StLouisCruisers

Happy Birthday wishes to Father David as he turns 51!!

Good morning friends! We moved our clocks back another hour last night and are now only 2 hours ahead of Eastern time. It was still foggy, cold and wet when we left Nuuk last night after 11 p.m. Today we are headed towards St. Anthony, Newfoundland due to arrive Saturday the 13th. The weather right now is mostly overcast and 39F. The ship is rolling along at 17 knots. Today at breakfast we noticed the Zuiderdam Zoo of towel animals by the Lido pool. They have quite an extensive collection and some of the largest animals or persons made of towels and blankets I’ve ever seen on a ship. At 6:30 a.m. a large iceberg floated by on the port side so for your enjoyment and cooling pleasure here is a photo of it. Thanks Rich @richwmn for the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the location maps. A diverse group of days to celebrate or recognize. My favorite is Cheer Up the Lonely Day! The other two concern censorship and world population. As for the quote nothing wrong with seeing the dawn before the rest of the world. An interesting name for the soup today so that should be a recipe to check out later. The drink sounds dangerous, but I would try the Sauvignon Blanc. No surprise about King Henry VIII. Thanks Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your excellent reports today. Prayers for my DB, twin sister and Alex/Jordan’s baby boys, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the poor hostages still held, and our men and women in uniform keeping us safe from afar. Prayers for the Care list folks, especially those with procedures on the agenda. Good luck to Chuck @catmando and to Annie @marshhawk, his caretaker. Hoping Jacqui @kazu is making progress getting help with her home projects, care for Ivan next week and preparing for her surgery. Many prayers for Tana and help getting some of her appetite back. Blessings to Terry @smitty34877, the teenager and the rest of the family as they take care of all the details of Tana’s care. A salute to all celebrating a special event and to the cruisers. Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for your good work on the lists! The port of the day is a new one, Maceio, Brazil. That is not a port I’ve seen before even on the Amazon River cruise. No links to post either. Hopefully someone here has something to tell us and photos to show us about Maceio, Brazil. Thanks in advance. It’s Orange Party Night so I’ll pull out the dress with orange in the design and wear that to dinner. Am I going to stay up and dance the night away? Nope! I like a quiet evening after dinner. Hoping you all enjoy your Thursday. Stay safe and keep well.

Sorry, double post!

Gosh, Jacqui I'm so sorry all of these things are happening at the very same time. With Ivan's surgery just before yours I can see where you would be concerned about care for him. Good luck getting the assistance you need, and I hope things go well for both of you during your procedures. Quick healing and relief from your pain! Get someone to help you do what needs doing on the house before next Tuesday and Thursday. Prayers for all the best for you! 🙏

I heard from my twin last night after her doctor visit yesterday. She says her shoulder will need replaced and the surgery is on Aug. 16. They were hoping to be able to wait until next year for the surgery but with the recent damage done it's time. She will begin PT again when she is healed enough after surgery. I can't imagine the number of surgeries she's had done up to now. I am lucky my parts have held up and haven't needed the many surgeries she's had so far.

Good morning friends! We arrived in Nuuk, Greenland early, a little after midnight last night. Unfortunately our black cloud (weather wise) still hangs over our heads. It is raining, and foggy out. Temp is about 40F and it feels like 29F. We would like to go out if the rain stops sometime today. All aboard is 10:30 p.m. I was last here in Nuuk Aug. 12, 2018 and the weather was beautiful that day. I have some lovely pictures to show for it. I’ll just remember Nuuk that way – sunny! Thanks Rich @richwmn for the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the location maps. I wish I could write poetry because I’d try it today on Clerihew Day. Looking it up, it’s named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley who thought up a particular style of poetry. It includes four lines of verse, an AABB rhyme scheme, the name of the subject in the first line, and humorous content. For example: Sir Christopher Wren Said “I’m going to dine with some men If anyone calls Say I am designing St. Paul’s” I would avoid stepping on a bee any day as an adult. As a child I ran barefoot through the lawn and often got stung by bees. You’d think I’d learn not to do that rather quickly. I wish the U.S. could go back to being energy independent again. The quote is depressing to me. The meal suggestion is unique, no idea about the drink or wine today. The day in history happened only 12 years ago, one of our more recent history developments. I’d like to thank Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for their food and beverage reports. Prayers for all here for relief from pain and physical or mental ailments. For my DB and Alex/Jordan’s baby boys, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held, and our troops in harm’s way over there. Happy days to those celebrating and cruising. Thanks Vanessa @JazzyV for your fine work publishing the lists each day! Port today is Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I have never been to that city before. The one time we had Sihanoukville before was Sept. 14, 2022. Here is the link: Thanks for your pictures! I heard Ren and FC Dallas kids flew to Mexico City yesterday for an international soccer tournament, same as they did last July. It will be nice if we get reports back on how things are going but will have to wait and see. The last tournament in Nashville my DS was under the weather catching a very bad cold and we didn’t get any reports. No matter the results, we’re always proud of Ren and the team.⚽ Have yourself a great Wednesday! Try to stay safe and keep well.

