StLouisCruisers

In addition, here is the Northern Europe section of Cruise Critic for Terri to scour for information on her remaining ports of call. Sweden, Latvia, and Lithuania for the most part. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

For Terri's research purposes these links are to the dates we had the cities as our port of the day. Ronne, Denmark (Bornholm Island) Kristiansand, Norway Haugesund, Norway Molde, Norway Trondheim, Norway Tallinn, Estonia The rest of your ports are no-shows.

That is an idea, Lenda. I could easily do that for Terri. I'll get right on it while I have time this evening. We're ordering pizza in so no going out to a restaurant. I can enjoy a glass of wine while I do it! But a warning, not all those ports have been listed as port of the day, but it will be a start! What great neighbors! Now not only can you enjoy the blue siding again, they can too.

You have quite an interesting list of ports there on your cruise. I love that region but I can honestly say I haven't been to the majority of those ports. We missed Haugesund last year due to being in quarantine so I have no clue there. I cancelled a cruise with Riga and Klaipeda due to Russia being on the itinerary and then St. Petersburg was removed from it so I could have actually taken that one. We haven't been to Ronne (Bornholm), Visby, Karlskrona, Molde, Kristiansund, or Gothenburg either. In Tallinn, Kristiansand, and Trondheim we haven't taken a tour, just walked and tried to pass as many of the main tourist sights in town. You need a good map of the town for that and if you can print off one ahead of time that would be a good idea. I know HAL and Princess don't have the maps they used to have. I have no idea about taxis in any of those ports. We rarely use taxis so it sounds like I'm not much help at all to you. Hopefully someone else here will chime in with taxi knowledge or a private tour they arranged. If Oceania (I think that's your cruise line) has the port talks ahead of time make a point to attend to get some ideas or advice on what to do in ports, and taxi availability. Good luck to you! It sounds like an amazing cruise!!

Thank you, I'm doing much better. I can eat again! Also thanks for the information about the bus rides, tickets, etc. I'm glad we found out about it beforehand and got to do that. Sorry about sitting in the Atlanta airport so long. They have Chick-fil-a in some of the concourses in case you are starved for their wonderful chicken sandwiches. Plenty of time to take the train between concourses to get to one. I'm sure there is a way to find out which restaurants are in which concourse before you get on the train like the information desk or ?. Let us know when you are back on home soil.

Surprising to hear of such activities as an armed standoff in your neck of the woods. Reassuring to know ALL the crazies aren't living here in the U.S. I'm glad you could be of assistance to your friend in her time of need. P.S glad to see you back here on the Daily. We've had lots of the original posters drop off. Whoops! Sorry to hear about your Covid test being positive. Is Chuck ill also? Just relax and get well soon! I love your flag display outside your windows. Beautiful and so patriotic! OMG. I can't believe they would be enticed over to your cement pad for a little walk around. Unbelievable. Awww. It's cool to see Tina could take her rolling carryon up to heaven with her, full of miniskirts and high heels. Your flower garden is gorgeous! Terri, if you could list some ports on your cruise some of us might have some ideas on things to see there, or possibly a private tour idea from our past visits. I do enjoy walking around in many places though. We had a gift card to Zingerman's deli and all 6 went there for sandwiches for lunch today. Deli sandwiches are $15 to $20 but are huge. I have half mine left for dinner tonight or lunch tomorrow. Zingerman's is known all over the country (and outside the country too). Didn't take long to use up that gift card! After that the grown ups went to DSW for some shoe shopping, the boys went home and the sandwich was left in Ren's hands to put in the refrigerator. He's the responsible one! lol!!😇

Great itineraries! Enjoy and bon voyage.🥂

Thanks for telling us the link to that webcam. I turned it on and even before 5 am local time someone is moving that camera around all over the place. The brief images of the N. Amsterdam are nice though.

I hope Tana can get outside for the barbecue. Just a little bit of fresh air and joining everyone out there might be a big boost for her.

