The Daily for Saturday 02/19/2022

[Cruisercl]

5 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Rotterdam is now arriving on Port Bimini webcam .

I just pulled up the Port Bimini webcam.

Very nice shot of the Rotterdam and fun music; nice there.
it is on my list. 😊

[cunnorl]

Good Afternoon from a cool and overcast day at the beach

       I love chocolate mint. Great comb. DD loves a drink on HAL that is  chocolate mint without the alcohol. I forget the name but is quite pretty and delicious!

    A very big salute to women veterans. @Navybikermom I thank you for your service.

    We went to Raitea in 2019 on the Eurodam. My pictures are very similar to Sandi's  @StLouisCruisers Thank you for posting. It was a nice little town but left us with a bad taste. My son stayed outside a shop with my DD who is in a wheelchair. The shopkeeper told him to move her away from their store, because they didnt want people to be " afraid of the wheelchair". Needless to say we all left without purchasing anything. My DS was in the middle of a transaction and cancelled and left with us.   

    I am late today. Played golf this AM in the fog and rain. Wasnt going to play, but my nephew told me not to be a girl! So I had to go. LOL

 

Stay safe and enjoy today

       

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily.

Great days. I like chocolate mint candy (Andes) and ice cream. Love whales. And a big salute to female veterans.

Funny quote by Groucho Marx.

I like the breakfast sandwich. Pass on the drink, but the wine sounds good.

I've never been to French Polynesia. Thanks for the pictures.

 

Brrr. It's really windy and was snowing this morning. The snow has stopped and the sun is out now, but still windy. There's been flooding from recent rain and ice melt on the rivers, which are cresting. Some roads are closed, including a section of the parkway I often use, dubbed "the bathtub". 

 

@kazu I hope you can get to the hospital today. Enough of bad weather for you! Continued prayers for Jose, you and Marley.

@rafinmd Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. I hope the weather improves. Prayers as you go ashore today.

@cruzn single Yay on being free today!

@mamaofami I'm glad DS was able to get an appointment for Sam with the hand surgeon.

@smitty34877 I'm glad Tana made it home safely. I know she will be well cared for in the embrace of her family.

@Cruzin Terri It's great to hear you are pain free!

@aliaschief Ohhh, tempting fate going where there are fresh beignets!

@msmayor Love frozen thin mint girl scout cookies.

@Navybikermom A salute to you for your service; thank you.

@DeeniEncinitas Bon Voyage! Have a great cruise.

@Cruising-along Sorry to hear about your bad night's sleep. 

@irishjim Continued prayers for your family on the losses.

 

Prayers for the Care List and a toast to the Celebration List.

 

 

[dfish]

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!

I'm really late today, it was another one of "those nights", worse than usual.  I was awake from 2am-6am.  And absolutely no reason for it, just tossing and turning.

 

I hate when that happens and it happens too often.  I wish I had a solution for it because it interferes with life too often.  

 

1 hour ago, Overhead Fred said:

When I make English muffin/egg breakfast sandwiches, which I do with some regularity, I call them Fred McMuffins 😁

 

If I make them, I'll have to remember the new name.  I like the biscuit ones, but don't eat them due to the carb load.  I guess I could try them with lettuce instead of biscuits or muffins.   

[grapau27]

6 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

On April 12, 2017 the Maasdam stopped in Uturoa, Raiatea, French Polynesia.  This is what it looked like from the top deck of the ship that morning.

 

This cheery group played and sang for us as we departed the ship.

 

We went to that little cafe right next to the ship for something to drink and to try their wife but unfortunately it was not working very well. 

 

 

It looked like you get do some type of excursion by taking a boat ride from here.

 

Across the street was this tent with a crowd gathered so we went to see what was going on.  

 

More music and dancing!

 

 

Everyone was having a good time

 

After listening for a while we went into the adjoining building where the marketplace was.