On the Zuiderdam currently on an Iceland-Greenland cruise and late seating (also called main) is at 7:30 p.m. It has varied according to ship and itinerary over the years as @cavecreekguy mentioned.

I wish I could send this little iceberg to y'all to help cool you down. Just passed by on the port side. Taken with my IPhone 8 which has little zoom though. About a mile away. I also took photos with my camera which has a much better zoom. Those I don't have access to right this second. With the temp at 39 or 40 and the wind chill on the deck it was literally freezing out there!

Good luck at the appointment! I hope there's no discomfort involved in it. I keep waiting for the eye doc to tell me I need something like this done. I'm a big chicken when it comes to the eyes.🐔

DD sent me photos of her tree for this month. Very patriotic! I see by the lights out photo that she added some red and blue lights. No fireworks allowed in the house though! I see some colored lights here. I wonder what's next??

Good morning friends! We are slowing down today as we get closer to Nuuk, 12 or 13 knots. Perhaps because they are on the watch for bits of icebergs and it’s pretty foggy out most of the time. Temp was 39 this morning and I don’t think we’ll get too many degrees higher. We have a long day in Nuuk tomorrow, 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. I hope we can gradually acclimate to warmer temps each day as we stop in the Maritime Canada ports of call. And perhaps the temps in the U.S. will begin to cool down 5 or 10 degrees to give everyone some relief! Last night we moved our clocks back one hour so we are now 3 hours ahead of Eastern time. Thanks Rich @richwmn for the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the location maps. Hopefully Graham @grapau27 will explain the Martyrdom of the Bab. I like dimples but won’t be observing no bra day. I’ll pass on the cod, mint mojito and Shiraz. I’m trying to picture the first men’s singles tennis championship at Wimbledon back in 1877. That’s quite a long time ago. Thanks Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for the food and beverage reports. Prayers to all here on the Daily. Hoping that Debbie @dfish feels better today, sending warm thoughts to Jacqui @kazu as she awaits her surgery and prepares for her next big adventure. Praying for comfort and a better appetite for dear Tana, and an easy day for Terry @smitty34877and family. Hoping for a very good day for Annie @marshhawk and Chuck @catmando – stay cool! Prayers too for my DB, Alex/Jordan and the babies, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the poor hostages who must be giving up hope, and to all the men and women of our military stationed in the region. I hope all the cruisers are enjoying themselves and to all celebrating a special event – Congratulations! Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for maintaining the lists and getting up to post them for us each day. The port today is Fairbanks, Alaska. We’ve had it twice before on April 13, 2021 and Nov. 19, 2022. I haven’t been to Fairbanks but my BFF from high school lived there for a while early in her first marriage due to her husband being stationed there. I used to send letters to her and that’s as far as my relationship with Fairbanks goes! I’ll post the links to the former dates for your convenience in retrieving your photos. And thanks in advance for posting them. Have a terrific Tuesday and try to stay safe and keep well!

DH says no you cannot watch YouTube videos on the surf plan.

Debbie, I hope you’re doing much better now. Who knows what it could be causing you so much trouble. I’ve had chills before and absolutely hate it. Take care of yourself! Annie I would be freaking out about being listened to by a computer. You definitely need a way to mute your microphone while not making a call. We mute our Alexa and then also unplug it when not using it to play music. We’re just paranoid like that. I can email you my zip code. My neighbors will let me know if we have any problems thankfully. Yes it’s pretty cold here so I can’t imagine those temps and feels like temperatures. Today at 6 am it’s 39F!!!

We have had Surf and Premium service on two cruises this summer. DH says he could use a VPN on Premium but is not able to on Surf. That’s the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

I think I could handle cranberry juice and champagne!

Each evening at 8 pm Hong Kong put on a laser light show so our spot in Victoria Harbor moving slowly along during the show, was perfect. My point and shoot camera didn't get the best photos but I remember I took a video which was pretty awesome. The next morning was just as cloudy and gloomy but we took a long tender ride over to downtown to walk around and do some shopping. We went to a jewelry store recommended to us and purchased a beautiful jade bracelet. Then we just took in the sights. This construction project caught my eye. Whatever that is didn't look too sturdy. Bamboo? That was the end of our stay in Hong Kong. I'm glad I got to go there because I don't think we would be able to go back there anymore. Sadly that's the case in many of our former ports of call.

