Norseh2o

Jim_lain- Thank you for the Regatta news. We board on 9/26, we love the Vines trips, this will be our third. Wish this trip included a stop at Catalina Island. The ship news, pictures and pages of conversation are great, thank you for the post.

Final week of 50 days of celebrating 50 years of “wedded bliss” in England and onboard the beautiful Oceania Marina. Many spectacular days in the Arctic Circle, with icebergs, anniversary celebrations and Northern Lights. Smooth sailing until last night’s rocking & rolling (and a missed port, Eskifjordur, Iceland) in the Norwegian Sea. Thanks to all who post on The Daily, our basic internet has been flawless & I enjoy keeping up with the Daily-ites. Prayers and good wishes to all.

On Marina now, Horizons new carpet and drapes look great, GDR carpet is nice (unless red wine spills…), Polo Grill is stunning. Our concierge veranda cabin is the same, lovely.

Enjoying Norwegian water (Norseh2o) in Oslo. Walked to the top of the Opera House and around the port area. Partly cloudy skies, 70 degrees, nice city.

We met Concierge Juan Diego on July 16, 2024 when boarding the Marina in Southhampton. He answered questions and assisted with boarding. Smoothest and fastest Oceania boarding ever.

Thank you JazzyV for including our 50th Anniversary cruise in The Daily. The getting ready for this trip has been a bit different from getting ready for previous cruises. In early June, we packed our cruise luggage (in Southern California), closed on our ‘retirement’ home in Tucson & moved most of our things to Arizona. We returned to California for a day, flew to Seattle & spent 2 weeks with DD’s dog and 2 more weeks with DD, DSIL, and 3 grands. Hope that the clothes we packed 6 weeks ago are the right clothes! London this weekend & onboard the ship on Tuesday = relaxation! StLouisCruiser, thank you for the travel log of your recent “Arctic” adventure. I feel better informed about some of the stops we will make on our cruise. Prayers and thanks to all of the CC friends. Kazu, moving is hard, you are in my thoughts & prayers.

We are spending another few weeks in the beautiful PNW watching our DD’s dog as she and family enjoy a vacation. Bacon is a favorite, I can never seem to have too much! Oslo! We will spend a day in Oslo next month on our 50th anniversary trip onboard the Oceania Marina. Practicing my Norwegian! 🇳🇴 Appreciate the great stories and updates. Prayers and thanks to the Daily-ites.

Thanks to all for commenting on our wedding anniversary. We hope to continue to celebrate all year long as our special anniversary dinner at a favorite restaurant was a bust. A long wait for a table, restaurant was out of our favorite dinner (salmon) & loud, rude couples at the next table. Thanks to those “stay at home” pandemic days with time to study the cruise catalogs, we booked a cruise on Oceania’s Marina, London-London later in the summer. Looking forward to 45 days of delicious dinners! Thank you, Graham for the link to the sermon today. Prayers and kindness to all.

Thank you for the anniversary greetings. The first picture, May 18, 1974 and the second, May 18, 2024. “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.” Robert Browning

First Mother’s Day without my mother. Blessed to have spent nearly 3/4 of a century with Ruth. Thanks to sister, Carol, for sharing some good pictures of Mom.

Please remove us from the Konigsdam, February 15, 2025 sailing. We are buying a home and need the time (and money!) to set things up! 🙂

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes! We had a nice long weekend in Arizona, three days in Tucson with great Mexican food, backyard bbq, shopping at a mall (first time at a mall since < the pandemic!), gathered in Glendale cemetery with family and friends for a brief prayer and joyful Happy Birthday singing for DM’s first heavenly birthday, 4/7. Celebrated my day, 4/8 (first birthday without DM, 🥲) not watching the eclipse but enjoying the drive home to California. Birthday dinner tonight with DS and DDIL and 2 grands, 🥰. Happy birthday to all celebrating, beautiful wedding picture, Gerry! May you have many more years together!

Space X, 7:30pm Mountain Time, Tucson, AZ 4/6/24.

Sunrise, 4/5/24, looking north and east at the Catalina Mountains and Redington Pass, from west Tucson. 75 degrees & a bit of wind later today.

