USN59-79

One thing that I enjoy about this thread on CC is that I learn something new every day, and not necessarily involved with cruising. I had never heard the term "Teal Talk" until today. And it motivated me to look up and learn about ASL. I had assumed that ASL was a different way to express the English language for deaf people. Not true. ASL has little to due with the English language. In fact, there are hundreds of sign languages. Those who use British Sign Language cannot communicate with those who use American Sign Language as they are different languages. I have also learned something about Cruise Critic. Not sure, but it looks like a much higher percentage of those who cruise on the mainstream cruise lines like HAL and Princess use CC than those who cruise on the smaller luxury cruise lines like Seabourn. We are booked on a 33 day portion of a Seabourn world cruise starting in January, 2024. On it's roll call there are 25 entries as of yesterday. On the Zuiderdam WC starting in January, 2024 there are 2293 entries. I know there are more passengers on Zuiderdam than Sojourn, but 92 times as many. Not sure of the reason. Ray

We noticed when we were last on the Westerdam that the Captain's noon announcement was broadcast in our room, but when he turned the mike over to the Cruise Director (or whatever they are called today) that we had to open the door to hear it. Personally, I would like the option to hear both of them in our room, especially on sea days. Ray

Last day of Summer here and the temperature will go up to 75. Once Fall starts tomorrow it will drop at least ten degrees every day for the next week. I think that @cat shepard did the right thing in leasing her Volvo. Two reasons: First, there is a complicated law in place to get the $7500 tax rebate on an EV. Plug-in hybrids qualify if they get a certain number of EV miles. But they have to come from the U.S. A quirk in the law gives the rebate to the leasing company if they are made elsewhere. So the leasing company can pass that on to the customer. Another reason is that by the time the lease is up, EVs will be better, more plentiful and cheaper. Thus the resale value on one bought today will probably not be good. We have been to Saikiminato, but no longer have the pictures. It is an interesting town to walk through as there are statues of manga characters throughout to pose with. I have been doing my homework trying to learn about the ports on our next cruise. One good thing about a small ship is that they stop at really out of the way ports. Ray

An update: Just checked my favorite online TA for prices for that cruise. They are offering Mariner prices as follows: Inside $799; Outside $899; Balcony $1249 and Suite $1799. These prices include taxes and port charges. I would consider it, but at that time we will be just ending a 33 day Sydney to Taipei cruise on Seaborn. Ray

Coincidentally, I just today received a mailing from HAL titled "PRIVATE SALE" with the same April 6 cruise listed. Interior is from $2099, Veranda $2799 and Suites from$6899. Taxes and port charges are an extra $300. I always thought those so called private sales were fake, and this confirms it. Ray

I think Bruce is right also. One concern I have is that I usually have time to go over the Daily in the evening when I spend an hour or so on the computer around 9:00 PM. However, that is midnight on the East Coast so it seems too late to add a comment to that Daily. Then, of course we are discussing different things the next day. That is the main reason why although I always read the Daily, I seldom comment. Ray

Actually, it worked out well. I changed my rating to electronics technician, eventually was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer, and qualified for Officer of the Deck for underway steaming on a Navy Repair Ship. I spent many hours driving our ship up and down the coast of Vietnam as we had to go to sea every night to avoid swimmers with bombs. Those were interesting high seas. Not sure I want a pirate name that starts with "Miss". Ray

I had forgotten how beautiful Maui is until I saw @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda's pictures today. My mother was born in Lahaina in 1910 after her family immigrated from Siberia. At the time the main industry was sugar cane. @Heartgrove Jack's comments on the boat problems reminded me of my first year in the Navy. I was in the deck force and qualified as coxswain on a 50 foot motor launch. It took four sailors to man the launch; a coxswain who was in charge and steered the boat, an engineman who ran the engine and transmission, and a bow tender and stern tender who handled the lines to tie up the boat. The coxswain told the engineman the speed and whether to go forward or astern by ringing a bell. One day at quarters they asked "Who can type?". I raised my hand and finished my first enlistment in the Personnel Office. Ray

The TV show 60 Minutes had an excellent documentary memorial to the New York Fire Department's heroism at 9/11. They lost more than 300 fire fighters that day. On that day we were just getting up and we received a call from relatives in Taiwan telling us to turn on the TV. Ray

On one of our "Grand Cruises" we received Steiff sailor teddy bears as a pillow gift.

A few words about Seattle: I used to be proud of the city. I was born there, my father was born there and my grandmother was born there in 1867 when it was a town. For years we had season tickets to the Fifth Avenue Theater with great entertainment. Two years ago we decided not to resubscribe as I no longer feel safe walking up from the ferry to Fifth Avenue. I think the causes are mostly political, but we don't discuss politics here, so I won't go into that. I am not sure I understand the situation around Baby Murphy. I understand that the mother is saying do not resuscitate if the baby stops breathing and the primary care doctor is saying "don't give up so easily" Is that correct? Ray

Good morning from a cool, cloudy Pacific Northwest. In reference to @cat shepard question about plug-in hybrids: We bought a Toyota Prius Prime in 2017 when they were first available. We both love the car. Sara has a Lexus she seldom drives as she prefers the Toyota. The best thing about it is that we seldom have to add gas to it; maybe once every three months or so. It averages about 28 miles on the battery then the engine cuts in, but so smoothly you hardly notice it. When it operates as a hybrid it still gets about 50 miles per gallon. It has been very reliable - no service required other than change the oil once a year and rotate the tires. The only problem is that Toyota doesn't make enough of them. The new model came out for 2023. It is not available yet at our local dealership. I have never found a need to charge it away from home. Just plug it in in the garage and unplug it the next day when we need to drive it. Ray

