Sharon in AZ

Best lobster I ever had was in the Pinnacle Grill on the Nieuw Statendam last October. Huge and very tasty, not over cooked and tender. It was an up charge but worth it I ordered the lobster in the MDR on the Volendam this past May and was very disappointed. And it was also an up charge.

@CrabbyPatti I am so sorry to read about your father’s passing. I remember you saying that you were bringing him home for his final days and I’m sure you are glad you did that. Condolences to you and your family. Annie @marshhawk, ouch! Be careful and don’t go climbing any trees or rooftops. Keep an eye on the eye. 😉

Good afternoon and Happy Wednesday. I didn’t make the tuna melt the other day but I needed to use the frozen tuna I had thawed out so made a pressed sandwich. It’s being pressed right now. I have said this before but will mention again, I don’t watch the news or read the news so was wondering about the fugitive that was captured today, thank goodness, so did some research and couldn’t believe that this person had murdered his ex girlfriend by stabbing her and is also considered a suspect in a murder in his native country. No wonder such a manhunt was going on. I’m so envious of everyone cruising right now. We don’t have anything scheduled until late January. Have a great day everyone!

Is it on the Zaandam? If so, then yes, and it shows up on the website like this: I would check with your agent to confirm that you received the Early Booking Bonus.

September 2024 probably doesn’t qualify for the early booking bonus since there are Spring 2025 Mexican cruises available. When checking out the cruise on the HAL website it will say if it has one.

I am so sorry about your DF. Prayers for him to be comfortable. Take care of yourself too.

Good afternoon and Happy Tuesday. I was up early, during the early morning hours we had thunder and I could hear it over the fan I keep on while I sleep. It’s been drizzling all morning off and on. We had arranged for our AC to be checked this morning and I was surprised that they didn’t reschedule. I was stressed the entire time the tech was working, we have a pitched roof and I kept thinking about how slippery it must have been. I used to love malted chocolate milkshakes. I might try the meal without the peanut butter sauce, not a fan but wouldn’t mind a tahini yogurt sauce. Yesterday we had kebabs from TJ’s with my homemade pita and hummus and yogurt, yum. Today I’m thinking about making tuna melts. I made English muffins the other day and have leftovers. I misspoke on Grandparents Day. I only knew 3 of them. I got confused thinking about my Great Grandparents. My DM’s father passed in 1934 after getting dust pneumonia out in the field in rural Eastern Colorado. The older brothers found him and he didn’t live much longer, so sad. @puppycanducruise Happy Birthday to your DM! Bruce @aliaschief yikes on the bear! Prayers for all especially Lou and Baby Murphy. Have a great day everyone.

I make a version of Hawaiian macaroni salad similar to the recipe you posted but also add apple cider vinegar and sugar plus grate the onion instead of just chopping it and use plenty of mayonnaise. It’s the only macaroni salad that I make anymore although I did make a Southwest style one but it just has too many ingredients.

Nice! We haven’t finalized our plans yet but will at least arrive the day before. We fly Southwest to San Diego and it’s just a hop skip and a jump for us.

Those are both good. How many days ahead are you arriving?

Good morning and Happy Sunday. I knew all 4 of my grandparents, and one set of great grandparents, but wasn’t really close to them because we lived in different towns in Colorado. My father’s mother lived the longest, about 90ish, which was ironic because she was a hypochondriac. When she died we had a small family get together in 1995 and it was the last time I saw most of my father’s family. I love orzo salad and my favorite has sun dried tomatoes and wilted spinach, sort of copied from Macaroni Grill which is no longer here. They served it with salmon and it was so yummy. I just make it up with ingredients that I like. Annie, @marshhawk, I’ve never flown into Rome but have flown to Barcelona and we had to go through immigration. This was June 2022 and the lines were long but moved fast. It sort of depends upon how many international flights arrive at the same time. DGD has spent the past 3 days and it’s been nice having her around. I hate to see her go home today. Have a great day everyone!

Dixie, there is a hotel directly across the street from the pier. We always just walk to the terminal. It’s the Bayside (I think it’s a Wyndham property). Also, what airlines are you checking?

Since this is a restaurant that my DM likes we eat there every few months. I’m not a huge fan of their lasagna either. However, I love their eggplant parmigiana and only order that and yes to the salad! I also do the take home baked penne but I cook it much longer than the instructions state. I like the crispy bits that happen when it’s baked.

Terry, yes this is quite sad and I’m sure a lot to take in right now. Prayers to Lou, you and your family. One day at a time.

Part two: Another church. Time to make the doughnuts. The Oosterdam. Our cabin is to the right of the Pinnacle Suite (the one with all the wood). We can see the hot tub from our balcony.

My post from September 18, 2022: Good morning! I was just in Livorno on June 4, 2022 on the Oosterdam and knew I had posted about the tour I took there. BTW, I've discovered it's easier to find when you search for a specific date range. Craig was in covid quarantine so I was on my own. This is part one of my post: Good afternoon everyone from Livorno! It’s a lovely day. I changed all my tours to shorter ones since I’m by myself, plus most were the ones that Craig wanted. Today was a walking tour, fish market and several stops for food and wine. Wine at 10:00 am! Yes, please. Sardine on the fish market. Inside the fish auction. Typical local fish stew served on bread. It was yummy. Bruschetta with toppings. The white things are white sardines. Yum. The olives were good too. Outdoor market. One of the many churches.

