The Fleet Report and Daily for Saturday March 25th, 2023

[Vict0riann]

Still "Good Morning", here, Dailyites, but approaching lunchtime  We will be having a fruit salad with pecans.  That is a staple for us when we are on a diet, and I keep a supply in the freezer, always.  I prefer a pancake to a waffle, but it has to be with maple syrup and bacon.

 

Hearty congratulations to @ger_77' DH for his medal!  And I must send thanks to @luvteaching for alerting me to male UTIs!  That was last year, I think, and when I twigged that was what DH had I immediately sent him off for a urinalysis - for the third time now he is on antibiotics, and will stay on them until he has his surgery - now set for June 6.  He rejected the possibility of May 6, right after we get back, and I was very upset with that, but I am trying to resign myself to the fact that it is his decision to make.  I had a bad day yesterday, and decided I would not be in a good enough mood to do a Live From, but during a sleepless night I told myself to just buck up and do it.   I'm hoping that perhaps someone here will be able to post a picture at sailaway, if the webcam does find us!

 

Very sad news about the Pa. chocolate factory and loss of life.   There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of good news going around these days.  

[Overhead Fred]

7 hours ago, cruising sister said:

I am contemplating buying some AARP Holland America gift cards to start paying off my Grand Australia Cruise. I am afraid to get to many in case I need to cancel and end up with a lot of money on the books. Anyone have experience with using them?

 

I used AARP gift cards to pay for most of our upcoming 150th Anniversary Trans Atlantic on the Rotterdam. I made the payments online which was way easier than reading the card numbers off to our PCC over the phone! Do remember that you can only buy $2500 per month. I will start buying them again this summer to pay for next year's cruise.

[Cruising-along]

I think the kittens are happy to see me. 😁

 

 

 

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Since today is the Feast of the Annunciation, I thought I'd post my pictures of Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation.  We were both surprised at how modern the church was.

 

 

 

 

 

In the open area beside the church was a view of the remains of the ancient village of Nazareth.

 

 

 

These were originally posted on July 23,2022

 

Lenda

Thank you for your extremely interesting photos Lenda.

It is still raining here.

I have pursuaded Pauline to drive my car next week as suggested by my good friends on here.

As my doctor said I need hips and knees replacement in the near future she agreed.

I see my muscular skeletal doctor on Monday.

I originally taught Pauline to drive and she passed her driving test 40 years ago.

Graham.

Edited March 25, 2023 by grapau27

[SusieKIslandGirl]

3 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Nice to know your name Tony.  I hate to ask people for their name but if we talk to them here, sometimes it feels strange not referring to them by name.  So funny you put away your snow shovel just yesterday and now look!  Snow!

Maybe we need a spreadsheet of Who's Who like the wonderful ones Jacqui does for her cruises.........CC name, actual name and general location (only for those who want the info published, of course) 😊

[quilty964]

Good afternoon from a snowy day in WI.  We got about 8 inches today!  Lots of travelers here leaving for spring break, hopefully they all got their flights ok...(our "kids" did get out ok this afternoon.)  @luvteachingsorry to hear about your DH and his medical problems.  Caregiving is a tough job, prayers for all of you.

@Quartzsite CruiserLove your Israel pictures, we were there also, went with a group of people from our church, with 1 of our pastors as a leader.  

Sad to hear about the bad weather in the south, prayers for them also.  I like waffles, but the oatmeal on our last cruise was very good, I wish I could figure out how they got it so smooth and creamy!  Pecans are good also, my mom got bags of them at Christmas time for all of her cookies.  

Thanks for all of the recipes, memes and photos here!  Always a highlight of my day to read here!  Karen

[sailingdutchy]

18 minutes ago, Overhead Fred said:

 

I used AARP gift cards to pay for most of our upcoming 150th Anniversary Trans Atlantic on the Rotterdam. I made the payments online which was way easier than reading the card numbers off to our PCC over the phone! Do remember that you can only buy $2500 per month. I will start buying them again this summer to pay for next year's cruise.

 

Too bad we do not have that here Fred otherwise I would do the same plus we can not have the HAL credit Card , maybe one of these days . 

