StLouisCruisers

I'm back and saw her turning in the basin. Nice to be the only one there today.

I'm up early to post the Daily (and Fleet Report) but see the Rotterdam is still several miles away from Port Everglades (5:35 am.) I am off to do my treadmill so will miss sail in. Maybe someone could post a photo?

Good morning friends! Today is a Wednesday so you're halfway there to the weekend. Unless every day feels like a weekend to you! We are currently 45F, with a mostly cloudy day ahead of us and a high of 63. I tried to look at the planet alignment last night but couldn't see everything with the naked eye. But at least it wasn't totally cloudy at the time. Thank you Rich @richwmn for our Fleet Report and Daily material. Our quote is cute and days interesting. I salute the Mom and Pop business owners who work so hard to make their businesses a go. I will let Graham @grapau27 tell me what Smoke and Mirrors Day means because I am behind schedule (slept 15 minutes late). And I always appreciate wildlife so good for the manatees. Our meal of ham with pineapple salsa sounds good. I don't drink Makers Mark, and prefer other wines to chardonnay. The port this morning is Honolulu, Hawaii, the capital of that state. Growing up it was a dream to think I would ever see Hawaii, but I have 4 times and enjoyed each and every visit. We have had that port twice before on the Daily so links to Rich's post are below to retrieve your photos. Enjoy the memories when you view them again! Thanks to Vanessa @JazzyV for the Care and Celebration lists. Prayers will be said shortly for all there on the Care list and any others we may know of who need them. 🙏 Cheers to those celebrating, sailing, and with improved health! 🎉🥂 Bon Voyage! Let me also thank my friends Debbie @dfish, Ann @cat shepard and Dixie @summer slope for their help making the Daily the place to be every day. Welcome home to @DWAliaschief and Joy and Allen @Seasick Sailor ! Here are the links to the former port day posts: While I was growing up I never imagined I would get to see so many places in this big wide world. Didn't everybody dream of going to Hawaii someday? Of course when we sailed to Hawaii the first time in 2007 on Diamond Princess we wanted to see Pearl Harbor so took a tour there. After the Arizona Memorial we went to the U.S.S. Missouri where Japan surrendered at the end of WWII. Appropriate for us to visit - that's our home state! The site where the papers were signed. Back to the ship docked next to Aloha Tower. We were entertained by local dance groups that evening. In 2009 we visited Honolulu again on the Golden Princess. This trip we traveled with friends we'd met the previous year on a cruise. We were parked next to Aloha Tower again. The four of us headed out to meet a friend of theirs in Chinatown. The first thing we saw was a skyscraper and some window washers. Scary! That doesn't look safe! We headed into the fish market. Heading towards the beaches we passed the statue of Queen Liliuokalani. and the Iolani Palace. followed by the beautiful statue of King Kamehameha. A quick stop to look at the grounds of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Not too shabby! And a brief look at Waikiki Beach Off to my treadmill now. May everyone here have a safe day and let's make it a Winning Wednesday!

Today is National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day, Smoke and Mirrors Day, and Manatee Appreciation Day Food is an important part of a balanced diet. - Fran LebowitzMeal Suggestion for today - Ham with Pineapple SalsaDrink of the Day - Makers Mark Paper PlaneWine of the Day - Tony Bish Chardonnay Hawkes Bay Skeetfield 2021Destination of the Day - Honolulu, Oahu Island, Hawaii Eurodam Oranjestad, Aruba 06:00 - ? Koningsdam Dry Dock Portland OR Vigor Ship Yard until 4/12 Nieuw Amsterdam San Juan, Puerto Rico 1300-2300 Nieuw Statendam Willemstad Curacao, Netherlands Antilles 07:00 - 16:00 Oosterdam Callao-Lima, Peru 08:00 Arrive Rotterdam Fort Lauderdale, Florida 0700-1500 Volendam Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos 07:00 - ? Zaandam La Paz, Baja California Mexico 08:00 - 15:00 Zuiderdam Banjul, Gambia 08:00 - 17:00Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Lyttelton-Christchurch, New Zealand 08:00 - 19:00 Westerdam at sea Destination Naha, Japan eta 3/30 Sandi for Rich and Roy

What happened to your reservation at HIExpress? Lucky they found you a room for the night.

