The Fleet Report and Daily for Sunday January 28th, 2024

[summer slope]

Sitting in the Orlando airport waiting to board in 45 minutes. Security line was 90 minutes long.

[ger_77]

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily!  Immigration lawyers are so very important; I'm sure we all remember the sad day that took Christa McAuliffe's life along with the rest of her crew members.  I love daisies - the lovely white with yellow centres are my all time favourite flower; they're just so fresh and bright, yet simple.  We stopped at Costa Rica during our first Panama Canal cruise and took the ship's excursion to see the Xunantunich ruins - the bus and driver that took us there was quite akin to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!

 

It's still dark out, and I can't see the moon anywhere, so that means cloudy as well.  It isn't very cold, only -6C, and with an expected high of +3, it should be a very nice day.  I expect the neighbour boys (ages 6 and 9) will be out building snowmen on the front lawn; they usually get very creative with spray paints, etc., so it will be fun watching the progress.

 

@dfishsafe travels to you and Sue today as you head to your port city.

@summer slopegood wishes for safe travel for you today as well.

@Cruzin TerriI hope the drive to Jacksonville today is uneventful.

@Vict0riann about Pat's nosebleeds; a number of years ago DH had issues with that, and they finally had him snort a white powdery substance (probably can't say it here) and then they were able to cauterize the vessel high up in his nose.  I thought it was a very unusual method of fixing it, but it worked!

 

We had a lovely time with our friends yesterday afternoon - and true to form, Wayne did have an entire list of questions for me.  DH asked on the way home "How do you know all that stuff?", to which I replied that I learned most of it from our years of cruise/travel experience, and my friends at Cruise Critic.   He said "You're lucky to have smart friends," to which I replied "You're lucky to have a smart wife!"  LOL

 

Nothing on our agenda today, which is just as well - I have to run out and get some groceries, and will pick up a couple of decaf mocha's from Tim Horton's on the way home.  I had to look up the Diet of Worms, thinking if I went on that diet, I'd be thin pretty quickly because I wouldn't be eating anything at all!  

 

I'm going to pass on the drink of the day - tried it once and didn't like it; would love to try the wine, but it's out of my budget, and if I saw the menu suggestion in a restaurant, would like to try it.  DH doesn't like kale, so there's no point in me making something like that for myself.  Right now there's a package of ground beef thawing in the fridge that will be made into hamburger soup that we can enjoy with some crusty buns at the kitchen table tonight.  And wine.

 

Prayers for everyone who is in need, and even for those who don't think they are.  Cheers to all with celebrations happening.

 

Smooth Sailing!  ☺️☺️☺️

Gerry

[StLouisCruisers]

1 hour ago, dfish said:

Good morning from the Detroit airport!  No problems getting to the airport this morning and the first flight was on time and smooth.  Knowing we were heading to a cruise made it a little easier to jump out of bed at 3:30 am!

 

Fabulous job, Eva @superoma!

 

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

 

33 minutes ago, summer slope said:

Sitting in the Orlando airport waiting to board in 45 minutes. Security line was 90 minutes long.

 

Safe travels to all you gals (and George)!  I know you will have a ball on this cruise.  Send photos!

 

 

Another traveler today will be DS and Ren along with his FC Dallas Academy team members.  I heard they will be driving 3 hours to College Station, TX to play the Houston Academy team.  I believe it was supposed to be yesterday in Houston but I think they rescheduled it because of flooding in Houston.  Anyone here have any first hand knowledge of the situation in Houston?  We have friends there. ❓

 

 

 

Edited January 28 by StLouisCruisers

[RMLincoln]

Smooth travels Debbie, Terry, Terri, Tina. All our cruisers. Ahhhh, I love hearing about them all!  
 

Keep breathing Jacquie. Glad you corroborated my unsolicited advice!  Things pop into my head and out my fingers- I realized later I probably shouldn’t have posted that, but I did….  free advice can be freely accepted or freely rejected!  Hoping you’ll be beyond the rib injury very soon!  
 

I can’t agree with the quote because there’s a lot I will never understand but that doesn’t mean I have to live in fear. Right now I am managing my fears about DH’s eye issues by displacing them with an attitude of gratitude!  There’s so much to be thankful for!  
 

