StLouisCruisers

Time for me to step in and say I appreciate my Daily buddies! We don't always agree but try to play nice. I'm busy working on the latest Shutterfly book so haven't been commenting all day but have been keeping track of new posts. Just know that my friends here are always on my mind. Take care!❤️

Bon Voyage!

Good morning friends! It is 57F but it will rise to 76 and be mostly cloudy all day. I hope the weather isn't rainy in Louisville, Kentucky today for the running of the Kentucky Derby.🏇 I always feel badly for the horses, the jockies and the onlookers wearing their Derby best. It's also Coronation Day for King Charles III. Best of luck to him and I hope all goes as planned.👑 Thank you Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report information. The days we are celebrating today besides those I just mentioned are National Beverage Day. That's a pretty broad topic so pick your favorite and enjoy! 🥂 We also will salute National Herb Day for their importance in our cooking. 🌿 Things would get pretty dull without them. And how about National Scrapbook Day? 📓 I know many people who like to chronicle important and everyday events in their lives. I personally feel photo books are a way of scrapbooking so I will try to honor the day by working on my photo book from one of my last cruises. I am way behind and trying to catch up. The quote is long and by Lisa Keypas so it sounds like an excerpt from a book. I have not read any of her books. Perhaps @0106 will have something to say about her and this quote. Rich's Day in History concerns the important purchse of Manhatten Island in 1626. The end of the quote was cut off so I did my best to clarify. I hope I am correct but if not, I did my best.🙂 The meal suggestion is slow cooker mac & cheese. Sounds like comfort food and I know Debbie @dfish will have several versions for us to peruse. Drink of the day is Cucumber Martini 🍸 and the wine an Argentinian Malbec.🍷 I will pass on both but thank Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for their input on them. Prayers for everyone on the Care list this morning.🙏 We hope to hear that Pat and Mary Kay's surgeries went well. Fast healing to you both! Cheers for our Celebration list folks. Bon Voyage to those embarking today on ships, too! We've got quite a few BHB's on the Alaska run as you can see by the maps. 🚢 The port of the day is Moreton Island, in Queensland Australia. I see that it is located just 36 miles from Brisbane. This is the first time ever for that port here so I have no links. I also have no photos since I've not been there before. I do enjoy Brisbane though so I'm sure I would feel the same way about Moreton Island. I hope we get to see some photos from there today! I do hope everyone here enjoys their day no matter what they do. Have a great weekend as well. I'm going to get on that treadmill and possibly run over to the gym after breakfast. That's good because it's National Fitness Day too. Take care!

Today is Beverage Day, National Scrapbook Day, and National Herb Day I no longer believed in the idea of soul mates, or love at first sight. But I was beginning to believe that a very few times in your life, if you were lucky, you might meet someone who was exactly right for you. Not because he was perfect, or because you were, but because your combined flaws were arranged in a way that allowed two separate beings to hinge together.--Lisa Kleypas, Blue-Eyed DevilMeal Suggestion for today - Slow Cooker Mac & CheeseDrink of the Day - Cucumber MartiniWine of the Day - Terrazas de los Andes Malbec Reserva, Mendoza, ArgentinaDestination of the Day - Moreton Island, Queensland AustraliaToday in History:1626 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape Native American tribe.Ship Locations Eurodam Seattle, Washington 07:00 - 15:00 Koningsdam Vancouver, Canada 07:00 - 16:00 Nieuw Amsterdam At Sea Destination Vancouver, BC Canada eta 5-07 Nieuw Statendam Barcelona, Spain 07:00 - 16:00 Noordam Victoria, BC, Canada 07:00 - 23:00 Oosterdam Casablanca, Morocco 07:00 - 17:00 Rotterdam Amsterdam, Holland 08:00 - 17:00 Volendam Vancouver, BC Canada 07:00 - 16:00 Westerdam At Sea Destination Seattle, Washington eta 5-07 Zaandam Boston, Massachusetts 07:00 - 17:00 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Port Everglades eta 5-12 Sandi for Rich