 

 

 

As we left the building we noticed our ship master, Captain van Dreumel had arrived for a Welcome to Raiatea ceremony.  He was dressed appropriately for this island tradition.

 

Where the dancing had gone on before, now everyone was seated and paying attention to the proceedings.

 

It looked like the Captain received a plaque.

 

After the ceremony we walked a few blocks around town just taking it all in.

 

It's always fun to check out a grocery store!

 

 

 

Shopping "kiosks" near the ship

 

 

 

Lovely fabrics were for sale here.

 

Nearing mid day it was getting too darn hot so we decided to board the ship.  No wifi was found that morning, sad to say.  But even worse, we saw an ambulance near the gangway taking a sick passenger away.  This is not something you would like to experience so far away from home.

 

I do hope they weren't too ill and made it back to the ship before we sailed.  

 

Next day would be Bora Bora and a wonderful time spent with Patrick at his motu.

 

A nice selection of interesting photos Sandi.

Thank you for sharing.

Graham.

[Cruising-along]

12 minutes ago, dfish said:

I hate when that happens and it happens too often.  I wish I had a solution for it because it interferes with life too often.  

No kidding, Debbie.  The only time I sleep really well is on a ship -- nice rocking 🙂  

[Oceansaway17]

6 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Some pictures taken in French Polynesia.

 

Wow thanks for sharing two extremely pretty photos.  I love cloud formations and sunrises and sunsets.

[HAL4NOW]

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Sandi please forgive me -- I know we aren't supposed to mention typos but this one was almost too hard to resist -- early in your photos you said you all planned to go to a cafe next to the ship and "try their wife" (I know you meant wine). 

@StLouisCruisers I assumed you meant wifi.

[rafinmd]

8 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

@StLouisCruisers I assumed you meant wifi.

Me too.

 

Roy

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info.

[aliaschief]

32 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Wow thanks for sharing two extremely pretty photos.  I love cloud formations and sunrises and sunsets.

Thanks!I love the picture of the tender which I have entitled Last Tender. Not bad pics with an IPhone.

Edited February 19, 2022 by aliaschief

[Oceansaway17]

4 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Thanks!I love the picture of the tender which I have entitled Last Tender. Not bad pics with an IPhone.

yes I have a new ipone 12 but the files are saved not as JPEG and I have a hard time understanding the LIVE photo as well.  each photo provides two files.

and cc doesn't at least for me like posting photos taken with iphone.  I know I can convert to JPEG but well that is cumbersome.

so I will go back to using my camera on cruises now.

[Vict0riann]

I turned off the Live on my iPhone.  It made me dizzy!😊

 

I have been busy all day!  Garden cleanup this morning, and moving a few perennials.  This afternoon I have been concentrating on what is going on in Ottawa.  It is so interesting.  The "paddy wagons" seem to have individual little cubicles and they can just put each person they are arresting into their own "room".  What a huge response is going on!

[Cruising-along]

44 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

@StLouisCruisers I assumed you meant wifi.

 

35 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Me too.

 

Roy

Oh, maybe she did! (Sandi?)  You can see where my mind goes, straight to wine!  😂

[highscar]

SODA CARD. 

for years I have bought  this card. Now it is not available.  My question is which is the better deal as a 4 star  using the fridge soda at half price or buying a  beverage card.  

[ger_77]

31 minutes ago, highscar said:

SODA CARD. 

for years I have bought  this card. Now it is not available.  My question is which is the better deal as a 4 star  using the fridge soda at half price or buying a  beverage card.  

Well, with a soda card, you can have a glass of soda whenever and wherever you want.  If you just go with the 1/2 price mini bar soda, you have to go back to your cabin to get one.  It also depends on how much soda you drink, as the mini bar might not be refreshed as often as you'd like.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

[Horizon chaser 1957]

8 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

On April 12, 2017 the Maasdam stopped in Uturoa, Raiatea, French Polynesia.  

 

We went to that little cafe right next to the ship for something to drink and to try their wife but unfortunately it was not working very well.

