The Daily for Sunday Mar 21, 2021

[rafinmd]

I have sailed both of these ships Transatlantic.  Quite a contrast, Eh

 

 

Roy

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!

Thank you to those who posted photos of the Nieuw Statendam, my favorite ship.  We spent 39 glorious days on her in Sept-Oct. 2019 in the Med.  Not only do I love the extra dining and entertainment choices, but we had the best cabin steward ever (he really went above and beyond!) plus we celebrated our 50th onboard and renewed our vows with Captain O'Driscoll.   One of our best cruises. 

 

Well I guess I'm really celebrating Flower Day (yesterday and today) by planting flowers between rain showers.  I put on my boots and got as much done yesterday as I could, and plan to do the same today.  I don't wear fragrances anymore because so many people have allergies, but also because it attracts bees when I'm gardening -- I'm allergic to bee venom.  Not good for a gardener 😉  

 

Another port I haven't been to, looking forward to photos.  I think yesterday was the first port nobody has visited!

 

I planted Astilbe in 3 colors, Liatris (Blazing Star), white Glads, "Lemonade" Cosmos, Coreopsis, and Coneflower.  Here's a few flowers that I planted yesterday (CC won't let me post all the photos 😆)-- I still need to buy some Sweet Pea seeds and more annuals, but then should be done with planting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

Great shots from the webcam today -- gives one an increasing sense of normalcy in the world. 

 

I am a big fan of flowers, fragrance -- but not heavy fragrance -- and poetry. RIP David Bowie, gone too soon. I think he was my first adolescent crush. (My first EVER crush, for your info, was on Peter O'Toole, or more specifically Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia, as my parents took me to see the movie in the theatre during a revival and I thought it was wonderful....)

 

@ger_77  I could not agree more with the need to mark today as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. We have seen so many incidents -- too many -- in the past few years to ignore.

 

I would love to hear more about today's port. I'm actively looking for a cruise to replace the round-Japan trip on the Westerdam that I had to cancel last year in the first throes of COVID. 

 

Now about that gimlet -- please make mine a vodka gimlet!  As liquor.com says, "the Vodka Gimlet is not a drink to be toyed with. Unlike its gin counterpart, which can slink and sway beneath a periodic table of botanicals, a good Vodka Gimlet should be two things and two things only: cold and strong."  

 

 

 

Unfortunately I still haven't been able to schedule my vaccine. Just opened to my age group last week, so hopefully not much longer. Still, given the news here and especially in other countries, it just doesn't look like 2021 is going to be opening up for travel except in very limited ways. (Big sigh.)

 

At least a girl can plan her next destinations. Here are a few I'm considering:

 

 

[ClippyJoe]

Funny, I just got back from Las Kitchenas and am moving to La Rotonda De Sofa ! we must travel in the same circles .

[JazzyV]

Good morning. Thanks for the Daily.

Another trio of good days. Good quotes too.

The meal sounds good, although I've never made fried chicken except in an air fryer.

I've never tasted a gimlet.

I've never visited Japan.

 

It's going to be sunny and 60 here today. But the weatherpersons warn not to plant before the end of April due to frost risk.

I mixed up a batch of dough for 2 sourdough loaves this morning and it is bulk fermenting. I 'll shape it before bed then it will do the second rise overnight in the fridge and be baked tomorrow.

 

@dfish I find I share some of that anxiety about being around people. However I did schedule a haircut for Wednesday. I can't wait! Next step may be a grocery store at a time it's not crowded.

 

Prayers for the care list and cheers to the celebration list.

Stay safe and wear your mask. Fortunately only about 100 people were at the anti-mask mandate rally here yesterday (unmasked of course).

 

[Live4cruises]

I’m still enjoying my vaccination high.  When at the vaccination site, we were told they will vaccinate everyone who is (medically) old enough, > 16.  We immediately called my cousin, the only one in the close family who has not been allowed on any list.  She signed up, drove from beautiful north Arkansas to Tulsa on Thursday, and she and (my) DH made the trip to visit the Chickasaws on Friday (I had to work, darn it).  Efficient, you bet!  She and her DH will return in 3 weeks, when she and I will once again drive south to finish the job.  After which we will have a celebration like no other.  DC’s parents are healthy and independent, and in their 90’s.  She hasn’t seen them in a year.  That’s about to change!

@crazy4cats, our tribe had one of those two level observation baskets, much loved, until it just gave up the ghost.

As always, thank you to this great group of cruisers, comforting thoughts for those in pain, and hope that we are near to rounding the corner.

