StLouisCruisers

Bon Voyage to our CC friends (and Dailyites)! Have a great time.😎

Extra prayers for you Jacqui! And love the memes!

Thanks everybody for your patience this morning. That goes for my DH too who always waits for me to finish the treadmill before he does his workout. I tried and tried to get logged into Cruise Critic to post and it went on for what felt like forever. Then it went off line again before my second post! Arrgghh! Hope our problems are over for today. I have a birthday to celebrate today and that is for my granddog Sadie. She is one year old so happy birthday Sadie!🎈 Yes, she's the one who started out with reddish-brown fur! I hardly recognize her somtimes with her lighter fur. She looks a lot like the late Gracie did except Sadie seems to have a lot more energy than Gracie did. Tomorrow, March 23, is National Puppy Day so get your photos ready Dailyites! I will show you both Sadie and her half brother Milo who is nearly 3 months old in a post tomorrow. What a pair!

Good morning friends! I am very late (for me) this morning because Cruise Critic would not allow logging in to post. I wasted almost an hour on that before it worked again. Here in north central Georgia we have a seemingly warm 41F. It will rise to 71 and be sunny again today. Yay! Our days today are interesting. I don't feel very young these days and am working at trying to get my joints and muscles in better shape through exercise. If it works I will call it the fountain of youth! National Goof Off Day is what Cruise Critic was doing this morning. Taking the day off! If I could sing I would but I'm not the best at it. A good quote by Churchill, an interesting sounding menu suggestion, a drink I will pass on, and another red wine. Most of you will like the Cabernet Sauvignon. 🍷 Prayers today for our Care list (thanks Vanessa @JazzyV!). It is long and unfortunately some of you had bad experiences at the doctor's offices yesterday. Prayers for Annie @marshhawk and Ann and Pat @Vict0riann. 🙏 We also want to say some extra prayers for Debbie @dfish and her surgeon today as she has her surgery in a little while. Congratulations to those on the Celebration list. 🥂 Smooth sailing on those cruises!🚢 Jacqui @kazu good luck at your arm check today! Thanks to our Food and Beverage Department. They are the best! The port today is a great one - Alicante, Spain! It was last port of the day on July 23, 2021 and I have listed the link for you if you need to grab those photos for us. Thanks in advance! My photos are below also. We love the port of Alicante, Spain and have seen it 3 times. We first visited it in 2012 on the Crown Princess. A favorite spot to visit is the Castillo de Santa Barbara on the top of the hill. You can't miss it. The first time we walked up the hill. Our second visit was on the Westerdam in 2017 and we tried going up in the elevator they have but it was having technical problems so we passed. The third visit was on the Prinsendam in 2019, and we did take the elevator that day. Here's a photo of us at the top in 2012. A 2017 photo, when we couldn't get up there, but you can see the fortress at the top of the hill behind me. Also Alicante is known for those beautiful mosaic type walkways. In 2019, a view of the beach as we headed to the fortress elevator. Entrance to the elevator. Also in 2019 a view of the Prinsendam with a fortress cannon. View of the city from the top of the hillside. We love visiting Alicante and are always happy to have it on the itinerary. I hope to be back there in the future. Always hopeful!! Hope everyone has a Wondrous Wednesday! Good thoughts for Debbie, Jacqui, Annie, and Ann.

Today is As Young As You Feel Day, National Goof Off Day, and National Sing Out Day Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.--Winston S. ChurchillMeal Suggestion for today - Greek Sausage Pita PizzasDrink of the Day - Honey ToddyWine of the Day - M by Michael Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California 2014Destination of the Day - Alicante, Spain Eurodam Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 06:30 - 16:00 Koningsdam At Sea Destination San Diego, California eta 3-25 Nieuw Amsterdam Puerto Plata/Amber Cove, Dominican Republic 0700-1800 Nieuw Statendam Falmouth, Jamaica 08:00 - 17:00 Oosterdam Puerto Montt, Chile 08:00 - 17:00 Rotterdam Castries, St Lucia 0800-1600 Volendam Basseterre, St. Kitts 0800-1600 Zaandam Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico Riviera 08:00 - 17:00 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Takoradi, Ghana eta 3-25Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Tauranga, Rotorua, New Zealand 08:00 - 20:00 Westerdam Busan, Korea 08:00 - 17:00 Sandi for Rich and Roy Excuse the delay - Cruisecritic posting issues this morning

It really shouldn't be this hard to communicate with HAL's website, especially trying to give them money!

