Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are ?

[Camgirl]

I managed a trim of my fringe last week. Not going to touch the rest but it was beginning to drive me mad. It is ok........ Then my husband asked me to do his whole head 😱. Pretty scary, but I think I have got away with it. 

 

My hairdressers has a sign in the window saying they are looking forwards to repairing the self done hair cuts when this is all over!

[alc13]

2 hours ago, Kynance said:

Today I was due to get my haircut - my hairdresser texted me last Saturday to re-book me for 4 June - yikes! I can definitely last a couple more weeks but after that it’s a bit of an unknown quantity. However, I am determined to wait and not give in to temptation to try to do it myself - even a much grown-out version of a proper salon cut is going to be better than my efforts, especially as my hair is layered. Patience is a virtue!

I can't wait until my hairdresser reopens.  My hair is (was) short and layered and now it looks pathetic. 

 

I didn't get to watch Frankenstein because someone came to hang some long delayed window shades around the same time.  Mainers are independent types and I heard some grumbling about the shut down.  Clearly people are out of patience here, and we were free to go to grocery stores and big box stores as long as we kept to 6-ft distances,, unlike people in other parts of the country.  I mostly think I would survive covid-19 if I were unlucky enough to get it, but that doesn't make me want to mingle freely just yet. 

[Lanky Lad]

On 4/30/2020 at 8:13 PM, Camgirl said:

I managed a trim of my fringe last week. Not going to touch the rest but it was beginning to drive me mad. It is ok........ Then my husband asked me to do his whole head 😱. Pretty scary, but I think I have got away with it. 

 

My hairdressers has a sign in the window saying they are looking forwards to repairing the self done hair cuts when this is all over!

I am counting my blessings and right now not having much hair is one of them.

[frankp01]

I thought folks might like to see our 'virtual happy hour' today, with several of our friends. Unfortunately we couldn't get them on board to join us in the Carinthia Lounge...

(The photo is from the  3,430 Photos thread, with a bit of editing to rescale it)

[Host Hattie]

Happy Friday everyone, my colleagues were busy yesterday evening 

 

 

[Bigmike911]

1 hour ago, frankp01 said:

I thought folks might like to see our 'virtual happy hour' today, with several of our friends. Unfortunately we couldn't get them on board to join us in the Carinthia Lounge...

(The photo is from the  3,430 Photos thread, with a bit of editing to rescale it)

Well done Frank P. 

[alc13]

5 hours ago, frankp01 said:

I thought folks might like to see our 'virtual happy hour' today, with several of our friends. Unfortunately we couldn't get them on board to join us in the Carinthia Lounge...

(The photo is from the  3,430 Photos thread, with a bit of editing to rescale it)

May I join you?  I’ll have a Negroni -

[alc13]

5 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Happy Friday everyone, my colleagues were busy yesterday evening 

 

 

Lovely, inspiring.  Thanks for the lift. 

[Camgirl]

12 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Happy Friday everyone, my colleagues were busy yesterday evening 

 

 

Very good! Well done everyone.

[frankp01]

10 hours ago, alc13 said:

May I join you?  I’ll have a Negroni -

That's funny! Negroni was the password for our meeting! (Although we were having old fashioneds that day).

[alc13]

31 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

That's funny! Negroni was the password for our meeting! (Although we were having old fashioneds that day).

Whoops! - I didn't mean to crash a meeting.  I like your taste in drinks, though.

[bluemarble]

Has everyone been giving the Cunard scone recipe a try? One might think so from a news article I just read discussing why flour is one of the items that is becoming hard to find in grocery stores. Here's a quote by a representative from King Arthur Flour.

 

"People are baking -- a lot! We conducted some consumer research and found that most people are just baking more than usual since they're at home, as opposed to pantry-loading. People who were baking monthly are now baking weekly, and people who were baking weekly are baking daily. We expect this increase in baking to continue for the foreseeable future as trends show more in-home eating compared to dining out and people choosing to bake the food staples they cannot find in their grocery stores. People are baking for a lot of reasons including having more time, baking as a family activity, diving into improving their skills, and of course having great bread!"

[morbihan]

I saw it. The scones that I had on QE were the worst that I have ever eaten. I like my own recipe best but not eating carbs at the moment . .😁😁😁😁. Shortage of flour here also but the boulangerie is open so I don't know why really. The French aren't a cake eating country. Fancy stuff on a Sunday yes but they are happy with a yogurt on a daily basis. They could be making crepes.