Thank goodness!! Now we can all sleep tonight! Take care and check in when you can. ❤️

Lenda funny you mention gutter downspouts. The roofer came and searched and searched for a solution. He did some caulking in one spot but found nothing obvious. DH mentioned during heavier rainstorms the gutter from the metal porch roof dumps into the main roof gutter and even when cleaned out, seems to overpower the gutter. So we are going to replace the 5 inch gutter with 6 inch and one other adjustment with the downspout between the two. I hope that's not too complicated, but the thought is perhaps water gets backed up in the corner and somehow makes its way into the attic and leaks onto my living room ceiling. Stay tuned. Twin texted she had a call from DB's wife asking if twin could go to the hospital to pick up DB because her Alzheimer's Board meeting was during the time DB should be released. What?? Well, seems he didn't want us to know he had chest pains yesterday so he went to the ER and they kept him last night in the hospital. He doesn't have a blockage but has plaque in his arteries so will need to begin medication for that. Wow, when it rains it pours. And not just on my roof. What next? I sure wish I knew why Eurodam was in Willemstad, Curacao today instead of Aruba. Maybe because Nieuw Statendam was also in Aruba today? Sorry everyone. We do the best we can with the Fleet Report! But my friend on Sky Princess emailed today that they can't go to their next port due to weather (La Coruna, Spain). They are heading to their destination Southampton now. So on their 14 night cruise they have had only 1 port stop having had two cancelled due to weather. You just never know!

It seems many of us are anxious to hear from Joy @Seasick Sailor. I thought yesterday we'd hear from her that all is well. Now I'm worrying one or both are not feeling well.🤒

Bon Voyage!

Thank you! That's exactly what cruisetimetables.com shows and I can relax knowing I don't have to search other sources for verification now. I haven't checked each of these dates yet but I will, and I'm nearly 100% sure this will jibe with the listing I mentioned above. Thanks for taking the time to post the entire remainder of the journey here for me. I appreciate you both! Sad that people cannot wear a mask when in a crowded theater when told they MUST.

You are welcome! I was very interested in seeing the ship head to the drydock and missed most of it, but was glad I caught the end of the journey. The ship is expected in Vancouver on April 13. Here is a map of her all set up in the same place that larger ship was in the photo earlier. Karen, that is great news! I'm glad the doctor has a more optimistic outlook now. Hopefully things work out so he can be moved to the local hospital. Good luck with the decision on the July 1 cruise. Worrisome having these things hanging over your head like that. Have a good rest of your day!

Vanessa, you have about 3 1/2 weeks then. We will surely miss you while on Celebrity Apex for your transatlantic! Time to start thinking of a replacement list keeper.🤔 Good luck with your biologic shot tomorrow and sorry to hear about the hand pain. Every day is a new place to start having problems anymore, it seems like. Too bad you couldn't get the PC working after all that work! They should. This is the perfect opportunity. I have never been on the Koningsdam so I can't comment on the ship but peeling seats doesn't sound ideal! Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser oh brother with those high temps next week! DGS Ren and DS are flying to Dallas either tomorrow afternoon or Thursday morning. Ren was invited to join the new FC Dallas team in a tournament there next week. But first he and his Dad have some business there. Checking out the school and talking with the counselor. The team has about 100 students who go to that high school and they have their own counselor. DS will probably be looking at apartments for Ren and Mom to live in near the practice facility and the school. DDIL may even decide to look for a job at a nearby University. She has held different positions at U of Michigan in the past. So things are coming along with Ren and DDIL's move down there around August 1. The tournament is Monday to Wednesday I think of next week, after school hours. Should be interesting and so nice of them to invite Ren down for it. But quite a shock for a Michigander to feel 90 degree temps in early April!

Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser thanks for your photos. The underwater ones are great even from a video. The fish are pretty cool. Amazing! I found a photo of the drydock in Portland, Vigor.

Just took a look at cruisemapper.com and see the Koningsdam getting into position at drydock in Portland Oregon right now. It's quite a distance from the ocean. See its journey?

I started keeping spreadsheets on our cruising back in 2013 because we were booking so many in one year, therefore I can tell you that in 2014 on Golden Princess we did a private tour in Moorea with Hiro tours. I don't remember the name Terry. The tour was set up on Cruise Critic with roll call member @gdynianka . The cost in 2014 was only $60pp! Lunch, snorkeling, rays and sharks, everything. I wonder what inflation has done to that price? We found out very quickly about Southern time when we moved to Georgia. So when they say 7:30 they really mean whenever I get there. LOL⏰ Very happy to hear the drain is unclogged. Did he say whether it was roots or what? Welcome to the Fleet Report and Daily! It really is a great way to start the day.

