Cruising-along

Good morning all! I'll pass on all the food (dumplings) and drink today and haven't been to this port (only the one in Spain) 😉 A good collection of days. Like Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser we have been homeowners since 1970 when we bought our first home. And 4 more since then (Navy moves). I still can't believe we've been in one home for coming up on 30 years after moving every few years. Today will be more house cleaning, I now have just the kitchen and master bath to do. It's been so much easier doing one room at a time. DH will be calling ship's services to ask about getting appointments for hair cuts during our cruise. Par for the course, HAL's website is wonky for salon appointments. I had no problem making my appointments (we're doing it now because there's a good discount before the cruise). BUT for men's hair cuts, only the first day of the cruise shows (????) Not many will need a hair cut the first day. So he'll call and see if he can get it done that way and still get the discount. Roy @rafinmd I'm glad the doctor is keeping a close eye on you, and hope the radiation will take care of it. Tina @0106 Thank you for adding the first line of the quote, now it makes sense to me. I often dream of falling (probably due to my fear of heights and falling). @57redbird So glad to hear that you're doing better! Eva @superoma Now I need to go see if my Hellebores are poking up yet -- they always do in January, but maybe this year.... it would be nice to see them before we leave next week.

Good morning and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all who celebrate! I would love some pumpkin pie. I don't have a favorite dish on Christmas, we always have something different each year. Today I'll be making pork chops for DH and me. The drink sounds good, will pass on the red wine. Haven't been to this port. We celebrated our Christmas last week with the family at DD's house so DH and I could isolate before the cruise. We had a wonderful day! Today will be another quiet day of cruise prep. Getting so excited! DDIL, DS and me The whole family Sadly I just saw an aid truck take a neighbor away -- what a way to start Christmas. I think he's a cancer patient and may have other problems as well. I know the aid trucks come more and more often to that house. The family is dysfunctional with lots of other problems, none of us know them. 😞 Gerry @ger_77 Happy Birthday!! @Cruzin Terri I'm glad your tummy issues are over, and hope you feel much better soon. Vanessa @JazzyV Four hours is an improvement, prayers for much, much more improvement.

The Lumpia turned out good! I did a test first, 300 degrees 10 minutes -- they were crispy but not quite browned enough to my liking so I did more at 325 and they did brown up a little more. Not like the deep fryer, but as long as they're crispy and not lily white we're happy. I'd post photos but we ate them too fast!

It has been decades since I've made Lumpia from scratch, but I've found a frozen brand that tastes every bit as good and a fraction of the work! It worked, thank you! How wonderful!!! It reminds me of when DS and DDIL flew up from CA and surprised us for our 50th. I was talking to DS on the phone, thinking he was home, when he walked into the room.🤣 I know all of us will rest easier once we're on our way! The last couple weeks are always hard. Thank you Paul -- I did Google Lumpia in the air fryer and surprisingly it says 300 degrees for 10 minutes, spritz with a little oil. I'm still going to "test" it with one or two like Lenda suggested. Now my mouth is watering thinking of that Lumpia!

Thank you! This helps a lot. Good idea to test one or two first. 🙂

Good morning all and Happy Christmas Eve! I'm running late today, not the best sleep last night. Too much on my mind before we leave in 8 days. We've been saving some of the Alton Brown Egg Nog for today and tomorrow. DS makes it every year and gave us some. 🙂 I hope Libya is celebrating, and no to the quote. We shouldn't ever be detached from life. Thank you all who posted photos of Darwin and thank you Roy @rafinmd for posting the links. We will be there on the GANZ. Our plan for that day is the HOHO, which I see some of you have done before. I would love the meal, have no instant pot so would do it in the oven. The drink and wine sound good as well. Tonight will be steak, my quest to empty out the freezer is going well! 🙂 Since we had our Christmas celebration with the family already, it will be a quiet couple of days here for DH and me. Just continuing the house cleaning and cruise prep. I would like some air fryer advice, please. I think it was Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser who told me months ago that Lumpia would do well in the air fryer -- well I got one for Christmas (yay!) and plan to make Lumpia in it today or tomorrow. I do remember you said it would be best if it has a shelf (?) Mine does, did you have other advice that I've forgotten? I haven't even read all the instructions yet, but do know that Lumpia isn't in the instructions. Would I do it like frozen fish sticks (the closest thing I see in the manual)? For that it says 8 minutes at 400 degrees. Thanks for any input!! I could also Google it. Happy Birthday to Sarah @grapau27! Happy Birthday to your DGD @bennybear! What a beautiful baby. 🙂

All of our cruises lately have been on Pinnacle class...maybe they're the only ones without the taco bar (?)