We missed today’s port due to a lengthy backtrack in a storm for a medical evacuation. All the way back to Huatulco; Santa Cruz closed because of the storm. We lost 12 hrs. It was our first missed port, only on our second cruise, back in 2004 on our way to Panama Canal. There were some people onboard who were obnoxious about it- circulating petitions to have the medical officer investigated!  I wrote a letter of appreciation to the captain for his part in saving this person’s life - really! What if it was your loved one!  We got invited to our first bridge tour!  That was on old Regal Princess!  And the storm was really something!  When we turned into the wind a lot of stuff went sliding including most of the glasses in the MDR settings, the liquor shelves, perfumes and figurines, some cabin TV (old style CRTs) and the water glasses off our vanity! No injuries but what a mess. The MDR lost 1100 glasses (2each for 550 places) but had it all cleaned up and reset in 20 mins!  Thanks for the port pictures. 
 

Rain here all day. Except maybe some snow overnight tonight. Hoping the roads are ok tomorrow… Local eye doctor appointment tomorrow to learn more about his role as we begin this tricky healing process after last week’s eye surgery - need to balance keeping the eye’s new drainage opening open but just enough open! 🤞
 

Extra blessings for all in pain, all waiting on procedures and all seeking guidance for a new path.  And all in need of healing, comfort or hope!  
 

Cheers to those celebrating milestones!  Life is Good🌈. 
Be grateful for something today!  And maybe your teams will win, maybe not, but enjoy the games!  
Maureen 

Edited January 28 by RMLincoln

[Seasick Sailor]

Debbie and Sue.. safe travels and Bon Voyage!

 

Debbie @tupper10 thank you for the video of Jun and John!!

[Seasick Sailor]

Terry, Dixie and George: On your way! Almost there! Have an awesomely, wonderful time!

[cunnorl]

 @summer slope    Have a wonderful time. Orlando airport is always a red hot mess even with Global Entry!

  @dfish   Safe travels to you and Sue. It is a wonderful cruise. Enjoy!

[marshhawk]

Good Sunday Morning Dailyites!  It is 43 and dropping due to wind.  Little notes on the bottom of my screen say things like temps plummeting.  I need to turn the heater back on for Bubbles on the porch. 

A long haired solid black cat (who is injured) had shown up over the last few months.  He is small.  He sleeps on a cushioned adirondack chair in the back.  He is very afraid of people, and he doesnt seem to like other cats either.  He appears in the car port for breakfast and dinner. 

 

And for the last several days a small tiger cat has shown up in the late afternoon telling us that he wants dinner, and he just knows he must belong to us.  He will eat all the dinners set out, scream for more, let us pet him and pick him up, and when he finally lets us back into the house, he sleeps on the mat by the door.  But he is never here for breakfast. If he was, I think DH would pick him up, take him to the vets, have him checked out and bring him into the house to live. Neither of us are happy with the extraordinary amount of strays being dumped in our "hood".

 

Safe travels to all my cruising and traveling friends!  Busy week with the sailors.

 

and now back to Rome-

 

The Pantheon.  Everyone in the world wants to be there.  And all at the same time.  We had passed it on our walks at least twice everyday, and on our second to last day in the old City of Rome, we decided that on this somewhat dreary drizzly morning we would try to figure  out how to get tickets, to get in on our last day.  We walked up to a sign that said tickets with an arrow pointing to the left, and an arrow pointing to the right, but saw no ticket kiosks. There was a young man who signalled us to come to him, and we walked up.  I thought he would be able to answer my question of where are the kiosks, and he said to DH (who walks with a cane) you can come in.  And to the couple behind us, who also had canes to walk with, you can come up. He gave us free tickets, let us bypass the lines, and the 4 of us were in.  How I asked?  Turns out that most of the museums in Europe allow those with disabilities to visit without payment, and without waiting.  Oh my.  How nice.  Not all museums, certainly not the one that is the City of Rome museum, but the Pantheon, ?  yes.  

 

 

The interior ceiling is absolutely amazing, we had read that the floor is sloped to allow the rain to drain in the building.  I apologize that the picture is blurry, but I wanted to demonstrate that yes, the rain does come in.

 

 

Sitting down and understanding that this is the oldest church in the world, was a temple, and then a church, is mind boggling.  All the history that has passed since the columns were erected, all the people who walked across the threshold, all the time that has gone by, how the world has changed over and over.  So we sat.  And even though you could hear people talk, in many different languages, it had a calming peaceful feeling about the sitting.

 

 

 

 

My favorite piece of art at the Pantheon-

 

and the ceiling, the way it should look, the rain had stopped, the skies had cleared

 

Edited January 28 by marshhawk

[Seasick Sailor]

Good morning Dailyites from a 37 degree morning, a bit sunny, going up to 64.

 

Sandi, Houston has several flood watches, especially east of Houston but I don't know your specific location for Rens game.

