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

[jmh2006]

26 minutes ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

This little pathway leads us to this garden

 

 

 

 

 

Onward to Yokohama’s famous Chinatown

 

 

 

 

A Lego replica of the gate in the photo above

 

 

Amazing all done with Lego

 

 

 

 

My Lego loving son will love the Legos in Japan!  The fields of tulips were sensational.  What a fabulous trip you and Marty had.  I can't wait for you next one 😉!

[reallyitsmema]

51 minutes ago, George C said:

I have been a die hard Yankees fan my entire life, my wife bought me a Mickey Mantle signed baseball and a signed sports illustrated. Wife is a die hard Buffalo Bills fan she has converted me but during their first Super Bowl I was still a NY Giant fan . I grew up a block away from Queens and also lived in Kew Gardens before my company relocated me to Dallas. Our annual New York trip is in 9 days first 4 days in midtown Manhattan, then 3 in a Buffalo suburb, of course it will cost us between double and triple the money for the city part. We do have a picture of my wife with Doug Flutie from a cruise about 15 years ago and I got a Jim Kelly autograph when he was in Dallas.

We have been sitting beside someone in the MDR who was talking baseball with my DH and told him he used to pitch for the Phillies. He wears a necklace with the number 28. I finally asked if he wouldn’t mind telling us who he is and he said he is Art Mahaffey. He used to hold the record for most strikeouts in one game with 17. His wife showed us his picture from the cover of Sports Illustrated. Interesting hearing his stories. 

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

Last but not least, I have to share with you these cute little cars.  I love them and wish they make these cars here in US because I would get one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

 

Does anyone know the reason for the half-day in San Juan? I've always just assumed it had to do with travel time between ports & not burning fuel racing to the next stop.

 

I agree, the city deserves a full day.

 

I think both travel time and dock space are involved. I remember one time, I think on Adventure, we had to vacate the pier and a, new at that time, Q class ship was waiting in the harbor to dock at the pier that we were leaving. I do remember the two ships having a pretty epic horn battle.🙂

[Jimbo]

4 hours ago, mets07 said:

So true. 😉

 

From a still devoted Mets fan, despite the pain. 

Phillies need to win the next 2 games in Philly 🙂 🙂  to bring out the 

 

The Phillies are the 1st team in the Majors to 30 wins this year.

 

1 hour ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Day 2 in Yokohama 4/23/2024

 

This is our last full day in Japan.  We will take it easy and do some walking along the harbour to admire the landscaping and gardens.

 

 

 

Azaleas in full bloom

 

 

As we keep walking more towards town, we find another garden full of tulips.  Everyone walking by are really enjoying them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

This little pathway leads us to this garden

 

 

 

 

 

Onward to Yokohama’s famous Chinatown

 

 

 

 

A Lego replica of the gate in the photo above

 

 

Amazing all done with Lego

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your  tulip pictures are amazing as is all your other pictures, I feel like I'm there. What  brand and model cell phone are you using?

Edited May 14 by Jimbo

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

20 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Phillies need to win the next 2 games in Philly 🙂 🙂  to bring out the 

 

The Phillies are the 1st team in the Majors to 30 wins this year.

 

 

 

 

Your  tulip pictures are amazing as is all your other pictures, I feel like I'm there. What  brand and model cell phone are you using?

Thank you so much, Jimbo!  I have a iPhone 14 Pro which I have since Fall 2022 when it first came out.  I used it for when we were in Florence & Odyssey TA in October 2022.

[Luckynana]

 

After seeing the cute cars in Japan @FromSea2ShiningSea Helen posted, it reminded me of an adorable Yellow car I saw in the parking lot when I got out of Church this past weekend.  I had never heard of this car before, nor had Jim.  I do wish I had taken a picture of it.  It was a 1959 Riley made, I believe, in England.  Can you help me out on this, Graham @grapau27, or Sue @sgmn??  I'd also ask our other friend Graham, (Schooner), but he's no longer on here with us.😔

[mo&fran]

2 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

 

Does anyone know the reason for the half-day in San Juan? I've always just assumed it had to do with travel time between ports & not burning fuel racing to the next stop.

 

I agree, the city deserves a full day.

