wdw1972

I also couldn't make sense of the quote, and being the weekend I wasn't willing to work at figuring it out! I'll trust the people who liked it and assume it's a good one 😉 Lemon Drops are great - had my first one on a BHB several years ago, and have ordered them several times since. I never would have guessed they didn't exist before the 1970's so thank you for that information. I'll pass on the dinner and today's wine, but look forward to visiting Greece some day. Down here it's still hot & humid, so DH & I did a walk early this morning. After showers we ran some errands and now it's a lazy day. There's a home game (UF - Gators football) and while I could care less he may watch it. It's best to avoid the traffic that can happen on game days, so I'll probably work on a jigsaw puzzle. Like @atexsix said, being on a cruise, even if dealing with a shortage of peanut butter pie, is more fun than doing real life stuff! It's still 76 days until my next one. Hope @luvteaching has a great time! Sue/WDW1972

All 3 days are good, although I agree it would be nice to not need food banks. Sadly, they are needed by many. The meal, drink & wine all sound good, although I've never had a Snowball. Once again the port is beautiful - so much of Thailand is pretty based on the photos I've seen (never been there). @StLouisCruisers Happy Anniversary, and what a great wedding photo! @ottahand7 Best wishes regarding your brother - hope he has a full recovery from this ordeal @ger_77 What a nice thing to do (the blankets) and they look great! I'm sure the children will appreciate them. Happy that it's finally Friday! No big plans for the weekend, but I'll enjoy not having to go to work 🙂 Sue/WDW1972

@Seasick Sailor so sorry the news for your sister wasn't more positive. I'm a 3-time breast cancer survivor, although each time it was caught extremely early thanks to routine mammograms. Your sister's news is not good - I hope treatment will result in a positive outcome for many years to come. Sue/WDW

It's possible by then, if rumors are true, there will be no more Rudi's and instead will be Morimoto. Sue/WDW1972

Good point - I'm quite familiar with ordering a half portion in Canaletto, but in Pinnacle when inquiring about the size of the filet (for example), a half or smaller portion was not a possibility. That was several years ago - it'll be interesting to see if that's changed. My next cruise is not until November, so I'll keep an eye out! Sue/WDW1972

I can't find anything that mentions the pricing. The new lunch menu is basically just the majority of the dinner menu, and I would have thought the portions would be scaled down since the lunch price is so much lower. However, the filet mignon and other lunch steak is the same size as at dinner, which leaves me thinking there may not be a "lunch" price going forward (it would all be the same, or at least much closer to the dinner price). For me I don't mind seeing changes - generally I like changes, as it keeps things fresh for those of us who cruise repeatedly. What I am not interested in is a big heavy dinner-size meal at lunch. The previous lunch menu left me still not hungry by dinner time - and that one had smaller portions! Sue/WDW1972

Good morning from hot/humid Florida - another bad hair day thanks to the high humidity. Charity & pizza are great, and I agree "charity" can be far more than monetary. My preferred pizza would have green bell peppers, but no other added toppings. Being late is something not in my DNA - I'm early rather than late, and unless it's an extraordinary unpreventable sudden situation, being late is disrespectful and shouldn't be tolerated. Ok, off my soapbox 😉 I'll pass on the meal, drink and wine - drink's too sweet, wine's red and why mess up a great steak with kale???? The port is definitely one for the future - assuming HAL continues running the Grand South America & Antarctica once I retire that one's on my bucket list. Appreciate the many photos! @marshhawk Hope your DH's back recovers soon, and your beef curry sounds delicious! Regarding that school shooter, in my opinion his parents should be charged. Too many red flags yet they continued to have guns in the home, weren't aware of what their little darling was doing, etc. So sad for the victims of this senseless violence. We have active shooter training coming up in a couple of weeks but hope to never actually be in that situation. Sue/WDW1972

