StLouisCruisers

Good morning friends! Happy Saturday! Here I am experiencing 65F, expect about 85 with mostly sunny skies. There's a small chance of a shower this evening. Happy Anniversary Annie @marshhawk and Chuck @catmando!! Thanks Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. Great days, food and beverages. I appreciate teddy bears and have an Ohio State and a Michigan teddy bear on the guest room closet shelf. When family stays there they feel right at home. Seeing weirdos as wonderful is a very charitable attitude. And I do Sudoku all the time. I have a book of them right here next to me in fact. The quote is interesting and a bold idea. I'm not a fan of quinoa so will leave that to others. Love the name of the cocktail and will take a glass of that prosecco. Thank you Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your great reports each day. Today's day in history is my favorite so far. What a great day for this country! Prayers for our Care list, and a special prayer for Roy's @rafinmd quick recovery from Covid. Also many prayers for Lou, Terry's DH @smitty34877 and little Baby Murphy. All on the Care list were included in my prayers as well as DB, friend's DB Mark, our Maui citizens who lost so much, and the people of Ukraine. 🙏 Three cheers for the Celebration list and everyone cruising and preparing to cruise. Jake @Crazy For Cats, I hope you enjoy St. John's today. We took a tour of Old St. John's and Cape Spear. Our tour guide Susan Flanagan was the best ever. What a fun time she made it for all of us! Thanks to Vanessa @JazzyV for her wonderful list keeping! Our port today is Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy. We had that port way back at the beginning on March 19, 2021 and Sept. 18, 2022. 3/19/21 has dropped off Rich's activity on his profile, but I was able to bring it up by using the link I included on Sept. 18, 2022. Voila! Here are the links for Livorno. According to my records we've been to Livorno 6 times. We've of course traveled from Livorno to Florence, Pisa, and Lucca. But one trip we took the shuttle into Livorno to see what it offered. Not much! One and done! I recall we took a tour of Cinque Terre once from Livorno, on the 2018 Prinsendam Grand Africa and Med cruise. There's plenty to see when you visit Livorno (outside town) so I hope you can all get there someday if you haven't already. I'll leave all the wonderful Florence, Pisa and Lucca photos to the rest of you and post photos from the day we toured Cinque Terre from Livorno. If anyone wants to see how little there is to do in Livorno, I could post photos from there too. The beautiful scenery along the way to Mararola. We passed by the Carrara marble region. Our tour went to three coastal villages in Cinque Terre - Manarola, Vernazza, and Monterosso, a string of centuries old seaside villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. Part of our trip was to be by boat but seas were dangerous so later we took a train from Manarola to Vernazza. Our route to the sea in Manarola. We noticed small boats stored right on the street, and that pink was a very popular color for houses. The ocean in Manarola. No boat ride from here! Getting on the train in Manarola. Here in Vernazza we had a similar experience. In fact, I can't tell this street from the last one in Manarola. The walk to the seaside, the boats, the pink buildings, the cafes. Why we didn't take the boat! The scenery along the way on the train to Monterosso was gorgeous. But it was just as pretty upon arrival. A street scene and shops A harmless looking church and its scary interior Yep, skeletons! Looking for lunch we decided to eat closer to the train station. This walk was so gorgeous. Last view of Monterosso and our day in Cinque Terre Enjoy your weekend!

Roy, I'm sorry to hear this news and hope the symptoms don't cause you much distress or any lasting effects. I also hope you don't have any plans that this will disrupt. Please just rest a lot and take good care of yourself. Let us know how you're feeling each day as you go through this episode of Covid.

Good to hear. I noticed lots of very old reviews on some excursions I've looked at recently. I still haven't picked out dining dates for my "free" specialty dining credits.

You're welcome! I'm so glad we were able to join your group and have our own small group to see the sights there.

Thank you Joy. You are a sweetie! ❤️ Your party sounds like quite the event. You and Allen are so social.🥳 We, on the other hand, are such homebodies.🤓

Vanessa, I forgot to thank you this morning for your hard work on the lists. So thank you very much! Looks like the cruisers are gearing up again with many upcoming cruisers listed. Hoping that continues.

FYI my original post with all my thoughts and comments (post #8) has been released on page 1. I would copy and paste it to put here but don't dare try that again! Sorry, you will have to go back to read it there! @daisybertie it looked like a very nice, sunny day in Norway. Thank you for your photos. We also stopped at the Sami village but they weren't open for visitors yet. Nice costume on your Sami villager!

