StLouisCruisers

We're leaving Visby a few minutes late. Two women were late due to a Ho-Ho bus that ceased running (?) and if they made it back by 3 p.m. they were coming with us. I hope they did, otherwise they must find their way to Ronne, Denmark by tomorrow. I snapped a few shots at the botanical garden today for the Garden Club. Here they are for your enjoyment. Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

Yes, we sure did! I remember how scenic it was from our first time there. Everyone enjoyed it and the dining room was half empty because they were outside watching I suppose.

Ajaccio, France In August 2017 we spent 21 delightful (read that hot) days in the Mediterranean on the Westerdam. One of ports was supposed to be Calvi on the French island of Corsica. But due to high winds and seas the itinerary was moved around a bit and we ended up in the capital of Corsica, Ajaccio two days later. It was a very pleasant surprise. We couldn’t wait to get out there and explore. The empty ferry dock next to us and what looks like a different ferry in the distance Walking off the ship one of the first things we saw was a group of costumed dancers heading towards their “gig”. We walked along the waterfront past all the yachts and saw them preparing to entertain everyone. The first thing we ran into was a lovely fountain next to a very nice Farmer’s Market. When I saw this pretty building I had to take a photo of it. It was the Hotel Palazzu u Domu. Nearby was what was called the Citadel. There was a dry moat-like area with donkeys living in it. Te Citadel was built the same year Christopher Columbus discovered America! Yes, 1492! I had a photo of a donkey in the moat but I noticed it was inappropriate for younger audiences and passed it up. LOL! What a view of the ocean But my favorite view is of the beach nearby Next we saw a church which I wanted to check out. It was called Our Lady of Assumption. Near it was a square called Place de Gaulle. The square held a merry-go-round and a statue of Napoleon and his four brothers. Heading back towards the Westerdam we came across a nice area of shopping and cafes. Looks like the perfect replacement port in the Mediterranean!

Good morning friends! Today is Monday which means the Zuiderdam is in Visby, Gotland, Sweden. By the time many of you read this we will have left already since all aboard is 2:30 so the ship will be leaving here around 9 a.m. eastern time. We went over to the city center by free shuttle provided by the city of Visby. We walked 2.5 miles in the town and enjoyed the old church ruins, interesting architecture, the Cathedral Sankta Maria and the small botanical garden. Sailaway from Stockholm last night was lovely. We have a table at the window on the starboard side and enjoyed the view the entire meal. Once a sailboat got very close to the side of the ship due to other ferry and boat traffic and all I could see was the mast of the sailboat right by the promenade railing. In the turbulent water alongside us the top of the mast was circling madly. I sure hope they made it out of the way and didn’t capsize at the aft end of us. Thank you Rich @richwmn for today’s Fleet Report and Daily. My goodness, there are some strange days to recognize. Wonder Woman Day is fine but stuffed shrimp scholars? Funny quote, an interesting meal suggestion, and no to the drink and Cabernet. A nice day in history for the Dutch West India Company. Thanks Debbie @dfish,Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your reports today. Prayers for DB, Alex’s baby boys, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages who are rarely even mentioned, and our men and women in uniform overseas. Special prayers for all here on the Care list, Jacqui @kazu, Annie @marshhawk and Chuck @catmando, Tana and Terry @smitty34877, anyone recovering from surgeries and procedures, Ann @Vict0riann, Richard, Graham @grapau27and Pauline. 🙏 Joy @Seasick Sailor, I’m so sorry to hear about your foot boo-boo. Stay far away from heavy rocks in the future. Hope it heals up quickly. Annie @marshhawk what a disaster with all the water main breaks in Atlanta. My twin told me her daughter was at a nursing conference in Atlanta and they had a disastrous day of it (Friday?). No water at the hotel to shower, no restaurant to eat at. She was grateful to get home and may never want to go back to another Atlanta conference after all that. What is Atlanta spending all their tax money on if not infrastructure? Congrats to all celebrating something special and those cruising or traveling. I hope the Barbados trip is just what you and Jim need, Terri @Cruzin Terri. And our other Terry @smitty34877 welcome home from your trip. I hope things are running smoothly now and it was nice of your DB to offer to come help. Thanks Vanessa @JazzyV for the keeping of the lists for us. Hope you are feeling stronger every day and that BFF is doing well, too. We heard this morning about a FC Dallas U17 game yesterday against a United Premier Soccer league team, DFW Falcons. It was delayed 2 hours due to thunderstorms and hail, but our FC Dallas team won 2 to 1 and Ren scored both goals for the FC Dallas side. Yay Ren!!⚽ The port today is Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica, France. This was a replacement port for a different Corsica port due to bad weather on the other side of the island. What a delight it was! I’ll have to prepare a report and photos after I post here. No links since it’s a brand new port for us. Hoping all of you have a good day, and no more rock dropping onto your feet! Stay safe and keep well!