 

I have all our Christmas and travel stuff in our 3rd bedroom that needs to be organized and put away today.

 

Dinner last night was pork chops in a rice casserole. Tonight is chicken tortilla  soup, salad, bread.

 

Wishing everyone smooth travels for the next few days. Almost there! 

 

Prayers lifted,  have a blessed Sunday. Thank you Graham for Father David's message.

[travelingbums]

Thank you everyone for sharing.

Have a wonderful day.

[StLouisCruisers]

Speaking of Global Entry Charlene @cunnorl, this week we applied for a renewal of our Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) status.  The most important thing to remember to do before you sign in to renew "membership" is make a list of countries you've visited for 24 hours or more (not just a temporary stop) in the last 5 years.  Then you'll be ready to answer that at the proper point in the renewal application.  I had to go back and look at everything from 2019 on for overnights on cruises and places we'd stayed before or after cruises.  With Covid in the middle of it there were far fewer countries than we ever had prior to it.

 

We were surprised to get our approval emails back in only 2 days.  It was FAST!  They warn you it may take a while and are extending expirations because of it.  Shocking!  Thought you all should know in case any of you will be re-applying for your Global Entry.

[aliaschief]

1 hour ago, dfish said:

Good morning from the Detroit airport!  No problems getting to the airport this morning and the first flight was on time and smooth.  Knowing we were heading to a cruise made it a little easier to jump out of bed at 3:30 am!

 

Fabulous job, Eva @superoma!

 

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Bon Voyage! Enjoy.

[kochleffel]

Absinthe

 

No other drink is as storied, or has such a reputation for degeneracy and wickedness, as absinthe. It's an anise-flavored spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. It is classed as a spirit, not a liqueur, because it doesn't contain sugar; conventionally the drinker adds sugar and water.

 

It was invented in Switzerland in the 18th century by a physician who intended it to be a patent medicine. It became popular in France around the turn of the 20th century, especially among artists and writers, among them Hemingway,  Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

 

The association with bohemianism was one source of opposition to it from social conservatives, but there were also concerns about the wormwood content, on the grounds that it was a psychoactive or hallucinogenic drug. One opponent wrote:

 

Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganizes and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country.

 

Here is a painting by Degas that depicts absinthe drinkers as "sodden and benumbed."

 

It was banned in most countries of Europe and in the U.S. by 1915, although never in the UK (where it just wasn't available) or in Spain (where people lost interest in it).

 

The standard way to drink it entailed pouring a serving, often into a special glass with a demarcation for the absinthe, placing a sugar cube in a slotted absinthe spoon on the rim of the glass, and pouring water over the sugar cube.

 

There was a lot of interest in it among my college friends, mostly because of the reputation for wickedness, but also because our college museum had a painting by Picasso depicting a glass of absinthe.

It's from his fully developed cubist period and so it's nearly impossible to recognize anything, but an explanation of it is at https://allenartcollection.oberlin.edu/objects/12237/glass-of-absinthe?ctx=8a599fdef0d42f78b3f7ff6ae3310d3c7d5c043f&idx=0.

 

Late in the 20th century it came to be recognized that the wormwood content in properly made absinthe is so low that a person would die of alcohol poisoning before taking in the amount that might have any psychoactive effect. Alcohol poisoning, however, was a real risk, and probably the reason for the problems associated with it a century before: it's typically bottled at 75% to 90% ABV. Thus, some brands have a higher alcohol content than 151-proof rum.

 

Absinthe has been legal in the U.S. since 2007. Federal regulations require that absinthe alone not be used as a brand name and not stand alone on the label, that the thujone content be minimal, and that the label not use images that suggest mind-altering effects.

 

St. George Absinthe Verte, the first brand produced in the United States, is fairly readily available. It's lower in alcohol than many brands at 60% alcohol by volume.

It's $60.99 at Total Wine in New Jersey.

 

Edited January 28 by kochleffel

[aliaschief]

Another clock back last night. We are now on Pacific time. We will soon be arriving at Pitcairn Island. One of the most remote islands in the world. Over a thousand miles from anywhere else. No runway only accessible by ship. According to our onboard lecture there are now only thirty-five inhabitants and only two of those are under 55. It appears the end is in sight. Not sure if the swells will allow us to tender in. There are no excursions only bragging rights that you stepped foot on. Will see.

Last night’s dinner on the promenade was great and a very neat experience. For a first time event they pulled it off flawlessly. Photos from phone have not transferred to I Pad so later. Our CD put on a great performance last night. 
In need of coffee and it is very good coffee. Thanks for the reports and post. Bruce

 

 

[StLouisCruisers]

18 minutes ago, marshhawk said:

Good Sunday Morning Dailyites!  It is 43 and dropping due to wind.  Little notes on the bottom of my screen say things like temps plummeting.  I need to turn the heater back on for Bubbles on the porch. 

