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Just took a look, and there are still a lot of people getting on the Allure.

Love seeing those classic lines!

The webcam cut out mid-toot and it made me laugh, as it sounded like when you surprise someone by hitting them on the back. LOL

Me, too! My town had only 2,500 people, and like you, I knew almost all of them.

Toots, but tooo many people on one ship for me.

Checking in and can hear the Love Boat theme.

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! There's bacon in the freezer, but I don't think we'll be having any today - we've got ham to deal with. I stopped making resolutions a long time ago. We were part of the Festival of Enormous Changes At The Last Minute last year when we went to check in for our flights to BCN, only to discover they weren't there any more. I'm sure I aged about 10 years in 24 hours, but thankfully HAL came through literally at the last hour before the flight was to leave. It cooled off overnight to -12C(10F), but we're expecting bright sunshine again, so we should once again be above freezing by mid afternoon. I've been watching the weather channel, fearing for the safety of those in England being pummelled by storm Gerrit. There are distinct advantages to living on the "frozen tundra"! @RMLincolncongratulations on the sale of your condo - now you can really relax in your new surroundings. Hopefully DH's eyes and associated pain/itchiness will soon be relieved as well. @rafinmdI hope the next round of radiation will take care of your issues. DH's uncle had the same thing at age 89 and continued to live healthfully until his passing at 96. @Seasick SailorI'm glad to hear things have quieted down for you. Unbeknownst to me, a family we are acquainted with was on your previous sailing, and I am sure their 8 year old daughter was likely one of the hall runners and door slammers; they disembarked yesterday. @dfishI do hope the pain meds did their job so you could have a comfortable night after your surgery. Not a lot on the agenda for us today, which is fine, because neither of us has a lot of energy - we both spent time coughing last night. At least DH used his CPAP - I gave him an antihistamine to help the stuffiness, so I didn't hear snoring, just coughing. LOL This too, shall pass. I'm sure I'd like the drink of the day, it's just adult lemonade, will let someone else have the wine, and think the menu suggestion would make a great summertime salad that you could add pieces of chicken breast to if you wanted to turn it into a light meal. As I mentioned earlier, we've got ham that we brought home with us, so I think tonight will be a breakfast for dinner night where we'll be enjoying fried ham and eggs at the kitchen table. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

Good afternoon, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Good for Mongolia's independence - DH's cousin lived and worked in Ulaanbaatar for a couple of years and has many interesting stories to tell. I've never had Pepper Pot soup, but would like to try it if someone is inclined to make it for me. Tick tock, yes, the year is ticking down to it's final few days now. Got a rather late start, as neither DH nor I had a great night - he was coughing and because he was so stuffed up, wasn't using his CPAP either, so there was much noise coming from his side of the bed. He was up rummaging around for cough drops at 3:15 which totally woke me up and the last time I looked at the clock, it was 5:30. I must have dozed off again because the next thing I knew it was 8:35. We were moving slow, but had to get a couple of things done - I had to go for a pre-exam x-ray before seeing the orthopedic surgeon on the 3rd, and DH needed to pick up a couple of things because we realized he'd left his toiletries case in Calgary. His case, along with a small bag of laundry (oh dear!) were left in a gift bag . . . seriously, who puts laundry in a gift bag??? . . . in the bedroom. DH's electric razor was in the case, so he needed to buy batteries for his little travel razor that he takes when we go on vacation. Might as well get them now, as he's going to need them in February anyway. @cruising sisterthank you for the beautiful photo of our little fighter, Murphy! @dfishI'm so glad your surgery is over and you're home. Just take it easy, take the pain medication and recover fully before trying to do anything else. I'm passing on the drink of the day, would like the menu suggestion, as I really like broccolini, and am pretty sure I'd like the wine. I know Friday night is traditionally pizza night at our house, but we'll be enjoying some of the turkey soup I brought back from Calgary with crusty buns at the kitchen table tonight. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

Good evening, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! We arrived home about 1.5 hours ago after a long, but very pleasant drive from Calgary. The drive seemed like late spring or mid fall, rather than post Christmas, as there wasn't a hint of any snow from about 5 miles north of Calgary all the way home. I think we made a good decision, waiting until today to return home, as according to the gas station where we stopped to fill up halfway home, yesterday was a mad house. We're home, having leftover ham sandwiches for our evening meal, and will leave all the suitcases and boxes to be unpacked tomorrow. Tonight is for relaxing and getting to bed early. We are both suffering from colds, so energy level is fairly low. I might however, have a glass of wine to relax with before heading for bed in a couple of hours. Oh, just a note on the weather - today Maple Creek, Saskatchewan (about 4 hours southwest of here) was warmer than Pensacola, Florida by 2 degrees. Strange weather! Prayers for everyone who is in need, with extra for @dfish for her surgery tomorrow. Cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

Wishing you a Bon Voyage!

Bon Voyage everyone!!!