Lenda I see myself and DH's hat in your photo taken of Christ the Redeemer. I'm at the bottom of the steps wearing the fuschia shirt and DH has the Tilley hat on in front of me. Do you see yourself in my photos? Your photo: We had a good visit with our dentist. He checked us both out and saw nothing that needed work right now and he will take a wait and see attitude on certain teeth. We feel like we're in good hands again. Then we had lunch at the Mexican restaurant nearby ( even though DH says our own home cooked Mexican dishes are so much better). I have to agree we enjoy our own cooking more than some restaurants. Then we picked up a few groceries. Unfortunately the showers we were expecting around 5 pm turned into rain 10 minutes after we left home this morning. It rained the whole time which makes being out and about a real pain. We had 4 days of complete sunshine this week and of course the rain comes when we have an appointment. Next appointment is on the 16th so that will definitely be a wet day! Count on it!

Nice itinerary! Bon Voyage!

Good morning friends! Happy Cinco de Mayo! I have a temp of 51 but only a high of 66 later on with cloudy skies and a shower expected around 5 pm. Thanks go to Rich @richwmn for compiling the Daily and Fleet Report for us. Today is the final port of the world cruise so I hope everyone is enjoying it because the sea days begin not to mention the packing! Also thanks to Rich for the day in history which took place in 1891 and it was an interesting fact about the beginnings of what is now Carnegie Hall. Our days to celebrate are Cartoonist Day, National Space Day, and National Hoagie Day. We get our laughs from cartoons or these days memes. I appreciate a good laugh.😂 A salute to the space industry. Many important ideas and paths have opened since we began space travel including sending satellites into space for communications. Finally National Hoagie Day which is to some a gastronomic delight! The quote by Spielberg is very true. I hope the roasted salmon with citrus salsa verde is as popular as the strawberry basil relish on salmon dish has become. Thanks to Debbie @dfish who will present you options on preparing it. The drink looked like a typo to me but it really is a blucumber fizz! Bring on the recipe for that one Dixie @summer slope!! The wine today is a real mouthful, word wise. I know Ann @cat shepard can make it all clearer to us. Thanks to each and every one of you for your help. I wish the Care list would get smaller! Prayers for everyone involved, and special prayers to Mary Kay @cruzn single and Pat Mr. @Vict0riann as they have their surgeries performed. Excellent results and fast healing to you both! 🙏 As for the Celebration list, we wish that one was much longer! Many of you are cruising and we wish you smooth seas and enjoyable days in port.🚢 For all the happy events I congratulate you and hope for many more of those events. 🎉🎈🥂 Our appreciation to Eva @superoma for putting together the lists for us. Our port of the day is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We had it only once before on March 22, 2021. We hear many stories about Rio, some of them not good, but still everyone wants a chance to get there at least once. We luckily went there twice, in 2012 we embarked there on Star Princess and that was no fun! Then in 2015 we sailed from Fort Lauderdale to California which was better. I'll put the link here for you to retrieve photos which we hope you'll share. With so many on cruises we are missing seeing some of the earlier photos again. But do your best! Rio de Janeiro We stayed at the Sheraton in 2012 and this was a view from the hotel of the beaches. As a group we decided to risk walking along the roadway path to an overlook to get a better look. Wearing no jewelry and hiding our tiny point and shoot cameras as we walked, we made it safely there and back. This was Feb. 17, 2012 so close to Carnival there. The beaches were crowded. The following morning we got a brief tour of the city as we headed to the port for embarkation. It was utter chaos there. The buses were parking a block or two away and letting you drag your bags to the end of the line at the terminal building. As you approached the line, men ran out of the building and tried grabbing your bags with no identification or anything, so most of us refused until we got to a point where we were entering and could identify the people in charge of luggage. The lines snaked all through the building. We vowed then and there to never embark in Rio again! Another odd thing here was just as you left the building your carry on luggage and purses were X-rayed and examined by local authorities, then you walked out the door and up the gangway and the cruise line employees X-rayed and checked your bags again. I have no idea why it was necessary to do it that way. Later in the afternoon we prepared to sail. The sun was setting and we were able to get several cool shots of Christ the Redeemer. Exactly three years to the day that we embarked the Star Princess, we arrived in Rio on the Ruby Princess on our route from Florida to California going all the way around South America. On Feb. 18, 2015 we went on that tour to the top of the mountain to see Christ the Redeemer in person. It was a very cloudy day but it wasn't raining so we dealt with it. We got on a tram like this to head to the top. By the way, that's a photo of the statue on that wall behind the tram. It looks life like, doesn't it? view from the top Sugarloaf Mountain After our visit, walking down. And a photo along the beach on our way back to the ship. The bus stopped and let us out to walk on that esplanade, walk in the sand, take photos, buy goods from vendors on the beach, etc. Hope others will have photos today too. Maybe with a blue sky behind Christ the Redeemer. Hope everyone here has a great day! We're hoping for good news from our dentist, and internet service all day long!😀