Thanks for the memes today Jacqui! Now "to h e l l in a handbasket" makes sense! Also love the smart car and smart phone one too! Good job getting the darn garage door opener battery changed. It's always something!

The donuts served on Volendam a couple of months ago were bought and frozen. They thawed some out for daily consumption in the Lido. I sure missed the homemade donuts on Princess ships' International Cafes especially custard filled ones topped with powdered sugar. Delicious! I hope I'm not being a nuisance, but could you list your ports and dates for this cruise on this thread? I am helping Rich post the Fleet Report and Daily and there seem to be some changes to the previously posted itinerary. I have your next port as Naha (Okinawa) on 3-30, for instance. Correct?

Hopefully not on the singed eyelashes!! See I read your recipes.😉 I concur with Terry @smitty34877. Hugs to you and your family. Prayers that your search for a good aide is short and they work out well for you. You have your hands full with all the medical appointments. {{{{hug}}}} Thank you very much for keeping up with all our "comings and goings" plus the health issues of everyone! How many days until your cruise?

Good luck with your sticken refrigerator. I hope something can be repaired. Here at my house we are having a roofing curse. This will be the third time trying to figure out the leak. Prayers for you, your DH and surgeon as he has his procedure today. Please do check in later.🙏 Thank you for the explanations of our days today, Graham. I guess there are a lot of things on sticks, not just bugs and ice cream bars. Yuck!! The key lime pie on a stick slathered in chocolate sounds good too! Oh no! I'm so glad you were traveling several days ahead of time so you can arrive on time. Safe travels! My 2.5 miles on the treadmill is finished and so is my breakfast. Time to get over to the gym for my leg exercises. Shoulder is being babied!

Good morning friends! It is a calm morning with no rain! Temp is 55 but may still drop a couple of degrees because the sun doesn't rise for 2 1/2 more hours. High will be around 72 but cloudy. Thanks to Rich @richwmn for the Fleet Report and Daily for this day. I had to switch Westerdam around since she seems to be following a different itinerary in Japan for some reason. We can check the "Live From" @Hlitner is doing to see if the new itinerary on cruisetimetables.com is correct or not. He's already mentioned 3 -31. I find today's quote a bit confusing but that may be the early hour. Hope some of you agree with it. The only thing I like on a stick is a chocolate covered ice cream bar. I don't eat corn dogs, and have seen some pretty scary bugs on a stick sold at street vendors in China. 😝 I totally do not appreciate Weed Appreciation Day! Neither kind! And here is a day for our Dailyites - Respect Your Cat Day! Go for it! 😁🐈 The meal suggestion is stuffed shells with Spinach and I know that is one many of you will like. I'm not a fan of either the drink or the wine. But let me thank Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for their reports on those important elements of the Daily. I appreciate the work Vanessa @JazzyV is doing on the Care and Celebration lists. A big help to Roy @rafinmd and myself. Prayers for all our Care list people, and the many others around the world in sad situations. Special prayers for the families of the 3 children and 3 adults killed in Nashville yesterday.🙏 Some people are clearly deranged. The entire community will mourn the loss of those special angels. As for the Celebration list, congratulations to all celebrating and cruising. We are cheering you on!🎉 I hope Ann and Pat @Vict0riann made all their flights yesterday along with their luggage. 🥂 Today there was a dilemma for me on the port of the day. Rich listed Papeete, Tahiti Islands and Moorea Island, Society Islands. I looked up both ports and decided to go with Moorea since we hadn't had it listed since April 23, 2021 and Papeete was in 2022. So today is now officially Moorea Island! I hope everyone will share their photos, and here is the link to help you retrieve them if you did that last time. We've been to Moorea twice, once on Golden Princess in 2014 and again on Maasdam in 2017. In 2014 we went on a private tour with a CC group. It involved a Polynesian BBQ, ray and shark feeding, sightseeing at a barrier reef, snorkeling, etc. The day after this we were scheduled on a tour with Patrick in Bora Bora so they were essentially the same description tours, but Patrick's was much better! Still, I can show you a few photos from Moorea. Arrival at the pier. Welcoming committee. Scenes along the way. Stingray feeding I was a little nervous watching this from the boat. I did go out when they spread out a little bit and that was fun, but when the sharks came I got back in the boat to watch. Arriving at the motu for the BarBQ. Not quite the same as Patrick's pig roast in a pit! The food and drink was good though, and after we ate you could take a little dip in the water to cool down. In 2017 on the Maasdam, we sailed from Papeete to Moorea in the early morning because they are only about 18 nautical miles apart. A beautiful sunshine-y day! When we reached shore on our tenders we were met with dancers and musicians, local foods and lots of jewelry. We stayed in town this day since we hadn't done that last visit. We bought a pair of black pearl earrings for me that day. We walked around the village and then peeped into the Ebenezer Church. It was Easter Sunday. And a look at a unique treat at dinner that night for Easter Sunday. Hoping all of you have a Tranquil Tuesday. Stay safe!

