Thursday November 9th, 2023 -- The Fleet Report and Daily

[aliaschief]

Good morning. Slept in longer so must be getting back on Central Time. Got most of the usual post cruise task done yesterday. One more load of laundry this morning and another trip to pharmacy for some refills. Believe our small group is meeting tonight. I was happy to see I only gained four pounds on the cruise. Then it hit me; if I gained four pounds in two weeks of cruising how much will I gain in five + months of cruising!😱

Going to T-Mobile today and see what kind of deal they have on the new I Phone 15. Have decided that I’m not going to take my cameras on the World Voyage. I Phone is enough and we are the only ones interested in looking at our past pictures. A friend who is really into photography frequently ask about a picture I posted on social media. A  “What type camera did you use?”I reply, “my phone.”

Currently 60 degrees and is supposed to reach 80. Slight chance of rain the next two days. We definitely are in a drought situation and my water bill reflected that.

Thanks to my Sue who sat at a computer all day yesterday applying for Visas. All I had to do is pose for some portraits.

As I sit here doing the daily post I’m being serenaded with acorns falling on our back deck. Every year I contemplate removing the large oaks in front and in back of the house. Being beautiful sturdy oaks has saved them.

Enough ranting, on to some task at hand. Thanks for the Fleet Report and too all that contribute to the addicting Daily. Bruce

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by aliaschief

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

@Heartgrove  Jack, I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

 

Lenda

 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, RMLincoln said:

This morning I have an eye doctor appointment with DH’s glaucoma specialist (she sees me because of so many of my family members with glaucoma)  and she wrote via portal message that she’d see DH too one last time before we move next week. 🤞

 

Best wishes for your appointment today and for your pre-packing run through.

 

 

1 hour ago, Crazy For Cats said:

 

Isn’t that the truth!  Hope you don’t have any serious after effects from your shingle vaccine 🤞 

 

 

Bon Voyage @Heartgrove.  Have a great cruise and a WONDERFUL time !!!!

 

 

 

 

@Haljo1935 safe travels today and welcome home!

 

 

7 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

This morning we have to head over to the Device Clinic at the hospital so DH can have his pacemaker follow-up.  The incision has healed well, he's feeling good and has good colour again, so hopefully they'll just give him an A+ and we'll be on our way.

 

Best wishes for your DH’s follow up today, Gerry.  I hope he does indeed get and A+

 

[Heartgrove]

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here!

 

Embarkation day after a longer than anticipated travel day. We boarded the train yesterday finally with a 2 hour delay. Things ran smoothly until when we were nearing Northern VA. Amtrak decided to run an on-time section to Boston in our place. That meant our train terminated at DC and we would travel the remaining distance on a different train that was already crowded. Kudos to Amtrak to arrange for less passengers to be delayed though. It just meant that we finally arrived in NYC  three hours late. Then the normal NYC bustle. Found a nice Mexican restaurant down the block for dinner.

 

Our hotel is only two blocks from Pier 88 so just a short walk later this morning. Overcast but supposed to start to clear mid-afternoon when we sail. Dinner tonight is in the Steakhouse. That way we miss the frantic 1st night in the MDR.

 

Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need.

 

- Jack

[ger_77]

Too late to edit my post, so will make an additional one - today is also World Adoption Day.  As an adoptee, I'm happy to celebrate this one.  I know some of our Daily family are close to the adoption process as well.

[smitty34877]

Good morning. It is  45 and cloudy here and will go up to 60 later. I made potato leek soup and vegetarian chili so far this morning. I woke up at 3:30 and never went back to sleep. I guess I put the time to good use.

We have many art museums to choose from and if time were free I would revisit the  Met. Believe it or not even Yonkers has a museum. It sits on the Hudson and often has interesting exhibits.

I despair over the world situation and the times we live in but I have to hope for freedom for all of us. The quote makes my head hurt. I do like butternut squash but wonder how it would be received here as a pastry. 
The port looks beautiful in the pictures. Thanks to Sandi @StLouisCruisers, for taking us there.

@ger_77, I am happy to hear your DH is feeling better and I hope the pacemaker check goes well today. 

Have a great day everyone!

 

[travelingbums]

Thank you everyone for sharing.

Have a wonderful day.