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

 

@StLouisCruisersSandi please forgive me -- I know we aren't supposed to mention typos but this one was almost too hard to resist -- early in your photos you said you all planned to go to a cafe next to the ship and "try their wife" (I know you meant wine).  I loved your photos, thank you for posting them!  I'm surprised that the port won't be on the Grand Australia.  

 

 

1 hour ago, HAL4NOW said:

@StLouisCruisers I assumed you meant wifi.

 

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

Me too.

 

Roy

So, in the future, the word ‘wife’ on The Daily may also mean a wine bar with excellent WIFI in a foreign port. 😄

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Right now I'm sitting on the patio enjoying the sun, peace anbd quiet, the birds chirping and a hummingbird at the feeder.  Is this practice for sitting on our balcony on a BHB in a couple of weeks?

 

6 hours ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all. Raiatea was on our 2020 list, le sigh! Thanks for the pictures @aliaschief and @StLouisCruisers! 
@smitty34877glad to hear Tana is home! 
@kazu crazy weather
We love whales, we’ve been out with the Pacific whale Foundation in Maui and usually see them most winters, just not lately.     It’s so much fun to see the baby whales, called pickles learning to breach, sometimes dozens of times in a row!  Or a dolphin and pickle playing.  

 

We've been very fortunate on several cruises to see the whales when we were in Maui.  Once we even saw the young ones learning to breech.  I never get tired of watching them.

 

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

 

Oh, maybe she did! (Sandi?)  You can see where my mind goes, straight to wine!  😂

 

I also thought wifi, but I like the way your mind works.  Are we a bad influence with all the talk about wine everyday? 😁

 

33 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

Well, with a soda card, you can have a glass of soda whenever and wherever you want.  If you just go with the 1/2 price mini bar soda, you have to go back to your cabin to get one.  It also depends on how much soda you drink, as the mini bar might not be refreshed as often as you'd like.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

Gerry

 

The soda package that is offered now works out to about $9.99 a day per person.  Everyone in the cabin has to buy the package, so it really depends on how much soda you would drink aday.  BTW, the package doesn't work for the mini bar or in the dining room.   If you go the mini bar route, you can call room service and have them change what you won't be drinking to sodas.  When the mini bar is running low, you can call for them to restock it.  We just do the math to see which works best for us.

 

3 hours ago, cunnorl said:

Good Afternoon from a cool and overcast day at the beach

       I love chocolate mint. Great comb. DD loves a drink on HAL that is  chocolate mint without the alcohol. I forget the name but is quite pretty and delicious!

    A very big salute to women veterans. @Navybikermom I thank you for your service.

    We went to Raitea in 2019 on the Eurodam. My pictures are very similar to Sandi's  @StLouisCruisers Thank you for posting. It was a nice little town but left us with a bad taste. My son stayed outside a shop with my DD who is in a wheelchair. The shopkeeper told him to move her away from their store, because they didnt want people to be " afraid of the wheelchair". Needless to say we all left without purchasing anything. My DS was in the middle of a transaction and cancelled and left with us.   

    I am late today. Played golf this AM in the fog and rain. Wasnt going to play, but my nephew told me not to be a girl! So I had to go. LOL

 

Stay safe and enjoy today

       

 

I don't blame you for walking out without buying anything.  And I would have advised others to skip that store.

 

3 hours ago, JazzyV said:

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily.

Great days. I like chocolate mint candy (Andes) and ice cream. Love whales. And a big salute to female veterans.

Funny quote by Groucho Marx.

I like the breakfast sandwich. Pass on the drink, but the wine sounds good.

I've never been to French Polynesia. Thanks for the pictures.

 

Brrr. It's really windy and was snowing this morning. The snow has stopped and the sun is out now, but still windy. There's been flooding from recent rain and ice melt on the rivers, which are cresting. Some roads are closed, including a section of the parkway I often use, dubbed "the bathtub". 