Today is Something on a Stick Day, Weed Appreciation Day, and Respect Your Cat Day The next time you have a thought... let it go. - Ron WhiteMeal Suggestion for today - Stuffed Shells With SpinachDrink of the Day - Black GoldWine of the Day - Blank Canvas Syrah Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Element 2019Destination of the Day - Moorea Island, Society Islands Eurodam Oranjestad Aruba, Netherlands Antilles 14:00 - 23:59 Koningsdam At Sea Heading for Dry Dock Portland, OR Nieuw Amsterdam Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos 0800-1600 Nieuw Statendam Oranjestad Aruba, Netherlands Antilles 14:00 - 23:59 Oosterdam Pisco, Puerto General San Martin, Peru 06:00 - 17:00 Rotterdam Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 0900-1500 Volendam San Juan, Puerto Rico 0800-2300 Zaandam Loreto, Baja California Mexico 10:00 - 23:00 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Banjul, Gambia eta 3-29Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Wellington, New Zealand 07:00 - 19:00 Westerdam At Sea Destination Naha, Okinawa, Japan eta 3-30 Sandi for Rich and Roy

We take our own hole punch in a inside pocket of a large checked bag. As long as you avoid the bar code side you should be fine.

Hi all! It's been a long while since I posted early this morning. Time to wrap things up. In our neck of the woods, we heard in an email of a fire in the middle of the night on the far north edge of our development. The homeowners heard their smoke detector but didn't smell anything, so they checked outside and their roof was on fire. I'm thinking, during a thunderstorm? But maybe we were between the raindrops and thank goodness they checked! Homeowner thinks it was caused by lightning. Years ago in another city we had a home in our neighborhood burn down due to lightning. It was replaced by a duplicate (beautiful home), and that second one had lightning rods installed on the roof. In 2014 a house on the corner down the street from us burned down due to an electrical fire. It was less than 2 years old. Enough about fires. The storms have stopped. The lake on the fairway out back doesn't seem to be getting smaller so we're wondering how the golf club will handle it. Could take a week to disappear. A new water hazard! In other news, a year ago we had a roofer come repair what seemed to be a problem with flashing in a valley of our roof where the front porch roof meets the main roof structure. Well, it is leaking again! We called and he will come out late tomorrow afternoon to check on it. I'm not happy about it. This will require a good primer and repainting the ceiling in our living room. I should make the roofer pay for the repainting since he guaranteed it would never leak again.😡 For those who asked, my shoulder and back, plus arm are better today, but it has given me some discomfort off and on. I hope it continues to improve. If I go to the gym in the morning there will be no arm/shoulder exercises done. Just legs. Graham @grapau27 I hope the knee injections next week work well and good luck with the hip referral at the hospital.🙏 Lorraine @cruising sister I hope you, DSIL, and DN have a good trip to Tucson next weekend. Very kind of you to worry about their well being while you have plenty of your own issues to deal with. 😇 Thanks to Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser and Carolyn @Cruising-along (and anyone I forgot) for the super pictures of beautiful Quebec City today.👍 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for the lists today. I can't believe you slept until 9 am!! Must have been fascinating programs you stayed up to watch. Debbie @dfish good luck with that plumbing problem. What a nuisance, huh? And thanks for your photo of Quebec. Gerry @ger_77 I wouldn't mind showing up for dinner sometime too, but we are also over 2000 miles away. I'll let you know next time we're in the neighborhood though.😁 @RedneckBob I hope you have a fenced yard to keep future Josephine's out! That would be my biggest worry if I lived in your area. @Dismomx5 I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your grandpuppy. Very sad for everyone I'm sure. Regarding the washer/dryer discussion, Terri @Cruzin Terri what did you decide to buy? My kids both have front loaders and try to remember to keep the door ajar on the washer. I've read the rubber seal has to be carefully cleaned to prevent mold and mildew issues. When we bought a new washer and dryer 6 years ago I read all the reviews and saw the foreign made front loaders lasted about 6 years, so we went with a top loader from Speed Queen, a commercial brand appliance manufacturer in the U.S. They have the longest warranty, and are expected to easily last 25 years. I figured I'd be gone by then! 😬 Annie @marshhawk I put my HAL card on a lanyard. Then I can either wear it around the neck, or put it in my woven bag from Chile and it's easier to find with the lanyard on it. I carry the Chilean bag during the daytime hours. In the evening I use a small shoulder bag for dinner, or let DH carry it in his pocket. I hope you and DH's appointments and testing go well. I don't know what to say about him trying to schedule cosmetic surgery when you have more pressing matters to take care of! Does he have a short memory?? Sleep well everyone and see you tomorrow!