Debbie maybe your Mom secretly hated mushrooms too? Smart of you to offer to make the chocolate milk! 😉

Good to hear! I've missed it on other ships.

Thank you Sandi -- I know, hard to believe how many stitches. That's why I can appreciate yours so much. I started over 40 years ago, never thought I'd still be doing it. The only thing I won't do anymore is the gold filament thread! Some of my Christmas projects used a lot of it -- and it is gorgeous, but a nightmare to work with. I do cut the carrots in big chunks so I think you'd be safe! (I do the same with mushrooms, eat around them if possible). Debbie we got a big laugh over that one too! Thank you Vanessa 🙂 You didn't say, I hope you slept a little better last night? I was happy to hear you got a little more the night before, I think 4 hours? Oh, I hope they throw the book at him! Let us know what happens please. LOL! That could be quite a sight! And I'm just glad I don't have to do any baking this year!

This makes sense, thank you.

Enjoy and thank you!

Great start to your cruise, thank you! Rich @richwmn did you see my question yesterday about the wine packages? It says "Save up to 25%". I hope that's a misprint (even though it states 25% in several places). Happy to see they have Pine Ridge and Wairau River wines. 🙂

Good morning all! First, Sandi @StLouisCruisers I'm SO sorry about your DGD -- how awful! I'm glad she wasn't hurt physically but the emotional shock has to be overwhelming. 😞 One Christmas movie I like to watch over and over is "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. I've probably posted this before -- this shows up before Christmas every year and is a couple miles up the road from us. This year we didn't see it as early as usual, so got worried that the people who live there were ill or moved away -- and then it showed up last weekend 🙂 So here's Cousin Eddie. I'll pass on the drink, red wine and the meal. We just had beef stew this week, I never use a recipe. Debbie @dfish you wouldn't have liked it because it had a lot of carrots in it but we thought it was tasty. 😉 I was trying to make use of the carrots -- DH bought too many. Today is clean the family room day - in my quest to get the whole house deep cleaned one room at a time before we leave for the cruise. Happy Birthday @kochleffel and @Sir PMP! Sandi @StLouisCruisers as a fellow counted cross stitcher, you have my admiration for the work you do on the Christmas stockings. Beautiful! I'll be bringing a large project on our cruise, something I do on every long cruise. I'd post a photo, but it's already packed and gone to San Diego! But here's the last project I did (before framing). We've been to Santa Barbara once on a Celebrity Pacific Coastal cruise. We rented a car and drove to our DS and DDIL's house in Simi so I don't have many photos of Santa Barbara. They now live near us, so glad about that! We walked to the rental car agency and I loved this view of our ship. Santa Barbara shoreline

I have found my wine package for in-cabin -- but what am I missing here? -- "Save up to 25% (what about 4 & 5-star 50% off wine packages?

It was great talking to you today, Rich. Glad everything is going well and Bon Voyage!! Cannot wait for our turn in 11 days. 😉

Good morning all! As Karen @luvteaching said, it's a very soggy morning here. Supposedly tomorrow will be sunny, we'll see! Math was always my worst subject -- if it's genetic as Gerry @ger_77 said, I must have inherited my Mom's lack of mathematical abilities because my Dear Dad was an accountant. DH also majored in accounting, so he takes care of that for us! When I was younger I participated in a lot of cookie exchanges. I'm not sure how many times we've been to Ketchikan, but we were there twice this year. Photos to follow. I'll pass on the drink and red wine, the meal would be good but with chicken. Tonight we'll be having leftover beef stew. I got very good news last night from my sister -- DBIL's latest PSA test showed a marked improvement since his treatment started. His PSA went down from 6.9 to 3.85 so we're all celebrating that! Bon Voyage @Nickelpenny! Bon Voyage Rich @richwmn -- we'll see you in 11 days!!! Our first cruise was in 2004 on the Amsterdam. Sandi @StLouisCruisers we also went on a kayaking tour out of Ketchikan! Ketchikan from our balcony this past May I loved this piece of art work outside a shop The Koningsdam in Ketchikan In September we were in Ketchikan on the Celebrity Solstice. We had a tour to the Lumberjack show (corny but surprisingly fun and good) and to the Saxman Native Village. They put on a very good show, and we enjoyed it all. One of many totem poles in the village. And of course Dolly's House. On another cruise (12-day Denali) my BFF and I took the tour through Dolly's House.

