wdw1972

Happy Tuesday - it's our last warm (80) day for as far as I can see. I had my first mojito last week on Zuiderdam. It was ok but I think I passed it off to DH to finish and ordered something I liked better. Definite yes to the wine, no to the meal and thank you @StLouisCruisers Sandi for the beautiful port pictures! I'd definitely enjoy a visit there someday. Yesterday we dismissed one of our cooks. Sunday he didn't report to work & his mom called to say he was out due to a "personal" problem. That problem happened to be incarceration. He was arrested on felony level drug (possession & intent to sell), drug paraphernalia & weapon charges, which are disqualifying offenses. Sadly his mom also works in my division, in the accounting department. She's a great employee, so it's disappointing her son behaved in this manner. On a more positive note, I've attached a photo of my 8 year old grandson Ari who's quite the little hockey player. Who would figure ice hockey in Florida, lol! @mamaofami My condolences on the loss of Sam. What a wonderful accomplishment to be happily married for 65 years - just wish it could have been more. @kazu YAY of finally getting the first cataract surgery scheduled! @Nickelpenny Wow on the neighborhood decline 😞 Please be careful and stay safe. @Sharon in AZ On Zuiderdam recently the wine tasting was near the end of the cruise - one of the final two sea days rather than the first sea day. Sue/WDW1972

Welcome back - condolences on not still being on the ship! There's a 65+ page thread on Villa Vie on Cruise Critic (under residence cruises or something similar). I wouldn't touch that one with a 10-foot pole. There have been numerous delays & problems, people aren't getting all that was promised, the staterooms are old & tiny, and most are saying the business model can't possibly work - they'll be out of $$ before long. The old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" may apply here. There is some other company that's doing it successfully but I believe at a much higher price, mainly for people who count their net worth in billions rather than low millions or less. With Villa Vie they had to miss several of the promised ports, in large part due to not having certifications required by those companies to visit there - including anything US and Canada. One of the respected Cruise Critic posters (something like cheng...), a retired ship's chief engineer has provided a lot of good information on the thread - most of which supports the wisdom to not get involved w/Villa Vie.

My procedure got rescheduled to 12/18 when I needed to attend a meeting in Tallahassee today. The meeting was subsequently pushed back to late January while I was on my cruise - so I rescheduled for nothing <g>. Probably just as well, as I have surgery Wednesday (12/11) to fix the right lower lashes/eyelid. Three worthwhile days, although I'm also skeptical that corruption will ever end. I can celebrate cremation for it being a viable choice for people, and without it a burial at sea wouldn't be possible on a HAL ship! The meal sounds interesting and of course the port is appealing too. Not a fan of peach so I'd modify my bellini to a mimosa or kir royal and skip the wine choice. Today we should hit 80 degrees! The sun is just starting to peek through at 11am, so hopefully the dampness will be gone soon (for today). Sorry that Roy @rafinmd continues to struggle and both @marshhawk and @smitty34877 had such difficult weekends. They say being a caregiver is the toughest job in the world and I believe it. Sandi @StLouisCruisers your DD's tree is beautiful! Not much going on around here - just work. DH heads up to Maryland for a long weekend on Thursday, so I'm hoping he'll pack his own bag for a change. I have a work event tomorrow evening, surgery the next day, then I'm taking Thursday/Friday off to "recuperate" even though it's not a surgery where you need recuperation time. I figure with 37+ years on the job and a year's worth of sick leave on the books I'm entitled to take a couple sick days! Let's hope it's a good week for all of us. I know it will be for the cruisers - loving the updates and photos! Sue/WDW1972

Grand Dutch Cafe isn't on Oosterdam either. It's only on the 3 pinnacle class ships.

The Ft Lauderdale camera operator must be on a break - no zooms.

Happy Sunday! It's another cold (upper 30's) morning but we're supposed to get up to 72 later. Easter Island is intriguing and a place I'd love to visit in person some day. I've been "virtually" many times thanks to bloggers 😉 That's a very long quote! I had to look up absinthe and will pass on the cocktail unless I can get just the champagne. I'd love the soup but without the mushrooms! DH & I went out for breakfast this morning. It was surprisingly uncrowded, which he says is due to it being cold outside. Not sure I agree, but whatever. I'll be running out soon to look for some Christmas gifts for a couple dogs, then do more wrapping & put the tree up. The tree takes about 2 minutes - pull the 32-inch fiber optic tree out of the box, set it on the end table, plug it in. Some year I'll put the big tree up again, but will need to do it well before any Nov/Dec cruise. It's not worth the effort to do it afterwards. Hopefully I'll get out to walk later - DH should also but my money is on him being lazy (or football being on). Looking forward to watching the 3 HAL ships sail this afternoon! @superoma I haven't noticed any issue with my posts, although I don't do much posting Hope everyone has a nice relaxing day, those under the weather start feeling better, those on cruises (lucky ducks) have a fabulous time, and life's frustrations ease up for all. Sue/WDW1972