Billing issues are infuriating! At the end of 2022 we were fighting with our doctor's office who had billed my insurance for my leg ultrasound last July. Only problem was they didn't do my ultrasound, the imaging business a block away did (not affilitated to the doctor's office). My insurance paid the doctor's office and when the bill from the actual imaging center came in they denied it. Over and over again! We called everybody from A to Z, wrote letters, had conference calls with our insurance company and the doctor's office. It's taken a very long time to convince billing departments to do what they were supposed to have done in the first place. One memory of being in Midland Hospital in 1974 is walking out of my room and to the big window at the end of the hallway. Beautiful view of the wooded landscape around the hospital. There was a light snow and deer prints on what was the first day of deer hunting season. I was rooting for the deer, not the hunters!

Debbie, I hope you get a good time slot for your surgery and all goes smoothly. I have a question about your hospital. In 1973-74 I worked at what was then called Midland Hospital Center in the hospital administrator's office and I believe the location was on Orchard Drive. My son was born there in Nov. 1974. Is this the same hospital you will be going to? I'm sure it's huge compared to then. It was a nice small hospital back in those days.

Good morning friends! Thank you Rich @richwmn for our Fleet Report and Daily for March 21st. Here it is 32F with a high of 60 expected and mostly sunny today. For our days we have Credit Card Reduction Day. That could mean we should cut down on the number of cards we have or maybe cut down on the balance people carry from month to month. Both are a good thing to think about. Then Fragrance Day which I rarely wear one. And World Poetry Day, a worthwhile day of celebration. I would probably skip the menu suggestion and thank Tina @0106 for her help with the recipes today. I would say no thanks to the drink and the chardonnay. Our appreciation to Vanessa @JazzyV for the Care and Celebration lists. Prayers for everyone on our list and especially to Debbie @dfish and Carol @mamaofami in the lead up to their surgeries. 🙏 Hope Terri @Cruzin Terri has a safe trip to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Congratulations to those celebrating happy events, and of course our cruisers. 🥂🚢 The port of the day is Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Many of us have enjoyed our visits there. I've only been there once but would enjoy another try at it. It was posted here twice before on Sept. 16, 2021 and June 26, 2022. Here are the links to those dates for your convenience posting your photos. If you've never posted any before and have some feel free to add to the mix today. Thanks in advance for all who do. We were able to visit Cairns on October 29, 2017 on Sun Princess. We enjoyed a walk around town, then I went on a tour of Kuranda, a picturesque village in the rainforest followed by a train ride through the Barron Gorge National Park. Arriving on the Sun Princess. A sunny day of course! A few photos around town. It was pretty warm there for sure. We walked through a farmer's market area. I won't show the dozen photos of lovely fruits and veggies. Next we walked by an arena. DH continued the walk while I left on my Kuranda and Barron Gorge tour. Here is a local pool. Very nice facilities. Then he walked on the Esplanade past the small boat marina to the ship. Meanwhile I arrived by bus tour at Kuranda, the rainforest village. There you could go through the butterfly sanctuary... or Birdworld... or go shopping... I'm not sure what you use the alligator heads for... I ran into CC friends Eileen and Clive who ran their own tour company. They were guiding a group that day. In case you've ever wondered how to spell didjeridu... Next is the train ride through Barron Gorge National Park. This is the interior of a rail car on the Kuranda railway. And here is the outside of the train... Our first stop was at Barron Falls... But due to little rainfall beforehand the falls were pretty sparse... But we all enjoyed the stop anyway... Unfortunately, this was my view from my appointed seat in the railcar... At this point I'd had enough of being inside so I stepped between the two rail cars to take photos out the left and right side. You had to be very careful though. This is the view at my feet. The metal plates can rotate a little so you had to keep your feet out of the way. Sometimes all I had to see were trees, but other times I saw things like this... Or this on my right... Eventually on the flat land... At the end we stopped at Freshwater Station, where we got off. Back on the bus for our ride back to the ship. It was a fun day and I'm glad I went. These days DH doesn't go on every tour with me as he prefers to relax on the ship. It works for us to split up for a few hours so I can see what's around our ports of call. Sorry there are so many photos! Hoping all of you have a Tremendous Tuesday!