So we aren't holding up anyone from retrieving photos I'll repost the links here. From my earlier post which is waiting for the A-OK from the mods. Our port this morning is Honningsvag, Norway and I guess Mageroya Island has something to do with that location too which I didn't know. We've had Honningsvag as our port on Oct. 28, 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022. I was there 3 times and the last time was during my Covid quarantine in 2022 so I missed stepping on shore. However we enjoyed the first two times because Norway is at the top of our travel favorites (tied with Antarctica). Here are the links to the former dates for your convenience. Fingers crossed this post goes through. 🤞

Terry @smitty34877 special prayers sent up for Lou and your whole family. Hoping for better news soon!🙏

We visited Honningsvag in 2013 on Crown Princess and in 2016 on the Best. Norway. Cruise. Ever on the Prinsendam. Like I said in my original post we skipped going ashore in 2022 because we were locked up in Covid jail on the Island Princess. In 2016 we took a private tour and our driver and 1st mate were @Gail & Marty sailing away. There were 8 of us total. Our destination was North Cape (or Nordkapp). Here are my photos. At 8 am we left the ship and walked over to the nearby car rental place and were on the road soon after in this van. We stopped on our way to take photos of wildlife like this! We were at North Cape by 9 am, paid our admission and ready to continue. The monument everyone wants their photo with. We hurried there first, then went inside the museum for a look around. Inside the museum they had nature displays like this, a movie theater to see an excellent video and shops and a snack bar. They had outside displays too. From there we visited a town named Skarsvag They had a tank with King crab in it which they showed off to all the tourists. From there we drove to another fishing village named Gjesvaer. They had a bird "safari" but we didn't go into it. Then we headed back to Honningsvag to fuel up and return the van. DH and I ate lunch on the ship, then went back outside to walk around. The town is small so you can easily walk around to see what life here would be like. Busy with ships in June and July! We were there on Prinsendam. The Elegant Explorer We noticed the barriers on the hillside to prevent avalanches in the winter. This trip on the Prinsendam was captained by you know who - Capt. D.D. He likes to make your journey an experience to remember so when we left Honningsvag later that day we made a stop at sea for his fisherman buddy to deliver some king crab and cod for our enjoyment. DH went down to deck 4 by the medical department to snap a few photos of our intrepid captain bringing the haul on board. First a picture of North Cape as we passed it, then the king crab. Fisherman buddy And a shot from my cabin of Captain D.D. holding a cod fish, which would be served the following day along with fresh king crab. What a wonderful cruise!

I'm sorry to say my normal early morning post is in a hold status until someone can check it over. Not an objectionable post at all, just the CC gremlins at work! Sorry! I reported the post to get things moving and hopefully it will be posted soon. Off to get photos from Honningsvag now. Note to self: don't put 2 emojis in a row on any post! Hope that's not it!

Good morning friends! Temp today is 65 and we shall see about 87 and sunny skies later on. So thankful the AC is working now and hope it continues that way through the rest of our late summer Georgia weather.🥵 In other news, after a group of 12 deer visiting us Wednesday night, last night not a single one showed up! Guess it was time for a different "buffet" somewhere nearby. I missed them! Thanks Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. Literacy day is important to make sure everyone can read and write. I like ampersands to save space sometimes on certain projects. Date nut bread is a great way to vary our diet and improve nutrition. Interesting quote from George Orwell. I will pass on the menu suggestion; no also to the hot toddy and the pinot noir. Thanks though to our F&B department ladies Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for reports on them today. As for the day in history, it's a busy one. First, my respects to the late Queen Elizabeth. Nice that the Statue of David was unveiled and St. Augustine founded on this date, too. Prayers for our entire Care list with special prayers for a miracle for Baby Murphy. 🙏 Cheers to the Celebration list people and all the cruisers.🥂 Enjoy visits with families and all your travels. 🚢✈️ Prayers for DS and DGS as they take off for Lisbon later today. Hoping the conference goes well and their adventures are exciting and educational. Our port this morning is Honningsvag, Norway and I guess Mageroya Island has something to do with that location too which I didn't know. We've had Honningsvag as our port on Oct. 28, 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022. I was there 3 times and the last time was during my Covid quarantine in 2022 so I missed stepping on shore. However we enjoyed the first two times because Norway is at the top of our travel favorites (tied with Antarctica). Here are the links to the former dates for your convenience. I'll prepare a post with Honningsvag photos and post it next. Hoping everyone has a great day and makes the most of it.

That's wonderful! That's how the website is supposed to work everyday, isn't it? Not sure why they can't get some genius to figure it all out like other businesses do.🤷‍♀️

I've been using incognito Chrome pages to access my Hal account. I had to ask DH how to get to that type of page since I hadn't done that in a while. (3 dots on upper right on Chrome) I can sign in and look at shore excursions, etc. on my bookings. If I get a bad request page i go backwards and click on some other way.

Looks wonderful! Have fun!

Debbie @dfish you have mail! Linda @lindaler you will have a wonderful cruise. There are many lovely islands on your cruise and you can do as little or as much as you want.

Very sad report on Baby Murphy. It's hard to believe how badly that surgeon treated the mother and why did he want to talk to her alone? I agree that he should be reported. I'll continue to pray for that sweet baby because miracles happen every day. Your new cruise booking sounds great! Debbie, your AC sounds like ours. It's barely keeping up in late afternoon so we have a technician supposedly coming today. I'll let you know what he says afterwards. Hopefully something simple to repair. Jacqui, your deer are huge but sure send them down here! I'll be surrounding my shrubs with fences shortly after. 😉 (our deer don't eat them) Your hydrangeas are gorgeous by the way. Jack, I'm so sorry to hear about your son Sean. Even after all these years it must still hurt every time you recall it.😢 Thank you for checking in and for the nice photos of you two and the beach there. We used our new air tags on the latest cruise and it was quite interesting. I had notifications set up on my phone and everytime we left our cabin I was reminded I had left something behind!

