kochleffel

51 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

My stepmother used to make "chop suey" from cans

Yes. My mother used canned bamboo shoots and bean sprouts. Oddly, from today's POV, she made it with veal, but it wasn't so expensive then.

We often had chop suey when I was a kid, and even for American chop suey it was mediocre. However, I liked chow mein noodles, and I had some last night with a stir-fry of beet greens and tofu. They have almost disappeared from stores, but a kosher brand is still available (kosher food trends lag the country in general) and I'm having some today as a garnish on a salad.

I could make the sandwich if I had any avocado. No on the drink unless it comes with a little umbrella. For a rosé, Keuka Spring 2022 Dry Rosé, $19.99. It's made from Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, and Cabernet Franc, so about as typical of, and unique to, the Finger Lakes as can be. "Candied cherries, wild herbs and a hint of apricot tease the palate, with enough acidity to keep the wine refreshing. Savor this on its own, with light summer lunches or with pre-dinner appetizers."

2 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

Not true.  I am solo and travel with a friend who is also solo. We both get 2 dinners for 2 with our Latitude perk so we share 4 dinners. The disclaimer means that a solo does not get 4 dinners with 2 coupons.

Yes. Solo passengers who are platinum or higher can bring a guest -- I have been a guest. What a solo passenger can't do is claim two dinners per voucher for him/herself.

Axe throwing is growing as a sport in colleges in the Northeast; it apparently came from Canada. The daughter of a friend joined an axe-throwing team in college and worked summers in a lumberjack/lumberjill show in Maine.

I am a bit less of a klutz in the kitchen than almost anywhere else. I often roast vegetables in the fall and winter but had never thought of radishes. The cocktail sounded like something pandas would eat but, seeing how it's made, I think I would like it. For the wine, I'll nominate Glenora's 2022 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, $19.99. "Beautiful tropical fruit, pear and lemon custard aromas intermingle with notes of light American Oak.  The combination of barrel and concrete egg fermentations give the wine a luxurious texture on the palate but the bright acidity still provides a crisp finish.  Try pairing with lemon pasta with cream sauces, soft cheese and herb roasted chicken."

<rant> One of the papers reports this morning on the choking death of a rare antelope in a zoo in Tennessee, caused by the cap from a pouch of baby food (food in squeezable pouches is prohibited in the zoo, because of this risk). It led me to ask: do people squeeze the food directly into the baby's mouth? (Yes) Will babies fed this way grow to be toddlers who still expect to have food squeezed into their mouths? (Apparently also yes, as there are pouches for older  children.) Will they still be demanding this kind of feeding when they are older, five and six, or nine and ten? (Based on families' experience with children who insist on bottles and sippy cups when they should be moving on to ordinary drinkware, probably yes.) Will humans evolve into a species with no teeth? </rant>

Cachaca was a component of the Brazilian Crush cocktail on May 29. It differs from rum in being made directly from cane juice rather than from molasses. It's difficult to make good falafel; they can easily turn out raw on the inside, burned on the outside, or both. It's startling that the plaintiffs in the Virginia case that ended prohibitions on mixed-race marriage were named Loving.

A ground-beef stir fry sounds rather odd. Tofu stir fry with beet greens is on the menu for tonight. Usually when I order an Americano, I want coffee, but I wouldn't mind the cocktail, only not at this hour of the day. Bota Box isn't my favorite boxed wine so I'll counter with Swedish Hill Winery's Viking White, $16.99 for a 1.5L bottle. "A crisp, slightly fruity, almost dry wine with apple-like and citrusy aromas and flavors. Similar to a Pinot Grigio, it’s a bit lighter and crisper than most Chardonnays. Serve with grilled or broiled seafood or lighter meals."

I haven't been to Santo Domingo but I've called at Puerto Plata twice in the past two years, with a third time to come on the way to Panama.

No nightmares, but I woke up at 4:00 a.m. Got back to sleep at 6:00 a.m. but definitely feeling it.

5 hours ago, JazzyV said:

@kochleffel Sorry about the frightening dream. I hope you're feeling better now.

Thank you. After a nap this afternoon, I'm feeling a bit better. I am going to have to limit my contact with social media, which probably planted the frightening idea, to once a day, before noon.

2 minutes ago, durangoscots said:

A ductless cooling unit. There are a number of variations. Much smaller and cheaper than HVAC.