 

@kazu I hope you can get to the hospital today. Enough of bad weather for you! Continued prayers for Jose, you and Marley.

@rafinmd Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. I hope the weather improves. Prayers as you go ashore today.

@cruzn single Yay on being free today!

@mamaofami I'm glad DS was able to get an appointment for Sam with the hand surgeon.

@smitty34877 I'm glad Tana made it home safely. I know she will be well cared for in the embrace of her family.

@Cruzin Terri It's great to hear you are pain free!

@aliaschief Ohhh, tempting fate going where there are fresh beignets!

@msmayor Love frozen thin mint girl scout cookies.

@Navybikermom A salute to you for your service; thank you.

@DeeniEncinitas Bon Voyage! Have a great cruise.

@Cruising-along Sorry to hear about your bad night's sleep. 

@irishjim Continued prayers for your family on the losses.

 

Prayers for the Care List and a toast to the Celebration List.

 

 

 

Hope the wind dies down soon.  That flooding looks bad.  Hope it doesn't get worse.

 

Lenda 

Edited February 19, 2022 by Quartzsite Cruiser

[kazu]

2 hours ago, HAL4NOW said:

@StLouisCruisers I assumed you meant wifi.

 

I thought the same thing 😉 

 

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yes I have a new ipone 12 but the files are saved not as JPEG and I have a hard time understanding the LIVE photo as well.  each photo provides two files.

and cc doesn't at least for me like posting photos taken with iphone.  I know I can convert to JPEG but well that is cumbersome.

so I will go back to using my camera on cruises now.

 

Don’t have an Iphone but plan on getting one.  Pics on my Ipad turn out not too bad.

 

Most of the pics I post are taken with it.

 

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

I turned off the Live on my iPhone.  It made me dizzy!😊

 

I have been busy all day!  Garden cleanup this morning, and moving a few perennials.  This afternoon I have been concentrating on what is going on in Ottawa.  It is so interesting.  The "paddy wagons" seem to have individual little cubicles and they can just put each person they are arresting into their own "room".  What a huge response is going on!

 

Good tip on the IPhone, Ann

 

I am jealous at the cleanup and moving perennials.  We are still buried in snow and ice.

 

I was watching the Ottawa stuff too.  Very impressed that the police had hot pockets (the things skiers use and others to keep their hands warm) and used them for those they were handcuffing.  A lot of thought has gone into this IMO.

 

13 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

 

So, in the future, the word ‘wife’ on The Daily may also mean a wine bar with excellent WIFI in a foreign port. 😄

 

Love this - sounds perfect for most of us Daily - its. Speaking only for myself, I am often searching for wifi on a slow non tour day and a glass of wine to enjoy it with 😄 

[JazzyV]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yes I have a new ipone 12 but the files are saved not as JPEG and I have a hard time understanding the LIVE photo as well.  each photo provides two files.

and cc doesn't at least for me like posting photos taken with iphone.  I know I can convert to JPEG but well that is cumbersome.

so I will go back to using my camera on cruises now.

 

Since iOs 11 (we're on 15 now), the Apple phones replaced JPEG with a format called HEIC, which is a new High Efficiency Image Format. HEIC allows photos with smaller file sizes but still with higher image quality, compared to JPG. But many programs don't like HEIC. You can set your phone to take JPG again by going to Settings, Camera, Formats and picking Most Compatible. I did that since my image editing programs didn't like the HEIC.

Edited February 19, 2022 by JazzyV

[highscar]

@ger_77the soda card is no longer available. It was $50.00 soda for $25.00.  The fridge contents are 1/2 price for 4+star.   I know I can have the fridge stocked with my choice. 

[dfish]

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

No kidding, Debbie.  The only time I sleep really well is on a ship -- nice rocking 🙂  

 

I've been wondering if I need a new mattress.  Mine is kind of old....

