Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[Arzeena]

36 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

 

Things aren't finalized yet, but that's the sailing we're looking at and have decided to move to....that's great!  If it all comes together I'll definitely let you know and we'll have plenty of time at the Schooner Bar to share drinks and Linda and I can share some UMKC war stories! 

Very sorry to hear about the fire. Glad you all are safe.

[Tree_skier]

@Husky1987

 

Glad you are ok and the damage wasn't catastrophic. 

[mo&fran]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Sorry I’m late everyone has said what I would say but I’m happy everyone is safe and you will be getting repairs done. You have a great attitude about it all.

 

Hey which sailing are you on in October on Adventure?  We are on Adventure October 21-28th for a Eastern Caribbean with Tortola. It would be great if we could sail together.

 

Cheers!

We're booked on Adventure for 4 weeks starting on October 7th. That will include the 7th 14th 21st and 28th.

[Arzeena]

37 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

Yep, that's the one.  They took away a couple of cool ports and although going through the Canal was obviously a highlight, we were a little less excited about the whole thing.  It was by far the best JS deal I've ever had...to be honest I'm more bummed about missing the deal than missing the cruise.😉

Could you perhaps call, describe the situation and ask to move your deposit/payment to another sailing at the rate you have? I cannot say they will or can do it and give you the same rate/deal, but it never hurts to ask.

I wish you the best of luck.

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I think it starts a little earlier while we were in Hawaii. 

 

 

 

Wow!  Great pictures, John!  Which Island in Hawaii was this taken?

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Husky1987 said:

 

Things aren't finalized yet, but that's the sailing we're looking at and have decided to move to....that's great!  If it all comes together I'll definitely let you know and we'll have plenty of time at the Schooner Bar to share drinks and Linda and I can share some UMKC war stories! 

 

That's awesome Larry! Make sure to book Royal's "Escape to Jost Van Dyke" for the excursion in Tortola to visit the famous Soggy Dollar Bar. Yes it will be fun in the Schooner. I'm sure you and Linda know all the same people.

 

 

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

He has been playing for three years, I think. I may have posted this before, but he took first place last year in a Junior Open for his age group.  His score was even lower than the next two age groups above him.  

 

 

 

 

Wow! Look out PGA here he comes!

 

33 minutes ago, mo&fran said:

We're booked on Adventure for 4 weeks starting on October 7th. That will include the 7th 14th 21st and 28th.

 

 

That's great. We will have so much fun. As I told Larry, book Royal's  "Escape to Jost Van Dyke" when we are in Tortola. We can have a lot of fun at the Soggy Dollar drinking some classic Painkillers.

[h20skibum]

I think I may need to have a discussion with my granddaughter when I see her tonight.   I know I mentioned that the grandkids make a calendar for us every year, and each month has one of their pieces of artwork.  
 

Well, when I turned the calendar to June, a day late, this morning, I saw this one drawn by her.  

 

Now, I don’t know if these are all things she thinks we enjoy?  Tiki drinks 👍🏻.  Upside down pineapple 🤷,

 

Maybe there are things going on in their house I don’t know about!   🤣🤣

 

I just know it will be interesting getting her explanation of the picture. 

 

[Ozark_Kid]

37 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

Wow!  Great pictures, John!  Which Island in Hawaii was this taken?

This is Maui.  It was our last stop on our Road to Hana.  This is were we stop and the bus driver warned me not to go down to where the turtles were because of the large hill I would have to walk up with my rollator.   So at first I walked to the edge while most of the others went down to where the turtles 🐢 where at.

 

After looking at the beauty of it all for maybe 3 minutes I headed down!

 

The upper right of the next pic is where I was looking down from and gives you an idea how high up it is.

 

Here's a pick of the top of the hill I climbed.

 

I was so glad I went down for the experience and walking up the hill actually helped me gain back some energy for the last part of the trip.

[Keksie]

@Husky1987 I liked your post because the dogs looked so content.  I am so sorry about the fire and resulting wait to get back to your home.  I am very happy that no one was injured and the insurance is coming through for you. 