Good morning friends! I had a good night's sleep last night and awoke naturally at 6:30 am. It's 48F here in A2, cloudy for a change (this visit) and will be 82 degrees today. Not sure what's on the schedule for the day but this household of 4 is always off someplace at all times. Thank you Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. Amnesty, jazz and hamburgers are interesting yet varied topics. I would say I'm pro on all of them. Appreciate Twain's quote and for once he seemed serious about something instead of funny. The chicken dish will please some I'm sure, no to the cocktail and wine though. Without Turing where would we be? Possibly in the same place though it may have taken the rest of us a lot longer to catch up to where we are now. Thanks to Food and Beverage ladies Tina @0106, Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepard. We appreciate you! Prayers for our Care list people. 🙏 Cheers for the Celebration list folks!🥂 Sorry to here about Vanessa's @JazzyV delayed flight. It seems to happen more and more these days. Congrats to all enjoying a cruise right now.🚢 Hope Denise @Denise T arrived safely and got a little sleep. Today is a big day for her. Thank you Eva @superoma!! The port today is Macapa, Brazil. On our recent Amazon cruise that was simply called a service call because we didn't stop there. At 8 am I went outside, where I'm sure my lense fogged up on the camera, and saw a boat drop off a pilot. Then I took a couple pics of the shoreline. That is all you will see from me on that port, though the last two times we had that port I had to say no I'd never seen it before! Progress!! The dates for the links were August 20, 2021 and Feb. 6, 2022 and if you have photos to retrieve, go for it! We had our fancy, schmancy dinner last night at an excellent restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor. Service was excellent and attentive. Everyone enjoyed their steaks, lobster, crabcakes and even I enjoyed my French Onion Soup. That is all I ordered and it took me longer to eat than most of the other main courses did. Ren ate an enormous steak but then he could use the calories and protein. He burns every calorie he consumes. At home I tried half a slice of the 3 layer triple chocolate cake and it was great. The boys went out to see their friends and Mimi went to bed! Sounds like a good day to me. Glad to be feeling much better. Hoping you all have a wonderful Sunday, and safe travels for those who are on the road or in the skies. Oh, let's not forget a train in Alaska either! Here are the three photos from Macapa, Brazil taken on Nov. 27, 2022. The pilot boat leaving. Seems we didn't miss much.

I hope it's a short one. Never fails anymore, right?

I'm back for a minute to say thanks for everyone who suggested I see my doctor. I can do that, though I have the same opinion that Roy @rafinmd did that I was dehyrdrated causing the meal to sit heavily on my stomach. I do faint when dehydrated. As for the higher heart rate, my pulse was about 95 at first but did go lower at the second reading. I had a perfect EKG so I'm sure my racing pulse rate is no cause for alarm but an indication of all the excitement this caused. Carolyn @Cruising-along we don't recall if the bus ride around the island was a Ho-Ho type ride. I don't remember much to stop and get off to see. It did stop at a hotel. You could ask if you can get back on again at a stopping point like that. Editing my post to say that I read Laura @Horizon chaser 1957's post from March 26, 2021 and she said they took the bus around the island and they stopped at Muri Beach for a while. Then they got back on the bus to finish the circle. She mentioned they have a bus that goes in each direction but I don't know why we picked the one we did. Maybe it was next to leave. It went clockwise and it seems like they drive on the left so my side of the bus was closest to the water for pictures. Sit on the left side. I haven't even had a bite of that cake yet, but have had only toast and tea or water to drink. I'm saving my appetite for a salad or a soup for my dinner. This restaurant is a fancy steakhouse and I definitely don't feel like steak yet. I've felt great all day though. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend so far.