All three days are good, although I'll admit I haven't read an actual newspaper in decades. I do remember the old days of sitting with the paper, especially on Sunday mornings. Digital certainly keeps my fingers cleaner! I'll pass on the meal and beverages, and Dover looks lovely! That's another place on the list for future cruises. Yesterday we dealt with no water. We live at work, which is a large residential facility for adults with profound intellectual disabilities. A water main needed repair, and we had to shut off the water to a large section of the campus, including many homes housing our residents, several office/support buildings (including the food service building), and all of staff housing. What was hoped to be a 2-5 hour job ended up lasting 7.5 hours. Now it's just a boiled water precaution until 6:30 tonight (24 hours from when water was restored). Sue/WDW1972

@Haljo1935 Your cat is beautiful - glad he's feeling better! @Cruzin Terri Glad the PT session went well, and it's nice they gave you exercises to do at home vs making you go in to their place for everything. Sue/WDW1972

I give my travel agent a list of the card & pin numbers - she applies them all to make my final payment. Certainly it's more tedious than giving a single credit card number, but it's perfectly ok and just part of doing business for any decent travel agent. Sue/WDW1972

Thanks for all the pictures of London - I've never been, but am looking forward to a couple UK ports in 2026 (Falmouth & Portland - gotta start somewhere <g>). Love a bite or 2 of a burger, but I'm more a slider person. A regular burger is just too much for me, but when DH orders one I always take a bite. Years ago the LeCellier restaurant in Canada in Epcot (Walt Disney World) had the BEST steakburger on their lunch menu! Sadly they revamped the menu several years ago to only do the "dinner" menu all day and he still mourns the loss. Can't say I blame him 😉 Back to work today, 80 days until the next cruise (Zuiderdam). Hope everyone has a wonderful day! Sue/WDW1972

I agree! Also, it seemed really strange to me that they'd be going back to table side preparation of certain items again, given the trend of cutting back on all of that. Don't get me wrong - I'd like to see that come back, but I'm not holding my breath. Sue/WDW1972

Happy Anniversary @Quartzsite Cruiser! Happy Birthday @RMLincoln! Congratulations on the new grandbaby as well. I will definitely pass on the meal - maybe it's how Jennifer Aniston looks so great, but I have no interest in eating that stuff 😉 Pass on the wine as well, as I only like whites. Think I had a tequila sunrise in my younger days, but obviously didn't like it enough to continue. Never been to Trinidad/Tobago so thanks for all the photos! It'll be another hot day here in Florida, and I can't wait for the cooler weather to arrive! DH & I set out for a walk at 6:30 this morning, and got 5,000 steps in. Tomorrow it's back to work for me, so no more walking until next weekend. Looking forward to a relaxing day just puttering around the house. Sue/WDW1972

Your BLT looks great - that would have been my choice, although Rich's french dip looked really good too! Waffle fries aren't found too many places anymore, so that was a plus as well. Nice photo of the group of happy cruisers! Sue/WDW1972

Remember Ships Services works Monday - Friday. I forget the exact hours. Sue/WDW1972

Thank you for the warm welcome! Like the quote - but I'm big on personal responsibility rather than excuses. In other words, we can't control what crap people might spew, but we certainly should be able to determine if it really makes sense before we jump out there & react. Not a fan of the meal, would try the cocktail if it doesn't taste too boozy, and generally like Rieslings. In the old days I leaned towards the sweet ones, but now prefer more to the dry side. Love cats - orange, black, white, brown, doesn't matter. Allergies prevent me from having any pets, but I do have have a feral cat who lives outside and is very affectionate (but not to strangers). Have not been to French Polynesia at all, except multiple virtual visits thanks to bloggers on those voyages. Some day after retirement hopefully - Australia is a bigger priority, and French Polynesia is pretty much on the way there! Flying all the way from Florida to Australia is not appealing, but getting there (& back) on a ship definitely sounds good! Sue/WDW1972

