The Daily for Sunday October 03, 2021

[lindaler]

Good morning all. I could not post or like on my phone so had to break out the tablet.  Today is cold but that fall kind of clear.  I think I with go kayaking and enjoy the morning. I'm hoping my ribs agree. I guess that will decide how well I'm healing.

[aliaschief]

Good morning from the MS Nieuw Amsterdam. We have a little motion and creaking this morning. In Pinnacle for breakfast.

 

Here something new. Had a letter in mailbox this morning. We all get a free antigen Covid test this coming Tuesday. Just routine precaution or a Catalina requirement.

Back to eating my raisin bun!

 

Thanks for the Daily
 

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by aliaschief

[StLouisCruisers]

7 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good morning from a cool central Texas, but we'll warm up to the upper 80s.

 

I met my boyfriend when I was 19 and he was 21, and by the time we married nine months later (not because we had to) I was 20 and he was 22.  We celebrated our 54th anniversary last month.  Blessing of the fleet was celebrated in Corpus Christi when we lived there in the early 1970s.  We hope for a multigeneration get together with our DDs and their guys before we head to Quartzsite in a couple of weeks.

 

The Isaac Asimov quote is good and truer than we like to admit.

 

I'll pass on the meal and the drink.  The wine sounds like one I'd like and I may have had it on a ship.

 

@kazu  I saw the housecleaning meme on FB as was thinking about posting it too.  Also, I've had the same cashier at the self-checkout a few times.  😉

@St. Louis Sal    Sounds like a wonderful night last night and a good concert today.  Glad your friend is finally home.  Sending best wishes and good thoughts for his continued recovery and for his family's strength in caring for him.

@grapau27  Graham, when we did the P&O world cruise on Oriana, the Sunday roast dinner was a favorite.

 

We have been to St. Luicia many times, but only twice when we had a digital camera.  We stopped there in 2000 on the Oriana and in 2015 on the Ruby Princess.  We've also been there on the Noordam III and the Ryndam.

 

We have always rented a car or hired a taxi and driven to Soufriere.  Twice when the ship was in port longer, we have contiued on around the southern tip of the island and then across the island back to Castries.  In 2015, that part of the plan was derailed because of a flat tire.  It took a while to find a place to repair the tire, but we still made it to Soufriere and on to our favorite stop, the Ladera Resort and Dasheen Restaurant.

 

Thompson Celebration (AKA Noordam III) greeted us when we arrived in Castries.

 

Castries from our balcony

 

Ladera Resort and Dasheen Restaurant are just off the road south of Soufriere.  The resort is situated so you look out between the Pitons and down on Sugar Beach.  We've toured the resort and all the rooms face the water, and are open on the water side, even the bathrooms.  However, the tubs/showers have shower curtains on both sides.  These were all taken from Dasheen.

 

The hotel

 

Their gardens and a memorial to 9/11 in the gardens

 

Soufriiere

 

Coast lines

 

Lenda

 

 

Lenda, what a view that resort has of the Pitons!  Stunning looking through the mountains to the bay!

 

If anyone wants a closer look at the Thomson ship, formerly Noordam III, here are some photos I took that day from the Ruby Princess.

 

 

See many changes?

[irishjim]

2 hours ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Blessed Sunday Daily-ites. Thank you Rich, Roy, and the Daily contributor ladies for food and drinks. 

 

We have been to the Caribbean many times and Castries has great shopping. We're scheduled to be there the day after Christmas this year.

 

God bless our fishermen and the fleets! 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we couldn't take the hammering and left for lunch, which turned into Happy Hour as our neighbors were in the restaurant and we gabbed for another hour or so. Got home at 4:30 and they were still jack hammering. So we hopped on Elvis and visited neighbors along the way. There was a little concert going on and we stopped and listened for a bit. Home at 6:30 and the crew was packing up thankfully. 

 

Yesterday my niece adopted a dog from Frosted Faces, a place where senior dogs are adopted out. His name is Rocky and he's adorable. 

 

Please take a moment tomorrow and say a prayer for my boyfriend and hubby. He's having MOHS surgery on his ear in the morning. 

 

Have a great day. Cheers, prayers and blessings.