It's my pleasure, Graham. Thank you for your comment.🙂

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! The reefs visible in the water 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 Free food! 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. Sorry about the number of photos! So much to see there.

Good morning friends! Here in Stockholm there are mostly sunny skies and it's 71F. We walked from the ship to the city center and saw most of the things we saw 13 years ago. Total walking distance round trip was 5.7 miles. I deserved a Dive In burger and Diet Coke for lunch today. It was fun watching a parade of sightseeing boats sailing past us as we ate lunch at a window table near the pool. Last night we turned the clocks backward one hour as we moved west to Stockholm so we're back to 6 hours ahead of east coast time. ⏰ Thank you Rich @richwmn for posting the Fleet Report and Daily this Sunday morning. Gun violence awareness is important to us all, no matter where you stand on the 2nd amendment. I looked up St. Erasmus and he is one of the patron saints of sailors so that is a good one. A rotisserie chicken sounds good. Thumbs up to the quote and chocolate tart. Unsure of that drink and wine. I celebrate with all who appreciated Queen Elizabeth and the date of her coronation so many years ago. Thanks to our F&B ladies Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope,and Ann @cat shepard for their reports today. Prayers for all on the Care list here on the Daily, DB, Alex’s twins, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held, and our troops in the region. Hoping for better days for everyone! 🙏 Congrats to everyone celebrating a happy event and cruising! 🎉 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for your list keeping again today! Thanks for the comments yesterday regarding the sad situation about the home break in near us in Georgia. My next door neighbor texted me that there was a lot of fear, anxiety and speculation until the truth came out. But she feels as devastated as I do for those poor people. Imagine what this does to the entire family relationship - kids, parents, grandparents. Pennie @Nickelpenny, you were in a really tough spot and had to step up when you had a similar situation. I commend you for your bravery. The port today is Moorea, French Polynesia. This was the port many times including April 23, 2021, March 28, 2023, July 13, 2023 plus two similar locations that some may have used to post their Moorea photos…Dec. 21, 2023 and March 16, 2024. Here are the links. Following that some photos. Here is the Vaiare, French Polynesia post. And the Bahia d Opunoha, Moorea, French Polynesia post. I wish someone could explain why that same photo shows up in four of the links above. So odd but at least they post and refer back to the correct dates. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! It seems like the elevator mat for Sunday came quickly this past week. We have many ports in a row here in the Baltics and hope we can keep up the pace. Meanwhile, stay safe and keep well!

Bon Voyage to all! We're doing this one in 2025!

Thank you very much everyone!🥰

We had a sad email from our neighborhood Pod captain. It seems a couple on the other street in our Pod went on vacation . While away someone broke into their home and stole both their cars and other items of value in the home. They found the location of one of the cars through the Find My Car app on their phone. The police had a chase involving one of the cars, an SUV, which was totaled when the culprits ran into 7 other vehicles along the way. The second car was found in okay shape. Who did it? The older couple's grandson and some of his "associates". 😲 People in the neighborhood had been worried about the break in since this is a rare occurrence in our location. Imagine how humiliating this was to have to admit to the whole community that it was an inside job, and their own grandchild broke in and stole from them?!? It puts all our minds at rest, but I feel terrible for them. I can say with no doubt that my 4 grandsons and 2 granddaughters would never, ever do something like that. Their parents can be proud of them and I let my son and daughter know it. 🥰

Have a great cruise @Mr. Boston!

Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit! 🐇 Good morning friends and happy first day of June. We’ve had a sunny morning in Helsinki with temps in the low 70’s. This afternoon is cloudy and 79. We took a shuttle ($12pp roundtrip) to Senate Square. Too far for us to walk today. Thank you Rich @richwmn for posting the Fleet Report and Daily. I can certainly celebrate children, parents and the Heimlich Maneuver . That is some quote by Bob Marley! Is that the lyrics to a song or a true quote? Egg salad is okay, but I have no idea about the drink. I might like the Sauvignon Blanc. It was a fun day in musical (and movie) history. Thanks to our F&B ladies Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for your reports for us each day. Prayers for DB, Alex’s baby boys, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held, the military members in harm’s way, and our Care list individuals here on the Daily. Praying for improvement in your conditions each and every day. Ann @Vict0riann I’m sorry to hear about the carcinoma and hope the lumpectomy comes soon. Best wishes to you as you as you heal and recover from it. 🙏 A salute to all celebrating happy events and cruising! 🚢 Thanks Vanessa @JazzyV for your list keeping each day! The port today is Kos, Greece, a brand new one. I’m fairly sure I haven’t been there before so no photos or links to post today. If you have been there and would like to share your photos with us, please do! Thanks in advance! Have a great Saturday! Stay safe and keep well!

Happy Birthday PAT!

In October 2014 on our Prinsendam Holy Land cruise we stopped in both Alexandria and Port Said, Egypt. The ship did not go through the Suez Canal, but continued on to Israel. In 2016 we entered the Suez Canal at Port Said on the Emerald Princess. Arrival in Port Said A dance group welcoming the ship Looks like whirling dervishes! A mosaic welcome to Port Said We had to walk through the vendors to get out of the port area. Cruise Director Linda Minnikin chatting with cruise passengers. What a friendly lady she was! We saw several citizens of Port Said who stopped us to welcome us personally to their country. We felt like everyone wanted things to return to normal. murals along a main street A beautiful mosque near the port. I wish I knew the name of it. I'll do some research and see if I come up with it. Edited to say it looks like it could be Al Salam mosque. We later walked into the local McDonalds which was not busy at all however it was very modern and clean. There were as many horse-drawn buggies as there were cars on this road. It was an interesting walk through the areas nearest the port. We didn't walk too far from the ship. And here's a sunrise photo taken as we entered the Suez Canal (near Port Said) on the Emerald Princess on October 8, 2016.

Good morning friends! Weather here in Tallinn is lovely with sunshine and 79F. Perfect, if you don’t mind getting a little overheated while walking. We walked over around 10 am and got back around noon. It was 4 miles roundtrip. The route over has some road construction which took us longer to navigate, and I noticed a lot more tall buildings between the cruise terminal area and old town Tallinn than there were last time we were here in 2011. Thank you Rich @richwmn for the Fleet Report and Daily for Friday, May 31. Interesting days to recognize especially what you think upon growing. Never thought about it like that before. The quote is good, no to the parsnip morning glory coffee cake, drink and wine. What a fascinating day for Frobisher fans. LOL 😁 Thanks Debbie @dfish,Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for your reporting today. Prayers for all on the Care list, DB, Alex’s baby boys, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held, and the military men and women in the area of conflict. Cheers to all celebrating something and the cruisers, of course! Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for your hard work maintaining the lists for us. Thanks to all you mentioned their enjoyment of DD’s beach tree yesterday. With DGD Morgan getting her Marine Biology degree, and working at the Florida Aquarium, plus having attained her divemaster and dive instructor status, the ocean and its creatures are very important to her (and her Mom, too I guess.) The port this morning is Port Said, Egypt. This was the port before on June 11, 2021 and Nov. 22, 2021. These were the days where we entered and exited the Suez Canal at Port Said. DH and I visited Port Said once and it was a very interesting day. Here are the links and I’ll repeat my photos. I hope everyone has a lovely Friday. Keep safe and stay well! We’re going to Pinnacle again for dinner tonight. Hope I have room for dessert this time!

I have a treat for everyone today - a Beach tree from DD's foyer! Our little trip to Florida for college graduation must have inspired her! Where she got the decorations for it, I have no idea! I love the fishnet she used for a garland!! Check out this jellyfish! Gotta love a sea turtle. A shark! A seahorse... and an octopus with a smile on his face! This is one of my favorites (though I think I say that every time!). What can she come up with next?

