ottahand7

Good morning, finally back to reality. We had a beautiful drive back from South Bend on Thursday and got home midday. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet Reports and the maps @kazu and @rafinmd. I am not a fan of banana cream pie. I have not been to today's port and look forward to the photos of it. @JazzyV thank you for the daily cares and celebrations lists. It is really helpful for us who are too busy or traveling to stay on top of everyone who may need prayers or an encouraging message! Prayers for everyone on our care list, especially Tana who is always in my thoughts and the people in war zones, the people of Ukraine and the innocents in Gaza. Prayers for the people in the Texas and OK panhandles dealing with the wildfires. I have a good friend who lives in Amarillo and they have a huge ranch north of the city in the Palo Duro Canyon. I have haven't heard anything about if they avoided the blazes. Yesterday was a backwards busy day. I headed to my nail salon to be there at opening at 9:30 because their phone went to answering machine which it never does. I got there and it said we will open at 2pm. So I went to get groceries to fill the empty refrigerator and went to my pharmacy for refills. Then I had a 1pm oil change and instead of that ended up buying a new truck. I had thought I would wait until April based on rebate picture but there was a hefty rebate plus my brother's GM employee discount I decided to buy one they had on the lot, same color almost and same size. I will pick it up on Monday after I get the skin cancer on my arm removed on Monday morning. That used up my day, by the time i got home it was time to start dinner. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, beautiful needlework but what an undertaking! Heave a lovely Saturday everyone! Nancy

One of the last dressy dinners on the Eurodam this month.

@puppycanducruise deepest sympathy in the loss of your dear brother. We made it to South Bend. No bad traffic except some slow spots during Indianapolis rush hour. Have a lovely day! Nancy

@superoma Happy anniversary! 🍾 We are in Huntsville Alabama. It is 68 degrees but will drop into the 40s later. We roll north at 8 and hope to miss Nashville rush hour as it is 120 miles up the road. Carmel Indiana is my goal. John's is South Bend. Depends on whether he wants to keep driving that far and if the casino he wants to reach will comp us a room. If we make that we are only 2 hours from home. Have a nice day! Nancy

Good morning. Our last full day in Florida before we start our drive north. Hopefully making it to north of Birmingham. So much planning to avoid Nashville during rush hour. @kazu, @rafinmd, and @JazzyV for our daily reports and care lists. Prayers for everyone who needs them and the people of Ukraine. @summer slope I hope your surgery goes smoothly today. Have a nice day! Nancy

I lost a 2 pack of rum that I had bought in Amber Cove. Brugal Anejo which was a great deal at $24 per pack. They logged me in to the log book when I came back aboard but I kind of wondered their ability to handle B2BS. On Friday morning my 2 bottles of Don Julio bought in Cozumel were delivered but no rum. I contacted the concierge and they said they would get on it. An hour later I visited the lounge to see if any progress, no. After 2 hours I sent message through Navigator. Within minutes I got a call from the concierge they have contacted the the Maitre d because they keep the booze and give it to housekeeping to return. We were enjoying our last dinner in the MDR and a "suit" showed up and started going over the housekeeping log for delivery. I asked to see the log I signed in Dominican Republic. He had a log for Roseau Dominica. First course ruined. Finally at 8:30 I got a call from the Cellar Master Rodel it was gone possibly delivered to the wrong cabin two cruises earlier. He apologized. A few minutes later John took a call from our concierge saying we would be refunded our $25 times 2 since they lost my rum. If you are on B2BS and surrender alcohol I would have them write in marking pen your cabin number and departure date and hold onto your receipt. $50 may buy me two 750ml (not litres) if I can find them. Caused too much stress last day of a beautiful cruise.

On one of the first days of our cruise a woman Face timed during dinner in the MDR nearby. It was bad enough but she started baby talking with the grandkids. It was only like day 5, can't you wait?

@Lady Hudson bon voyage! 🛳️🍾 We are relaxing at our friend's place in the Villages. Going to meet up with other friends who live here for afternoon happy hour. Our trip here was uneventful except for a 30 minute accident delay in the construction zone on the FL turnpike. Have a lovely Sunday. Nancy

Correct. Never saw him just heard him. Others witnessed him.

A lot of people were talking about it and not in a positive light.

@Cruise Suzy bon voyage! 🍾🛳️

Good morning from Port Everglades. First stop is the Villages.

You are welcome. I will continue to add some additional thoughts during our leisurely drive home. Such as the overnight car wash and my lost Brugal rum. We are tying up now in Port Everglades.

Last moonlit wake until 2025.

Last moonlit wake until 2025.