Bon Voyage! Enjoy your special cruise.

Good morning friends! We have gone through round after round of thunderstorms, lightning, thunder and even hail since yesterday morning. We just had another big crashing storm and I was wondering if I would have power to post this morning but so far we've done okay with that. The temp is 62 with a high today expected of 77 and you guessed it, thunderstorms! I am so sorry to see all the devastation wrought by tornadoes the past couple of days. Those F4 and F3 winds decimated people's homes and businesses, but most of all there has been a large loss of life in our southern states. Prayers for all of them and their families and friends.🙏 While I'm at it, let's not forget our Daily friends on our Care list and hopefully there will be improvement made and successful surgeries. Today we have three varied days to celebrate. National "Joe" Day, World Theatre Day, and National Scribble Day. I can't say that I know any (or many) Joes, Joeys or Josephs but to all of your Joes, have a great celebration of that name. When are our names going to have their own day? I'd better look into that! Three cheers for theatre (or theater) all around the world. The arts are very important. And finally what my handwriting has turned into - scribble. I'm sure some of you can sympathize! And another J. K. Rowling quote to ponder. I'm sure she's right about numbing the pain. My shoulder and upper back were in terrible pain yesterday but so far this morning I'm doing all right so hope that holds for the remainder of the day. We also want to hear all about the sweet and sour meatball recipes Debbie @dfish finds for us. The photos will entice some of us to try one of those wonderful recipes. Cruzan Colada and Sterling Merlot sound interesting and will be popular with many. I'm not a red wine fan so you can have mine. Having already mentioned those we hold in prayer, we want to also congratulate the Celebration list people. Hope everyone on a cruise or traveling to one (Ann and Pat @Vict0riann that would be you!), are having a safe, enjoyable, smooth time. Congrats also to those with other happy news. I heard DGS Ren's Jaguars had a very successful weekend on the soccer field so three cheers for them.⚽🎉 Today's destination is the lovely Quebec City, Canada and I can tell you we had lots of photos posted the last two times we had it listed here. That would be on October 9, 2021 and January 23, 2022. Here are the links to those dates for you to grab your photos and repost today. As I said, today's port is a beauty. I was there twice in 2018, in August on Seabourn Quest (Reykjavik to Montreal) and in October on Rotterdam for the Montreal to Tampa final NE cruise of the season. A beautiful city and a lovely time spent each day! In looking at my photos, I see that in October, 2018 they were having a marathon on the city streets when we got off the Rotterdam. Near the Fairmont hotel was this colorful building housing restaurants and shops. An artist selling prints here. The U. S. Consulate General offices. While visiting in Quebec on Aug. 29, 2018 on Seabourn Quest there were two security officers standing across the street chatting, so we stopped and had a nice conversation with them. Unfortunately this day in October they were nowhere to be seen. The final picture was taken about 6:20 am on Aug. 29, 2018 as the Quest pulled up to the dock in Quebec City. The sun was rising and shining on the Fairmont. I love the color of the brick with the lighting early in the morning. Hoping all of you have a Memorable Monday!