[smitty34877]

Bon Voyage to @Heartgrove. My trusty weather person just said it will be sunny later this afternoon in time for your sail away. Have a great cruise.

[cruising sister]

Good morning,

I am busy this week trying to find where all my travel items are. I had many hands helping me pack up my house after DS died so I could get moved on time. No surprise I can’t find what I want. My goal to get my luggage forward suitcases packed before the 20th is making me a little nervous. It may be that I am a little nervous going on the trip alone. 
 

Baby Murphy is making good progress. They have stopped the TPN and she is on full NG feeds. They have started some breast milk on a qtip for oral stimulation. DB is doing well too. 

Prayers for all on our list and those in need. Have a great day. 

[Heartgrove]

@aliaschief  Bruce, we traded our Android phones last week for I15 phones. Sue ran through a YouTube tutorial on the camera with the phone and decided to leave her camera home. I usually travel heavy on camera gear but I am doing the same! My only concession is to also carry my Sony HX90V because of the compactness and ability to have a telephoto lens to zoom to 720mm. I’ll report back.

 

- Jack

[1ANGELCAT]

Good cloudy morning. It’s supposed to get up to about 65 today and then cooler tomorrow.

@kazu, I love your post about the poppy, I have been in London several times on Remembrance Day and always purchased several poppies. This year I mail ordered them online from the Royal British Legion. 
Blessings and prayers to all on our lists.

[dfish]

Good morning, everyone!

 

Today is a nice, sunny day here in mid-Michigan.  We have a string of sunny days coming our way.  Just what we need to rake the leaves once more.  Yesterday's icy rain brought more of the oak leaves down from a neighbor's tree.  So, today I am raking leaves in the morning, hair appointment at noon, and then I'm making pecan crusted fish with pecan butter and meuniere sauce.  Mmmm

 

@Heartgrove

 

 

@StLouisCruisers Sandi, I had the same reaction to today's meal when I saw what it was.  Not sure I'll ever make it, but it is interesting.  If you aren't a fan of butternut squash, it can be made with sweet potatoes.  Or any firm squash will do.  Some of the recipes are quite interesting and could almost be made into a dessert.  That would go nicely with today's drink.  I'd like to try today's drink, just for fun.  I can't imagine drinking more than one of those!

 

This first recipe calls for caramelized onions and parmesan.  Sounds like a winning combination to me!  https://www.skinnytaste.com/butternut-squash-galette/

 

 

Here's one with goat cheese and sage.  https://www.savorysimple.net/butternut-squash-and-goat-cheese-galette/

 

 

The bourbon drizzle on this one caught my attention.  https://champagne-tastes.com/butternut-squash-galette/

 

 

Here's one with bacon and parmesan.  https://whiteonricecouple.com/butternut-squash-bacon-galette/

 

 

I'm sure you can find other varieties of this dish.  Or make up your own!

 

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

 

[aliaschief]

4 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

@aliaschief  Bruce, we traded our Android phones last week for I15 phones. Sue ran through a YouTube tutorial on the camera with the phone and decided to leave her camera home. I usually travel heavy on camera gear but I am doing the same! My only concession is to also carry my Sony HX90V because of the compactness and ability to have a telephoto lens to zoom to 720mm. I’ll report back.

 

- Jack

The one thing I always worried about photography with phone is that without a strap I would drop and lose it. So we found a wrist strap that has a loop that goes under the protective case and a real small loop that protrudes out above charging port. Clip the wrist band on to loop and voila take that over the rail shot without fear of dropping. When not taking pictures just unclip wrist band.

Got time the Intrepid Museum next door is free for retired military. Again. Bon Voyage!

[kochleffel]

I attended the cooking demonstration this morning morning, but won’t be making the Dutch pea soup since it contains pork in at least four different forms. Someone asked about cooling the pork stock in order to remove some of the fat, and the chef said not to. “It gives flavor.”

 

The ship is now on the same time as eastern Greenland, which means that I have a Zoom class at 7:00 p.m. if Internet is still working. In case it’s not, I already uploaded the work that I’m supposed to present in class.