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

I think I may need to have a discussion with my granddaughter when I see her tonight.   I know I mentioned that the grandkids make a calendar for us every year, and each month has one of their pieces of artwork.  
 

Well, when I turned the calendar to June, a day late, this morning, I saw this one drawn by her.  

 

Now, I don’t know if these are all things she thinks we enjoy?  Tiki drinks 👍🏻.  Upside down pineapple 🤷,

 

Maybe there are things going on in their house I don’t know about!   🤣🤣

 

I just know it will be interesting getting her explanation of the picture. 

 

Something you're not telling us, Mark??  Love this!😊

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

This is Maui.  It was our last stop on our Road to Hana.  This is were we stop and the bus driver warned me not to go down to where the turtles were because of the large hill I would have to walk up with my rollator.   So at first I walked to the edge while most of the others went down to where the turtles 🐢 where at.

 

After looking at the beauty of it all for maybe 3 minutes I headed down!

 

The upper right of the next pic is where I was looking down from and gives you an idea how high up it is.

 

Here's a pick of the top of the hill I climbed.

 

I was so glad I went down for the experience and walking up the hill actually helped me gain back some energy for the last part of the trip.

I have a friend who has been living in Maui about 40 years .He calls it paradise.

[derorim]

Well, I guess the party is over.  We have been blessed with incredible extended spring weather, but the recent rains have brought out the mosquitos.   While sitting on the deck I killed a couple and then had to bring out the citronella candle.

 

 

Its kind of stinky, but I’ll do what ever it takes to continue enjoying this view in 75 degree weather in June.

 

 

 

 

[Ozark_Kid]

I picked some more Kohlrabi today.  I tried it earlier this week.   Tried it raw and also cut some up into sticks and fried them in some olive oil.  I liked them both ways.  I plan to grow more.

 

[akcruz]

7 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

So, we had an eventful May.  Last weekend of April, we had a house fire.  Freak spark accident into an Arborvitae plant (pro tip: cut the torches-waiting-to-happen down if they're next to your house, like I always wanted to do but never got around to LOL).  Thankfully, the fire went up through the roof and not down.  Everybody....wife, dog, cat, chickens, were all okay.  Not a lot of fire damage to the house itself (in fact, you can't really tell there was a fire inside the house other than the smoke smell), but lots of smoke and water (fire department did an amazing job).

 

 

Looking at 6-8 months for reconstruction.  From the outside, 95% of the house looks normal.  I'm sure they'll have to gut the inside down to the studs due to the smoke and fire.  In the meantime, we were lucky to find a rental house in our neighborhood just a couple blocks away, so we are super close for the duration (depending on the wonderful county permitting/inspection process, may be there up to 12 months).  Easy enough to feed the chickens and keep an eye on things during reconstruction. 

 

Didn't lose anything sentimental.  Insurance company thus far has been great (even, dare I say, overly generous in their valuing of certain items).  Anything we lost....stuff is just stuff anyway. 

 

The only cruise-related casualty is a 16 day we had planned in October.  We really don't want to be away for 2-1/2 weeks so we're cutting it back to a week in October.  Which is fine, since we'll be on our favorite ship, the Adventure.

 

Which is appropriate, since life is an adventure, right?  

 

In the meantime, here's Stevie and her best friend Tucker, all tired out from playing.  We stayed with our next door neighbors for about three weeks while the whole rental deal was being hashed out.  They were wonderful, told us to stay as long as we needed to.  Stevie played with Tucker all day long, every day, and thought us burning the house down was the best thing we've ever done. 

 

 

Yikes, sorry to hear this.  My dad had a fire in his kitchen, the whole house had smoke damage.  My childhood bedroom, at the opposite corner of the kitchen, had melted light fixtures.  Ubelievable what fire can do.  Hoping you are able to repair quickly.

 

 

 

[akcruz]

6 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

How frequently do you spot turtles where you live, April?

It must be turtle season!!😁

 

We rarely see turtles by us.  The funny part is my daughter sent me a picture the other day where they had a turtle, in VA near DC, in their parking area.  My grandson got to move it to the grass, he was so happy.  Have hear its mating season, who knows.

[BonTexasNY]

@Husky1987 Awful to read about your fire.  Thankfully, you're all ok and there was no loss of sentimental items.

