The Fleet Report and Daily for Monday June 10th, 2024

[RMLincoln]

Malta is #1 on places we hope to see again!  SO much history!  Stunning too. 
 

@smitty34877Terry, glad the kiddos had a great time land home safe!  
 

@StLouisCruisersSandi, proud of you for breaking the ice!  👏 

 

@Cruzin TerriTerri, nice to see things calmer!  
@ottahand7Nancy, you too!  

@ger_77Gerry, we’ve seen you be a miracle to many!  Ollie, the Ukrainian family, DH, Wayne… just to name a few. Love you Gerry!

@dfish Debbie, we have those nights!  Take extra care of you today. 
 

Busy here today but that’s all good. Most of it is fun, or at least interesting. Had a nice dinner with grandkids last night. Today is their 7th anniversary and they’re excited, they booked a last minute cruise leaving NY this coming Sunday!  Cheap!  Very happy for them!  Their first without family since the honeymoon cruise we gave them. They are so excited!  
 

Blessings to all in need near and far.  Cheers to those celebrating especially @Denise T… you’re always with family here😉 Happy Birthday week 🎈

@aliaschief  Bruce, making good progress! No place like home!   
 

I’m enjoying a quiet morning before the afternoon activities. Life is Good🌈. Maureen 

 

 

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all!  Hard to type with one finger.  As I snuggle the Granddog!  
 

@Denise T happy birthday! 
@StLouisCruisers glad the ice is broken, uncomfortable but beats the alternative. And the view is always better when you take the high road! 
@smitty34877 glad the teenager had a great time!  Hope your weekend wasn’t too exhausting! 
@ger_77 thanks for the update on Maurice, glad he is recovering so well! 
@Cruzin Terri hope things are improving! 
@kazu some extra hugs! 
 

 

 We’ve enjoyed Malta a couple of times, first with DD’s Maltese friends touring us around.  I’ll try to share some different photos.   
 

We greatly enjoyed seeing the extremely ancient ruins, Hagar Qim.   Over 5000 years old. 
 

[Himself]

Thanks to all who post on this thread.

[bennybear]

A few others, such a beautiful place. 

 

[dfish]

@quilty964 I'm working on binding my latest quilt.  I told myself I couldn't start the next one until this one was bound.  I do have the fabric for the next one.  

[kazu]

Good afternoon all.  Thanks for our Monday Daily Rich and thanks to Vanessa, Ann, Debbie & Dixie.

 

Good collection of days and LOL on the Marx quote.  Valletta, Malta is on our itinerary this Fall and I have secured a great guide who should show us the fishing village, Medina & much more.  it should be a great day albeit a long one 😉

 

@aliaschief Bruce - welcome home to you both.  Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic journey and travels with us 🙂 

 

Went to bed sick with pain.  Woke up feeeling somewhat better until I started to do stuff.  Prayers for all those that need them every day 🙏 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nickelpenny]

Good morning and thanks for the daily and fleet report.  I have so many pens of all kinds as I tend to unintentionally put them in my pocket or purse.  But my fav is fine point. I have tried to be a miracle in someone's life but who knows if I ever achieved it.  I love iced tea and make sun tea in the summer.  I always brew it and really don't like the "powdered" stuff.   I am not really a tv watcher but it is usually on as background noise.  Yes, yes, yes to the meal but no, no, no to the drink and wine.  Never been to Malta. I am not sure the Equal Pay Act really did much good and I am an Apple geek!

 

 

I cooked all day yesterday and had a wonderful sous vide pork loin with a twice baked potato, pasta salad with homemade Italian dressing, corn (taken off the cob), and some refried beans.  So I ended up being stuffed.  With the talk of sourdough bread it makes me want to try it.

 

 

Today I have to get by rear in gear and get some things accomplished.  I don't know what yet but........  It should be a nice day with it getting only up to ~100F.  We have to brace ourselves for the heat wave coming in tomorrow that will last until Thursday (highs close to 110F).  Hopefully we will have a fantastic monsoon season 🤞

 

 

Happy Birthday @Denise T

@StLouisCruisers Kudos to you to make the first move.  I could not have done that.

