The Daily for Sunday Jan 3, 2021

[cat shepard]

1 hour ago, richwmn said:

I guess I slipped yesterday. I usually try to make sure a space is between the images.

 

I appreciate you trying to take the blame, Rich. But I need to make sure I have had a cup of coffee & then recheck the maps - if they look strange to me.

[superoma]

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Thanks.  Interesting.  We’ve always celebrated it on the 6th.  Hadn’t heard of celebrating it on the Sunday 3 days early before.  Appreciate you explaining and hope I didn’t cause offence by being confused.  🤞 

I was church organist for some 30 years when I was younger (Lutheran). Epiphany was always celebrated on the Sunday closest the the 6th. We never had a service on the actual day unless the 6th was a Sunday.  And of course the Sunday after the 6th is the first Sunday after epiphany in the liturgical calendar. I do imagine some denominations actually have a service on the 6th, thinking specifically of Roman Catholic. 

[cat shepard]

20 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

@cat shepardI do love red wines, but today's is a little (no, a lot) out of my price range for a daily sipper, but before you posted, I decided to google it and came up with this, which really made me chuckle:
If there is French wine that everyone deserves to taste, it’s probably Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It’s like the gateway drug to French wine.

 

We had a Chateauneuf-du-Pape as our wedding wine (for the bridal party only), but I'm not sure of the vintage.  I do recall even in the mid-70's that it was quite a splurge.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

So Gerry, start thinking about your next big anniversary wine!

 

My favorite Chateauneuf-du-Pape tale is the time my local golf club hosted a wine tasting a few years ago. And one of the wines was a C-d-P! I was stunned they would offer it at a tasting. While I was sipping a glass and chatting with the representative behind the table, I said the name of the wine out loud. And the man next to me corrected my pronunciation in a loud “full of himself” voice. I could have kissed the representative,  when he quietly told the man - “No sir, the lady pronounced the name correctly.” 
 

 

[rafinmd]

Noordam is now docked in St. Pedro:

 

 

Roy

[StLouisCruisers]

Sorry I'm so late today.  I was here earlier during the crash so had to wait a while.  Kept busy washing and changing sheets.  So here we go!

 

On January 3, 2017 Seabourn Quest was making its way to South Georgia Island.  The weather this day was not as great as the day before.  We had to move our clocks forward one hour the night before therefore it was a slow start to our morning as everyone was dragging themselves into Seabourn Square for their morning cup of coffee.  It was a unique area where there is the bar area for coffee and snacks, tables and chairs for sitting to read or talk.  Computers and iPads were there for passenger use, bookshelves with reading material, boutique shops, future cruise sales desk, and a very unique guest services area. They had four desks in an enclosed area with guest services employees to answer our questions and make arrangements for tours, transfers or dining reservations.  There were windows on three sides of Seabourn Square.  So it was a great place to relax and watch for wildlife off the rear of the ship.  A typical view from my sofa in the rear corner.

 

Here was the weather outside.  We had met the front we were trying to avoid.

 

I really didn’t take a lot of photos on Jan. 3.  We took our clothing to be inspected mid-day.  As I said yesterday regulations said we had to insure that no materials, seed, or contamination was transported between Antarctica and South Georgia Island.  Everything we brought to be inspected passed and our names were crossed off the list.  Then we went shopping at the boutiques because we had a fair amount of on-board credit and weren’t spending it on the usual specialty dinners, shore excursions or alcohol.  Not even laundry because Seabourn Quest had 2 free laundry rooms.  The jewelry store had the most adorable diamond penguin pendants with a floating diamond in the middle of his tummy.  Because the floating diamond moves it caught the light and sparkled like crazy.  Perfect choice!  I wish I had a picture of it handy. It’s locked in the safe and hasn’t been worn in nearly a year.  Instead here is a photo of a penguin display outside a boutique on the ship.   A friend sent me the photo so sorry if it’s somewhat fuzzy.

