Horizon chaser 1957

That’s not a bad price for the big orange umbrella!

I’ve only ever seen it once - a few days ago a fb page for a current voyage had a post with someone wanting to organize a meeting for 5* only - no 4* allowed. The response was underwhelming. Yes. Keep your eyes on the prize. 4* is the big goal - free laundry, and half price wine and dining. Also, two people can sail in your cabin for free on select sailings. Few of us mention that to our relatives. With free laundry you can pack less, and not pay for an extra checked bag on your flight. That part isn’t mentioned in Mariners Club, but features prominently in the Cheapskates Club, of which I am a loyal member.😄

Thank you. I didn’t know this. Like most magical things, the secret is knowing the correct syllables to use, the exact order to put them in, and the proper name of the spirit you need to call on.

Good morning, all! Well, DH is, or was, a redhead. I always envied the fact that his red hair turned blond instead of grey, and then went white after seventy. We aren’t getting Chinese take out, but I’m making Char Sui later today for company that’s coming tomorrow. Yesterday I made pupusas, the traditional dish of El Salvador. We had some from a little family kitchen in a village there last month and they were delicious. I was happy with how mine turned out, and how easy they were to make. (Thanks to YouTube videos.) Yesterday I felt awful, courtesy of a cold and the vaccines the day before. This morning, well, ‘It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and I’m feeling’ good.’ Unlike DH, you don’t have to listen to me sing that. Count your blessings! Happy Sunday, everyone, and remember to set your clocks back an hour!

Interesting. We were on the K’dam for the first time in August. Our Pinnacle experience was awful. The clothesline bacon was half cooked and slimy, my medium rare steak was well done, and the asparagus was well past its prime. The small casual food venues however, were excellent. Maybe fine dining isn’t K’dam’s strong suit? Actually, while it’s a pretty ship, the whole onboard experience was less HAL, more Carnival. Our recent time on the Eurodam was back to HAL standards and excellent food, even though it was a discounted repositioning cruise where corners tend to be cut.

FYI - HAL is listing the Boston roundtrip 24 day Iceland/ Greenland sailings under ‘Canada New England’. We’re booked on the 2024 one, and that’s how I find it. @BaltimoreCruise

We went through the Canal on the Eurodam a few weeks ago when she repositioned. Ships that size that transit through the smaller locks are less affected by the reductions, we were told. The water use involved in the bigger locks are the greater concern. It makes sense though, that cruises that do a partial transit, look around, and go back the way they came might also get cancelled. They are wasting the same amount of water without actually going anywhere. Cruises ships moving from one ocean to the other need to make an actual transit and not just popping into the locks for fun. Those reservations shouldn’t be affected. And yes, we could see from the islands in Lake Gatun that the water levels are low.

We were on the Zuiderdam last Christmas/ New Years settling in for the Grand World. Good grief what a zoo! Normally, I enjoy seeing children on HAL, and looked forward to seeing families at Christmas, but…. HAL was running their ‘Kids Sail Free’ promotion, which they’re doing again this year. The captain told us there were over 400 children on board. HAL ships aren’t designed for that. Club Hal, etc. seem to handle about 40 kids really well, but 400 is an overwhelming disaster. There was nothing for most of them to do. The line ups for anything were endless. Families of six were packed into regular size cabins. I didn’t even know that was legal. But, it was Christmas, and most of them were excited and happy most of the time. A lot of people expected more for the kids to do, but hey, when your kids sail for free, I guess you get what you pay for!

Good morning, all! Well, yesterday on our walk DH found a wallet on the sidewalk. We looked up the name on the ID and phoned and drove out to the man’s house to return it. He was an elderly gentleman who was quite frantic about loosing the wallet and VERY relieved to have it returned. Two young women were parked in front of his house doing nothing, and drove off when we got in our car and left. I think a niece or granddaughter or someone was just unobtrusively making sure that whoever showed up was legit and not up to any funny business. I think that’s sweet. It’s nice when someone frail has somebody looking out for them. So we didn’t give a dollar, but we returned quite a few of them. We also got our new COVID and flu shots. The nurse was very good, and I could hardly feel it at all. The arm’s a bit sore now, but that’s all. I made chicken tacquitas in the new air fryer last night, using rice paper instead of tortillas. They were amazing. I guess DH picked the right appliance after all! Happy Friday, everyone, and cheers to our favorite BHBs, wherever they may be! (And many thanks to Rich for keeping track of that for us!)

What wonderful news, and finally a break for her parents!

Good morning, all! All Souls Day and planning your epitaph seem to go together well. I would love to try that Pinot Noir some time! Well, yesterday was a better day. It was the last day of good weather for a while. We took out the window screens, cleaned the screens and window frames, relabeled the screens so they’ll find their way to the right windows in the spring, and put them away for the winter. This morning the wind is driving heavy rain onto the windows. We also went to look for a new pressure cooker after the death of my other one. We came home with a new air fryer that DH liked the look of instead. Don’t ask. We changed the bedding, put down hall runners, and the other little things changing the condo over to winter mode. Today is snuggle down, read, and watch the rain day. Happy Thursday, everyone, and enjoy your day on/ plans for/ memories of your favorite BHB!