 

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

yes I have a new ipone 12 but the files are saved not as JPEG and I have a hard time understanding the LIVE photo as well.  each photo provides two files.

and cc doesn't at least for me like posting photos taken with iphone.  I know I can convert to JPEG but well that is cumbersome.

so I will go back to using my camera on cruises now.

I have the iphone 12 and love the pictures it takes.  I never did anything in the settings about them, but I upload them to OneDrive and then post them on CC with no problem.  Just checked and High Efficiency is what is checked.  I didn't know anything about that until now.  It may be that it works for me because I do save them to my photo files in the cloud.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, highscar said:

SODA CARD. 

for years I have bought  this card. Now it is not available.  My question is which is the better deal as a 4 star  using the fridge soda at half price or buying a  beverage card.  

 

The fridge soda is the better deal but that’s assuming they will restock it.

 

I’d do a combination.  The beverage card doesn’t offer any discounts but at least it saves a lot of charges and checking on your on board account.

A thought - not sure how much soda or water you drink - but if it’s a bit - it might be worth checking out the Quench package?  It’s not really pricey and lets you have all kinds of non alcoholic drinks.  Just a thought.

[AncientWanderer]

4 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!

I'm really late today, it was another one of "those nights", worse than usual.  I was awake from 2am-6am.  And absolutely no reason for it, just tossing and turning.

 

 

 

Carolyn, (and @dfishDebbie), I'm just popping in here quickly because I really better get organized to sail tomorrow.  (Giving myself a pedi is essential, right?!)  But anyhow, you've mentioned sleep before, and I share the problem of waking at 2:00 or 3:00 and then being useless the next day.  It's really frustrating.

 

For me, the idea of "first sleep" and "second sleep" really helps a lot.  You can google it and see that some people think this is how we're designed to sleep.  For me, I think it's just that my leg circulation is bad, combined with low blood sugar, just makes my body very ill at ease and restless.  So...what I do (and for me it's been a Godsend) is just get up, have a weak cup of coffee to get my circulation going, along with a light snack like a graham cracker.  I watch late night shows and do stuff like pay bills, maybe read a bit.  (Love BBC news because it's the next day already.)  At five in the morning or thereabouts, I put in ear plugs and put on a sleep mask, fall asleep quickly,  and then wake very naturally and rested at about 8 am. 

 

This is probably all tmi, but this is such a problem for a lot of people.  Mostly women, seems like.  I just wanted to share what has really worked well for me -- after trying a lot of other things that didn't work at all.   Also it prevents me waking up with a headache, which happens a lot, again maybe from low blood sugar or poor circulation.

 

Sorry to bore all you good sleepers out there.  You are very lucky!  😊

 

 

[bennybear]

17 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Carolyn, (and @dfishDebbie), I'm just popping in here quickly because I really better get organized to sail tomorrow.  (Giving myself a pedi is essential, right?!)  But anyhow, you've mentioned sleep before, and I share the problem of waking at 2:00 or 3:00 and then being useless the next day.  It's really frustrating.

 

For me, the idea of "first sleep" and "second sleep" really helps a lot.  You can google it and see that some people think this is how we're designed to sleep.  For me, I think it's just that my leg circulation is bad, combined with low blood sugar, just makes my body very ill at ease and restless.  So...what I do (and for me it's been a Godsend) is just get up, have a weak cup of coffee to get my circulation going, along with a light snack like a graham cracker.  I watch late night shows and do stuff like pay bills, maybe read a bit.  (Love BBC news because it's the next day already.)  At five in the morning or thereabouts, I put in ear plugs and put on a sleep mask, fall asleep quickly,  and then wake very naturally and rested at about 8 am. 

 

This is probably all tmi, but this is such a problem for a lot of people.  Mostly women, seems like.  I just wanted to share what has really worked well for me -- after trying a lot of other things that didn't work at all.   Also it prevents me waking up with a headache, which happens a lot, again maybe from low blood sugar or poor circulation.

 

Sorry to bore all you good sleepers out there.  You are very lucky!  😊

 

 

There is a novel about this called the second sleep