 

It depends on what port you are coming from and where your going next.

When I lived in Ct and were doing the longer cruises from Bayonne, if our first stop was Haiti, we could get there in 2 days. If the first stop was San Juan, it was about 5 more hours, so we get there in the early afternoon, because that was how long it took to get there.

So if you leave early, you need that time to get to the next port. If you really want to spend more time there, fly down and start your cruise from there.

[bobmacliberty]

9 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

 

After seeing the cute cars in Japan @FromSea2ShiningSea Helen posted, it reminded me of an adorable Yellow car I saw in the parking lot when I got out of Church this past weekend.  I had never heard of this car before, nor had Jim.  I do wish I had taken a picture of it.  It was a 1959 Riley made, I believe, in England.  Can you help me out on this, Graham @grapau27, or Sue @sgmn??  I'd also ask our other friend Graham, (Schooner), but he's no longer on here with us.😔

 

I'm not from England but here's some info:

Riley One-Point-Five - Wikipedia

 

Does this look like the car?

[Luckynana]

50 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I'm not from England but here's some info:

Riley One-Point-Five - Wikipedia

 

Does this look like the car?

 

Thank you, Bob!  That is exactly it.  It did say Riley One Point Five on it.  It also had a silver medallion(?) on it that said England.  It was a real beauty in  excellent shape.  I loved the yellow color!  I do believe there had been a car show in the neighborhood this past weekend.

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

You had to bring that up, didn't you. 

 

Sorry about that. I almost missed the part where you said you were a (recovering) Red Sox fan.

 

If you need to *cough* remind me of the 2004 ALCS *cough*, you can. (said in a less than sincere voice)

 

For non-baseball fans, in the 2004 American League Championship Series, the Yankees became the first & only team in the 100+ years of baseball to blow a 3 game to none series lead & lose to the Red Sox.

 

I'm not sure it actually happened, much like the moon landing. 😉😇

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, mo&fran said:

If you really want to spend more time there, fly down and start your cruise from there.

 

I did do that once, back in 2009. Spent 4 days/3 nights pre-cruise before doing a very island intensive itinerary on the Serenade.  Had a fabulous time, both in San Juan and on the cruise. One of my favorites mainly because of the people we met & bonded with instantly.

 

Always meant to do it again but just never happened.

[Gardener5b]

9 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Do you think they were bad seeds or something you did? I prefer to buy plants because seeds take to long, but there are so many choices with seeds.

I'm really not sure what to think.   I had some new seed starting mix this year that was terrible.   But I still didn't get germination after trying in a different mix.  I'm guessing the seeds were the issue.    Buying plants are great, but you are correct--there is not nearly the variety.   For our Master Gardener plant sale, we try to grow varieties of tomatoes/peppers, etc that you can't find at the big box store.  We have people come back every year to find something new (or to ask for a favorite from the previous year).

 

I have garden envy when I see other people's gorgeous gardens.

[Gardener5b]

8 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

That stinks.   I hate when seeds don't germinate.  This year I was concerned with my Cherokee Purple.   Half of them didn't germinate.   Luckily several years ago I began to at least start twice as many seeds as I plan to plant.  When most germinate I have several happy people around willing to use them.  Sharon's brother helped out BIG time this year in the garden.  I gave him at least as many plants as I got growing now.

We were able to plant several in grow bags and give them away.  I gave 2 to my PT.  She said tomatoes are starting.  One is a Cherokee Purple and she said that they are her favorite tomato. 

I always plant extra seeds.  I usually end up with 4-6 dozen extra tomato, pepper and herb plants.  I usually just post on NextDoor and they are snapped up immediately.    

 

Your beautiful garden is stunning.   I have a small suburban lot with a picky HOA, so I do everything in containers.   Fortunately my next door neighbors that can see my yard don't object to my veggie garden (and I always share with them).

[Sunshine3601]

9 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Have you started your garden yet?

Not yet.  We started hardening our plants this week. 

Expecting temps to drop again tomorrow with more rainy days in our future.  Hope to have everything planted in another week or so.