 

Prayers  for  a  postive outcome.  Jim.

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good morning, all! I love today’s quote. The pumpkin ravioli sounds intriguing. We’re having guests tonight, but that’s too complicated for a last minute change.

The weather is cool, but clear for the moment. Yesterday DD and I harvested our small apple crop, and found the jays had left us a few hazelnuts after all! Today we gather the walnuts, most of which have fallen.

We we’re in Castries, St. Lucia in January 2020 on the Amsterdam. We arrived in heavy rain, which gave way to a rainbow and finally sunny skies. We were in port with Freedom of the Seas, the ship I took my very first cruise on. To avoid the crowds, we walked about 20 minutes past the airport to a beach beside a private resort. Access is down a discrete path between the resort and a cemetery. You come out on the far end of a very long crescent beach. Far away you can make out crowds at the well known and popular end of the beach. We had our end of the beach to ourselves, except for two families that showed up a couples of hours after we did. It was a truly relaxing beach day!

Arriving in the rain.

 

The rainbow. Sorry it posted upside down.🤷🏼‍♀️

 

Here comes the sun.

 

Our beach, far from the maddening crowds to the distant left.

 

 

 

Freedom of the Seas, my first ever cruise ship, and the Amsterdam, my most recent.

 

A careful game of cats cradle with our and Freedom of the Sea’s mooring lines at departure. The stern of FotS visible on the left of the picture.

 

And of course, Happy Sunday courtesy of the elevator mats of our BHB’s!

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all! 

@kazu I still just have teeny Black Pearl blossoms,  I am really thinking Christmas 😂🤷‍♀️
We visited St Lucia,  and I have vivid memories of our snorkelling below the Pitons,  and getting a jellyfish sting.  I topically applied the spiced rum that they were offering on our private tour and the marks were gone in less than a week.  DH decided that was a waste of good rum,  so he applied his internally and a month later you could still see the sting marks! 
 

[aliaschief]

Well we are just being spoiled rotten. Which is the norm when we cruise. Being approached by many who we have cruised with before and some from our August cruise.

 

Had several who came up to us that we had lauded on “the let us know” link on the Navigator App from last cruise so proper recognition is passed on.

 

The Captain on his afternoon daily report recognizes every crew member who is celebrating a birthday. More than that we saw him personally deliver a birthday card to John the Sommelier in the Pinnacle last night. You can tell the crew likes their Captain.

 

A first but we got to sing Happy Birthday to a crew member.

 

Embarkation took about 10 minutes. As experienced in August the staff at Seattle cruise terminal is just very proficient and hospitable. As we sailed they all lined up on dock and waved goodbye! Nice touch.

 

We have been invited to a Mariners Lunch at 11:00 AM. Seems a little early but will let you know.

 

In the meantime that breakfast with two mimosas may require a quick cat nap.

[StLouisCruisers]

8 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Well we are just being spoiled rotten. Which is the norm when we cruise. Being approached by many who we have cruised with before and some from our August cruise.

 

Had several who came up to us that we had lauded on “the let us know” link on the Navigator App from last cruise so proper recognition is passed on.

 

The Captain on his afternoon daily report recognizes every crew member who is celebrating a birthday. More than that we saw him personally deliver a birthday card to John the Sommelier in the Pinnacle last night. You can tell the crew likes their Captain.

 

A first but we got to sing Happy Birthday to a crew member.

 

Embarkation took about 10 minutes. As experienced in August the staff at Seattle cruise terminal is just very proficient and hospitable. As we sailed they all lined up on dock and waved goodbye! Nice touch.

 

We have been invited to a Mariners Lunch at 11:00 AM. Seems a little early but will let you know.

 

In the meantime that breakfast with two mimosas may require a quick cat nap.

 

I love that the crew members are being recognized on their birthdays.  And the Captain delivering the birthday card in person is amazing and thoughtful.  

 

Sounds like heaven - wish we were there!!

[kazu]

29 minutes ago, bennybear said:

@kazu I still just have teeny Black Pearl blossoms,  I am really thinking Christmas

 

Yikes - I don’t have enough light in the house to pull that off in winter. 

here’s a couple of mine - they just need to change colour.  Look for the round blackish balls.  Very pretty though.