Good morning friends! It's a beautiful 45F and sunny here again this morning. Yesterday I couldn't tell you that but I'm hoping you see my morning post today. Did I just jinx myself? Thanks Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. @portofrome must have been waiting for you! Nice days today to celebrate, with Player Pianos, sunscreen and cellophane tape. Amazing how there's a day for everything. I don't know anything about the quote or quoter but it sounds profound. The spring dinner wraps sounds promising. Classic rum punch and a riesling will be popular with some drinkers. And how exciting and important that Dunkirk operation must have been. I really need to see that movie! Thanks Debbie @dfish or Tina @0106for the menu suggestion and thanks Dixie @summer slope and Ann @cat shepardfor the cocktail and wine today. Prayers for all our Care List folks and I'm hoping that list gets shorter soon. The Celebration List isn't long enough so let's add to it if we can. Thank you Eva @superoma for handling those lists for us. The scholar has graduated and went to the all night party the class held. He's still not home. After the ceremony he and the family enjoyed a 3 layer cake that was sky high prepared by his Mother. It was triple chocolate with vanilla icing. Even though it was chocolate I didn't eat a single bite! Wait, what??? Sorry I just couldn't. I had the schedule wrong for last night. We have dinner reservations tonight because the graduation was from 6 pm to 8 or later. So we had a quick barbecue at 4:30 and left for the arena at Eastern Michigan University at Ypsilanti at 5 pm. It was packed and we seated ourselves on the third level up from the floor where the graduates were. It went on and on while people made long speeches. During the speeches I felt really bad. The rushed barbecue didn't sit well with my stomach. Plus we'd had a huge sandwich at lunch and the night before I had a chopped salad at a restaurant that had odd ingredients and dressing. So my sensitive stomach wasn't having it. I left with my niece to watch over me once to get some air and a drink of water. Felt slightly better so came back. By the time they started announcing the A's I was feeling dizzy, light headed, dripping sweat down my forehead, and told DH to hold onto me so I didn't fall onto the row below us. Then he says I tilted my head back and shook slightly like I was having a seizure. Maybe I was trying not to faint, but I don't remember it. He and my son grabbed my hands and led me out of the row, barging in front of all the other folks in that row. They led me outside where two security guards asked if I was alright. No, they said so they took me to the training room where a trainer took my blood pressure and oxygen levels while seated. He gave me water, then everyone insisted I be checked out by EMT's. So they wheeled me outside the back door and a fire truck arrived and three EMT's did some checking on me. By that time the ambulance arrived and the paramedics did an EKG right there in the parking lot. Checked my glucose. Everything was coming back perfect except my heart rate, but hey! There was a lot going on and 6 people attending to me. I declined going to the hospital and insisted I be wheeled inside so I could hear them call Kai's name. They took me to a tunnel that leads into the arena and I saw him walk up the stage and have photos taken. I was more concerned with DS missing it! At that point, DH and I were ready to leave so one of the security guards went with us to the parking lot and we got home quickly after that. The rest of the family followed in about half an hour because they were stuck in traffic. Perched on the sofa watching everyone eat cake, I was still feeling lousy so we went up to our room. After a visit to the porcelain bowl where I removed the offending barbecue dinner, ((sorry!)) I felt somewhat better and went to bed, but I'm still not 100%. I had a really bad night. I just can't eat large meals and odd combos. Today it will be something light for breakfast like toast. Sorry for the long story but I can be long winded sometimes. To continue here, the port of the day is Rarotonga, Cook Islands which we enjoyed viewing on March 26, 2021 and April 17, 2022. Links are below and so are the photos. Feel free to share your adventures there! We stopped in today's port of Rarotonga, Cook Islands in 2017 on the Maasdam. That was the cruise my birthday was celebrated onboard two days in a row. What fun that was! We didn't schedule a tour here but heard from the destination expert that you could take a bus ride around the island quite easily and decided to do that. Being greeted upon arrival. Beautiful hillside views from our port town of Avatiu. Views from the bus along the route. Near the end of the bus tour. Back in town off the bus, we could browse all the goodies for sale at the market. Then we walked past the Catholic church. Heading back to the tender to the ship. I wish we were all there right now. Hoping for a better day for me today and a great day for all of you!

Congratulations on your long awaited retirement! What month did you go to Petra? Was it cool in the early morning there? We went in October and it was hotter than the gates of H E double hockey sticks!🥵

@1ANGELCAT my sympathy on the loss of your sweet Fluff! I know the way you cared about her made her days happy right up until the very end. 🙏

The restaurant we ate lunch at was called Alcantarah. They had a huge buffet inside but on the porch they were preparing a delicious chicken and vegetable stir fry dish. I think we cleaned them out of desserts! On the drive back to Aqaba we stopped at this shop and were able to have a restroom break. We had very nice clean restrooms which were much appreciated by this very tired group. See anything you like? I recommend the restaurant and the rest stop here highly.

