StLouisCruisers

Bon Voyage!

The temp is 96 but I'm staying inside! We went grocery shopping this morning and it sure was hot out. We leave the garage door open in the summer when we pull the cars in and try to let some of that engine heat dissipate during the day but with temps like this, forget it! I put a thermometer in the garage this afternoon and it was 93 in there but I see at 5 pm the temp dropped to 91 so we closed the door. How awful! I do hope he is out of the hospital soon and completely recovered before too long. Sounds pretty serious with the chest tube and all. Take care of yourself during this time of stress.

I was thinking the same thing Ray. Let's hope Taiwan stays a free country too. How exciting Graham! Maybe now you can find a nice itinerary on Holland America and try them out. 🤞

Thank you very much Graham. 🙂 Annie, best of luck to you at your appointment today. I'm sorry to hear how much pain Chuck is in and hope for an improvement in his health soon. You take great care of him and I bet he appreciates it tremendously. Prayers for you both!🙏 Terry, I have essentially the same message for you as I did Annie. Better days for your DH Lou, strength for you, and blessings to your whole family.🙏 I'm sorry to hear of your painful shoulder problem. Good luck with your doctor visit and I hope you are set up for surgery ASAP. Happy cruising!

On April 23, 2010 we were in Keelung, Taiwan while enjoying a cruise our friends talked us into. Lucky for us we had a connection in Taiwan and that would be Mei, the lovely sister to our DDIL. She insisted she hire a car and driver for the day so that she could pick up the four of us in Keelung where the Diamond Princess was docked. Mei is on the right. First she took us on a tour along the shoreline. Our car and driver Then we stopped at the Golden Waterfall near the town of Jiufen. The name of the town means "nine portions". hillside village In the town of Jiufen, Mei wanted us to see the street food. Right next to the 7-11 is an alleyway called Jiufen Old Street. We would NOT be eating anything on Old Street. Next up were temples. The Qingyun Temple Then on to another Taoist temple which I don't have the name of inside shot Then on to Taipei 101 which was second tallest building in the world then. a model of it inside. We bought tickets to the 89th floor observation center. Mei tried to pick out her apartment to show us. Just kidding! Then on to see the sights of Taipei. The Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. The Presidential Office Building At the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The Taipei National Theatre at Chiang Kai-shek A band competition being held A farewell ceremony back at the ship We had a great time and appreciate how welcoming our DDIL's family is.

Good morning friends! I didn't have a good night's sleep last night and am feeling less than energetic this morning. I hope I can get time for a nap later today and start feeling better. The weather is hot and I wish we'd get some cooler temps because we need to do a little upkeep outside to the shrubs, trees and weeds. When we walked up to the front door Wednesday after being away almost 4 weeks there was an 18 inch weed of very robust health growing right near the walkway. You can't expect the landscapers who come by to mow and edge to pull a huge weed right in front of their faces, can you? It is 74 now and will be sunny and a high of 96 later. No heat relief expected until next Tuesday. Thank you Rich @richwmn for the Daily and Fleet Report. I like all the days today. Kiss and Make Up is a positive act. I love banana splits! My twin used to buy them for me to try and fatten me up while pregnant with my first baby. And cheers to anyone who would found the Park Service which is so important to maintain some of our natural resources. Funny quote today. I would probably enjoy the Lasagna Roll-ups. No thanks to the cocktail and wine. An impressive day in our history. Thanks to Tina @0106, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for F&B reports! Prayers for our Care group especially Chuck @catmando, Lou (Terry @smitty34877 ), Tana, Baby Murphy, my DB and my friend's DB Mark, those affected by the wildfires and the people lost in Maui. Continued prayers for Ukrainian citizens. 🙏 On the other hand we have many who are celebrating happy events and especially cruises. Have a wonderful time!🚢🥂 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV!! The port is Keelung, Taiwan, the port city for Taipei City. We have had that port chosen only once on June 7, 2022 and the link is below. I have been there before on a nice Asian cruise (Bangkok to Anchorage). Unfortunately last year on June 7 I was on an Island Princess cruise. I didn't have a way to post any photos so will have to do so this morning. Coming up next post. Have a cool, comfortable, safe day everyone! Unfortunately, we need groceries and need to get out in this heat. Still so much to do though we've accomplished 95% of the work of returning home. Will get that nap in somehow!