 

We were in a bird strike area and all windows had to be kept covered at night and lights were dimmed or off on the outside of the ship. Even the huge glass atrium with a ceiling of glass had special covers. Otherwise we confused the migrating birds and they landed on the ship and some can’t take off again.  You had to call the Expedition Team if you spotted a bird on your balcony so they could handle it. No birds there at that point, but they had seen hundreds land on the ship at one time.  This is a photo of Luciano from our Expedition Team who found a bird a week or so earlier and was showing it to nearby passengers before letting it go free.

 

The afternoon of Jan. 3 I went to the Observation Bar which is located at the front of the ship and up high.  It’s like the Crow’s Nest – lots of windows and seating, a bar for beverages, and it even has a door on both port and starboard to step out onto the viewing deck right in front of the windows.    While there that afternoon it began to snow.  This was a treat because we hadn’t seen snow falling  this cruise.  This was what a typical knitters and stitchers get together looked like.  You could have a Bailey’s Irish cream or a glass of champagne whenever you liked.  With me are our bar staffer Serena (from Australia), Melinda and Joan.

 

We checked the dinner menu and decided to pass on the dining room that night.  We ordered from the room service menu instead.  When it was delivered he laid our table with a tablecloth, set out the condiments and poured our soups from little covered jugs which kept it warm.  We also had Caesar salad with grilled chicken, club sandwich with fries and cole slaw.  For dessert the delicious cookies we always enjoyed.  With a ‘fridge full of beverages we were all set.  So cozy especially with the drapes pulled to keep the light from shining out. 

 

Tomorrow we will see how our first day in South Georgia Island played out especially with the current weather conditions.

Edited January 3, 2021 by StLouisCruisers
typo but I'm sure there are more!

[mamaofami]

Morning everyone. I’m having a hard time waking up, so I’ll go with that sleep day.

on one cruise, we had our luggage sent ahead express by Hal. We got to the airport well ahead of our flight and we’re about to change our flight from JFK to LaGuardia when we realized our luggage was going to JFK. When we did arrive at JFK we found our luggage the only ones going around and around on the carousel. Seems they arrived on an earlier flight than we did. We considered ourselves very lucky that no one had made off with our suitcases.

 

This morning I heard a report that our winter was going to be snowier than usual. We picked the wrong winter not to go to  Florida.

 

Yesterday we had several Zoom parties for Sam’s birthday and all in all it was a very nice day for him. People came from California without having to travel. 
 

Stay safe and wear your masks.

 

Carol

 

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by mamaofami

[gigianne]

Good Sunday morning.  Thanks to Rich and Roy for keeping us in the loop on ships, celebrations, what to drink, suggestions for dinner etc and thanks to all who contribute.  

[Dismomx5]

 Good morning from snowy southwestern Ontario I think I'll be shovelling today. It looks like we've gotten 6 cm of snow overnight-the heavy, wet stuff, so I might just have to make a snowball or two. DH should be on his toes. 

I shall take the sleep day. This week sleep has been somewhat fractured, so an extra bout is in order.

Thankfully, we've only had our luggage lost twice....once from Florida to Buffalo and another time from Toronto to Cairo. It took 2 days to receive one suitcase (all of our clothes) and 4 to get the second, which happened to be full of baby gifts when our granddaughter was born. I was more than a little anxious about that one! But come they did.

Thanks for the squash reminder. DD bought squash in early December, but didn't use it. I had one at Christmas, and there is a second in the cold room that I will use with our tortellini tonight.

 

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

I love Tolkien. In honor of his day I'll share two (somewhat travel-related) quotes of which I am very fond:

 

“It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

 

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost."

 

❤️ the quotes! Thank you!

@kazu@superoma has explained it nicely. At our Anglican church, this is considered the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany, even though Epiphany proper is on January 6th. We don't have a service on the actual day, although maybe the Roman Catholic churches do. It's a moot point this year, since all churches are closed in Ontario right now.  (Well, the ones that are obeying the pandemic order, but that is another matter, not for this thread).