We aren't big drinkers either, but were thrilled with this deal. Even a couple drinks/day plus coffees, water, etc. makes it a great deal.

Good evening everyone, lots of news today. Joy @Seasick Sailor I'm so sorry you were sick! It's scary when things like that happen. Paul @kochleffel Congratulations on the great course grade! I've gotten almost the whole upstairs deep-cleaned, just the master bath to do now and then I'll start the downstairs. The laundry is done until a last wash before we go. Also I still need to pack my carry-on bag, but there's plenty of time to do that. I hope everyone had a good day!

Good morning all! Interesting collection of days, I like the quote but will pass on the meal, drink and wine. We will go to Moorea on the GANZ but not to this port. We have a private tour the first day and a HAL tour the 2nd day. We got our boarding time and have 10:40 also. I'm not holding my breath, as it changed at least 3 times for our last cruise. One person on our roll call got 10:20! Looking forward to sailing with Rich again and meeting all the Dailyites on this cruise. Not long now!

Enjoy your time in San Diego and the Volendam, Rich! Looking forward to sailing with you again (this time for 94 days!)

Good morning all! We're going to have 2 days of sunshine (!), and up to the mid 50's today. All good days, but I'll pass on the Sangria. The quote is so true. Yay another Marlborough SV! But one I haven't tried, so I'll be looking for it. I also would probably like the drink, but will pass on the meal. I like spicy but it doesn't like me. I plan to start deep cleaning the house, one room at a time before we leave on the 1st. That way it won't be too tiring. It especially needs it after having the DGSs here. Thank you Jacqui @kazu for stepping up and filling in for Rich! Great job too! We were in Avalon on a Pacific Coastal on the Westerdam in October of 2014. We didn't do much, walked around a bit and did the glass bottom boat ride. The casino

Good morning all! We have a rainy morning here, 50 F heading for 52 today. Not bad for the week before Christmas. I've never been crazy about hard candy and will choose chocolate over hard candy every time. I have admiration for all heros and heroines, and since I live in the Evergreen State I only have to walk out of my house to find lots of evergreens. I miss Phyllis Diller, another great quote. The meal sounds yummy, I think I'd like the drink but will pass on the red blend. We were in Souda-Chania on a Med cruise in 2021. Strangely I didn't take many photos, thank you Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser for yours! We took the shuttle to Chania and went to the market, bought some things, and also more flowers for our cabin. Very happy to see that our luggage is now in San Diego! Yippee! I hope they enjoy their stay until we join them in a couple weeks. 😄 Today starts our self-quarantine in efforts to stay healthy before the cruise. Yesterday we both got our hair cut (next hair cuts will be on the ship), and stocked up on food to get us through the next 2 weeks. We will be going to DD's house to get outdoor hugs a few days before we leave though. Cannot leave without more hugs! Bon Voyage @St Pete Cruiser!

Good morning all! We're pretty tuckered out after having the DGSs for 3 days and then yesterday our early family Christmas celebration. We didn't get home last night until nearly 9 but it felt like midnight we're so tired -- but a good tired. Today other than getting my hair cut I plan to do absolutely nothing other than a little straightening the house after our little "whirlwinds" stayed here. I didn't need to bake cookies this year, DDIL made so many -- all excellent too. There are no twins in either of our family trees, and we haven't had snow here -- yet. Usually ours doesn't start until January if we get any at all, so I'm hoping we have clear roads when we have to get to the airport on the 2nd. I'll pass on the meal, drink and wine today. DS makes Alton Brown's eggnog every year and we were thankful to bring some of that home with us last night. So good! Our luggage was last tracked just 130 miles north of San Diego yesterday. Making good time! Happy Birthday Nancy @ottahand7!

Good morning all! Another quick post, we slept late this morning after being up late last night at the Lights of Christmas display. But a few photos from last night -- and today I need to make the Lumpia I'm bringing to DD's house for our early family Christmas celebration. We'll also be bringing the DGSs home after an activity-filled 3 days with them. This Nana is very tired but a good tired. The next 2 weeks will be filled with getting the house in order and getting ready to leave for the GANZ. Will catch up on all the posts tonight -- have a great day everyone!