 

Cake. I love cake. A lot.

[Bigmike911]

5 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Has everyone been giving the Cunard scone recipe a try? One might think so from a news article I just read discussing why flour is one of the items that is becoming hard to find in grocery stores. Here's a quote by a representative from King Arthur Flour.

 

"People are baking -- a lot! We conducted some consumer research and found that most people are just baking more than usual since they're at home, as opposed to pantry-loading. People who were baking monthly are now baking weekly, and people who were baking weekly are baking daily. We expect this increase in baking to continue for the foreseeable future as trends show more in-home eating compared to dining out and people choosing to bake the food staples they cannot find in their grocery stores. People are baking for a lot of reasons including having more time, baking as a family activity, diving into improving their skills, and of course having great bread!"

There has for the same reason been a shortage of dry yeast. I like sourdough, and keep my starter in fine fettle so when I need to make a rising dough, it takes care of my needs. But like others who have reached a certain age, we need to watch carbs and calories. I have been taking care of a friend for more than one year who suffered from small cell carcinoma, now thankfully resolved. But my rushing around taking care of him caused me to loose 30 lbs. Fortunately I have been baking a Trader Joe's chocolate croissant every morning and I am working my way back to a comfortable weight. A long crossing in QG is just what the weight gain Dr. recommends. Next July, I hope. 

[Host Hattie]

Love the Happy Hour @frankp01, I haven't tried the scone recipe @bluemarble, we've had the same problem with running out of flour as lots more people are baking at home. No coffee and cake outside so we have to make do ! I cheated and ordered a chocolate cake mix but they substituted toffee cake mix, I've added some cocoa powder so it'll probably be awful.

Some of my friends should have been coming to Cardiff this weekend so we had drinks on a video call on Friday to toast the member of the group in hospital. She's out of intensive care now so hopefully she's going to be OK.

This would normally have been a Bank Holiday weekend for May Day but the holiday was moved to Friday to allow VE Day to be remembered.

Glad you enjoyed the video.

 

[Camgirl]

Just sitting at home feeling sad that we should be on board Queen Victoria about to go off for muster drill before departing for Norway. I think there are two others posting on this thread that should have been with us.

 

Really hope that they find a way we can all be back on board sometime in the not too distant future and that we get to meet you all.

 

Take care and stay safe, we will get there together.

[Trevor33]

2 hours ago, Camgirl said:

Just sitting at home feeling sad that we should be on board Queen Victoria about to go off for muster drill before departing for Norway. I think there are two others posting on this thread that should have been with us.

 

Really hope that they find a way we can all be back on board sometime in the not too distant future and that we get to meet you all.

 

Take care and stay safe, we will get there together.

Yes looking forward to the development of that vaccine, think they are hoping later next year. It will be great peace of mind to be able to go back on a  ship with many others knowing all are vaccinated and there won't be news of another outbreak on a cruise ship.

[frankp01]

HH: I finally had a chance to view the video of your colleagues. Very nice. (Although it did, just slightly, remind me of The Full Montie!)

 

Along with flour, yeast has been very hard to come by around here. We did finally get a vacuum-packed container of instant  yeast. Then I discovered that the grocery had *plenty* of refrigerated yeast. So, if you're looking for yeast, don't forget to look in the refrigerated case.

[Victoria2]

3 hours ago, Camgirl said:

Just sitting at home feeling sad that we should be on board Queen Victoria about to go off for muster drill before departing for Norway. I think there are two others posting on this thread that should have been with us.

 

Really hope that they find a way we can all be back on board sometime in the not too distant future and that we get to meet you all.

 

Take care and stay safe, we will get there together.

We should have been with you too.

Never mind. Lunch today was rather spartan compared to what we might have been enjoying and dinner tonight, will definitely not  be up to Cunard standards, but, we're alive, healthy and looking forward to next year's cruises.

Always a silver lining.

[Host Hattie]

48 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

HH: I finally had a chance to view the video of your colleagues. Very nice. (Although it did, just slightly, remind me of The Full Montie!)

Hopefully this lot will keep their clothes on, they are actual Steelworkers not just playing them !

The most surprising thing to me was that the Shift Manager who organised it is the most aggressive, argumentative one we have, I had no idea he was such a softie ! 

