Cruising-along

Good morning all! First of all, I too am so very sorry to hear about Jacqui's @kazumisfortune. And her cruise seemed to be going well. Prayers that she will soon be well. Today will be spent cleaning and prepping for DH's belated birthday party tomorrow. Everything seems to be on track. 🙂 Annie @marshhawkthank you for posting photos of all your fur babies. Every one of them is beautiful! Quite a combination of days today 😉 I think I'll pass on the meal, drink and red wine and have never been to this port. Have a great day everyone!

Oh NO! I'm so, so sorry Jacqui. 😞

It's pretty easy for an adult to tell the difference between belittling and normal conversation and training. I believe the OP, with 25+ years in HR, can tell the difference. The fact that it was noticed by a passenger shows that it wasn't done in a professional manner. Never acceptable IMO.

Good (still barely) morning all! Today is a red letter day for me! The last 2 worrisome trees were taken down today!! They would have caused immense damage if not worse if they had come down on our house. They also took down 2 behind my neighbor’s house. She and I are doing the happy dance! She has been out of her house 2 months with another minimum of 2 more months because of the tree that came down on her house.

We always choose As You Wish Dining. We don't like to be tied down to eating in the MDR at the same time, same table, every night. We like to mix it up, and eat in different places each night. Actually I think it would be easier to get a large table, we're always urged to do so, even though we prefer a table for two unless we're with a group. Each ship and cruise, even the time of evening will be different, but we've always been asked first if we'd like to "share a table" so I would think you'll be fine.

But that only works if you're sure of their CC name. In this case all we knew was it was "similar to" legally blonde. Yes, the first one is the right one. I just spent some time looking at her blog, but oh my goodness it's LONG. So I skimmed. It does seem that she got more and more critical as the cruise went on. Thanks for helping find the names of members! So the ability is still there, just in a different place.

That worked! By process of elimination I found the right one. legallyblonde. Lives in San Diego. There's a link to her world cruise blog, now I'll see if it's still available.

Good morning all! We're having a cloudy day, mid 40's again. But winds are expected today, with gusts up to 50 mph. I hope the trees stay in place, the tree service hasn't gotten out here yet. I think a lot of us will be having spaghetti tonight. I'm not good at trivia, other than a few topics. I wish my Grandfather had learned Braille. He went blind from Diabetes and pretty much gave up on life. It could have made his life so much more interesting. He was the typical "can't teach old dogs new tricks" kind of person. I'll pass on the meal (not fond of coconut or curry), drink and red wine. Have never been to the port, thank you Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiserfor the amazing photos. I'll be the odd woman out, I much prefer to do my own unpacking no matter how long it takes. We've moved many, many times (military primarily) and they always packed us up, then at the new residence put the boxes in the correct room, and we would do the unpacking. I'm sure I would rearrange everything if they put things away anyway. It takes me awhile to make those decisions, and any on-the-spot decisions would be changed later. 😉 I wish I could see the World Cruise blog from years back! The name of the poster sounds really familiar too. If that is the name, the person still posts on CC. What happened to the function here that allowed you to look up a person's name and posts? I don't see it anymore. It was a list of CC members -- maybe it got too big? Annie @marshhawkFurnando is a handsome boy and I look forward to more kitty photos. Bon Voyage Gerry @ger_77! I'm still in shock over Rich's @richwmnupgrade for the World Cruise! Woo hoo!!

Rich we're sure we saw you. You were standing up -- it looked like you, even how you stand. Bon Voyage and thanks for the sail-away phone call!

Yippee!!! Wow Rich, that's great! Bon Voyage!

Good morning all! Ironic that today is Festival of Sleep Day. Last night was one of those nights -- sleep 2 hours, awake 2 hours. All night long. It was like Groundhog day lol. Somehow I did manage to get enough sleep. My mind wouldn't turn off, planning DSIL's arrival on Friday and plans for DH's belated birthday party on Saturday. No fruitcake here to toss, but it would be tossed if there was any. Humility Day would be a better name, and a worthy day to celebrate. The meal, drink and wine all sound good to me. We were in Amber Cove 2 months ago exactly, our one and only time there. We took a tour up into the mountains where it was cooler -- an interesting day with both good and bad. We booked the tour out of Amber Cove because I love gardens and it would be cooler up in the mountains. The day was a mix of good and bad. The good was the gardens were gorgeous and it definitely was cooler up there. The not so good was the hoard of men trying to sell things that our guide led is straight to before we could see the gardens. We wasted a lot of time just trying to fend them off, and anyone who knows me knows that not much makes me angrier. Never have had that happen on a HAL excursion before. I was so angry that we were taking precious time from the gardens and putting up with that nonsense -- I felt like I was being held captive. I'm sure they could tell by my glares I was not a happy tourist. And yes, I did complain to Shore Excursions when we got back to the ship. I think we got a partial refund of the tour. The other not so good thing was our van got a flat tire coming back -- but that wasn't anyone's fault and we actually had a nice, shady cool spot to sit with views of the water. Our view of Amber Cove from our balcony This is where our tour started. Little did we know that once we went up some steps behind this sign, we would be met by a large group of persistent men trying to sell us things. Obviously friends of our guide. 😞 They were lying in wait at the top LOL. Trying to avoid and ignore the hawkers, I spent my time taking photos and waiting to start the garden tour, the reason I booked this tour. Statue of Christ Pretty views -- these are cable car wires Lush hillside Finally we started the garden tour. I felt that the guide was rushing through this part. 😞 On our way back we got a flat tire! Thankfully we had a nice place to sit, with gorgeous views. It took so long to change the tire, we all thought we'd be taken right back to the ship after the tire was changed. But no, there were more opportunities for us to buy things (ha) when we were taken to the town and led through the town and to a large gift shop. I thought this was pretty. And this

Not quite right. "Distressed" jeans are never allowed. Nicer jeans are allowed on Smart Casual nights (but not on Dressy nights.)