A long haired solid black cat (who is injured) had shown up over the last few months.  He is small.  He sleeps on a cushioned adirondack chair in the back.  He is very afraid of people, and he doesnt seem to like other cats either.  He appears in the car port for breakfast and dinner. 

 

And for the last several days a small tiger cat has shown up in the late afternoon telling us that he wants dinner, and he just knows he must belong to us.  He will eat all the dinners set out, scream for more, let us pet him and pick him up, and when he finally lets us back into the house, he sleeps on the mat by the door.  But he is never here for breakfast. If he was, I think DH would pick him up, take him to the vets, have him checked out and bring him into the house to live. Neither of us are happy with the extraordinary amount of strays being dumped in our "hood".

 

Safe travels to all my cruising and traveling friends!  Busy week with the sailors.

 

and now back to Rome-

 

The Pantheon.  Everyone in the world wants to be there.  And all at the same time.  We had passed it on our walks at least twice everyday, and on our second to last day in the old City of Rome, we decided that on this somewhat dreary drizzly morning we would try to figure  out how to get tickets, to get in on our last day.  We walked up to a sign that said tickets with an arrow pointing to the left, and an arrow pointing to the right, but saw no ticket kiosks. There was a young man who signalled us to come to him, and we walked up.  I thought he would be able to answer my question of where are the kiosks, and he said to DH (who walks with a cane) you can come in.  And to the couple behind us, who also had canes to walk with, you can come up. He gave us free tickets, let us bypass the lines, and the 4 of us were in.  How I asked?  Turns out that most of the museums in Europe allow those with disabilities to visit without payment, and without waiting.  Oh my.  How nice.  Not all museums, certainly not the one that is the City of Rome museum, but the Pantheon, ?  yes.  

 

 

The interior ceiling is absolutely amazing, we had read that the floor is sloped to allow the rain to drain in the building.  I apologize that the picture is blurry, but I wanted to demonstrate that yes, the rain does come in.

 

 

Sitting down and understanding that this is the oldest church in the world, was a temple, and then a church, is mind boggling.  All the history that has passed since the columns were erected, all the people who walked across the threshold, all the time that has gone by, how the world has changed over and over.  So we sat.  And even though you could hear people talk, in many different languages, it had a calming peaceful feeling about the sitting.

 

 

 

 

My favorite piece of art at the Pantheon-

 

and the ceiling, the way it should look, the rain had stopped, the skies had cleared

 

 

Nice photos and memories of your time spent at the Pantheon!

 

Yes, it's sad there are so many stray (homeless) cats in your area.  I don't see them around here.  And very few dogs running lose.  There are strict rules here about leashing dogs, but one couple who moved to our street 5 or 6 years ago never use a leash, they simply walk their dog across the street and let it use the potty on their neighbor's property.  Then they walk it back home again. I hope they pick up the evidence and take it with them.  The HOA sends emails reminding people of the leash rule several times a month, but still no recognition by them that they aren't following the rules.  They don't even take their dog on actual walks, they just consider the walk across the street as exercise I guess.  I'm a rule follower so this burns me up!  End of rant!

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Good morning Dailyites from a 37 degree morning, a bit sunny, going up to 64.

 

Sandi, Houston has several flood watches, especially east of Houston but I don't know your specific location for Rens game.

 

I have all our Christmas and travel stuff in our 3rd bedroom that needs to be organized and put away today.

 

Dinner last night was pork chops in a rice casserole. Tonight is chicken tortilla  soup, salad, bread.

 

Wishing everyone smooth travels for the next few days. Almost there! 

 

Prayers lifted,  have a blessed Sunday. Thank you Graham for Father David's message.

 

I don't know where the original game was to be held.  But they figured out a new location pretty quick.  I hope the flooding is minimal down that way.  Thanks for the info.

 

 

9 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

Absinthe

 

No other drink is as storied, or has such a reputation for degeneracy and wickedness, as absinthe. It's an anise-flavored spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. It is classed as a spirit, not a liqueur, because it doesn't contain sugar; conventionally the drinker adds sugar and water.

 

It was invented in Switzerland in the 18th century by a physician who intended it to be a patent medicine. It became popular in France around the turn of the 20th century, especially among artists and writers, among them Hemingway,  Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

 

The association with bohemianism was one source of opposition to it from social conservatives, but there were also concerns about the wormwood content, on the grounds that it was a psychoactive or hallucinogenic drug. One opponent wrote:

 

Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganizes and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country.

