ger_77

Oh my word, I could have knit a pair of socks in the time it took the Volendam to get lined up for the channel!

Looking at the Gala Night menu, it doesn't seem to be very "gala" to me. After seeing those offerings, I'd be tempted to try an alternate venue.

We'll be sure to take really good care so she's in great shape when you board in February!

All 21 of them !!!

I think we've got the PP.

Rather than just sitting here waiting, I decided to put my time to good use by printing out our boarding passes, and printing and laminating the luggage tags for our Jan 4 departure of the Rotterdam VII.

What a great tooter that Captain is !!!

Good sounding toots !!!

Oh my gosh, what a huge disappointment for you!!!

I just heard some departure toots.

NS is preparing to get underway . . . woo hoo! Don't think we'll be looking for anyone today, but possibly next week.

Checking in.

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! I enjoy a piece of light fruitcake once in a while, but DH absolutely loves it - he could eat an entire cake by himself. Like @rafinmdI do enjoy a zoo, but not in the winter. We made cut out snowflakes with the grandsons just a couple of days ago - some were, well, very creative. LOL @ocean soundswelcome to the Daily! We're an interesting group of folks who are very caring and supportive of one another. @ottahand7Bon Voyage today - will we see you on the webcam at sail-away? @Seasick Sailorsorry to hear DH is unwell; hopefully the cold is short lived. Also, not good news about your friends with Covid after a Christmas party! I think we had someone watching out for us that made us come home yesterday. After traveling on highways that were relatively clear of snow and ice, just shortly after we passed an area, the RCMP closed it down due to black ice and accidents. Sadly, one person lost their life in a head-on collision about an hour after we were at that exact location. And, to top things off, this morning there is a freezing rain warning that covers the entire highway from our city to the provincial border (about 200 miles), so that would have made our trip home treacherous, if not deadly. Today will be busy - laundry from our Calgary trip, then getting the suitcases out on the spare bed to get packing for our cruise. Fortunately, shorts, t-shirts, and dresses for me, and shorts, golf shirts, pants, dress shirt and blazer for DH don't take up much room, so we'll be traveling relatively light compared to what I packed for our trans-Atlantic in November. I like today's menu suggestion, but I've got the turkey carcass in the fridge just waiting to hit the soup pot this morning. It'll simmer all day and will provide us with a few meals over the coming days. Whatever is left will be frozen to enjoy on days when neither of us feels like cooking anything. It'll be steaming hot bowls of turkey soup with crusty buns at the dinner table tonight. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, especially the people who have been impacted by the storms. Cheers for all who have celebrations going on. Stay safe, be well. Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂 Gerry

Bon Voyage and Happy New Year to all of you!

Good evening, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Happy Kwanzaa to all who celebrate! Happy Boxing Day and good luck to everyone who went out shopping today; those days are behind us now. First of all, thank you all for your wonderful birthday wishes; it’s tough having a birthday on Christmas, as it gets lost in the shuffle, and I thank you for making me feel special. My family did a great job of getting a pretty rainbow coloured cake with candles on it - our 3 year old grandson declared that it was the best he’d ever had. LOL. Here’s a pic of DH and I with DH getting ready to carve the turkey with the now 50 year old electric carving knife - it still does an admirable job without tearing the bird to shreds. Our little grandson insisted Grandpa needed a chef’s hat, and a crown from a Christmas cracker was the closest we could get to it. Today was a travel day for us so DH can get to the denturist first thing tomorrow morning. We got up early (and felt bad that the entire family had to wake up to say goodbye) and were on the road shortly after 8AM. Why though, did it seem we had even more in the back of the SUV than we did when we arrived 4 days ago? Weird. The highways, for the most part were clear, or only had a slight amount of snow on them, and we didn’t encounter any issues. However, friends of ours were travelling from Saskatoon to Calgary (we passed each other on the highway and honked our horns and waved), and it appears we were more fortunate than most. Our friends asked how we managed to get so far in such a short time, as they encountered blowing snow and black ice. Apparently there were cars and trucks in the ditches on both sides of the road and finally the RCMP closed down the highway for a few hours. Whew! We must have had guardian angels with us, as we didn’t have any problems. Will have to say extra prayers of gratitude tonight! Sochi was pretty happy to see us, and of course, now she’s putting on her “Velcro Cat” act, following me even into the bathroom. LOL. The suitcases are unpacked and laundry is ready to begin tomorrow morning. We didn’t bring any food home with us, except for the turkey carcass, which tomorrow will be turned into soup that will sustain us for a few days - that means less to have to cook and keep in the days leading up to the departure for our cruise. Tonight we had leftover frozen perogies with bacon at the kitchen table. And wine. Prayers for everyone who needs them, cheers for all with celebrations going on. Stay well, be safe. Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂 Gerry

@kazu, wishing you a Christmas that you can look back on, remembering that you made it through the first one and that the following ones were a little bit easier. Maurice and I wish you peace, comfort, lots of wine, and some smiles today. Cheers!