 

Thoughts for those on the care list and cheers for those celebrating.  Have a great day.

 

 

 

[puppycanducruise]

@aliaschief  Welcome home.  Great cruise.

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!

Morning clouds and cooler than yesterday.  But no rain!  

I have a lot of ballpoint pens, I prefer the medium tip over the fine. Not much of an iced tea gal, I'd choose iced coffee over iced tea.  Pass on the meal, drink and wine.  We were in Valletta in 2019 -- loved that port!

 

Today I have a dental appointment to get a filling, and other than that it will be more gardening and some housework.  

 

Happy Birthday @DeniseT!

Sandi @StLouisCruisers You handled that situation perfectly -- in fact that's what I was hoping you would do.  You took the high road, Bravo!

Welcome to the Daily @shippmates, I hope we see you here often!

Debbie @dfish Ugh, so sorry you had a bad night last night.  I hope tonight is much, much better.  I don't have any problem getting to sleep, but always (always) wake up around 2 or 3 and it's awhile before I get back to sleep.

 

We were in Valletta in October of 2019 on our long 65-day anniversary cruise(s) on the NS and the Koningsdam.  We took an all-day tour that day, starting with a 90-minute walking tour of Valletta, then visited St. John's Co-Cathedral, to the Tarxien Temples dating from 3150 B.C., a glass blowing factory (I rarely buy anything at the shops but fell in love with a few pieces there).  Then lunch, and on to Mdina where we had a huge thunderstorm and had to dodge the driving rain. Even still, it was a great day!

 

Here are some photos from our day in Valletta -- The weather wasn't the best (and terrible in Mdina) so I don't have many outdoor photos.

 

The Koningsdam in Valletta

 

Valletta

 

I had to pick just a few of the many, many photos I took inside St. John's Co-Cathedral

 

 

 

Tombs underneath the floor of the church

 

Next 3 photos are from the Tarxien Temples

 

 

 

Unfortunately I got very few photos in Mdina because of the thunderstorm.

 

The rain was pouring off buildings and we spent a lot of time running from shop to shop just to stay somewhat dry.

 

I hope everyone has a great day!

 

[smitty34877]

2 hours ago, ger_77 said:

Good morning, thanks for the Fleet Report and Daily!  I love ball point pens - varying between medium and fine points.  I don't know that I can be a miracle in someone's life, but I do like to help in small ways.  If it was warmer, today would be a good day for iced tea, but it'll have to wait.

 

Our sun made a brief appearance yesterday and today it's gone again, replaced by clouds and wind.  Everyone is tiring of the wind, especially that it brings pollen from all the trees onto every surface - I'm tired of dusting and washing everything on the deck, sometimes multiple times a day.  I shouldn't complain about the rain though,as it's good for the farmers and we all depend on them.

 

We were docked in Valetta, Malta on our first Mediterranean cruise; we took the shore excursion to the beautiful fishing village of Marsaxlokk.

 

@marshhawksorry your washer and dryer didn't get installed as hoped; you'd think the installers would have had extra supplies in their vehicles just in case.  I've seen ads on TV recently for the newest washer/dryer combination and they're touting you can do a full load in 2 hours.  Nope.  Don't like them - we used them when we were in Japan and they take too long.  Using our old w&d I can do 2 loads in that time, both washing and drying.  I guess they're good if you don't have a lot of space, but I wouldn't be specifically ordering one as a replacement for my current set.

@Denise THappy Birthday, although I'm not sure it's today!

@aliaschiefwelcome home - glad everything was alright on your return.  Although you had a wonderful time, I'll bet it felt good to sleep in your own bed again.  

 

I have to share this - yesterday was our lovely DIL's birthday and she was treated like a queen by the men in her house.  Our oldest DGS made her scrambled eggs & toast for breakfast, they went out for a lovely lunch, and later in the afternoon, our youngest DGS called his mom outside to see that "I made you spaghetti!"

