StLouisCruisers

Thanks to Debbie @tupper10, Elizabeth (?) @Haljo1935, Jacqui @kazu, Melanie @puppycanducruise, and Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser for the comments on the latest Celebration tree. I'll be sure to pass them on to her and I'm sure she will appreciate them.🙂 Gerry @ger_77 I hope something can be done today for Maurice and agree with everyone it seems urgent. Prayers for you both. 🙏 My goodness, it would be nice to have some peace on this street this week! This morning an 18 wheeler came by and unloaded huge piles of pine straw bales on the curb in several spots. They are going to replenish the common ground areas scattered through our Pod with it. Then next month they'll come by with pine straw for everyone's landscaping. Well, when the truck finished dropping off bales across the street from our house, he pulled away and lo and behold! The guy across the street now has his mailbox ripped off and lying on the grass! What is going on here? They just went on their way, and a supervisor in a white truck failed to report anything to the homeowner. Just went on up the street. After about 15 minutes, I decided he'd had enough time to 'fess up and called the man across the street to let him know who did it in case he was busy and didn't notice. The trucks would just leave and he wouldn't know what happened. I've never met him before since they've lived here a relatively short time and own their own business so don't spend much time outside. I left a phone message about the mailbox and the straw company 18 wheeler being the culprit. He returned my call minutes later and came outside to see what could be done. He had actually placed a letter in the mailbox earlier today to be mailed and it was fine then. He stopped the white pick up truck guy and demanded a phone number to call. Then a new supervisor showed up and I think they've come to an agreement on it. Justice will be served! 📫

It looks fascinating Bruce @aliaschief. You are blessed to be able to get there at all and I know you will never forget it. Thanks for sharing with us!

Congrats @seagarsmoker! Thank you and Nancy @ottahand7 for the beautiful sunset photos (unless you got up early to take sunrise photos! LOL!)

I think it's great!

For something cheery, I'll post DD's newest creation before Valentine's Day, a romantic blush colored Celebration tree. A departure from the usual red for Valentine's Day. I love it! Look at those beaded look heart ornaments! My favorite! I wonder what she'll think of next?

Good morning friends! We've been getting rain overnight, heavy at times. Temperature is 62 and we should reach 70 with more rain and thunderstorms at times during the day. I wish we'd put the rain gauge outside again but it will be what it will be, no matter if it's measured or not. There's thunder out there right now. Thank you Jacqui @kazu and Roy @rafinmd for posting the Daily and Fleet Report and the fleet maps for us today. I think I'll avoid clashing clothes today instead of celebrating it. I'm lucky to have a room of my own anytime I want it. It's nice to have a NASA day of remembrance for all who gave up their lives to advance space exploration. I like the quote and am thrilled to see a day where I would enjoy the meal of herb roasted chicken, the screw driver drink and the lovely champagne! 🥂 Three for three! Good for this day in history, for Sao Paulo and Antarctica. Thanks go to our friends Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for presenting us their reports today. Prayers for all here on the Daily in need, my family members and friends, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the poor people held hostage, and the US troops on bases and ships avoiding shelling, rockets, and drone hits from the Houthi terrorists and other Iran-backed terrorists. It's sickening to hear of it every single day. 🙏 Roy @rafinmd I'm sorry to hear your PSA numbers are up and hope this next treatment with pills can do some good to reverse that trend. Cheers to all celebrating happy events this day and for all the cruisers. 🎉 The cruise lines must be ecstatic to see everyone back to cruising. 🚢 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for the Care and Celebration lists each morning. It's too bad you have to wait another month for something to be done, but I hope you can hang in there! Prayers for you daily! 🙏 The port today is Mahe Island, Victoria, Seychelles. It was our port before on Sept. 29, 2021 and Oct. 1, 2023. I've given up ever going there. Plans have not worked out for that voyage. Here are the links if you have photos. Before dinner last night I saw the van with the photographer/video crew back up the street. They set up some tri-pods with equipment and then sat and waited around. After dinner I saw a Sheriff vehicle up there and eventually they both left together. I don't know if the deputy was officially escorting them off our street or not but we shall see if anything happens today with the "movie". Hope everyone here has a good day. Stay safe and keep well.

