PRINCESS CRUISERS: HOW ARE THINGS WHERE YOU ARE?!

[AZjohn]

6 hours ago, Loki S said:

Well as of 5pm today the greater Brisbane area has gone into a 3-day lockdown as there are a few COVID-19 cases in the community. This is to try to get on top of any further spread and encouraging the public to get tested, which people have turned up to be tested ... which is great 👍. Can now only leave our residences for only 4 reasons.

So sorry to hear about your lockdown. Australia has done such a great job of keeping the borders closed (wish we would have done that in the US). I'm starting to get a feeling your borders will still be closed by the time we were hoping to visit in Jan 2022 for a cruise. 

I have zero problems with that as I totally respect how Australia and New Zealand has protected its citizens over political/financial pressures!

Cheers,

John 

[donswife]

I have spent our stay at this hotel pretending we're on a cruise...evening wine and snacks from Vines, cookies from the International Cafe, and of course our water view. DH said the waves slamming the pilings under the hotel were the thrusters 😆

[Loki S]

20 hours ago, AZjohn said:

So sorry to hear about your lockdown. Australia has done such a great job of keeping the borders closed (wish we would have done that in the US). I'm starting to get a feeling your borders will still be closed by the time we were hoping to visit in Jan 2022 for a cruise. 

I have zero problems with that as I totally respect how Australia and New Zealand has protected its citizens over political/financial pressures!

Cheers,

John 

As our State Premier said today, it’s a very difficult decision but if we don’t move hard and fast could end up being longer. It’s all about keeping Queenslanders safe 😇. Apparently there is roughly 70 to 80 current COVID cases and 60 to 70 are returned travellers, 1 month ago we were sitting at 5 cases and were all returned international travellers. Everyone feels for businesses and tourism as not ideal before the Easter break which is followed by school holidays. Lets see what they have too say tomorrow night/Thursday morning. IMO overall we have done exceptional at keeping COVID cases limited. 
 

Hopefully vaccinations will ramp up as we’re manufacturing the AZ vaccine, as there has been hurdles with some of the vaccine importation being blocked to send to Australia. 
 

Hope your cruises go ahead .... personally think you’ll enjoy yourselves.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Loki S

[LoriPhil]

Loki - so sorry you are dealing with a new lockdown, but I have nothing but admiration for how aggressively your leadership has tackled this to keep its citizens safe.  Hang in there!

[Loki S]

6 hours ago, LoriPhil said:

Loki - so sorry you are dealing with a new lockdown, but I have nothing but admiration for how aggressively your leadership has tackled this to keep its citizens safe.  Hang in there!

Thanks. I honestly have no issues with the lockdown as I see keeping us safe and our health is important. I’m still working 100% of the time from home and many are setup ready to work from home.

 

I really feel for businesses and the tourism sector. Also those planning a getaway for Easter and the school holidays. We’ll find out in the morning if the lockdown is extended.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Loki S

[Doug R.]

4 hours ago, Loki S said:

Thanks. I honestly have no issues with the lockdown as I see keeping us safe and our health is important. I’m still working 100% of the time from home and many are setup ready to work from home.

 

I really feel for businesses and the tourism sector. Also those planning a getaway for Easter and the school holidays. We’ll find out in the morning if the lockdown is extended.

I too admire the steps your government and that of New Zealand have taken to combat the pandemic. In the USA such measures may have prevented a substantial of deaths caused by the pandemic, unfortunately too many of my countryman see such measures as an infringement on their "Freedom". Many of them have lost that freedom  and now reside in .the hereafter. 

 

Enough of the soapbox for now. Everyone have a great week! My week is sort of mixed, tomorrow I have a biopsy as a result of a MRI of my prostate. Such is life!

[LoriPhil]

Good luck tomorrow Doug - please let us know how you are.

 

[Loki S]

All the best Doug.

[Loki S]

Well the lockdown ended at 12 noon today but with a lot of rules to still follow for the next 14 days. The contact tracing teams have done an amazing job around the clock, as well as residents of Greater Brisbane following what was asked. Genome 🧬 sequencing can link the current cases to 2 clusters. Record number of Queenslanders coming out to be tested, that is if they were at certain locations on certain dates at certain times or that you are unwell 🤧.

[AF-1]

Doug,  bless you and I am saying a prayer for you.  I went thru same procedure as you last Aug.  My results were not good;  but here I am writing on this forum and cheering you on.  All the best. 

[Reader0108598]

Good luck Doug for the best results!

[Thrak]

It's "honey do" time here. All of our switches and outlets are from the 70's. I believe our house was built in 1977 - 1978. Naturally, all switches and outlets are amber colored. My wife wants them all white. It's amazing how many switches and outlets there are in this place. There are a few that won't be getting swapped out though. The one behind the piano and the one behind the cabinet that contains the stereo equipment, DVD and Blu Ray players, and also supports the 82" TV. Nope, nope, nope. One day when this room gets repainted but not right now. I had to buy a cover plate from Amazon for the entryway switches. I couldn't find a plate locally that worked with 5 switches.  I also have several lights that run from multiple switches so I got to learn that a light with three separate switches needs two 3-way switches and one 4-way switch (the one in the middle). I have two lights like that and two that run from 2 switches.