Good morning friends! Back in Georgia I have 71 degrees, it's dark out but they say we will have a mostly sunny day and a high of 93.🥵 Walking out of the airport was a bit of a shock yesterday after 25 days with more ideal temperatures. Thanks Rich @richwmn for our Fleet Report and Daily. Very unique days to celebrate. I appreciate the old days with Iconic American Restaurants Day. The more modern restaurants are great too. I don't want to honor or celebrate Vesuvius but have a great respect for it's power and the history of its eruptions.🌋 Who determines what Strange Music is? What I like might not be what you like! Fun Mark Twain quote. I'm sure many will enjoy the black bean tostadas. A green river cocktail doesn't sound that appetizing to me, at least. I'm sure the pinot noir is wonderful. Thanks to Tina @0106 for stepping in for Debbie @dfish while she was away. Great job! Thanks also to Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for their Daily contributions.🍷🍹 Prayers today for all on the Care list. I hope we get some good news from Annie @marshhawk about Chuck's eye surgery. 🙏 Also prayers for my DB and my friend's DB Mark. There must be something to report on him by now and I will try to find out. Cheers to the Celebration list folks! Hoping for more good news every day, and congrats to those on a cruise or preparing for one.🎉🚢 Thanks go to Vanessa @JazzyV for her outstanding work keeping up with us all. The port of the day is Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. We had it twice before on Nov. 17, 2021 and Oct. 21, 2022. DH and I stopped there once in 2015 on a South America cruise and it turned out to be an interesting day and stands out in my mind. My photos are shown below the links. On Feb. 13, 2015 the Ruby Princess stopped in Salvadaor de Bahia, Brazil on a very hot day. We headed out from the ship passing by and through the Mercado Modelo on our way to the Elevador Lacerda. Local spelling, not mine. The Elevador Lacerda is one way of transiting between the lower part of town and the upper part where the old city center called Pelourinho, is. At the top. The Mercado Modelo where we had just been. Our ship is off in the distance hidden slightly by the buildings. Everywhere we went there were signs of Carnival. You know it's hot that day if DH is wearing shorts. That doesn't happen often! Drums!! St. Peter of the Clergymen Church Another church - St. Francis Church and Convent Very ornate I thought this hotel was so beautiful and well kept. I was intriqued by these roofs and the pattern on them. Our trip back down to the lower section was by the Plano Inclinado de Goncalves funicular The woman in control We enjoyed our walk through Salvador, but remember to always be alert and not wear jewelry when walking around in Brazil. Many times tourists are robbed by brazen thieves roaming the streets. Hoping to get most of the work of returning home done today. We don't like things in an upheaval for long. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Hi again! We had a safe uneventful flight and arrived in Atlanta 30 minutes early. That was to make up for the time the baggage handlers would take to get our bags to the carousel! Our driver home was a man in our neighborhood who helps people go to and from the airport and it sure beats renting a car each way like we used to do. We had a great chat all the way home. We're taking it easy this evening and will do most of the unpacking tomorrow. I'm relaxing on the sofa being attended to by my DH who serves me wine and crackers/cheese before dinner which will be a wonderful frozen pizza kept just for occasions like this.🍕 I hope Debbie @dfish and Sue's flights work out even though they've been delayed by the storms. They should be past now. I bet the temps in Michigan are a lot cooler than down here in Georgia. Quite a shock after nearly a month in the cooler climes. See you all in the morning!

Thanks Debbie @dfish for your good wishes and I hope you two have good flights home too. It was so nice to meet you both!

Hi all! It's been pretty busy today but we are ready for departure tomorrow. This morning we did most of the packing and also went through the Immigration lines on board. Some fools delayed and delayed until they finally outed them with calling their names and stateroom numbers. Bad passengers! Then we went to lunch in the Lido where the chicken was awful. If that is what they call fried chicken, I beg to differ. Even DH wouldn't eat it! Then we took the tender to town and people watched. Last time we were in Bar Harbor was off season so talk about a big difference in visits. Back to the ship where we finished up some last minute stuff. I guess we'll head to the dining room this evening for one last time. I see no one had pictures of Halibut Point but there were shots of Halibut Cove today from Lenda's 2010 wildlife tour in Sitka. I read an article on CruiseCritic that says they have upgraded the old 2012 dock at Sitka and made room for two ships, as well as a two story terminal there and have named it Halibut Point. Should be really nice!