 

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good morning from a cool central Texas, but we'll warm up to the upper 80s.

 

I met my boyfriend when I was 19 and he was 21, and by the time we married nine months later (not because we had to) I was 20 and he was 22.  We celebrated our 54th anniversary last month.  Blessing of the fleet was celebrated in Corpus Christi when we lived there in the early 1970s.  We hope for a multigeneration get together with our DDs and their guys before we head to Quartzsite in a couple of weeks.

 

The Isaac Asimov quote is good and truer than we like to admit.

 

I'll pass on the meal and the drink.  The wine sounds like one I'd like and I may have had it on a ship.

 

@kazu  I saw the housecleaning meme on FB as was thinking about posting it too.  Also, I've had the same cashier at the self-checkout a few times.  😉

@St. Louis Sal    Sounds like a wonderful night last night and a good concert today.  Glad your friend is finally home.  Sending best wishes and good thoughts for his continued recovery and for his family's strength in caring for him.

@grapau27  Graham, when we did the P&O world cruise on Oriana, the Sunday roast dinner was a favorite.

 

We have been to St. Luicia many times, but only twice when we had a digital camera.  We stopped there in 2000 on the Oriana and in 2015 on the Ruby Princess.  We've also been there on the Noordam III and the Ryndam.

 

We have always rented a car or hired a taxi and driven to Soufriere.  Twice when the ship was in port longer, we have contiued on around the southern tip of the island and then across the island back to Castries.  In 2015, that part of the plan was derailed because of a flat tire.  It took a while to find a place to repair the tire, but we still made it to Soufriere and on to our favorite stop, the Ladera Resort and Dasheen Restaurant.

 

Thompson Celebration (AKA Noordam III) greeted us when we arrived in Castries.

 

Castries from our balcony

 

Ladera Resort and Dasheen Restaurant are just off the road south of Soufriere.  The resort is situated so you look out between the Pitons and down on Sugar Beach.  We've toured the resort and all the rooms face the water, and are open on the water side, even the bathrooms.  However, the tubs/showers have shower curtains on both sides.  These were all taken from Dasheen.

 

 

The hotel

 

Their gardens and a memorial to 9/11 in the gardens

 

Soufriiere

 

Coast lines

 

Lenda

 

 

 

Nice photos.

[NextOne]

My DH was my boyfriend - I miss him!

One of his favorite drinks on a BHB was a mudslide -- he insisted that cruise cocktails had NO calories!!! Right.......

[lindaler]

I'm back. Ribs still a little sore but who could resist this. So peaceful. 

[grapau27]

26 minutes ago, NextOne said:

My DH was my boyfriend - I miss him!

One of his favorite drinks on a BHB was a mudslide -- he insisted that cruise cocktails had NO calories!!! Right.......

I'm sorry to hear your DH is no longer with you.

Graham.

[rafinmd]

31 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

I'm sorry to hear your DH is no longer with you.

Graham.

Yes.  It was a very recent loss.  I lose track of time but think it was about May.

 

Roy

[grapau27]

15 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Yes.  It was a very recent loss.  I lose track of time but think it was about May.

 

Roy

Thanks Roy.

It is sad to hear of any loss but even more so for any of the lovely people on here.

Graham.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

3 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Lenda, what a view that resort has of the Pitons!  Stunning looking through the mountains to the bay!

 

If anyone wants a closer look at the Thomson ship, formerly Noordam III, here are some photos I took that day from the Ruby Princess.

 

 

See many changes?

 

Sandi, the only I see are to the stern aft of the Lido.  The canopy is different and the big white boxy thing is new.  I'm guessing that it might house a screen for movies, BUT that is just a wild guess.

 

Here is a picture of the Noordam III from our 1999 South America cruise. It's not a great picture since it is a screen shot from a video.  You can see the stern, and it did not change during her remaining years with HAL.

 

Lenda

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Nice photos.

 Thank you, Graham

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily.

An interesting collection of days. Funny quote.

I like the meal, love mudslides, and the red wine sounds good too.

I have been to St. Lucia on a Princess cruise (my first ever cruise) but I don't know where we docked.