Thanks for Rich and Roy for the thread, for Cat and Summer for the drink information, and for all the banter by the sisters. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Be well. Stay safe, Be kind. Wear a mask!

[cat shepard]

36 minutes ago, gigianne said:

Good Sunday morning.  Thanks to Rich and Roy for keeping us in the loop on ships, celebrations, what to drink, suggestions for dinner etc and thanks to all who contribute.  

Great to see you! 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good morning from a chilly, but warming southwest Arizona.  It was 36F when I woke up, but it is now 44F.

 

We had our luggage lost once, and it was on our very first cruise.  Our plane from Houston was 3 or 4 hours late leaving IAH due to fog.  When we got to Miami to change planes, we literally had to run from one terminal to another.  We were told our luggage would probably make the flight to San Juan after ours.  Everyone from Houston on the ship had a piece or two lost.  We went the lucky on to have all ours lost.  😱 Some got theirs the next day, but lucky us did not get it until the second day.  Turns out, it had gotten stuck on a underground conveyor in Miami.  That could have turned us off cruising, but  fortunately it didn’t.  We met a lot of nice people because of being so recognizable in the same close for so long.  We also got a lot of congratulations when we showed up for dinner in different clothes.  🙌

 

One other time, one piece didn’t arrive back in Dallas with us.  The airline delivered it to our house which is 100 miles from DFW.

 

Lenda

 

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good morning, all! Curling up in bed and re reading The Hobbit sounds like a good way to celebrate the day. I will wait for January 6 for Epiphany, though. DH and I are orphans of the 2020 GWV, so our luggage spent much of last year travelling to exotic places while we were at home under a travel ban. It was exactly a year ago today we stepped into a limo (a perk from our TA) to take us to the airport to begin the World Cruise. It was very exciting.

Dinner tonight is tenderloin steak left from New Years Day. Yesterday’s plan to make a tourtière derailed when the package of pork bits I defrosted to grind turned out to be very meaty bones. With a quick menu rewrite, it was turned into a hearty split pea soup instead. In this weather, and served with fresh made biscuits, it was very well  received.

I’m off to find a cup of coffee, so Happy Sunday! Here’s today’s elevator mat!

 

[durangoscots]

Took the day off yesterday..... no real reason, just very lazy. Anyway, I am trying to catch up.

 

We are still having cold and sunny weather. I am waiting now for the sun to hit the slope in front of the condos so I can got get yesterday's mail. There is some black ice between me and the mailbox but I know I have a package in the lock box section. It has only taken it 21 days to get here..... Amazon prime!!!! Fortunately nothing that could spoil or was badly needed.

 

My luggage has gotten lost a couple of times but both times it was on the way home and it arrived within a few days. The worst for me was many years ago when my suitcase came out onto the carousel in a cardboard box.... it looked like an elephant had been sitting on it from London to Denver. Surprisingly everything was there and several fragile items were unbroken.

 

All the meals sound great but today is Sunday which means it is eat up the leftovers day for me. Carry over from childhood maybe when our big weekend meal was Saturday night and left overs on Sunday.

 

Susan

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NextOne]

Our virtual church service (Lutheran) this morning celebrated Christmas, New Year, and Epiphany - very efficient! Growing up, we would have a special service on Epiphany, followed by a bonfire of Christmas trees in the parking lot. My mother would not put the wise men into the creche until that day -- they marched from the dining room to the living room to arrive on the right day...

We had a spectacular sunset last night, but we woke up to rain this morning, anyway.

My Christmas cactus decided to be a New Year cactus this year! I see five more buds, so it may be an Epiphany cactus, too!

 

[Overhead Fred]

Yesterday was a quiet day for us. Did a quick shopping run and got a new "toy" - an Amazon Echo. I wanted something that could stream music in the kitchen that didn't need to be controlled by hands covered with cooking goop! It is the bigger version (not the dot) and has a very good sound. When I stream a local radio station, there is a several second delay between it and what is broadcast through the radio. Depending on what is playing, it makes a disconcerting echo effect. I wonder if that is how they came up with the name 😁?