Totally!

Vanessa @JazzyV I believe you can take twin sister and niece off the Care list. Both are doing well. DBIL is still having quite a time with his cough. He finished his Paxlovid last night and can only sleep well if he takes Robitussin. But he's hanging in there. I hear DB has a bad cold now but it isn't Covid and he wasn't around twin sister. With his PF I hope he can overcome this without too much difficulty. Ann @Vict0riann now that airplane took some real talent to make. Applause for that bartender!👏 Now for the gossip! At lunch I heard a very loud "truck" coming around the corner and up our street so went to see what was making such a racket. It turned out to be the Sheriff Department's SWAT vehicle followed by a large van and several lookie-loo's who must have followed it into our neighborhood to see what they were going to smash. It parked up our street in front of the house they rammed into almost exactly 4 years ago on Feb. 4, 2020. Long story but the formerly upstanding citizen who lived there (county commissioner) had threatened the Sheriff's staff when they told him over the phone they had a warrant for him on a domestic violence case. So he brought a ton of back up and then the neighbor started shooting out the windows. That's when the SWAT vehicle showed up. Back to today. After a while they backed it down the street and stopped in front of our driveway. We could see a guy up there with a large video camera. Then the SWAT vehicle drove up the street while the man took video of him. Turns out someone is making a movie. I hope it's the Sheriff's Department's video and not Hollywood!! They didn't have enough crew here to be too big of a production. And they sure picked a gloomy, misty day for it. Here are two photos from today. The guy dressed in black on the street is the cameraman.

I guess things are getting too congested at Port Everglades. A relative will be on the Zaandam Feb. 3-17 cruise and it is listed as roundtrip Miami!

Debbie @dfish tell Sue congratulations on the new grandbaby! These kids and their Facebook! My DD DSis said once she found out her youngest was engaged on FaceBook. He and the fiancé were a bit standoffish and odd people though.🤷‍♀️

Dixie, the method I use is cruisetimetables.com where I click on Port Schedules tab, Look for your port on the list, click and then find the date your ship will be there. Voila! Two ships in San Diego on the 30th.

Haifa (Nazareth), Israel Here are a few pics from our wonderful day touring Nazareth in 2014 on Prinsendam. First is the Church of the Annunciation The wooden door depicts scenes from the life of Jesus. In the courtyard are exhibitions of mosaic paintings all from different countries and they reflect the country they were made in. Photos from the Grotto or cave of the Annunciation. The Chuch of St. Joseph which is built on what used to be the carpentry workshop of Joseph, father of Jesus. Statue of Joseph, Mary and Jesus Next, traveling past the Sea of Galilee to Yardenit, where the Jordan River flows. We would have our lunch there. DH's lunch. Needless to say I chose something else. The Jordan River where John the Baptist baptized his cousin Jesus of Nazareth. Hard to see with the glare but there are people dressed in white doing a baptism. Next up was Mount of Beatitudes where we are told Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount. From the grounds you have a lovely view of the Sea of Galilee. We briefly visited the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter where allegedly Jesus bestowed church leadership on Apostle Peter. Then to Capernaum also known as Capharnaum. This was Haifa in the morning before our tour And this was after the tour when we returned to the Prinsendam.

Good morning Graham! Thank you for the information on the America Can Company. My DF worked for American Can Company as a mechanic repairing all the machinery for many, many years. Then my DB went to work there as a lithographer (printing what's on the cans) for quite a few years as well. He believes that is the source of his pulmonary fibrosis with all the toxic chemicals he worked with. Hopefully things are much safer in the can company business these days. Hope you have a wonderful day Graham and the same for Pauline!😊