Happy Saturday everyone. It's a chilly day in this part of Florida - might have hit freezing overnight and was in the 40's when DH & I ran out to do some errands. It should get into the 60's but in the lower end. The days are all good - remember when Canaletto served cotton candy after the meal? I never really understood why, but it was almost always good. Once it was so humid we literally sat there laughing as we watched it quickly shrink into a sticky clump! I've never been to Pearl Harbor or China and wouldn't try the meal or wine. Never had a champagne cocktail but might someday - it sounded interesting. Today we took care of errands in the morning and I'll probably get back to wrapping Christmas gifts shortly. The grandkids in Maryland are finished, and DH will deliver those when he goes up the end of next week. I've finished the co-workers' shopping but need to finish wrapping those - 3 administrative assistants, 4 managers who report to me, and 4 peers/friends. DH will watch sports while I do happy hour lunch with a coworker friend this afternoon - place called Wahoo Seafood Grill (small chain, few locations all in the top third of Florida). I'll bring the ipad so we can catch the Nieuw Statendam sailaway. It's frustrating the absolute CRAP that keeps getting thrown @marshhawk Annie's way regarding Chuck's care. Simply no excuse for it. That hospital sounds pitiful, and I agree neighbor Donna needs to find somebody else or learn to take care of her own stuff right now. Hoping Roy @rafinmd has a better day and night. Sandi @StLouisCruisers the furry grands are adorable! Hopefully the port area will feel better soon. Bon voyage to the travelers! Sue/WDW1972

I just got off Zuiderdam Wednesday 12/4. I had a piddly little amount of refundable credit from port fees ($13.97). Since I'm up early to walk (5am) I just stopped by Guest Services, rang the bell and took care of another issue then asked about the credit. The staff person said it would be refunded to my credit card on the last day of the cruise or she could give me the cash. Not trusting her information to be correct, I took the cash. We have a cruise in May where I've booked an excursion that costs a little under $500 - paid in full via credit card. Should that get canceled due to weather, you can bet I'll be at Guest Services in the wee hours of the next morning to get my cash for that as well. My son & DIL are both booked on the same excursion, so I'll advise them to go get their $1k rather than wait for a possible check that takes 2 months to arrive. Sue/WDW1972

Thanks - but that's my best friend Michael, who's also the Center Administrator here. DH wore jeans and a hoodie, lol - so I didn't include that photo! Have a great time on your cruise! Sue/WDW1972

Attempting photos from the tree lighting event not sure how to fix if they’re upside down

Good morning - three interesting days, agree with the quote, and the muffins look good. I'll pass on the cocktail & wine but would love some gazpacho to celebrate that day! We must have had rain overnight but it's sunny now - currently at 52 but only going to 63. Yesterday was warmer and last night we did the 40th annual Tree Lighting Ceremony here at work. We do it in our front park and the community is invited. We had a small orchestra playing to start the event, then a local choral group, then a small group of our residents & staff singing. The local evening TV news anchor was the emcee - he's done it the past 10 years. Santa arrived as well. Photos are on my phone, so I'll try to post some separately, using the Cruise Critic app. @aliaschief great news from the cardiologist and the Azamara cruise sounds wonderful as well! @StLouisCruisers hoping for a quick & successful port placement today - another step in the road to recovery @Cat in my lap Happy Birthday! Sue/WDW1972

We sat in the same traffic (on the turnpike) - not fun! I imagine I-95 was even worse. I'm also back at work. Today's felt like Monday all day! Sorry to hear Suzi had an accident - I hope it wasn't serious. I'm very much behind in reading the Daily. We didn't have any issues with food temperatures. Breakfasts in the Lido were all great and most dinners are in specialty dining. The one huge dud was the Thanksgiving meal in the Lido. Who puts brown gravy on turkey?? The chocolate pecan pie was delicious, but everything else was just bleh. Won't make that mistake again, and we should have stuck with specialty like we usually do. We did one MDR meal, my first time setting foot in there in probably 20+ years and it was fine except for never seeing a beverage server/steward. Correction, we saw them walking by, just not stopping at our table. It was the Dutch night menu, otherwise I never would have been in there. Bami goreng was excellent but not as spicy as I remembered. We enjoyed most of the entertainment, with Derek Floyd being the highlight & the production shows a fairly close second. We didn't like the comedian at all and the celtic violinist was good but a whole show of that was a little more than desired. Agree the ship looked great - obviously recently refreshed with new carpet, etc. No complaints there. I'd happily sail Zuiderdam again in the future. 75 days to go until Eurodam!

