ottahand7

When I did my Aruba search I came up with photos from my first visit there January 16, 2018 on the Oosterdam at the end of a Panama Canal transit. Aruba was substituted for Cartagena. We did a catamaran cruise and it was horrible. Community snacks, nothing sugar fee and no beer even. Second photo was on February 18, 2019 and that was on the old Rotterdam sailing out of Tampa. Other photos are in my phone. @StLouisCruisers so sorry to read about your flood, I hope your plumber can fix it quickly!

Good morning everyone! Thanks for the Daily Reports Rich. Cheetahs are beautiful and unique and should be celebrated. Bankers are very important also. Cookies are great too, I haven't started our Christmas baking thankfully we don't have a sugar shortage like @ger_77 has in Canada. I will pass on the meal, the bitter cocktail but today's Chenin blanc looks lovely. I have been to today's port many times and will go again twice on our next cruise. I will try to find some photos. @seagarsmoker Good luck on your interview today. @JazzyV I hope that your MRI can get to the bottom of all your debilitating leg pain. Prayers for everyone on our care list and those in war zones for no fault of their own, Ukraine, Israel and the innocents in Gaza. Prayers for the remaining hostages. Another mild day here but accompanied by clouds. I will do some house cleaning and we have a 4:30 appointment to get a new copy of John's will and advance directives. I told them they needed to go in the safe when he got them but he demurred and now he can't find them. Grrrr. We will probably pick up some takeout because no restaurant is open in town on Mondays other than Mexican. Have a nice Monday! Nancy

Smart move to have a 6:00 pm flight. All the cruise crush and wheelchairs will have probably already departed.

Totally absent on the Grand South America last winter.

Thanks for posting this, definite pass for us.

Another successful greens sale behind us.

@grapau27 thanks for reminding us of the beginning of Advent. I had been so overwhelmed with getting to the Greens sale and working it I forgot to start opening the days on my Advent calendar.

We were in today's port on January 7 this year. We took a HA shorex which was a Monster bus to go look at flora and fauna in the jungle. It was air conditioned which was terrific as it was incredibly hot that day. The red flower plant is Tithonia, Mexican Sunflower the same plant that I grow from seed at the cabin which is a real butterfly magnet. Photo from cabin at end.

Good Sunday morning everyone! A late start again for me as I was up until midnight watching the two big football games. So happy Michigan won! Sad Alabama won, still suffering from them winning everything for so many years. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet Reports @richwmn. People with Disabilities should be celebrated every day and everything done to make their lives easier. The last of the green bean casserole was gone the day after Thanksgiving and I gave the big bag of crunchy onions to my older sister with all of our leftovers so no more for 2023. Let's Hug is always a good day! Great quote by Billy Connolly. No matter what when I hear the WTO I think of the Lone Ranger so I can not be considered sophisticated. A great day in history when the first heart transplant was attempted. It opened the door to perfecting the procedure. We were in Puerto Limon this year and will share photos later. Pass on the soup, the truly weird cocktail and the vino. Thanks for finding these for us each day, @cat shepard, @summer slope and @dfish. @JazzyV I hope you had a better night and getting some relief of your constant leg pain. Prayers for @superoma friend Dena. So happy to read that you are home again Roy! I hope you had a wonderful time on your cruise. @ger_77 prayers for your friend Wayne. Continuing prayers for Baby Murphy. Prayers for all in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, Israel, the innocents in Gaza and the hostages. I have to head out to a nearby town to pick up the arrangement my friend scored for me at the end of the greens sale when they were marked down. Another day of football here, perfect because it is gloomy and light rain but gratefully above freezing. I will try to wrap up my Christmas cards and send the comments about the greens sale while they are fresh in my mind. Have a lovely Sunday! Nancy

Bon Voyage @RedneckBob! 🍾

We will be aboard the Eurodam for 52 days starting January 3 in an aft-Neptune. After reading all of these comments I will try to do an "almost live" from the Eurodam. Do not expect any reviews of evening entertainment but if we go I will share. We are on a number of HA shore excursions, thanks HIA so will report about them also. Of course my favorite, food porn. I hope the Starlink allows that plan.

I agree two Asian restaurants are overkill.

Your problem with the TV is the same problem we had on the NS in February 2022. Our room steward fixed it once, DH fixed it the next time and we got sick of dealing with it and had a technician fix it. It seems to be an ongoing problem.