Thanks to @seagarsmoker, Ann @cat shepard and Terri @Cruzin Terri for your anniversary wishes this morning. I appreciate you all! We had a lovely day and hope for many more together. Terri may this be a far nicer and less busy day than yesterday. Taking it one day at a time is all you can do. 🤞

Bon Voyage! Nice itinerary.

I forgot to mention something fun we saw last night. After dinner we were looking out our sunroom windows watching for the deer to show up. Well, show up they did! For the first time ever we saw a dozen deer amble over from the woods a few at a time. There were at least 4 fawns out there. Several of the males who have been growing antlers right in front of our eyes this summer were out there, too. All were grazing and enjoying the nice evening. We only saw one lie down this time. I'm sure picking up those prickly pine cones makes it nicer for the ones who rest down there in the evening. We consider their visit last night our anniversary gift. It was awesome!🦌

90 minutes is a lot of time to lose in one night! I don't envy you that experience! Thanks for taking the time to post your photos Jake.

Good morning friends! This morning in north central Georgia it is 70F with a high later today of 88 and mostly sunny. Summer is still hanging on.☀️ Thank you Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. Today we may want to pay homage to salami (?), our mail carriers and Grandma Moses. Hmmm. There really is a day for everything! Thumbs up to the quote. I like Greek salads but chickpeas aren't my favorite. Not sure yet about the Game Day Peach Sour or the wine. I'm not even sure what type it is. An interesting day in history for Brazil as they gained independence from Portugal. I want to thank Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for food and beverage reporting.🍹 Today prayers were said as I dutifully walked the treadmill for 2.5 miles. Lots of time to remember everyone on our Care list, my DB and friend's DB Mark, and those suffering in war and natural disasters. Big prayers for Baby Murphy hoping for that miracle. Also Lou and Terry @smitty34877 as well as Tana and the entire family. I hope Terry got some rest and Lou is comfortable as he can be. Prayers also for those mourning the loss of family and friends. 🙏 I hope we can get lots of good news today to help tip the scales. For our cruisers, we wish you smooth seas and lots of adventure and relaxation. 🚢 Thanks to Vanessa @JazzyV for the lists this morning. Port of the day is Philipsburg, St. Maarten in the Dutch Antilles. This is a popular stop on the eastern Caribbean routes. We saw it here before on Nov. 23, 2021 and May 14, 2022. Here are the links to retrieve photos in case you'd like to share again. We've been to Sint Maarten/Saint Martin 5 times including on Volendam last winter. One visit we were driven to a beach, and the driver pointed out which direction was the family beach and the direction where the nude beach was. We chose the family beach, but I noticed a few topless individuals would walk over to the family beach and stroll by. I guess they weren't getting enough attention over there! On another visit while cruising there with our daughter and her family we went to Baby Beach. The water was shallow enough for toddlers to wade knee deep. The little ones loved it! One visit to Sint Maarten was with our late friend John and his wife Jean. John and DH went on a sailing excursion, America's Cup yacht racing. They LOVED it! Happy memories... Photos from Sint Maarten/Saint Martin Maho beach with the Princess Juliana International Airport next to it. This cruise was on Emerald Princess August 2010. Next photos are from December 2004 on Dawn Princess with John and Jean. Jean and I took a water taxi from our dock to the downtown area to shop and look around, while the guys were on the America's Cup yacht. They were too busy to take photos! Students doing exercises outdoors in the fresh air In 2003 on Golden Princess we went jewelry shopping in downtown Philipsburg. I'm not sure if we made a purchase that visit or not. It must have been a hot day! DH rarely wears shorts! And we made a stop at the Guavaberry Emporium for a tasting. In December 2015 on Regal Princess we stopped in Sint Maarten again. Here's some beach photos. I scanned the photos looking for topless individuals and didn't see any. We want to keep the Daily G-rated! Stopping to feed the iguanas. Back at Maho beach and the airport. A view of the crowds But look at the beach next to the Sunset Bar. Yikes! In 2022 we took the America's Cup yacht racing tour together and this is what it looked like from our yacht. Loading a vessel. Enjoy the warmth of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin! Hoping everyone stays safe and well. Have a great day!

Great news! Those tubs are slippery.

By now you’d think they’d have sent in tracking dogs to find this vicious criminal! SMH!🤦‍♀️

Tony @sailingdutchy I have to echo everyone's remarks about your very nice photos of Trieste. I really enjoyed them. Sharon @Sharon in AZ your DM looks absolutely wonderful! I'm glad you got to spend time with her even if lunch was just okay. 🙂