Good morning friends! It's a misty morning, 50F and we expect occasional showers and a high of 64 later. When I looked outside this morning at 5 am I saw 4 deer nibbling at the acorns under the pin oak, thanks to the street lamp right next to the tree. The more they eat the less we have to rake up and sweep up off the sidewalk and street. Now the squirrels won't be able to dig up my yard with them either. We had a bumper crop of acorns this year. Thank you Jacqui @kazu for posting the Fleet Report and Daily and thank you Roy @rafinmd for the fleet maps. I appreciate beer cans but we don't have any here, just bottles. A good belly laugh is good for the mental outlook. Change a Pet's Life Day is a nice day to recognize. I think we all know someone who radically changed her pet's life and that is Jacqui! Ivan is a lucky boy! The quote is interesting, the meal sounds good, DH likes gin and tonics, and I'll pass on the red wine. Too many days in history for me to remember and comment on. Overload! Thanks Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for helping out with the F&B reports each day. Prayers this morning for my family and friends, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the still held hostages, and the U.S. military in the region. 🙏 Also for many of us here on the Daily in need of prayer with health issues and stress and worry. Prayers for Joy's @Seasick Sailor's friend Ron and her other friends in need of them as well. 🙏 I named as many of you as I could this morning so you're covered! We've got this! Congratulations to Charlene's @cunnorl's nephew and wife on the birth of Ryan Charles. 🎉 Happy Birthday to Carolyn @Cruising-along!!🎂 Also congrats to anyone else celebrating happy events and the cruisers at sea and preparing to cruise! 🥂 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for keeping up the lists for us. Prayers for you everyday to find better health and lots of sleep.😴 The port this morning is Haifa (Tel Aviv), Israel. This was the port on Dec. 21, 2021, July 23, 2022 and August 30, 2023. I believe most of us probably visit Nazareth from Haifa. We went there once, and our plans for a second visit there in 2024 have been scuttled due to the war there now. First time we were on Prinsendam in 2014. Here are the links for you: Hope everyone here enjoys this Wednesday and stays safe and well. Be careful while traveling!

Ann @cat shepard good job figuring out Joh. I came here to say I found that out too but you were here first! Working on making that chocolate pie and waiting for the crust to cool. I've read online his birthday is today and some sources say Jan. 12. Let's just celebrate him all month long! That secret decoder ring really comes in handy.😆 Thanks for your Rome photos. Great to visit again through all our experiences. I hope Chuck can get some help with his leg. And that Bubbles continues healing. Enjoy your lunch out! I'm so sorry for your friend Ron. He's been through a lot and now this. Prayers for help for him and pain free days again.🙏 Enjoy your book. I borrowed it for DH from the Kindle library. Haven't asked if he's read it yet.

Hope you all have a great time!

Terri I'm sorry to hear Tana has had a rough couple of days but it's very good to hear she is feeling a bit better now. Thank God for the help you receive especially when things go wrong. I hope you have a relaxing day and night off from cooking. Congrats on the start of your new decade!

Good morning friends! Some light rain has begun and will last for a little while. Temp is 42F, high will be about 54 and mostly cloudy. Rain comes back into the forecast tonight and we will see a lot of precipitation the remainder of this week. Bah! Thanks to Jacqui @kazu and Roy @rafinmd for helping Rich out with the Fleet Report and Daily and the all important maps. Interesting days what with measuring our feet, celebrating our handwriting and appreciating pie. Actually I am going to make a chocolate pie today and didn't even know about it being National Pie Day. Quote seems silly to me, the spaghetti lover's soup sounds unique but a cocktail named apple pie is just weird! No thanks to the cabernet sauvignon wine. Good days in history. I just saw Levar Burton on Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on my PBS station last week. It's amazing what they can find out about someone's past. Things you just cannot believe sometimes. Thanks to the ladies, Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for the reporting today. Prayers were said this a.m. as I walked my 2.5 miles for my dear family and friends in need of them. Plus those at war with hostages held and the troops there to help them. Many prayers this morning for everyone here with problems needing attention, especially Richard and Maureen @RMLincoln and Terri @Cruzin Terri. I hope your procedure Richard goes amazingly and your check on the leg wound issues go smoothly Terri, as well as your travels to get there and back. Healing wishes to you both. Good luck to Roy @rafinmd today at his appointment. A salute to all celebrating happy events like Sue @DWAliaschief and Terry @smitty34877 celebrating birthdays 🎂🎉 and the many cruising or getting ready to cruise. Anticipation is the best, but getting there can be a downer. Take care all of you. Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for your help with the lists, and I hope you enjoyed a better night's sleep. The port today is Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. This was the port on Nov. 15, 2021 and Aug. 24, 2022. I have not been there (only Dubai). Here are the links for your convenience in retrieving your photos. Thank you in advance! I hope everyone here has a very special day, staying safe and keeping well.