Today is Credit Card Reduction Day, Fragrance Day, and World Poetry Day The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. - Henry David ThoreauMeal Suggestion for today - Crab-Topped Tomato SlicesDrink of the Day - Fire AppleWine of the Day - Mimi Chardonnay, Washington StateDestination of the Day - Cairns, Queensland, Australia Eurodam Panama Canal 05:00 - 05:00 Koningsdam At Sea Destination San Diego, California eta 3-25 Nieuw Amsterdam At Sea destination Puerto Plata/Amber Cove, Dominican Republic eta 3-22 Nieuw Statendam Grand Cayman Island, George Town Harbour 09:00 - 18:00 Oosterdam At Sea Destination Puerto Montt, Chile eta 3-22 Rotterdam Philipsburg, St. Maarten 0800-1600 Volendam St Thomas, US Virgin Islands 0800-1700 Zaandam Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico Riviera 08:00 - 21:00 Zuiderdam Luanda, Angola 08:00 - 17:00Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Napier, New Zealand 08:00 - 14:00 Westerdam Sakaiminato-Matsue, Japan Tottori 08:00 - 17:00 Sandi for Rich and Roy

Thank you for letting us know. Sorry to hear abou the rough seas and weather problems there.

I'm hearing so much about the chaos in Miami with the spring break kids and it must be worrisome for parents and grandparents that have college age students. Last week I saw an Instagram post by our only college aged grandchild from her spring break location. Lake Oconee, Georgia! She attends college in Tampa so she and her group of friends left Florida to get away from it all. Last week the weather turned cold in our state so I suppose there wasn't any swimming, but photos showed them using a hot tub, fire pit, hammocks, hikes in the woods, and a lovely view of the lake from the porch. Someone even brought their dog along and it seemed to be enjoying the vacation with everyone giving it plenty of attention. And best of all, no crowds!😎 I just checked to see if I'd hit the 10,000th post because I knew I was close, but just found out this is the one! Yay! I should have an extra glass of wine tonight!😁

Paul, what sad news today about Junior Cat. Sasha was very lucky you rescued her and that she had such a wonderful life living with you these past many years. My condolences on the loss of Sasha.🌈

No self service laundries on Holland America ships anymore.

Bon Voyage! Thankfully I see no Russian ports on this cruise anymore.🚢

Good morning friends! Wow, it's a cold one this morning! It's 26F, but will be 53 and sunny later today. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day but extremely nippy with a brisk northwesterly wind. I could hear the noise of the Nascar racing going on at Atlanta Motor Speedway (actually in Hampton, Georgia not Atlanta) by sticking my head out the back door and listening. Much too cold! My DB likes Nascar and was watching so we were WhatsApping back and forth about the race as it happened. Twin is in the Smoky Mountains on a spring break trip with her DH, and her widowed daughter and grandkids. (Amy is the one who lost Buddy last summer to cancer). Anyway, twin was watching and chiming in too. It was an interesting late afternoon activity and something we hadn't done before. 🥰 Thank you Rich @richwmnfor our first day of spring Daily and Fleet Report. You wouldn't know it by the temperatures! It's also Extraterrestrial Abduction Day which I think I will try to avoid! International Day of Happiness sounds much better as well as International Earth Day. I don't know what saag paneer is but I'm sure our food editor will clue us in. I will probably turn down the punch drink and have no idea what the wine is like. The ladies will surely educate us on them. Thanks to all of you for your help! Prayers for the Care list this morning. Also to all around the world suffering from the weather, war, or natural and unnatural disasters. 🙏 Three cheers to all who are on the Celebration list. Hope the cruises are going smoothly and everyone is enjoying. This week Joy and Allen are heading toward San Diego and I've noticed how slowly time seems to be passing by as they sail towards "home". I'm sure Joy is keeping things hopping onboard the Koningsdam.🎉🥂 Port of the Day is Geraldton, Western Australia. This one was not listed on my circumnavigation of Australia cruise and therefore we have not been there before. Here are the links to the last two times it was our special port, so if you have photos please do print them here for all to see. Let's make today a Miraculous Monday everyone! Stay safe and healthy. I'm doing my part on the treadmill shortly. Take care!