I guess if you really wanted to eat the steak in the MDR you could but it would probably take a trip to the front desk to talk to them to take the billing off your MDR. There is so much to choose from in the Pinnacle Grill I would enjoy that steak in the specialty restaurant IMO.

Good afternoon. A shout out to our Texans in our group, @Quartzsite Cruiser and @Haljo1935. we are watching the OSU Texas game and Texas looks so good. Michigan has the big game tonight. Sadly I am falling asleep after 2 early mornings in a row for the greens sale. It was pretty quiet today even through the weather was better than yesterday. Prayers for everyone on our care list and people in war zones. Prayers for the hostages still being held. Have a lovely Saturday. Nancy

@Quartzsite Cruiser thank you so much for the lovely photos from Nuka Hiva yesterday! Vanessa @JazzyV I will pray for healing for your leg. I am sad you have had to bear with this for so long. 🙏

Good afternoon. It is really rainy here but it is the 40s. I worked our greens sale today and I think that our turnout may have been affected by the weather. I worked wreaths and roping/garland and since it was so rainy all our inventory sat in a trailer so I am really glad I brought my disposable raincoat that has been hanging in there since GSA because I was in and out all morning. Of course I had to buy something, three needle felted penguins that are Christmas ornaments. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet Reports @richwmn. Prayers for everyone needing them, prayers for Roy as we makes his way home on the auto train. I am glad to read @superoma DF Dena is improving and hasn't been kicked out of the hospital that sometimes happens. @grapau27 I am sorry you had the flooding, it sounds like your public works department is a step above what we have here in the US. @Heartgrove I hope that you and your DW can put the Covid behind you pronto. Prayers for everyone in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, Israel and the innocents in Gaza. Prayers for the hostages. @kochleffel great news on your successful presentation. I was happy to read that photos of Baby Murphy were posted yesterday, I will have to go back and get caught up. We were in Fortaleza on February 25th this year. We did not get off the ship as it was a very large city and we had no shore excursions booked. I will see if I can find any labeled photos of the port. Have a great Friday! Nancy

Good afternoon everyone. Well I heard from Northern Michigan University and they sent the paperwork for their scholarship candidate and her CV shows a real passion for conservation so that is wonderful news. Sadly Lake Superior State University has so far found no one for the $1500 and another $1000. Really disappointing. I said I would be doing this process next fall and I recommended whenever she has a student contact in the area of study for our awards to let them know there will be money to apply for in the fall and collect their name and phone number. @Quartzsite Cruiser so happy you can find parts for your washer and I am glad it was your old one. John fixed his own dryer once. @superoma thanks for the update on your friend Dena. I will pray for her. @RMLincoln thanks for the information about Nuka Hiva. I will talk it over with John. He may come in later when my excursion ends and we can go to the marketplace. I looked at some of the photos from the HA shorex reviews and it looked like there were some beautiful vistas during that excursion. I have found I like to do excursions so I can see more of a port that I may never get back to or that weather prevents going. Following Bill and Mary Ann's blog on their Tales of the South Pacific on the Volendam this month they had to miss a port or two due to weather not allowing tendering.

Happy independence to Barbados! Thanks for all the photos of today's port. It looked like you enjoyed lovely weather!

Good morning everyone. I will celebrate a good sugar free chocolate mousse. My Norton reminds me of computer security multiple times per day it seems. A shout out to all in Barbados. A good quote by Twain. I will pass on the lasagna, the minty cocktail but today's blend wine suds good. Thanks for starting us off each day. Prayers for safe travels for Roy to return home to Maryland. Thinking of @Sharon in AZ as she has her surgery today. Lenda, so sorry that your washer has gone kaput after it being so new. Prayers for everyone on our care list, those in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, Israel and the innocents in Gaza. Prayers for the hostages all to be released. Heading out to get my nails done and head to Walmart, mainly because we are out of eggs. It is a balmy 30 degrees and sunny but messy weather predicted for tomorrow and Saturday when I have to drive 20 miles to our garden council's greens sale. It is not enough to keep customers away I hope, mainly a cold rain. Have a lovely day today! Nancy