Our ship Diamond Princess arrived in Hong Kong harbor the morning of April 20, 2010, so over 12 years ago! It was very dreary looking out but that doesn't stop a cruiser taking a tour of Hong Kong for the first time. We would be in Hong Kong on an overnight stay with us docked the first day and moved to an outer harbor anchorage that night. We got on a bus and were taken to a ferry terminal that would take us across the harbor to the downtown area. Heading across the waters to explore the big city Upon reaching shore we were driven to the tram which would take us up to the top of Victoria Peak. Here is a picture of the Bank of China tower. The tram rides nearly vertical up the hillside to the Peak. The direction we came from after getting off the tram. We thought it was cloudy and dark at the bottom but up at the top it was very foggy! This would have been so nice on a clear sunny day. I hope someone else has some photos like that to share. Kindergarten class on a field trip. Note how well behaved they are. No one jumping up and running around. Kudos to the teacher. Next we were put on a bus and driven down the hill and around the island. I think this was a horse race track. At this point we went to this floating restaurant for lunch. I must have been a real rookie in 2010 because I didn't even take photos of the lunch! I'll continue in another post with the evening light show and second day photos.

Good morning friends! The Zuiderdam continues on our days at sea heading to Nuuk on the western coast of Greenland. We are traveling around the ice laden seas of southern Greenland at 16 knots. Temperature is 45, skies are overcast and winds are about 19.4 mph. Thanks Rich @richwmn for the Daily and Fleet Report as well as the maps of our locations. Math is a good thing to recognize. Freezer pops were enjoyable as a child. There is a young man on board who was seated next to us at breakfast playing video games. He’s from San Diego and had only seen snow once when we arrived in Iceland. Today’s quote is interesting. I’m sure the spicy black bean soup will be popular. Not sure I’d like the cranberry mimosa, but I bet DH would like to try the Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Good for Vasco da Gama going on his adventure to India way back in 1497. Thanks to Debbie @dfish,Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for the F&B reports. Prayers for our Daily Care list people. Hoping for improvement in everyone’s situation! Prayers too for the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages, our military in the region, my DB, and Alex/Jordan’s twin boys soon to arrive. Cheers to all celebrating special events and our cruisers (myself included). Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for keeping the lists updated for us. The port of the day is Hong Kong, China. We had it only once before on July 29, 2022. We were lucky enough to go there in 2010 and had an enjoyable time. It was an overnight so we had plenty of time to see things. I’ll post the link in case you need to retrieve photos. And I’ll repost my own photos. Hoping all are staying cool (I know I am). Stay safe and keep well everyone.

His name is Daniel Edward. British.

Tonight we had the Lindt dark chocolate ship dessert on Zuiderdam. It was great. The chocolate mousse and dark chocolate ship were very good.

This is true!

Just had the Lindt dark chocolate dessert for dinner tonight on Zuiderdam. It was delicious!

Could be those trees had a growth spurt causing the trunks to expand and therefore shedding the old bark. I wonder what my lilac crepe myrtle looks like. Probably bad with lots of suckers growing up out of the ground at the base of the trunk. Probably needs some limbs trimmed up. We will have plenty to do when we get home.

Bon Voyage @luvteaching Karen! You're going to have the best time! The day has turned overcast and the ship is beginning to bump around a bit. Two more sea days until we reach Nuuk.🚢

Good morning friends! The Zuiderdam is on its way to Nuuk, Greenland today going 21 knots. The TV says it is 48F and skies are mostly sunny. We arrive at our destination on Wednesday the 10th. Thank you Rich @richwmn for the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the maps. I can honestly say there are no dive bars on the Zuiderdam. Father-daughter taking a walk is a lovely thought and memory. Global forgiveness would be ideal but I wonder if it’s possible in all cases. An interesting quote by Rowling. I’ll be checking out the shrimp salad with peanut dressing recipes Debbie digs up. Yes to Pina Coladas and Sauvignon Blanc wine. Martina Navrilatova was such a great tennis player. Thanks go to Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for their super reporting skills on our food and beverages. Prayers for my DB and Alex/Jordan’s twins, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held and our troops in the region holding down the fort. Many prayers for our group of Dailyites, and I hope Tana is resting comfortably this weekend. Prayers for her and Terry’s @smitty34877 family, Jacqui @kazu, Terri @Cruzin Terri, Annie @marshhawk and Chuck @catmando, Elizabeth @Haljo1935, Maureen’s @RMLincoln Richard, Roy @rafinmd and all others with health problems and worries. Congrats to everyone celebrating special events and to our cruisers. Thanks again to Vanessa @JazzyV for keeping up with us all. Our port today is A Coruna, Spain which was posted here previously on July 16, 2021, Sept. 2, 2022 and July 15, 2023. We have not stopped at A Coruna before. I’ll post the links to help you out retrieving your photos. I’m sad to hear Dr. Pol is finishing up his TV program. I’ll miss him! I have a lot of hunting to do to find all the episodes of the TV programs I’ve missed during my 10 weeks away from home! I told my DVR to take a break because I knew it would record everything and start deleting the oldest recordings and it would be a jumbled up mess. Hope all are enjoying their holiday weekend. Stay safe and keep well!