Cinco De Mayo Today is Cartoonist Day, National Space Day, and National Hoagie Day Every single year, we're a different person. I don't think we're the same person all of our lives -- Steven SpeilbergMeal Suggestion for today - Roasted Salmon with Citrus Salsa VerdeDrink of the Day - Blucumber FizzWine of the Day - Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asilli Riserva DOCG, Piedmont, Italy 2007Destination of the Day - Rio de Janeiro, BrazilToday in History:1891 Music Hall (now Carnegie Hall) opens in New York City, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as guest conductor of the New York Music Society OrchestraShip Locations Eurodam Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC Canada 18:00 - 23:30 Koningsdam At Sea Destination Vancouver, Canada eta 5-06 Nieuw Amsterdam Ketchikan, Revillagigedo Island, Alaska 11:00 - 19:00 Nieuw Statendam Valencia, Spain 08:00 - 20:00 Noordam Seattle, Washington 08:00 - 23:00 Oosterdam At Sea Destination Casablanca, Morocco eta 5-06 Rotterdam At Sea Destination Amsterdam, Netherlands North Holland eta 5-06 Volendam Victoria, BC, Canada 12:00 - 23:00 Westerdam Ketchikan, Alaska 10:00 - 18:00 Zaandam Bar Harbor, Maine 07:00 - 17:00 Zuiderdam Praia di Vitoria, Terceira, Azores, Portugal 07:00 - 17:00 Sandi for Rich

Thanks for that fact, Tony. Amazing they could build the church without nails!

I've been away from CC all day thinking I would get some work done on my photo book. Right around 9 am the internet dropped, the cable as well, and let's not forget the landline! It was offline until 1 pm! At this rate who knows when I will finish the first book. I have three books to do. So I picked up my Kindle and read quite a bit of the book I'm reading currently. Had lunch, then finally things came back online at 1:00. So then I went right to work on the book. 50 minutes later the internet, phone and TV went offline again! What the heck? When it came back 20 minutes later he called to find out what was going on. Unexplained. The poor representative in Mississippi had no idea what was wrong the past two days. She offered us compensation for the outages which we thought was owed us. Then she found a loyalty discount to apply to our account which will lower the price on it, but who knows how long that will last. In the meantime we'll take it. The prices have been steadily rising the past couple months. I don't know what's got into Comcast lately in our area but I don't like it. I hope the flights went well today and you are ready to have a great time in London this weekend! Your memes are so funny! Guess you are about ready for bed about now Bruce. Reminds me of the good old days of parenthood! When I put my two down for a nap after lunch, one would go right to sleep and the other would lounge around in bed whining to get up. Never failed and it was a different child who slept each day. I would have loved to nap while they did but had to stay awake listening to the obstinate one! Have a good night! Nice to hear the doctor was pleased with your progress yesterday. Continue that please! How nice of your neighbor to dog sit for you and great news they got along well. Ivan is a real cuddler so enjoy that, even if he does get on the sofa with you. Your internet was out too? Is it Comcast? Whatever it was, it's very frustrating. You have to call and complain to get any compensation. Maybe even get a cheaper rate Vanessa, how nice to see you there at Stonehenge! And what a sunny day you had! Hope your knees are feeling better. Thanks for checking in with us. It's so good to hear you doing well at the AirBnB, and not in that noisy hospital. As much as they help the patients, there is no way to have a good night's sleep there. Noise from staff and other patients, doing vitals at night, even taking blood at 4 am! They did that to me last time, two nights in a row. Just flipped on the lights, came in and stuck a needle in my arm! Arrgghhh! Hope you hear about your flights soon and get to head to your own bed. Even if it is nice being in Hawaii! Well, that's not good news, but what can you do? I hope she is gentle with the needle! We have dentist appointments in the morning. We go to our local hygienist for cleanings, which we did in March/April. But the dentist moved to another town and another practice so we're heading there to have bitewings and oral exams from him. We don't like the dentist they replaced him with at the local practice. If he sees any issues, he will be the one doing the work! I'm gonna have him check out the crown the bad dentist did and see if he sees anything odd about it. Sometimes it bothers me and I'm not going back to the guy that did it. No way! After the appointment we are probably heading to a Mexican restaurant for Cinco de Mayo!