 

[grapau27]

31 minutes ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

Maybe we need a spreadsheet of Who's Who like the wonderful ones Jacqui does for her cruises.........CC name, actual name and general location (only for those who want the info published, of course) 😊

Graham from North East England.

This was January 31st 2023 in Central park on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the seas.

[JazzyV]

58 minutes ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

Maybe we need a spreadsheet of Who's Who like the wonderful ones Jacqui does for her cruises.........CC name, actual name and general location (only for those who want the info published, of course) 😊

I have compiled one with CC names and actual names. Just started adding birthdays to it in addition. 

[JazzyV]

Just lost power, I assume from the high winds we’re having. At least it’s not too cold out. 

[Crazy For Cats]

3 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

Just lost power, I assume from the high winds we’re having. At least it’s not too cold out. 

I hope it is back on soon.

[smitty34877]

@luvteaching,so sorry  to hear of ongoing problems. If you can,find out if an OT or PT can assist with the wheelchair .There are cushions that help with positioning  and the issue of sliding out. Sometimes  a different  chair is needed that offers more of a recline.It is very hard to deal with by yourself.

[Cruising-along]

1 hour ago, Overhead Fred said:

 

I used AARP gift cards to pay for most of our upcoming 150th Anniversary Trans Atlantic on the Rotterdam. I made the payments online which was way easier than reading the card numbers off to our PCC over the phone! Do remember that you can only buy $2500 per month. I will start buying them again this summer to pay for next year's cruise.

We're paying for most of our Grand Australia with the gift cards.  DH also made the payments online.  Remember that if you're a couple, each of you can buy $2500 per month, making it $5000 per couple.  

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

 

I originally taught Pauline to drive and she passed her driving test 40 years ago.

Graham.

My DH also taught me.  My dear Dad tried to teach me when I was 16 and we lived in California -- I think by mutual agreement we gave up on that! (and he was the most patient man I've ever known). 😅  When DH taught me, we lived in Montana --- lots and lots of wide open spaces, nothing for me to hit! 

26 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

I have compiled one with CC names and actual names. Just started adding birthdays to it in addition. 

No wonder you're so great at keeping up with everyone!  I just have hand-written pages with CC names and first names.  

Edited March 25, 2023 by Cruising-along

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

I think the kittens are happy to see me. 😁

 

 

 

 

I love your cats.

[kazu]

8 hours ago, summer slope said:

Question if you cancel a cruise prior to final payment do you get all your money back?  A friend just got hospitalized with a brain injury and can’t go on their cruise in November. 

 

Yes absolutely - as long as it is refundable cruise and not non refundable.  I’ve not had a problem having to cancel 3 cruises 😢 

So sorry to hear about your friend.  All my prayers for them 🙏🏻 

 

 

8 hours ago, dfish said:

 

River is adorable ♥️ What a great place to take her to.

 

 

8 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Good morning. It’s a cloudy and cold day with rain later on. Have some errands to run later on.

    Yesterday was a little bittersweet because a local family restaurant had announced the closing date due to the owner retiring., we went for lunch. The new owners are going to be closed for about 3 weeks. On the good news front, my favorite ice cream stand announced they are opening today for the season .

      On another sad note, a local company RM Palmer candy plant had a massive fire and explosion yesterday afternoon, the building was destroyed and sadly there is loss of life. At this time, 5 are dead with 6 still missing and at least 8 injured. I have friends that work for the company in a different location. Prayers are needed as the search continues. 
I hope everyone has a good day. ❤️🙏

 

7 hours ago, smitty34877 said:

 

Great pic -so nice ♥️ and I suspect he will be a big boy and yes if he is like most poodles there will be LOTS of energy - some are calm but many are full of it - Miko was.  Walks, play and intelligent toys (if he has the poodle in him) will keep him very content.

 

 

6 hours ago, luvteaching said:

Doing the caregiving for DH is becoming more of a challenge. He did great coming home last week. Then Friday he had a "down" day which I expected as he was so busy the day before. The visiting nurse came to do wound care for his heel and felt he was showing stroke symptoms so we called 911. I knew he was just tired and that was the consensus of the medics as well. The weekend was fine with one slip off the wheelchair. Our local guys came, got him back up and had a nice visit with him commenting that they hadn't heard DH talk so much and be so engaging. 