Not Lenda, but our Comcast account does also. But to unsubscribe I have to open the email. (and that option isn't always in the email anyway) 😞

I've wondered about that (opening the email and responding in any way). I do mark them as spam, and now Comcast does seem to put the German emails into my spam folder before I see them. Also I block the phone numbers.

The Nieuw Statendam is my favorite ship, we've spent many weeks aboard her. It's one of the Pinnacle class ships, IMHO the best. More choices in dining (be sure to try the Tamarind and also the ham and cheese toasted sandwiches in the Dutch Cafe) and entertainment (BB King, Rolling Stone Rock Room) than on the smaller ships. I hope Captain Noel O'Driscoll will be Captain when you go, he's one of the best!

Thank you, great advice!

And not a word was changed. Whew 😅

I wrote a long post but must have said something questionable because it's being held up....I think I know what word it was, and the silly thing is it had nothing to do with this site. So waiting to see what happens to it. Guess I'm starting the year off naughty. 🤣

Good morning all! Another sunny day here, then snow (!) tomorrow and rain the rest of the week. I'm all for stopping spam, it seems to be getting worse all the time. I'm very, very cautious about giving out my email address or phone number. Strange, but 99% of the spam emails I get (and I don't get a lot) are all in German! I speak no German. With DH's help (he took German in school) I was able to find the "remove me from your mailing list" at the end of one of them. But most of them don't include that. I'm so curious why all the German spam?? My other rant is about a group on another site. It's cruising-related. The moderator apparently doesn't believe in/want to take the trouble to require approval of posts before they're posted. Instead he wants the group to report spam to him....HA! By the time he gets them, dozens of poor unsuspecting people have fallen yet again for these scammers. They never learn. The only other group I'm in requires post approval from the moderators and we get NO spam. It's enough to make me want to leave the group -- that and so much misinformation -- CC is so much better. Rant over, sorry! We love chicken pot pie but I'm kind of fussy about it. I only use home-made pie crust (top and bottom). The rest I do the easy way, I supplement frozen mixed vegetables with some fresh onion, celery, and anything else on hand, and use gravy previously made supplemented by Heinz gravy. Will pass on the drink and wine, and yay another port we'll go to on the Grand Australia (we leave one year from today for San Diego)!! "Only" one year away LOL. Sandi @StLouisCruisersHappy Birthday to your DDIL! Carol @mamaofamiHappy Birthday to your DH Sam!

Lenda I'm the same way. Even mowing and edging the lawn and raking leaves doesn't seem like work to me. Housework, on the other hand....😅

Well I definitely made good use of our only sunny day this week. DH and I got the fallen arbor dismantled, and then as what usually happens when I get out in the garden, I kept finding more things to do...and after a couple hours filled the yard waste to the brim and more. Amazing how much more energy I have gardening than doing housework! 🤣 Finally having that mimosa, and it hits the spot. Time to put the feet up!

Good morning all and Happy New Year! No hangovers here, I just had a glass of wine (saving the champagne for mimosas this morning). I was asleep by 10:30 with the help of ear plugs and cranking up the sound machine. The fireworks started here a little before 5pm and continued, as usual, to the wee hours of the morning. The ear plugs and sound machine worked for the most part, until an exceptionally loud boom woke me up at 12:20. Twice a year (the 4th of July and NYE) I always wish I was on a BHB those days....or anywhere but here 😉 The meal sounds really good, but we had Italian last night. Tonight will be steak, salad and french fries. I would probably like the wine, I prefer Chardonnay a little oaky. The drink sounds good too. Thank you Sandi @StLouisCruisersfor the photos of Freemantle. We'll be there for the first time on the Grand Australia next year (so glad I can finally say "next year") lol. Today will be the only dry day this week, so DH and I will be dismantling the arbor that went over during the last wind storm. It had a good life of 25 years, but I'll miss it. Usually I would be spending New Years Day taking down the Christmas decorations, but this year I'll be waiting until after DH's sister's visit and his delayed birthday party on Saturday. I will take down the outdoor decorations though. Next year we won't be putting anything up because we'll leave on January 2 for 3 months. @Cat in my lapHappy Anniversary!! @ger_77Bon Voyage!!

Happy New Year Rich!

Good morning all and Happy New Year's Eve! We have our champagne chilling, and plan on getting Italian take-out tonight. I won't be staying up until midnight unless the fireworks keep me awake though. I'll pass on the meal, not a fan of mushrooms in any form. 😉 Yesterday we finally met with the owner of the tree service that will be taking down the last 2 large Cottonwoods behind our house. I'll be so glad when they're gone and I won't have to worry anymore about a tree coming down on our house. No more waiting on HOA. It won't be cheap, but is within the range we expected and very much worth it. He said they may be able to get out here this week (they've been extremely busy with all the bad weather we've had). My neighbor (the one whose house was hit by the tree) is having a couple taken down at the same time. Gerry @ger_77my sincere condolences to you and your family on the deaths of your DH's aunt, your cousin, and your son's DW's grandmother. So much in one day. 😞 Melissa @HAL Sailerprayers that your DSIL can have a peaceful transition and prayers for you and your DH. Sandi @StLouisCruisersthank you for the link to the thread with photos of our port of the day. We'll (hopefully) be there on the Grand Australia so I really enjoyed the photos.

I have brought flowers onboard before Covid and also in the past few months. I had no problem -- this was in Europe.