Thanks to all who add their stories and updates to The Daily. My cruise history includes only a few HAL trips, yet The Daily is the only cc topic that I am devoted to reading! Thank you all for the interesting reading, kindness and thoughtfulness. We had a busy week, a granddaughter’s 11 birthday last Thursday & Easter Brunch on Sunday, both hosted by DS and DDIL. We travel to AZ for a long weekend (after I renew my driver’s license at CA DMV tomorrow!) to celebrate my DM first heavenly birthday, April 7. Nieces have put together a small to-do, hopeful that the headstone is in place at the cemetery & that the weather is perfect. Looking forward to a good family lunch (salads & sandwiches), a meal or two of Mexican food and great conversations all weekend! Prayers and good thoughts for those in need.

Lamb & White Rabbits…

On the Marina, February-April, 2023, we asked (actually begged and pleaded!) the general manager if the SDSU - UConn game could be available on board. The evening of the game, April 3, 2023, the large (map) screen carried the game. With a bar set up (with free popcorn!) to the side and rows of chairs facing the large screen, we had a game! San Diego State 59, UConn 76.

A A beautiful St.Patrick’s Day in Southern California! A nice start with Church, clean clothes drying on the clothes line, chicken marinating for bbq tonight. Dinner tonight is chicken, baked yams, salad and a favorite William Hill California Chardonnay (DH was responsible for the environmental documents for Mr. Hill’s winery in Northern California last century 😊). Prayers and kindness to all in need, hope for Ukraine, the war torn Middle East and Haiti.

I was able to find and buy Girl Scout cookies this week in Hawaii. Always a good thing to find when traveling. 🍪 Packing today as we finish a rainy week in Hawaii. We stay with oldest daughter and family at the start of our visits and stay a few days in a hotel for the hotel amenities (endless coffee, pool, restaurant, live music most evenings, steps to the ocean…) This morning we waved at the NCL Pride of America and a rainbow (!) coming in to view. A great way to start the morning.

Thanks to all who keep the Daily available. I like my middle name, named for my DM, Ruth (4/7/1920-1/4/2024). Ruth is a popular family name, I am Katherine Ruth, my brother named a daughter Katherine Ruth, her daughter is Sophia Ruth, one of my granddaughters is Vivienne Ruth (nicknamed Viviruth but pronounced Viviroo in preschool as her class had 2 other Viviennes!) and in September, 2023, a great-nephew named his daughter Ruth, in honor of his great grandmother (my mother), Ruth. 🙂 We are enjoying a few days in Hawaii, hope for a little sunshine as our last stay in December and the first three days of this stay have been filled with rain. We do enjoy our visiting our grandchildren, especially sitting on the lanai reading, working puzzles, playing cards and board games.

Kailua-Kona is a favorite! DD and family moved to the Big Island years ago, first to the Kailua side, now closer to Hilo. We miss the west side of the island (Kailua-Kona), especially the Packer Bar. We visit Hawaii as often as possible. Thanks to all of the Daily stories and updates, prayers for those in need.

Home from the January 25-February 8, 2024 round trip Sydney cruise. Wisely, we arrived in Sydney 2 days early and stayed for 5 days after debarking. Our ship, the Regatta took us around New Zealand, nice ship, great cruise. We hope to repeat the trip in 2026 (and add a cruise before or after, around Australia). Next time we would not book tours in the small towns/villages as each was worthy of self discovery. Oceania provided shuttle service for these stops and the smaller port stops offered easy walks, history, “aged” buildings, very nice ‘made in New Zealand’ goods and friendly people, especially Napier, NZ. We would book tours in Auckland and Wellington, as both cities are big cities and a tour might be the best way to learn about them.

We are enjoying a few post cruise days in Sydney, Australia. Our hotel is near Darling Harbour, walking distance to museums, restaurants, statues, shopping & the water. Great food, charming people, and a Year of the Dragon welcome from our hotel.

Attached is a view from Regatta deck 10 of the welcoming ceremony to Whangarei, New Zealand. Top picture shows entertainment group, bottom picture features Captain and Whangarei official. Oceania provided shuttle bus ride into the town center, lovely museums and shops. Great port, hope to book a return once the Oceania 2026 schedule is available.

Roy- We boarded on 1/25/24. Round trip Sydney-Sydney, debark February 8, 2024. We will stay in Sydney after the cruise, truly a great trip. I could live in this part of the world!