The Fleet Report and Daily for Saturday December 24th, 2022

[RedneckBob]

4 hours ago, travelnap said:

I don't know Jack about eggnog, but it seems to me that if were smart you would skip the eggnog and just have some of Mr. Daniel's Christmas Punch.

Very funny. Thanks for the suggestion. I have skipped the eggnog but had some Old No. 7 instead. So you may say, RNB be nimble, RNB be quick, RNB just had a few Old No 7 and is slightly lit 😀🤪

[marshhawk]

@rafinmdThank you Roy for staring our day today, courtesy of Rich.

@RedneckBobThank you for the film on the creation of the Gingerbread village.

@puppycanducruise I a sorry that your blizzard is still blizzardating.

@grapau27Please tell Sarah Happy Birthday, and that I love her Paddington Cake!

@Seasick Sailor  I'm sorry about the nail...vicious door!

@dfishThank you for the recipes.  I especially like option 4, taste of home.  I'm glad that your family can all be together for the holiday.  When i was in Walgreens the other day, I saw your Farkle game.

@aliaschiefI loved your memes today! 

@1ANGELCATI wish Santa would leave a cruise ticket in my stocking!

@RowsbyAfter all this time, I am glad that your family can be together.

@smitty34877Never apologize for being sentimental!

@ger_77Your meals always sound so warm and inviting.  Enjoy the holiday!

@HAL SailerI hope that the weather cooperates for you so that you can see your DSIL.  Drive safely!

@Quartzsite CruiserThank you for posting Singapore today, it looks warm.

@TiogaCruiserWhy would your mom not tell you about being Polish.

@DeeniEncinitas Great painting!

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

Good morning from a still cold, 26F, but sunny and not as windy central Texas.  I've been busy cleaning the house this morning and forgot I told Sandi, @StLouisCruisers I would check for a link to the port of the day early.  I have checked and could not find that Singapore had been the port of the day before.  
 

We have been to Singapore twice.  The first time was in 2000 on P&O Oriana world cruise.  The second was in 2002 on Volendam on the 64 day APEC  cruise.  These are DH's pictures from 2000 and my pictures from 2002. 

 

In 2000, we arrived about noon after sailing through the large container port.  I think at that time, it was the largest one in the world.

 

We took a taxi into town, and did a short tour of places the driver thought interesting.  Then we rode their monorail around the island to get a look at the areas away from downtown.

 

 

 

We walked down a pedestrian shopping street.

 

Our next stop was Raffles, but we did not go to the Long Bar.  We did have supper n the patio.

 

 

 

From Raffles we walked down the the waterfront and took a boat to see more of the sights.  Singapore at night from the boat ride.

 

In 2002, there was a performance by some costumed dancers.  These two posed for us as got off the ship.

 

We took the shuttle into town and walked around.  This time we did make it to the Long Bar.

 

 

 

I'll come back and read the Fleet/Daily when I finish cleaning the house.

 

Lenda

 

Amazing photos Lenda.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all!  I am very grateful for many things!  
 

Our first granddaughter becomes a teen today, hard to believe,  she shares DH’s grandmother’s name and was born on my grandmothers birthday.  
 

@smitty34877 a great day to be sentimental IMO

@grapau27 happy birthday to your Sarah

 

sending you wishes for a Merry Christmas 

Thank you for your good wishes for Sarah.

Happy 13th birthday to your dear first granddaughter and to your late grandmother.

Lovely house.

Graham x.

[RedneckBob]

6 minutes ago, marshhawk said:

@rafinmdThank you Roy for staring our day today, courtesy of Rich.

@RedneckBobThank you for the film on the creation of the Gingerbread village.

@puppycanducruise I a sorry that your blizzard is still blizzardating.

@grapau27Please tell Sarah Happy Birthday, and that I love her Paddington Cake!

@Seasick Sailor  I'm sorry about the nail...vicious door!