[h20skibum]

Just back from our grandson’s baseball game.  He pitched the first three innings, and had an all around great game.  They kept their undefeated season going.   
 

Now to relax with an adult beverage. 
 

oh, and granddaughter had one of her typical, off the wall explanations for everything in the picture.  No hidden meanings for her upside down pineapple. 

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, derorim said:

Well, I guess the party is over.  We have been blessed with incredible extended spring weather, but the recent rains have brought out the mosquitos.   While sitting on the deck I killed a couple and then had to bring out the citronella candle.

 

 

Its kind of stinky, but I’ll do what ever it takes to continue enjoying this view in 75 degree weather in June.

 

 

 

 

Is the plant/bush with white flowers a Clematis? 

 

We had a beautiful one at the house we had in NJ. Wish we could have brought it to Virginia with us.

 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Jimbo

[HBE4]

7 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I think it starts a little earlier while we were in Hawaii. 

 

 

 

 

I feel like there should be a sign  - FOR the turtles  - saying "Human Crossing"

[derorim]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Is the plant/bush with white flowers a Clematis? 

Good eye, yes it is a Clematis.  We call it “Cousin It.”  Your plant is gorgeous.

Edited June 3, 2023 by derorim

[Ozark_Kid]

We went out for dinner tonight then drove down to the river.

 

[aussielozzie18]

11 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

So, we had an eventful May.  Last weekend of April, we had a house fire.  Freak spark accident into an Arborvitae plant (pro tip: cut the torches-waiting-to-happen down if they're next to your house, like I always wanted to do but never got around to LOL).  Thankfully, the fire went up through the roof and not down.  Everybody....wife, dog, cat, chickens, were all okay.  Not a lot of fire damage to the house itself (in fact, you can't really tell there was a fire inside the house other than the smoke smell), but lots of smoke and water (fire department did an amazing job).

 

 

Looking at 6-8 months for reconstruction.  From the outside, 95% of the house looks normal.  I'm sure they'll have to gut the inside down to the studs due to the smoke and fire.  In the meantime, we were lucky to find a rental house in our neighborhood just a couple blocks away, so we are super close for the duration (depending on the wonderful county permitting/inspection process, may be there up to 12 months).  Easy enough to feed the chickens and keep an eye on things during reconstruction. 

 

Didn't lose anything sentimental.  Insurance company thus far has been great (even, dare I say, overly generous in their valuing of certain items).  Anything we lost....stuff is just stuff anyway. 

 

The only cruise-related casualty is a 16 day we had planned in October.  We really don't want to be away for 2-1/2 weeks so we're cutting it back to a week in October.  Which is fine, since we'll be on our favorite ship, the Adventure.

 

Which is appropriate, since life is an adventure, right?  

 

In the meantime, here's Stevie and her best friend Tucker, all tired out from playing.  We stayed with our next door neighbors for about three weeks while the whole rental deal was being hashed out.  They were wonderful, told us to stay as long as we needed to.  Stevie played with Tucker all day long, every day, and thought us burning the house down was the best thing we've ever done. 

 

I’m very sorry to read this but pleased to read  you have such lovely neighbours who opened up their home to you for an extended period.  Not sure if that welcome cushion is yours or your neighbours but they and their pup truly know the meaning of being welcoming.  Glad you were able to find a rental locally & hope the rebuild goes smoothly.

[aussielozzie18]

4 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

We went out for dinner tonight then drove down to the river.

 

Beautiful 

[aussielozzie18]

12 hours ago, jmh2006 said:

Well look who I spotted crossing the street in front of my house just now!  

Hate to ask this because I love turtles - but do many get hit by cars?  
 

We have kangaroo warning road signs in area (for wallabies) so wondering why there are not turtle signs.  I assume there is a reason they are not required.

[Coralc]

57 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Hate to ask this because I love turtles - but do many get hit by cars?  
 

We have kangaroo warning road signs in area (for wallabies) so wondering why there are not turtle signs.  I assume there is a reason they are not required.

It is a snapping turtle They are a little ill-mannered. And they probably don't cross at the same places every time.