Thank you @erewhon! So nice of you to say. No, on my recent cruises on HAL I haven't been given the little deck plan maps they used to give out. Now that you mention it, I hadn't noticed it! I hope they bring them back!

Thank you Annie. It would be great to have a kind-hearted lady like you nearby! Your Rome hotel was very nice. Looks quite comfortable. Thank you for the pictures and am enjoying the food pics, too. Thank you Ann! I feel better now. 🙂 The manatee photos are cool. That's quite an aggregation! I remember visiting friends at the Villages and they took us to see where they kayaked and saw manatees. Nowhere near that many I'm sure! That's sounds terrible, Terri. I'm sorry you have to get up and drive down there tomorrow but they must know what's best for you. Too bad they aren't located closer to Bluffton because that's a long way to go for tests, doctor visits, etc. Prayers for a good result for you and a safe drive tomorrow. Sorry you have to do all that driving in one single day. You may be too tired to update tomorrow night so don't overdo and stay up late when you get home. Get your rest!

I hope things start moving along faster for you now. At least the radiologist got the disc. Good idea to forward the home phone to the cell. We've had to do that occasionally. You can be home for a week but the moment you leave the house for an appointment is when those important calls come through. Hope the change in meds can do you some good, too. Thanks Jacqui! I feel a little like a snitch but shouldn't. They were most grateful, and neighborhoods have those Neighborhood Watches for things like this, don't they? I know I'd be happy if someone was watching out for me!

Remember I said the Amazon driver ran over a neighbor's mailbox and kindly stopped to report it to the owners? Well DH was outside a while ago checking out some pesky crows pecking on the roof ridge here at our house and the house across the street. The neighbors whose mailbox was destroyed pulled into their driveway so DH asked what did you think about your mailbox being hit. They said we were out of town until Sunday so no one was home! And he left no note! They had no idea who did it. So DH told him the story of the dog running loose, me coming into the room to see the dog and then seeing the whole accident happening. He told them we took photos of the truck and driver and they asked us to send them to their email. They are contacting Amazon and needed time and date and especially the license plate number, truck # and we even had the driver's face when he walked up to the truck from delivering across the street from us. We have no idea if he even reported it, but now they should be able to get all costs reimbursed and it won't be cheap. I'm glad we didn't just delete the photos from the camera thinking he had spoken with them already.

Let me take this opportunity to thank you for the hard work you do posting these bon voyage listings and the corresponding bon voyage threads for everyone. What would we do without you??🥰

Thanks for the update on your friend Steve. It's good to hear he's made some progress with that lift chair and family is nearby in case he needs assistance. Congratulations to the Detroit Lions and their fans on the win! And congrats to Nancy's @ottahand7's Ravens! Please drive safely today Maureen. Let us know when you've arrived. And good luck tomorrow with Richard's appointment. I'm good with your trip photos each day! We can all enjoy Rome through your eyes. The gelato looks amazing. The neighborhood party sounded fun. 🎉🍷 Time to get busy on that packing! I would too! Thank you for the good wishes for Tyler and the prayers for family. Seems only fitting your friends be on my list too. The bad news seems to come in bunches. I'm sorry to hear your friend in Idaho lost her DH Joe at Thanksgiving, only 2 short months ago. Prayers for her too.🙏 Thank you Terry! Gerry, what a terrible shame that Deb lost her battle with cancer. I agree, such an awful disease and not a good way to go. Those days back in 2020 were so fraught with fear, and the story of her parents' return home was riveting. Thanks for letting us know.

I know you'll enjoy this cruise and you've waited quite a while for it! Bon Voyage!