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Cynthia, how is your Mom doing with her recovery?

Laurie. We’re elite plus on Celebrity (Diamond on Royal). Celebrity does drinks differently. 2 hour free alcohol (limited menu) every night from 5-7 with exception of day 1. Also a morning coffee break from 8-10 plated continental breakfast with mimosa's,. Bloody Mary’s specialty coffees is included in Tuscan Grille. It’s nice & quiet. Biggest difference to us between Celebrity & Royal is few kids on Celebrity (10 is a lot of kids!!). Food is excellent on Cekebrity but Royal has the best shows. Quieter crowd (no bellyflop contests) I didn’t post our cookie insanity Christmas Eve Melody

Oh that’s awful! Hope she recovers quickly!!

At least. Along with chocolate covered nuts & 3 kinds of fudge

I just realized I didn’t post the gazillion cookie picture. We all still have some left…I’m cookied out. Melody

Glad you had a good Christmas!!

I just looked on Amazon & found at least 12 dressy hats, fascinators, hatinators etc if you feel you really need one. Some were really cute

Water fly on Amazon has some great, very inexpensive crossbody bags. Also Travelon (all RFID)

The dress is gorgeous & should shine by itself. I love the hat also but not with this dress. You do not need to wear a hat (even in a Catholic service) any longer. Don’t mess up your likely freshly coiffed hair before pictures

Main dining room is included in your cruise fare as is the buffet you can download the app now, it won’t fully populate until you board. a dining room will be open for breakfast every day & for lunch on sea days pack your case with what you think you’ll need, then remove half. Just remember that men need long pants/dress jeans& a collared shirt for all the dining options (except buffet). enjoy your first cruise

Laurie, look at my guys with their shirts for Hawaii. Melody

Thanks, we do have fun when we get together

From our house to yours. Happy Christmas. Melody

We’re doing our soup extravaganza today (Eve tradition). I’m making pasta fagiole (by special request from all the grands…little do they know the two oldest are getting handwritten recipe cards with some family favorites & huge crockpots…they all like to cook). Oldest daughter is making lemon chicken orzo soup (the Panera recipe, yum!), middle daughter is making squash soup (all from her garden) & son is making Swedish meatballs (no soup for him!). There’ll also be about a kagillion cookies & desserts. Christmas will be traditional roast beef & individual Yorkshire puddings & the rest of the fixings (plenty of gravy) here with Les & Erick. The guys requested blueberry pie (easy dessert) hope everyone has a Happy Christmas & a safe & healthy New Year. Melody

Happy Christmas to all & a safe & healthy New Year

Ouch!!

Lois, yes. I’m making pasta fagiole, one daughter is making lemon chicken orzo soup, other daughter is making squash soup (from her garden) & son is making Swedish meatballs (no soup for him) & about 5 million cookies & desserts!

Well Holland America cancelled the Panama Canal portion of our 21 night October cruise & added the same islands we’re doing (on Celebrity) in February. We opted to cancel. Received a full refund (even refunded our travel insurance as it was a major itinerary change). We’d booked our airfare on Wednesday, received a full refund there too. We’ll find another cruise after the holidays are over. Hope everyone has a great holiday season. Soup extravaganza & cookies tomorrow at our oldest daughter’s

Well Holland America cancelled the Panama Canal portion of our 21 night October cruise. We’ve gone ahead & cancelled. I’ll find a different cruise hope Anita’s move is going well

Our next to youngest granddaughter’s high school senior picture

That’s what I had for high school & college. I love this picture, it highlights her personality

Jim & Iain, thank you for providing such a delightful & comprehensive photo/commentary journey. May happiness & health follow you both into your upcoming adventures. Happy Christmas & Joyous New Year. Melody

Much easier to get the reservations linked before the sailing. Contact whomever you booked your cruise with, they can do it pretty easily

Tomorrow is our granddaughter’s 18th bday. This is her senior picture. She’s as nice & sweet as she is pretty

Haven’t tried CL drops but I’m sure I’d like them