Azamara Cruisers - How are things where YOU are

[QueenP]

You can't beat Wellington on a good day! Beautiful winter weather here...so we are not complaining about our lack of travel options at the moment!

[excitedofharpenden]

8 hours ago, QueenP said:

You can't beat Wellington on a good day! Beautiful winter weather here...so we are not complaining about our lack of travel options at the moment!

I have a friend in Wellington who regularly sends me his views of the harbour area near where he lives. When the cruise ships are there I get some shots of those too as they arrive and leave. This was a still day recently in Windy Wellington!

 

Phil 

[uktog]

I love the way Wellington has made such good use of its windiness in the creation of lovely "moving sculptures" round the city.  Its my favourite coffee capital of the world.

[QueenP]

6 hours ago, uktog said:

I love the way Wellington has made such good use of its windiness in the creation of lovely "moving sculptures" round the city.  Its my favourite coffee capital of the world.

Yes, we definitely have the best baristas! Winter is often very calm here...until a howling southerly comes through! 

[excitedofharpenden]

On 6/16/2021 at 1:07 PM, uktog said:

I love the way Wellington has made such good use of its windiness in the creation of lovely "moving sculptures" round the city.  Its my favourite coffee capital of the world.

Had a great cup of coffee and a huge slice of cake at the cafe in the botanic gardens. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Had a great cup of coffee and a huge slice of cake at the cafe in the botanic gardens. 

 

Phil 

They don’t do small cake do they! 

[MNgardens]

😞 My kid is moving back to our state. Her specialist medical work up did not show the post covid lung damage we had expected. They found cardiac damage as the source of her shortness of breath and daily pain. It has been a long 15 month struggle. The cardiac medications haven't helped yet. Her career is over and she will retrain for something less physically demanding. She has made her peace with it and is looking forward to going back to school and starting again.

 

I am grateful every day that we still have her.

 

On the subject of cake:

A few years ago my sister in law and I were on the Journey and we had a stop in Opatija Croatia. We walked the town and stopped at a hotel cafe for a treat and a coffee. I had the best apple cake that I ever tasted. I have been trying internet recipes for Croatian apple cake and none have been so good. Does anyone have a good one?

 

[Tom47]

9 minutes ago, MNgardens said:

😞 My kid is moving back to our state. Her specialist medical work up did not show the post covid lung damage we had expected. They found cardiac damage as the source of her shortness of breath and daily pain. It has been a long 15 month struggle. The cardiac medications haven't helped yet. Her career is over and she will retrain for something less physically demanding. She has made her peace with it and is looking forward to going back to school and starting again.

 

I am grateful every day that we still have her.

 

On the subject of cake:

A few years ago my sister in law and I were on the Journey and we had a stop in Opatija Croatia. We walked the town and stopped at a hotel cafe for a treat and a coffee. I had the best apple cake that I ever tasted. I have been trying internet recipes for Croatian apple cake and none have been so good. Does anyone have a good one?

 

Sorry to hear this.

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, MNgardens said:

My kid is moving back to our state. Her specialist medical work up did not show the post covid lung damage we had expected. They found cardiac damage as the source of her shortness of breath and daily pain. It has been a long 15 month struggle. The cardiac medications haven't helped yet. Her career is over and she will retrain for something less physically demanding. She has made her peace with it and is looking forward to going back to school and starting again.

 

I am grateful every day that we still have her.

Our daughter continues to struggle as well. She never knows whether she will have a good day or a bad day, or have to lie down NOW. She also has developed a strong aversion to garlic and onions and even smelling them will make her nauseous. We worry so much about the even longer term consequences. I’m so sorry about your daughter and hope she will find a fulfilling career that will accommodate her circumstances.

[Ithikan]

MNgardens and Mackdogmolly, I'm so sorry to learn about what your daughters are going through.  Unhappily we're finding out more each week about the long term effects of this awful disease.

 

On the subject of cake, I wonder if it was those particular Croatian apples that made the dessert so deliciously special?

[Grandma Cruising]

So sorry to hear about the problems your daughters are having from this awful disease MNgardens and Mackdogmolly. I do hope that things improve for them both.

[royallondon]

59 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

So sorry to hear about the problems your daughters are having from this awful disease MNgardens and Mackdogmolly. I do hope that things improve for them both.

+1

[nordski]

5 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

So sorry to hear about the problems your daughters are having from this awful disease MNgardens and Mackdogmolly. I do hope that things improve for them both.

 

Totally agree.

 

I hope the future brings good news from researchers.

[Tom47]

20 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Our daughter continues to struggle as well. She never knows whether she will have a good day or a bad day, or have to lie down NOW. She also has developed a strong aversion to garlic and onions and even smelling them will make her nauseous. We worry so much about the even longer term consequences. I’m so sorry about your daughter and hope she will find a fulfilling career that will accommodate her circumstances.

Sorry to hear  this also

[mwf7501]

On 6/19/2021 at 4:26 PM, Mackdogmolly said:

Our daughter continues to struggle as well. She never knows whether she will have a good day or a bad day, or have to lie down NOW. She also has developed a strong aversion to garlic and onions and even smelling them will make her nauseous. We worry so much about the even longer term consequences. I’m so sorry about your daughter and hope she will find a fulfilling career that will accommodate her circumstances.

