StLouisCruisers

Yes I did. I don't like having to click on something to prove who I am. Could we get a virus that way??

Good morning friends and Happy New Year's Eve here in the Eastern Hemisphere. They've already moved on to 2024 in places like New Zealand. Thanks Jacqui @kazu for posting the Fleet Report and Daily for 12/31/2023!🎉 It was 28 this morning, will be 56 and sunny all day, a great way to end the year! Besides New Year's Eve, fittingly it is National Champagne Day. Here's a toast to that! 🥂 And during these trying times we should celebrate World Peace Meditation Day. I just wish peace could take hold and stay here on Earth! Interesting quote from the Game of Thrones (something I've never gotten into). I'm interested in hearing the reports on the casserole, cocktail and white New Zealand wine. Thanks to our reporters Debbie @dfish, Tina @0106, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for helping out with that. Prayers for our "people" here in need of them for pain relief, healing and help with other medical conditions. Prayers for Israel and Ukraine and strength to get through the wars there, hopes for the return of the hostages held, safety for the troops being fired upon on ships and our bases overseas, and for my DB and friends with major health issues. A double toast to those with happy events to celebrate and all of you sailing the oceans of the world. 🥂🥂 We hope you come back to visit regularly while away or it will get very quiet here! Thank you Vanessa @JazzyVfor taking such good care of the lists each day while searching for your own health answers! Praying that comes soon.❤️ Port for the last day of the year is Fanning Island (Line Islands), Kiribati. This was our port two times already on Sept. 15, 2021 and April 12, 2022. We went there on our S. Pacific cruise on Maasdam in 2017 and enjoyed this port so I'll share my photos next. Here are the links to the prior dates for your convenience in retrieving your own photos. Rotterdam is at sea destination Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos eta 1/1/24 My New Year's resolution is to finish a Christmas stocking for my DGD's future husband Chris. hey will wed on Sept. 14, 2024. I am going to start it today! Wish me luck! Hope everyone here has a safe and happy NYE. 🎉 Safe travels, too!

I've never met a person who went to Antarctica who regretted it. 🐧 Some people won't go because they think it's too cold, but it's not! I've been colder sailing into San Francisco at 5 in the morning what with the wind chill on the bow!🥶 Well DGD's fiancé Chris has made his final decision and I am to start on his nativity cross stitch stocking ASAP. 🧦 I'll need to spend hours a day on it so may not be around as much. I promise to do my best to keep up. 🤞

Ann @Vict0riann your description of pirate attack training sounded like what we had on the Emerald Princess in 2016 when we went through the Suez and Red Sea around to Dubai. We saw water cannons set up on the promenade, security carried guns in holsters and were outside watching 24 hours a day, and then the LRAD system that you showed. Long Range Acoustic Device to drive off approaching pirates. It can damage their eardrums with extremely high decibels. The photos you showed of Port Blair reinforce our decision to avoid India on a cruise itinerary. Some may find it interesting but I do not! I hope HAL has decided against going there after hearing from former passengers who went there. Thanks to all who mentioned liking the Antarctica photos. Melanie, Lenda, Lorraine, Debbie and Vanessa and I hope I haven't missed any! Debbie @dfish, stay tuned for South Georgia Island which is coming up after we leave Antarctica. I believe it's Jan. 4-6. They have a wonderful museum in Grytviken all about Shackleton and whaling which they were known for.

I'm glad to hear you got more sleep last night with a quieter crowd on board. I had to laugh out loud when I read your description of the hall runners and door slammers! Thank you for your continuing prayers! Thank you Graham! The only shopping experience in Antarctica is coming up soon but I doubt it would suffice for a serious shopper! The beauty of the scenery and the wildlife there make up for that IMO. I hope you enjoy the remainder of my visit there and in the South Georgia Islands immediately afterward.

