StLouisCruisers

Looks like an awesome tour Carolyn! Thanks for the photos.

Here are Lenda's photos of St. Thomas from the Aug. 18, 2023 Daily. We have been to St. Thomas many times beginning in 1987 on our first cruise. It was on the Costa Daphne, and we arrived at the ship in San Juan on Saturday, and our luggage arrived on the ship on Monday in Martinique. We were still hooked on cruising. We have only been to St. Thomas once since we got digital cameras. That was in 2004 on the Golden Princess, on our older DD and DSIL's wedding cruise. They were married by the captain on a sea day. That is the easy way to have a wedding. We spent the day in St Thomas with DD and DSIL looking for the perfect sapphire for DD. And she found the one she wanted at a reasonable price. I don't have too many pictures from our day in St. Thomas. The first two are from the ship. This one is from the shuttle into town. The moon over St. Thomas The most crowded we've seen St. Thomas was in December 1998 on older DD's college graduation cruise. There were 11 ships in port that day. The Ryndam was able to dock at Havensight, and there were ships docked at Crown Bay. The rest were anchored in the bay, except for the Norway which had to anchor outside the bay because of her draft. Walking down the main shopping street was a challenge since it was wall to wall people, even in the street. Lenda

I remember our first stop at Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, Dec. 2003. It was only our second cruise and in those days we didn't go too far from the U.S. We also didn't take long cruises at that time due to DH's work schedule. On that day, we took a little tour which drove us around getting an overall look at the island. Then we did some shopping and bought me something sparkly! Ships docked at Havensight. And the opposite direction at Crown Bay. Looks like there could be a BHB docked there to me. Our open air van driving us around the island Beautiful Magens Bay Next stop was St. Peter Greathouse which also had lovely views Time for dinner, but enjoying the view from the balcony. Happy to be wearing my new diamond slide pendant too! Little did I know how big a part of our lives cruising would become.

Good morning friends! Another chilly morning at 33F but again we will have sunny skies and a high temp of around 60. Another round of rainy days are expected here Saturday through Monday. Thanks to Jacqui @kazu and Roy @rafinmd for the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the fleet maps. We can celebrate e-day even if we're not mathematically inclined, ballet day despite the fact we can't stand on one foot for more than 5 seconds, and school play day just because it might be fun! I can see where Socrates might be onto something with that quote. Oh no, acorn squash has become the new butternut squash. No thanks to the bikini martini or the pinot noir. Most of the days in history celebrated today are memorable. Thank you to Eva @superoma, Paul @kochleffel and Ann @cat shepard for the food and beverage reports for today. Prayers for my DB and friend Scott, the people of Israel (4 months later) and Ukraine (2 years later) and the hostages still held, the troops in harm's way, and the people of the Daily on the Care list. There are many including Vanessa @JazzyV, Tana and Terry @smitty34877, Terry @Cruzin Terri after her fall, Roy @rafinmd, Annie @marshhawk and Chuck @catmando, Jane @lazey1, all the DH's with health issues, and several other Dailyites in pain. 🙏 Cheers to all of us celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and to all the cruisers! 🥂🎂🚢 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for handling that job for all of us even with all you go through every day!❤️ The port for Wednesday is St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, a popular Caribbean port of call. This was the port of the day three previous times - Nov. 3, 2022, July 27, 2023 and Aug. 18, 2023. Here are the links for your convenience. I'll post photos for Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiserand myself afterward. Please do join in with yours since we all enjoy doing different things there. Hoping for better health for all! Have a great day.

Bruce, Cruisemapper.com shows you very close to Papeete moving at 11 knots and that is what the destination shows on Azamara Onward.

And Lenda's @Quartzsite Cruiser's second post. I'll finish our 2018 tour, and I did find a few of downtown Manila that aren't horrible. From the Jeepney factory, we went to Taal Lake for a buffet lunch of Filipino food, and a view of the lake and Taal Volcano, which erupted in 2020. A view of the lake, which is a caldera with a cone inside. It was very humid so the distance pictures are a little hazy. Next door to the hotel The hotel and the grounds. On the way back to Manila, we stopped at a roadside market where they were selling fruit and flowers. Manila traffic One of their malls A quick view of some of downtown from the bus We had another band for our sail away. One last view of Manila The next morning, we saw a lot of these little boats near the ship. We were told that the fishermen rowed our to the fishing grounds. This was many miles off shore. Lenda