Adding to that: a heat pump that's installed outside the building, connected to a fan unit in the room by only a tube. The building I worked in installed them for air-conditioning but they could also provide heat. As there was a dropped ceiling, the fan unit replaced a ceiling panel. In a typical installation, however, it's a wall unit installed near the ceiling.

This morning I woke from a frightening dream, which is very rare for me, and I still don't feel well. I definitely don't want muffins or a margarita right now.

I recently finished a Ryan William 2021 Dry Riesling. Here's the 2023, already in short supply. "Pale straw-like in color, the 2023 Dry Riesling has a smooth richness that is easily balanced by natural acidity. With notes of peach and slate on the nose, and light pineapple on the palate, the wine finishes with a playful note of lime. Super versatile, serve this Dry Riesling with everything from white fish and charcuterie to baked apple strudel," $18.95.

I haven't been to Kodiak but yesterday I saw an episode of Dr. Oakley in which she helped to transport a bull from Kodiak to an uninhabited (by humans, I mean) island where the Kodiak Baptist Mission runs cattle, and bring back a horse that was needed for summer camp at the mission.

To me, sideways cabins feel more spacious even if they're the same size, and they have better feng shui.

21 hours ago, SoloAlaska said:

The port authority and pilots would have a lot of say in which berth a ship is using. You fail to mention if there may have been tidal issues, a cargo ship which may have made maneuvering difficult, unscheduled port maintenance etc. 

 

The Dawn (post #1) docked at the main cruise terminal in Copenhagen. This is where all cruise ships except a few small ships from a few luxury cruise lines dock.

I'm beginning to think that I may be the only person here who has never visited Malta!

For almost any port that is mentioned, I find myself looking for cruises that call there, even though I have no intention of booking any cruises until at least after the Panama Canal cruise in December. In the process I noticed one on Windstar that is actually affordable. It's Papeete to Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, no ports in between, fortunately at a time I could only go if there were better wifi than there would be.

Because of the Canal cruise, I'm not booking a cruise for January or February as I usually would. I have in mind to visit NYC in March when the Met is performing Fidelio.

The desks in my sixth-grade classroom had inkwells for dip pens, and the desks weren't even that old, but we used only ball-points.

The menu suggestion might be OK, but I would be wary of the "creamy" part. The drink would be sweeter than I like. For the wine, Glenora's Brut-2014, $30.99. "Elegant yeast and delicate fruit flavors delightfully intermingle in the 2014 Brut sparkling wine from Glenora Wine Cellars. The grapes were all grown around Seneca Lake and the wine offers delicate strawberry and elegant apple flavors. This sparkling wine was filled into tirage for the secondary fermentation during the summer of 2015, producing a profusion of tiny bubbles that explode to the surface upon opening the bottle.  The moderate dosage adds luscious creaminess and a lingering finish."

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

But when I think of stress, it is sitting on a bus, wasting part of the day, waiting on a late passenger, a few folks who are still waiting in line for a rest room etc.  And for us, stress is rushing to finish a group lunch when we would prefer to be taking our time and enjoying the atmosphere of a well placed cafe or decent restaurant.

Also true. What I think can be stressful is figuring out the logistics and coping when they don't work. I had a very close call in Spain last fall.

One of my friends is an archivist at the regional history museum. No on the menu suggestion (shrimp). Irish coffee would be OK with me and I'll be ready for it in a little while, I think. I believe that I have an Irish coffee mug from a trivia game or something on NCL.

For a sparkling red wine from the FL, Sparkling Rebel with a Cause from Red Tail Ridge, $39.97. "A serious dry red blend of 50% Teroldego, 25% Cabernet Franc & 25% Blaufränkish that was done Méthode Champenoise." (I've corrected their French. I often seem to do that with restaurant menus here. And their German.) 

The weather report says that it ought to stop raining about now, but it hasn't started and so maybe it won't.

12 minutes ago, slidemaster5 said:

When my wife got it this week the rice looked tiny

Arborio rice.

23 hours ago, Hlitner said:

If I were asked about excursions, I would say nearly all are overpriced, overcrowded, and perfectly fine for those that enjoy that kind of thing :).  Perhaps DW and I still love to cruise and travel (throughout the world) after around a half-century of extensive travel because we generally do not take excursions unless they do something we cannot reasonably do on our own of with a small group private tour.

I wasn't speaking only about excursions, but they were the most convenient example. The general principle -- book things that you think you will like and don't worry about whether each is absolutely THE BEST -- applies broadly, even to onboard activities.