On Sept. 11 and Sept. 13, 2009 we were on the Sapphire Princess on our B2B Alaska cruises taking in College Fjord. The following photos are from 9/11/09. Here is DH checking out a glacier. The Sapphire Princess has a covered promenade deck all the way around so this was a typical scene during the transit of the fjord. And with the overhead speakers mounted everywhere we could hear everything the naturalists were telling us. The weather on Sept. 13th wasn't as good so it worked out great having two opportunities to visit College Fjord. Actually on the first week in Glacier Bay the weather was bad and we had to turn around and leave before we'd even got halfway in, so that we could try to "outrun" a Gulf of Alaska storm. Even leaving early we were caught in the storm and suffered up to 28 foot waves. But a couple days later we saw Glacier Bay again and it was the best day ever. The sun was shining brightly, winds were null and the temps unusually mild. That made up for the earlier visit tremendously!

Good morning friends! We changed our time ahead one hour again last night so are 7 hours ahead of east coast time and 10 hours ahead of Pacific time. In addition to that the ship left Warnemunde very late last night due to a train being hit by a tree on its way from Berlin to Warnemunde. I got most of the story from a woman I sat and cross stitched with this morning, and the rest from the Captain’s noon report. Apparently the train with 500 HAL Berlin tour passengers had a mechanical issue and pulled to a side track for a 20 minute repair. While on the side track another train with a 27 person independent tour group passed the HAL tour train. That second train had an accident with a tree, either ran into it or it fell on the train, I’m not sure. Someone spoke to me during the Captain’s announcement and I missed that detail. DH said he thought the Captain said something about a windshield so they may have run into the tree. There were ambulances involved according to the lady I spoke with this morning. Had the first train not had the mechanical issue it would have run into the tree and not the one which actually did. The 500 passengers arrived quite late to the ship, and the remaining 27 passengers arrived last I believe. Hopefully none of them were injured. The first 500 were able to eat something in the Lido which was held open for them. The other 27 were able to dine in their cabins when they got back at 1 (or 2 a.m.). I knew something was up because when we didn’t leave and I didn’t fall asleep, I would look outside occasionally. I saw staff members walking by our window going into the deserted terminal during the last hour. I saw the ship leave the dock and pass by the cruise terminal at 2:22 a.m. Tallinn time. So not a lot of folks were in the Lido this morning when we went up an hour later than our usual time. I think everyone needs a sea day today including me! Tomorrow is Tallinn and we are scooting along at 21 knots trying to catch up. Thank you Rich @richwmn for today’s Fleet Report and Daily. I’ll honor the days of celebration, and I think I’ll skip the meal, drink and wine. Hurray for the first Indy 500 in 1911! Thanks Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your reports today. Cheers to all with special events and cruises to celebrate, especially Jacqui @kazu! Happy Birthday! Hope you find some happiness today as you celebrate another trip around the sun. Happy Birthday to Gary @GTVCRUISER! Prayers to our friends here in need of them, DB, Alex and sons, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held, and never forget the troops in the region. Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for your list keeping again today! The port today is College Fjord, Alaska. With two Alaska ports in a row, we must be trying to talk Graham @grapau27 and Pauline into bundling up and heading to our great state of Alaska! This was the port before on Nov. 12, 2021. Here’s the link for your convenience in grabbing your photos. Please have a wonderful day, everyone! Keep safe and stay well!

That would be a real treat! Elvis is a real beauty! Riding in style, I see. I heard there is a baby girl on board Zuiderdam named Elvis. ?? Yes, Joy, there is barely any cough which is strange considering how I cough at home. Just some nose blowing here and there. I'm good (until the next germ comes my way!). Ditto!

Very true Graham. Thank you.🙂 That would be great! I do hope you both feel well enough to get out to see it. I wish I had a stop in Newcastle coming up. It would be amazing to meet you two.

Anchorage, Alaska is a large city, Alaska-wise. The city and metro area have a population of about 288,000. Our first time there was when we flew in to board our first cruise ship (Star Princess) in Seward in 2002. We did a southbound 7 day cruise ending in Vancouver and enjoyed it immensely. To get to Seward we boarded the train and enjoyed all the beautiful scenery along the way. Our DS and DDIL accompanied us on that cruise. Glacier water with that grey tinge. Then in 2010 we cruised on Diamond Princess from Bangkok to Anchorage. We docked in Whittier and took a bus to Anchorage where our flight home left in the late evening. The bus dropped everyone off at the Convention Center downtown. We spent the day walking around Anchorage, then took another bus to the airport for our flight to St. Louis. Here is a picture taken upon arrival in Whittier. Approaching the tunnel on our bus ride. The only way to get to the big city. The view along the way. We enjoyed our walk around town, and joined some people we had met on the ship for a light lunch. Here is the inside of the Convention Center where we claimed our luggage and got on the bus to the airport. In 2019 we boarded ms Amsterdam for our 14 day Alaska cruise roundtrip Seattle. In Anchorage we took a shuttle bus to the downtown area from our docking spot. I'm sure this mural took a long time to paint. They plant lots of flowers to enjoy in the warmer months of the year. Another beautiful mural While shopping we saw many interesting displays just like in Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan. In 2010 we had seen a moose running loose in the Anchorage outskirts. On this day in 2019 the above moose is the only one we saw. Back to the Convention Center to go to the airport. The Holland America bus was beautiful!