Here are Lenda's @Quartzsite Cruiser's photos for Manila that she previously posted. We were in Manila on October 31, 2018, on Coral Princess. As far as Manila itself was concerned, we did a quick drive through of the city, and my pictures out the bus window are not good. We did a tour that took us out of the city to Taal Lake, with stops along the way. The view of Manila as we sailed into port. We were greeted by one of the local bands. A couple of pictures of the Jeepneys that are the main "public" transportation in the Philippines. Some have set routes. They were originally made from Jeeps left at the end of WWII, but now they use many different vehicles. Our first stop St. Joseph Parish Church in Las Pilas to see the 19th century bamboo organ. Our next stop was the Jeepney "factory", the term used in the tour description. I'll let you decide if it's a factory. And their inventory control. In another post I'll share pictures of our final destination and the trip back to the dock. Lenda

Good morning friends! It is 34F and clear this morning. It should be a nice day with sunny skies and a high of about 60. If the wind is light it should be a beautiful day. An early Daily today. Thank you Jacqui @kazu and Roy @rafinmd for posting the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the fleet location maps. I support African American coaches, zero tolerance day and don't really care about lame duck day. Love the Cathy Guisewite quote! I suppose the sweet potato stew would pass muster here, and I would try the margarita but don't drink red wine. Two good days in history and it's nice to see Queen Elizabeth II mentioned especially since we had such bad news for the monarchy yesterday. Prayers for King Charles! Thank you Eva @superoma, Paul @kochleffel and Ann @cat shepard for your food and beverage reports! Prayers started while still in bed and finished up on the treadmill. As mentioned above, King Charles needs prayers that he can successfully beat cancer, as well as my friend Scott who had a rough day or two including hallucinations and falling out of bed. Prayers too for my DB, all our friends here on the Care list and there are quite a few lately. Also for those in Israel and Ukraine, the hostages held there, and troops in the region in danger's way. 🙏 Hope for better news for all including those in flooded areas on the west coast. Congrats to everyone celebrating good news and happy events and certainly the cruisers among us. 🚢🥂 Thanks Vanessa @JazzyV for taking care of our lists for us. Sending good thoughts to you as you try to prepare for floor repairs while suffering from a painful leg and little sleep.❤️ The port today is Manila, Philippines. This was the port before on June 16, 2021, Dec. 13, 2022 and Aug. 3, 2023. DH and I have not stopped in Manila before but I'm sure Lenda has so I will post her photos for her. Here are the links to those three prior postings so you can go back and get your photos to share again today. Hmm. The same photo showed up on two of our links. Always a mystery! RIP Toby Keith. You will be missed. Hoping you all have a great day, and don't forget to keep safe, and stay well!

Terry, I hate hearing Tana is having such a bad day and still having a fever. No wonder you are tired since you slept in her room to assist her. She is blessed to have you there! I hope the extra help comes through.❤️ I think you should let them know you are going to need more time packing things up. Wrapping up china takes extra time and effort, so I hope you can get the time you need. Thanks and you're welcome! That was a great explanation of what the interesting statues were all about. Loved it! I heard that news about 1 pm today and am praying his treatment is successful and he has a full recovery from his cancer. 🙏 Thanks for your photos of Montreal! I would love to visit the botanical garden - one of my favorite pastimes! I hope the nurse you mentioned is able to help out tonight. You can use a break. And yes, I imagine some days are much harder than others. Bless you all! Thanks for the photos of dinner last night Debbie, and I'm glad you all enjoyed your dinner together. Sorry about Nawiliwili though. It's not easy getting in and out, is it? Hope the scenic cruising will suffice! Good decision by Patrick. But so sad for those who haven't had that experience. So beautiful there and so much fun! We've been to Bora Bora only twice but enjoyed the tour with Patrick both times. Thanks for your unique photos of your family home in the Montreal area. I am impressed with your French, being able to answer the question presented to you. Great job! I'm so sorry to hear of your mishap Terri and hope the bruise fades fast. I would just go ahead and get out tomorrow if I were you. If you're feeling well, there's no need to ruin your cruise. That is so interesting about the new procedure to cure Dupuytren's contracture. I've seen it featured on a TV commercial but this sounds like an amazing way to cure the problem. Ray, we enjoyed that experience once while visiting DS and DDIL in Ann Arbor. Their very good friends T. and A. who were both faculty/staff at U. of Michigan, invited the four of us over for dinner one night where they served hot pot with all the items ready for us to dip in and cook for ourselves. It was a fun experience and we enjoyed it very much. Between the four young adults they had four young boys who were seated at their own small table in the next room and needed a bit of attention here and there with their dinner. Then they all went to play in the playroom. A good time was had by all! Your afternoon on the balcony with a glass of wine, lunch and watching whales frolic sounds perfect to me! So lucky!

