Can’t ask for more than that. 

 

 We were slightly hungry so we split a meatball hero (sub/hoagie/sandwich or whatever you want to call them). Since the sign says “sub” I know the NY Pizza name isn’t authentic.  Ha!!  Anyway, it was good and took about 10 minutes to make.  I ordered on the app.  Afterwards, I tried a virgin pina colada which may have been the first time I ever had one.  I’ve had pinna coloda flavored things like ice cream, but I’m not going to lie.  It was really really really good.  Without the rum at least.  I don’t like rum.  Maybe that would ruin it. Or maybe it would make it better?  And as we made our way back to the room to work on our crosswords, we passed a batch of cookies in the Lido.  We each grabbed a Macadamia nut cookie and I asked if I could try a chocolate chip cookie and the lady gladly gave us 2 each.  They were really good too but I was partial to the macadamia one. 
 

Did the crossword and showered for dinner.  We ate in the MDR and I had the farro salad which was out of this world good and he had the carrot soup.  His was OK but it wasn’t all that warm.  I had baby back ribs for dinner and a glass of the Pinot Noir.  I’m not a red wine drinker and after half a glass, I remembered why.  It makes me feel awful.  But the main course was great.  It came with spinach, what I can only assume was a spaghetti squash cake and half an ear of corn.  The corn was roasted with something sweet and it was a fantastic meal.  I had the hot fudge sundae for dessert and it came with pistachios.  That was also really good. 
 

After dinner, we made our way down to The Rolling Stones Rock Room to listen to a 45 minute set.  I think this band is fantastic.  I don’t recognize all the songs but I would hire them to play at an event. After their set, I asked if I could take a picture with them and they happily obliged.  I really like that they are 30 years younger than the songs they are playing.  I wonder how long their contract is and if they will stay on Rotterdam or move to different ships from time to time. 
 

After their set finished at 10:15, we came upstairs to our room.  I had some work stuff to take care of and we got watching an old movie on the TV that became more addicting than it should have.  
 

I really liked Aruba.  The view leaving port was absolutely stunning.  I’ve tried uploading a few photos along the way but the cropping mechanism on this website distorts them, so I’ll try again when I get home and have my computer. 
 

I’ll post about today later or tomorrow.  
 

But for those of you who like these items, you’ll be pleased to hear we received two tiles this morning as well as our next level mariner pins since we crossed a level during this sailing. 

Was it Luc’s Open Air Bus Tour?
 

14 hours ago, whogo said:

Saturday, October 27, 2018. Melbourne.

 

Watched the sail in, the Noordam snaked through a narrow marked channel, thought we'd run over a buoy. We backed in to the dock for speedy exit, were tied up before 7:30 AM at 37°50.79' S, 144°55.79 E.

 

The Navigator said it was 55° F, pleasant spring weather.

 

We met our I Heart Melbourne guide, James, just off the pier for our twelve hour tour of the Great Ocean Road and beyond. Long day, lots of time for the five of us tourists in his minivan. The Great Ocean Road is similar to the Pacific Coast Highway. A memorial to veterans of the Great War and built by hand by the same, you can still see pick axe marks in places.

 

Ocean views were spectacular, especially to this kid from the prairie, with rugged coastline, sandy or rock beaches, surf, and a few surfers. Stopped for a morning cup of tea picnic style at a scenic rest stop and were introduced to Anzac biscuits, a sweet oatmeal and coconut cookie that kept well enough to send to soldiers overseas.

 

We chose a seafood cafe for lunch, I had fish and chips, Mrs. Whogo won with a pot of mussels in garlic and white wine sauce. Just after lunch we stopped to see some wild koalas, cockatoos, other parrots, and a kookaburra, definitely a highlight of the day. One koala was asleep about ten feet up a tree, made for good photos. We saw a koala quickly descend a tree, tried to find it, couldn't.

 

We soon left the coast and stopped to walk a loop trail through the temperate rain forest, home to the mountain ash, Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest flowering tree in the world. Plenty of other flora including the tree ferns that I liked so much at the zoo in Sydney. The rain forest was just as impressive as the coastline was.

 

Returned to the coast, here less protected, the Shipwreck Coast and stopped to view the 12 Apostles geologic formations and sheer cliffs. Wind and light rain added some atmosphere.

 

Exciting sightseeing over, we drove about three hours home through lush pasture land. Whizzed by The Blue Notorious Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Google for more information. You will have to take the Flying Spaghetti Monster on faith, might help to put a colander on your head (metal like a true Pastafarian, not plastic. I see a schism in the Church's future).

 

James mentioned that the town of Colac reminded him of an American town, you enter past a McDonald's and a KFC. Ended the outstanding tour with excellent guide back at the ship just before eight.

 

Cleaned up for dinner, same menu we had three days ago.

 

We were to be on this cruise but had to postpone til Oct 2019 due to health issues.....enjoying your posts & reading them with interest to get an idea of what to do at each port of call.   However, have spent most of my time laughing so hard to the point of tears.   Have cruised numerous times on HAL & can see so many similarities of similar cruise mates.  Hate the ship excursions as they are too big w too many “inconsiderates”.  Prefer small group private tours.  Can’t wait til your next posts...I know there are busy days ahead😍