 

Here is a painting by Degas that depicts absinthe drinkers as "sodden and benumbed."

 

It was banned in most countries of Europe and in the U.S. by 1915, although never in the UK (where it just wasn't available) or in Spain (where people lost interest in it).

 

The standard way to drink it entailed pouring a serving, often into a special glass with a demarcation for the absinthe, placing a sugar cube in a slotted absinthe spoon on the rim of the glass, and pouring water over the sugar cube.

 

There was a lot of interest in it among my college friends, mostly because of the reputation for wickedness, but also because our college museum had a painting by Picasso depicting a glass of absinthe.

It's from his fully developed cubist period and so it's nearly impossible to recognize anything, but an explanation of it is at https://allenartcollection.oberlin.edu/objects/12237/glass-of-absinthe?ctx=8a599fdef0d42f78b3f7ff6ae3310d3c7d5c043f&idx=0.

 

Late in the 20th century it came to be recognized that the wormwood content in properly made absinthe is so low that a person would die of alcohol poisoning before taking in the amount that might have any psychoactive effect. Alcohol poisoning, however, was a real risk, and probably the reason for the problems associated with it a century before: it's typically bottled at 75% to 90% ABV. Thus, some brands have a higher alcohol content than 151-proof rum.

 

Absinthe has been legal in the U.S. since 2007. Federal regulations require that absinthe alone not be used as a brand name and not stand alone on the label, that the thujone content be minimal, and that the label not use images that suggest mind-altering effects.

 

St. George Absinthe Verte, the first brand produced in the United States, is fairly readily available. It's lower in alcohol than many brands at 60% alcohol by volume.

It's $60.99 at Total Wine in New Jersey.

 

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation of today's drink, and the history lesson as well, My decision to pass on it still stands however.😉

 

 

3 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Another clock back last night. We are now on Pacific time. We will soon be arriving at Pitcairn Island. One of the most remote islands in the world. Over a thousand miles from anywhere else. No runway only accessible by ship. According to our onboard lecture there are now only thirty-five inhabitants and only two of those are under 55. It appears the end is in sight. Not sure if the swells will allow us to tender in. There are no excursions only bragging rights that you stepped foot on. Will see.

Last night’s dinner on the promenade was great and a very neat experience. For a first time event they pulled it off flawlessly. Photos from phone have not transferred to I Pad so later. Our CD put on a great performance last night. 
In need of coffee and it is very good coffee. Thanks for the reports and post. Bruce

 

 

 

Good luck with your arrival at Pitcairn Island and I hope everyone who wants to can get to shore today.  Very funny memes!  And my choice for the juke box would be a Beatles song, however I haven't decided which one yet.  They were all good!

[puppycanducruise]

@summer slope  @dfish   Safe travels.

[kochleffel]

I would like the stew better without kale. Please substitute Swiss chard. It's just as well that I have no great desire to try the drink of the day, because today is the beginning of a period of two weeks or so during which I can't drink at all. For the wine, Thirsty Owl 2021 Meritage. I haven't been to Puntarenas.

 

 

 

[grapau27]

Good afternoon.

We have just arrived home after a fabulous 14 night's Canary Islands cruise on P&O Iona.

We left Southampton England and visited.

Madeira.

Tenerife.

Gran Canaria.

Lanzarote.

Cadiz.

Lisbon.

Returning to Southampton.

We had a fantastic Aft balcony cabin.

[StLouisCruisers]

Graham @grapau27 and Pauline @Paw13 welcome home!  Did you use your sun screen?  That is a very nice sunny warm cruise. 😎

[grapau27]

I pre-booked our 14 nights in Speciality restaurants on board.

 

[cat shepard]

1 hour ago, summer slope said:

Sitting in the Orlando airport waiting to board in 45 minutes. Security line was 90 minutes long.

 I hate flying out of MCO.  Hope all goes smoothly!

[grapau27]

3 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Graham @grapau27 and Pauline @Paw13 welcome home!  Did you use your sun screen?  That is a very nice sunny warm cruise. 😎

Thank you Sandi.

The average temperature was 70-77°F and sunny in every port.

[grapau27]

Lisbon was our last port.

[Sir PMP]

Puntarenas, Costa Rica:

 

[aliaschief]

We have arrived Pitcairn Island of HMS Bounty fame. Very few people have seen this. Captain is taking tender ashore to check conditions. There are no facilities here and really nothing to see unless you climb up higher. There is a higher swell than anticipated.