Torgerson Island continued... The sunny skies continued and at 5:30 we were all invited on deck for our Caviar and Champagne on Ice party (but if you preferred Vodka, they had plenty of that on ice). And by ice I mean blocks of ice with holes drilled in them large enough to hold the bottles. My beverage of choice - champagne! DH enjoyed the caviar and vodka. And here we are enjoying ourselves with the sunshine and the beautiful scenery all around us. We were in the Neumayer Channel and the water was calm. Glancing over the sides you would see ice chunks with seals and penguins on them floating by. No wildlife in this photo but it showed what the water looked like there. Suddenly we heard the ship's horn sound and we went to the rails to see what was going on. Coming along on our port side towards us was the Holland America Zaandam!! We could see passengers along the rails checking us out, the same as we were checking them out. I held up my champagne glass and saluted our fellow Antarctica sailors. It was very exciting! Here is a photo of our meet up from the drone. And you will find this hard to believe but a fellow Cruise Critic member, Boris Federer, sent me a photo he took of the Quest from the Zaandam that day as we passed in the channel. Actually it looks like they were well past us in this shot. But so nice of him to do that. After the party broke up the blocks of ice were tossed into the pool. Had to keep the temperature cold enough for our Polar Plunge coming up on New Year's Day! Couldn't ask for better weather, or more fun!

Continuing today with my Antarctica travelogue from Dec. 30, 2016 – Torgerson Island December 30, 2016 found us at Torgerson Island in the Bismarck Strait. During the night I awoke and peeped out the curtains to see how the sky looked at 1:14 am. This is my photo taken through the glass doors. First sights in the morning were of a sunny day and of the Palmer Station, a United States Research Station located on this peninsula. We had a mid-morning time slot to go sightseeing in the Zodiac that day. Team white lining up after donning our boots. Here comes one of the earlier teams back from their scenic cruising of Torgerson Island and Palmers Research Station. This is what it looks like in a Zodiac, as we listened to our Expedition Team member who drove us around that day. I love looking at blue icebergs, especially on a sunny day. And a piece of glacier ice melting in a unique shape. How about this group of seals sunning on a huge piece of ice? One of them was smiling at us! What about this cutie? This photo was taken from the video given to us. His extended family was back at home on shore. More of the views on this scenic cruising day. Yes, that’s an iceberg in the back. Seals on shore Some lucky folks went kayaking which is an extra charge by the way. Almost everything was included on this cruise but not kayaking. Since I wasn't in a kayak this photo came from the video provided at the end of the cruise. Love the penguin watching the kayakers!! Arriving back at the ship we were told there was a group of humpbacks net feeding krill near the ship. My photos: This one shows the expert photographer doing his job And the expert photographer's photos: Continued on next post.

Good morning friends! Today it is 35F and cloudy with a forecast of 45 and partly cloudy skies later today. Thanks Jacqui @kazu for posting the Fleet Report and Daily for Rich @richwmn. Hmmm. Bacon day? 🥓 I wouldn't mind some bacon at all but don't expect any. If you want to make some resolutions for 2024 now is the time to plan them! The third day is too long to repeat. To me the quote sounds hopeful. I guess the meal suggestion refers to creamy dressing but I can't say I'd go to the trouble to make it. No thanks to the drink of the day but I'd try the sauvignon blanc. So many things happened on this date in history! LOL! Thanks Tina @0106, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for explaining the food and beverages for us! Prayers said already this a.m. for our Care list people. May you all find comfort, healing, and less or no pain in the days ahead. Prayers also for the people of Israel and Ukraine along with the hostages still held and our military in danger in the area. Prayers too for DB and friends in need.🙏 Cheers to everyone on the Celebration list and the long list of cruisers and the many heading to their ships. Safe travels, and smooth seas as well.🚢🎉 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for maintaining the lists each day! ❤️ The port today is Port Blair, South Andaman Island, India. This is a first time showing for it. Therefore no links, and since I haven't been no photos from me. I'll make up for that with today's Antarctica travelogue. 😀 Have a great Saturday everyone!

Debbie, great to hear the surgery is over and you're home now. I hope the pain meds keep it all under control these first few days and you're back to your usual self very soon. I'm glad you're back on the schedule for another Antarctica cruise. It's a great one to look forward to. 🐧 I think the cruise lines should be happy we satisfied customers keep that wonderful destination in the forefront. We must sell a lot of cruises for them!