 

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, richwmn said:

Today is ............................... and World Poetry Day.................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NextOne]

2 hours ago, ger_77 said:

 

What a beautiful sight this is!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

Looking forward to boarding her in Quebec in October 2022!

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good morning.  Our winds returned yesterday with a vengeance -- 25mph with gusts.  It will be windy all week, but between 10-20 mph until Tuesday, when it gets above 20 mph again.  It will be like that for quite a while.  I guess March is really acting like a Lion.

 

A great collection of days, and both quotes are good.  Buttermilk fried chicken sounds really good, but alas no chicken for frying in the house.

 

Boy, do I agree about the smell of smoke when wearing a mask, and the smoker's mask reeks of it.  🤢

 

We've been to Okinawa twice, (both times on Princess)., but I did not remember the port's name.  A little history, Okinawa is part of the Ryukyu Islands, which originally were part of China, until annexed by Japan in 1609.  It is the fifth largest island.  Naha is the capital.

 

A few pictures of the area.  The middle one was taken from the monorail station near the castle.

 

A couple of pictures of the tunnels used by the Japan during WWII.

 

A couple of pictures of Shurijo Castle.  It is easy to see the Chinese influence.

 

This just a small portion of the indoor market that covers almost a full block.

 

And finally, our send off as the ship sailed.  We enjoyed this performance on both visits.

 

 

Lenda

 

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good morning, all! Flowers, and fragrance, and poetry, oh my! What a lovely collection of days to contemplate in this dull, rainy weather. To me, a fragrance is light and natural. Overdone colognes and perfumes that seem to steal the air from your lungs are weapons, not fragrances. The bathroom scales say fried chicken is not on the menu. A chicken veggie stir fry is more likely.

I have been to Japan, but not to Naha, so the pictures are much appreciated!

Although my jab is still far in the future, I’m enjoying hearing of those of us who have theirs and are starting to see friends and family and freedom again. It’s like knowing spring is coming because your friends farther south have blossoms in their gardens.

A year ago today the Amsterdam docked in Fremantle, Australia. Passengers would be allowed to debark in carefully controlled windows over the next three days. DH and I were scheduled for the final window on the morning of the 23rd. We weren’t allowed to step off the ship, but had two final days to enjoy the social closeness of the non Covid world.

Enjoy the weekend, and Happy Sunday from the elevator mats of our BHB’s!

[Sharon in AZ]

Good morning everyone!  Thank you for the Daily Rich and thank you for your lists Roy. 
 

Great collection of days. The meal suggestion sounds really good but I’ve never been good at making my own. Tonight is supposed to be DH’s rabbit so we will have fried chicken some other day. 
 

We have not been to today’s port but have enjoyed the pictures. 
 

Thank you for the screen shots of the Nieuw Statendam. We will be on her October 2022, along with @NextOne. 
 

Have a great day everyone!

[lindaler]

Good morning all. Thanks Rich.  Love to see the shots of the HAL ships. 

Edited March 21, 2021 by lindaler

[rafinmd]

It hasn't happened yet.  Do we want to have a sailaway thread for the Nieuw Statendam?

 

Roy

[Vict0riann]

Good morning, all, and thanks to everyone who posts - such interesting stuff!😄  Pat's cousin, Patricia McCarthy, (they are both named after her father) is a poet, and her latest anthology of poems is about the pandemic - it's called "Whose hand would you like to hold?" So I guess this is her day, too.

 

I've only been in Tokyo airport, so I can't discuss Japan!  I also used to wear perfume, but can't anymore, I get really stuffed up and start sneezing, which would not be good!  Talking about sneezing, there was an article in the paper this morning that said that the flu, around the world,  decreased this past winter by up to 97% - now we know how to keep it at bay, a great many lives have been saved.  I think we will be wearing masks and washing our hands for many years to come!

 

I must do some gardening today,  my peas have sprouted between two layers of wet paper towel and need to go into pots, and the parsley needs potting on.  I got some lettuce and onion starts at the garden shop last week, and need to get them out, too.  It is supposed to sprinkle most of the day, so I will work between showers.  Church first, on line.  

 

Hope everyone has a good Spring Sunday!

 

 

[Sharon in AZ]

27 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

It hasn't happened yet.  Do we want to have a sailaway thread for the Nieuw Statendam?

 

Roy

Yes and do you know what time it will be?

[Red Haired Lady]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Good morning.  Our winds returned yesterday with a vengeance -- 25mph with gusts.  It will be windy all week, but between 10-20 mph until Tuesday, when it gets above 20 mph again.  It will be like that for quite a while.  I guess March is really acting like a Lion.

