StLouisCruisers

We enjoyed our cruise on Volendam in November and December. The ship seems in great shape and the crew was wonderful.

Paul, is that like the mimeograph? I don't remember scraping the wax off anything. In 1968 and '69 Proctor and Gamble used mimeograph machines to print charts and lists for office usage. We had file cabinets full of them and someone would send a request down to the office asking for 100 more copies or whichever amount needed. We would take the appropriate stencil out of its folder in the file cabinet and run off copies. Sometimes the stencils needed retyped because they wore out, or sometimes someone would ask you to type up a new stencil for a completely different and new chart. We used a liquid on errors - you dotted it on, waited for it to dry then typed the correction. You also didn't use the typewriter ribbon on the stencil, it had to be shifted out of the way. Here is an explanation of the process. https://www.britannica.com/technology/mimeograph Thank goodness the copy machine came into existence, which was referred to as a Xerox copy after the company who produced the machines. So much has changed over these decades! Roy, happy to hear you are up in a chair this morning. And good news about the passport shipping! Hoping this day is a good one for you.

Thanks for that info. I just looked up the NCL Getaway on the webcam. It looks cold! BTW, @kochleffel's name is Paul so I would think a male. @GTVCRUISERthat's a beautiful photo. Do you take all the photos of San Diego you post? I would think so since you live there, but you have to get up awfully early for the sunrises.

Please excuse any typos from earlier this morning because I can't fix them now. I was a typist in my early years so should be a better proofreader. Anyone remember when we had to type letters on our electric typewriters with carbon paper to make copies? If you made a mistake it was quite a production to erase them. Thank goodness those days are over, and it was an electric typewriter and not a manual one.📝 Jacqui @kazugood luck today with the X-rays and I hope you get the cast! Nancy @ottahand7I hope the weather clears for you and the other Volendam passengers. Thank you for your photos and for checking in. Also liked the port of the day photos. Bruce @aliaschiefgreat photos of the Cancun sunrise! Beautiful colors! Edi @NextOneI echo Graham's thoughts. Happy Heavenly birthday to your late DH. I hope you and your son enjoy the memories at dinner tonight. Terry @smitty34877what a shame that Tana is now having GI problems, but I know if I have antibiotics it causes problems with the GI system too. I hope she is better today and you both get more sleep tonight. Eva @superomathe news today from Roy is distressing. That breathing part is scary I'm sure! I hope they can do something to help you Roy. We're pulling for you! Thank you Eva for conveying the message. Debbie @dfishnot good news about your congestion and not feeling well this morning. I'm glad it's not Covid, and hope you improve as the day goes on. Funny how we always worry our sickness is Covid first these days. We used to just say I have a cold, or I have a flu bug, now it's Covid. Check in later to let us know how you're doing. Jake @Crazy For Catsgreat news the polyps from DH were negative! Marcia @dobiemomthanks for the info on your upcoming cruise. I'll put you on the countdown list! I found your cruise on your signature NCL Encore Feb. 5. Hope you have an easy trip to Miami. As I reported in the Celebrations today, my neighbor Rudy had 5 X bypass surgery yesterday. Would that be quintuple bypass? Anyway his DW says he hopes to be home by the weekend. Cheers for Rudy! He's a very nice southern gentleman and he loves to garden so he helps with our Community Garden. We want him back out digging in the soil by springtime.

Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit! Good morning friends on this first day of February. I hope saying those words will help make this month a safe month for me, and everyone who pronounces them. Today is going to be cloudy, it's 56 now and will only rise to 61F. Not too bad and better than most I would bet. Wow, today is Freedom Day which everyone wants to celebrate. I treasure mine. I wish every day was No Politics Day but that won't happen! And Spunky Old Broads Day is just for fun so let's enjoy! The quote is interesting. No thanks to the Cod, the so called martini and the red wine though DH would like it. The port is General San Martin, Peru the port for Pisco. I stopped at the former but not the latter so I hope someone has photos of Pisco. You won't see much at Puerto General San Martin, but I will show you what I did there in 2015. The link to the first time we had this port here is below, and the date of that was Sept. 25, 2021. Feel free to search for your photos. Well, I hope Roy @rafinmd is feeling much better this morning and got some rest overnight. The nurses coming in during the night and the sounds of a hospital make that difficult. I hope that Roy is home soon where he can recover in peace. We have some people on our Care list to pray for and hope for improvement there. 🙏 I'll do that while on the treadmill. I especially want to pray for Roy, Jacqui, Tana, Kathi (no word yet on her that I've seen), the people of Ukraine, and anyone in the midst of winter storms which are so dangerous. We also have some people on the Celebration list with exciting cruises to plan for and the rest are enjoying one! Three cheers for all of you!🥂 I texted DS last night. He said Monday night he drove from the Dallas airport to their airbnb which was about 30 to 35 miles, but there was black ice on some of the roads. Luckily there was little traffic as everyone stayed home. He said he drove very cautiously. Yesterday practice was called off for the MLS team, but the scout did agree to train the out of town boys for about 75 minutes which was appreciated. DS said the roads weren't as bad in the afternoon. Don't know what will happen today. Last I heard one of the boys was enjoying the hot tub outside on the snowy/icy patio! Here is the link to Rich's @richwmnpost from Sept. 25, 2021 for General San Martin, Peru (Pisco). I remember General San Martin, Peru on our 2015 South America Cruise on Ruby Princess. I've never seen a more dismal docking spot! We didn't make plans to go to Pisco since DH was suffering from a total body rash due to his allergy to the more exotic mushrooms he had consumed at dinner. So instead I paid a small fee for a ship shuttle bus to the village of Paracas. Some new friends I met on the ship went with me. Here's the port of General San Martin, left to right. So unless you plan on staying on the ship all day, you have to plan something away from the port because you can't get off and walk around the town like we love to do. The bus ride takes maybe 20-25 minutes to reach Paracas. This is the scenery along the way. There's a nice visitor center. Once outside you see a lot of fishing boats. There are plenty of places to eat and drink. Lots of shopping too. A friendly pelican Edited to add, in the background you can see the Ruby Princess on the opposite side of the "bay". Interesting art displays Not just the ship passengers here, the locals enjoyed their free time here too. Driving back to the ship, along the road is the entrance to the Paracas National Reserve, which protects the desert and marine ecosystems here. This was my day in General San Martin. I'll be interested in seeing pictures from those who visited Piscto.

Some improvement today in the Care list length and I'm happy to say some additons to the Celebrations! Today’s care list: Tyre Nichols funeral 2/1 RIP Roy in hospital with pneumonia and low sodium Luvteaching DH in hospital making progress Kazu awaiting bone clinic visit & X-rays From the rotation: HAL Sailer DSIL in final days and family squabbles Status of Scrapnana Status of St. Louis Sal (7/1) and JAM37 (7/7) Celebrations and Shoutouts: Successful bypass (5X) surgery for Rudy Aliaschief in Cancun until 2/14? Redneck Bob leaving Vegas Sarah feeling great after injections Welcome home Cruzn single, DeenieEncinitas, Sailingdutchy and Norseh2o 3 days for 0106 (Rotterdam 2/4 to 2/15) 6 days for Cruzin Terri (Oceania Sirena 2/7 to 2/19) 6 days for Norseh2o (Oceania Marina 2/7 to 4/6) Kochleffel (Norwegian Getaway to 2/6), Cruising sister (Disney Dream to 2/4), Lindaler and Ottahand7 (Volendam to 3/18), and Cat in My Lap, Gail&Marty, Richwmn and HorizonChaser1957 (Zuiderdam to 5/12) at sea

Today is National Freedom Day, No Politics Day, and Spunky Old Broads Day Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.--Veronica Roth, DivergentMeal Suggestion for today - Miso Butter CodDrink of the Day - Pina Colada MartiniWine of the Day - Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2018Destination of the Day - Pisco, Puerto General San Martin, Peru Eurodam Panama Canal 05:00 - 05:00 Koningsdam At Sea Destination Nawiliwili, Lihue, Kauai Island, Hawaii eta 2-06 Nieuw Amsterdam At Sea Destination San Juan, Puerto Rico eta 2-02 Nieuw Statendam St John Island USVI, Cruz Bay, US Virgin Islands 08:00 - 15:30 Oosterdam Buenos Aires, Argentina 08:00 Rotterdam At Sea Destination Ocho Rios, Jamaica eta 2-02 Volendam At Sea Destination Port Stanley, East Falkland Island eta 2-06 Edited by Sandi At Sea Destination Dallmann Bay, Antarctica 2-01 Zaandam At Sea Destination Half Moon Cay, Bahamas eta 2-03Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Timaru, New Zealand 10:00 - 20:00 Westerdam Drydock Malaysia until 2/2 Zuiderdam Auckland, New Zealand 07:00 - 17:00 Sandi for Roy and Rich

Graham, it's late! What are you doing up this late?

Welcome home from Hawaii! Your Oceania cruise sounds wonderful! Enjoy, and check in every once in a while if you can. And bon voyage!! Very good to hear, Bruce! Enjoy your two weeks in the sun. Looks like a nice meal this evening for you too, @kochleffel. (sorry I don't know your name) Have a wonderful cruise to Bermuda and enjoy the balcony. Very exciting news about Sarah Graham. Tell her we're all relieved she's up on her feet dining out now.

Very helpful, I agree.