Sorry I missed your post coming in while I was posting. Thanks for your comments. Yes, it was 24/7 fun that cruise!

Thank you Terri. I am so thankful to our cruise friend C.B. who sparked our interest in the Antarctica cruise on Seabourn. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. And I'm sorry to hear Jim has no interest in Australia because that is one of my favorite areas to visit. So much to see there! Never say never - you could get there one day! @seagarsmoker what a shame you came home sick with the flu. I hope you start feeling better soon! Thanks Graham! It was as you say, awesome! Lorraine @cruising sister thank you for the precious photo of Miracle Baby Murphy! What a blessing for that family.

Travel report on Antarctica Dec. 29, 2016 Neko Harbor On Dec. 29, 2016 the Seabourn Quest settled itself near a place on the continent called Neko Harbor (or if you prefer, Harbour). Today the white group was last which meant we wouldn't go over to land until midafternoon. So we did a lot of watching what was going on from the ship. But look at the scenery! Not bad! Taken from drone shots. The drone went up and got some fantastic shots, which they kindly shared with us when they gave us the video they made as a gift. Here's what we looked like from above. And then it flew past this iceberg so we could get a good look at it. Amazing! I took this photo from the ship of passengers walking up the ice hill near where the Zodiacs landed. There was a good sized group of Gentoo penguins over there to look forward to. And these photos of the area taken from the drone. We saw some whales near the ship and watched them for a long time. We also saw a nearby glacier calving causing a small tsunami. To continue, finally it was our turn to ride the Zodiac over. We took our usual 30 minutes to prepare and add all our layers, etc. Then into our special boots and over in the Zodiac. There was a rocky portion near the shore with penguins, then the snow pack and a steep hillside. A seal lazing away on a bit of ice and snow. Isn't this penguin couple adorable? They loved the spotlight and posed for us all. We had to get a picture with them and they were happy to oblige. You can see the white band Velcroed around my arm, with my cruise card in it to be scanned when getting on and off the ship. DH wanted to go to the top of the hill (which was marked so you wouldn't venture too far). So he took a camera up and I stayed below with the penguins taking photos. Two photos he took. A close up of some penguin nests. Here they were still sitting on eggs. Yesterday at Yankee Harbor chicks had hatched three weeks or so earlier. They were diligent in their duty to those eggs, trying to keep them warm and protected from skuas (predatory sea bird) who would try to snatch the eggs from the nest if the parent didn't do a good job of covering them. Impossible to see this type of penguin activity from a ship sailing by. These three penguins were probably headed for a swim. And finally, a shot from the drone of the top of the ice hill. The guy on the left is Luciano, one of the Expedition Team members. An amazing day at Neko Harbor, Antarctica!

Good morning friends! Really cold this morning at 32F. Today will be partly cloudy with a high of 45. Thank you Jacqui @kazu for posting the Fleet Report and Daily the last Friday of 2023. Cheers for the Mongolians on their Independence Day, pepper pot (soup), and Tick Tock Day. Better get everything done before time ticks away! I like the quote by Nicolas Sparks, and I'm sure the salmon and broccolini dish is a tasty and popular meal which could be enjoyed by many here. No thanks to the cocktail and wine this morning. Congrats to Texas on the anniversary of becoming the 28th state! Thank you Tina @0106, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for reporting on the food and beverages for us! Prayers to everyone here on the Care list, especially our friend Debbie @dfish who is going in for the long awaited surgery. Hope things go perfectly and you are home recovering shortly afterwards. Prayers too for Maureen @RMLincoln and DH, Melisa @HAL Sailer and DH, Terri @Cruzin Terri, Tana and Terry @smitty34877, Baby Murphy, Pennie @Nickelpenny, and Vanessa @JazzyV. Prayers also for the people of Israel and Ukraine, the hostages held, and the U.S. military members under attack at bases and on ships. Hoping for a good day for DB and friends with health issues. A salute to everyone celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, and those cruising! If you're on you're way to a cruise, or traveling back from holiday visits, safe travels to all of you. Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for the list keeping and getting up early to post it here. The port of the day is Malacca, Malaysia, the first time here! So, no links to post, and for the record I haven't been to Malacca before. Thanks in advance for anyone with pictures to share with us. Have a great day y'all!