@dfishThank you for the recipes.  I especially like option 4, taste of home.  I'm glad that your family can all be together for the holiday.  When i was in Walgreens the other day, I saw your Farkle game.

@aliaschiefI loved your memes today! 

@1ANGELCATI wish Santa would leave a cruise ticket in my stocking!

@RowsbyAfter all this time, I am glad that your family can be together.

@smitty34877Never apologize for being sentimental!

@ger_77Your meals always sound so warm and inviting.  Enjoy the holiday!

@HAL SailerI hope that the weather cooperates for you so that you can see your DSIL.  Drive safely!

@Quartzsite CruiserThank you for posting Singapore today, it looks warm.

@TiogaCruiserWhy would your mom not tell you about being Polish.

@DeeniEncinitas Great painting!

 

You welcome but also thank HAL for recording it, playing on the pool big screen tv and me for ordering a pizza from the New York Deli at the same time the recording was played. I think that covers everything.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, JazzyV said:

Good Morning. Thanks for the Fleet Report/Daily @rafinmd.

Happy Christmas Eve! Lots to do to get ready for tomorrow. I had eggnog last night. Libya independence is a good thing. I like the quote. The meal looks good, although carby. I like the drink and wine. I also like Roy's meal.

I haven't been to Singapore. 

 

Brrr. On awakening, it was -2F with a wind chill of -23F! The wind is still howling. I had the faucet in the kitchen dripping overnight, as it's on an outside wall, and left the cabinet door under the sink open. Luckily my power has stayed on! There's a football game at 6 here tonight; I can't imagine being outdoors for that! The celebration of the Immaculate Reception was moved from the outdoor site yesterday to indoors. Sadly, many churches have cancelled their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. I've got some meal prep today and one dessert to bake. BFF will come over tonight and stay a few days. 

 

@luvteaching Wonderful that you were able to arrange for DH to come home for the day on Christmas!

@Sharon in AZ Sorry to hear that illness is interrupting your Christmas Eve plans. 

@bennybear Sorry to hear your family also has illness at the holidays. 

@grapau27 Happy Birthday to Sarah!

@ottahand7 Good to hear DB is home. Have a great cruise!

@smitty34877 Sentimental is a good thing!

@HAL Sailer I hope the weather cooperates so you are able to make your trip tomorrow.

 

Prayers for the Care List and Cheers for the Celebration List.

Stay safe everyone.

 

1 hour ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all!  I am very grateful for many things!  
 

Our first granddaughter becomes a teen today, hard to believe,  she shares DH’s grandmother’s name and was born on my grandmothers birthday.  
 

@smitty34877 a great day to be sentimental IMO

@grapau27 happy birthday to your Sarah

 

sending you wishes for a Merry Christmas 

 

14 minutes ago, marshhawk said:

@rafinmdThank you Roy for staring our day today, courtesy of Rich.

@RedneckBobThank you for the film on the creation of the Gingerbread village.

@puppycanducruise I a sorry that your blizzard is still blizzardating.

@grapau27Please tell Sarah Happy Birthday, and that I love her Paddington Cake!

@Seasick Sailor  I'm sorry about the nail...vicious door!

@dfishThank you for the recipes.  I especially like option 4, taste of home.  I'm glad that your family can all be together for the holiday.  When i was in Walgreens the other day, I saw your Farkle game.

@aliaschiefI loved your memes today! 

@1ANGELCATI wish Santa would leave a cruise ticket in my stocking!

@RowsbyAfter all this time, I am glad that your family can be together.

@smitty34877Never apologize for being sentimental!

@ger_77Your meals always sound so warm and inviting.  Enjoy the holiday!

@HAL SailerI hope that the weather cooperates for you so that you can see your DSIL.  Drive safely!

@Quartzsite CruiserThank you for posting Singapore today, it looks warm.

@TiogaCruiserWhy would your mom not tell you about being Polish.