 

Today will be pretty quiet as well. A bit of Viking's football futility with beer and snacks and a quick supper of Indian spiced chicken nuggets, cottage fries, and brussels sprouts. 

 

Here are a couple more flowers from the Mounts Botanical Gardens -

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by Overhead Fred
grammer

[kazu]

2 hours ago, superoma said:

I was church organist for some 30 years when I was younger (Lutheran). Epiphany was always celebrated on the Sunday closest the the 6th. We never had a service on the actual day unless the 6th was a Sunday.  And of course the Sunday after the 6th is the first Sunday after epiphany in the liturgical calendar. I do imagine some denominations actually have a service on the 6th, thinking specifically of Roman Catholic. 

 

55 minutes ago, Dismomx5 said:

 

@kazu@superoma has explained it nicely. At our Anglican church, this is considered the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany, even though Epiphany proper is on January 6th. We don't have a service on the actual day, although maybe the Roman Catholic churches do. 

 

Thanks ladies.  I probably wasn’t clear enough.  We usually have a service celebrating on the applicable Sunday too.  But we always celebrate the date of January 6th at home and have our feast and gifts that day.  To us, Epiphany is still the 6th. 😉 

 

DH is Catholic and there used to be a Mass on both the Sunday & Epiphany but with covid, it’s simply on Sunday on line these days 😉 

 

[USN59-79]

We lost DW's suitcase once when we disembarked from a long cruise in California; not sure if it was San Diego or LA.  When we went to pick up the luggage in the warehouse, her's was missing.  We talked to the HAL rep and she said to go ahead and board the bus to the airport and they will take care of it.  They did, and it arrived at our home about three days later.  This is where we learned to put colorful ribbons on our suitcases, particularly when they generic looking dark blue ones.  

[baltic17]

Lovely sunny morning here, about 45F but perfect for my morning walk.  Yesterday was a wet one.

 

We have lost luggage once coming back from Edinburgh, which then made us miss plane connections with 5 other co-ticketed individuals, and then involved a long taxi ride from Washington National to where our car was parked near Washington Dulles in the middle of the night.  We survived and eventually got our luggage delivered several days later.

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all!  What a lovely wine!  @cat shepardlove the story.  
 

My favourite lost luggage story,  we had been upgraded to business but a thunder storm rolled in severely delaying the flight so we opted to go in economy on the later flight that was now earlier.  I was assured that the luggage was on that flight.  Surprise in Heathrow no luggage,  no jacket, just the clothes on our backs!   Very easy to walk to the car rental.   Luckily met our friends the next day who took us to a mall to restock.  Nothing like trying to find out what underwear to buy in European sizes!  And the luggage was delivered into the wilds of England later that day! 

[cat shepard]

13 minutes ago, baltic17 said:

Lovely sunny morning here, about 45F but perfect for my morning walk.  Yesterday was a wet one.

 

We have lost luggage once coming back from Edinburgh, which then made us miss plane connections with 5 other co-ticketed individuals, and then involved a long taxi ride from Washington National to where our car was parked near Washington Dulles in the middle of the night.  We survived and eventually got our luggage delivered several days later.

One good thing - it was not rush hour. 

[cat shepard]

10 minutes ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all!  What a lovely wine!  @cat shepardlove the story.  
 

My favourite lost luggage story,  we had been upgraded to business but a thunder storm rolled in severely delaying the flight so we opted to go in economy on the later flight that was now earlier.  I was assured that the luggage was on that flight.  Surprise in Heathrow no luggage,  no jacket, just the clothes on our backs!   Very easy to walk to the car rental.   Luckily met our friends the next day who took us to a mall to restock.  Nothing like trying to find out what underwear to buy in European sizes!  And the luggage was delivered into the wilds of England later that day! 

Hey, at least you changed your underwear!

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks Rich and Roy.

Festival of Sleep is right! I slept 9 hours last night, unusual for me.

I Love J.R.R. Tolkien and have read and re-read his works.

I'm not a squash lover and my stomach feels iffy, so not sure what's for dinner tonight.