Good morning friends and Happy wedding anniversary to Graham @grapau27 and Pauline!! I hope you have many more to come. We are on US time now and due to arrive in Bar Harbor by 9 am. DH and I will be going to breakfast before long but I have time to post that our port of Halibut Point, Alaska is brand new! We have no links to refer back to and I have not been there so no photos from me. Hopefully we will see some later. I will be back to post something later when we get back to our room. This typing on my phone is for the birds! 😂

I haven’t been ashore yet today in Halifax. I really should just take a short walk and soon, before rain moves in. Apparently there have been some light sprinkles but nothing heavy so far. My sympathy Bruce (and Sue) @aliaschief on the passing of your DBIL. Hoping Sue has a nice visit with her twin. Sending good thoughts today to Tana and Lou. Hope things begin looking up for both of them. Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser you are correct, I won’t have time to post on Wednesday. I see those old photos for that port aren’t showing up on Rich’s old posts anymore. Since I won’t be home I won’t be able to insert photos again. But that’s okay, that port has been shown several times before. We arrive home Wednesday afternoon so I should have no problem jumping back into our usual routine Thursday morning. I saw this photo popping up on all Ren’s former teammate’s Instagram accounts and realized it was of Ren taken while in Mexico City. He seems intent on avoiding a foul! Today’s game hasn’t begun yet. It’s against the #1 team at the “tournament” so not setting my expectations too high!

Good morning friends! We are in Halifax as Rich has mentioned already today. Temps will be in the 60's with cloudy skies for the most part and hopefully no rain until the ship sails. Thanks Rich @richwmn for posting our Fleet Report and Daily once again today. I've never tried spumoni before as far back as I can recall, but who knows if my memory is correct. I'm definitely a senior citizen and appreciate anyone who can write poetry. The Lennon quote seems true to me. The sheet pan nachos sound very good. No thanks to the cocktail or wine today. What a nifty invention Mr. Burroughs thought up! Thank you Tina @0106, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your F&B reports! Prayers for the Care list folks. We hope you are all feeling better soon.🙏 Congrats to the Celebration people. Enjoy your happy event, cruise or any other good thing happening in your life.🥂 Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for taking care of our lists each day. The FC Dallas group were taken to a ruin near Mexico City yesterday on their day off and I saw a picture of them all in front of it. Today is back to work playing soccer. I wish them luck! The competition is getting tougher every day. No idea what we are doing here today. I really have nothing planned so we will wing it. Tomorrow is Bar Harbor, Maine. This morning's port is Avalon, on Catalina Island, California. We had the port of Avalaon, Catalina Island on July 21, 2022. I haven't been there so have no photos. DH says he remembers taking a boat ride to Catalina Island as a boy because his family traveled to L.A. every summer to visit close family members. I hope you have some photos to share today of Catalina Island! Hope you all have a great day. Stay safe and well!

This photo was no longer available to copy and paste from our previous day’s links but with some little tricks I found a way to retrieve it from my Shutterfly app. This was taken on the 2006 cruise with DD. That’s Water Island in the background. Dixie @summer slope I will tell Ren to try the Gatorade for altitude sickness. Sorry about your Women’s soccer team Graham @grapau27 Much better luck next time.