 

A great collection of days, and both quotes are good.  Buttermilk fried chicken sounds really good, but alas no chicken for frying in the house.

 

Boy, do I agree about the smell of smoke when wearing a mask, and the smoker's mask reeks of it.  🤢

 

We've been to Okinawa twice, (both times on Princess)., but I did not remember the port's name.  A little history, Okinawa is part of the Ryukyu Islands, which originally were part of China, until annexed by Japan in 1609.  It is the fifth largest island.  Naha is the capital.

 

A few pictures of the area.  The middle one was taken from the monorail station near the castle.

 

A couple of pictures of the tunnels used by the Japan during WWII.

 

A couple of pictures of Shurijo Castle.  It is easy to see the Chinese influence.

 

This just a small portion of the indoor market that covers almost a full block.

 

And finally, our send off as the ship sailed.  We enjoyed this performance on both visits.

 

 

Lenda

 

Thanks for the pictures and info.  I was supposed to be there on the Volendam in 2017.  We were scheduled to sail from Shanghai to Naha. But when I woke up that morning, much to my surprise, the ship was still near the entrance to Shanghai!  In the heavy fog...along with several other ships. With an inside cabin I did not know this until I got off the elevator for breakfast.  I am seriously considering a B2B2B on the Noordam for March/Apr 2022 that is Japan and includes Naha.  Will it actually go? Will I like 6 weeks on a ship when the most I have done is 30 days?  (When I booked my Australia trip in Nov 2020 I felt sure that by Nov 2021 there would be no problem....now not so sure.  Still, I try to be optimistic.) 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Red Haired Lady

[NextOne]

33 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Yes and do you know what time it will be?

The sailaway lineup says 1700 - so maybe, maybe not! I'll be watching!

[garlictown]

☕Thank You for the Daily and the photos of the Nieuw Statendam in port🚢......HOPEFULLY, we will be sailing on her from Rotterdam in September. 🤞

Our 2018 memory of Okinawa included a self tour of the Shuri Castle which unfortunately in 2019 was destroyed by fire. International Street in Naha reminds me of Hawaii and the shops!👍

🙏Prayers to all who are in need today, Sunday, and all other days. Just another lazy day in Maui for us!🌴🌴

[VMax1700]

Good Afternoon everyone.  Today was a lovely day with temps reaching 14°C/58°F, a little cloudy but still nice!

I was in Naha once, for one night as I transited from Ireland to Tokyo to Okinawa to Ishigaki Island to a Sport Resort on Kohama Island, where we were testing Jet Skis and Outboard engines.  It was a lot of travelling for a planned 3 day test and we had to leave a day early as there was an approaching typhoon.  My lasting memory of the resort was the notices to "Keep off the Grass, Poisonous Animals"😱. 

 

Looking forward to a sailaway tonight. 

Stay safe everyone!

[CrabbyPatti]

Good morning!

 

     Just catching up from being absent this past week.  Was staying at son and daughter in laws house helping with the new grandson Andrew Thomas!  Son wasn't able to stay at home this past week because of a big work project, so I helped ferry the 6 year old daughter to school and entertained the 2 year old daughter so Mom could focus on the new baby!

      He actually lived and taught school in Naha, Japan after he got out of college,  before he met his wife and married!  We were to go to visit him, but at the time we were still working and schedules just didn't hold for a visit.  He told me this past week he wants to take his wife back to Japan..............but will have to wait till kids are older!

       Scheduled for our second Covid injections April 2, so maybe eventually we can get back to some travel!  Hope all are doing well.

 

Denise

[sailingdutchy]

Naha , Japan is located on the island of Okinawa and is the largest city and capital city of that Japanese Prefecture .

Okinawa  was part of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 and officially annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1879 .

 

Naha suffered extensive damage during the battle of Okinawa during WWII  and the entire city centre had to be rebuild . Civil administration was returned to Japan in 1972 but a large portion of the US forces  ( 26.000 ) are assigned to this prefecture.

On Okinawa the Ryukyuan people make up the majority of the population and the traditional culture and language are still alive and well.

 

We were in Naha on the Volendam and due to a storm they switched the date and we were very lucky that we arrived there on Nov 3rd , 2017 . Lucky because when the four of us walked to the monorail station to go to the Shurijo Castle we found out that a once a year special cultural event was to take place , the “ King of Ryukyu " was visiting the Shuri castle and going to pray at the different temples an amazing festival that only takes place once every year .