Good morning friends! I sound like a broken record. It's 47F this morning and we expect sunny skies and 74 later on. I just hope the major winds we've had all week are gone. Thank you Rich @richwmn for today's Daily and Fleet Report. I like today's Day in History because it was an important one - Margaret Thatcher becoming the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom! Today is Star Wars Day, Bird Day, and National Candied Orange Peel Day. May the Fourth be with you! I like most birds, and don't care for candied orange peels. The quote is okay. The menu suggestion is Caribbean Shrimp and Rice Bowl which sounds pretty good. Our drink today is Dark and Stormy and the wine Zonin Moscato from Italy. Thanks to Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for telling us all about the food and beverages today. 🙂 Thanks to Eva @superoma for handling the Care and Celebration lists today. Prayers for all on the Care list, and thankfully some of you had some good news yesterday. For the rest we hope for continued improvement. 🙏 Three cheers for the Celebration list people! Good to hear @St Pete Cruiser is out of the hospital and awaiting flights back to the U.S. Great news! Hope all are having a wonderful cruise, and are having no troubles with travel if on your way there.🚢 The port of the day is Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It was our port on Dec. 18, 2021 and again shortly after on Jan. 2, 2022. As far as I know I haven't been to that port though we did have a driver once and he stopped in several small towns to look at temples. Therefore I have no photos. Thanks in advance for any you might have to share with us. Hoping everyone has a safe and productive day today!

Today is Star Wars Day, Bird Day, and National Candied Orange Peel Day Life is very short and what we have to do must be done in the now. - Audre LordeMeal Suggestion for today - Caribbean Shrimp & Rice BowlDrink of the Day - Dark And StormyWine of the Day - Zonin Moscato, ItalyDestination of the Day - Kaohsiung, Taiwan ChinaToday in History:1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of the United KingdomShip Locations Eurodam Ketchikan, Revillagigedo Island, Alaska 07:00 - 13:00 Koningsdam Prince Rupert, BC, Canada 08:00 - 17:00 Nieuw Amsterdam Glacier Bay, Alaska 07:00 - 16:00 Nieuw Statendam Palma de Mallorca, Majorca Island, Balearic Spain 07:00 - 20:00 Noordam At Sea Destination Seattle, Washington eta 5-05 Oosterdam Malaga, Spain 09:00 - 19:00 Rotterdam Bergen, Norway 08:00 - 17:00 Volendam At Sea Destination Victoria, BC, Canada eta 5-05 Westerdam Sitka, Alaska 08:00 - 17:00 Zaandam Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada 08:00 - 16:00 Zuiderdam Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores Portugal 08:00 - 17:00 Sandi for Rich

Tony, thank you so much for the lovely stained glass photos from the Ketchikan church. Sounds like you had a great time there and it was sunny! Winner, winner! I'm happy to hear things are moving along with the surgery. I hope everything is covered by insurance and you can find a reasonable price for a tonometer, or a rental. Prayers for your DH (and you too). Excellent report on the bone scan! Hope things continue to go well! Wonderful news! I am so glad to hear you are out of the hospital and resting in that beautiful location. Hope you get the flights you want and will soon be in your own home resting comfortably after this horrendous ordeal. My very best wishes to you.

