ATG

1 hour ago, Momof3gurlz said:

In other travel news, I just booked flights to Orlando in September. 
A little back story - we are a Disney family.  We took our girls almost every year starting in 1991.  The only years we missed were 1992 (I was pregnant with #3), 2009 (oldest got married & middle was in college), 2011 (the year middle & youngest were both in college).  Anyhow, oldest DD has a conference at the Four Seasons there the week before Disney’s 50th Anniversary.  She’s allowed to add on nights before or after, so she asked her sisters to come down & join her for a pre-50th few days.  Then they decided that since it’s our family thing, Mom & Dad should come along.  The only hotel we could get was Art of Animation (while they’re at the Four Seasons LOL) but it’s really just about being there with the 3 of them. Don’t worry about the SIL’s & grandkids - we’ll be back there for 8 days in November with everyone at the DVC 3 bedroom villa 🙃

We were actually at DW 50 years ago thanksgiving week.  My grandparents lived in Fort Pierce and we had driven down from Indiana.  It was only the Magic Kingdom (if I remember right).  It was my senior year in high school and I was amazed.  I remember my first sight of the Castle.  wow!

We have recently booked the Rhine and Moselle cruise next June.  It’s our first river cruise.  I have a question I can’t seem to find an answer to.  How are tips handled?  Which ones are included and which aren’t?  If not included, who and how much is suggested?  Are they usually given in cash or is there a way to prepay or include them on our ship board account?  We have an onboard credit, so that would be an easy way to use it.

Thanks!

27 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

I can do it to fresh flowers, too. I try to look but not touch. 
I bought a silk ficus for my office. I walked in one morning and every leaf was on the floor. I was always first in, last out, so it had to be my vibes. 

I finally gave up.  I spent a small fortune on flowers and plants for the beds in front of the house.  Last spring the garden stores were closed.  I ordered plastic flowers and greenery and put them in my pots.  They look much better than the dead plants I used to have.  And now when we finally get to cruise, I don’t have to worry about it!

9 minutes ago, George C said:

When I went Junior high was 7 to 9th, in NYC.

When I was in school it was this way.  I remember the discussion of not having the freshmen in with the older kids.  They felt the maturity difference between seniors and freshmen was too great.  That was in Indiana and they called it junior high.  Our sons in Georgia had middle school, grades 6 - 8.  Trends in education seem to go back and forth.

Speaking of relatives,

Three weeks before our wedding, Dave’s brother and SIL decided 3.5 hours was too far to go for a “punch and cake” wedding.  Of course, he was one of the groomsmen.  I had to scramble.  My sister’s husband stepped in and did it.  It was a great shame since this was the last time all 4 brothers would have been together, the oldest died the next year.  I felt sorry for Dave and his mom.  I had trouble being polite to them, but bit my tongue for years.  
 

Punch and cake wedding receptions were very common in our town.  I couldn’t justify my parents spending their money on anything else.  We never had much, but I sure learned to budget.  Maybe that’s why we enjoy cruising so much.

This is why we booked Celebrity for November.  I can go almost everywhere without a mask (not dentist office).  Why would I chance spending thousands of dollars to wear a mask?

51 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Sounds right...  as in wrong... welcome to HOA sucks discussion

Yeah.  We can’t actually see our boat dock.  Worse than the HOA is the Army Corp of Engineers.  The lake we live on is “owned “ by them.  They control everything up.to an elevation of 340 feet.  So our lot stops there.  They have rules about what you can do on their land.  We have a permit to underbrush it, but can’t remove any trees.  The dock is shared by several lots and isn’t directly behind us.  It’s a bit of a pain, but I love all the wildlife.  Everything from beavers to deer to fox.  And lots of birds of prey.

After 30 years in Atlanta, this is perfect.

8 hours ago, M8VER3 said:

No parking inside the community. Many people with RV’s and boats. They find places around here. Some better than others. As the is a Private Golf Community, with 45 holes and two Clubhouses, the HOA restrictions are tough. If you choose to have a golf cart, there are only two colors approved. I would say about 50% have a golf cart. Storage facilities nearby remain mostly full. Most require a waiting list. In the last year, I know of at least 3 places that have opened for RV and Boat storage. 

Our neighborhood is like that.   I’ve noticed several new storage places being built.  They all seem to fill up.  We are on a lake, so people also have to store boats.  We have our own dock so not an issue for us.

Welcome back!  We’ll enjoy the building process with you.  We’ve been in our home 12 years now, so it’s like going down memory lane.

48 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

More and more kids are being home schooled, so I have seen more kids cruising year around.

One of our cruises was mid-October.  I had assumed very few kids even if it was Oasis.  Boy, was I wrong!  In addition to homeschooling, many schools are on year round schedules and have breaks at non-standard times.

3 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

We just booked this AM the Celebrity Edge for 6/26 - our 48 th anniversary celebration................and then extend it for the 7/3 & 10 cruises too. They just made a port change - San Juan is out - Nassau is the replacement.............BOOOOOO!!!!!

