StLouisCruisers

Sorry I can’t look up whether Vigo, Spain has been a port of the day before because I’m using my iPhone today and not the laptop. DH is napping and I don’t want to mess around with his laptop. We have never been there before but I figured Jacqui @kazuhad because I’m sure I heard it mentioned. And finally something sweet for “dessert”. New photos of Elliott Rose which my niece Lisa provided me. Ellie smiling at her Daddy Grandma Lisa in seventh heaven holding that bundle of joy.

Last night we went to see Naki Ataman the pianist that Lenda @Quartzsite Cruisermentioned last week. I’m hoping I get the chance to run into him so I can give him best wishes from Lenda from Abilene! His show last night showcased music from 19 countries around the world. The cruise director mentioned he had replaced Russian music to Ukrainian music which received large applause. Here are a couple of photos. He was an excellent pianist. The poor young woman who plays occasionally in Ocean Bar should take a few more lessons because she hits sour notes several times per tune! We all ignore and applaud her playing anyway 😵‍💫

Once on shore looking back at the ship, Volendam. one of the monkeys skittering about the tree. You can see his tail looped down. They were fast! The chapel the interior of the chapel. There were bars to keep people out. Monkeys too I guess the hospital one of the cells heading down the dirt road towards the tenders looking back to the Islands from the ship this afternoon. We visited the larger island straight ahead, actually called Island Royale according to our cruise director. Devil’s Island is the smaller one on the right and is closed. The third island not shown is called St. Joseph Island. We could see what appeared to be the coastline of French Guiana from our lunch in the Lido. Can’t be too far away.

Carol I really hope you don’t catch the virus from your poor grandson. I’m sure he feels terrible exposing everyone unknowingly. It happens. As Dixie @summer slopesaid it’s been a hot day at Devil’s Island. Due to stiff currents last night our new arrival time in port of 7 am was pushed back even further to 9 am. We obtained our priority tender tickets after breakfast and were aboard the first tender surprisingly. We tried following the rough map handed out by the excursions department, since there were no tours there. We somehow managed to see pretty much everything we wanted to. We even saw a couple of monkeys in the trees. This was a former French penal colony so we saw the ruins of their cells. What a miserably hot experience that would have been! Tendering was a slow process today for most and eventually they added a second platform. We left the Island about an hour late and are hurrying to make a morning time period to enter the Barre Norte river at high tide. Many more hot days expected this next week! I should have searched my phone’s photo library for some pics of the Island beforehand but got ahead of myself. I will attempt to post now and add some photos shortly.

I’m so sorry to hear the disappointing news that you had to cancel the cruise. But you always have to do what feels right. I hope a replacement cruise is in the near future. Prayers for the friend of your BFF.🙏🏻

Good morning friends! However since we've moved our clocks ahead 1 hour twice already it is nearly noon here! Last night we went to Pinnacle for dinner and it was delicious I am happy to say. We were totally stuffed and had to pass on dessert. Horrors! Then we moved the clock ahead one hour last night and slept in so late this morning. We had breakfast at 9 am which is unheard of for us. The seas are rocking us and the Captain has changed our time in port tomorrow for Devil's Island, French Guiana, Rich @richwmn. Now it is 7 am to 1:30 pm last tender back to the ship. So sounds like a 2 pm or later departure. Happy 60th anniversary Ann and Pat @Vict0riann! Quite an achievement! And happy heavenly birthday to Jose today. Ann @cat shepard (I'm sorry the blue bubble won't pop up on this dial up ship's internet), but that 350 degree temperature meme is hilarious! Rich's post for San Juan, Puerto Rico was last year on August 1 and here is a link to capture your photos, everyone. Mine are below. Today's port of San Juan we have visited many times. I enjoy it though I do remember the first time we were there was the start of the 2006 Crown Princess cruise we took our DD on. Our room at the Hilton was having a hard time keeping up with the humidity. When we returned from dinner we noticed our passport pages were trying to curl up! We put a heavy weight on them overnight to counteract the humidity in our room. We really had to crank up that A/C!! Some images from our Feb. 3, 2018 Veendam visit . I was just perusing some 2019 Rotterdam visit to San Juan photos and saw a couple of unique ones. This was Valentine's Day too! What a romantic dessert!