@DeeniEncinitas Great painting!

 

Thank you for Sarah's birthday wishes.

Graham.

[1ANGELCAT]

🎄🎄🎄Noradsanta.org.  He is currently heading for Somalia. 

[lobsternight]

Thank you for the fleet report and daily

 

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.  DW about to prepare the bird and get it in the oven.  Finally warmed up and raining here, now its just a mess.

 

Special shout out to all of those working over the holidays and away from family.  From service members, to first responders, health care staff, and everyone else being there for us.  Not to mention all the cruise staff that keep up a smile and make our day special  

 

Stay safe everyone 

[cruzn single]

Happy Christmas Eve to all.  Hope travels are safe and that families and friends cherish their tome together.  And be sure to enjoy all the yummy foods.

[lazey1]

Happy Christmas Eve to everyone. I will not be attending the Christmas Eve service at church tonight as it includes lighting candles and walking through the rose gardens. Still not feeling brave enough to be walking outside at night and especially with lit candles which are my very worst triggers for an asthma or bronchitis attack. Fortunately the service will be shown live on Facebook so I can attend virtually.

Prayers for all who need them and especially for the people of Ukraine.

Jane

[Himself]

Roy, Thanks for the fleet report and thanks for pinch hitting for Rich as he sails the seven seas.

[rafinmd]

23 minutes ago, Himself said:

Roy, Thanks for the fleet report and thanks for pinch hitting for Rich as he sails the seven seas.

Actually, while I did the maps it was actually Rich that put everything together.

 

Roy

[Seasick Sailor]

Great day in San Juan!

Zaandam and Rotterdam together..

 

 

Enjoyed fish tacos and oh my a San Juan margarita. Whew! 

 

 

On our way to Rudi's.

 

Happy Christmas Eve to all!

 

[HAL4NOW]

We have warmed up to the low 30's F. so most of the rain coming down is not freezing. It took me about an hour to find my car under all the frozen rain so I could load the gas cans. I did make it to Gold Bar and back to Skykomish for a gas run. $185.00 of liquid in multiple cans from our neighborhood. Hopefully the power will be back on before we need another gas run. Our local station doesn't have a generator and so they close during power outages. Todays trip was only 42 miles total. It was nice having less trafic because the highway is closed just east of town. I was able to take the trip at a safe speed without having cars on my bumper or people passing on blind corners. They don't call highway 2 the highway of death for nothing. I only saw a few cars in ditches and snowbanks and none of the accidents looked serious.

Merry Christmas Eve. We are headed over to the church soon to start the generator again and warm the place up for the 5 PM candlelight service. Then join the fire department as they pick up Santa at the Skykomish Airport and have a parade through town before Santa distributes gifts to all of the children (ages 18 and under, unless you are over 18 and cry until Santa feels sorry for you).

The food bank was opened without power yesterday evening and we served whoever could get there on the frozen roads. Probably sent a couple thousand pounds of food out the door.

Edited December 24, 2022 by HAL4NOW

[Mr. Boston]

4 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Good morning all!

 

We’re planning a quiet Christmas Eve here, will attend one of the services and have steaks planned for dinner tonight. I had planned to try making some traditional Polish paper decorations but just never started. It was part of my plan to learn about the culture(s), having recently discovered I’m half Polish. (Mom hid that fact, and after she passed, Dad spilled the beans. I’ve traced the family back to the town they were from, and got copies of immigration papers for a few. A great uncle came over on the Volendam.😁) A big thank you to @Mr. Boston for sharing your traditional menu. I was wondering about that, and was disappointed when the local ethnic store had nothing posted for Christmas.

 

Thank you all who are stepping in for @richwmn, and to Rich for putting the Daily together.

 

Happy Hanukah and a Merry Christmas to all!
 