 

The cake was OK, I had another good video chat with my old school friends, although I must have pressed the wrong button as we ended up talking to my friend in hospital as well. It was a bit of a shock for all of us as they don't know each other ! All straightened out in the end.

@Camgirl & @Victoria2 sorry you're missing your trip, I hope we're all back on board when it's safe.

[Photo Andy]

Host Hattie

just logged in to see the singing steel workers - brilliant. Thank you. Usually just read the messages without logging in.  

[Kynance]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

We should have been with you too.

Never mind. Lunch today was rather spartan compared to what we might have been enjoying and dinner tonight, will definitely not  be up to Cunard standards, but, we're alive, healthy and looking forward to next year's cruises.

Always a silver lining.

Yep, I’ve been feeling very disappointed all weekend that we are not departing on QV’s Norwegian fjords voyage today. Should have been in the dining room for our first evening meal, right now!  Although I am grateful we are safe & well and so are our nearest & dearest, I can’t help thinking that this voyage will never be repeated in quite the way we were looking forward to - it included 4 ports we had never visited and we had a huge amount of OBC, with which we could have really treated ourselves. 
 

However, perhaps there will be an opportunity in the not too distant future for some of us who have been posting on this thread to get acquainted in person - maybe Cunard will try to tempt people back on board with some well priced short trips, once cruising resumes? 
 

Have a good week everyone - I am looking forward to the VE Day anniversary on Friday: we have a neighbours WhatsApp group set up to coordinate safe, socially distanced events on the day. 

[Bigmike911]

A warm 86f (30c) with 74 dewpoint, "Intolerable" on the dew point descriptor, none the less, I worked in the Garden. I have a number of plants in pots on the pool deck and a few days of heat makes them very thirsty. They are watered and happy now. I spent an hour or so in my screened room under a ceiling fan running on fast, reading Anne Perry's latest "One Fatal Flaw". Anne has written more than 70 books in several series and lately her books have been nothing short of terrific. This one is as well. 

 

I got a catch up on my corona clip today, and lowered the clipper one more setting to 7 mm. Maybe I can get more than a week out of this one, though in all honesty last week's clip eliminating the various cow licks was a major break through. It will be at least three more weeks until the barber shop is reopened, And their back log will no doubt be a long one. 

 

I collected my Saturday Night Mexican Food dinner from the local restaurant where I have dined most Saturdays for the last eight years. The owner told me he is opening for dine-in on Tuesday, but with only 25 percent of the tables available, I questioned, in my own mind. him choosing Cinco de Mayo, a huge Mexican Food holiday (as opposed to a huge Mexican holiday which it is not) as the first day. I am sure he will have to turn many folk away. But it is his restaurant. So another small step back to normal. 

[alc13]

I read and enjoy all the posts on this forum - thank you.  It's nice to hear how different parts of the world are faring.  Here in Maine we are starting to see some loosening of restrictions, with more loosening ahead.  Maine's is a tourist economy, though, and without summer visitors we will be hard hit.  In the meantime, the ice cream stand up the street still seems on schedule to open later this month, so we'll do our part to help them thrive.

 

Our first jigsaw puzzle is almost done; my needlepoint pillow top has a ways to go.   I am starting to miss travel more and more; not just the going and the being there, but the planning of it and daydreaming about it.  I'm tempted to book one of the 2022 cruises; 2021 still seems risky, in the first half of the year, anyway.

[Bigmike911]

6 hours ago, alc13 said:

I read and enjoy all the posts on this forum - thank you.  It's nice to hear how different parts of the world are faring.  Here in Maine we are starting to see some loosening of restrictions, with more loosening ahead.  Maine's is a tourist economy, though, and without summer visitors we will be hard hit.  In the meantime, the ice cream stand up the street still seems on schedule to open later this month, so we'll do our part to help them thrive.

 

Our first jigsaw puzzle is almost done; my needlepoint pillow top has a ways to go.   I am starting to miss travel more and more; not just the going and the being there, but the planning of it and daydreaming about it.  I'm tempted to book one of the 2022 cruises; 2021 still seems risky, in the first half of the year, anyway.

An article in the local daily announced that Carnival Brand will station three ships at the port of Galveston, Texas for cruises starting the end of July, 2020. They plan to have another five in service in Miami and Cape Canaveral on the same date. The old girl is showing signs of life. We will see how this works out.