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Thank you Rich, Jacqui, Vanessa, Debbie, Ann, and Dixie. I appreciate Community Managers, and wish for better communications from businesses, especially cruise lines. I do hope that none of the dailyites will need a celebration of life in the near future. Another great quote from Martin Luther. An interesting day in British history. I've been to Ushuaia 4 times, boarding (and disembarking) Professor Multinovski in 1997, then Crystal Symphony in 2016, Zaandam in 2017, and Prinsendam in 2019. I think I'll pass on the meal. My alternative is Fruit Ceviche, Oaxaca-Chile Pineapple Glazed Ham and Chilean Apple Crumb Cake as served on MS Prinsendam January 22, 2019, A cold morning this morning but warmer weather is coming. I see my regular Oncologist today and have my physical tomorrow. Roy

Today's maps: Roy

@atexsix Brjuno I am also saddened to hear of DD's status. Do make use of all help you can get and we are all with you. Roy

No toots from HAL or Princess. What's up with that. Thanks Leanne, Dave, and fellow addicts. Roy

Nice toots from Ascent today. Roy

Not sure if it's for real but NS at 0.3kt. Roy

Today's sunrise is another from my 2018 Crystal World Cruise. On January 21 Crystal Serenity was at sea from Puerto Vallarta to San Diego. Roy

Today's sunrise is another from my 2018 Crystal World Cruise. On January 21 Crystal Serenity was at sea from Puerto Vallarta to San Diego. Roy

My take seems to be pretty consistent with the information in the Catholic Travel Guide although there is one thing a bit out of date. https://thecatholictravelguide.com/cruises/will-catholic-priest-cruise/ There are only 14 ships that offer daily Mass on every cruise, 11 from Holland America, 2 from Crystal, and Queen Mary 2. With the exception of Noordam, Zuiderdam, and Nieuw Amsterdam I have sailed all of them. As indicated in the above reference there are 2 reliable agencies for vetting Priests, Apostleship of the Seas (furnishing Priests to Holland America regularly and other lines for certain holidays. Compass Speakers furnishes Priests for Crystal and Cunard. I find it interesting that while Apostleship of the Seas indicates that among the services of their Priests is a Sunday non-denominational service for other Christians, I have not seen that happen in years. I have found the "congregation-led" services to be of very variable quality. While a few have been excellent (one on the Veendam led by a couple of the theater singers) others have been quite poor and at times so biased towards a particular theology that I could not consider them non-denominational. By contrast, the Priests on Crystal do lead a service and it is always professionally done and a very high quality. They use the liturgy in the provided hymnals and generally the Homily from Mass carries quite nicely into the service. On QM2 there is an non-denominational service on Sundays at Sea led by the Captain with the help of the Senior Officers and it is always well done, and I have found both the Crystal and Cunard offerings to be better than what I normally see on HAL. A couple of additional notes on Crystal. While they say the service is held on "Sundays at Sea" I have always seen it on Sunday whether in port or at sea as indicated in t snippet from Reflections: with Mass at 7:30 and interdenominational service at 5:30. One caution for Crystal. While Mass is offered for every full cruise day it does not happen on turnaround days but people should have a good chance of finding a church before boarding of after disembarking. Roy yvd.pdf

While I have labeled some sunrises as from “the 2018 Crystal World Cruise” that is not literally true. I boarded Crystal Serenity in Miami January 5 but the World Cruise officially began January 23 in Los Angeles. Toward the end of that Panama Canal segment there was a celebration for those of us continuing on to the World Cruise, and thus my alternative menu suggestion for today, waffles, but these were cooked and served on the ship’s bridge: The cooking was done at the aft section of the bridge. The waffles (regular and whole wheat) were cooked by the aft wall of the bridge, there were several toppings: I had a regular waffle with strawberry topping and whole wheat with butterscotch topping. Since there was movement on the bridge I did not get out my camera while I had food in my hands. In any case to me the best waffles are those custom cooked in the Lido of a BHB. This one is from the Eurodam. Roy

Thank you Rich, Jacqui, Vanessa, Ann, Dixie, and Debbie. I think I'll pass on all 3 of today's although if I had sweatpants they would be nice. The quote sounds really sad. This sounds like a great day in American literature history. I've been to Singapore 3 times. The first time was on Queen Victoria in 2010 and my tour visited the National Arboretum. In 2012 I boarded MS Zaandam there for a cruise to Hong Kong and spent a couple of days there. My visit in 2014 was not much of a visit. It was a string of 3 cruises, Bali to Singapore on Crystal Symphony, on to Cape Town on Crystal Serenity, and finally to Fort Lauderdale on MS Amsterdam. In Singapore all I did was walk across the dock between ships a few times but never left the dock. When I saw "bitter" in Debbi's meal description I decided it was not for me. There's a bit of a twist in my alternative and I probably won't post it until afternoon. Roy

Today's map: Roy

I won't be watching. I watched the first quarter and then turned off the TV. Ravens always seem to do better when I don't watch and I may be a jinx. Roy

But with a nice toot from a container ship. Roy

I think most of the dead heading is for ships on short cruises, No real answer but I can imagine something not often done and a big change but how about around Cape of Good Hope, partly up the African coast and a southern transatlantic to Rio, up to the Amazon to Manaus, and then up to Miami. Not sure exactly how the timing would work out but in the case of a World Cruise with hundreds of passengers already planning to go to Miami or San Diego I would think it would at least be a possibiliy. Roy

3 toots for NA, and 3 more for Reflection. On to dinner. Thank you Leanne, Dave, and fellow addicts. Stay warm. Roy

Reflection REALLY right behind. Roy

Reflection right behind her. Roy

Almost 2 knots. Roy

Today's sunrise is from my 2017 cruise on Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore. On January 20 we visited Coco Cay on the way back home. Roy

Today's sunrise is from my 2017 cruise on Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore. On January 20 we visited Coco Cay on the way back home. Roy

For a long time I suppressed signatures for certain people because they were so long they practically obscured what they were trying to say (like an inch of useful information followed by a foot of signature), but with the latest change of Cruise Critic software they only show the first few lines of signatures and I leave them on. Roy

Thank you Rich, Jacqui, Vanessa, Debbie, Ann, and Dixie. Three (or 4 with penguins) great days to celebrate. While Penguins are mostly in the extreme south they do have colonies a lot further than one would expect. I find the McCambridge quote a bit sad. Two interesting dates in history; I wish Hong Kong was still in British hands. I have not been to Ben. I'll pass on the meal. My alternative is Classic Caesar Salad, Broiled New York Striploin and Cherry Streusel Tart as served on MS Prinsendam January 20, 2019: A brutally cold day here and will be a special challenge for the Ravens fans. Roy

Today's map: Roy

My issue really is that a solo I'm just not willing to take the chance of being medically disembarked in a foreign port and either I or my niece/nephew being saddled with the consequences. I found just being hospitalized in Florida hard enough. Roy