Cruzin Terri

Greetings from Jacksonville. Thank you all for all the well wishes for safe travels Ride down here was without incident. Had dinner at the Outback and will go down to the lobby to print out boarding passes in a few minutes. Here is my contribution to the waterfalls. Our trip to Iguazu Falls when we took our South American cruise that began in Buenos Aires. We spent two days in Iguazu prior to the cruise.

Good morning. Thank you to Rich, Vanessa, Debbie, Ann and Dixie, and all who keep this thread going. Well, miraculously everything got packed yesterday. This morning I have all the paperwork to get together and wait for a FedEx package that is supposed to be here by noon. We will also wait for the mail—the last day and then expect to leave for Jacksonville about 1-1:30. Our flight to JFK tomorrow is at 12;09 and then we have a 5 hour layover in JFK for a 7:30 flight to Heathrow. Prayers for all that need them. @smitty34877 You and your family, especially your DH are first and foremost as you go through this very difficult time. We will happily skip all the F&B today as I am not cooking for the next 41 days. YIPPEE! I will post as I am able and with photos. Take care everyone. God Bless, Terri

I was not aware of that. However I am sure he has left his mark. Terri

What scares me about Azamara is Orlando Ashford. I saw what he did to HAL and that sent me running. He turned every space into a money maker and he is starting the same thing on AZ by turning the beautiful library into a bar. What will be next? I am not happy with the way that Oceania is going with Simply More. I will wait and see what the final product is. Then we will have to decide where to go next. Terri

Good morning to all. Happy Thursday. Thank you to Rich, Debbie, Ann and Dixie for your contributions and to Graham for making me smarter about the Magna Carta. Today is a busy day when we get to do al the last minute stuff to make sure we are good to go tomorrow. Can’t believe we are finally going on this cruise. Prayers for everyone who needs them and cheers to those celebrating and cruising. God Bless, Terri

We have it delivered at home. We asked for it to be held longer once before and it was not a problem. This time it seemed to be a big problem. I was not aware that I could have someone other than i or my husband pick up the mail at the post office. She would not even allow me to fill out two hold requests. Maybe she was having a bad day and taking it out on me. Terri

Tornado warning is over but we are having severe thunderstorms. Lots of winds and rains. On another note, the supervisor at the Post Office is not a person I ever want to deal with again. What a sour individual. I really got the impression that she would do anything I wanted if I greased her palm. I, of course, did nothing of the sort. It took 15 minutes of discussion (I kept my calm) until she finally agreed. She made it very clear that if I did not pick up the mail on the day agreed she would send back every piece of mail they would hold. The last time I asked for this, it was so easy. The lady was so nice and it was no problem at all. Yet this time it had to be so contentious. Interesting that it depends on who you talk to. Tomorrow is packing day. Nothing else to do and we should be ready to go on Friday afternoon. Good night and God Bless, Terri

We are under a tornado warning. Presently taking shelter. Terri

I sense Orlando Ashford’s hand in this. Find a way to make a buck in every space, Hope it doesn’t happen. I agree that the space is beautiful as a Library. Oceania’s R ships also uses this space as a Library and it is beautiful and relaxing. I would be so disappointed if it were turned into a different venue. Terri

Good morning to all the Dailyites. I have been AWOL for the last few days. I just am finding that there are more things to do than there are hours in the day. Yesterday we were hit with more forms to complete and get notarized. I have to bring back something nice to the lady at the bank who does all the notarizing for us. Adding to the mix I am trying to have the house looking good before we leave. Really needed the cleaning lady to show up on Saturday and was disappointed when the bridge did not cooperate. I figured I had better post now because I have to get a mani-pedi today and then take DH to the podiatrist. So that takes care of most of today. Then I have to go to the Post Office and beg the supervisor to hold the mail for 40 days rather than 30l. Here’s hoping. If she says no, i don’t have a Plan B. Maybe my neighbor will help. Thank you to Rich, Vanessa, Debbie, Dixie and Ann for all your contributions to this thread. It gets me going in the morning. Although I must confess I have two days of reading to catch up on. I am going to pass on the meal and libations. I have two more days of cooking and it is going to be very simple meals so that I don’t have a lot to do in that department. The one good thing is that we have no time limit on when to leave on Friday. We are staying in Jacksonville on Friday night so whatever time we leave, we just have to get there. Got a nice surprise yesterday. In London, we are staying at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane. We received an email yesterday that we were upgraded to the Grand Park View Suite. So we are looking forward to that. My friend from north England is taking the train to London to come visit us for one of the days we are there. @grapau27I have been through the Panama Canal three times and do not remember any problems with insect bites. Believe me, the bugs love to find me and I do not remember any problems on any of those cruises. Prayers for all who need them, especially those with serious health problems. Cheers to those celebrating and cruising. Need to go and have breakfast and get ready to go out. God Bless and stay safe. Terri

