Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

We were literally the only guests there. It was sort of like cruising right after Covid. No crowds but no “energy” either. Laird must also be very nice in the summer/fall. I think this will be a recurring theme. 

 

Timing is everything. When I was in Napa, it was over Memorial Day Weekend and it was packed. The main road was bumper-to-bumper traffic and the tasting rooms were pretty crowded. Some of the wineries could handle the crowds better than others. There were one or two where we felt we were rushed thru the tasting and began to wonder if it was because we were wine novices or just not part of the "regular" crowd.  Maybe that is why Laird felt more special to me. While less crowded than others, it did have a fair amount of customers. Despite this, the person serving us made us feel like we were then only customers there and took their time answering all of our questions (some probably silly) in detail.

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your time there.

 

EDIT TO ADD: V. Santicci was one of the busy wineries that could handle the crowds easily. Also, didn't make us feel stupid. LOL.  Probably too cold but they have nice picnic grounds and a deli where you can by sandwiches cheese, etc.

 

Not sure why I didn't recommend it earlier as there is a  framed picture of me & DW standing in front of it in the den.  If you can squeeze it in, it's about "halfway" up the valley.

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by HBE4

[grapau27]

We took our Sarah out for dinner at our favourite Italian restaurant.

Caprice Diversa.

Potato skins with Garlic Dip.

Pasta.

Calzone pizza.

Rib eye steak.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

12 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

Debbie, your poor head😳

Oh no. I'm so sorry.

[grapau27]

12 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

Debbie, your poor head😳

Sending our prayers 🙏🙏 Marietta for Charlie.

Graham and Pauline.

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Greetings from Sayulita, Mexico.  It’s a miracle we made it here for my son’s wedding this weekend.

 

We started out Tuesday morning.  Took a Lyft to get to the airport.  We got to the airport at 7:15 AM.  Went to the check-in kiosk to check in and get our boarding passes.  Got to the part where you scan your passport.  DH went to his jacket pocket to get the passports out.  They weren’t in his pocket.  He searched and no passports.  My heart dropped.  We lost our passports.  He ran outside but did not see the passports that might have dropped out of his pocket onto the ground.  So he must have left them in the Lyft car.  He tried to figure out how to contact the driver and finally found the way to message him to see if he found two passports in his car.  And then he found a phone number to call Lyft.  He called three times and then after that, it just locked him out.  He couldn’t call anymore.  Tried texting again.  Still no response.  The driver could’ve been making a run to who know where.  It could be a long time before he can answer his phone.  

 

Meanwhile, we went to the Checkin desk to see if they can use photo of the passports. I knew it wouldn’t be accepted.  But we had to try. The kind representative said, no.  We couldn’t use it.  She said, without a passport, you can’t go.  My other heart dropped. 

 

What were we going to do now.  My thought was that we were going to miss my son’s wedding and the Bella Cruise.  My other other heart dropped.

 

At 8:15, DH got a call from the driver.  He had our passports.  He’s 10 minutes away, he would bring it to us right away.

 

More later.

 

Well that is certainly a way to get the adrenaline flowing for an exciting trip.  Glad you made it & now you have stories to tell at the wedding reception!

 

[George C]

1 hour ago, Lionesss said:

So my mom passed away almost 15 years ago. She was able to live with us for about 10 years. 
We made her room a guest room/storage area since we have 2 guest rooms and the other one is used first. 
I just usually dusted off the room. Washed the linens from time to time. 
Today was the day to rut up. Rotate mattress and give the room the old college clean up. 
Well found between the mattress near the center of the bed. some containers full of her valuables. 
 

I think I hit the jackpot. 
 

So i transferred the coins/paper money  into 4 cool whip containers and just got back from putting them in our safety deposit box. I do not have time to go through them. 
 

I thought these were cute. 
 

 

Some paper money. 

I also found some old political pins. 
 

 

And tons of flat jewelry cases. 
just starting to open. 
 

 

I am sure some things are of value. 
 

 

 

 

When my mother in law passed about a decade ago we got my wife’s fathers coin collection, coins were definitely worth more than a couple thousand have not cashed them in yet. I had some silver certificates which are not worth much more than face value.

      We love to do a Napa wine tour , my buddy had the perfect tour about 5 years ago , he had a restaurant then and the liquor distributors that he dealt with made sure he had vip tours , they also spent one night in a private cabin in one of the vineyards. We did enjoy visiting a nice vineyard outside of Florence about 6 years ago.