 

Today DH is having a telephone assessment for the cardiac rehab program - it's an exercise program where he'll be monitored for a few weeks, and after that we can continue on our own.  He's been through it before when he had his first heart attacks, and after his sextuple bypass, so he knows what will be going on.  It'll be good to get out and do some serious walking again, for both of us.  

 

I'd like to try the drink of the day (not sure if the bourbon would overpower it), would definitely like the wine, but $$$$$! I like the menu suggestion today, but would definitely add in some cooked chicken breasts to make it a meal in a bowl. I found a container of beef stew in the freezer that will be heated and served with some crusty buns for us at the kitchen table tonight.  And wine.

 

Prayers for everyone who is in need, in pain, in grief.  Cheers to all with celebrations.

 

Smooth Sailing!  ☺️☺️☺️

Gerry

 

 

I love the picture of your grandson and his spaghetti! So sweet!

[sailingdutchy]

 

We have been in Malta half a dozen times , today I chose some pictures from when we were there on the Prinsendam  on October 30th , 2016 because we had a wonderful tour with our guide Amy Pace .

 

When the Prinsendam came into port we were welcomed by canon shots from the Upper gardens , I still don’t know if that was specially for us or if that was the standard time of the day that they shoot off the canon …….there were a few shots at our bow …....

 

 

 

Captain is parking the " Elegant Explorer “

 

 

The Blue Grotto 

 

 

Hagar Qim Temples & Mnajdra Archeological Park 

 

 

 

 

 

Dingli Cliffs and the Church of St Mary Magdalena 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful knockers on the many doors of the old capital Mdina 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey who’s there ……… my friend Patrick  he was on another tour .

 

 

 

 

There they are , the canons that saluted us this morning ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is so much to see and do on Malta , I have not even touched on much of it .

 

Might try to find some special pictures from another cruise to Malta and when it is Gozo’s turn to be hi lighted the smaller Island in Malta , there are lots more amazing places to visit .

 

Tony 😁

[aliaschief]

Happy Birthday @Denise T🎂🍾.

 

 

[sailingdutchy]

 

From a different cruise on Oct 28 , 2019 on the Koningsdam  I was able to set up with a small group a great tour to the Laskaris War Rooms and to the War Head- Quarter Tunnels We receiver special permission to come in an hour earlier before this museum usually opened up.😁

 

 

Malta had been under fire because it was so close to Sicily , and for that reason the Allied Forces with the help of the Maltese set up this command post to hopefully one day start to free Europe . 

 

 

 

Another familiar face Ann @Vict0riann and DW 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the War Rooms we visited once more the gorgeous St John Cathedral 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I better stop now before getting carried away .......so much to see in Malta ! 

 

Orange is not only for the Orange party , it often also is my tour " Team leader shirt " so they can find me .......

 

Take care everybody , have a great week .

Tony 😁

[rafinmd]

With 2 zoom meetings today I will share just one photo from Valletta.  In 2010 Old Crystal started a series of no-frills shore excursions said "We Care, You Care" where we did some type of volunteer service at various ports.   Some were good while others, including this one not so much.  It was called “Going Green in Malta” and involved symbolically planting a tree in Ta’ Qali National Park.  The hole had been dug and we placed a sapling in the ground and covered it with a bit of dirt, and a souvenir photo was taken:

 

 

Roy

 

[StLouisCruisers]

Just dropping in after dinner to catch up and thank so many of you for your support today.  @JazzyV, @quilty964, @Quartzsite Cruiser, @RMLincoln, @bennybear, @Nickelpenny, and @Cruising-along.  I really appreciate it!

 

We had good news around dinner time too from our travel agent.  We noticed Saturday when this new cruise started that our CCL shareholder credit wasn't on our account.  We went to Guest Services with some information we had with us, and also sent an email to our travel agent.  This morning she was able to call the World Cruise dept.and get it applied.  She said it was there originally but dropped off somehow. It may take a couple of days because the WC dept has to email the ship about it.  Very good news and we're happy to have her on our side!

