Overhead Fred

For breakfast and lunch the Canaletto is essentially part of the Lido and is open to anyone. It is a little quieter and I think the chairs are more comfortable (and easier to move!) than in the Lido.

I put ours in in a 325F oven without a lid for over an hour (after simmering on the stove for 10-15 minutes). I think my issue was using too much chicken stock and maybe not enough peanut butter.

The West African peanut chicken stew was a hit! I forgot to get a picture of it though. I kinda melded two of the recipes that @dfish posted (as is my nature being a synthetic research chemist) and will try some tweaks when I make it again. And we will make it again! My main "problem" was that it was a bit thinner and soupier than I had expected. But a little corn starch tightened it up nicely!

Niall and Emilee are coming over today, football will no doubt be involved. I am going to try one of the West African peanut chicken stew recipes that @dfish posted last Wednesday. I'll report back on the outcome tomorrow! Just for fun - - from the Mounts Botanical Garden in Palm Beach, FL

If I understand your comment, that would seem to be an open question. If you buy CO and change your mind about it, but still stay on the cruise, can you cancel it and get a refund? Anyone have any real world experience with that?

It was, we should do it again!

Hi Jacqui, Real world experience from CO cruisers that had to cancel says that the CO charge is refundable. Hope your elbow is feeling better! Fred

Maybe a side of coleslaw??

It was @Alberta Quilter that was asking about upgrading to C from HH. We recently used CO to upgrade from an obstructed veranda to and aft facing one and saved lots of moola on a 2024 Nieuw Statendam transatlantic! Had to act fast before all the aft cabins disappeared 😁. I think we may have sailed with you to Hawaii on the Oosterdam in 2017.

On a recent related thread - - Folks reported that they had their CO payment refunded when they canceled their cruise

Happy belated Birthday Mary Ann! Hope to see you both on another cruise....

I was aware of the bolded text in your post but found it to be rather unclear, especially since the previous sentence indicated that CO could increase CCP costs. Thus my posted question. @jodi58 appears to have provided the clear answer. Thanks!

Can anyone verify that the Club Orange cost is non-refundable? As in "I cancelled a cruise and did not get my CO $$ back" not just somebody at HAL said it wasn't (since we know you often get different info from HAL every time you call😉)? Thanks!

Small, but they do have an interesting cocktail menu https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Half-Moon-Bar.pdf (Thanks Roger!)

It is next to Club Orange where Blend is on the K and NS.

We have an overabundance of squirrels!

Sorry to hear about this. My thoughts are that these folks will eventually figure out that there is a problem and it might be better to learn about it directly from you. Not an easy task I am sure. Kinda like the "band aid" (sticking plaster for Graham😉) dilemma. Do you pull it off slowly or rip it off quickly? It will hurt either way. I would recommend going on the cruise especially since @dfish Debbie and Sue will be with you. I don't have a good solution for how to deal with them, but telling them about your issues soonish might be best. Perhaps they will cancel their cruise. If you wait until you are onboard you risk "ruining everyone's" cruise. If you ignore it, the cruise may be uncomfortable for you and you will still likely need to deal with the situation eventually. Good luck and best wishes!

It is a rainy, dreary day in Saint Paul. Temps are above freezing and the melting snow is starting to look a bit dirty and dingy. I am sure we will have fresh snow soon enough! So to brighten the day, here are some flowers from the Caribbean -

We were in Cartagena twice on our 2018 eastbound TA/Mediterranean cruise (Koningsdam). We would love to go back again (& again)! For the first stop, we went to Elche and saw some fantastic gardens - I highly recommend visiting there. On the second, we did a tapas & Roman ruins tour in town and had a great time.

JEWELS OF THE SEA shrimp wontons, baby bok choy, lemongrass-sesame broth

We have been to Grand Turk a few times. It is an OK stop, but not particularly exciting. We did the Bajari Beach Club excursion on our first visit in 2015. It was OK but we probably won't do it again. If you squint, you can see our ship (NA) from Bajari Beach - On subsequent stops, we have just wandered around the port area and enjoyed the beach by the pier (while trying to ignore the noise from Margaritaville 😎).

I have been to Ensenada a few times, but only once by ship.

I figured it would be a "Carob Bean" 😁