 

Thursday I ended up with them here both morning and evening for falls. Morning they got him in the wheelchair and all was fine. Evening they got him in the wheelchair, I got his evening meds in him, and they helped get him into bed for me as well as the assistant fire chief cleaned out a downspout because he saw the gutters were overflowing. "Clean the gutters" is on DS's "to-do" list for me. The doctor says DH is fighting the UTI bacteria so we're doing an antibiotic and then a maintenance one and now the nurse and I think he's dehydrated. Anyway, the ER may be in the cards today. I just want this guy healthy and able to cruise again as that's something he totally loves - as do I.

Thanks for listening/reading! 

Karen 

 

 

So sorry on the challenges you are facing Karen and your DH’s issues - I know it is hard and heart breaking 💔 I pray for your DH and you have to have the strength to carry on.  Please remember to take care of yourself despite the pot meeting kettle 😘 

 

 

6 hours ago, HAL4NOW said:

I made the mistake of putting away my snow shovel yesterday. 

 

Oh you are jinxing yourself.  My neighbour told me she put away her snow markers as we were walking back and I had harsh words on jinxing us.  Storm tomorrow, of course.  

 

 

5 hours ago, cruising sister said:

@luvteaching caretakers have a special place in heaven. It is a hard job especially when it is a loved one. Make sure you are resting and eating well. Hugs!

 

I so agree with you

 

 

2 hours ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

Maybe we need a spreadsheet of Who's Who like the wonderful ones Jacqui does for her cruises.........CC name, actual name and general location (only for those who want the info published, of course) 😊

 

LOL as long as we don’t need it converted 😂 Of course, once you do that you can’t add to it.

 

 

2 hours ago, sailingdutchy said:

 

Too bad we do not have that here Fred otherwise I would do the same plus we can not have the HAL credit Card , maybe one of these days . 

 

 

No we can’t do the HAL credit card, but we can buy the gift cards - not a lot of use for us unless we book in US $ but we can use them for OBC, shore excursions or a bunch of other stuff on the HAL website since that is in US$.  

 

 

1 hour ago, JazzyV said:

Just lost power, I assume from the high winds we’re having. At least it’s not too cold out. 

 

Oh dam.  I hope you get it back soon 🤞 

[StLouisCruisers]

5 hours ago, Cruisercl said:

Hello everyone!

It has been awhile since I have posted but have been a follow alonger/lurker.

I was on the NCL Bliss PC in late Feb/March for 15day; had a great time! Weather was very good and had no issues with LAX, which is unusual for me. Not a favorite airport at all. Thanks @JazzyV for the call outs to me. 

Once I got back, woke up the next day with one of the most gawd awful viruses I have ever had! I am thinking it is the same thing that @durangoscots has! It has been 2 weeks for me, I am getting better, but day to day stuff is tiring. I hope it goes away soon.Tested negative for COVID several times. The whole thing has been nasty...enough about my struggles.

My prayers continue to be with you all; this is a kind, generous and wonderful group of people. Visiting here about once a day soothes me on some level knowing there is goodness in the world.

My thanks again to the keepers of the lists, no easy feat; the Food and Beverage department, the humor department (you people are very funny and I really enjoy the memes, many of which I can relate to) and of course those who let us into their lives quite often to share.

My prayers especially for those in a struggle right now whether it be health, family or just even having to deal with the world we live in now. It is overwheleming to me at times.

Celebrations are also in order to those with good things happening in their lives whether it be a cruise, other travel, good health, a good family, sometimes a small thing like I finished my laundry today etc.; these should be celebrated as often they are overshadowed by the not good things.

That's enough from me today.

Please take good care everyone. 🙏😊

Caron

 

 

Caron, I'm sorry to hear you have the dreaded virus attacking everyone, too, along with previous sufferers Susan @durangoscots and Carolyn @Cruising-along.  I hope it doesn't take a full month to improve like others mentioned.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you for your extremely interesting photos Lenda.

It is still raining here.

I have pursuaded Pauline to drive my car next week as suggested by my good friends on here.

As my doctor said I need hips and knees replacement in the near future she agreed.