Bon Voyage!!

I remember those wine names that I couldn't figure out, too! I'm certainly no expert on wines!! I believe what I finally ended up doing is to copy and paste the name of the wine as shown on Halfacts.com/daily. Then I pasted into my search engine and it nearly always came up with the proper name. That must be how Ann's @cat shepard's decoder ring works! I wish you luck, and thank you again for all the work put into posting each day. Hope that freezing precipitation is holding off.

Bruce @aliaschief I'm interested in hearing about your cruise so post away if you can. What an adventure for you two! I need to stop sitting here with my laptop and get busy on making a new counted cross stitch Christmas stocking for DGD Ashley's fiancé Chris. I showed him photos of kits I have available and he loved the religious one with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus in the stable. Ashley's has three angels from Hark the Herald Angels Sing so they might go together well. I know for a fact DD doesn't have time to make one of these with her teaching job and church volunteer work. Not to mention dinners out with all her girlfriends! LOL! It will take me all year to make and if I sit here on CC all day it will take several years! I will put aside the one I'm trying to finish and get to work on Chris's right away. Oh yes, when I asked if he wanted Chris or Christopher on the stocking he picked Christopher. Oh, boy... 😛

Rich @richwmn glad the fall resulted in nothing serious. You have so much ahead of you to enjoy and no one wants a fall to disrupt that! Stay safe and well!

Best wishes to you Debbie as you head in tomorrow for your surgery. I know things will go well and you'll be good as new soon! Appreciation to Sue for helping out and taking care of you when you get home. And thanks to Tina @0106 for taking over the food report for you! We appreciate it.

Nice job decoding your wine selection today, Ann! I noticed it was garbled again today. Love all your memes Jacqui! I hope you can get the de-icer ahead of time and the storm isn't too bad! Be careful! I'm sorry you're feeling low over the holidays Lorraine. Stay strong and let's hope the cruise reminds you of all that life has to offer, even now. Hugs to you! Isn't it great having grandkids? They bring us such joy! Congrats to your DGS!! Thank you Graham! It was my pleasure. (Those are my favorite words heard while visiting Chick-fil-A several times this week. They have the nicest employees!) Terry, I'm so glad you are enjoying the pictures and commentary from our Antarctic cruise. I love seeing the amazing sights all over again, too. Hugs to you while you experience this difficult time of the year. Great idea to go through Alabama, Nancy. I told DH yesterday I wish we could find a route around north Georgia and then head over to our area south of Atlanta. Even though it would take longer it wouldn't be the same old stop and go traffic on I-75. Actually I was praying we could turn on our rotors and helicopter off the highway and fly home above all the mayhem. 😆 I hope you have safe travels!

Continuing Dec. 28, 2016 - Yankee Harbor, Antarctica That dark line in the snow is a penguin “highway”, the path they all seem to follow in or out of the water. When our time was up we went back to the ship and all the other groups had their turn. Everyone on the ship was excited to finally be here experiencing Antarctica. I was watching one of the later groups come back and spotted a whale or two near the ship. A returning Zodiac was treated with a close up look. The afternoon was sunny so we enjoyed gazing at the scenery. In late afternoon DH decided to try the caviar and champagne experience he had heard about. I'm not a fan of caviar but I am of champagne! We ordered it for 4:30 and at the appointed time room service arrived with our tray and cold bottle of champagne. Now this is the life! I'm not totally sure what the accompaniments were but I think he had toasted bread, chopped red onion, chopped boiled egg yolk, and sour cream. I just enjoyed an extra glass of champagne. Later on our Captain, the wonderful D.D., was able to sail inside the volcanic cauldron called Deception Island. The weather was calm which is a necessity due to the narrow opening to the cauldron. And inside there you can see one of the abandoned whaling stations. I believe this one is called Hektor, a Norwegian whaling station. And here are some penguins on Deception Island – photo from video Coming back out again – dramatic scenery After dinner that evening we saw quite a few tabular icebergs. Tomorrow we will set foot on the actual continent of Antarctica when we visit Neko Harbor. Yankee Harbor is on one of Antarctica's islands so technically not on the mainland portion.