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Greetings from Sayulita, Mexico.  It’s a miracle we made it here for my son’s wedding this weekend.

 

Helen, sorry you had all those palpitations, glad you made it to your son's wedding. Mazel Tov 💐

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

 

Oy, Marietta, wishing you strength and wishing Charlie a complete and swift recovery. My thoughts are with you both 😘

 

 

 

16 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Debbie, your poor head😳

 

+ 1  @Sunshine3601, glad you caught it in time 🌷

 

 

 

@bobmacliberty B & M, enjoy your trip and make the most of the weather whenever agreeable. Those vine prices are out of the roof.... Thanks for the pics.

[xpcdoojk]

23 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

@dani negreanu Love the pic! I wish we could have spent more time in Venice on our honeymoon cruise that left there. It was our first cruise so we flew in the day off (never do that again) and went straight from airport to ship. We had an excursion on our return to a glass factory ( never doing that again) and then straight to airport. I need to visit again and stay your pics convinced me.

When we were there on our trip in 2004, I think we were there for 4 nights, the hotel offered us a water taxi to the Island of Murano and Burano for said glass blowing tour for free.  I knew all about blowing glass because my first real job was working at Silver Dollar City was in the cut glass shop, candle shop, gun shop and candle shop when I was 16 for a season.  I knew that watching the glass blowing would be at best ok.  (There are some amazing artistic glass items for sale at amazing prices in Venice).  However it represented a quick way to get to these islands.  After visiting them, we took the Vaporetto back to Venice.  Which was a lot slower.  On the upside we really got to see a lot of city and surrounding area from the water.  Krystal bought a lovely dress and an amazing hand made scarf on Burano.  Murano glass Burano clothing/scarves.

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

19 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Dinner last night. Bacon makes everything better. 
 

Your dinner looks like breakfast to me.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 The owner had her dog there…a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Charlie. He was a very good boy. I took pictures since he looks a lot like @Sea Dog’s Charlie. 

 

 

What a cutie! Looks like he’s 6 months old. My Charlie says hi!

 

 

35 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

Debbie, your poor head😳

 

So sorry to hear this about Charlie. You guys will be in my thoughts. Get well soon Charlie.

[xpcdoojk]

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

If you have VOOM SURF + STREAM Internet Package with 2 devices, can both (people) devices be on the internet at the same time?

 

Total package would be $391.86 for 14 nights? Is that a good price?

You can have two devices on it.  They could both be yours, if a third device logs in they will say you have reached your device limit and do you still want to join, if you say yes one of the two devices will be kicked out.  Price seems on the high side.  Would be a good price for the key, a meh price for internet.

 

jc

[xpcdoojk]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Correct, I'm wondering now just how good the signal will be at the top of the world?

It was a long time ago, 2005, but the internet on the Holland Amsterdam was crap at Cape Horn.  Although Cape Horn is less far south than Greenland is north.  

[Jimbo]

23 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

You can have two devices on it.  They could both be yours, if a third device logs in they will say you have reached your device limit and do you still want to join, if you say yes one of the two devices will be kicked out.  Price seems on the high side.  Would be a good price for the key, a meh price for internet.

 

jc

I believe the Key which we would also have to bought by both of us  is priced much higher. Let me check.

 

The Key is $22.99 per person per day   .................

 

For 14 days For the 2 of us the total is $643.72, not happening we would never buy that at that price.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Jimbo

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

What should you not do at a winery?

 

Here are 5 NEVER Do's at a wine tasting

• Smoke or wear perfume. ...
• Criticize someone who uses the spit bucket. ...
• Criticize someone who does not use the spit bucket. ...
• Loudly proclaim your review of each wine. ...
• Be closed to trying wines that are new to you.

 

I'll add #6, don't get drunk. I've been to a few wineries where a "party bus" shows up and a bachelorette party or college frat boys 1 year reunion party stumbles out of the bus.  They tend to take over the tasting room.

 

[Bailey & Sophie]

5 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Ouch Debbie.  Hope it’s not painful for you. 

 

Saw the original post a few minutes ago but now it's gone.

Debbie, hope this heals fast for you!

[Ozark_Kid]

1 hour ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

Debbie, your poor head😳

I pray 🙏 Charlie recovers soon Marietta.  I hope you get some rest. 

[Bailey & Sophie]

2 hours ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

Greetings from Sayulita, Mexico.  It’s a miracle we made it here for my son’s wedding this weekend.