I see my muscular skeletal doctor on Monday.

I originally taught Pauline to drive and she passed her driving test 40 years ago.

Graham.

 

Good to hear Pauline will get some experience driving soon because you may need joint replacements.  She will be chauffering you places for a while then.  Good luck at that doctor appointment.  I didn't drive DH's new car a few years back because it had too many gadgets.  Now I drive it a lot because my new one is even more difficult to figure out.  Trying to teach an old dog new tricks, you know...   I'm getting better at it.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, JazzyV said:

Just lost power, I assume from the high winds we’re having. At least it’s not too cold out. 

 

Hope that power outage is short-lived!

[Overhead Fred]

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

We're paying for most of our Grand Australia with the gift cards.  DH also made the payments online.  Remember that if you're a couple, each of you can buy $2500 per month, making it $5000 per couple.  

 

Oh, I hadn't thought of that! I'll give it a try if I'm running short of time to get cards before final payment!

[1ANGELCAT]

An update on the RM Palmer tragedy. In good news, the death toll has been lowered to 2 with 1 person pulled alive from the rubble during the night. 

 The bad news is that 5 remain missing as the search continues and 8 injured. 💔🙏
 

[highscar]

@kazu how or where do by buy the gift cards here in Canada. I have inquired before. 

[kazu]

54 minutes ago, highscar said:

@kazu how or where do by buy the gift cards here in Canada. I have inquired before. 

 

I just buy them on the HAL site - just google holland america.com and gift cards and it should pop right up.  But, remember they are in US $.  I couldn’t reisst when they had a 10% bonus card.  those bonus cards have an expiry date.  The rest don’t.  Hope that helps?

[JazzyV]

My power came back on after being out about 3 hours. But it is still very windy; it feels like the house will blow away, and it's a 100+ year old brick house that has stood the test of time. I think I'll leave the freezer and fridge plugged into their backup battery generators overnight, just in case.

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

My power came back on after being out about 3 hours. But it is still very windy; it feels like the house will blow away, and it's a 100+ year old brick house that has stood the test of time. I think I'll leave the freezer and fridge plugged into their backup battery generators overnight, just in case.

 

Glad your power is back 👍 I think that is a good preventative move, Vanessa.  I hope preparing for the worst means it doesn’t happen. 🤞 

I am so grateful for our standby generator that DH wanted (he didn’t want to do anything if it happened).  It just comes on for me - mind you, since we got it, our power seem to go out a lot less or does it just seem that way since I keep some of the little luxuries in life like TV, internet and water 😘. 

[kochleffel]

Having no horse in the race, I tend to confuse the Annunciation with the Assumption. Decades ago, as a student in Vienna, I had trouble with the Feast of the Assumption--Maria Himmelfahrt in German. I needed to go from the 18th district to the Südbahnhof, the south train terminal, early in the morning and had no idea that the trams would be on Sunday schedule, meaning that the one I intended to take wasn't running at all.

 

And a waffle story. Dutch Jews eat waffles on Hanukkah. This is because the Hanukkah story deals with what is called in Hebrew nes v'fele--a miracle and wonder. To the Dutch ear that sounds like "miracle waffles."

 

I was ready for the seared salmon with strawberry basil relish at 6:30 p.m., but the delivery never arrived. No, no, on the drink (lactose and coconut). OK on the wine but for a moment I thought of Mrs. Butterworth's syrup, which BTW contains no butter, only artificial flavoring.

 

I purchased gift cards for the balance on my fall cruise; the bonus will cover on-board expenses.

 

3 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

I didn't drive DH's new car a few years back because it had too many gadgets.  Now I drive it a lot because my new one is even more difficult to figure out.

 

My present car is a 2018 model. It has a number of features and controls that its predecessor (2008) didn't. During the shutdown in 2020 I hardly drove at all, and I forgot how all of them worked.

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by kochleffel

[marshhawk]

Going to ask a dumb question here, why do you buy cards?  is it to pay off the cruise, or just the bonus perks of cruising?  I mean if it's to pay for the cruise, why not just make a monthly payment?

[1ANGELCAT]

For some more good news, my Reading High School Boys Basketball team just won their 3rd State Championship Title since 2017.🎉