[kochleffel]

I'm beginning to think that I may be the only person here who has never visited Malta!

 

For almost any port that is mentioned, I find myself looking for cruises that call there, even though I have no intention of booking any cruises until at least after the Panama Canal cruise in December. In the process I noticed one on Windstar that is actually affordable. It's Papeete to Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, no ports in between, fortunately at a time I could only go if there were better wifi than there would be.

 

Because of the Canal cruise, I'm not booking a cruise for January or February as I usually would. I have in mind to visit NYC in March when the Met is performing Fidelio.

[Sharon in AZ]

Good morning and Happy Monday. Debbie @dfish, I feel for you about Sunday nights sleeping except mine is opposite, I get to sleep just fine but wake up too early. I’ve been able to get back to sleep after being awake a few hours. When I was working I didn’t have enough time to do that. This morning I was able to sleep until 8:00, and I had some crazy dreams. We were on our August cruise and I was all settled into my inside cabin but two people showed up, it was a shared cabin!  (Must be because of that solo cabin thread.). I was really upset and to top it all off the cabin turned out to also be the only bar/lounge onboard!  We were all stuffed in there like sardines. What was in my mind beats me. 
 

Happy Birthday Denise!!  @Denise T   Enjoy your special day and I hope you find a way to celebrate. 
 

Bruce @aliaschief, welcome home!

 

Sandi @StLouisCruisers, I think what you did with the relatives was a brave move and even though it might still be a strained relationship it proves that you did it for Mrs Relative. 

 

Good days for today. I do prefer pencils but can’t do without a pen when signing something or writing a check. I love my HAL pens and Craig asked me to get a few extra on our last cruise, however I think customer service caught on. 😉

 

The meal sounds good and so does the wine but not at that price. I make iced tea all the time and I use my Kuerig. I make three kinds, regular, decaf, and mango. TJ’s has a seasonal mango tea that Craig can’t live without.   He likes it both hot and cold. I make the regular and decaf with Luzianne for myself. 
 

We have been to Malta and fell in love with it. I wish we could go back. I don’t have pictures. This is what I wrote previously and thanks to Sandi for the link. 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were in Valletta on the Rotterdam May 2001. I accidentally broke my camera so I don’t have pictures but Craig took video. We went to St John’s Co Cathedral and walked around a lot. It was interesting seeing all the narrow pedestrian streets, most of which were sloping or stairs like the one in Sandi’s picture.  We also went to a hard to find church called St Paul’s Shipwreck. Paul the Apostle shipwrecked at Malta and is considered a spiritual father to the Maltese. It has a few relics of St Paul. A friend of ours asked us to seek it out and I brought him back some postcards. Then we had a lovely lunch in a restaurant that was like a wine cellar.  Thanks to everyone who posted pictures. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

I appreciate all the pictures especially of the Co Cathedral and the tapestries. This was the cruise we met Bob & Pat @bobpatj  I haven’t seen Pat post in a long time. I hope they are okay. I believe @sailingdutchymight know them. 
 

Have a great day everyone!

[summer slope]

@Denise Thappy birthday 🎂 

[summer slope]

@cat shepardwe have many canals and small ponds in our development that are down a good two or 3 feet, so if we end up getting 9 to 12 inches of rain there are places for it to drain into. But thank you for your concern.

[Seasick Sailor]

@StLouisCruisers Sandi, I am very proud of you for being proactive and inviting the Relatives for a drink. 

 

I have had an estranged period with my sister since October last year. I sent her a Happy birthday text in February and she called and was so happy I reached out to her. She's coming for a short visit later July. We hardly have any relations left, maybe 6? 

[aliaschief]

Goodness I’m having difficulty staying awake until 8PM.😳 Jet lag will improve and we did accomplish quite a bit today. 

