lyndarra

3 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Interesting choice, a welsh flag from a Scottish Laird.

Darra's father was born in Porth, Wales.

Below she is standing in front of the pub (New York Hotel on York Street, Porth) where he, Glanffrwd, was born in 1904. Her grandfather was the publican.

4 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Those emojis are meant to be one dragon.  Kept autocorrecting🤷🏻‍♀️

Forget the emoji, go with this.

I always get Slovakia and Slovenia confused but Bratislava is a beautiful city.

Parliament, Bratislava Slovenia.

This was our favourite city on our Dunube River cruise May 2018. It was the last cruise we had together.

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

I have a Rose that is in bloom everyday of the year.

And, by any other name would smell as sweet?

33 minutes ago, arxcards said:

On formal night, you can also tie the remaining rope around your neck.

I thought shoelaces were neck wear?

My azaleas are flowering now?

Google says

"They are at their peak from late winter to spring when they are in full bloom. Azaleas flower generously and many varieties also bloom at other times of the year, a habit called 'spot flowering'."

13 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

A rope does both black and brown pants and still portrays that certain hillbilly chic.

Couldn't resist.🙄

I found Celebrity and HAL very much alike. Up untill COVID I had cruised both  the same number of times. Since COVID it has been HAL due to better itineraries and Celebrity seeming to be charging higher prices in comparison.

My late wife and I would rarely have a suitcase weighing more than 16kgs/35lbs  each when travelling o/s, cruise or land tour, between 2 to 6 weeks. Sometimes less if cruising/touring tropical regions.

My two week Alaska cruise tour last June was just a tad over 17kgs due having a couple of extra cold/wet weather garments and a pair of hiking shoes.

Solo for me this time Lyle, although she may be persuaded, with the help of friends we were with in Alaska, to do an "Iceland, Greenland, Scottish Mysteries" cruise from Amsterdam/Copenhagen June next year.

Failing that, there was an Arctic Circle Alaska cruise Seattle/Seattle same time next year that looked atractive.

Perhaps meet up near the Quay for a pre dinner drink then take the light rail to Chinatown to eat?

Today signed on to HAL Roll Call for 14 day Greece/Adriatic/Italy cruise on Nieuw Statendam this November.

34 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

That’s so kind.  I’ll try🙏🏻

So kind of you too.😉

On 5/7/2024 at 12:51 PM, cruiser3775 said:

Hi By the Bay.   Glad to hear you are on this cruise.  Someone started a Roll Call for it, and some people are looking for participants in shore excursions, so might be worthwhile for you to look.  I'm not interested in large ship group shore excursions, but I am a solo traveller, and would like to find others to join with hiring a car plus driver for the stops in Bali and Lombok.  I'll put something on the Roll Call, so reply there if interested.

I did a ship tour on Lombok last year using cruise credit. It wasn't expensive and, due to traffic congestion and narrow streets, the tour operators use mini buses. We had about 12-14 people on our Lombok tour, a comfortable number. Complimentary iced bottled water was included. Also free tea and coffee at the Lombok museum.

5 hours ago, Bubbeh said:

Did the Rocky Mountaineer before COVID, while the service was great and the seating was comfortable, it was boring as bat sh!t.  We did it as an extension tour following an Alaska / Canada / Inside Passage trip.  Not cheap but it was a once in a life time experience.  Grumpy just loves train travel but I tend to think of it as like flying only it takes longer and is less exciting.

I have done Calgary/Vancouver as a pre cruise tour. Calgary to Jasper was by coach staying in Fairmont Hotels. Jasper to Vancouver was an overnighter with Via Rail which had sleeping berths and scenic observation dome cars. Best of both worlds. I agree doing the Rocky Mountaineer Calgary/Vancouver run could be boring - we were warned about that beforehand from friends who had had the experience.

5 hours ago, REOVA said:

. On our last Rotterdam cruise, while the Rock Room musicians were good, they chose the same songs almost every night which, which is ok if you didn't watch them every night. 

Reading this, I can't help thinking of Blues Brother's "Rawhide" bar scene.

There was a  Country music trivia on N Amsterdaam (Alaska) last year. It was fun but I scored only one correct answer🤠.

Happened the night before arriving in Sydney a few years back when we were on Sea Princess. Disembarkation was put back 24hrs. The man was never found. I believe it was determined to have been a suicide.

Considering the off shore conditions searchers were fortunate to have recovered the victims' body.

Always sad to hear of this happening.

3 minutes ago, buchhalm said:

But which one?

🙂

Don't know. I've only been to one or two so long ago I can't remember its/their name/s but the pistacchio nuts were good.

56 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

All joking aside, does anybody carry coins anymore?

I haven't carried coins for years, always feel bad passing buskers, don't really carry any cash with me, just rely on my plastic. just carry a $50 note for emergencies.

 

Do buskers have efpos these days?

 

Some do.

In some restaurants (Canada) there are signs on tables with a QR code to scan and leave an E- tip.

Looks like a Greek Island.

If you thjink the service is of a high standard then mention the person by name on your post cruise survey and include why. This can be of greater benefit than a couple of extra dollars in the hand as the information is used when assessing promotion.

deleted. Late to party.

25 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Komodo

Correct. Peir has been extended since photo was taken. Volendam anchored.

Your turn.