Today is Extraterrestrial Abductions Day, International Day of Happiness, and International Earth Day Who cares about great marks left behind? We have one life... just one. Our life. We have nothing else. - Ugo BettiMeal Suggestion for today - Saag PaneerDrink of the Day - Cruzan 9 PunchWine of the Day - Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2019Destination of the Day - Geraldton, Western Australia Eurodam Cartagena Colombia 07:00 - 13:00 Koningsdam At Sea Destination San Diego, California eta 3-25 Nieuw Amsterdam Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 0800-1500 Nieuw Statendam At Sea Destination Grand Cayman Island, George Town Harbour eta 3-21 Oosterdam At Sea Destination Puerto Montt, Chile eta 3-22 Rotterdam At Sea destination Philipsburg, St. Maarten eta 21 Mar Volendam At Sea destination St Thomas, US Virgin Islands eta 21 Mar Zaandam At Sea Destination Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico Riviera eta 3-21 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Luanda, Angola eta 3-21Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Wellington, New Zealand 07:00 - 16:00 Westerdam Tsuruga, Japan Fukui 08:00 - 17:00 Sandi for Rich and Roy

I'm happy to see several people here have been to Port Douglas! Thanks all for your photos! I just thought we should have another option since we had just posted Penneshaw's photos on Tuesday. Lord, the alligators and jellyfish are quite a problem! I'm glad I didn't run into any gators! And no wonder I don't see many photos of swimmers at that beach. Haha! Good news about Tina @0106 standing in for you Debbie. Happy birthday to all the DD Dads today, and nice that they all had a great sense of humor.😇😇😇

Checking in

For us it's about a week. Yours should be there by now.

Bon Voyage!!

Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser thanks for your photos taken from your Cairns visit. The Four Mile Beach looks great from that scenic view point. However, the Bally Hooley Scenic Railway is a different one from the Kuranda Scenic Railway. The passenger cars are totally different. The Port Douglas train only went from the Marina to St. Crispins Lake and Mossman not a long distance like the Kuranda Scenic Railway does. I rode on the Kuranda Scenic Railway from Kuranda and back to the Freshwater station on the outskirts of Cairns. I have read that two of the steam locomotives in Port Douglas have recently undergone renovation to be used as a restaurant. I'm not sure why one of the Bally Hooley engines was on dispay at the Kuranda Railway site but like you said, that was in 2002. This recent Tripadvisor review explains a bit about what's going on there. Nov 2022 I was curious about the two old steam engines parked adjacent the marina. It seems that the engines, Nelson and Speedy and their carriages have arrived at their final destination. In their heyday, both engines transported freight and passengers from the sugar-cane mills before becoming a tourist ride between Mossman and Port Douglas and later, St Crispins and the Marina. Like many other businesses across the country, Covid interfered and now the carriages have been repurposed as dining carriages at Choo Choo's. Still worth a look if nostalgic for the age of steam.

Thank you for posting the photos. They're great! Looks like a beautiful spot and I love the seals. What a shame your beach day has to be rainy. I looked at the Weather Channel and it says the rain will stop by 1 pm but since the ship is only there until 3 that's not much time. I hope you can find somewhere on the ship to enjoy your day.

Debbie, those look absolutely delicious! And they look "pretty" too. I agree that that second from the last could use more sauce. Need to go and take a closer look at the recipes. Thanks for finding these yummy lasagna roll ups.

Hi Nancy, it's good to hear you were able to get off the ship early and get your truck at the Hyatt Place. I didn't know you parked it there the whole time you were gone. That's where we stayed and parked our car for 8 nights while we took a quick cruise in February. I can imagine how dirty and dusty it was after all that time! We only had a week of debris on the car. The car wash was a practical idea. I understand about the traffic on the turnpike but I bet yours was even worse than we had in February. Enjoy your time with your friends in the Villages, and I wish you a safe drive home starting tomorrow. DH asks if your truck battery was dead. You didn't say anything about it so I told him you probably disconnected it. Am I right or wrong?😉