I love the three pictures together. The first and third is the traditional way of placing a spatchcock chicken in a pan, with the ‘knees’ turned in and the meat spread out. The middle picture, with the knees turned out and the meat tucked under looks like a bird that spends its whole cruise working out in gym. It makes the other two look like they spend their whole cruise grazing in the Lido. 😄

Rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit. Good morning, all! The quote and the meal sound good. I like to spatchcock, or butterfly, chicken - it cooks faster and more evenly. I even cooked the Thanksgiving turkey that way once when the clearance between the bird and the upper oven element was a little sketchy. I love bananas, but avoid any drink with banana in it. We were in Juneau on the Konigsdam in late August with DH’s cousins. Well, I hope November starts better than October ended here. In the morning, a house about 2 blocks from us caught fire. It was empty, about to be demolished for new construction. Someone was sheltering in there, lit a fire to stay warm, and away it went. In the afternoon, our drier went on strike and became a large, awkward, expensive laundry hamper. Then when I made supper, smoke began pouring out of the base of the pressure cooker. We got it unplugged and outside before it could damage anything. Now I need a new one. But, today is a new day and a new month! Happy November, everyone! Don’t eat all that Halloween candy at once.

We were just at the medallion ceremony on the Eurodam. Yes indeed, while bronze, silver, and gold all have the same blue ribbon, platinum has a white ribbon to make it stand out.

Good morning, all! Yes, Halloween, and all the goblins will be out tonight. I wonder what the popular costume of the year will be? I was a Girl Guide leader for over 10 years, so that is always dear to me. We are home from our Panama repositioning cruise on the Eurodam. It was our first time on the west side of Central America. We dodged two hurricanes in the Pacific, and diverted to El Salvador because of unrest in Guatemala. El Salvador was unexpected and amazing! It was the safest and least commercial port of the whole trip. Cruise ships are so rare the local schools were given the day off. Groups of students in blue and white uniforms waited at bus stops and corners for people needing directions as a chance to practise their English. The official currency of El Salvador is US dollars. Strange but true! Happy Halloween, everyone! Enjoy the ghosts and goblins coming your way!

Congratulations on 4*, @JanDom! You don’t get a ceremony, BUT you get free laundry, a free wine tasting with a cheese plate, half price on specialty dining and wine packages, and priority tendering. Free laundry is huge. That beats a ceremony every time! Five stars adds in two free Pinnacle Dinners and not much else, so 4* is the big one. Medallions are presented with a ceremony and a free drink for those attending. There are no perks or privileges attached, but they look nice on a Christmas tree. We should get our gold medallions for 500 days on our next cruise. Free laundry and half price wine are still the perks I hold most dear.

It depends a lot on the ship, but generally- Inside cabins are small, but not nearly as small as NCL or RCL. There is space to move around, and a chair and table, but no couch. A LARGE interior is the biggest cabin you can get below a suite level. Lots of space, lots of closet, a big L- shaped sofa. You can entertain in your room, if you want. OV’s have more space than a small interior - with table, chair and love seat/ small couch. They are much smaller than a large interior. Depending on the ship, obstructed OV may feature a floor to ceiling window overlooking a lifeboat. The degree of obstruction varies cabin to cabin, but worst case scenario you still get lots of natural light. They are identical to a Verandah cabin, without the verandah.

Good morning, all! Rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit! And just like,that, it’s already October! We’re getting the house ready for winter before we head off on our cruise. We leave a week from today, and I can’t wait! I also haven’t started packing. Yesterday we got a nice upgrade offer, and went from an inside cabin to a larger cabin with a floor to ceiling window for next to nothing. Happy dance time! The wind brought the walnuts down in the past few days. They’re much smaller than usual. Fearing the worst, I opened a few. They have as much meat as they usually do, but the shells are very thin. It’s been a strange year, and this is one of the few good surprises. Prayers to all recovering from medical issues, May there be news of speedy recoveries soon. Happy Sunday, and cheers to those heading off on journeys - there seems to be a lot of us,

Good call. If you have a good TA, they’re worth their weight in gold. If you have a bad TA, it’s like swimming with your wrists tied to your ankles.

I prefer a TA over a PCC because the PCC works for the cruise line and the TA works for you. That said, there are good TA’s and bad TA’s, and that makes all the difference in the world. We had a terrible TA, and got transferred to someone else at the same agency after complaining. Our current TA is amazing, has saved us thousands of dollars, and resolved issues with cruise lines (in our favour) that I thought were lost causes. Life is smoother, and our travel budget goes a lot farther, which is the bottom line.

You never HAVE to book at the Have It All fare. Sometimes though, you really have to hunt amongst the garbage and the flowers on the website to find the Cruise Only fare. And the big promotions are usually for the HIA package. They hope you THINK that HIA is your only option, but it isn’t.

I recently travelled with a relative who hit the 15 drink limit a couple of times. After the 15th beverage, the drinks were charged to her account.

40 is the ballpark I’ve always heard, too. Oops - I just quoted quoted you on that!😉

I know. I’ve heard good things about Club HAL, but it is NOT designed for hundreds of children!

A lot of families we met on the Zuiderdam last Christmas had booked during a ‘Kids sail for free’ promotion. It was a 12 day cruise, but could be booked as 7 and 5 day segments. The captain told us there were over 400 children on board on the Christmas portion.