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good morning from a cloudy central Texas where it is 69F and feels like 69F.  Sadly, this will be the high temperature for the day.  It will start raining soon, and will continue raining until early tomorrow morning.  The humidity is 98% with the dew point at 69F.  I'll need to get out early and work on emptying the motorhome before it gets too wet and chilly.  Tomorrow, the high will be 59F before it starts warming back to the 60s and finally the 70s by next Thursday.

 

The nearest art museum is in Fort Worth which is about 65 miles north of us.  I'm all for World Freedom.  Cart Sagan opened the universe to many people, and I believe he'd be amazed at the strides astronomy has taken in the past several decades.

 

Today's quote is thought provoking.  We can't reject pain and death, but we can do our best to minimize pain and delay death as long as possible.

 

We'll definitely pass on the meal, drink and wine.  I can just see Paul @kochleffel rolling his eyes at another pseudo-tini. 😉

 

We have been to Palermo twice on BHBs, and I'll share my pictures next.

 

The 1998 decision was a good one for investors.

 

@RMLincoln  Maureen, I'm glad everything is falling into place for your move.  Good luck with the trial run packing your car.  I hope your and your DH's eye appointments go well today with no surprises.

@Cruzin Terri Terri, I hope you can get to Palermo next year.  I also hope everything goes smoothly at the bank today.  Settling your DBIL's estate has dragged on far too long.

@ger_77  Gerry, world adoption day is also worth celebrating.  I hope your DH gets a great report about the pacemaker today.

@Heartgrove  Jack, I know the Amtrak delays were frustrating, but be glad they did not have to bus you to NYC.  Have a wonderful time on your cruise.

@kazu  Jacqui, thanks for the picture of Ivan.  He sure looks better than when he first came to you.

 

 

 

 

 

Lenda

 

[0106]

We are lucky to have some wonderful museums in Baltimore.  The Baltimore Museum of Art (free) has a wonderful collection.  The Cone sisters donated their collection, including over 1200 paintings by Matisse who was their friend.

The Walters Art Gallery (free) also has an amazing collection including the Ruben’s Vase from 400 BC.  My favorite is the Visionary Arts Museum, a unique museum of “intuitive” or outsider art.  This mural was created by Baltimore youth under the direction of Mari Gardner.

I hope that one day you’ll visit Baltimore and our wonderful museums.

 

A bit of art from the Berlin Wall to celebrate World Freedom Day. Credit to John Rizzutto

 

Positive thoughts to those who need them.  Cheers to those celebrating and cruising.

Edited November 9, 2023 by 0106

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We've been to Palermo twice.  The first time in 2004, the Noordam III took us there.  That day, we took a bus to Monreale. The second time was in 2019 on the Veendam.  That visit, we took a Ho-Ho train, which never had room when we wanted to hop back on.  We took it as we could and then walked to the catacombs and ultimately back to the ship.

 

These first pictures are from our 2004 visit.  The church and mosaics in Monreale.

 

 

 

 

 

Some street scenes

 

 

From our 2019 visit when we visited the catacombs.  The first pictures were taken on our way to the catacombs from the ho-ho, so they are not that great.

 

 

The road by the catacombs

 

We were not supposed to take pictures in the catacombs, but we managed this one which shows some of the monks laying in niches and others still hanging.

 

This is a side altar in the Cathedral.

 

Finally, a couple of streets on our walk back to the ship.

 

 

Lenda

 

[kochleffel]

@Quartzsite Cruiser I’m not sure whether the cocktail is a pseudotini trying to pass as a cake, or a cake trying to pass as a cocktail.

 

 I decided that if HRH  could have a cocktail before lunch, so could I. My choice isn’t gin, but a brandy old-fashioned. This is causing confusion in the MDR, where the servers don’t recognize it. Today I was offered brandy and coke instead. The bartenders do know what it is.

[Overhead Fred]

1 hour ago, kochleffel said:

I decided that if HRH  could have a cocktail before lunch, so could I. My choice isn’t gin, but a brandy old-fashioned. This is causing confusion in the MDR, where the servers don’t recognize it. Today I was offered brandy and coke instead. The bartenders do know what it is.

 

Ahh, the State drink of Wisconsin! 

 

One of my better half's (Mitzi) favorites despite her being a native Minnesotan... 

[JazzyV]

Good morning. Thanks for the Fleet Report/Daily @richwmn.