 

Weather is icky here - rainy and icy. I'll stay in. I hope it's better tomorrow as I have an MRI tomorrow to get to.

Prayers to those on the care list. Interesting look back, Roy.

Stay healthy and mask up!

[65 Gator]

1 hour ago, Overhead Fred said:

When I stream a local radio station, there is a several second delay between it and what is broadcast through the radio. Depending on what is playing, it makes a disconcerting echo effect. I wonder if that is how they came up with the name 😁?

Very normal.  Device has to process the computer data stream and convert it back to audio...  I run into this all the time converting different video codecs  and adjusting playback speeds...

[Vict0riann]

6 hours ago, rafinmd said:

The regular celebration and shoutout list is on vacation today.  Instead, I looked back at Rich’s very first Fleet Report, done April 28, 2019.   It was one page with 14 replies

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2660577-fleet-report-for-may-5-2019/

 

I was in Praia da Vitoria that day on the Newuw Statendam.  At the time I didn’t know it would be my last HAL cruise for at least 2 years.

 

Hats off to the faithful charter members:

 

@richwmn
@puppycanducruise
@Krazy Kruizers (Still with us in spirit)
@DeeniEncinitas
@Rowsby 
@Cruising-along

 

2 more post occasionally now

 

@travelnap
@dobiemom

 

And also:

 

@woodworker&knitter  last posted 12/20/19
 @frankc98376 posted August 29
@retiretwo (no subsequent Fleet posts found)
@POA1  posted May 31
@joekerstef (posted 5/3/19)
@Skoogs  (posted 5/3/19)
@slimknyzer (no subsequent Fleet posts found)

 

Not on the first Fleet Report but very soon thereafter @erewhon@Himselfand @Vict0riann

 

Finally, hats off to @kazuwho filled in for Rich for a while when I presume Rich was off on a cruise,

 

And to the predecessors who I remember as originators of the Fleet Report @luvtwotrvl   and @Trvlcrazy  I did sail with them on the Ryndam 5 years ago.

 

Roy

 

 

Roy, what a lot of research must have gone into that report!  Just amazing.  I had to go into my photos to see what  I was up to in those "olden" days.  I must have been gardening, there are just flower pictures.  We were expecting a busy Spring with visitors. (Long ago, pre-Covid...)

 

Good morning all, and many thanks to Rich, Roy and the drinks ladies (no wino in there, please!)  Pat's very favourite wine is Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and I approve the vintage (I prefer odd numbers).  We usually take on board a couple of bottles, if we can, to take with us to the Pinnacle.)

 

Epiphany is definitely January 6 in this household.  I think the problem has been that it has always been a "holy day of obligation" in the Catholic church, and so now that people, more often than not, don't go to church except on Sundays, it seemed expedient to transfer the feast to the closest Sunday!  My mother called it "Little Christmas" as it was the time Baby Jesus was presented to the rest of the (gentile) world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Himself]

6 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Thank you for the Sunday Daily, Rich.  Wishing everyone who observes it a great Epiphany, a salute to the 3 Kings, and sleep for those still behind in it.  I'll pass on J R Tolkien.   So true on the quote but I'll pass on the Acorn Squash.  My alternative is Lebanese Lamb Shank and Baked Alaska, my final dinner on MS Ryndam.

 

Today's care list:

Mrs Vmax with radiation looming

Caregiver Gsel and her DH battling Alzheimers

NextOne DH with Renal Cancer

Larry King hospitalized with Covid-19

St. Louis Sal’s and Cruising-along’s friends

mamaofami’s SIL

HAL (and other crews)

65gator grieving for his cat

and Krazy Kruisers and Joe

 

Roy

You really remember your meals, Roy!

[highscar]

Re luggage.  We traveled with two small mobility scooters. After a T/A we flew to London. One scooter didn’t make it. Apparently the airline captain ordered some luggage removed because of an overload. The scooter was dropped from the fork lift. It showed up at the hotel the next day with completely ruined wiring. Expensive repair.