Here is a more complete description of the Premium Global Assist.https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/us/credit-cards/features-benefits/policies/pdf/PGA_Benefit_Guide_Rev_09-17.pdf

Premium Global Assist® Hotline‡ When you travel more than 100 miles from home, we can provide you with 24/7 medical, legal, financial or other select emergency coordination and assistance services. Emergency medical transportation assistance may be provided at no cost only if approved and coordinated by Premium Global Assist Hotline. Card Members may be responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.‡

For those who have an American Express Platinum Card, one of the benefits is Medical Evacuation as long as you are 100 miles from home. There is no need to book your trip with them. To me that is worth its price in Platinum. I do not buy evacuation insurance since we carry that card. Terri

Good Sunday morning to all. Thank you to Rich @richwmn for the Daily and Fleet Report and to Vanessa @JazzyV for our Cares and Celebration List, to Dixie @summer slope to keep us hydrated and to Ann @cat shepard to tell us about the lovely wine. Lest I forget Graham @grapau27 for brining us Father David every week and educating us about the days we celebrate. @DeniseT Sorry I missed your birthday yesterday. Hope it was a special day. Yesterday was an interesting day. My cleaning lady never showed because the bridge from Savannah was closed and she couldn’t get here. So guess who cleaned the house. Well, I didn’t do all of it and I didn’t do it as well as she does it, but the main stuff got done. It wasn’t on my agenda, but it’s done. I won’t see her until I get home from our trip. So yesterday i wanted to get all the finances in order. That is now today’s project. Than putting more clothes on the bed in the spare room that I will pack. Got all the meds together this morning. So that is done. By the way, Vanessa, you can take me off the Cares List. I am doing better. The flare up has subsided since I am back on the prednisone. Interesting collection of days. I like Corn on the Cob. I will eat it every chance I get. Hats off to King Kamehameha and Jacques Cousteau. Interesting people. The wine sounds nice, but with the shipping would be way beyond my budget. Maybe the drink of the day instead. As for the food. Yesterday I went to our local butcher who has a variety of home made frozen meals and got enough meals for the rest of our time home. I have enough to do the next few days without having to cook as well. So tonight we have Chicken stuffed with Spinach and Artichokes with stuffed mushrooms and potato salad. You know it is getting close when Delta airlines sends you a message to select your meals. We did that last night. So Friday we drive to Jacksonville and then on Saturday we fly to JFK and then to London. We are spending three days in London before heading to Southampton to embark on the Marina for 32 days. I am so ready for this cruise. I am praying for all those on the Cares List. There are many with serious issues and I remember each of you every day. Cheers to those celebrating/ I have been to Seville a few times. The first was in 1982 (before digital photography) when we spent a few days there on a land trip. We went back in 1987. The last time was last Spring when we were on the Nautica. While the ship docked in Seville for two days, we were still in isolation for one of those days. The second day we managed to get ourselves to the Cathedral, but I was so exhausted. When we got back to the ship I went to bed and stayed there until the next morning. Seville is a beautiful city and hope I can return someday. I hope everyone has a great Sunday. Stay safe and God Bless, Terri

We have a beautiful sunset tonight and I want to share it with you. God Bless and Good Night Terri

Good morning to all,. Just checking in to say Hi. Hope everyone is doing well,. Will post later, Got to get ready for the cleaning lady. God Bless. Terri

There are Butlers and then there are Butlers. We have had the good fortune to have some wonderful Butlers and the misfortune to have some that have been all but invisible. It is just human nature. Like others, we book a PH for the room size and the Butler comes with it. We do like interacting with the staff and getting to know them. Some are friendlier than others. However, some really make themselves scarce. The last two butlers were of that nature. We hardly saw them and when we did it was for only a minute. On our last cruise on the Sirena we asked to have dinner in our suite one night and ordered Dover Sole. The butler acted surprised when we expected him to filet the fish. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be bothered that he had to serve us dinner en suite. Others have always made us feel that it was their pleasure to do so. When we asked for extra reservations, we were told that we had the number we were entitled to. The only way we got more was to go to the reservation desk on Deck 5. Needless to say, we were not too generous with an extra gratuity with that type of service.