Definitely staff at schools especially nurses have many of the same stresses as teachers. Many headaches on occasion.😉 Dixie, we aren't in Florida but our insurance rates for home and autos went way up last fall. The homeowners went up 50%! DH had heard about Experian insurance quotes (free service) and used it to whittle down some independent insurance companies in our area. Now we use a family owned insurance company who sold us policies that fit our needs best and cut the price significantly. Good luck! Certainly does make your eyes roll back. I found this sentence most interesting: “create a more resilient housing finance system” and ensure equitable access to mortgages for more homebuyers. My niece is paying $50 per month more for her mortgage payments than she was quoted earlier, as indicated by her mortgage person, for equity purposes. The article didn't change my opinion, but it is what it is. Roy, not what I read. Everyone has their own opinion of course. Ann, what a shame you're having that splitting headache. I hope it's better soon. Wishing the best for Friday's surgery results. Thank you Graham! I wish they could have let you know sooner about this, but sounds like Friday will work best for you and the surgeon. Prayers continue for you! I hope the possibility of flooding doesn't happen, but it is that time of year, isn't it? I wasted half the morning today due to a Comcast Xfinity outage. It could have been caused by wind causing limbs to fall on wiring, though we have underground utilities on our streets. There are plenty of lines and trees outside our neighborhood. So I couldn't work on my Shutterfly books, read Cruise Critic or even watch TV. So I read a magazine which made me sleepy so I laid down until lunch time and the outage was cleared during lunch hour. Back to work I go!

Lorraine, this is such a wonderful cruise with great ports. I know you'll have a fabulous time and your late DH would definitely approve of you continuing on cruising. Bon Voyage!🥂

@0106 you can celebrate Teacher Appreciation week next week and I'll celebrate it this week. After all, everyone agrees teachers work hard and get little glory and even little pay sometimes. 👩‍🏫

We will miss you too Annie. 😘 If you get some free wi-fi somewhere check in with us and let us know how it's going. That really is odd, Dixie. 1 1/4 parts of what??? Great memes Jacqui! I hope you and Ivan both slept well after the exercise you both had yesterday. Good luck at your surgery check!! (cute photo of Ivan, too!) That looks terrific! Only two more ports before Fort Lauderdale believe it or not. Time flies! Thanks for the "funnies" Bruce. Ahhh, I remember many days staying with the grandkids while the adults were away. Exhausting for sure. Hope you can catch up on your sleep tonight. Good luck at the eye pressure check for DH. And hope you catch up on your sleep tonight too. Thank you Jake! I know most Americans will agree with us on those unfair fees. The minority is always the loudest though. 🤬 Oh no, I'm sorry to hear about that horrible migraine you had. Hope your headache today is gone soon. Many prayers for Tana as she goes through this trying period. And for you, the teenager, and your family members who are doing whatever can be done to help Tana.🙏 No photos yet from me today so here is one of DD playing in the yard with Sadie and Milo, who are half siblings.

Hope you have a great cruise Sharon!