 

Don’t tell anyone, but the shrimp cocktail was my addition.  My grandmother would probably skin me if she were still alive and found out that I had deviated from “The Manu”.  Don’t even ask about the time that I brought Christmas crackers from Fortnum & Mason in London…

[DeeniEncinitas]

54 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Great day in San Juan!

Zaandam and Rotterdam together..

 

 

Enjoyed fish tacos and oh my a San Juan margarita. Whew! 

 

 

On our way to Rudi's.

 

Happy Christmas Eve to all!

 

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

So enjoy San Juan!! I want you to know sis I made your chicken enchilada sauce with cheese dip today also we are having great combination 🙄 Osetra caviar on Bellinis !! Having friends over for drinks and some poo poos! Shawn will be over and spend the night with us and little Paisley!

Merry Christmas Eve to you and Allen!

🌺Denise☺️

[Sharon in AZ]

Merry Christmas Eve!  
 

Roy @rafinmd, thank you for the mention of Amaya on the Care List. She is actually our son’s significant other’s daughter, so our almost granddaughter. Poor thing is still sick and still has a temp. Our granddaughter, Summer, went home today taking our gifts with her. Our daughter was able to come by with our grandson to open their gifts. And tomorrow we will go to my Mom’s for a buffet lunch at her assisted living center. A bit more disjointed than we expected but we all have to adapt when the unexpected happens. 
 

Tonight Craig has requested mussels and I happen to have a package in the freezer. 
 

Stay warm everyone!

[Sharon in AZ]

Graham @grapau27, please give your Sarah a big hug from me for her Birthday!!  Happy Birthday Sarah!

[StLouisCruisers]

Good afternoon everyone!  Oh my, that trip was an ordeal.  Or more accurately the second half was.  That's when we began to see snow on the ground. All was well at first, then in Kentucky the road went from fine, all dry and traffic moving swiftly.  Then suddenly there would be patches of ice and packed down snow on the lane and everyone would have to slow down.  Then there was one lane to travel in because the rest was icy.  We would go anywhere from 30 to 55 mph depending on conditions and amount of traffic.  I honestly think the difference was how the county road crews handled it.  When we got to the Ohio River the Kentucky side was clear and dry and as soon as we passed into Ohio all three lanes were covered with snow and ice.  Anyway we are here and hopefully the strain won't affect our moods too terribly.

 

What a surprise to see Singapore today as port.  I've been wondering if it would come up anytime soon.  Of course it would today when I was unavailable early!  Our first time in Singapore was in January 2007 when DGS Ren was born there.  I was able to stay 3 weeks and DH stayed maybe 8 days and went back to the US to work.  Our DS was taking his first sabbatical from his U-M professorship over in Singapore because that is where our DDIL's parents lived.  They were able to spend a lot of quality time with the two of them during that time period.  Right in the middle of their 10 or 11 months there was Ren's due date, so we made plans ahead of time to arrive a week or so later and it worked out fine.  We had a great visit and were able to get some good cuddling in with him even though they lived so far from all of us.  

 

Second trip was a cruise with friends from Myrtle Beach on Diamond Princess from Bangkok to Anchorage.  We had a really nice time with them.  DDIL's Mom picked us up on our port stop in Singapore and she spent the day showing us (and our friends who hadn't been there before) some great sights, and both DDIL's Mom and Dad were able to be there for a nice lunch at the American Club.  

 

The last time we were there was in 2013 during DS's second sabbatical.  We found a group of cruises that left from Singapore, and went to Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.  At the end of the cruise we flew home from Auckland on Christmas Eve.  At the beginning of the cruise we flew over to Singapore and spent about 8 days visiting the kids before they dropped us off at the ship.  I have some nice photos from that trip.  

 

The first day (after a good sleep) we went to the boys' school (just down the street from their apartment) which was having an International Day assembly.  There were students from about 80 countries represented and all the parents would cheer when their children and the other children from that country marched out.  This school was called the Canadian International School.  DS and DDIL checked out several schools before they moved over to make sure they got the type of education they needed.  Here is a photo after all the students marched out and sat down.  We enjoyed our visit to the school that day.