Good morning friends! Yesterday was mostly rainy until sail away. As we departed Arhus, a patch of blue sky appeared right on schedule. I saw some sunshine from our window at early dining. Today they told us it would rain all day but I had three weather apps which said the rain would start at 2 pm with a cloudy morning. I went with that! We had a tour today thanks to HIA which we normally wouldn’t do but it was enjoyable. Highlights of Rostock, a river cruise and a visit to a microbrewery. No rain and even a little sun! It's nearly 2 pm now and it looks good out, still cloudy and quite windy. Thanks Rich @richwmn for the Fleet Report and Daily for Wednesday May 29. Thanks for letting us know it's time to reflect on those important days. Love Mark Twain quotes. No thanks to the chickpeas, Brazilian Crush, or Cabernet Sauvignon. A huge day in history! Thanks to Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your reports today. Prayers for all here in need of them, DB and Alex’s twin boys who are doing well so far, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still held and our troops in the region. Praying for good news with everyone’s health issues including Graham @grapau27 and Pauline. Congrats to all celebrating special events and cruising! And thanks to Vanessa @JazzyV for continuing with the list keeping! Happy birthday Ann @cat shepard and may you have many more! Happy anniversary wishes to @Horizon chaser 1957!! The port today is Anchorage, Alaska which was the port on Sept. 22, 2022 and Sept. 29, 2023. Here are the links. Have a super day!

Joy @Seasick Sailor my cold is doing well. I don’t even cough much these days. Mostly clearing of sinuses. My tummy has its up days and down days though. I’m trying to eat light meals as too much rich food and alcohol disturbs me. Maybe just potato soup for dinner. I even skip dessert!!😧 Sending my best wishes to you and Allen!

Graham @grapau27 I'm very sorry to hear you've both been feeling poorly these past few days! I sure hope you are both feeling tip top ASAP! Let us know how things are progressing. Sending hugs and hot chicken soup to you two!

Good morning friends! It’s Tuesday and that means we’re in Arhus, Denmark. It’s been pouring rain all morning so I guess my plans to see Arhus again are rapidly fading away. I refuse to go out to stroll through the city with it raining this hard, even with a huge orange HAL umbrella. Temperature is 57. Thanks Rich @richwmn for today’s Fleet Report and Daily. Different days to recognize, a good quote, and no thanks to the tofu tacos and silly drink. Yes to the Sauvignon Blanc and an interesting day in history. Thanks Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your reports today. Prayers for DB, Alex’s baby boys, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages held, and the men and women on bases and ships in the area. Special prayers for our Daily Care list folks, especially Jacqui @kazu and Tana. Wishing for big improvement in everyone recovering from their latest procedures and surgeries. Hurray to all celebrating happy events and cruising! Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV once again for the hard work keeping lists for us! The port today is Norfolk, Virginia which was here recently on April 11, 2024. Here is the link for your convenience along with my photo from the l990’s. I texted DS yesterday to see where in the world he was and he stated they’d just landed in Cabo. Oh! It occurred to me their 24th wedding anniversary is in a week and perhaps with travels to soccer tournaments just finishing and coming again in June he wanted to fit in a special trip for them in between. He took her to Madrid in the spring break time period but he is very thoughtful and doesn’t let a special event pass. Livin’ the good life! Hope everyone has a super day today. Keep safe and stay well. Here is a Norfolk waterfront photo taken on the Spirit of Norfolk lunch cruise we took in June 1990 during the grandmothers' trip to see DD graduate from high school. Most of our photos were of each other. While visiting us we did Colonial Williamsburg, Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and Busch Gardens plus Jamestown and Yorktown visits. The photo is a snapshot of a hard copy photo taken out of one of our photo albums. Old school!