We enjoyed a visit to Aqaba and Petra in October 2016 on the Emerald Princess. We took a private tour with a roll call group and it was excellent. Draining though with the heat so drink twice as much water as you think you should. I nearly fainted at the end and had to plop down on the ground to prevent injury as we got back to the visitor center. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat. On Oct. 10, 2016 our private tour group drove 2 hours from Aqaba past the Wadi Rum desert wilderness area and arrived at Petra, one of the new seven wonders of the world. We arrived by 9 am which is a good thing since this is a very hot, dry area and it only gets hotter as the day goes on. The entrance to the visitor center. When you first start out there is an area on your left where they keep the horses. You can either ride a horse, take a cart, or walk. We walked. The long walkway here is called Bab Al Siq. Next you'll see the Obelisk Tomb. It's named after the four Indian obelisks that decorate the top of the tomb. This tomb has two stories to it. The Siq is a spectacular gorge that leads into the ancient city. The original channel cut in the walls to bring water into Petra can be seen, and in some places the original terracotta pipes are still in place. This is one of my favorite photos of DH walking through the curvy walled tunnel. One particular rock formation looked like a fish from the side but an elephant from the front. The elephant view The colors of the rock can vary widely. Most interesting are the many niches carved into the sandstone walls. Suddenly ahead we saw, through the gap in the rock, the magnificent Treasury! It rises to almost 128 feet and is intricately decorated with Corinthian capitals, decorative bands, figures and more. It is crowned by an urn, which according to local legend conceals a pharaoh's treasure. To the left of the Treasury is this area to rest and shop. You could rent a camel for a ride here in case you were tiring from the walk. From the Treasury we proceeded on to the Street of Facades, the name given to the row of monumental tombs carved into the southern cliff face. The Theatre Our guide Zayed and some of the Royal Tombs. We walked as far as we could. All the way to the Nymphaeum, a semi-circular public fountain shaded by a 450 year old wild pistachio tree. No water here! Further down was the Colonnaded Street which would have been a shopping street in ancient Petra, but by now we were ready to turn back. We had miles to walk, uphill to return to our bus. When we walked back past the Treasury there were lots more people there. Glad we got there early! You had to watch out for carts and horses all the time or risk getting run over. On to lunch at a Petra restaurant in the next post.

Here are the links to July 27, 2021 and Aug. 26, 2022 when we last had Aqaba, Jordan (for Petra). Great port of call! I'm going to eat breakfast now and come back later to try to post my photos for you. Hope this works better!

Sorry folks but I have prepared my entire post today, including links and many photos from Aqaba, and I am getting a new warning that my content contains terms that are not allowed. Then it says to remove content highlighted. The entire content of my post was highlighted and the photos removed. So I am at a loss as to what to take out. I tried removing half the photos and trying to post and it did the same thing. This is something I haven't seen here before so will have to try asking those in charge what to do about it. I hope I can figure things out. Petra is so great and I'd like to share it with you. Just checking in to let you know why I am not posting today.

Debbie @dfish happy to hear you are home and will get some rest tonight. Thankful that everything looks good for you now. Gerry @ger_77 happy birthday celebration day! Hope everything was perfect for you and DH. Speaking of DH, mine is ready to hit the hay already. DS is picking up his cousin Lisa now and I'm afraid we won't be up for much conversation tonight. See you tomorrow!

Lenda, I did not post photos that day since as I said I wanted to let everyone have the fun of posting their favorite Gibraltar photos instead. I have too many to choose from. So many visits there, I wish I could see Tangier sometime instead!

Just letting everyone know we made it safely to Ann Arbor about 4:30 pm. I will read the entire Daily as soon as I can. We have dinner reservations but several of them went to the market for some beer, wine and goodies right away. Lisa's flight is delayed and she will be picked up after dinner I hear. DH and I should sleep well tonight since we have been up since 0 dark thirty! Talk to you later!

Got to talk to Brenda a while ago. They don't know how long before they get this problem straightened out but will leave again for their trip at that time. Could be a few days or a week. They have Calgary Stampede tickets reserved followed by their cruise on Volendam July 19 from Vancouver. They also have a church reunion in the Dakotas at one point. Anything else they can switch around. The problem with the motorhome seems to be a bouncy feeling over the rear of the vehicle and they haven't been able to solve the issue yet. Brenda said I'm not going 10,000 miles with that happening! Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser we plan on only having one travel day, tomorrow, and arriving by dinner tomorrow night so that will be all the coverage I need this week. Currently we plan to drive home on Tuesday but will let you know by Monday for sure. Thank you! DS tells me his cousin Lisa (my niece/goddaughter and Grandma to Elliott Rose) plans on flying up tomorrow afternoon and back to St. Louis Saturday so she can attend the graduation ceremony. She feels very close to DS and his family, more like a brother to her she says. I haven't seen her in quite a while, possibly at DMIL's funeral 18 months ago so this will be nice.

Terry, sorry the others are having problems. I hope DH will be much better after the surgery. I do understand Tana's feelings about more down than up. Thankfully the pneumonia is out of the picture, but still... I don't like trying to pry out of DB how he is doing, so sometimes I query my twin who lives close by and sees him weekly. She spills the beans on his ups and downs. I think everything is fairly stable right now. His new rescue dog Toots has cheered him up considerably. And I hope your DB enjoys living in Georgia once he gets settled here. Being near that long awaited grandchild will be wonderful for him.

Jack @Heartgrove hoping you have a wonderful birthday!