We went down to breakfast once the pilot boarded. After breakfast I was surprised to hear the ship's horn - didn't realize they tooted at 6:30 in the morning! We're pulling alongside the dock now. Sue/WDW1972

It's been a wonderful cruise on Zuiderdam - sad to see the lights of Ft Lauderdale approaching! Hope to watch sailaway this afternoon and hope to some day sail on Zuiderdam again. Sue/WDW1972

Good morning from the Zuiderdam. I've done a terrible job of keeping up here & Cruise Critic but will make an effort to catch up this weekend. The cruise has been great! I also noticed Canaletto is doing well, filled to capacity each night. We've eaten there three nights and all were excellent. We have our second Pinnacle dinner tonight, and also did a lunch earlier in the cruise. Looking forward to this sea day up in the Retreat and may pop down to catch City on the Sea since I've still not seen that. Good thoughts to all who need them. Sue/WDW1972

Chocolate pecan pie sounds wonderful! Thoughts go out to those dealing with illness or other health issues today. Thankful to be well and enjoying this cruise.

Good morning from Antigua on the Zuiderdam! It's going to be HOT here today - they're saying "feel like" 94 degrees in the shade. People here to escape the cold weather have certainly gotten their wish! Overall the cruise has been very nice, but with a couple issues. The beautiful Retreat is anything but. They have a huge open area that typically would be filled with lots of comfy seating and more chaise lounges with cushions & towels (for sunbathing). However, there are only 4 chairs and 4 loungers out there - no cushions, no towels. There are 12-14 cabanas (the loungers with cushion & towels are present in each cabana, as they should be) for that pitiful furniture in the common area. The steward tried to get me a cushion and towel the other day and was told NO - the Retreat has what it has. There's a stack of naked chaise lounges in an unused cabana, along with more chairs - what's up with that? We tried again yesterday - steward took it to his supervisor, then to his supervisor's manager, to no avail. I went on the app to let HAL know this is unacceptable - no contact from them yet. In the meantime the stewards got creative and snagged a couple cushions from the chairs on the promenade deck - they're narrower than the loungers but we will make do. For the $$$ these cabanas cost this is unacceptable. The casino is mobbed and noisy - we avoid it. The production shows have been very good (seen 2 out of 4 thus far). Team Trivia has been really hard - we had 6 on our team yesterday and scored 4 out of 17! Hope everyone has a lovely day. We're going to browse the port area and head back to the Retreat for another relaxing day. DH sleeps really well up there, lol! Sue/WDW1972

Yes, new menu at lunch and dinner. DH had the Caribbean item yellow tail snapper, I had the Dover sole (upcharge) and Fran the filet. Today she had the lamb chops the stroopwafle cobbler at dinner was amazing but so rich. Absolutely wonderful! DH enjoyed the table side Caesar and the jumbo shrimp. Bacon was great. Wedge salads were good. Service at lunch today was very slow but at dinner was fine. Wdw1972/sue

Good morning from the Zuiderdam! Sadly I'm failing at keeping up with the Daily or anything else on Cruise Critic. I did zip through the gorgeous pictures of Iceland (bucket list) and am sorry to learn Roy is having another health crisis 😞 As Jody @seagarsmoker it is cloudy, humid & very windy here - with a bunch of rain this morning. Looks like rain is likely/possible at any time for several days. The Retreat has been rough, due to the wine. We had a fabulous meal at Pinnacle the first night, and another great one at Canaletto last night. We enjoyed the first production show last night - nice to have them back, even if they're not Broadway caliber! DH is loving the cruise - most of the time I go solo. We're off to meet our travel buddy for lunch at Pinnacle - definitely going to eat very light tonight, if at all! Will try to check back in at some point the next few days. Sue/WDW1972

Technically zero, since "gala nights" are no more. There are 2 "dressy nights" - typically the first and last sea day but dependent on the exact itinerary. Last night was our first dressy night onboard Zuiderdam and honestly most people don't look "gala" - or even "dressy" compared to any other night. There were some who made the effort, and looked terrific! Sue/WDW1972

If you are, so am I. I find the whole dancing waiter thing really tacky. I don't bother with MDR at all, so I've not seen it personally. Sue/WDW1972

We are moving into basin. Close to dinner time - changed to black and fuscha dress

Retreat is deck 11 not 10

Deck 10 corner cabana in Retreat. Dark blue flowery long sleeve shirt