[Sunshine3601]

9 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

That stinks.   I hate when seeds don't germinate.  This year I was concerned with my Cherokee Purple.   Half of them didn't germinate.   Luckily several years ago I began to at least start twice as many seeds as I plan to plant.  When most germinate I have several happy people around willing to use them.  Sharon's brother helped out BIG time this year in the garden.  I gave him at least as many plants as I got growing now.

We were able to plant several in grow bags and give them away.  I gave 2 to my PT.  She said tomatoes are starting.  One is a Cherokee Purple and she said that they are her favorite tomato. 

What size grow bags are you using for your peppers and tomatoes?

[jmh2006]

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  I wish I could say it was the best day ever, but I actually spent all morning at the hospital with my DH, Dave, who had a second kidney stone episode yesterday.  So most of yesterday was in the ER, he spent the night at the hospital and this morning had another stent put in.  The first round came last December.  This stone is bigger and since we are scheduled to depart for Italy and our cruise on Explorer a week from today he is having lithotripsy performed on Monday the 20th.  Not exactly the best birthday but that is okay as long as we make our trip.  Anyway he is comfortable now and we did go to a Sushi restaurant in Detroit tonight for dinner so it wasn't all bad! 😁

[Sunshine3601]

10 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  I wish I could say it was the best day ever, but I actually spent all morning at the hospital with my DH, Dave, who had a second kidney stone episode yesterday.  So most of yesterday was in the ER, he spent the night at the hospital and this morning had another stent put in.  The first round came last December.  This stone is bigger and since we are scheduled to depart for Italy and our cruise on Explorer a week from today he is having lithotripsy performed on Monday the 20th.  Not exactly the best birthday but that is okay as long as we make our trip.  Anyway he is comfortable now and we did go to a Sushi restaurant in Detroit tonight for dinner so it wasn't all bad! 😁

Sorry to read about your Son's kidney stone issues.  🙏 for a successful procedure.

A birthday celebration in Italy and a cruise sounds great.   Happy Birthday💐

[George C]

9 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  I wish I could say it was the best day ever, but I actually spent all morning at the hospital with my DH, Dave, who had a second kidney stone episode yesterday.  So most of yesterday was in the ER, he spent the night at the hospital and this morning had another stent put in.  The first round came last December.  This stone is bigger and since we are scheduled to depart for Italy and our cruise on Explorer a week from today he is having lithotripsy performed on Monday the 20th.  Not exactly the best birthday but that is okay as long as we make our trip.  Anyway he is comfortable now and we did go to a Sushi restaurant in Detroit tonight for dinner so it wasn't all bad! 😁

Glad your husband recovered and at least you had a nice dinner, hoping you have a great cruise.

[Sea Dog]

13 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  I wish I could say it was the best day ever, but I actually spent all morning at the hospital with my DH, Dave, who had a second kidney stone episode yesterday.  So most of yesterday was in the ER, he spent the night at the hospital and this morning had another stent put in.  The first round came last December.  This stone is bigger and since we are scheduled to depart for Italy and our cruise on Explorer a week from today he is having lithotripsy performed on Monday the 20th.  Not exactly the best birthday but that is okay as long as we make our trip.  Anyway he is comfortable now and we did go to a Sushi restaurant in Detroit tonight for dinner so it wasn't all bad! 😁

I am so sorry to hear about Dave’s kidney stone. I had one and it was the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life. Please tell him I am thinking about him and wishing him a successful lithotripsy and relief. I guess you can really celebrate your birthday on Explorer. We wish we were with you. Much love to you and Dave,

Greg and Linda

[akcruz]

15 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

Thank you for the birthday wishes!  I wish I could say it was the best day ever, but I actually spent all morning at the hospital with my DH, Dave, who had a second kidney stone episode yesterday.  So most of yesterday was in the ER, he spent the night at the hospital and this morning had another stent put in.  The first round came last December.  This stone is bigger and since we are scheduled to depart for Italy and our cruise on Explorer a week from today he is having lithotripsy performed on Monday the 20th.  Not exactly the best birthday but that is okay as long as we make our trip.  Anyway he is comfortable now and we did go to a Sushi restaurant in Detroit tonight for dinner so it wasn't all bad! 😁

 

Sorry to hear about Dave's hospital visit.  Hopefully all will be well next week,and your trip will all be wonderful.   Happy Birthday, have a redo next week to celebrate 🥂🎉🎂

[#55worktoplay]

On 5/13/2024 at 10:26 AM, George C said:

Lots of rabbits and bunnies in our area , couple live in my backyard, my sister has a more interesting animals she saw a mother mountain lion and two cubs playing together, she has a perfect view of the mountains in the Denver area.