Thanks for stopping by to share your photos of Montreal today. They're very colorful! It's a beautiful city. Looks great! It really helps keeping track of our Daily family. So sorry to hear about your bad night last night and so much pain! I wish something could happen sooner for you. I hope most of the moving of items is finished. When do they begin removing furniture and repairing floors? I need to get busy and get more work done on the Christmas stocking now. I'll check back in later.

Denise, what a DISASTER last evening's oven problem was! I'm sure glad you found the correct circuit/fuse in time. I would have had the fire department out pronto to check it out for me. Very scary! If you would like to check out our photos from Quebec City I would be happy to post the links to the three times we've had that city as our port of the day. It's not scheduled again in 2024. It would only take a minute or two to post the links so please reply and let me know. We had lots of nice photos of that lovely city and you might see some places you don't want to miss on your trip this fall. You're quite welcome Graham! I saw some photos on PaulMunsonPhotography's Instagram of the FC Dallas 17U team before the game. Looks like one of those red carpet events! Here's our guy Ren!

@Nickelpenny Pennie, I have heard that weather reporters use the term partly cloudy to refer to sky conditions at night while during the day when the sun is visible they refer to those same skies as partly sunny. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Here are the photos Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser posted on Aug. 29, 2022 about Montreal. We drove to Montreal from Dover, NJ, in 1969 or 1970, when DH was in the army. We cruised there in 2004 on the old Regal Princess b2b round trip from NYC. As Montreal was a turnaround day, we had 2 1/2 days there, but were meeting friends, one of whom joined us for the return trip to NYC. The other friend lived in St. Cathartines, ON, and took the train to Montreal to see the three of us. We did some sightseeing, including a city bus that made a loop with a stop at Mont Royal Parc overlooking the city. The first afternoon, we wandered around the underground shopping mall. The last day, which was a short one, we went out to the Olympic village. These are some of my pictures as walk around and rode on the city bus. The view from Mont Royal Parc with the Olympic swimming venue in the background. More of the fall colors The swimming venue Lenda

Montreal, Quebec, Canada In August 2018 we sailed into Montreal on the Seabourn Quest at the end of our Route of the Vikings II cruise. It began in Reykjavik and cruised to a nice group of ports in Greenland and Maritime Canada. This was our view as we headed towards the dock. We reluctantly disembarked the beautiful Quest and boarded a bus for a tour of Montreal. At the end of the tour we would be dropped off at the airport to fly to Amsterdam for our next cruise on the Prinsendam. Our first stop on the tour was at the Notre-Dame Basilica. The interior of this cathedral had some of the most beautiful lighting, altars and statues I have seen anywhere. The scene in front of the cathedral Unique statuary seen about town as we drove through the streets. What is with their noses? The Bank of Montreal. There are no banks in my small town like that! The Museum of Fine Arts. The Dale Chihuly art object on the steps is called The Sun. At a scenic overlook you can see Olympic Stadium (built for the 1976 Montreal summer Olympics) in the distance. Big winners that summer were Bruce Jenner and Nadia Comaneci. Our second time in Montreal (6 weeks later in October 2018) was the beginning of a Rotterdam Canada, New England, Atlantic Coast Cruise which ended in Tampa, Florida. Continuing on down the coast of the U.S. to Florida makes this a very interesting and unique voyage. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Good morning friends! After a lot of rain we have a temp of 40 with cloudy skies. Traces of rain in the vicinity. Rain should end by mid morning and then we can go out and see how much we've accumulated in the 24 hour period. High will be around 52. Thanks Jacqui @kazu and Roy @rafinmd for the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the fleet maps today. I'm not sure I want to celebrate Disaster Day! And Adlai Stevenson was not a favorite politician in my life. We can save this day by honoring the chocolate fondue. Anything chocolate is pretty much okay with me. That is quite an unusual quote. I bet the hot pot people will be interested in the meal suggestion today. Oh no, another grisly name for a cocktail! I can't imagine ordering a Corpse Reviver No. 2!! If I were a red wine drinker I would try the wine, but I'll just leave it for the rest of you. The day in history is interesting to me. 200 million is a nice round number. Thank you to the F&B reporters Eva @superoma, Paul @kochleffel, and Ann @cat shepard!! Prayers were said before I even left the bed this morning. I was watching the clock waiting for my usual time to do my treadmill and said my prayers for my family and friends in need of them, especially Scott and my DB. Then I added prayers for the people of Israel and Ukraine and their lost loved ones, the hostages still held and the troops in the region in harm's way. And finally I went through the list of Daily members who are in need of prayers for pain, sickness, awaiting medical procedures, and loss of loved ones. Cheers to all celebrating happy events and the cruisers. Enjoy being pampered at sea! Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for keeping the lists updated for us! We hope you had a good, or decent night's sleep with little pain. If you are in the way of the rain coming to the west coast, watch out and stay safe. I just saw the UCLA area got 9.19 inches of rain over the weekend, which is where one of my DGS's is living. I hope he didn't get too wet and there's no flooding in the region The port today is Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This was our port before on May 18, 2021 and Aug. 29, 2022. These ports that we first had in early 2021 usually need me to go back and redo the photos as they seem to have disappeared so I've been doing a lot of that lately. I will post the links so you can go back and retrieve your photos. Photos from me and Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser coming up as soon as I can get it done. Hope you all have a good Monday, and stay safe and well.