Good morning friends! For Annie @marshhawk who had to get up at 4 am today, I feel ya! I slept well last night thanks to one Benadryl and hated to get up. But we are going walking in the neighborhood together around 6:15 to 6:30 so I will get back in and rest before our walk. The weather this morning is 48F with our high today around 70 with sunny skies. The only problem is the gusty winds we've had all week. We will have them again today and have a Red Flag warning - gusty winds and low humidity so watch for fires to get out of control. Hope that doesn't happen! Thank you Rich @richwmn for the Daily and Fleet Report content. I just changed National Teachers Day to Teacher Appreciation Week, which it is. Yesterday was the day to honor teachers but this is the week to honor them everyday. I thanked my two children for their work in teaching and they both appreciated it! The elementary school teacher especially since they have State testing this week which is a strain on everyone involved. The other two days of celebration are Garden Meditation Day and Lumpy Rug Day! The Garden Club will appreciate the first one. The lumpy rug day is to urge us to let go of the old and usher in the new for spring. Good idea! Nice quote from Oscar Wilde this morning. The meal suggestion is chickpea tuna. Thanks to Debbie @dfish for preparing recipes and photos to tempt us into trying it. The drink is Mango Sunset which sounds good but let's see what Dixie @summer slope says.🍹 And the wine is another Hawkes Bay product but a Syrah this time. Thanks Ann @cat shepard for checking into it. Hope it's not a very expensive one again.🍷 Rich, thanks for the interesting fact about Margaret Mitchell winning a Pulitizer Prize for Gone With the Wind in 1937. Hurray for her! Prayers this morning for everyone on our Care list, but especially Charlene @cunnorl and Mary Kay @cruzn single as they undergo their surgeries today. We wish you fast healing and no pain! 🙏 A salute to our Celebration list people enjoying happy events, and good cruises we hope. Safe travels for those enroute. Looks like half of the Dailyites are on a cruise, just off a cruise, or just leaving to get to a cruise! 🚢 The rest of us will soldier on! Thank you Eva @superoma for filling in for Vanessa @JazzyV. Wow, today is the 4th time we've had Saguenay, Quebec, Canada as the port of the day! I would only have posted the last link on March 1, 2023, but the other two dates were conveniently listed in my March 1st posting. So here you are, take your pick to retrieve photos. I myself have not been to Saguenay, just Montreal and Quebec City on our Canada/New England cruise. I'm sure I loved all your photos last time! Here are the links! I just want to mention one of my twin's DD's bought a new home on Monday, May 1. She is one of the first to have her fees jump dramatically on her loan due to the new rule punishing those individuals with high FICA scores. A bit of a shock! How do you feel about that news Dailyites? I know how I feel about it! Then the gremlins hit her and her DH when the new refrigerator they ordered had to be delayed due to damage to it in shipping. I seem to hear a lot of that type of news these days as well. Hopefully they will get through it. Well back to bed to wait for DH and the sun to start rising for our walk. I hope everyone here has a safe and wonderful Wednesday!

Today is Garden Meditation Day, Lumpy Rug Day, and Teacher Appreciation Week This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last. - Oscar WildeMeal Suggestion for today - Chickpea TunaDrink of the Day - Mango SunsetWine of the Day - Mission Estate Syrah Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Reserve 2020Destination of the Day - Saguenay, Quebec, CanadaToday in History:1937 Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for "Gone With The Wind"Ship Locations Eurodam Sitka, Baranof Island, Alaska 08:00 - 17:00 Koningsdam Ketchikan, Alaska 08:00 - 17:00 Nieuw Amsterdam Skagway, Alaska 07:00 - 20:00 Nieuw Statendam At Sea Destination Palma de Mallorca, Majorca Island, Balearic Spain eta 5-04 Noordam Astoria, Oregon 12:00 - 23:00 Oosterdam Alicante, Spain 07:00 - 17:00 Rotterdam Geiranger, Norway 07:00 - 17:00 Volendam At Sea Destination Victoria, BC, Canada eta 5-05 Westerdam At Sea Destination Sitka, Alaska eta 5-04 Zaandam Sydney NS, Nova Scotia, Canada 08:00 - 17:00 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores Portugal eta 5-04 Sandi for Rich

Have a great cruise. Thanks for any information you can give us. Much appreciated!