[durangoscots]

Good afternoon everyone.  As late as I am today you would think I was getting a lot done but no.... just very slow. Today has been a disappointment in terms of weather. It is much cooler than it has been, which is good. Current temperature at 2:30 is only 77F. BUT... it was cloudy and there was some thunder, but no rain!!! And we need it....badly. It is supposed to start heating up tomorrow. And, to add insult to injury, the ceiling fan in my bedroom is on the blink. Got a new battery for the remote... light turns on and off, but the fan does not turn. It tries, but does not move.

 

The only real accomplishment for today is that I did go grocery shopping so that is taken care of for the week. Tomorrow I need to go get dog food and haul a few loads to the thrift store. (I hear thunder again!!! Maybe????)

 

Am trying to follow the Eurodam and wondering how my downstairs neighbor is enjoying her first cruise. I don't think the weather is cooperating.

 

Better get back to work. Take care all and hope health issues are resolving themselves. My sister has her annual checkup coming up and she is not looking forward to it. She says she has a number of things to raise with the doctor.... all age related.

 

Susan

 

 

 

 

[1ANGELCAT]

Good sunny afternoon. It was an absolutely beautiful day at Longwood. The gardens were really crowded with families and school kids. I think there were more people today than there were at Christmas. 
Some random pictures, the construction of the new conservatory is coming along nicely.

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good afternoon from a warm, 87F, central Texas.  We've had a north wind on and off for most of the afternoon, but it still reached 89F.  It has been cloudy all day, but I can see some blue sky now, so I don't know if we'll get any rain.  A couple of rain showers a week would be good.  I've caught up on a few things, but nothing major today.

 

5 hours ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all!  Hard to type with one finger.  As I snuggle the Granddog!  
 

@Denise T happy birthday! 
@StLouisCruisers glad the ice is broken, uncomfortable but beats the alternative. And the view is always better when you take the high road! 
@smitty34877 glad the teenager had a great time!  Hope your weekend wasn’t too exhausting! 
@ger_77 thanks for the update on Maurice, glad he is recovering so well! 
@Cruzin Terri hope things are improving! 
@kazu some extra hugs! 
 

 

 We’ve enjoyed Malta a couple of times, first with DD’s Maltese friends touring us around.  I’ll try to share some different photos.   
 

We greatly enjoyed seeing the extremely ancient ruins, Hagar Qim.   Over 5000 years old. 
 

 

Thanks for the pictures from Malta, Brenda.

 

5 hours ago, kazu said:

Good afternoon all.  Thanks for our Monday Daily Rich and thanks to Vanessa, Ann, Debbie & Dixie.

 

Good collection of days and LOL on the Marx quote.  Valletta, Malta is on our itinerary this Fall and I have secured a great guide who should show us the fishing village, Medina & much more.  it should be a great day albeit a long one 😉

 

@aliaschief Bruce - welcome home to you both.  Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic journey and travels with us 🙂 

 

Went to bed sick with pain.  Woke up feeeling somewhat better until I started to do stuff.  Prayers for all those that need them every day 🙏 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jacqui, I'm sorry you had so much pain last night, but I'm glad you were feeling somewhat better this morning.

 

4 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!

Morning clouds and cooler than yesterday.  But no rain!  

I have a lot of ballpoint pens, I prefer the medium tip over the fine. Not much of an iced tea gal, I'd choose iced coffee over iced tea.  Pass on the meal, drink and wine.  We were in Valletta in 2019 -- loved that port!

 

Today I have a dental appointment to get a filling, and other than that it will be more gardening and some housework.  

 

Happy Birthday @DeniseT!

Sandi @StLouisCruisers You handled that situation perfectly -- in fact that's what I was hoping you would do.  You took the high road, Bravo!

Welcome to the Daily @shippmates, I hope we see you here often!

Debbie @dfish Ugh, so sorry you had a bad night last night.  I hope tonight is much, much better.  I don't have any problem getting to sleep, but always (always) wake up around 2 or 3 and it's awhile before I get back to sleep.