No snow wanted here! If there is any I hope it falls in your neighborhood. If I was a homeless cat, I'd want to live on your porch with a heater, a bed and food too!

Vanessa, thanks for your prayers for my DB and friend Scott. I sincerely hope that he recovers again during his rehab stint. Also for your good wishes for the Covid patients. I'm sure I don't know most of them but still hope everyone recovers fully. Crazy how many were exposed. I heard a dozen people caught Covid! I got the results of the big game from DS. Unfortunately, the Austin team got revenge by winning 3-2. Ren scored a late, high degree of difficulty goal according to DS. I would love to see a video of that. I hope all players enjoyed the experience of playing in the professional soccer stadium. Must have been pretty exciting for boys that age. It's raining quite a bit. No idea how much we've gotten but it should continue all night and into tomorrow. No drought here!

That is a sad story about Julia's sudden passing with an undiagnosed very aggressive cancer. My sympathy to her husband Paul who is also stricken with cancer, and their entire family. 🙏 You are right about making the most of every day we have left on this earth! Thanks for that explanation. I'll just leave creating a vacuum to someone else today. I am much too busy stitching on Chris's stocking, keeping up with Cruise Critic, and watching mysteries on TV all at the same time. Multi-tasking is one of my talents. LOL Thank you so much, Graham!

Here are Lenda's @Quartzsite Cruiser's photos from her post on May 16, 2021. We have been to Alesund on the Prinsendam in 2011 and 2016. Both times we had grey skies and heavy clouds. In 2011, we walked around and road the city bus. In 2016, we took the Ho-Ho and walked around town. One of our stops in 2011 on our city bus "tour" was the aquarium, which is a nice aquarium for a small town. One of the more unusual fish on display, but I don't know what it is. Some of their outdoor residents, who are far from home Looking toward the sea from the back outside display area A few pictures from our walks around on both stops A last look of town as the Prinsendam sailed toward the next port Lenda

Back again in Alesund, Norway, part 2. Once we walked back down we took a walking tour of the town. A beautiful city. The city was destroyed by fire in 1904 and rebuilt with the favored art nouveau style of the time. How beautiful is this? Buildings along the waterfront Or this area - Alesund Church burned in 1904 and was rebuilt along with the rest of the city. Do you think this is really Elvis's hand and footprints? A troll we spied on a porch. Alesund is a Norway port most anyone would enjoy. We’re cruising back there again July 1, 2024.

