SusieKIslandGirl

DH caught a salmon in Sitka and had it shipped home. It was expensive and we could tell he didn’t get the entire fish. He was a commercial fisherman during college summers so knows his fish.

@IamtheseaI didn't get any decent photos of the Vista cabin but Halfacts.com has several cabins showing the layout.

I finally looked up my mother’s rhubarb pie recipe. A bit lighter in calories, I think. 3 cups rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces 2 eggs, slightly beaten 1 1/2 cups sugar ( more or less on your sweetness preference) 1/4 cup flour Mix flour and sugar together, then mix with eggs. Add rhubarb and mix well. Add to pie shell and cover with a lattice pastry. Bake at 425 degrees-15 minutes Lower temp and continue baking 30 minutes at 350 degrees. It was a prize winner many years ago.

Is there much of a price difference if you book 2 separate cruises? And can you keep the same cabin? Also, would it make a difference with OBC or other extra benefits? I think if there wasn’t much difference I’d book 2 separate cruises.

I remember port and left have the same amount of letters. Starboard and right are longer words. For the colors associated with the sides, the same applies. Red for port and green for starboard.

I manage to lose weight on every cruise by using the stairs, at least a few flights. Still haven't mastered Deck 3 to Deck 9 yet, though.

Another DH with a June birthday. Not sure how he got to be 76 already! 😲 We don't have a lot of choices for dining out unless we head to Seattle but we'll try the local Mexican restaurant tonight. It's hit or miss but the margaritas should be good. I hope everyone has a good week.

Dinner at Tamarind was very good but hard to find. It's only easily accessible from the aft elevators.

We were just in Amsterdam last month after a cruise. We used Uber from the port to our city center hotel. I think it was $18. Oops, I goofed. This is from Amsterdam, not Rotterdam. Sorry. Uber from Amsterdam to Schiphol was $33.

Last 2 cruises, Feb/Mar and May this year, had pins but no free drinks or anything else. In 28 days I think I missed 2 days.

Our big box TA doesn’t pass on upgrade offers. I watch prices and call them to ask for an upgrade/upsell offer. Last cruise we had a standard verandah and were able to “upsell” to a Vista at no additional cost because prices had gone down. Just keep calling.

We were just on the Nieuw Statendam in a Vista suite. We were able to upgrade to it from a Verandah at no extra cost. If I had to pay for the Vista, I wouldn't bother-it didn't seem that much bigger than a verandah. I would love to try the Signature Suite someday though-it looks wonderful.

Write out a note asking the named person to pick up hold mail and sign it. Be sure to have them let the clerk know to keep the mail on hold. I'd let your carrier know what's going on.

@Cruzin TerriDo you receive mail at your home or in a PO Box? Did you ask your carrier, if you have home delivery, about holding the mail? As a retired rural mail carrier, it was never a problem to hold mail longer than 30 days. If someone received an excessive amount of mail, they would have a friend pick it up every 3 weeks or so. If you have a PO Box the mail should be held until the box rent is due and will then be sent back if the rent isn't paid.

@ktbraunI have bindings to put on 5 lap quilts, not my favorite part to do. They all go to church, and then they go to our shut ins, baptisms and others in need. We use the envelope method on our charity quilts and then do some bar tacking, machine quilting or tie by hand. It's much easier and faster than the dreaded binding.

I don't remember seeing any flavored creamers. The Lido coffee is ok but really liked my morning latte from the Grand Dutch Cafe (part of the beverage package). There, they had the flavored syrups and I'm sure you could ask for a bold brew. I've also found some powdered, flavored coffee creamers at our grocery store which is easier than the little CoffeeMate pods. Have fun!

Yep, we eat on the side opposite of the smokers.

Of course it depends on where you're sailing, but our favorite breakfast spot is outside by the SeaView pool. There's a covered area with tables and chairs and generally one crew member who serves coffee and juice.

On our cruise in Norway last month, one tender we were on had several walkers and a couple of small scooters. As long as you can get on the tender it should work.

Well, yesterday was a good news, bad news and terrible news day. Saw the ortho doc and my hip has healed well. How did that year go so quickly? Also, I don't need a knee replacement any time soon, just an injection that I think is helping already. Bad news-our Samsung refrigerator, that was replaced once under warranty, has an ice maker that freezes up when we're gone. We tried turning it off this time before we left but it still froze. We thawed it out, again, but this time it didn't start. Will never buy another Samsung appliance. From what everyone has said, guess we'll look at Whirlpool. The terrible news is that my half-sister, who I didn't really know until I was grown, battled ovarian cancer and was clear but now has had surgery to remove a rather large mass on her colon. She has named her new, permanent attachment Winston. There are also 2 small spots on her lung which are being tested to see if they are associated with the ovarian cancer. This cancer crud that is hitting everyone has to go away!!!!

You might like to look at photos of various cabins on Halfacts.com. It might give you an idea if no one has a specific answer.

Meclizine is less expensive than Bonnie.

We just finished having the rental house next door-and where my niece lives-painted and new roof and gutters. (We decided we'd better cancel the Sept. Alaska cruise after we paid that bill!) We went with a med. dark gray with a barely off-white trim. My niece chose a chartreuse/limey green for her doors. I think I'm getting used to it. I vote for the burnt orange. And I'd better love my dentist-he's my nephew.

On the Nieuw Statendam, Tamarind is on Deck 10, Aft. The easiest way to get there is to use the AFT elevators. We didn't when we went ahead of time to check on the location and had to walk outside and climb a set of stairs and then hope someone notices you at the outside door-or keep walking around the aft to find a set of stairs to go down and then the aft elevator back up to 10. A real hidden gem???

After spending 4 days in Amsterdam after the Norway cruise, I'm very tired of all the cigarette-and other-smoke. And so many cigarette butts all over the sidewalks. But we loved the buildings and canals. It has been over 40 years since we were last here. At the airport hotel now, ready for our early-morning check-in for our flight to Seattle. Take care everyone.