 

We were in Valletta in October of 2019 on our long 65-day anniversary cruise(s) on the NS and the Koningsdam.  We took an all-day tour that day, starting with a 90-minute walking tour of Valletta, then visited St. John's Co-Cathedral, to the Tarxien Temples dating from 3150 B.C., a glass blowing factory (I rarely buy anything at the shops but fell in love with a few pieces there).  Then lunch, and on to Mdina where we had a huge thunderstorm and had to dodge the driving rain. Even still, it was a great day!

 

Here are some photos from our day in Valletta -- The weather wasn't the best (and terrible in Mdina) so I don't have many outdoor photos.

 

The Koningsdam in Valletta

 

Valletta

 

I had to pick just a few of the many, many photos I took inside St. John's Co-Cathedral

 

 

 

Tombs underneath the floor of the church

 

Next 3 photos are from the Tarxien Temples

 

 

 

Unfortunately I got very few photos in Mdina because of the thunderstorm.

 

The rain was pouring off buildings and we spent a lot of time running from shop to shop just to stay somewhat dry.

 

I hope everyone has a great day!

 

 

Carolyn, I hope the dental appointment went well today.  Thanks for sharing your pictures of Valletta.

 

3 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Just dropping in after dinner to catch up and thank so many of you for your support today.  @JazzyV, @quilty964, @Quartzsite Cruiser, @RMLincoln, @bennybear, @Nickelpenny, and @Cruising-along.  I really appreciate it!

 

We had good news around dinner time too from our travel agent.  We noticed Saturday when this new cruise started that our CCL shareholder credit wasn't on our account.  We went to Guest Services with some information we had with us, and also sent an email to our travel agent.  This morning she was able to call the World Cruise dept.and get it applied.  She said it was there originally but dropped off somehow. It may take a couple of days because the WC dept has to email the ship about it.  Very good news and we're happy to have her on our side!

 

Sandy, I'm glad you got the OBC for your CCL stock straightened out.

 

30 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

@StLouisCruisers Sandi, I am very proud of you for being proactive and inviting the Relatives for a drink. 

 

I have had an estranged period with my sister since October last year. I sent her a Happy birthday text in February and she called and was so happy I reached out to her. She's coming for a short visit later July. We hardly have any relations left, maybe 6? 

 

Joy, I'm glad you and your sister are talking again, and that she will be visiting you in July.

 

15 minutes ago, durangoscots said:

Good afternoon everyone.  As late as I am today you would think I was getting a lot done but no.... just very slow. Today has been a disappointment in terms of weather. It is much cooler than it has been, which is good. Current temperature at 2:30 is only 77F. BUT... it was cloudy and there was some thunder, but no rain!!! And we need it....badly. It is supposed to start heating up tomorrow. And, to add insult to injury, the ceiling fan in my bedroom is on the blink. Got a new battery for the remote... light turns on and off, but the fan does not turn. It tries, but does not move.

 

The only real accomplishment for today is that I did go grocery shopping so that is taken care of for the week. Tomorrow I need to go get dog food and haul a few loads to the thrift store. (I hear thunder again!!! Maybe????)

 

Am trying to follow the Eurodam and wondering how my downstairs neighbor is enjoying her first cruise. I don't think the weather is cooperating.

 

Better get back to work. Take care all and hope health issues are resolving themselves. My sister has her annual checkup coming up and she is not looking forward to it. She says she has a number of things to raise with the doctor.... all age related.

 

Susan

 

 

 

 

 

Susan, I hope you get some much needed rain from the thunderstorms.  I hope your DS's annual checkup goes well.

 

Lenda

 

[bobpatj]

Sharon, it’s so nice to hear you mention the cruise we first met!  We’re doing well, but not cruising as much as we once did.  We may call it aging out?  I haven’t posted for a while, and don’t read as often because I was dropped for not recognizing my password!  But now I’m back and may post again.