USN59-79

Coincidentally, we are also celebrating our anniversary on our next cruise on the Westerdam; for us it is number 60. I hadn't thought about letting the TA know, but will let the Pinnacle Grill manager know. The anniversary is three days after we board when the ship will be at Nagasaki. We were married in Taipei and have friends and relatives there, so plan to fly on EVA from Seattle to Yokohama with about a week stopover in Taipei. We are looking forward to this, but realize that it all depends on how the pandemic affects cruise ship stops in Japan this coming Spring. Ray

Looks like we have some things in common. We plan to fly to Japan from SEA with a stopover in Taipei before the cruise. We were married in Taipei in 1963, so will be celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary on the cruise. Ray

We boarded the Westerdam on 1 February 2020 in Hong Kong for a 42 day cruise and had to leave her in Cambodia within two weeks. We have booked her again for 42 days starting 27 March 2023 in Yokohama and ending in Seattle. Think we will know by this December whether or not it will happen. Not only Japan has to open to cruise ships; either Taiwan or Korea will have to open also as Japan has laws similar to our PVSA.

I am surprised that you still have FCC from that cruise. We were also on it and received the FCC. I applied it to a similar cruise on the Noordam, but that one was cancelled. We have finally booked the Westerdam again for 2023, but the FCC has expired. Since they did refund our money, I am not too concerned about the expired FCC.

An update on my heat pump repair. The technician came on time and replaced the motor. He was going to replace the capacitor, but the replacement, made in China was obviously inferior to the one on the equipment (larger, made in USA and only 3 years old) so we decided not to change it. He also added some R22 refrigerant and the system now works like new. I was fortunate he had some refrigerant, as it is getting hard to find thanks to our EPA. They started phasing it out about ten years ago, so if your air conditioner is older than that you will have a problem adding refrigerant. Just looked online and a ten pound bottle is roughly $500. including shipping. Ray

Another nice warm (for us, at 84 degrees) day here. I am waiting for the repair person to show up to replace the motor in our heat pump. It failed after 21 years. Can't like the quote for today. If everyone was that selfish, we would have no military. I grew up on a 40 acre farm and we had cows for about five years. My father finally got rid of them and concentrated on raising and caring for thoroughbred horses. About 20 years ago a friend helped me replace our skylight. Took two people and two ladders, but was fairly simple job. Of course, I was twenty years younger 😄and our roof isn't very steep. Ray

A beautiful day here; should hit 84 by late afternoon. Think I will take our garbage and recyclables to the recycle center today. We don't have a regular weekly garbage pickup as do most of our neighbors. We generate one can of garbage in about a month and four containers of recyclables about every two weeks. Since I have an SUV, it is easier for me to haul it to the center than lug the huge garbage cans up and down our driveway every week. Reading the Dahl quote: couldn't help thinking it would also be true if you substituted love or happiness for magic. I enjoy the blueberry muffins from Costco. Might pick some up today as we are down to our last two eggs and need to stop there. Ray

We are booked for 42 days on the Westerdam starting 27 March and back to Seattle. Hope it happens, but not betting a lot on it. If HAL cancels we will get our money back and until it is more certain I will not book flights or hotels. For the cruise to happen, not only does Japan have to open to cruise ships, but also either South Korea or Taiwan or both. Looks like Japan has a similar cabotage law as the U.S. in that cruise ships have to stop at another country other than Japan if cruising in Japan. So for now, only Japan flagged cruise ships can cruise around Japan.

I went to Home Depot, bought a shade slightly larger than the skylight, made a light frame for it and fastened it up there. It has been there for about 5 years. Ray

Well, I was able to download some Mumbai pictures, but my text disappeared. We stopped there in 2012 on a Rome to Singapore cruise on the Ocean Princess (now the Oceana's Sirina). We have no desire to return. The buildings look like once the British left, there was no maintenance ever done on them. I remember the tour guide saying what a clean city it was. At the same time I noticed a man urinating on the tire of our tour bus. Not a city I want to return to. I think I have an idea of what happened to @Cruising-along's skylight. Some people fire guns into the air on the 4th and what goes up must come down. Ray

Am enjoying your pictures, Tim. That picture of the cake shows me that HAL still has some very dedicated employees working now. Ray

Great pictures, Lenda. Looks like spell check thinks peach is more appropriate than peace.