Sorry to hear you are both positive for Covid @seagarsmoker. Did you pick up the virus at home or on a cruise? It's too bad you have both been feeling so unwell, but we're glad to see you back here on the Daily. Hope you are fully recovered very soon. Meanwhile, after half the ship trooped off to go on tours we heard a very brief announcement by an unknown person that masks are no longer required but recommended. I hope the word gets spread to those off the ship when they arrive back on board.😷 We will leave the ship a little later for a nice walk around Castries. Hopefully it will be sunnier then. We're having a crew drill at the moment which sounds pretty dramatic. It was a helicopter evacuation, now they say the helicopter has crashed, fire aft and man overboard starboard side. Holy Cow!! At least they are getting some good training in today. 😲

Good morning friends! We just docked slightly late in Castries, St. Lucia so our stay today has been extended an hour until 4 pm. All aboard 3:30 pm. We will go ashore and do something getting some fresh air I hope at the same time. Not sure of the weather here today but we can always take an umbrella along. It's probably about 80F outside but my weather app says a shower possibly at 9 am, then wind the remainder of the day with a high of 83. No word yet on mask directives. We are still wearing them until the announcement. Kotor is a wonderful port of call and we had it recently on May 17, 2022. Here is a link to Rich's post that day in order to retrieve photos. Kotor is another wonderful walled city that everyone should have a chance to see. We first went there in August, 2017 on the Westerdam. The second time was on the Pacific Princess in late November, 2018 so quite a difference in weather. It was rainy and cool that time. The third time was in June 2019 on a segment of our 50th anniversary Family Cruise. The family hadn't joined us yet but we can't just go to Europe for a week or 10 days! We had to add on to it. The weather was pretty that time, too. We got the coveted docking spot right across from the old City walls on Aug. 2017 on the Westerdam. You can see the old City of Kotor across from the ship in this shot, along with the activity going on below us. We got off and headed over to an entrance to the city. The first thing we ran into was this "couple" in front of a cute souvenir shop. Kotor's Old Town is full of centuries old palaces. This one is Bizanti Palace This one is Beskuca Palace This one is Buca Palace And this one is Pima Palace Here you see St. Tryphon Cathedral There are many narrow winding paths to follow here. The town is full of cats. In the past I've posted photos of the stairs with about 7 cats lounging on them. Here they are, photo taken in Nov. 2018. And here is the Cats of Kotor shop with a cat you have to step over to gain entrance. Looking upward on the hillside over the city, there is a path you can pay admission to take and see everything from way up there. We didn't go up there, but our tablemates did, and they sent me a photo taken from way up high. Here's their photo. For those afraid of heights, I apologize!! St. Lucas, Serbian Orthodox church Lots of stonework in this town I could go on all day Leaving Old Town we saw the dancers had arrived to entertain the crowds A little church on the walk up the mountain. The sailaway is just as pretty as the town, so don't miss it! If you haven't made it to Kotor yet, I hope it happens in the future. I could visit here every cruise and not tire of it.

Good day everyone! Warm thoughts to all as I go through the Daily and read of everybody’s trials and joyous occasions. Happy birthday @1ANGELCATand welcome home Roy @rafinmd. Big news is the entire ship is being tested today for Covid to determine future mask wearing. No call back for us so that is good news. We’ve left St. Maarten and are heading to St. Lucia. Today we did the America’s Cup racing yacht excursion. It was fun and hard work for a lot of the “crew”. I was timekeeper and DH was a grinder helping with the jib sails. Hope he’s not sore for the next week!