Good afternoon, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Happy Boxing Day to all. In Canada it’s comparable to Black Friday sales. We chose not to participate again this year. Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate, and there are pluses and minuses to being a homeowner. To start with, a huge thank you to everyone for your lovely birthday wishes yesterday. It was so nice to be recognized in that way, even though it signalled another year has been added to my age. Yesterday was a busy one from morning till night. The boys let the adults sleep until 8, but then they literally hit the floor running. I made cinnamon pull-aparts that baked while the flurry of gift unwrapping took place for us to have with coffee and eggnog for breakfast. After that it was time to make the 2 stuffings (one for the oven and one for the bird), and to get the turkey and ham into the oven. We had a lovely (if I say so myself) dinner, followed by a 10” tall birthday cake that was truly amazing. The buttercream icing was light and not overly sweet which complimented the confetti cake inside. I had some help blowing out the candles. They didn’t put the appropriate number of them on the cake, as they didn’t want to risk a visit from the fire department! Today is a relaxing day just lounging about, with 4 of the 6 of us appearing to be getting colds. Oh yay. I’ll take a pass on all 3 offerings today, and I know we’ll be enjoying leftovers from yesterday at the big kitchen table tonight. And wine. Prayers for all who need them, even if they don’t think they do. Cheers to everyone with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂 Gerry

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! Merry Christmas Eve to everyone, I’m pretty sure there’ll be eggnog happening here today. We woke yesterday to snow covering everything which looked absolutely beautiful, but in Calgary it means one thing - icy roads. We stayed off them until early afternoon to give the sanders a chance to spread something that the tires could grip. We took care of the boys while their parents had a few hours to themselves, a lunch date. We played dominos, Hot Wheels, Old Maid and Go Fish, then took them to McDonald’s for a lunchtime treat. Today is another relaxing one with lunch planned at a Korean restaurant not far from here. Our oldest DGS loves going there as he helps cook at the table. He’s already asked if he can make the family scrambled eggs on Christmas morning. Belated birthday greetings to @kochleffelfor yesterday; I hope you had an enjoyable day. Happy Birthday to @grapau27’s niece, Sarah! I’d love to try the drink of the day, will pass on the wine, and will tuck the menu suggestion away for another time. Tonight for our Christmas Eve dinner I’m making lemon garlic shrimp pasta for the family that we’ll enjoy at their table. And wine. Prayers to all with difficult circumstances, comfort to those who grieve, and cheers to everyone with celebrations today. Smooth Sailing!🙂🙂🙂 Gerry

I’ll be following your adventures with the rest. I told DH about your fabulous itinerary and the length and his response was “We could do that … if we sell the house.” LOL Smooth seas and a following wind!

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily! I was never good at math, and according to DS, it’s genetic. We made us safely to Calgary yesterday, but instead of the highways looking like normal winter driving, they were clear as mid summer. For at least 200 miles there was absolutely no snow in the fields, making our journey look more like we were going for Thanksgiving than Christmas. As we approached Calgary, there was some snow, but very little compared to what is normal for this time of year. A busy day in store for us, as we’ll be taking care of our 4 year old DGS, and will get his older brother off to school as well. They only have a half day, so when we pick him up, the 4 of us will head to McDonald’s for a lunchtime treat. I’ve been told there will be some shopping to follow. LOL. Wishing @richwmn and @Nickelpenny Bon Voyage! Yikes, it’s time to wake up the older DGS to get ready for school, but want to wish everyone a happy Friday and safe travels to those heading out for the holidays. Peaceful thoughts to our Daily family members who are having a difficult time this year. Smooth Sailing! Gerry 🙂🙂🙂

That's going to be it for me for today until after Christmas. Wishing all the sail-away addicts a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or whatever you choose to celebrate. Wishing Dave peace and comfort this holiday season without Lou. Take care everyone till we meet again! Smooth Sailing! Gerry

Well, one toot.

Toots!!

I know, isn't it great?!?

Eurodam is on the move!

Oh lordy, I am way too early; no wonder I seem to be the only one on this thread right now. Our BHB isn't due to depart for yet another hour. I mistakenly thought the time change was 2 hours different from us . . . it's only 1 hour. I'm off to do some baking, hopefully to return at the appropriate time. Ta ta for now!

I thought it would be a silent departure, but the captain of the Ruby Princess came through in the end with a lot of small toots after a couple of big ones.

Princess is backing up.

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily; thank you @kazu for filling in for Rich while he's away exploring the world on a BHB! I remember going out caroling with friends as a child, all bundled up with songbooks in hand that were borrowed from school. Mmmmm sangria, a great summertime drink - I think while we were in Barcelona, I drank enough that if I had to give a blood sample, it would have come out as sangria. Definitely celebrating Sacagawea today - a brave, strong woman. Well last night was fun - we met DH's kids (DS, DD and her DH) at a restaurant where we had a great dinner and then drove about 15 miles out of the city to the casino. DH and I sat down side by side at the penny slots and he promptly ran out of money ($20). On the other hand, mine seemed to be the hot seat, as I kept going and going and going. Suffice to say, I won a good amount of holiday money for us! Unfortunately, the rest of the family didn't do well at all, but that's how it usually goes for me as well. I think it was just my lucky day. Today it's clean up and pack up to get ready for the trek to Calgary tomorrow. It usually takes us about 8 hours - that includes stops along the way for yarn from one small town, and a few hours later just to get a coffee and stretch our legs. I'll have to run out to make sure there's enough food for Sochi - our lovely neighbour will be coming in twice a day to feed her while we're gone. I'm going to pass on the drink of the day, will let others enjoy the white wine, but look forward to today's recipe. For us however, it'll be leftovers from last night's dinner, as the portions were huge. We'll be enjoying reheated dry ribs and Caesar salad at the kitchen table tonight. And wine. Prayers for everyone who is in need, in pain, in grief, and who just need to know others care. Cheers to all with celebrations. Smooth Sailing! ☺️☺️☺️ Gerry

That's it for me for today; thanks Dave and all the sail-away addicts!