Mackdogmolly and MNgardens -- I'm very sorry to read about your children, but the stories sound so similar to what my sister-in-law is experiencing.  She had covid in January of this year, and has never gotten back to close to normal.   My wife just returned today from her second emergency trip back to Indiana (second in 3 weeks) to help her sister.  I read your posts to her and she was struck by the familiar symptoms -- even down to the "garlic nausea" anecdote.   My sister-in-law is now going on disability because working consistently has become impossible, at least for the foreseeable future.   Most of America is celebrating a return to quasi-normality, but sadly there is a significant -- and somewhat invisible -- group for whom normality will never return.  And that's not even including the families of the 600K Americans who have died.   Best wishes to your and your families, and hopefully science and medicine will continue to make progress against this quietly insidious disease.

Mark   

[MNgardens]

Mark: 

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN was outstanding for getting to the bottom of her symptoms. They are super efficient with your time because they know so many people come from a distance. She would have an appointment and then three more appointments would populate her app, usually for the the same day or the next. The medical staff take a very long time with the patient and you never feel rushed. I think her first intake appointment with an internist was 45 minutes. The cardiologist showed us all the imaging and explained what was and wasn’t significant with each one. Perhaps your sister in law can find a top research center closer to home for a total work up. How far is the Cleveland Clinic?

 

My kid is better of than many and she will be able to work. The experience at the Mayo was life changing . She has found a medical field to train for. 
 

There are way too many people who are going to be dealing with this for years. 
 

Thanks for all the kind words from posters. 

[Tom47]

2 hours ago, mwf7501 said:

Mackdogmolly and MNgardens -- I'm very sorry to read about your children, but the stories sound so similar to what my sister-in-law is experiencing.  She had covid in January of this year, and has never gotten back to close to normal.   My wife just returned today from her second emergency trip back to Indiana (second in 3 weeks) to help her sister.  I read your posts to her and she was struck by the familiar symptoms -- even down to the "garlic nausea" anecdote.   My sister-in-law is now going on disability because working consistently has become impossible, at least for the foreseeable future.   Most of America is celebrating a return to quasi-normality, but sadly there is a significant -- and somewhat invisible -- group for whom normality will never return.  And that's not even including the families of the 600K Americans who have died.   Best wishes to your and your families, and hopefully science and medicine will continue to make progress against this quietly insidious disease.

Mark   

Mark, sorry to hear about your s-i-l.

 

[mamacampesinos!]

Hebridean Sky, new arrival here in misty Dartmouth this morning.

[MNgardens]

I love it when people post their local views.  Really makes me want to get out into the world and travel.

 

Here is a remnant of prairie. It is on a hill that was too steep to plow so it remained undisturbed. The flowers are a wild type of phlox. There is a sandy patch where some cacti grow. The big boulders would have been deposited by glaciers.

 

[Mackdogmolly]

On 6/20/2021 at 1:50 AM, ellbon said:

Ernest I know..former singer in shows..had him on some cruise. Thomaz is there.Mario name shows on one of my cruises.  No idea of chef. But then  after ten years I am use to new names.

 

14 hours ago, Tom47 said:

Mark, sorry to hear about your s-i-l.

 

Mark, I am so sorry about your SIL too. I am wondering how the SSA is going to handle these disability claims. Our daughter may have to apply too.

[Tom47]

DW has a green thumb - our backyard

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 hours ago, mamacampesinos! said:

Hebridean Sky, new arrival here in misty Dartmouth this morning.

She is one of the eight original Renaissance cruise ships, built in the 1990s and replaced by the famous 'R-ships' that Azamara and Oceania continue to sail.  Noble Caledonia sails three of these (VI is Caledonian Sky, VII is Hebridean Sky shown here, and VIII is Island Sky which is also sailing in British waters this week); I and II are privately owned as a yacht and spare parts; III was until recently Silver Galapagos, recently sold to an unknown buyer; IV is Grand Circle Corinthian; and V is Sea Spirit sailing in the Antarctic and Arctic regions.  The longevity of both series of ships makes Renaissance's breakthroughs even more amazing!

[MNgardens]

Thanks for that history lesson.  I didn't know that Renaissance had ships before the R-ships.  Do you know if the layouts of the oldest ones are essentially the same as in the 1990's or had they been gutted and reconfigured? Obviously not asking about the privately owned ones but about the ones Noble Caledonia and Grand Circle own.

[MNgardens]

When I was on the apple cake hunt I found a recipe for Apple Sharlotka. I hadn't heard of it before and it was super easy to make.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/apple-sharlotka/17604/

 

In the comments there were suggestions to just cut the apple pieces into chunks and another to skip making layers and just plop apple chunks and batter all in together. So in the interest of science and definitely not pandemic stress eating, I made it several different ways. Hands down the winner was pretty slices and layered. I don't know very much about baking but it did taste different. I was using the same apples purchased in a large bag from the local orchard. Any insights?

 

I have one in the oven right now and it smells so good!

[the mice]

MNgardens, Mackdogmolly and mwf7501 -  I am truly sorry to hear this news about your family members, and hope things will progress well for all.   

 

On another note, I remember the early Renaissance ships from the brochures I would get after signing up for their mailing list.   Wonderful itineraries and what seemed like excellent prices, but I back then I could never get my workaholic husband to take enough time off for one of those cruises.   I had about a dozen cruises earmarked on the bucket list.....   Life in retirement is so much better!