 

I promise to post here what our experiences are for the first ship sailing out of the USA. You will read the Good, Bad and the Ugly (hope that it is a GOOD)!!!!!

We just booked Edge for the 11/6 8 night cruise.  The thought that in less than 6 months we will be on a ship is exciting.  After I read the email from LLP that they were approved by the CDC, I mentioned it to Dave.  His response was “when do we go?”.  We rented a house in Virginia for early October, our sons will meet us there.  We would all rather be on the Canada/New England cruise we had booked for then.  Woohoo!  Maybe life will be back to normal soon.

Does the CDC have to approve the sailings?  I wondered if since it was (or will be) a law, they didn’t have any jurisdiction.

I guess I quit at a VERY young age.

As I have been told, I was about 3 when my mother (a smoker) sat her cigarette in the ashtray to make my bed.  I wandered over and took a puff, just like she did.  I turned green and threw up all over the bed.  That’s the last time I ever smoked.  So, I quit about 64 years ago.

1 minute ago, island lady said:

 

I opted to walk in for the hand full of things I wanted as well, without the mask.  Have been fully vaxed since February.  What surprised me the most were that half the employees, and even stocking vendors were not wearing masks, but most of the customers were.  Granted when I went today, most of the customers were seniors...probably just wanting to make sure.   Even the pharmacy employees were maskless.  

 

Still felt odd.  

It did feel odd, but good.  I would guess half the employees had masks on. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if I had read the website wrong but the employee stocking the produce was maskless.  The pharmacy employees didn’t have masks on, but they have a plexiglass shield.  It was Wednesday, so senior 5% off day.  It seemed the younger customers didn’t wear masks, but the other seniors did.  I’ll be curious to see the change next week.

Yesterday felt like a milestone.  We shopped at Publix without a mask!  We’ve been fully vaccinated for a couple of months, but have been following the rules and wearing our masks.  But, Publix changed their policy and we were very happy to not use them.  I was surprised that about 70 to 80% of the customers still had them on.  I wonder if they weren’t aware of the change.

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Absolutely drop off luggage first

I’ve never done that.  It’s just DH and me, 2 bags with wheels.  It takes both of us to remember where the car is after the cruise.  If I dropped him and bags off, I can just imagine the “discussion “ afterwards while I’m trying to find the car.  Not a good way to end a vacation and start an 8 hour drive home.

I read using the kindle app on my iPad.  The biggest advantage of it for vacation is not having a suitcase full of books.  One reason we gave up on formal night was so we could pack more books and less clothes!

3 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Not @grapau27, but also "into" [England] Lake District, after reading those books. It is where Miss Potter had her home.

 

 

Dani

it is good to hear from you.  Are things calmer now?

Anne

Our first cruise in 1979 had a booklet with all the names.  I wondered at the time about people cruising with some one other than their spouse.  Would the girlfriend or boyfriend want that information in writing?  This was before the internet for most of us.

We just took our pontoon boat out.  Dave tried to convince me we were cruising.  No music, no frozen drinks and I’m going to cook dinner.  That’s not a cruise.  But it was a gorgeous day out on the lake.

We were on a ship with a Harley Davidson group.  They were very friendly folks and we had quite a few interesting conversations.  One thing I noticed, when they had events, the rest of the ship was less crowded.  That was a plus.

On 4/19/2021 at 6:52 PM, John&LaLa said:

35 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Haven't watched that one yet.  He's done several munchies videos, usually around April 20th. 😉

. 

I haven’t seen this, but I’ve always put potato chips on my sandwich.  As a kid my favorite was bologna, Colby cheese, Mayo and chips on a bun.  Colby was the only kind of cheese we had, except for the green cardboard cylinder of Parmesan.  My Mom was not a great cook.  Her idea of spicy was a little pepper.  Spaghetti came from the box with a can of sauce.  I have come a long way!

We all view life based on our personal experience.  My rural county has been very fortunate, relatively few cases and a small number of deaths.  Our neighbor was laid off from her job at the hospital last spring due to very few patients.  She did not get recalled until near Christmas, but is laid off again now.  The hospital has shut down wards and has lots of empty beds.  You can walk into the local pharmacy and get vaccinated.

I have had both shots.  I wear a mask in places that request them.  I feel that is only polite.

11 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Could be Adventure out of Bayonne.  She has a missing 9 day sailing Oct 13.

Any idea when they would announce it? 

The October 2022 Canada/ New England only has Voyager out of Boston and one Enchantment out of Baltimore.

Will there be any more?  Like something out of Bayonne?

1 hour ago, sea shepherd said:

from Bequia looking to kingstown St Vincent . Lots of ash in the air. The big thing is going to be clean water. Everyone is filling barrels with water. No cdc here. Vaccine not needed to evacuate.Kingstown is not in the red zone. The volcano is about a 1 1/2  hour drive from kingstown. 

Thank you for the update.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you and everyone there.