Alesund, Norway Our port of the day is one of the prettiest little towns in Norway. We saw it in 2016 and 2017 on the Prinsendam. View of the town from the Prinsendam as it docked. In this photo note the building on the top of that hill on the far right. That is Mt. Aksla, which we would climb up for the view of Alesund. A view of the outside bridge wing on the Prinsendam with Captain D. D. and a member of his staff. The third person is the pilot. View outside of the city For those who can't walk far and who want to see the town, try this trolley. We headed off the ship and headed for Mt. Aksla. You can always stop and rest along the way. Along the way they number random steps and here is a special one for me - my birthdate! Taken on 2017 visit. The view from the top. The Prinsendam with a Disney ship to keep it company down there at the dock. Above the Mt. Aksla restaurant and visitor's building is this marker on a rock. I am certain they have tours and local transports to drive you up to the top of Mt. Aksla if you really want to get up there and can't walk it. Here is a shot of the end of the stairs near the top. You can even see MY step, #408. On the stairs were some of the crew members of the Prinsendam coming up, probably surprised to see the old folks had made it up there ahead of them. This is a prime spot for photo taking. Taken in 2017. Some of the servers in the Lido who we were familiar with. I think I'll break this up into two posts. So many photos!

Good morning friends! It's 43F and rain is coming in the next few hours. Temps will drop during the day to 41F and will remain fairly steady for the next 24 hours along with continuing rain. The rain gauge is ready! 🌧️ Thank you Jacqui @kazu and Roy @rafinmd for the Fleet Report and Daily as well as the fleet maps. I'm not sure what create a vacuum means but I think if you're dating a jerk you should rethink that policy. It can come to no good! I am no fan of Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg so will not celebrate either. Today is also Homemade Soup Day and Scout Sunday if you'd prefer to concentrate on those two. The ground beef and broccoli stir fry sounds interesting, but I can't like a drink called Plane Crash.🍹 I wonder what the wine is and know Ann @cat shepard will answer that question. Thank you to Ann, Eva @superoma and Paul @kochleffel for reporting on the food and beverages today! Prayers for DB and friend Scott who is in the hospital. Once he's recovered enough from his latest collapse he will be sent to an in-patient rehab facility. I've also heard of a Covid outbreak among some relatives in Missouri after a funeral last weekend. Hopefully everyone will recover fully. Many prayers for our Daily family including Vanessa @JazzyV, Jane @lazey1, Tana and Terry's @smitty34877's sick family members, Annie @marshhawk and Chuck @catmando, and the Daily DH's with heart and lung issues. And last but not least the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages still waiting to come home, and the soldiers and sailors in the region.🙏 Three cheers for all celebrating happy events and cruising! 🚢 I hope the seas will be smoother and there are no more missed ports for any of you. 🥂 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for staying with us and noting all the events in our lives! Today will be a fun day for the FC Dallas and Austin FC youth soccer teams. They will play in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, TX right next to the soccer fields the boys play and practice on. The adult MLS FC Dallas team usually plays in that stadium. Admission will be free but concession stands will be open to get refreshments. And just like the big guys, the boys' jerseys will be hanging in the locker room before the game so they will feel like professional players preparing for the game. This is a big rivalry so I hope FC Dallas can pull out another win over the Austin team like they did a few weeks ago.⚽ Our port this morning is Alesund, Norway which is a lovely town to visit. It was only listed here once before on May 16, 2021, a very long time ago. My photos have disappeared from that post so I will work on them again. Plus I'll post Lenda's @Quartzsite Cruiser photos from Alesund. Here's the link for your convenience. Have a great Sunday, even if it rains all day and night like it will here. Stay safe and keep well!

Don't worry! He'll find it! I mentioned this day in an earlier post. My DGS Tyler has a Golden named Boomer. What's your Golden's name? I hope he doesn't "eat' shoes! (last photo) Very nice, but did they slice the banana and put it in the bowl first? The slivered almonds are a nice touch.🍌 Jane, I'm glad to hear you have a diagnosis and will be getting treatment at the clinic this month. I hope you can get in sooner, and are soon feeling much, much better! We will definitely put you on our prayer list. That is so cute! The two cats got together and decided to finally show you some appreciation! You've been so patient with them and now you will finally get your reward.😻❤️ Thank you Graham. They will gratefully accept any and all prayers. Yes Rich, you can definitely blame misplacing a few emails on your cruise! See Tina @0106?? I told you he would find them.😉 That's a beautiful kit Carolyn! It will be so pretty when it gets finished. Your flight over the Great Barrier Reef sounds great! Definitely, we all hope and pray your pain relief comes sooner rather than later. Best of luck to you and I hope you can enjoy your upcoming cruise. 🙏 I second Joy's post @DeeniEncinitas! Wonderful photo of you and Shawn! And your painting of Paisley is perfect, as always.

Can you believe they didn't even notice Zaandam leaving? I'm with you guys, very disappointing camera work down in Miami!

Yay, I'm here on time...