Beautiful spot you have George. 

[Ozark_Kid]

59 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

What size grow bags are you using for your peppers and tomatoes?

7 gallon.  I used to grow them all in grow bags. 

Advantages. 

The plants air prune so there is no root bound concerns.

 You can move the bags to where the best sun hits.

   The best is if you start them to early and a frost is coming, take them to the garage for overnight. 

I changed to a fenced-in garden after a bad experience.   One time the tomatoes were looking great.  I thought I would give them a couple more days to turn vine ripen red...... The deer ate them!

[Coralc]

Now I'm getting duplicate pages on my desktop. 😊 I do love the mini cars though. I am driving my first SUV, after getting rid of my Celica. And I dislike not being able to see very well over the hood. 

[FromSea2ShiningSea]

This wraps up our one month long (3/24-4/24/2024) trip to Japan.  

 

In summary, this was one of the most memorable experiences we’ve ever had.  Japan is beautiful.  The first thing I noticed was how clean the streets were.  There was no trash anywhere.  There were no trash cans anywhere either.  We figured out that whatever trash we have, you take it home with you.  Also there were no homeless.

 

The first half of the trip (11 days out of 15) were all planned out by DH, covered all the places that we comfortably did on our own (Osaka, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Okayama, Himeji Castle, Kyoto, Tokyo- Shinjuku, Shibuya Sky and Yokohama). Then the next 4 pre-cruise days were private tours with a group from the cruise, that tour guides took us to Mount Fuji as well as castles, shrines and temples.  All the while, enjoying all the cherry blossoms as much as we could.

 

The tours that we took at each port were private tours with the same group of folks from the cruise and the same tour guide.  I am thankful that the tours took us to see the beautiful castles, gardens, waterfalls, many shrines and temples.  And even though we have had enough of shrines and temples, they were all different in their own ways with their own history behind each one.  Through the tour guides and a lecturer on Millennium, we learned a lot about Japan’s history, traditions, customs and culture.

 

Japan was a bit crowded in some of the popular tourist sites.  Japan had been closed for 3 years because of the pandemic and only opened up less than a year when we were there in March/April.  So I guess, people could not wait to visit, especially during cherry blossom month.  They were making up for lost time.  We were so excited to see Mount Fuji in clear, beautiful weather In the beginning of the cruise and all the cherry trees everywhere we went.  The most spectacular was in Aomori, the last port on the cruise.  They bloomed later so the cruise timed it just right with the trees in full bloom.  It was definitely a grand finale - an explosion of cherry blossoms everywhere.  Or cherry trees on steroid.

 

The ship- Millennium is one of the older ships and the size of Radiance class ships.  It was clean and in great condition.  It looks almost new after its recent refurbishment.  Even though it is small, it seems very spacious with lots of sitting areas.  The crew was very polite and friendly.   Even senior officers such as Andrea, the Hotel Director was the most active crew I have ever seen.  She was everywhere, to greet guests- at the gangway, in the theater, sky lounge, or just all around the ship.  Because this cruise was so port intensive, we didn’t really get to spend much time on the ship or participate in many activities.

 

The food- Oceanview Cafe had all the different stations with a lot of options for everyone.  Food was very good.  The Main Dining Room food was very good also.  We did not make it in there every night as some days the tours did not get back till late or we were not hungry because of a late lunch.  Service was excellent though.

 

All in all, this was a great unforgettable once in a life time trip for us.  We really enjoyed the experience of being in Japan to share in their sights, food and culture but after 4 weeks, we were happy to head home.

 

I’d like to thank @dani negreanu for this thread, for allowing me to post long strings of photos here.  I hope you all enjoyed Japan as much as possible through the photos that I shared.  I also hope that it inspired you to maybe visit there some day.  It is truly beautiful.

 

Next up- Norway