Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[George C]

6 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have been eating pizza possibly longer than any person who posts on this thread and I know the difference between good and bad pizza.Sorrentos gets my vote for delicious pizza.

Since you said your first pizza was when you were 16 then I definitely been earring pizza longer and I am sure others also ,  as a Italian growing up in Brooklyn I would question what you consider good and bad pizza , rccl makes terrible pizza , some itilian lines are way better so is Princess. You should try the pizza in Naples if you want fantastic pizza. My grandma made fantastic pizza and she was born in Italy. 

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, George C said:

Netflix has anew documentary inside a cats mind , looks interesting 

All I can envision is two hours of "eff you" and knocking things off tabletops.  LOL

[brillohead]

12 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

@Ocean Boy and all my Kraken Kids, This one is for you!!!

 

Wow, Greg, you're looking GREAT!  

How did it go getting all your dining reservations? 

 

Hope you're enjoying the heck outta the ship (I'm sure you are... you have Kraken in your hand!).

[brillohead]

9 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Today was split up day.  Our cheerleading granddaughter was off to an away game this morning, so Susan and my daughter went there. 
 

My grandson had his first flag football game of the season here, so that is where I went.   His team is a mix of fourth thru Eighth grade students.  Grandson played well at QB, and had three touchdown passes.  

When my son was growing up, he had teammates on his hockey team from families with 3-4 kids, all of whom played hockey.  Weekends involved Mom at one arena with Child 1, Dad at another arena with Child 2, maternal grandparents at another arena with Child 3, and paternal grandparents at another arena with Child 4.    Families that didn't have enough grandparents in town ended up farming their kids out with other families on the same team.  I'm so glad that you're able to be there to support your grands, @h20skibum!

Don't get me wrong, I ADORE the sport of hockey, but youth hockey is completely out of control in the USA.  By the time the kids are 6yo they have two practices per week PLUS a game every single Saturday and every single Sunday (and sometimes even on Friday nights), and the season lasts from Sept/Oct until March/April.  And that's for "fun" hockey, not even actual serious/competitive (travel) hockey!  

No other "just for fun" youth sport is set up like that... soccer is six weeks in the spring and six weeks in the fall.  Baseball is summer only.  Football is fall only. Basketball is winter only.  
 

Fortunately, most hockey people are pretty awesome, and a lot of the kids got to have "slumber parties/sleepovers" with their teammates, because there was absolutely no way to have a sleepover with a friend from school during the season - they'd have to get up early in the morning and go to a game, which defeats the whole point of a sleepover: stay up late eating junk food, then sleep in the next morning, and spend the rest of the day playing.  

[BonTexasNY]

54 minutes ago, George C said:

Since you said your first pizza was when you were 16 then I definitely been earring pizza longer and I am sure others also ,  as a Italian growing up in Brooklyn I would question what you consider good and bad pizza , rccl makes terrible pizza , some itilian lines are way better so is Princess. You should try the pizza in Naples if you want fantastic pizza. My grandma made fantastic pizza and she was born in Italy. 

Homemade real Italian pizza.  My mouth is watering!

[BonTexasNY]

7 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have been eating pizza possibly longer than any person who posts on this thread and I know the difference between good and bad pizza.Sorrentos gets my vote for delicious pizza.

Lenny, food is very subjective. You're allowed to love Sorrentos, honest! (I don't).

Edited September 18, 2022 by BonTexasNY

[Sea Dog]

52 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Wow, Greg, you're looking GREAT!  

How did it go getting all your dining reservations? 

 

Hope you're enjoying the heck outta the ship (I'm sure you are... you have Kraken in your hand!).

Ended up getting everything I wanted. Had to move my Izumi lunch to another day because of a private lunch. Shows were challenging because all the times I had researched were not the same. After about 30 minutes of juggling go most of the show’s scheduled.

[Sea Dog]

It’s 12:30 and Linda and I are sitting on the balcony listening to a bunch of drunk people singing in a language I don’t recognize. Great dinner at Jamie’s and saw the first 40 minutes of Hiro before they stopped the show due to lightning Got my DDP quota in. Last count 10 cocktails and I feel just fine. Cheers going to bed now.

[Ozark_Kid]

3 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Had to move my Izumi lunch to another day because of a private lunch.

Did you make lunch reservations too?  Glad all is going well.  How are you enjoying Symphony?

[aussielozzie18]

It’s been a beautiful day in Sydney today.  Early start as DS ran in his first half marathon.  Great course & experience getting to run across a traffic free Sydney Harbour Bridge then on a long scenic route around Sydney and finishing in front of the steps of the Sydney Opera House.  Great atmosphere with many people lining the route to cheer them & the subsequent full marathon participants on. He ran 21.1km in 2hrs and 7mins.  Better than he expected given he hasn’t done a fun run since primary school and mainly runs at Cricket & Soccer practice.   he did regularly run locally in the lead up to today.

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[sgmn]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:46 PM, Luckynana said:

I'd never have expected the family to take guard.  How exhausted they all must be.

It was only 15 min I believe. But difficult when grieving for your mother in full view of the cameras

[aussielozzie18]

After the race, I hopped on the ferry to Manly.
 