What an odd day. We have had windy weather the past couple of days, like many of you have experienced. So suddenly the power went out briefly causing me to wait until the wifi let me back on the internet so I could continue working on Shutterfly. Of course the DVR needed 10 minutes to reboot so there went the program I had on. Missed the end of it. Yes, the computer is running fine and the treadmill just does the incline testing just to annoy us and delay our workout. Takes about 2 minutes. As Scarlett said tomorrow is another day! I seem to recall Mary Kay @cruzn single posting after her Mohs surgery she was having plastic surgery on her nose under general anesthesia Wednesday afternoon. So Mary Kay I wish you the best of luck with that and hope the follow up surgery goes great as well! I'll do the same for Charlene @cunnorl for her surgery and Ann @Vict0riann's Pat's surgery on Friday. Praying for your surgeons, too. Ann what a bummer about the air tag. I do hope someone will send it to you! Jacqui @kazu how thoughtful of your dear sister to send you flowers yesterday. I'm glad Ivan made his appearance at your house, too. He seems like he will be good company for you. Hope you're feeling a little better now. @ocean sounds great news about the London trip. You and DS will have a wonderful time I'm sure. Safe travels! Also want to wish Annie @marshhawk and Chuck a safe trip tomorrow. You are going to have such a great time on Nieuw Amsterdam! Miss you already.😚 Lorraine @cruising sister bon voyage to you too as you leave for your Nieuw Statendam cruise. Boy we are going to be without many of our Dailyites with everyone leaving all of a sudden. Have a great time and talk to you when you get home. Hope you are feeling okay now. Jane @lazey1 and Sharon @Sharon in AZ bon voyage wishes to you both as you set sail from San Diego on the Volendam! Should be a great time! Joy @Seasick Sailor you are a good friend helping to sort and set up for the sale for your friend. She probably couldn't have done all this without you! Terri @Cruzin Terri you deserve a lunch out with a friend today after all that closet sorting you did. Plus the strain of getting the house complete. Hope it was fun! Lenda, @Quartzsite Cruiser thank you for your photos of Ghana (Accra) today. I remembered that Rich @richwmn was in Takoradi this spring and went to see what he did there. They did some shopping/looking at the huge market set up on the dock there instead of heading into town. The weather was hot of course. He said they had what looked like local carvings and paintings, but he had no idea if the clothes were local. Terry @smitty34877 I hope you are having a better day, and that Tana and her teenager are feeling less stressed about her pneumonia. Is she improving? I realize that with Pulmonary Fibrosis she will probably not have huge improvement but less strain on her lungs would be so much better. Prayers for you all! Have we seen @erewhon post here the last few days? I hope everybody is fine there. And Carolyn @Cruising-along smooth seas for you on the Koningsdam. Hope you have a fine day in Ketchikan!

Good morning friends! Or should I say bad morning? We have gremlins in our house and my computer was doing something with the "disc" this morning and refused to do anything else. DH just turned on the treadmill (taking my spot) and it is doing all kinds of incline testing all on its own. Let's hope the appliances aren't next! The weather report for my location is 48F and it will rise to 70 with sunshine. Hope the weather people are correct and that doesn't go downhill. Anyway, thank you Rich @richwmn for the Daily and Fleet Report info and our day in history topic. Today is a big day for the Noordam and Westerdam because after long journeys across the Pacific they are reaching their destinations - Vancouver and Kodiak. Our days to celebrate are Baby Day, National Brothers and Sisters Day, and National Play Your Ukelele Day. I love to celebrate babies and the only one in the family is my niece's DGD Elliott Rose. Thankfully I still have a brother and sister but miss my DS Nancy. And no way I could play a ukelele. The menu suggestion today is spicy tilapia rice bowl, but I can't handle spicy so that's out! The drink is Island Breeze🍹 and the wine is a shiraz🍷 Both I will pass on. Thank you Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for the food and beverage reports today! Prayers for our Care list people and there are quite a few of you. Hoping things will be better soon for everyone.🙏 Cheers for our Celebration list folks. Be happy if you have good news and have a great day if you're on a ship somewhere.🚢 Thank you Eva @superoma for taking care of the lists for us. Our port is Takoradi, Ghana which is a third time posting here. Last times were July 28, 2021 and June 9, 2022. I have not been there and probably won't go there. Links will be posted below (fingers crossed). Please feel free to post your photos for us! Hoping everyone's day starts out better than mine did! Take care and be safe! PS - I noticed today is also Sandra Day so I think I will celebrate me today. Couldn't hurt, could it?