Something else about Honolulu. In the 1960s I was assigned to a Destroyer Tender, the USS Frontier and we often spent months at Ford Island responsible for repairing other Navy ships, mostly destroyers. There is a lot of Navy history in that area and some of the divers in the crew would spend spare time diving for pre-WW2 coffee cups. They were different as they had no handles. Apparently a lot of them went over the side either accidentally or not, and since they are porcelain they are still in good shape. That was before eBay, but I guess they would be worth something if sold online today. Ray

Good morning from the fairly cool Pacific NW. I enjoyed all the pictures of Honolulu and Oahu. We have a family history of their as my DM was born on Maui, but spent her 12 years of school in Honolulu at an Episcopal boarding school, St. Andrew's Priory. And we lived on a Navy base at Wahiawa, which is in the middle of the island from 1976-1979. Of course we have also stopped there a few times on cruises. There are a lot of neat places you can walk to from the cruise terminal, including the Ala Moana shopping center. There is a bus terminal there and you can catch a bus to go all the way around the island if you don't want to rent a car. Don't remember the cost, but remember that there were inexpensive senior fares. Ray

Cruise Critic is the only social media site I am willing to use. However, I frequently get emails from people on Linked In who think I am still an instructor at Olympic College, our local community college. That was 20 years ago. Tried to use our battery operated LG vacuum cleaner this morning and it quit working. Checked our storage room and I still had the box and the Costco receipt on it from August, 2020. Spent half an hour putting it back in the box and took it back to the store. They happily took it back and refunded me more than $400. Now I have to look online and see if there is a better one than that. I like the idea of a cordless vacuum. Just sent an email to my online TA asking him to cancel one 14 day Westerdam cruise around Japan and replace it with another 14 day one. Also noticed two existing cruises have decreased in price, so asking him if he can do anything about that. Of course the real question is whether or not we will be able to cruise around Japan this coming Spring. Ray

Our first cruise was in 1996 to Alaska on the old Noordam. By 2009 we had cruised about 20 times, mostly on HAL. But had not heard of CC. In 2009 we booked a 49 day cruise from Miami to San Francisco around South America. Less than two weeks before the cruise our DD told me to check out CC, particularly the roll call for our cruise. I looked at it and they were discussing getting a visa for Brazil. We had been told by our TA that a visa wasn't necessary. Took a couple of days to sign up for CC to be able to post but I was able to ask if we really needed a visa. The reply was that we wouldn't be able to board without one. Got back to the TA and she apologized, saying she got her info from Carnival and if we express mailed our passports to the Brazil embassy in Miami she would cover the extra cost. We did and received them back in time. When we boarded there were a bout 100 passengers who had to stay overnight in Miami for their visas and board the ship at the next port. That was when I learned the value of Cruise Critic and have been a member since then. Ray

Let us know what you find out. I started using them more than 50 years ago in 1970 when I was promoted to officer; prior to that they didn't deal with ordinary enlisted people. The travel insurance is actually handled by Travel Insured International, which us part of Crum and Forster Insurance Company. Sara's first job in the United States, when we lived near San Francisco in 1964 was with that company. Surprising what you can learn when searching the internet. Ray

I enjoy learning on a cruise. When we were on the Westerdam in December, 2019 and again in January, 2020 (last cruise before covid) they had courses on how to use a smart phone for photography. I really enjoyed them as I had no idea that I could take and manipulate such high resolutions photos like that. It was somewhat like the Microsoft course they had for a few years, but to me, more pertinent. I really hope for something like that on our sea days as there are still many things I would like to know about my iPhone. Ray

@Cruising-along mentioned looking for insurance for an upcoming cruise. I have heard good things about a USAA affiliate, but have not used them. If you are a USAA member, you can access it from their website. I will admit that we have never bought insurance in all of our cruises but am considering it for our upcoming cruise in March. Ray

Here is the interior of my log cabin. It was built in 1931 by my aunt and uncle.

@Sharon in AZ asked for specifics on my eye treatment. Three months ago they started using a new drug, Vabysmo for the injection. The drugs used in the past were Eylea (27 times) and Beovu (3 times). In order to avoid glaucoma, or high eye pressure, I use a drop of Latanoprost in each eye at night. And for general eye health, I take two capsules of an AREDS 2 formulation each day. I buy the AREDS 2 from Costco. It happens to be on sale this month. Hope this helps. Ray

When we lived on Oahu we found that it was very much enjoyed there.

The interval for the eye injections has changed from once every four weeks to once every 6 weeks. It may extend beyond that. The interesting thing is that normally the Dr. just expects to stop it from getting worse, not curing it. I think that I am actually being cured of it. Luckily, medicare and tricare cover the cost, as each treatment is roughly $2k. I have lived a few years in the Far East; 3 years in Taipei and 3 years in the Philippines plus many stops there in my Navy career and I married a young lady from Taiwan. So I have become comfortable eating food that many who have not had my experiences would look askance at. However, today we are having barbecued steak and I need to go light the barbecue. Ray

I get the impression that a lot of people look down on those who enjoy eating fish heads. In our house we both enjoy them and take turns on who gets to eat it when we have baked golden pompano or salmon. I have some good news on my age related macular degeneration. The new drug seems to be working well. I had my eyes examined for new glasses yesterday and they took a color picture of the interior of both eyes. In the past you could see a vein that had been leaking causing the degeneration. Now all you can see in that area is scar tissue, which is a huge improvement. Ray