 

We started out Tuesday morning.  Took a Lyft to get to the airport.  We got to the airport at 7:15 AM.  Went to the check-in kiosk to check in and get our boarding passes.  Got to the part where you scan your passport.  DH went to his jacket pocket to get the passports out.  They weren’t in his pocket.  He searched and no passports.  My heart dropped.  We lost our passports.  He ran outside but did not see the passports that might have dropped out of his pocket onto the ground.  So he must have left them in the Lyft car.  He tried to figure out how to contact the driver and finally found the way to message him to see if he found two passports in his car.  And then he found a phone number to call Lyft.  He called three times and then after that, it just locked him out.  He couldn’t call anymore.  Tried texting again.  Still no response.  The driver could’ve been making a run to who know where.  It could be a long time before he can answer his phone.  

 

Meanwhile, we went to the Checkin desk to see if they can use photo of the passports. I knew it wouldn’t be accepted.  But we had to try. The kind representative said, no.  We couldn’t use it.  She said, without a passport, you can’t go.  My other heart dropped. 

 

What were we going to do now.  My thought was that we were going to miss my son’s wedding and the Bella Cruise.  My other other heart dropped.

 

At 8:15, DH got a call from the driver.  He had our passports.  He’s 10 minutes away, he would bring it to us right away.

 

More later.

 

So glad this all worked out for you. What a nice lyft driver!

Enjoy the wedding and little vacation. 

[Bailey & Sophie]

1 hour ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

Debbie, your poor head😳

 

Prayers for Charlie that he gets well soon!

[dani negreanu]

More pics from Venice

 

St. Mark's fogged in --

 

 

Our "street"

 

 

The entrance to our flat [left]

 

 

 

My fav meal pre-cooking

 

 

Gondola station

 

 

Waiting for passengers

 

 

 

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Your dinner looks like breakfast to me.

Most days it would be, except for Pancake Tuesday. 😋

[BonTexasNY]

4 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Feel better soon,Bonnie.

 

 

Thanks, Lenny.

3 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

Debbie, your poor head😳

What a fright! Praying Charlie heals quickly.

 

@FromSea2ShiningSea I would be stressed to the limit.  So glad things worked out and you were able to enjoy your son's wedding. Congratulations - a hearty Mazel Tov.

 

@dani negreanuDani, foggy or clear, your pictures are beautiful.

[Luckynana]

On 2/22/2023 at 11:48 AM, dani negreanu said:

 

I "hear" you...

 

One of the main reasons I've booked this particular flat in Venice was his proximity to the water bus [Alilaguna Blu] from Marco Polo... What I couldn't know and I know now, is that there are 4 (four) stops named Fte Nuove... Of course, our "bus" stopped at A, which necessitated climbing many stairs and then descending them, after all the running around we've done the flying out day...

 

On our previous stay in Venice, pre-cruise, I've got an excellent recommendation on Italy's Ports of Call about a hotel [Fontana], who's main "asset" was "no bridges and no stairs to cross from Alilaguna Blu stop" 😁

 

I've booked this hotel, and, indeed, it was straight on a mere 4 mins from the stop. It was ideally situated for arriving from the airport, and the day of the cruise (July 2014), to board it to "Crociere".

 

 

 

Wishing you an enjoyable stay at Disney with much higher temperatures, and an amazing cruise 🌷

 

@Momof3gurlz Deb & Andy, belated best wishes for your 35th anniversary 💐

 

 

I have another batch of pics, this time from DH's camera --

 

The Rialto Bridge fogged in 

 

 

The St. Mark's Basilica

 

 

 

 

The Grand Canal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bridge of Sighs

 

 

 

Venice is so beautiful.  We were supposed to cruise out of Venice in 2021.  (Sigh). Your pictures are awesome.  Thank you, Dani 

[Luckynana]

7 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Ouch Debbie.  Hope it’s not painful for you. 

@Sunshine3601Oh no, Debbie!  How are you feeling?

This is so weird,.....your post isn't in my feed at all!   Not to mention, we keep losing internet in our condo

[dani negreanu]

Credit where it is due -- the next 2 pics are the only ones I've taken with my IPhone.... Since DH was "busy" chasing more interesting "objects" [in his opinion 😉] --

 

I really liked their shoes

 

 

and here -- the intricate lady's robe

 

 

More of DH pics -- twins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Luckynana]

4 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

Spent the night in the ER with Charlie.  He has pneumonia and is now on IV antibiotics.  Waiting to hear from hospital.

Debbie, your poor head😳

Sorry to hear about Charlie.  I hope he recovers quickly, Marietta ❤️. You must be exhausted.