Today is Baby Day, Brothers and Sisters Day, and National Play Your Ukulele Day One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts. - Samuel JohnsonMeal Suggestion for today - Spicy Tilapia Rice BowlDrink of the Day - Island BreezeWine of the Day - Hickinbotham Shiraz McLaren Vale Brooks Road 2019Destination of the Day - Takoradi, GhanaToday in History:1949 Arthur Miller wins Pulitzer Prize for "Death of a Salesman"Ship Locations Eurodam Glacier Bay, Alaska 07:00 - 16:00 Koningsdam At Sea destination Ketchikan, Alaska eta 5-03 Nieuw Amsterdam Juneau, Alaska 13:00 - 22:00 Nieuw Statendam Tunis, La Goulette, Tunisia 07:00 - 23:00 Noordam Vancouver, BC, Canada 07:00 - 16:00 Oosterdam Ibiza, Spain 07:00 - 17:00 Rotterdam Alesund, Norway 08:00 - 17:00 Volendam San Diego, California 07:00 - 16:00 Westerdam Kodiak, Alaska 08:00 - 17:00 Zaandam Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Canada 08:00 - 17:00 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores Portugal eta 5-04 Sandi for Rich late today due to computer on strike

I've spent hours today working on the photo book for last year's Island Princess Covid cruise and have accomplished about 4 pages. That's about the same amount I did yesterday so up to 8 pages. What a struggle! Anyway, that's why I end up so far behind on the Daily. Trying to catch up now.🤓 Looks like a fabulous cruise Graham! A beautiful ship. Hope the doctor eased up on the head down routine so you can sleep on your side now. That shoulders massage sounds good to me! Your new bathroom looks beautifully updated. The double sinks are very important anymore for resale as well as keeping spouses happy. It must be such a relief to be finally finished. Great photos Graham! The chocolate shop is my favorite! You look very happy there in those photos. Nice shot of the nurse and students! AND the view out the window. Hope you're doing well today! It's so nice you enjoyed your cruise that much especially since there are so many out there listing everything that's wrong on their ship. I'm sure the crew appreciated such positive passengers as yourselves. Oh my that was a quick turnaround to make it to DM's 103rd birthday! How wonderful to have such a great long life! Hope you're enjoying the Hawaii visit with DD and family! Sounds like you two keep busy! Terry, I'm very, very sorry to hear that Tana has pneumonia and things are so chaotic and upsetting. Special prayers for Tana and her son, not to mention all the family members. Thank you for letting us know so we can support and pray for everyone. 😢 That's amazing you finished your whole closet today. I have plenty of clothes I don't wear but still they hang there in the closet. Good for you! Also wonderful that you achieved that weight loss, even though stress and Covid had a hand in it. Good luck tomorrow with the second closet! You are right to feel proud of yourself! So ridiculous! I am worried for my neighbors who will be taking a cruise from Vancouver in July. Things had better improve before long. I'll be keeping track of reports about embarking in Vancouver so I can let them know to be prepared. New cruisers so they have no idea. Thanks for letting us know and I hope you were able to board soon after this picture was taken. Well, we'll miss you in the morning but we understand. That is quite a lot of work to do between coming home and leaving again. Hope you are feeling better by tomorrow and have a safe drive to DD's house. Enjoy your stay with her! I'm glad to hear you made it onboard and are enjoying yourselves so far. Have a wonderful cruise! Beautiful cabin by the way! Great about the sleeping position but I'm sorry to hear about the gas bubble and high pressure. Enjoy your sleep tonight!!