The good news is that two CC people spoke up and stated that they are ordained and would be happy to help with the service. So the plan is to have it at Tahiti when the ship stops there. Cruise critic comes through again. Ray

We have a warm weekend, high 80's then it will be in the 70's with some welcome rain this week. We have been to Pago Pago. The picture brought back a lot of memories. Remember the locally built busses built of wood on a Toyota truck chassis. One thing we learned when there is that it is not pronounced like it looks. Pongo Pongo would be close. My DB is taking a Princess cruise next month from Seattle to Sydney. I was looking at his roll call last night and saw that one of the passengers is planning a renewal of vows. They were notified that Princess has increased the charge from $300. to $1500. for that service. I didn't realize that there even was a charge for that. Does anyone know what HAL charges? Ray

Sounds like we lived kind of parallel lives in the military. I was an E-5 when I arrived in Taipei in 1961. Got busted to E-4 in 1962 while driving the car I brought over. Driving in the mountains a sign (in Chinese) said slow to 40. Of course, if it says 40, I can easily do 50. But it meant 40 kilometers, not mph, so I went off the road and hit a tree and they took away my license. After I married, I got serious about my job and by 1970, I was a Warrant Officer as the electronics repair officer on a repair ship in Vung Tau. Was in Danang two years later in the same job. Warrant Officer was a temporary position during the Vietnam War, so later I reverted back to my permanent rate of Master Chief, E-9 and retired as that. Ray

Interesting. Although I lived in Taipei, for some reason I seldom used the Navy Club. I used the "63 Club", named that as our military address there was APO 63. Of course, everything was cheap then compared to now. At that time, gasoline was 13 cents a gallon. We didn't make much money, but at the time, since they took away my driver's license, I could afford to hire a driver for my 1951 Mercedes Benz. Were you stationed there in those years? Looking back it seems funny. An E-4 Navy person being driven to work in a chauffeur driven Mercedes. It was a 170VA model, looking like something from a WW2 movie. Ray

Maybe I get a little too strong on the subject of Taiwan. I lived there from 1961 to 1963 and or course married my Chinese teacher in Taipei. My DW cares enough about her country that she flew home in 2020 to vote in the presidential elections and may do so again this January. They don't have absentee voting as we do. I wonder how many Americans would do that? Our next cruise is from Sydney to Keelung, so we will be there this Spring. Here is an example of why I have good feelings for the country: When I arrived in 1961, I shipped my car from California. When I picked it up in Keelung they added gas and reconnected my dead battery and gave me a jump start. Coming out of Keelung through a tunnel I turned on my lights and the car died; the generator couldn't handle it. I pulled to the side of the road, got out, and three young Taiwanese men jumped off the sidewalk and helped push my car out of the tunnel. One of them went home and came back with a jeep to jump start me. I appreciated their help and asked if they would take some payment for their help. They replied "No thank you, you are a guest of our country." That was more than 60 years ago, but I still remember it. Ray

Hope I don't sound nit picky, but this is a serious subject for me. There is no country called Taiwan, China, just as there is no country called Ukraine, Russia. Taiwan is a free country, coveted by China, but not a part of China. It is a democracy, not a communist state like China. Ray

As you said, each package has various wines to choose from. You are the one who chooses which wine in the package you purchase to be delivered to your room. Yes, they may not have the one you chose, whether you chose it before or after boarding. Ray

Speaking of medical alert devices, I just received an unsolicited phone call from a person offering me a free device. Knowing that most calls like that are scams, I hung up and then decided to search the internet. Found that veterans can receive a device from the VA at no cost. Some, but not all Tricare members are also eligible. As I mentioned recently, I also found that my iPhone works as a medical alert device if I press the button on both sides of it at the same time. I suspect that the one Roy @rafinmdordered is probably a much better device, but it is good to know that we have choices. Not sure if I need to wear one now, but at 83, I am starting to pay attention to my mortality. Ray

I am guessing Triumph TR3, from '58 to '63. The two upper headlights are original, but the others cover the grille, so it is hard to be sure. Ray

One thing about being a senior citizen (are younger people "junior citizens"?) is that I remember things that happened so long ago. My memory of Catalina is when our ship was there in 1959 or 1960. It was a seaplane tender conducting seaplane operations near the island. A sailor needed an emergency operation, so we cleared the seaplane deck so a helicopter could take him to the Naval Hospital in San Diego. He was in a stretcher strapped in to the copter and the pilot took off at an angle. The rotor just touched part of the ship, disintegrated, and the copter dropped over the side of the ship and sank. The pilot and corpsman on board were able to swim away, but we lost the sailor. When I think of mechanical calculators, I remember when Boeing used to have a store to sell their surplus items. Great for things like screwdrivers with 16" handles, scratched safety glasses, etc. They were phasing out mechanical adding calculators and selling them for $1. each. Loving things mechanical, I bought three to take home and take apart, keeping the screws, nuts, shafts and wheels. That was about 30 years ago and I still have some of the parts. Never did find a use for them... Ray

We will be first time Seabourn cruisers in February. I was wondering if Starlink is now available on their ships. If not, what is the situation regarding internet access. We will be on the Sojourn between Australia and Taiwan at the time. Ray

One thought: We once booked a guarantee and were "upgraded" when we arrived at the ship. Didn't like the upgrade, so we didn't unpack and asked the steward to show us the original one to see if it was vacant. It was, so we had the front desk reassign us to the original one and moved in after dinner. Worth checking. Ray

You should notify the front desk a day or two before it happens. Once my DW left the ship in Keelung to stay a few days with family and rejoin in Hong Kong. The ship arranged with local authorities for a customs check when she disembarked. When she arrived in HK, she needed a new key card to embark. Also, they didn't charge her gratuities for the days she was not on board. Incidentally, I stayed on board and met her at the airport in HK when she returned. All in all it worked out well. Ray