 

Some of the American kids.  Ren is in that picture.

 

We took the MRT train downtown one day to see the Orchard Road shopping area.  It was quite nice.

 

 

 

Another day we visited the Nanyang Technological University where DS was a visiting professor during his sabbatical.  It was all very, very nice.  They like things neat in Singapore!

 

 

One night we went down to the Marina and ate dinner.  Here is the Merlion near the restaurant.

 

We saw the beautiful Marina Bay Sands hotel lit up at night.  Gorgeous!

 

 

Another day we went to the Singapore Botanic Garden.  We spent most of our time in the orchid section and I must have 50 photos of orchids so can't share them all here.  

 

 

 

The following day DDIL, DH and I went downtown on the MRT to see the National Art Museum.  The art exhibits on the grounds were really interesting.

 

 

 

Later that day we went to the far western side of the little island nation to Raffles Marina to celebrate DS's birthday.  His in-laws had a membership there.  The kids really enjoyed the pool before dinner.  You can see the bridge from Singapore to Malaysia from the marina there.

 

 

Our last full day before the cruise DS took us up to the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel.  Wow, what a view!  Here's the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest seen from way up high.

 

The amazing Gardens by the Bay

 

I zooomed in to show the new, at the time, International Cruise Ship terminal.  We would be there the following day boarding Diamond Princess.

 

Holding my camera way out

 

The Singapore Flyer

 

Guests in the infinity pool.  Can you imagine what that view is like?

 

 

Merlion is down there

 

 

To me Singapore is the most amazing place to visit in the entire region.   Glad I could spend so much time there.

[Cruising-along]

Lemon meringue pie is done and the turkey is in the oven. I’m done for the day!

 

 

Just found out our SIL’s sister is iced in at her home in North Bend (@HAL4NOWwould know where that is) and a large tree branch came down on her house. 

[TiogaCruiser]

4 hours ago, marshhawk said:

 

 

4 hours ago, marshhawk said:

@TiogaCruiserWhy would your mom not tell you about being Polish.

I probably will never know the whole story, or the real story. She always told me her folks were Austrian. And not to go looking for relatives. 🧐 The town is in Galicia, which was territory Austria invaded. Family documents I have found through Family Search say both Austria and Poland. 
 

Reportedly she was teased as a child, and changed her name at 21. 🧐 At least that’s what she told Dad, many years after they were married and she had to get a passport. I do have to say if it was me, I also might have changed my surname, as it was l-o-n-g and short on the vowels. I can only imagine the spelling havoc in this computer age.

[daisybertie]

It’s Christmas Day already here in south eastern Australia, so Seasons Greetings to all the Dailyites!  Thank you to all who contribute to the Daily, I lurk on the sidelines and read it avidly every day. 
It’s going to be a warm day here,  so will be thinking of all the Dailyites who are affected by the atrocious cold weather in the U.S. 

Blessings to all.

[grapau27]

2 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Graham @grapau27, please give your Sarah a big hug from me for her Birthday!!  Happy Birthday Sarah!

Thank you Sharon.

We are bringing Sarah to ours for a couple of days tomorrow.

Graham.

[grapau27]

5 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Good afternoon everyone!  Oh my, that trip was an ordeal.  Or more accurately the second half was.  That's when we began to see snow on the ground. All was well at first, then in Kentucky the road went from fine, all dry and traffic moving swiftly.  Then suddenly there would be patches of ice and packed down snow on the lane and everyone would have to slow down.  Then there was one lane to travel in because the rest was icy.  We would go anywhere from 30 to 55 mph depending on conditions and amount of traffic.  I honestly think the difference was how the county road crews handled it.  When we got to the Ohio River the Kentucky side was clear and dry and as soon as we passed into Ohio all three lanes were covered with snow and ice.  Anyway we are here and hopefully the strain won't affect our moods too terribly.