Good morning friends! Thanks Rich for the Daily and Fleet Report. Your map shows me exactly where Zaandam is this morning. It's another foggy morning and you can hear the foghorn sounding regularly. I hope the weather tomorrow is nice in Halifax. Weather app says it will be 73 and cloudy but maybe we can coax the sun out. Yesterday wasn't a great day for me. We went out in the damp to ride the bus to town in St. Pierre & Miquelon. We stayed only a short time and headed back to the ship. At lunch time we went to the Lido for a bite to eat, but I didn't feel like eating much. At 2 pm I went to the shore excursion person checking in our excursion and told her I didn't feel up to going on a tour. The wind was blowing about 20 to 25 mph and it was raining on and off. So we skipped that. Then at dinner time I got dressed and then told DH I didn't want to go eat at Caneletto. He said I agree with that 100% so we cancelled our dinner plans too. He went to the Sports Bar for a martini and then to Lido for an interesting meal. I believe it was Indonesian. I didn't eat dinner. I put a card out for breakfast by room service this morning in case I still didn't have the get up and go to head out for breakfast but I feel so much better this morning. I still ate the room service meal. The milk was barely cool and the OJ tastes watery but I am still grateful for their service.😉 I will celebrate honey bees and radios but I refuse to acknowledge any benefit to mosquitoes! The food drink and wine sound perfectly fine but I will pass on all of them. Wow, what an amazing sight Alaska must have been in 1741 to the explorers who first found it. Thanks to Tina, Dixie, and Ann for their reports today. Also I want to say prayers for our Care list and hope for more good news on that front. Be safe out there in California! Three cheers for the Celebration list folks and thank you Vanessa for your work keeping the lists updated. Well the FC Dallas team seems to have no get up and go either because they lost 3 to 2. DS says the nearly 8000 feet elevation is no joke and that Ren complained of his head hurting. But his Dad says he's playing well and hopes he will be moving up in the ranks playing with better players as time goes on. Some of the '06 players are not real team players and passing to other teammates to make a goal does not seem to be their first priority. We are thinking Ren is going to have to start taking a shot each time he has the ball because they don't pass to him that much, and don't seem to be able to anticipate when Ren is going to pass to them. Anyway, DS sent a clip of Ren being interviewed by sports reporters and he sounded great and very knowledgeable. He's all grown up at 16! ❤️ One of the Dallas team members was taken off the field with a concussion protocol after he and another player hit head to head. Prayers that boy is doing okay today! Kralendijk, Bonaire is a wonderful port of call to visit! We have enjoyed sharing photos here for Kralendijk 3 times before - July 17, 2021, Nov. 8, 2022, and April 18, 2023. Here are the links to today's port and my photos below them. We were in Kralendijk the first time in 2006 on Crown Princess. Our daughter had had a difficult year having just gone through a divorce and having three youngsters, so DH and I took her on her first cruise. It began in San Juan and was a Southern Caribbean cruise. Our second time there was on Westerdam in 2016 and we went drift snorkeling for the first time. From our second trip as we loaded onto the catamaran for our drift snorkeling excursion (private CC tour). We headed to Klein Bonaire to this area to begin snorkeling. The current was strong and it wasn't easy to stay with our guide, so quite of lot of energy expended that day! We did this tour on a lark and didn't even have an underwater camera, but I can assure you we saw some amazing sights. The fish, the coral and underwater plants, and even the huge sea turtles. Loved it! After the snorkeling we walked through the town and checked out the people selling their hand made items like jewelry. It's a great stop on a Caribbean cruise. A couple photos from our 2006 Bonaire visit with DD. It seems we were enjoying ourselves so much we took more photos of the three of us than photos of the islands visited. Here are a couple of my favorite photos taken that trip. View from the ship of the lovely water and colorful town of Kralendijk. DD and myself DH says the towel animals are on parade in the pool deck area so we are going up there to take photos. It will give the room steward time to do our room. Bye!