 

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by sailingdutchy

[Copper10-8]

Continuing with Amsterdam's Grand Asia/Pacific voyage. Our next call would be the grand city of Shanghai located in the People's Republic of China. The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowing through it. With a population of 24.28 million as of 2019, it is the most populous urban area in China and the third most populous city proper in the world. Shanghai has been described as the "showpiece" of the booming economy of the PRC. Featuring several architectural styles such as Art Deco and shikumen, the city is renowned for its Lujiazui skyline, museums and historic buildings—including the City God Temple, Yu Garden, the China Pavilion and the buildings along the Bund, the waterfront.

 

The center of Shanghai is around 20 miles inland from the East China Sea, itself an arm of the Pacific, and we were assigned a berth at the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, the largest cruise port terminal in Shanghai. It is located on the Huangpu River, near the downtown area along the famous Bund.

 

So, first order of business was to pick up a local pilot. The Chinese do things a bit different in that they use a "pilot mothership," the Hugangyin1. She has a helicopter deck and is apparently the "largest and best equipped pilot mother ship" in the PRC. She usually can be found at the mouth of the Yangtze River from where her pilots are dispatched to arriving shipping. While underway, some of the crew received a briefing inside Amsterdam's A-Deck Crew Mess

 

Amsterdam arrived at her Shanghai berth during night time hours so the following shots are of some of the scenery as well as A'dam's bridge at night. Since she was berthed, the lighting on the bridge was on. That is never the case when the ship is at sea at night when, in order to preserve the nighttime vision of the officers and quartermasters on duty, only red light is used and that is sparingly. The very last pic is of the growing international zoo inside the security officer's cabin, also on A-Deck, Can you name the countries or, in one case, U.S. State? 😉

Edited March 21, 2021 by Copper10-8

[Marmot@Sea]

Good Morning.

 

I need to seriously start thinking of what flowers and vegetables I will be planting this year.  I tend to intermingle the plants and even do so in the front garden.  It is amazing how many positive comments I have had from people passing by on my zucchini flowers.  

 

@Cruising-alongfor posting photos of the flower packages.  You have given me some ideas of what to add to the front beds.

 

Here are some flower photos from days past.

 

 

 

 

 

Val

 

 

[TiogaCruiser]

2 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

 

I also used to wear perfume, but can't anymore, I get really stuffed up and start sneezing, which would not be good!  Talking about sneezing, there was an article in the paper this morning that said that the flu, around the world,  decreased this past winter by up to 97% - now we know how to keep it at bay, a great many lives have been saved.  I think we will be wearing masks and washing our hands for many years to come!

 

I must do some gardening today,  my peas have sprouted between two layers of wet paper towel and need to go into pots, and the parsley needs potting on.  I got some lettuce and onion starts at the garden shop last week, and need to get them out, too.  It is supposed to sprinkle most of the day, so I will work between showers.  Church first, on line.  

 

Hope everyone has a good Spring Sunday!

 

 

I hope we don’t continue on with masks for flu! 
I’m totally fine wearing them now for Covid. And I’m glad it’s a requirement here in the stores, etc. I think the huge decline in flu is particularly due to how much more contagious Covid is. And there is likely “artifact” in that, as likely someone symptomatic is probably only getting tested for Covid and not flu. Around here, testing is usually at specific Covid test sites, where only Covid tests are done.

[Vict0riann]

9 minutes ago, sailingdutchy said:

Naha , Japan is located on the island of Okinawa and is the largest city and capital city of that Japanese Prefecture .

Okinawa  was part of the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1429 and officially annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1879 .

 

Naha suffered extensive damage during the battle of Okinawa during WWII  and the entire city centre had to be rebuild . Civil administration was returned to Japan in 1972 but a large portion of the US forces  ( 26.000 ) are assigned to this prefecture.

On Okinawa the Ryukyuan people make up the majority of the population and the traditional culture and language are still alive and well.

 

We were in Naha on the Volendam and due to a storm they switched the date and we were very lucky that we arrived there on Nov 3rd , 2017 . Lucky because when the four of us walked to the monorail station to go to the Shurijo Castle we found out that a once a year special cultural event was to take place , the “ King of Ryukyu " was visiting the Shuri castle and going to pray at the different temples an amazing festival that only takes place once every year .

 

 

 

 

Amazing pictures, Tony!  Thanks for sharing.  Do you have those Ryukyu stamps?  Maybe post a picture?   I did have some at one time, but can't find them now.