 

So far I've done the kitchen, dining area, family room, most of the living room (remember the two mentioned above?), the front bathroom, the master bathroom, and the hallway. The master bedroom has the switch replaced and three of the outlets but, like the living room, there are some that are just too much hassle to get to right now. The sewing room and the office both have the light switch replaced but nothing else so far. I got to deal with a GFI outlet in the master bathroom and learned the "secret" of replacing a switched outlet. The old GFI outlet had come pre-wired but the new one required more work. Who would have thought the ancient unit would be easier. I think the sewing room - not a big room - has something like 5 outlets to replace. Sheesh... I wonder how much longer it will take me to deal with all of the plugs I'm planning to replace and how long it will be until we repaint the rooms that will require major "stuff" to be moved in order to get to the outlets.  Of course there are also a few "oddball" spots. There was a wall box with a phone jack and the phone jack was actually built into the freaking face plate. I had also bored a large hole in it one time to run a network cable through. D'Oh! Rather than replace the thing properly I did some surgery to cut the phone jack portion free and then stuffed in into the wall box and put a blank plate over it. Works for me. We also have some old cable ports and a baseboard phone jack or two. Work, work, work... It's not much fun but my wife seems to really appreciate it and I can do it in bits and pieces. It's amazing how all of the old stuff is done with slotted screws. I don't like slotted screws! Fortunately way back when I put in data ports I used white boxes. (Yes, there is actually hard-wired Ethernet even though we mostly just use WiFi these days.)

 

I'm soooooooo glad they sell contractor's packs of switches, outlets, and cover plates. It amazes me that you can get a package of 10 for the cost of maybe 2 if you bought them separately. Of course I've been doing contractor's packs of PVC for years.

[PurpleHays]

That's a lot of outlet changing. And if your house is like the early 80s apartments that I lived in in CA, there were no ceiling lights--the light switches went to outlets to plug lamps into. Weird, but I imagine it saved builders a fortune.

 

We still have hardwired internet. It was necessary when I was attending grad school and the only internet provider when we moved into this new-build house had iffy wifi. We've since changed providers and have much better wifi.

[Lucky TGO]

Hi to all my Cruise Critic friends,

Well it finally stopped raining in Boston and now it’s just a little cold. I can’t wait to take the shrink rap off The Rowboat and get it back in the water. Just one other thing.

I hope everything went OK for Doug today 🤞Good luck my friend!!! 
Tony

 

[nini]

We are enjoying lovely sunshine and temps in the 60's on our coast in the great Northwest. And any day now, we will be welcoming grandchild number 4! 

I guess I lost in the baby shower game of "Guess the Day and Time of Birth" because I predicted April 1 at 10:23 am

[taznremmy]

1 hour ago, nini said:

We are enjoying lovely sunshine and temps in the 60's on our coast in the great Northwest. And any day now, we will be welcoming grandchild number 4! 

I guess I lost in the baby shower game of "Guess the Day and Time of Birth" because I predicted April 1 at 10:23 am

South of you, we hit 81 today 🙀

Congratulations Grandma!!

[Loki S]

4 hours ago, nini said:

We are enjoying lovely sunshine and temps in the 60's on our coast in the great Northwest. And any day now, we will be welcoming grandchild number 4! 

I guess I lost in the baby shower game of "Guess the Day and Time of Birth" because I predicted April 1 at 10:23 am

Congratulations!!!! This is exciting news, enjoy every moment.

[Reader0108598]

Doug hope you r ok! 

[Reader0108598]

8 hours ago, nini said:

We are enjoying lovely sunshine and temps in the 60's on our coast in the great Northwest. And any day now, we will be welcoming grandchild number 4! 

I guess I lost in the baby shower game of "Guess the Day and Time of Birth" because I predicted April 1 at 10:23 am

Congrats 🙂

[Ombud]

FINALLY!!!!

[Ombud]

Tried to add something to last post but I was too late. When looking for my email confirmation I noticed Bevmo is selling it's Luisant Sparkling Wine at $9 instead of $30 today only. Using it for mimosas so I got the last 2 bottles at the store near me. Can today get any better?? Just need a drop-in vet slot tomorrow at Rodies Feed Store

 

Lucky me today  😁🥂

[nini]

BTW- it has been two weeks since we received the "One and Done"! The card of proof lies tucked in with our Passports.

 

READY TO FLY, CRUISE, AND HOLD GRANDKIDS!

 

Funny instance: 40 weeks Pregnant daughter turned on the A/C yesterday because it was so darn warm! It was 68 degrees in Portland, OR. I had to chuckle............... anyday now

[Doug R.]

Thanks for the good wishes everyone, survived the biopsy although I will not have results for 7 to 10 days. I am scheduled for a follow up with the urologist on April 14th. My oncologist, who removed two large benign tumors from my midsection two years ago is watching over his shoulder. 

 

Spring has left us for a couple of days, but Easter Sunday promises to be spring beautiful!

 

@nini, Congrats on the impending arrival of your fourth grandchild!! We have 10. You can never have too many grandkids.

[1980dory]

13 minutes ago, Doug R. said:

Thanks for the good wishes everyone, survived the biopsy although I will not have results for 7 to 10 days. I am scheduled for a follow up with the urologist on April 14th. My oncologist, who removed two large benign tumors from my midsection two years ago is watching over his shoulder. 

 

Spring has left us for a couple of days, but Easter Sunday promises to be spring beautiful!

 

@nini, Congrats on the impending arrival of your fourth grandchild!! We have 10. You can never have too many grandkids.

Eau Contrare!  Only when they all visit at the same time!  13 here.  More than I can handle.

[Doug R.]

3 minutes ago, 1980dory said:

Eau Contrare!  Only when they all visit at the same time!  13 here.  More than I can handle.

We have had all ten here on Christmas Eve. Joyful pandemonium when opening their presents! However, to be honest, that is when I triple the amount of rum in my rum and coke; 😁