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Merry Christmas from DH and I to all my Daily family; whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish you a time of peace, happiness and good health. Like some of you, we’re sitting in the glow of a Christmas tree, waiting for the grands to wake up and start the shrieks of delight that could soften even the hardest of hearts. The cinnamon buns are cooling on the counter, the buns are rising in the pans, and we’re enjoying the moment. We had our Christmas ham yesterday, so today we’ll enjoy turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, a mixture of vegetables, and for dessert, birthday cake, as I celebrate another trip around the sun. And wine. Prayers for all who are in need, loud cheers for everyone who is celebrating. Be safe, stay well. Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂 Gerry.

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Merry Christmas Eve to all who celebrate; it’s a special time of the year for so many. I’m sure there will be eggnog at some point in the day, I do enjoy a Malbec, and we would love to return to Singapore for an extended visit. All is quiet right now, with the whole house sleeping in. I think of it as the calm before the storm, because once the boys are up, it is a never ending surge of energy and excitement. As I look out into the dark, it even looks warmer; the temp is -13C right now, with an expected high of +1C. I feel for all of you who are dealing with the barrage of storms on both sides of the country. My heart goes out to my Daily friends who aren’t able to have family with them this year. Maybe video calls will help ease the disappointment. I like todays menu suggestion, but we’ve planned on doing a ham for Christmas Eve this year. Ham, scalloped potatoes, veggies and a salad will be what the fam will be enjoying around the dinner table tonight. And wine. Prayers for safety for those in the paths of the storms, woo hoo for all the celebrations! Stay well, be safe. Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂 Gerry

And what kind words did you have for the oaf who made you end up on the floor?!?

Good afternoon, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Happy Festivus Day, unless it’s a kids movie, I don’t think here will be any marathons, and I enjoy Pfeffernusse once in a while. We spent a rather restless night, as I needed to make an important phone call first thing in the morning and didn’t want to sleep in. Last evening as DH bit into a store bought puff pastry strudel, one of the 2 front teeth on his partial plate broke off, and it appears he may have swallowed it! Not wanting to go toothless on our cruise in less than 2 weeks, I had to call the denturist for an emergency repair as soon as we get home. Well, their office is closed today for an extended Christmas break, so what to do? I reached out to his office on FB and got a reply within minutes . . . Yayyyy! It now looks like we will cut our visit short one day, returning home on Boxing Day instead of the 27th, so DH can be at the clinic when they open at 8 AM. @kochleffel Happy Birthday to you; it seems there are many of us Christmas time babies! @grapau27, please wish your Sarah a very Happy Birthday as well! @StLouisCruisersStay safe on the roads tomorrow. The weather has been ugly cold for the past few days, but already we can feel it warming up, thank goodness! Today’s high is -17, and tomorrow is supposed to be +4. Talk about a land of contrasts! My heart goes out to everyone impacted by the storm; safety is paramount -stay home if you have to and make sure you’ve got enough to keep yourselves warm and fed. Tonight DS and DDIL are going out for a delayed anniversary dinner, so DH and I will enjoy dinner with the grandsons. They’ve already asked for pizza, so their wish is our command! It’ll be pizza and soda at the kitchen table with the grands tonight. And wine. Prayers for all who are in need, cheers to all the celebrations. Be safe,stay well. Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂 Gerry

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Well after a harrowing nearly 8 hour drive yesterday, we made it safely to Calgary. The temperatures were brutal (-47 wind chill) and there was a stretch of about 3 hours where we were in near white-out conditions. Thanks to DH’s skilled driving and me keeping him fed and hydrated along the way, we arrived at our destination. Our first job was to pick up our oldest grandson (age 7) from his after school program. He was expecting one of his parents to show up, but when we came through the door, his face lit up and he ran to me with such force, I was almost knocked off my feet! Although we had seen them just a couple of weeks ago, the first thing the said was “I’ve missed you so much!” Life is good. Today is the last normal day for everyone in this house, so DH and I will be on our own. That likely means we’ll have a chance to go to IKEA and wander around there for a while; one can never have too many napkins or tea lights! My thoughts go out to all with travel plans over the next few days. With the coming storm, I wish you well and hope you arrive at your destinations safely. I’ll take a pass on today’s menu suggestion, as our DDIL is making us Japanese food that will be served at their new, very large dinner table. And wine. Prayers for those in need, and particularly for the travellers, cheers to all who have celebrations going on. Stay safe, be well. Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂 Gerry

That's it for me folks, not sure when I'll be back as we're heading out of town for Christmas. Stay safe, and we'll see you after Christmas! Thanks to all.

She may be slow, but she's giving us toots!

I can almost see all the passenger's hair flying back, they're going so fast!

Sorry you had to cancel at the last minute; hopefully things will straighten out so you can get away in January.