Our medallions worked fine except after 30 days and we had the battery changed out in them. That sounds reasonable to me. We tested food delivery service on them early on by requesting a piece of chocolate cake and a few chocolate chip cookies be delivered to us in Wheelhouse Bar one evening. 10 or 15 minutes later our goodies arrived at our sofa near the bar. Once we were put in quarantine for Covid we ordered food all the time on the Medallion. I also liked the locate your shipmate (DH) option but that wasn't a problem while we were both stuck in our quarantine cabin!

Oh no! Let us know when you arrive safely, and yes we can wait until tomorrow. Hope you get there soon! Graham is pretty darn good at keeping his promises to Pauline!

In the past Graham has mentioned two reasons why he doesn't discuss being away from home until his return. One is Pauline prefers he not discuss it and two is insurance companies request homeowners not broadcast their home is vacant. We should probably honor his wishes, even if we are curious!🤔

I would be on the phone trying to get through. I didn't get a reply yesterday morning to a message I left on my TA's phone, so I called back in late afternoon and her associate handled things for me. I hate when they don't get back when you say you need to talk today (make a payment)! First time using this TA. The one I used before this would email me back immediately 7 days a week but she's retiring.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've read "one and done" from our Florida friend!😂 We have 50 cruises with Princess so they must do something right. I also enjoy HAL tremendously. You need to have an open mind. Waiting now to get my slap down...

Thanks for that update Karen. I was just coming here to ask you about your DH's progress. Any idea how long he will be hospitalized?

We haven't seen a HAL survey yet but just now received one from Princess wanting our opinion on cruise destinations. DH said he'd take a look at it and offer his viewpoints. Would enjoy seeing what HAL would like our views on though.

Linda, nice to hear from you this morning. I hope the Grand Voyage is everything you expected and more! Thanks Roy. Should have said Drake Passage but I guess it really could be considered a strait. I looked up the location of Dallmann Bay and even found a map. It's near Gerlache Strait. Lower left corner of the map between the two larger islands. I'm guessing a nice hotel or resort someplace. Maybe Lake District which wouldn't be too, too far from Sarah. It sounds like a good investment for you. Good luck with that shoulder surgery when the time comes. Would Fawn act the way she does if she had an ear infection, or a bad case of ear mites? That would make me miserable for sure. And I agree Graham's @grapau27food pics look delicious. Hope they're having a great time! So sorry to hear of DSIL's new Covid diagnosis. Hopefully Sue won't come down with it too. And that's a lovely photo she took. Thanks for sharing. Joy, glad you're feeling better this morning. It didn't sound like much fun! And how nice you had friends come by while gone to keep Allen company and they brought food for you two. Sorry about your weather there. DS is not happy this morning because they told him they wouldn't be cancelling any practices, but they did already this morning. If they cancel all week it will be a wasted trip. Fingers crossed for the guys and the folks in the area struggling with the weather. Vanessa, when you're falling asleep at 2 a.m., I'm waking up and staying mostly awake for the remainder of the night. What is wrong with us? 🤷‍♀️ Hope you don't have to drive in or shovel the snow, and it melts quickly. Charlene, I agree the 14 day Alaska cruise is a great one. That's when we visited Kodiak, too. As for company, I bet you get lots of people who want to visit Florida during the winter and spring break. Hope you have enough guest rooms. Sorry to hear about the puppy dumping. Very sad especially in cold weather. People can be so mean! My wonderful DH is my accountant (Lol) and got everything put together and sent in to Federal and State last week. I don't know what I'd do without him. Thanks for all the photos posted today. They're all great! And I'd also like to welcome @Nodakboiler to the Daily. It's always nice to see who is lurking out there afraid to pop in. We're pretty harmless!😇