 

What a surprise to see Singapore today as port.  I've been wondering if it would come up anytime soon.  Of course it would today when I was unavailable early!  Our first time in Singapore was in January 2007 when DGS Ren was born there.  I was able to stay 3 weeks and DH stayed maybe 8 days and went back to the US to work.  Our DS was taking his first sabbatical from his U-M professorship over in Singapore because that is where our DDIL's parents lived.  They were able to spend a lot of quality time with the two of them during that time period.  Right in the middle of their 10 or 11 months there was Ren's due date, so we made plans ahead of time to arrive a week or so later and it worked out fine.  We had a great visit and were able to get some good cuddling in with him even though they lived so far from all of us.  

 

Second trip was a cruise with friends from Myrtle Beach on Diamond Princess from Bangkok to Anchorage.  We had a really nice time with them.  DDIL's Mom picked us up on our port stop in Singapore and she spent the day showing us (and our friends who hadn't been there before) some great sights, and both DDIL's Mom and Dad were able to be there for a nice lunch at the American Club.  

 

The last time we were there was in 2013 during DS's second sabbatical.  We found a group of cruises that left from Singapore, and went to Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.  At the end of the cruise we flew home from Auckland on Christmas Eve.  At the beginning of the cruise we flew over to Singapore and spent about 8 days visiting the kids before they dropped us off at the ship.  I have some nice photos from that trip.  

 

The first day (after a good sleep) we went to the boys' school (just down the street from their apartment) which was having an International Day assembly.  There were students from about 80 countries represented and all the parents would cheer when their children and the other children from that country marched out.  This school was called the Canadian International School.  DS and DDIL checked out several schools before they moved over to make sure they got the type of education they needed.  Here is a photo after all the students marched out and sat down.  We enjoyed our visit to the school that day.

 

Some of the American kids.  Ren is in that picture.

 

We took the MRT train downtown one day to see the Orchard Road shopping area.  It was quite nice.

 

 

 

Another day we visited the Nanyang Technological University where DS was a visiting professor during his sabbatical.  It was all very, very nice.  They like things neat in Singapore!

 

 

One night we went down to the Marina and ate dinner.  Here is the Merlion near the restaurant.

 

We saw the beautiful Marina Bay Sands hotel lit up at night.  Gorgeous!

 

 

Another day we went to the Singapore Botanic Garden.  We spent most of our time in the orchid section and I must have 50 photos of orchids so can't share them all here.  

 

 

 

The following day DDIL, DH and I went downtown on the MRT to see the National Art Museum.  The art exhibits on the grounds were really interesting.

 

 

 

Later that day we went to the far western side of the little island nation to Raffles Marina to celebrate DS's birthday.  His in-laws had a membership there.  The kids really enjoyed the pool before dinner.  You can see the bridge from Singapore to Malaysia from the marina there.

 

 

Our last full day before the cruise DS took us up to the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel.  Wow, what a view!  Here's the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest seen from way up high.

 

The amazing Gardens by the Bay

 

I zooomed in to show the new, at the time, International Cruise Ship terminal.  We would be there the following day boarding Diamond Princess.

 

Holding my camera way out

 

The Singapore Flyer

 

Guests in the infinity pool.  Can you imagine what that view is like?

 

 

Merlion is down there

 

 

To me Singapore is the most amazing place to visit in the entire region.   Glad I could spend so much time there.

I'm pleased to hear you have both arrived safely at your daughter's home.

Thank you for your wonderful photos of Singapore.

Graham.

[grapau27]

8 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Lemon meringue pie is done and the turkey is in the oven. I’m done for the day!

 

 

Just found out our SIL’s sister is iced in at her home in North Bend (@HAL4NOWwould know where that is) and a large tree branch came down on her house. 

Oh no.

I hope they are okay.