Hello - after weeks of reading on a daily basis I felt it's time to step out of the shadows of "lurkdom" and admit my presence here 😉 What a wonderful community you've all created here! So many screen names I recognize from the HAL boards, too. I'm strictly a HAL cruiser, still working so unable to do the multiple/long cruises at this point, but they're definitely in the relatively near future (3 years or so)! I'll be retiring older than most, but by choice. I love seeing the port photos of places I've yet to see in person. As an annoyingly picky eater, most of the meals are lost on me, but the cocktails and wine are great for ideas! DH has accumulated a ridiculous amount of liquor to stock his bar - despite not a single bottle being opened! Tonight that will change, as we're having another couple over for painkillers made with a certain rum (not Pussers) that she gifted DH with on his birthday last month. He nearly had palpitations when I told him he WOULD be opening the bottle! I have actually met Bruce/Aliaschief many years ago on a 10-day ABC cruise that might have been on Noordam. He hosted a wine tasting in his suite, which my son (Chris) & I attended. Chris is 37 now but was probably early 20's back then - might have been 2012. Sue/WDW1972

Thank you for doing this! Please add me for my first transatlantic & first visit to Europe 🙂 10/18/26 Rotterdam 13-day Cultural Crossing with Brugge & Falmouth WDW1972/Sue

I could be that the sofa in the triple converts to a bed but the one in the double does not. Also, the triple will come with 3 life jackets, while the double would only have 2. Those are the only differences I can think of. Worst case scenario you have a child sleeping on the couch, as a couch rather than a bed. But definitely check with your room stewards once onboard to see what they can do. Sue/WDW1972

Since the restart on all my HAL cruises (2x year) I've had twice daily service. Most of those staterooms were ocean view - might have been a verandah thrown in there once or twice. I'm generally solo, and keep things neat, so there's not a lot of work for the stewards (compared to someone traveling with 3-4 in a stateroom). Sue/WDW1972

This is one of the things that appeals to me - I'd rather be at sea, enjoying my cabana in the Retreat, vs wandering around a Caribbean port (been there, done that). My priorities shifted from ports to shipboard life a long time ago, at least in the Caribbean. Cruising somewhere new to me, my priorities would be different 😉 Sue/WDW1972

It's definitely not. In fact, cruises leaving the day after Thanksgiving tend to be the lowest fare of the season due to lower demand. Next year I'll be doing my November cruise as the 9-day leaving the day after Thanksgiving and it'll be one of the cheapest cruises in years! There should be few to no kids, which makes it even better. Sue/WDW1972

I have my travel agent book it, but I use the HAL site to determine exactly what I want, what the perks would be, pricing, etc. I always select my own stateroom - too much can go wrong if you leave it to the cruise line, so it's not with the "savings". When I cruise solo I typically book an ocean view stateroom. There are many located directly below a very noisy venue like BB King's Blues Club, or under the galley (kitchen) with carts rolling around all night, so I won't take the chance of ending up there! Sue/WDW1972

That's not true. Friends & I who book our own staterooms always book specific stateroom numbers. On a Pinnacle Class ship with solo staterooms we may choose the largest 3 of those, but on other ships we're all booked solo into 3 staterooms made for 2 or more. Those ships don't have solo staterooms, so no chance of being moved as a solo if you book a stateroom that's not designated for 3 or 4 people. Also, unless you're cruising HAL on a 7-night itinerary during a holiday week or spring break (or Alaska during June/July/August, there's little chance of being moved. HAL doesn't normally attract hordes of families with kids, and leans heavily towards the "couples" vs group of 3-4 friends sharing a stateroom together. Combine that with longer itineraries, and kids are thankfully few on most of the cruises - you can pick accordingly to minimize your risk! Sue/WDW1972

I've never seen soft serve on HAL (admittedly, with all the calories onboard I have not ever looked for it) but if they exist they're definitely not out where passengers could serve themselves. Carnival is a whole different animal - leaning much more heavily to self-serve vs being served in a Lido/buffet setting. Sue/WDW1972