I gravitate to smaller private tours and sometimes to DIY, but I'll use a cruise line's tour if I have no particular inspiration about that port or nothing else is available. A few years ago at St. Petersburg, with an overnight, I joined a few others for a specialized private tour on our first day there; the others were ordinarily afraid to book anything except through the cruise line, but with an overnight, they felt that it was safe enough. On the second day, I found that I had to book through the cruise line, because no private tour agencies would take a booking for just the second day, and I couldn't DIY since I didn't have a visa and don't read Russian.

DIY is stressful but sometimes unavoidable if one especially wants to visit a certain place. I did it with a rental car once in France, to visit the Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence, which even custom tours avoid because of the limited parking, and once recently in Spain, by train (the train in Spain stays mainly on the plain) when a tour operator didn't get enough people. For my next cruise, I plan to be on my own in two ports that I've visited before, not even go ashore at one, and book tours for another.

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

by the way, other than you and possibly cruiseny4life, i dont need to make or meet new friends.

In the forum for another cruise line, someone asked why participation in roll calls for that line was poor.

The reply was "We are all experienced cruisers who know what we like. We don't want to be hawked to join other people's tours and we don't want to meet strangers."

It put me off booking on that cruise line for a couple of years. When I did, I found that a high percentage of the passengers were, indeed, experienced cruisers, and that most were  friendly.

It's possible if you really want to. I haven't tried it in Alaska, but several years ago I spent some time in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in weather that was sometimes very wet (Germany was having record rain) for part of the time and sometimes cold (at 11,300 feet in Switzerland), with only a carry-on bag.

Gear for the weather: an unlined packable rain parka from Patagonia, and a packable down-alternative vest (gilet if you're British) from LL Bean. I've used the same things in Alaska and the Faroes, specifically when on the water.

Downside: washing some clothing in a bathroom sink almost every night. And for a cruise (none of the trips mentioned above was a cruise), it means re-wearing the same clothes while being around the same people. That doesn't bother me. For the Europe trip, I carried a blazer over my arm because it made my softsided bag slightly too thick for the plane.

8 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Here's "One more thing" happening here. Our dear friend (who's husband Ronnie you've been praying for..) B fell over a box and broke her humerus bone under her left shoulder last night about 11:30. Went to ER and will need surgery. 6 to week recovery. This crap never stops.

That sounds very much like the fracture that I had right before Thanksgiving in 2017. The upside of a surgical repair is that the arm, within the limits of soreness and stiffness, is functional right away. For example, I was able to type on a computer keyboard with both hands. What I couldn't do for two months, because I couldn't reach far enough, was tie my shoes, and I had to get a pair with Velco fastening.

I think that I might prefer ordinary hollandaise with the salmon and asparagus, and I might like the cocktail better without the alcohol (this is the first time I have ever said that).

For the wine, a Finger Lakes Cabernet Franc might be the most similar, but to stick with Pinot Noir I'd consider Dr. Frank's Old Vines Pinot Noir 2021. "Includes the original Pinot Noir vines planted in 1958 by our founder representing the 2nd oldest Pinot Noir vines in America. Radiant and luminous offering nuanced cranberries and red cherries woven with earthiness, leather, and subtle oak notes. Silken and light yet mineral evolving into a complex, long-lasting finish," $26.99.

5 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

We’ll see how long it takes before we’re discovered onboard by The Relatives.

Have you considered disguises?

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Now, more then ever; folks should do pre cruise homework on their ports so they have the tools to make “informed”

decisions rather then relying solely on cruise line info/propoganda.

Paradoxically, new cruisers who come to Cruise Critic for information could find that it increases their anxiety--not because of misinformation, but because there are many posts from people trying to optimize their cruises in every possible way.

For example, they may want to find the BEST excursion, the BEST tour guide, and others may think that they should do that, too. But one person's best can be another person's mediocre or truly awful. (No way am I going swimming with pigs.) If I were asked, I would say, try to choose excursions that you think you will like and don't worry whether you made the best possible choice.

It will definitely be more convenient when the new Metro line reaches Oceankaj.

I wonder what the person would have thought about Civitavecchia, which handles all kinds of ship traffic and is way more inconvenient for Rome.

My first choice would be a Misty Fjords flight with Island Wings. A Herring Cove bear tour would be next: on a boardwalk above the bears, and they use two guides, one to escort you and another to look for bears.