Good morning friends! Ahh, I see Roy is up early. I hope you got some sleep last night. Probably about as much as I did as I wake up off and on all night long. I will be waiting for further news from you today and hope it is all good! It's quite foggy outside and about 50 degrees. We're not expecting much in the way of weather today so nothing great to talk about there. As for the Daily today we have several interesting days to celebrate. Backward Day. I'll have to think of how to celebrate that. Maybe wear something backwards? Doesn't sound too comfortable. Inspire your heart with art. I'm not a great artist but appreciate those who are. And finally national plan for vacation day. Maybe I'll look for some shore excursions for my summer cruise on Zaandam. The quote by Seuss is very popular and rightly so. I wouldn't eat the menu suggestion but DH likes clam chowder. The drink and wine would be a no from me. Today we have Kodiak, Alaska as our port. It was here twice before on Dec. 5, 2021 and July 18, 2022. I was busy at a soccer tournament in Dec. 2021 so didn't get any real pictures posted but there were plenty from all of you, so here are the links to those dates so you can all post them again today. And thank you in advance for the photos you do post because we all enjoy them. Here is the one photo I posted on July 18, 2022, and why. Kodiak, Alaska was our port last Dec. 5, 2021 and in looking back I posted one photo late in the day of a darling baby otter we saw. We had driven home from Orlando on Dec. 5 after the raucous youth soccer nationals down there, which besides July heat may be a good reason we are not down there this week for the nationals. Too stressful. Therefore I didn't post a whole large batch of photos of Kodiak. Prayers for all those listed on our Care list today. In addition we can always say a prayer for the people of Ukraine who are still fighting for their lives and country. I'm hoping and praying my neighbor Rudy and his surgeons have a very good day during and after his bypass surgery. It's been a week since his heart attack but they had such a busy schedule he had to wait this long! 🙏 Cheers for those traveling and cruising and anyone else having a happy event. 🥂 Time to go walk my 2.5 miles. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Today's Care and Celebration lists for Roy Today’s care list: Tyre Nichols funeral 2/1 RIP Roy in hospital with pneumonia and low sodium Luvteaching DH in hospital with infection Kazu awaiting bone clinic visit & X-rays StLouisCruisers neighbor Rudy awaiting bypass surgery 1/31 Seasick Sailor recovering from oral surgery From the rotation: Rowsby in need of shoulder replacement Marshhawk DH eye issues. Status of Scrapnana Status of St. Louis Sal (7/1) and JAM37 (7/7) Celebrations and Shoutouts: Aliaschief leaving for Cancun 1/31 Redneck Bob in Vegas until 2/1 Cruzn single in Hawaii until 1/31 1 day for Kochleffel (Norwegian Getaway 2/1 to 2/6) 4 days for 0106 (Rotterdam 2/4 to 2/15) 7 days for Cruzin Terri (Oceania Sirena 2/7 to 2/19) DeeniEncinitas, and sailingdutchy (Koningsdam to 1/31), Cruising sister (Disney Dream to 2/4), lindaler and ottahand7 (Volendam to 3/18), and Cat in My Lap, Gail&Marty ,richwmn and HorizonChaser1957 (Zuiderdam to 5/12) at sea

Today is Backward Day, Inspire Your Heart with Art Day, and National Plan for Vacation Day The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.--Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!Meal Suggestion for today - Green Chili Clam ChowderDrink of the Day - YellowhammerWine of the Day - Black Estate Pinot Noir North Canterbury Home 2020Destination of the Day - Kodiak Island, Alaska Eurodam Cartagena Colombia 07:00 - 13:00 Koningsdam San Diego, California 07:00 - 16:00 Nieuw Amsterdam Puerto Plata-Amber Cove, Dominicana 09:00 - 18:00 Nieuw Statendam Philipsburg St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles 08:00 - 17:00 Oosterdam Montevideo, Uruguay 07:00 - 18:00 Rotterdam Oranjestad Aruba, Netherlands Antilles 07:00 - 23:00 Volendam At Sea Destination Port Stanley, East Falkland Island eta 2-06 Edited by Sandi to say Volendam is in Drake Strait destination Dallmann Bay, Antarctica 1/31/23 Zaandam Cartagena Colombia 12:00 - 18:00Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Picton, New Zealand 07:00 - 16:00 Westerdam Drydock Malaysia until 2/2 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Auckland, New Zealand eta 2-02 Sandi for Roy and Rich

Thank you so much Jacqui @kazu, John @Copper10-8, Valerie @JazzyV, Ann @cat shepard, and everyone else who has offered to help me out. You can all fight over it while I cruise. But I have a sneaking suspicion Roy is going to recuperate quickly and take charge by then! We'll be happy to see you back here Roy.

Thanks for your comments Graham. Those photos were actually Tony and Martha's @sailingdutchywho was the only person to post photos last November on Kushiro day. He is on Koningsdam until tomorrow so I posted them for him so everyone could get a feel for the city of Kushiro. I don't think he'll mind! 😉

Thank you John, but I'm doing fine at this point. If that changes I know you or many others here will jump in and take it on. We can all confirm how hard Roy and Rich work at keeping this community up. Bless them both!

Glad to hear the eyes are better slightly, if not completely cleared of blood. Good luck calling for an appointment with the doctor. I hate doing that. Ren and Colton were in Palm Springs this winter at a showcase where scouts watch for the best players. Then they invite them to come to town and practice with the teams. They went to Dallas once already so it's a top contender. Next week is the Kansas City team for practice. The Moms are going next week with the boys. It's a time consuming sport for these parents who are constantly traveling around the country for games, tournaments, and training trips like this. Thanks for your offer to help when I'm gone. Guess we should wait and see how Roy feels about taking back the Daily duties. All offers of assistance are appreciated, right Roy?