h20skibum

My two cents about bags. It seems that the most likely place for damaged bags has been the cruise line handling. We originally had some Samsonite soft side bags, but found they would not only get crushed when they stacked those bags on the bottom, but if it is caught in the rain, things inside can get soaked. You don’t want to start your vacation with wet clothes. We use hard shell luggage now. When looking at hard shell luggage, go with the polycarbonate bags. They are a little more expensive than the ABS plastic bags, but they don’t crack like the plastic ones. Just open those hard shells, and they fit nicely under the bed in the cabin.

A couple years ago, Susan and I were walking at the lake. We spooked a bunch of deer, and the jumped in the lake and swam to the other side of this portion of the lake. You can see four of them, about halfway between the geese and the other shore.

I second that suggestion for Kailua pig. I loved that. As for the spam, I know that it is a big thing in Hawaii. I sampled several flavors, but given the other choices, spam would not be on my list. And Bob, stay away from the poi. I never could acquire a taste for it.

I think they house the light weights there. One of Susan’s sisters and her husband worked at the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute. That is where most prisoners, sentenced to death, are sent. Timothy McVeigh was probably one of their most notable residents. For a maximum security facility, I never understood why they had car shows for them. Each year, my sister-in-law would send me a “Cars Behind Bars” t-shirt. I think I still have a couple of those shirts.

@Sea Dog Greg, keep an eye on your account on Symphony. I see Royal charged a couple $100,000 for eating a Jamie’s. On another note, today is 100 days till Christmas. I bet you are getting excited already. Time to put up some decorations.

Oops, how did 81° get on that last wayfinder picture? 🤣🤣 It is not 82° any more.

I hope you had good result’s our temperature was 49° when I woke this morning.

Happy 65th birthday!! 🎂

In my opinion, the only way to see Hawaii is through land based tours. There is just so much to see, that the quick port stops by ship are not nearly long enough. We had considered doing NCL, but heard they were not the best, service wise. When you factor in airfare, we were able to do a 15 day round trip cruise from the west coast for less than air and cruise with NCL. We did our sailing with Princess. (My review, if you are interested) https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2408757-the-grand-hawaiian-adventure-a-trip-report-with-patters-menus-elvis-and/ Working to our advantage, I had already done six, two week land tours visiting the four main islands. I still have hopes of taking the entire family to Hawaii, instead of Florida for our holiday getaway. My son is onboard with that, since they live in California. They have been going to Hawaii every year during school spring break, and have had some great deals.

We did a 15 night round trip to Hawaii from San Francisco. Although we did that trip with Princess, there was so much going on during those sea days, we were never bored. I hope the seas are calm for you. Sailing from the west coast, we had good size waves for the first day or two, then it got smoother, the closer we got to Hawaii. Plan accordingly, if either of you get motion sickness. Kauai is nice, but I don’t think I ever spent more than 3 days at a time there. The good news is they have a Duke’s there, so you can get some of their Hula Pie.

I will be following along. Sounds like a great trip.

I not only do this, but lately I have probably been breaking the law by recording important conversations. I use the apple voice memo app. Just yesterday, I hit the record button when the doctor came in to talk to her. I knew she would be too groggy to remember, and I may miss something. So when Susan asked what the doctor said, I told her I knew exactly what he said. I also used this for one of my calls to Royal, when I cancelled our cruises. By the way, voice memo uses about 250 Mb per hour of recording time.

Now you made me look up calories this morning. Evidently, I have a bucket full of them.

I have been at that age for some time now.

One time, I had a Grand Prix, and all it had was a key.

We have had that warm apple cider / fireball combination with a cinnamon stick. They taste great on a cool fall day.

Thought of that, but a drain pan would need to drain somewhere. In our case, either the float switch, or the water inlet valve, or both malfunctioned. Therefore, it didn’t sense there was water in there, so it kept filling and filling, till we caught it.

In our case, it got so far, that it looked like it was raining in our unfinished basement below the kitchen. When researching after the fact, I saw a lot about dishwasher floods. Now I will be researching water sensor alarms.

Tip of the day - Don’t ever start your dishwasher and leave the house while it runs. My story. We never thought anything about starting the dishwasher and leaving the house, then getting home to put clean dishes away. Early last month, when we were having the early birthday celebration for our California grandson, we started a load of dishes from the meal, and went outside for cake and ice cream. My Sister-in-law had gone in the house, and she came out and said there is water all over the kitchen floor. Yep, it was the dishwasher. The dishwasher kept filling and the water would not shut off. So, I go in and shut off the water supply line and turn off electric to it and clean up the mess. So the question was, should we get a new dishwasher, or should I repair the one we have. It cleans in less than an hour, and everything is dry. I didn’t really want to get a new one, at least at this point. I narrowed it down to one of two parts, so I ordered both and replaced both for a total cost of $60. Kind of like replacing a battery in a key fob, much cheaper than new. We may eventually get a new one, but that will be problematic. Why, is a story for another time. In the meantime, I have a happy wife, because it now works again.

I thought for a moment that you changed your CC name to go in Stealth mode this sailing. 🤣🤣

@HBE4 let me add a belated birthday wish also, and prayers for your family. It is 55° here this morning, and I am leaving for an hour and a half drive to take my daughter to her appointment this morning.

Last night, Susan and I were out to dinner. I had already ordered a drink, before I saw they had a few seasonal specials. A couple of these looked interesting. I may have to make a return trip.

@Sea DogGreg, have a great cruise. Glad you got your hotel issue fixed. Have a drink for me when you board. I will be following along. @bobmaclibertyBob, have a couple great cruises. I will be getting my cruise fix between your cruises and Greg’s.

I agree that the GoPro is great for underwater photos. I have had my 7 for a while, and I am happy with it. Although I have a full face snorkel mask with a GoPro attachment, I bought a floating stick so I could see what I was filming, and keep it in the frame. These are a couple shots with my GoPro.

I will be following along on this one, because it will show me what I am missing. We were booked for October, but unfortunately had to cancel. And yes, to travel insurance. Never book without it. Enjoy your cruise.