@RSWBADGER beautiful photos! We were trying to have a quiet afternoon a few days ago. The bagpiper carried all the way down to deck 4 and went on way too long. Ten minutes of piping is enough not 40. Our last MDR dinner. We will miss the wonderful staff in the MDR. Rodel, Allen, Petrus, Aframe, David Cassidy, Hendra and Hanse. We were spoiled. We thought overall MDR superseded PG, Tamarind and Canalletto. Jerk egg roll, tuna and salmon poke, barbequed brisket and crispy shrimp.

Good morning. Contrary to the Daily fleet locations we are in HMC until 2:30 today. It is mostly overcast and the glass bottom boat shorex is cancelled again. I think that is 4 out of 5 times here it was cancelled. I visited Kailua Kona in 1988 at a national sales meeting. We stayed at the brand new Hyatt Regency hotel, it is now a Hilton. The place was massive with three buildings and a train and boats to get around the buildings. It had gorgeous artwork. I did two helicopter rides, one thanks to a colleague who preferred to stay in their room and watch movies. We went north into the valley, not the volcano. Another trip there was deep sea fishing in very rough seas, the seas were so high that the other boats disappeared behind swells. There were 6 of us, the first lady barfed when we hit the first buoy leaving the port. Before we began fishing I looked at my friend and he was turning green and puked. My other three friends were enjoying box lunches and I thought I would grab something. As soon as I got near the inside it started to get to me. I turned around and sat on a box and studied the horizon and read a newspaper. I was fine after that. About 20 boats went out and only one fish was caught, a 500+ pound Marlin. Not in our boat. I loved the area and can't wait to go back again in 2025. Have a wonderful Friday!

@lindaler Happy birthday! 🎂🍰

We dined in Canalletto last night. Just like our first impressions it was not worth returning to. I had pre booked it before boarding to avoid the final dressy night. It was meh to not good. I had the meatballs and calorically was splurging on the shrimp and clam pasta. No photos of our mains as we were preoccupied by the gorgeous sunset. The sun was glinting off from the buildings of Fort Lauderdale. John had the Tretelle which he had previously and the shrimp starter. He asked our wonderful waiter for 4 shrimp, not three and he got just that. He enjoyed the meal but wasn't wowed by it. The meatballs lacked flavor and the pasta was was rather curly, not the spaghetti I am familiar with. It had a lot of ooze around the edges and the oil had separated, not really pretty. The seafood on top was perfect. The menu is missing the old favorites like seafood soup, veal Parm and carpaccio. I doubt I will ever book us in there again. The sunset photos have light reflection since taken through the windows.

Final Daily Activities.

@RSWBADGER Do you have any comments on noise etc. from the interior of your suite? It is all subjective.

@GTVCRUISER and @ger_77 thanks for the Margarita Day reminder. Lunch in the PG on the casino may call for a couple. Cheers!

We have one more port so I am going to try to get some final thoughts shared. This is about our aft Neptune Suite 4181. Space wise the cabin is very comfortable. Compared to side Neptune Suite there is less space at the end of the bed but more space on the closet side of the bed. The row of closets next to the bed gave us more than ample space for clothes, let alone the cupboard space under the coffee bar and desk. The coffee maker works but it is not that hot heat wise. We were in an aft Neptune on deck 7 our first leg and the layout of the balcony on the 7 aft was superior. It has space at the back for the dining table and also space for 4 of the padded chairs that can recline. In 4181 our table is on the side, which can mean more trouble avoiding the wind which we were plagued with almost our entire 50 days so far. We had adequate charging places in this large cabin with 2 USB ports next to the bed on one side only. The carpet is tired but no worn bare spots. Ditto for the fabric desk chair has pilling at the top. The couch, leather side chairs and the mini chair in the make up area are all fine. Maintenance wise there are some small areas in the bath that are water compromised that need sanding and painting. The bath tub has crazing and during the cruise one small chip flaked off so it has a small black spot. I would imagine it will will be patched on Saturday before new guests. Our room stewards Wayan and Ricky are excellent and very efficient. They tidy up in the evening and replace towels and ice. One of us likes ice and ice water so they fill both the little bucket and the wine chiller. They work extremely hard and we appreciate them. Noise level in the cabin may be bothersome for some. There is always the gentle rumbling of the engines. We actually slept really well and became used to it very quickly. There is noticable changes in engine speed as we near a port which is in the pre dawn hours. When the Azipods is engaged that sounds right below us but it did not interfere with sleep. Being on deck 4 even though we had our share of rough seas the rocking never was bad except a few nights. Overall no creaking on rough days it can sound like small friction sound. Another nice thing is being all the way aft there is little hall noise during any time of the day. Wifi has been overall excellent having a router in our cabin. Very few times with slow service. We were pleased with our cabin but preferring deck 7 because of the balcony.

Today's Daily Activities.

@StLouisCruisers thanks for the update on Annie and Chuck and the photos of Helsinki.