 

It's a rainy day here. I'm just doing some inside tidying up. It's supposed to rain on and off through Thursday.

 

@dfish I make a German equivalent of ravioli (maultaschen) and I use wonton wrappers.

@grapau27 The meal looks great. I feel like I gain weight just looking at your food pictures, lol.

@JAM37 Safe travels.

@mamaofami Enjoy the time with your family.

@Seasick Sailor Prayers for DH's surgery tomorrow.

@St. Louis Sal Happy to hear your friend went home and I hope he continues to do well.

 

Prayers for the care list and cheers for the celebration list.

Stay safe and wear your mask.

 

The Pitons from a catamaran

 

 

 

[Vict0riann]

Finally here to sit down and read for a bit.  Good afternoon, all, it's a very interesting thread today!  We went to Castries on Koningsdam with DD and her boyfriend a few years ago.  We had a great time.  

 

I let my boyfriend chase me until I caught him.  Still caught!   We went out to breakfast this morning with my cousin and her hubby, a farewell before we fly out tomorrow.  That was brunch, and I think it will just be a light supper of soup.   

 

Evidently the internet is not great on the Eurodam, so I'm not sure how much I will be posting, but I hope everyone stays well and happy while we're away, and I will talk to you when we get back, if not before.

[bennybear]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Yikes - I don’t have enough light in the house to pull that off in winter. 

here’s a couple of mine - they just need to change colour.  Look for the round blackish balls.  Very pretty though.

 

 

Colour me green or black. 

[lazey1]

My boyfriend was a blind date set up by my best friend and her boyfriend. I was 16, he was 21. 11 months later we were married and 1 week after our wedding, our best friends were married. Everyone said I was to young and it wouldn't last. Boy, did we ever prove them wrong. Our marriage lasted through the death of our second baby 5 years later, the death of our only daughter 35 years later, and through several other crises, for a total of 57 years. He has been gone for 6 years and I miss him everyday.

 

I have not heard from Kakalena for a couple of days so I can not give any update. I do know that she is still in the hospital. Thank you Roy for adding her back to the prayer list.

 

Jane

[Sharon in AZ]

Good afternoon everyone!  I’m having trouble (what’s new!) liking and posting but Chrome seems to be working right now. Sorry but I couldn’t reply or like anything earlier but just know I love you all!

 

We went over to DM’s this morning to check her cable. It wasn’t working properly and DH just unplugged it and viola it’s fixed. Then to the post office to drop off a postage paid package and in my rush I put it in the wrong bin, even though it fit, and the bin wouldn’t open again. This really upset me because I didn’t mean to jam it up. Craig teased me that the post office police were going to come. Sorry post office, I really didn’t mean to do that. 
 

St Lucia was on our canceled Zaandam Holiday cruise but thank goodness it’s also on our rescheduled Rotterdam cruise. I’m loving all the pictures pictures!

 

Have a great day everyone!

[aliaschief]

A beautiful cruise experience. With our ten foot seas it’s a creaky noisy cabin but somehow we will manage.

 

Mariners lunch was well attended but I couldn’t eat much as I was still stuffed from breakfast. Tonight is our first Gala night so we’ll get to dine in MDR.

 

As I promised Jane here are some pics.

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by aliaschief

[lazey1]

Thank you to everyone who posted photos today. The Noordam lll was the first ship I ever cruised on. I let my husband, my mother and my dad all tag along. This was an Alaska tour/cruise in June 1989. We all loved the elegance of the ship. 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

56 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

Finally here to sit down and read for a bit.  Good afternoon, all, it's a very interesting thread today!  We went to Castries on Koningsdam with DD and her boyfriend a few years ago.  We had a great time.  

 

I let my boyfriend chase me until I caught him.  Still caught!   We went out to breakfast this morning with my cousin and her hubby, a farewell before we fly out tomorrow.  That was brunch, and I think it will just be a light supper of soup.   

 

Evidently the internet is not great on the Eurodam, so I'm not sure how much I will be posting, but I hope everyone stays well and happy while we're away, and I will talk to you when we get back, if not before.

 

Ann, have a safe trip tomorrow and enjoy your stay in Athens.  Have a wonderful cruise and don't worry about the internet.

 

Lenda