The ferry was between the Heads and Manly when it stopped for about 10mins.  I was on the outside deck relaxing in the sun so wasn’t bothered.  The people around me exchanged bemused looks.  Eventually a very laconic ferry Captain announced “Ah folks, we are not experiencing a mechanical problem, we just need to wait for another ferry at the wharf.  It’s a beautiful day just continue to enjoy the fresh air & sunshine and we will dock soon”

 

Ferry waiting in a very calm Sydney Harbour 

 

Manly (Harbour side) looking gorgeous this morning 

[sgmn]

On 9/17/2022 at 2:00 AM, LGW59 said:

And really the only one who did actual front line service, he earned the right to wear his uniform!  As far as I can tell, the others with all their myriad of medals, had them bestowed mostly by decree.

Andrew as well in the Falklands war

[aussielozzie18]

Met up with DH as he wanted to complete his Bondi to Manly walk. Last section is a 10km loop from Manly Wharf up to North Head, down to Shelley Beach and back to Manly Wharf.  Very scenic so I joined him.  After leaving Manly Wharf, you walk along a beach then up to a reserve that overlooks beautiful Collins Beach then across the beach to the other end then on a very quiet road surrounded by beautiful bush until you reach North Head.

 

 

 

 

[sgmn]

18 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Lunch today.

DH always drinks Doombar when in Cornwall,  though you can get it everywhere now

[sgmn]

17 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

@Ocean Boy and all my Kraken Kids, This one is for you!!!

 

Cheers, and Bon voyage!!

[sgmn]

9 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Toby had the latest Covid Booster shot today.I will have mine next month.

We got our invite email from nhs a couple of days ago. Will book it today (forth jab)

[aussielozzie18]

I love walking through the bush land at North Head, parts of it have steel pathways completely surrounded by low lying heath.  Today, it was absolutely filled with wildflowers so it was lovely and because of the wildflowers lots of birds too.  We had a lengthy section of the walk  to ourselves.  DH was a bit behind me when I saw something move.  I had been saying to DH that I love the raised pathways because you are unlikely to tread on a snake.  The movement was not a snake but a cute echidna.

 

I was delighted and when we told the park staff later they were even more delighted and asked us to submit a photo (side on is best so park staff can identify them by their coloured spines and length of their beak).  We watched the Echidna for a while and he checked us out curiously then we continued our walk.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[sgmn]

39 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

It’s been a beautiful day in Sydney today.  Early start as DS ran in his first half marathon.  Great course & experience getting to run across a traffic free Sydney Harbour Bridge then on a long scenic route around Sydney and finishing in front of the steps of the Sydney Opera House.  Great atmosphere with many people lining the route to cheer them & the subsequent full marathon participants on. He ran 21.1km in 2hrs and 7mins.  Better than he expected given he hasn’t done a fun run since primary school and mainly runs at Cricket & Soccer practice.   he did regularly run locally in the lead up to today.

 

Well done 👏 DH. Respect to anyone in middle years who can run half or full marathon 

[sgmn]

27 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Andrew as well in the Falklands war

And of course Charles and William  served, though not in combat zone. William most recently worked as a pilot  in search and rescue helicopters,  initially for the RAF and then for an air ambulance charity before becoming a full time working Royal fairly recently 

[aussielozzie18]

The rest of the walk was glorious with stunning harbour and Northern Beaches views and the water at both Shelley Beach and Manly looked very inviting.  The Corso had lots of markets today and it was just gorgeous in Manly itself as it had been all day.
 

DH then informed me had parked up beyond the steepest hill in the next suburb and a few residential streets beyond.  So after 10km, we had another hike…Going to work tomorrow to relax (I wish).

 

Historic cemetery at North Head with stunning Sydney Harbour views.

 

 

Memorial pathway remembering those lost to war.  Beautiful memorials in sandstone are beyond this path.

 

Views of the Northern Beaches coastline

 

Beautiful Shelley Beach. Swim, Snorkel or Scuba.  A scenic walk from the main Manly Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[sgmn]

6 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

The rest of the walk was glorious with stunning harbour and Northern Beaches views and the water at both Shelley Beach and Manly looked very inviting.  The Corso had lots of markets today and it was just gorgeous in Manly itself as it had been all day.
 

DH then informed me had parked up beyond the steepest hill in the next suburb and a few residential streets beyond.  So after 10km, we had another hike…Going to work tomorrow to relax (I wish).

 

Historic cemetery at North Head with stunning Sydney Harbour views.

 

 

Memorial pathway remembering those lost to war.  Beautiful memorials in sandstone are beyond this path.

 

Views of the Northern Beaches coastline

 

Beautiful Shelley Beach. Swim, Snorkel or Scuba.  A scenic walk from the main Manly Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your walks are wonderfully scenic.  You really should produce a book with walking routes and pictures 

Edited September 18, 2022 by sgmn

[sgmn]

Had a great afternoon/evening hosting a "meet Theo" party for our side of the family plus his other grandparents. 

Extended afternoon tea with Pimms and bubbles 

Lovely for Isaac to meet up with his cousin again 

 

Takes two grandads to feed a baby 👶 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by sgmn

[Ourusualbeach]

5 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Ended up getting everything I wanted. Had to move my Izumi lunch to another day because of a private lunch. Shows were challenging because all the times I had researched were not the same. After about 30 minutes of juggling go most of the show’s scheduled.

I may have missed this but what did you end up doing for lunch the first day?

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

It was only 15 min I believe. But difficult when grieving for your mother in full view of the cameras

It was 15 minutes for the Royal family but 20 minutes for the regular guards before they change guards.