Roy, I am glad they have at least a vague answer to your issue. I am glad you get released this afternoon and hopefully are well enough to drive a ways towards your auto train. Jacqui thanks for keeping us updated on Roy. Vanessa, @JazzyV you sure need a break. I hope you will be able to get your radiator repaired soon. @smitty34877 I am glad that Tana has stabilized. It is interesting your dogs are watching over her, they know. I got the kitchen mopped after the Thanksgiving mess and I am happy it looks much better. John got me a Shark Robot that mops and vacuums which we tried the mopping feature today. It would do a good job on regular mopping but not Thanksgiving spills. After being locked out of a shore excursion I really wanted on GSA I am continuing to look for things on the 2025 South Pacific cruise. I hit a snag on a scenic drive on Nuku Hiva and was going to book but it needed weights for myself and John. They didn't state a weight limit but when I put in John's weight it showed red meaning it didn't allow him. I messed with it and the max weight is 200. I may book it for me because it is the only excursion for that stop. It is a caravan of private cars to tour the island. It is amazing these things have to be booked so far out but cruising is becoming really popular again. They had a story about cruising on NBC this morning about full cruise ships. How is it on the cruises our group have been on lately?

If you are asking has anyone ordered the upcharge steak in the MDR and yes I have done that one time when I had some credit to burn through.. It was very good. It is nice to have those upcharge items if the menu in the MDR doesn't appeal.

Sandi @StLouisCruisers thanks for the clarification. We are not going to Rarotonga. We are on a 35 day trip to Hawaii and Tahiti. I am glad that they offered a pearl farm in Raiatea as the same situation would probably be present. Too many cruisers for a small island, we are on the Konigsdam. Thanks again. Nancy

Good morning from sunny SW MI with temps in the low 20s. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet reports @richwmn. I liked square dancing when I was a child but when they forced us to do it in gym in 10th grade with dancing with girls I hated it. Lemon cream pie is another pie that one rarely sees offered. I will celebrate chocolates day by cracking open a box of Godiva chocolates I picked up at Costco yesterday. A great quote by Schweitzer and would be a good quote for Rosalyn Carter's service yesterday. The Korean short ribs sound great and would be great with today's Italian wine, I will pass on the peachy cocktail. @summer slope @cat shepard and @dfish thanks for researching these for us each day. Prayers for Roy, I hope you can get an answer soon and be able to be released. @JazzyV I pray that you are going to get some relief from your leg pain, thanks for keeping our cares and celebrations updated for us. Prayers for everyone on our care list, the people in war zones through no fault of their own, Ukraine, Israel and the innocents in Gaza. Prayers for the release of the hostages. I will be trying to work on loading photos on a photo frame for John today but it is hard with him moving about the house most of time. @aliaschief as it was last year we will be departing FLL the same day the world cruise leaves the US. This year the Eurodam, last year the Volendam. Always exciting to see a world voyage taking off in person. I finally heard from one of my scholarship colleges yesterday after I sent a reminder they have 5 candidates that they are narrowing down to two. Hopefully Northern Michigan University will reply today. Have a nice Wednesday! Nancy

Thanks for all the lovely photos of Naples today! I would love to visit sometime. I love French Toast and I use cinnamon and vanilla too. I use 1/2 & 1/2 instead of milk because it keeps a lot longer than milk and the smallest size milk I can find is 1/2 gallon. I hate having to dump milk down the drain. I don't do any letter writing anymore. I sent Christmas letters last year but this year I will hand write messages in my cards. I pare down every year so it makes it easier to write a message. Thanks @kazu for the update on Roy. Prayers sent to you Roy that they can figure out what is going on and fix it and send you on your way home to MD soon. The roads were bad heading to Costco but we took the highway back and it was dry. I wanted to express appreciation for the Cruise Critic Daily and the things I learn from it on a regular basis. A shout out to @StLouisCruisers when you shared photos of the port Raiatea and mentioned you couldn't get to the pearl farm as HA had booked all the available spots. This is way in the future in February 2025 but I kept looking for when HA would post the shore excursions for our cruise. They were posted when I looked yesterday so the first thing I did was book the Pearl Farm tour. I have been reading of people finding shore excursions sold out because of HIA but we are set. These anecdotes and photos help us learn so much and get us dreaming of visiting new ports. Thanks for all you do each day @richwmn to start our days off so well. Nancy