Thanks for your detailed help with the clothing. The farthest north we are going is Trondheim. i guess we will not be in the coldest part of Norway but we will make sure we have enough layers with us. I follow Jeff Farschman’s blog and saw that they were very cold in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands. We are stopping there and have an all-day tour there. All I know is that I want make sure we both stay warm. Thanks for all your help and good luck in getting your financial affairs straightened out. Terri

Good morning to all. Thank you to Rich and Vanessa for the lists. Debbie for keeping us fed and Dixie and Ann for keeping us hydrated. Interesting collection of days. Cheers to Donald Duck. I enjoy him. But then again I like all things Disney. I’m all for Writers’ Rights. However I am not a fan of Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Today is dedicated to packing. We leave for Jacksonville a week from today and will fly to London a week from tomorrow. I am still trying to figure out what clothes to bring. Usually I have little problem because I usually have summer clothes but this is harder. Also living where I do, I don’t have many clothes for cold weather. Prayers for all on the cares list. You are all in my daily prayers. Hope those who are cruising are having a great time. Cheers to those celebrating. Have a wonderful day. Stay safe. God Bless, Terri

Maureen, I hope that you get this taken care of quickly. We had a similar situation in September 2020 and had to change bank accounts, credit cards and all the automatic billing. It was a nightmare. It took forever to get it all straightened out. It is exhausting. And just when you think it is all done, you find that there is more that you forgot about. Prayers that you get it all done quickly and without any glitches. Terri

Did you climb the Giralda? I did that back in 1982. My legs would not let me do it now. Hope you had a great day in Sevilla. Terri

Debbie, Jim’s brother was a special needs person who was mentally challenged. He was unable to execute a will. That is the problem. Plus we are dealing with two states. New York and South Carolina. Add that to a very uncooperative bank (Capital One) that does not want to reissue checks that were sent to Jim as Guardian after Eugene died and were not cashable. They keep asking for more and more information like it is their money. Then we are dealing with the Queens County Surrogates Court in New York, which is part of the Old Boy Democratic network. In plain English, if you don’t know someone here, things take forever to get done. One of these days we will get this done. I would just like to be the paper supplier for these people. i would be filthy rich. Terri

I was having the same problem. i called my TA. She uses a different login than we do and she was able to make my choices for me. Terri

Good morning to all, These are busy days and adding to the mix that my PMR is acting up is not helping the situation. Thank you to Rich, Vanessa, Debbie, Ann, Dixie and all who make this thread happen on a daily basis. Hats off to best friends. What would we do without them? I always like to say that DH is my best friend and always will be. But then there are others too. Pick my poison. I’d rather not. Don’t have many these days. We all have to take care of our Oceans. We are a group that love the seas. I like the meal and it sounds like something I may make tonight. I will skip the wine. A bit above the budget. I will skip the drink as well. Have not been to the port. Would you believe that we are still completing forms to get DBIL’s estate settled? It is almost two years. I just cannot believe there can be so many papers to fill out. I still say that I will never put a penny in Capital One Bank. The amount of grief that they have generated is beyond the pale. @smitty34877 I am sorry to learn of your DH’’s health news. Prayers for him and your whole family. @aliaschief Enjoy Sevilla. Last year when we were on the Oceania Nautica we also sailed up the Guadalquivir River to Sevilla. It was really great to dock right in the city. Unfortunately, even though we were there for two days, DH and I only had one due to our Covid isolation. We only had one day and I was exhausted. Enjoy that beautiful city. Today DH has a dentist appointment. Since we only have one car now and DH no longer drives, I am the designated driver. Then to the bank to get more forms notarized and sent off to the Probate Court. It never ends. Trying to get ready for our cruise. Too much to do. I am really not sure what kinds of clothes to take with me. I think I need warmer stuff than regular summer clothes, but not really sure. We are going to Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Does anyone have any suggestions? i hate being cold. If I had my way, I would be in the Mediterranean. Anyway!!! Any input would be most welcome. We will be on the Baltic from June 21 to July 23. I hope that those who are affected by the smoke condition stay inside and safe. Especially those with lung conditions and breathing problems. Have a good day everyone, God Bless, Terri

Good morning, Hope everyone is doing well. Still feeling a bit under the weather. It seems I am having another flare-up of the PMR and leaving me feeling very tired and achy. Prayers for all. Praying for Pope Francis, who has an incarcerated hernia. Strange that in 2014 when we were in Rome, DH was not feeling well and ended up in the same hospital in Rome (Gemelli) as the Pope for the same reason. If Dr. Antinori operates on the Pope as he did on DH, he will be as good as new in a few days. I have nothing but praise for the care DH received there. As for the days—there is nothing better than chocolate ice cream. We no longer have a VCR and sometimes I wish we still did. When cleaning out all our stuff due to the flood we found some old cassettes that I would love to play, but don’t have the means to do so. Hats off to tailors. A good one is hard to find. We had a guy named Julius around here, who was wonderful. He had the nerve to retire! Not much to report. Just trying to work through the pains and get my stuff done for the trip. Hope everyone has a good day. God Bless, Terri