AncientWanderer

Good morning. Up early today. Flew back to California from Florida yesterday after disembarking our Nieuw Amsterdam Panama Canal Cruise, so I'm in the wrong time zone and mopping floors at four in the morning. While not the great fall color change cruise I had originally booked, we had a wonderful time. Great compromise. After umpteen HAL cruises, we've never seen a more active Ocean Bar at happy hour. It was a lively group onboard. Delightful. Many, many Canadians. 👍 I had a glass of Prosecco each night with dinner on the cruise. The Pineapple Smash sounds good and especially with a Thai Taco. Love the quote, and will especially think of those deployed today. I have a lot of catching up here to do. Glad that @Quartzsite CruiserLenda and her Steve are getting things sorted better and can maybe take a deep breath and look toward healing. I really missed my pommie Pocket during our cruise. First time away from him for so long. He made a trip to the ER as he tore up a diaper at DD's house while staying with her, but all's well now. Diapers are very dangerous for dogs. We never thought about that before. So for those with new grand babies.... Now off to more chores. Thanks Rich and all contributors to the daily. I hope good things come to each and every one today. 🍂 🎃 🧡

The coolest thing I’ve seen in awhile…. Some ladies had inflatable noodles to use in the pool. They ordered them online. Awesome. Also somebody had a regular noodle and cut it in half to put in.a suitcase and bring along. Fun! As for a float like the OP wants to bring….sorry, notsomuch 😟

Prayers will indeed be with you tomorrow @Quartzsite CruiserLenda. With you, your DH, and his medical team. You’ve been so supportive to the group here. Pulling for you now that you have challenges of your own.

Good morning from the Nieuw Amsterdam in beautiful Aruba. Internet has been very slow this whole run through Panama Canal, but great cruise. A couple of things that might interest the group here… In Puerto Quetzal, we did an excursion to a drive-thru zoo/safari park — Auto Chapin. We’d been to Antigua and didn’t want that long drive again. The 4.5 hour safari park tour was great. A new offering, I think. As you can see from photos, you get close to the animals. Good day there! Another thing…we last transited the canal in 2014. It has changed. They’ve conquered the famous Calebra cut and it’s beautiful through there. So the Panama Canal is worth a repeat, if it’s been awhile. That’s it for now on this difficult internet. Best to all. Have a great day!

As it happened, they did take a passenger onto an ambulance there at Colon, soon after our 41 rejoined the ship. That was sad to see, after the excitement of greeting the returning 41. I really feel certain that the best decisions were made for all passengers.

Good morning from the Nieuw Amsterdam. Beautiful morning as we prepare to enter the Panama Canal.

@Quartzsite Cruiser, sending good thoughts your way, for you and DH. The internet is so amazingly slow here on Nieuw Amsterdam that I better say no more!

We are headed down south on Nieuw Amsterdam to go through Panama Canal. Once again I’m reminded of how much I like the signature class ships. Great dinner in PG and they had a lovely trio playing live music before dinner in Ocean Bar. So glad to be onboard.

Little bit rocky start, but great things to come! Dang I wish I were sailing with you guys. Have a great cruise! Looking forward to following along.

Happy Birthday, @JazzyV Vanessa! 🎂 Hope your road trip is lots of fun. 😊 Happy Anniversary, @Cruzin Terri and DH. I hope the sun shines for you. ☀️ Save travels to all who are hitting the road. @Sharon in AZ, nice countdown! I like Craig's spirit! 💛

When we achieved five stars, I asked Guest Services when we'd receive pins, since things are different now. That was on a Mexico cruise in February 2022. They asked when our next cruise was; we told them May to Alaska, and they said we would get pins then. Second-to-last day of Alaska cruise, no pins, so I went to Guest Services and discussed it with them. They were very sweet, thanked us for our loyalty, and handed us our five-star pins. As things get back to normal post-Covid, they'll probably get things sorted out.

BON VOYAGE!!!

BON VOYAGE!!

Bon Voyage!!!

Bon Voyage!!

BON VOYAGE!! Have fun, guys!!!

Good morning. I'm elderly and drinking coffee here at five in the morning, so on task there. Like @dobiemom, I've been up seems like forever. But haven't been very frugal lately. Gotta work on that. Things are settling down here after a real marathon summer. We had two new grandchildren. DH and I were tasked with keeping the older siblings occupied. One of the children has some disabilities, so it's pretty hard work. Labor of love, but still tiring for this old lady. Glad it's October. Bring on the Autumn! 🍁 🍂 🎃 Nice to see lots of "movement" going on here with people heading off on trips. Love the fall travel season! Have a great day, Everyone, and thanks for the Daily!

I always pack our medals, just in case. There was a time when the invitations specifically stated that guests were encouraged to wear their medals. That would be great to see again. Kind of a sign that we're back to normal post-Covid and the niceties are back in place.

The news out of Florida is truly heartbreaking. But Debbie, your house is lovely and I'm so happy for you and Sue. It has great light -- wonderful Feng shui. Bet you guys will have some fabulous shared meals there at the lovely dining area. Beautiful! Everyone, stay safe out there. Prayers are with those in impacted areas. Kinda sad even here in California thinking that the house my grandparents lived in for over 50 years there in Naples is underwater. But the people are important, not the property....

We're happy we bought the stock. It's been a win for us.

Have a FABULOUS time @Horizon chaser 1957!!! That's a very exciting trip you are embarking on! 🎉 🎊 🍾

DD and DSIL always gift us HAL flowers when we set sail. They're always beautiful and last a long time. Agree that the flowers presented on the HAL site are very unappealing. The florists onboard do a wonderful job. 👍

Distressing news about Fiona this morning. Sending up prayers for those in her path. 🙏 And thinking about all our Dailyites who are looking forward to a beautiful cruise in that region in two weeks -- hoping things aren't messy. 🤞

We did have lotion on our HAL Alaska cruise in May, but we took a Carnival cruise in July and even in our pricier digs, there was no lotion and it was very inconvenient. If there are mixed reports about lotion on HAL ships, I'd pack a small bottle. Who knows what Corporate is up to.

I believe it to be true because our Verifly also dropped the testing requirement. We have vaccinations checked off and it just shows us needing to answer the health assessment 72 hours before sailing. (Ours is for Oct NA Panama Canal) Happy happy!