I’ve never used points for OBC but you should have received an email from Barclays with a confirmation of the redemption. Save that and I would keep checking. You might also call Barclays. In the distant past I would redeem points for drink cards but now with HIA that’s not necessary. The best redemption value is applying points to your statement.

Good evening. @Denise T, it’s never too late to book a cruise! Go for it! Dixie, at least it’s just 4 nights! We took our kids on Disney in 1999 and really enjoyed it but they were older than your DGS. I am 99% positive that we are going to Hawaii. I just will be avoiding a certain someone, unfortunately he has CO like we do but we eat late so hopefully they eat early. I am really looking forward to all the sea days. I found some more pictures of Trieste on Craig’s phone. I would love to go back. Most of these were taken from the ship. We disembarked there and just saw it from our transfer bus. This was June 13, 2022 Oosterdam, Craig’s covid cruise. The terminal: Lots of beautiful yachts and small ships: Goodbye to the Oosterdam: I’ve really enjoyed seeing all the pictures from Trieste. It’s always interesting to see a place from another point of view.

Good afternoon from a sunny Tucson. Margherita pizza is Craig’s favorite and I make it at home but not in a skillet. I prefer sausage on mine so I sometimes do both. Yesterday’s lunch with DM was nice but the food not so much. However, they do make good shrimp cocktail. Ribs were just okay and salmon overcooked. They had sangria but it was just grape juice with fruit and a flower. I put the flower in my hair. Mom’s friend Anne ate with us and the staff brought Mom a slice of apple pie with a candle and sang Happy Birthday. Many people stopped by to say Happy Birthday. We are having leftovers today. I made smoked pork chops the other day which were wonderful. Used an apple chunk and it was perfect. Have a great day everyone!

Thank you for the link to the port of the day Sandi. This is what I posted then. We were in Trieste June 13th when we disembarked the Oosterdam. We only saw it from our bus windows on our way to Venice. I think it would be a lovely place to tour. This is the cruise terminal: I didn’t take any other pictures but Craig might have so I’ll check his later.

Thank you Sandi. I ended up just looking for my most recent pictures and it turned out I didn’t have very many. Thank you for taking the time each day to post these links, I have such difficulty doing searches on CC, but I use my phone 99% of the time to post so that might be why. Weird, but I find it easier to post with my phone than my iPad. I use the desktop if I’m searching for pictures on the hard drive.

We were in Sitka September 1, 2021 on the Nieuw Amsterdam on one of the first sailings after the shutdown. We took a food tour that we didn’t really care for, mostly because we didn’t go restaurant to restaurant like we were supposed to but instead we were in a cramped storefront and the guide had all the food brought in. It was too long for us and the guide was rather scattered trying to coordinate it all. I’m sure it’s changed since then though. Here are some random pictures.

Graham, condolences to Sarah and her friend and the family. Sarah is just too young to have friends pass away. Debbie, I think about River often and have been wondering about the situation she is in. I will never forget sitting on those steps at the Hotel Frontenac last October talking about her while we waited for our transfer to the ship. I’m sure being a strong presence in her life will help tremendously. Sandi @StLouisCruisers, I searched for the second link for Sitka and couldn’t find it. If you read this could you post it for me?

We were in Sitka June 9, 2019 on the Oosterdam. It was the second time but the first time (August 2012) was a dreary rainy day and I had caught a bad cold that ended up a sinus infection so stayed on board that day. I had wanted to do a tour through the National Park and we went to a bird sanctuary first. I’ll have to check on the hard drive for pictures. I have the park pictures on my phone. Our guide was great and lived on the island. After the tour we went to the gift shop and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of these tiny flowers in the grass. We then walked around and ate lunch. It was a wonderful day.

Good morning and Happy Labor Day Monday. Thank you all for the nice Birthday wishes for my Mother. She is 94 today. We are going over to her place for lunch in the dining room, it’s a BBQ buffet with ribs and salmon. It sounded better than taking her out or having a large get together. I have a bottle of Kim Crawford chilling to take which she loves and a box of Bailey’s chocolates I picked up in the Vancouver airport this past May. I got two boxes and gave her the first one for Mother’s Day and she loved them so I saved the second box for today. She’s hard to buy for, she’s always just bought everything she wants and needs. I had some kind of bug these past few days but started to feel better yesterday. I missed telling @Quartzsite Cruiser Happy Anniversary and @RMLincoln Happy Birthday, so wish you both belated celebrations. Jake @Crazy For Cats, I’m sorry to hear about your DM’s fall and send prayers and good thoughts for her speedy recovery. @RMLincoln, I’m sorry about your friend’s passing. Condolences to you and the family. Congratulations on the new Great Grandbaby @Lady Hudson. I have been to Sitka three times and I’ll have to look for pictures later. I’m late getting ready to go to DM’s. Have a great day everyone!