Good morning friends! We are docked in St. Pierre and Miquelon, France this morning. Seems odd leaving the Canadian ports for a day to stop at this French island. The weather is gloomy and wet. It is 63F and not raining at the moment but we expect any time it wants to today. If it's raining at 2 pm, which is our meeting time for our Sailor's Island tour we may just skip it. There are no details on how we get there so we are in the dark. Secondly I have picked up a little cold and am not in the mood for uncomfortable tour conditions. Thank you Rich for the Daily and Fleet report. Also big thanks to Tina, Dixie, Ann and Vanessa for helping you out with contributions! Prayers for the Care list and cheers to the Celebration list people. I hope all are on the road to recovery and the rest of you are having a great day. Yesterday Seabourn Quest was in port with us. That is the only Seabourn ship we've cruised on (twice) and I do enjoy the Seabourn cruises a lot. It's nice to hear some of you are venturing out to trying new experiences. They do a great job! Yesterday's soccer game was a tie 1 - 1. The opposition from Los Angeles scored in the last minute of added time. Ren only played 3 minutes first game and 11 minutes yesterday. We saw a brief video of Ren's big play where he zoomed up the field, with the defender way behind him. Then he left kicked the ball (not his dominant foot) to one of the two teammates in front of the net, but they failed to get a score. Darn! We've been told this is more like a showcase instead of a tourney. They only play 70 minutes instead of the official 90 minutes. This is because there are too many games and teams to play the entire 90 minutes. I just wish Colton was on the team with Ren. They knew each other inside and out and would have made that score. Anyway, they're having fun and we enjoyed hearing the Spanish commentary on the video clip during Ren's play. He got so excited and screamed Senor Ren (last name)______!!! 🤣 Our port of the day is Broome in Western Australia. That was our port once before, on November 15, 2022. Here is the link and my photos for Broome. Here are my photos of Broome. On Oct. 23, 2017 Sun Princess stopped at Broome in Western Australia during our circumnavigation of Australia. It was hot! It seemed like a small town to us. Certainly there were no skyscrapers. We had noticed the Holden autos when in Australia but the government shut down that industry for some reason. Here is a dealership back then in Broome. We were dropped off our shuttle downtown where you saw anytime they could, a shade structure was installed to help keep you cool. Didn't help quite enough though. Ahhh! Shopping! A restaurant with patrons sitting outside. I would prefer the AC inside. Another restaurant. A nice mosaic in the sidewalk An offroad vehicle with the exhaust extended up above the roofline of the vehicle. We saw a lot of these. A last look at the town of Broome before we took our scorched feet back to the ship for a cool lunch. For those who miss singers and dancers on HAL, that night we had a rousing show using the troop of entertainers on Sun Princess. Looked like fun! Hoping all have a great day and my cold gets better not worse!

Hello everyone. We’ve had a busy day with our morning tour of Cape Spear, seeing sights in St. John’s and Signal Hill. Our guide Susan F. was outstanding! Then we got back to the ship for lunch, curled up for a restorative nap and just watched sailing out of the narrow little opening to the harbor. No wonder we couldn’t get in here on some previous cruises when weather was bad. Thanks for doing my posting this morning Lenda. Tomorrow our tour in St, Pierre and Miquelon is in the afternoon so no problems trying to post. I just hope it isn’t planning on raining all afternoon because we have a boat tour of Sailor’s Island. Here is the new lighthouse of Cape Spear the old one The harbor in St. John’s with Zaandam Signal Hill view across harbor entrance to Fort Amherst The weather was great. Wish it would continue. Time to head to Ocean Bar before dinner.

The soccer game is over and we lost 0 to 1. The score was a goalie error, so basically he scored the winning goal for the other team. He kicked the ball out of the area in front of the net and it bounced off an attacker and into the net. Yikes! Ren wasn't a starter and was subbed into the game when a midfield center got a yellow card so they put Ren in a position he never plays. Tough day!

Two more updates. We received a notice they are having problems getting Delft tiles to distribute. I would have liked to have one from Zaandam since this is our first time aboard. And at the Medallion ceremony yesterday only silver and up were presented. The lady we talk to in Ocean Bar received it at the ceremony and had her picture taken with the Captain and Hotel Director, just like the old days. She is already a 5 star Mariner but just received her silver medallion. It's possible they had an earlier ceremony for bronze recipients but we just don't know that for sure. We went to the luncheon at 1 pm and sat with two nice couples. Unfortunately my beef brisket main course was fatty and mostly inedible. But I did enjoy the soup starter and the dessert.