We have the Carnegie Museum of Art here, but I won't be going to it today. I'll salute World Freedom Day and Carl Sagan. True quote. Maybe on the meal, pass on the drink (cake mix in a drink?) and wine. I've been to Italy, but I haven't been to Palermo.

 

This morning was rainy, and it's still cloudy. Temp is 55F. I slept a little better, I think from the dose of Benadryl I took for my RA injection last evening. But I had weird dreams and woke up half out of bed (I normally sleep in one spot and don't move much). Not much on the agenda today, as I can't walk around without pain; I hate to sit so much, but it's the only way I get relief. I need to make some banana bread (as muffins) with the browning bananas I have.

 

@StLouisCruisers Wonderful Palermo photos.

@rafinmd Safe travels. You're almost there!

@cat shepard I appreciate the prayers. 

@RMLincoln Wow, the move is almost here! Good luck with the eye exams today. 

@ottahand7 I'm glad the extraction went well and that you're taking care not to get a dry socket. Enjoy dinner with your friends tonight.

@kazu Nice picture of Ivan.

@aliaschief My street has lots of oaks. The people across the street got a metal roof. All you hear is the acorns hitting that roof, and the cars on the street.

@ger_77 I hope your DH gets the all clear at his appointment today.

@Heartgrove I'm glad you made it safely, although delayed. Bon Voyage!

@dfish Thanks for bringing up National Adoption Day; I am an adoptee too.

@cruising sister Good luck with the packing. Great news about Murphy and your DB.

@Quartzsite Cruiser Great photos from Palermo. 

 

Prayers for the Care List and a Toast to those Celebrating.

[Heartgrove]

1 hour ago, aliaschief said:

The one thing I always worried about photography with phone is that without a strap I would drop and lose it. So we found a wrist strap that has a loop that goes under the protective case and a real small loop that protrudes out above charging port. Clip the wrist band on to loop and voila take that over the rail shot without fear of dropping. When not taking pictures just unclip wrist band.

Got time the Intrepid Museum next door is free for retired military. Again. Bon Voyage!

My fifth time to NY but have never taken time to sightsee. We did stay at a Holiday Inn Express (I feel smarter today!) last night and only a two block walk to the pier. Now just waiting for our boarding call.

[kochleffel]

12 minutes ago, Overhead Fred said:

 

Ahh, the State drink of Wisconsin! 

 

One of my better half's (Mitzi) favorites despite her being a native Minnesotan... 

If you order it in Chicago, the bartender will ask if you want cheese with it.

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!

All good days today. I'll pass on the meal (sorry Debbie @dfish I don't care for sweet potatoes or squash 😄) I know I'm difficult.  Instead we'll be having left over chicken pot pie.  I would try the drink out of curiosity, but most likely wouldn't finish it!  But yes, yes, yes to the NZ SV.  We were in Palermo in 2011 with my DS and DBIL on the Celebrity Silhouette.  

 

This afternoon we will be going to the DGSs school to attend their Veterans Assembly that they have every year.  They do a very good job, always brings a tear to my eye as they honor all the parents and grandparents who are vets (including DH).  Both boys will be participating in the Flag Ceremony with the scouts too.  After that we'll be bringing the boys home with us for the night.  We have movies planned etc.  Have to forget the swimming plans since Foster has the cast.

 

Jack @Heartgrove Bon Voyage!

Lorraine @cruising sister That's wonderful that baby Murphy is making good progress 🙂 🙂 

Vanessa @JazzyV I'm glad you slept a little better last night.  I wonder if you could take Benadryl every night?

 

I realized we haven't heard from @HAL4NOW in awhille.

 

Here are some photos from our tour out of Palermo.

 

We were in Palermo on a Holy Land cruise with Celebrity in 2011 with DS and DBIL.  We took an excursion to the Temple of Segesta and to  Erice, it was a beautiful day

 

Sailing to Palermo

 

 

 

 

The Church of Assunta in Erice

 

Temple of Segesta

 

 

 

The wonderful people of Palermo waving goodbye to our ship.

 

 

 

 

[Crazy For Cats]

This fun memory from 2016 appeared on my phone.  It was a short but fun cruise.

 

[aliaschief]

Last night of cruise and Sean nailed his Aria.