My travelogue of Antarctica Dec. 28, 2016 - Yankee Harbor On this date in 2016 I had to awaken early because we were finally in Antarctica and DH and I were in the first group to go ashore at Yankee Harbor (6 a.m.!!). The passengers were divided into 5 groups (white, red, blue, yellow? and green?) and each day we would shift our positions for heading ashore. We wore a white leather arm band with a small pocket for our cruise card which we would Velcro on over our parkas. We went down to the boot storage area to put on the boots and leave our shoes, and then went down to the Zodiacs. It was a nice morning and everyone was excited to get over there to see the penguins and seals. We had already been instructed to stay behind the rope lines and not to leave a smidgen of trash (like tissues). Here is a drone shot of the area called Yankee Harbor. We had a videographer (with a drone) and photographer on board to document the cruise, and at the end they gave us thumb drives with an exquisite video of our Antarctica adventure. Priceless! Here’s a view from shore with the Gentoo penguins and Seabourn Quest as well as a loaded Zodiac. Penguins were playing in the water A seal on what looks to be an uncomfortable spot on the rocks A couple of seals who appear to be serenading each other but were probably trying to assert dominance! Let’s shake! Excuse us – just passing through. Class! Please stop talking and pay attention! A group of Gentoos on their nests An adult with their chicks A penguin helping to build the nest by tossing rocks onto it. From Seabourn video At my feet was this pattern of penguin footprints in the snow. Watch your step on that snowy slope Just some great penguin photos for your enjoyment I'll move on to another post for the remainder of our Yankee Harbor exploration.

Dubrovnik, Croatia is a beautiful port and a great one on any cruise of the Adriatic Sea. We were there in 2012 on Crown Princess and in 2017 on the Westerdam. The first time we met a young couple who were both dentists in the Army. They went on a tour I set up in Naples and we hung out a lot in the ports of call on that cruise. In Dubrovnik we took a cab from the ship to the Old City and walked the city walls together. You get quite the views up there. And don't we all enjoy places like this? From 2017 on the Westerdam the Franjo Tudman Bridge Our view from the ship On the 2017 visit we took a taxi with friends again to the Old City, but we walked back to the ship after our time spent there. It was a nice hot August day, too, so we were pretty tired when we got back to the ship. Going to dinner at 8 pm we stuck our head outside and took some nice sunset photos. I pulled out a photo of us with our young Army dentists Abby and Jesse taken the same evening after visiting Dubrovnik. We are both about 5 1/2 feet tall and obviously they are both about 6 feet tall. Either that or wearing very high heels. (Note: we've measured recently and have shrunk a couple inches).

Good morning friends! It is only 41 this morning and will warm up to about 53 with sunshine. I got a fairly good night's sleep (after a very bad night Tuesday night), and got up early to get back to our exercise regime. Thank you Jacqui @kazu for posting today for Rich @richwmn. I've got to get back on track with the Live From threads because the holiday interrupted my usual CC time. I see we have Holy Innocents Day, National Download Day and National Call a Friend Day. I know for sure I need to call my friend Brenda next door and see what's been going on while we were away. No word on whether they've sold their house or even had a looker due to Christmas. If they really want to move closer to their church, they may have to think about listing with a realtor instead of selling on their own. I would describe the quote today as encouraging! The minestrone soup sounds good but as usual I will pass on the cocktail and wine. Ann @cat shepard will need her decoder ring again I see! Interesting days in history. Thanks to Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for the F&B reports! Prayers said as I walked the treadmill again as I find I have alone time to get those done then. Special prayers for all our Dailyites especially Debbie @dfish getting ready for her surgical repair, Vanessa @JazzyV, Maureen and DH @RMLincoln, Melisa and DH @HAL Sailer, Terri @Cruzin Terri, and Terry @smitty34877 and Tana. All our Dailyites are in my prayers each day as we go through our trials, tribulations, aches and pains. Also my DB and friends Scott and Bob, my traumatized DGD Morgan, the people of Israel and Ukraine, the poor hostages held so long and in such danger, and the military members under attack on ships and on bases. Something needs to be done there to stop this! I hope all the cruisers remain well, and are enjoying their time at sea 🚢 Good luck and safe travels to everyone during the holiday travel period. I suggest avoiding I-75 in Georgia! We need more highways for all the traffic headed into and out of Florida! Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for continuing your work on the lists even through the pain every day. We appreciate you, and all who do something to contribute on the Dailly. 🙂 The port today is Dubrovnik, Croatia, a beautiful spot. We had that port on Aug. 23, 2021 and May 16, 2022. We've visited only twice but loved it! Here are the links to those dates so you can retrieve your photos. I hope all continue safe and well, or improve if not well. On to the photos of Dubrovnik.