Thank you Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser for posting my photos today. You’ve got a lot on your plate right now so it’s very kind of you to take on extra work. I’m glad to hear there’s a date set for Steve to come home. He’s worked hard to get to that point and I’m sure will be most comfortable in his own home. Dining staff last night had numerous issues just like first night’s waiters did. We only ordered two courses. We had to stop the waiter from replacing the silverware while our “dirty” dishes from our starters were still on the table. First things first! Going to the Lido for dinner may be in the cards! By the way, has anyone ever seen an order of wine by the glass brought to the table in one of those peanut carafes they give you at the bar? Last night refills were in those tiny carafes not even up to the neck of the container. I would estimate about a 4 ounce pour if that. We went to Ocean Bar for our second glass of wine last night. Much faster service and a larger pour.

Sharon, I’m so sorry to hear your illness worsened and hope you’re feeling good by Thanksgiving! Good idea to get a head start on the cooking. I hope the chefs here have a plan on preparing me a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped topping!

Welcome home Jacqui!

I had a great visit with Dixie @summer slopebefore today’s M&G and met her DH. My own DH went up with me to meet them then he headed off to find his coffee fix. I enjoyed the chat with Dixie, then headed over to the hot, sunny side of the Crow’s Nest to mingle with the roll call. I actually got to meet a neighbor from my Sun City development. We had to come all this way to do that! Well, our first night at dinner was not a good experience. The wait staff seemed overwhelmed with their duties. Perhaps they were new but we will try another section tonight and see if that works out better. Even though masks are mandatory a large segment of people are walking about without. There was a not so nice man and woman in line for dinner last night. When we pointed out the mask policy, especially important when someone is standing right behind you, he went into a rant about why did we even test for this cruise because no one asked to see proof of it , etc. I really wish the crew would point to their mask when running across the rule breakers! If this ship has a large positive for Covid contingent it could affect our cruise immensely regarding our itinerary. Come on people!🤬

Heading that way. I have on a red shirt and khaki capris.

Good morning friends! We had a good night’s sleep and breakfast at 8. We saw Nieuw Statendam off to our port side so here is a photo I took of her.

I’m on deck 3 promenade under 2nd lifeboat waving.

We’re leaving for South America tonight on Volendam. Masks are required first three days, then testing everyone and will determine whether we need to continue that.

With Sky Princess moving you can see Volendam now. They’re really partying up on the top deck!

Glad I saw this question. No I tried magnets and they don’t work on any door or wall in an oceanview room. Disappointing. And there is a soap as well as a lotion dispenser next to the sink. it would have been nice to meet you too! 🥲

Seven ships here in Port Everglades. Sky Princess is blocking your view of Volendam. Thanks for letting me know we don’t leave until 1900. It will be too dark to wave to you all! It’s so nice to be back on HAL. The Volendam appears to be in tip top shape. And the Dive In burger was fantastic at lunch. Captain is doing his safety announcement over the loud speaker now.

Sounds like Australia only, not worldwide.

My Nav app still says 4 but cruisemapper.com shows the ship at 19. In addition we’ve just arrived at the Volendam and it’s definitely at 19. 😂. The majority here waiting are not wearing masks even though once they step on the ship they will be mandatory for the first 3 days and possibly longer. A handout they gave us says we will all be tested on Nov 22 to determine masking rules further on.

10 am tomorrow at Crow’s Nest. Ship is actually docked at 19 instead of 4 as they announced earlier. Blocked on webcam by Sky Princess I think.

see you there! DH doesn’t attend them so just me. By the way I just looked closer at our vax card copies and she copied the front of DH’s twice instead of front and back. And she copied the back of my vax card twice. So that has to be re-done too. If Gen Z weren’t on their phone constantly they could handle a task like this easier. Maybe she was on the night shift and I can get a not so tired person to do it for me. I’m sure doing your own copies at your hotel worked perfectly!

Dixie, made me mad too when I saw that email! I asked at the desk at this hotel and she said she’d copy them but she didn’t do the yellow fever card the right direction and cut off some of the info. Guess the Volendam Guest Services folks will be making lots of copies this cruise. I will try to go to the M&G tomorrow, masked of course. Will you be there?