Good morning friends! We are at anchor outside St. Anthony, Newfoundland. It's about 50F and sun/clouds mixed. We may reach into the 60's here. Thank you Rich @richwmn for the Daily and Fleet Report. We are still 1.5 hours ahead of the US east coast so I may not be able to post the links in the morning because we have to meet for a tour in St. John's, Newfoundland at 8:15 am. That is 6:45 EDT. Wish me luck with getting everything done or I may have to wait until afternoon. We are touring Old St. John's and Cape Spear. Today we have nothing planned but will take the tender over after the rush. I like all the days of celebration/honor, would enjoy the soup, but will skip the drink and wine. Prayers for our group continue, DB, friend's DB Mark and those affected by fire and war. I appreciate everyone who helps keep this Daily going each day. Tina @0106, Dixie @summer slope, Ann @cat shepard and Vanessa @JazzyV. Cheers to the Celebration list folks! It was good to hear Lou @smitty34877 came home yesterday, Baby Murphy is doing much better, Ivan is acting like a much younger dog now, Linda @lindaler is home from her family trip to Disney World, etc. and I appreciated seeing Jack @Heartgrove's photo of little Lily. I miss those days with my DGC! Nice photos Graham @grapau27 of you and the Mrs.😉 The port this morning is Willemstad in Curacao. That was our port on Sept. 18, 2021 and Dec. 8, 2022 so I'll post the links below. We have been there and enjoyed it so much. It's just so colorful and not at all depressing like some ports are. My photos are included after the links. We've only been to Willemstad, Curacao twice, 2016 on our Westerdam Panama Canal cruise and in 2019 on our Rotterdam Western and Southern Caribbean cruise. Such a pretty and interesting place! From our 2016 stop I took photos from the ship just before our late departure. They really know how to highlight their unique city. The Queen Emma pedestrian Bridge, also known as "The Swinging Old Lady". Known for its colorful buildings of course This was my favorite color building and I had to compliment the man working on it. This was the view from our docking spot on the Rotterdam in February, 2019. We walked across the pedestrian bridge and then it began to swing to the side to make way for a ship coming through. It went under the taller bridge behind it first. And there it goes past the Queen Emma bridge. That's the Rotterdam in the background. More COLOR! Here's the local Love Locks. Trying to keep them off the swinging bridge I would suppose. Heading back across the pedestrian bridge to our ship. Have a great Thursday y'all and go Ren! ( By the way his new jersey number is #11, Graham.)

Good morning friends! We moved our clocks back another 30 minutes last night to be on Newfoundland time. So of course we wake up earlier. Breakfast is finished, just a light one of toast (and some jam, of course). We will be going to the Mariner's luncheon at 1 pm today and I'm sure there will be a lot of food there. The weather is overcast and about 50F. I'm going by our stateroom TV for that information. I hope Debbie @dfishis feeling much better today and completely recovered by tomorrow for our Saint Anthony, NF stop. Thank you Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. Cheers to Airborne Day, Tell a Joke Day (looking at you @RedneckBob ), and Roller Coaster Day. I love Lana Turner's quote, will pass on the drink and wine but might taste the menu suggestion. The Gold Rush was a very exciting time period in history. Thanks today to Tina @0106, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard for your reports. I said prayers for our Care list people especially Lou, Chuck and Annie, Baby Murphy, DB and friend's DB Mark. Those in natural disasters and war are included as well. Congrats to the Celebration list folks! Enjoy! Thanks for the list keeping Vanessa @JazzyV. DGS Ren flew to Mexico City yesterday morning with the team and staff. 24 players went including 3 goalies. They have a very strict schedule and a lot of games between now and the 26th. DS will join him there today, but parents do not stay at the same hotel as players. No distractions from their play this week. My prayer for Ren is remain safe and injury free and play your best. Fingers crossed the team does well in the tournament but there are players from all over the world so we will just have to wait and see what happens. ⚽ The port today is Akureyri, Iceland where Debbie, Sue, Dennis and I visited last week. Since I posted photos on Aug. 9 of Akureyri I will not repost them and hope to see everyone else's. We had that port as our port of the day on June 28, 2022. Here's the link for you: Here's hoping for a Wonderful Wednesday for you all! Take care and remain healthy.

Wonderful itineraries! We’re on Zaandam now and wish we could stay on to go with you.

Debbie @dfish what a shame you had such a nasty sinus headache today. I’m glad it felt better on shore but hopefully a good night’s rest will be beneficial. Your pictures from today are so good! Thanks for posting some. Mine are okay I guess. But did you notice the dark cloud(s) that were lying along the mountains today? I was wondering if they were smoke. They appeared brown in person but I’m thinking they look grayer in the photos.

I checked my phone and found some photos from our 2019 Amsterdam cruise to Alaska. We were at Hubbard Glacier on a beautiful sunny day, Sept.5, the day before our 50th wedding anniversary.

Love your garden photos today Graham @grapau27!!