Hi Graham. Thanks for commenting. Interesting you were reading about Drakes Passage. Apparently another thread according to Tina. I'll try to catch up on all the live threads! Lenda, I hear you about being sad for the "kids" leaving. I'm sad we had to leave our kids behind today too. Really missed DS and family but enjoyed the lengthy video call with them. Unfortunately, I've fallen behind on the Live From threads on CC the last couple of days so no I hadn't read about @NorbertsNiece's blog. I use meclizine (generic Bonine and much cheaper than Bonine) for seasickness. It isn't supposed to make you sleepy or tired. Normally I don't take it, but if there is a chance of very heavy seas or a small local tour boat I try to remember it so I don't feel queasy. The reason I posted about Drake's Passage today is because this was the date in 2016 we made our way across from South America to begin our Antarctica experience. So for the next 10 days I'll share my posts from three years ago which is when we were in Antarctica and South Georgia Island (both wonderful).

Hi everybody! We made it home but it took extra long because some genius thought they should close the right lane of I-75 near Kennesaw, north of Atlanta, to cut down trees along the road. The traffic backed up for miles and miles. Took us an extra hour! Perhaps they should have waited a few weeks until the holiday traffic was over. It's bad enough there on an average day! All is put away so I'm catching up on the Daily. I've read it all and want to thank Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser for doing the posting of my photos and the links today. Things will be back to normal tomorrow. Last week I was thinking about the fact that 3 years ago while we were all sitting at home during Covid we entertained each other here on the Daily with photos and discussions about good times cruising in the past. I started a little travelogue about our Seabourn Quest Antarctica cruise and this was what we did on Dec. 27, 2016. Each day for a week or so I printed some of my journal made from emails to the kids during that time period with photos of our time in Antarctica. So I thought many of you who weren't here on the Daily back then would enjoy a re-visit to that travelogue. So here goes! On Dec. 27, 2016 we were crossing Drake Passage and looking forward to our days ahead in Antarctica. Yes, we ran into some rough seas but I believe most seasoned cruisers have had rough seas on past cruises, so nothing we couldn't handle. This was the view out our wet balcony door. The following two photos were taken from the Seabourn video of the cruise that they gave everyone a copy of on a jump drive. Definitely a bad morning! We went to breakfast at the Colonnade (like the Lido) and noticed some of the cutlery and dishes were scooting towards the edge of the table. It was a challenge, that's for sure. Photo taken out the window at breakfast. Winds were about 70 mph that day according to my cruise diary, but we raced across the Passage and arrived in Antarctica ahead of schedule. Photos from after lunch the same day show a different story. We had made it safely to Antarctica. This is what some passengers brought on this cruise to take photos of this spectacular continent and its wildlife. I had my Canon PowerShot (point and shoot) camera! You would be surprised how many people brought elaborate cameras and lenses. It made it difficult to move onto the Zodiacs if you were holding equipment like that. We had waterproof backpacks provided by Seabourn and if you were lucky the lenses would fit in that. They made us grasp forearms with the loading personnel to get a better grip so nothing in your hand. Here's a photo of probably the same guy with his lens on the Zodiac. This was at Salisbury Plain on the north shore of South Georgia Island. Took up a lot of room in the Zodiac. Not much to show while crossing the Drake but everyone is always interested in what to expect there. It could be either the Drake Lake or the Drake Shake!