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

[dani negreanu]

Rallying for a better future for our kids and grandkids.

 

My friends have reached Jerusalem, after walking in a very hot an d humid weather for the last 3 days.

 

 

We're doing it locally, DH has the bigger flag.

 

[BonTexasNY]

1 hour ago, jmh2006 said:

Lunch was good.  Today we went to my hometown, Montclair and drove around.  Growing up there was wonderful.  The first house is where I grew up and the second house is where my parents moved to when I was in college.  We had lunch at a deli and had a delicious Sloppy Joe sandwich (which is different than one might expect)!  Fond memories!

Montclair is a beautiful town.  The 2 houses are beautiful!

13 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Rallying for a better future for our kids and grandkids.

 

My friends have reached Jerusalem, after walking in a very hot an d humid weather for the last 3 days.

 

 

We're doing it locally, DH has the bigger flag.

 

Kol Hakavod. Way to go Dani, DH and friends.

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Out for a walk this morning, and I may have spotted OB

 

 

And just like that, we hit 100,000 posts. 

 

 

What a handsome shadow!

[TravelGirlinDallas]

4 hours ago, helen haywood said:

I’ve had a week of trying to find a new cat sitter.  Before we moved here I had searched out cat sitters and found a very conscientious lady and she has now looked after them four times.  I had no issues with her services at all.  Then back in May I saw someone asking on the NextDoor app if there was any interest in her starting a pet sitting service…she was new to the area but used to do this where she previously lived.  I replied that we would be interested.

 

Well, my original cat sitter saw my May post last Saturday (no idea) and sent me a text saying since I was obviously unhappy with her services she would be returning my key.  I was flabbergasted and shocked and texted her back that I was perfectly happy with her services and was only looking for a backup person should she ever be unavailable.  That I don’t know anyone here I could ask as a favor.  I believe in planning ahead for every possible contingency.  
 

She proceeded to tell me how I should have worded my response to the new person…😳 and continued on the line that I (the client) had clearly breached some line in the sand…. I realized as we were texting back and forth that even if I got her off the ledge I was still going to have to find another sitter because clearly she’s nuts.

 

So that’s what I’ve been doing this week.  I now have two different sitters lined up for our two trips later this year…and two more names so four reliable (hopefully saner) sitters.  Whew!  Our cats are incredibly important to me so finding dependable sitters is my top priority here.

 

Will now text original sitter and say upon further reflection I think it would be best for her to return my key.  And heave a sigh of relief!

Wow, you dodged a bullet there. She sounds cray-cray.

[helen haywood]

2 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Wow, you dodged a bullet there. She sounds cray-cray.

No kidding.  My thoughts exactly.  Think it all worked out for the best, though I didn’t feel that way last Saturday.  I was so shocked I cried…😢

[bobmacliberty]

31 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

No kidding.  My thoughts exactly.  Think it all worked out for the best, though I didn’t feel that way last Saturday.  I was so shocked I cried…😢

 

It's probably for the best that you learned about her this way, rather than some incident involving your cats.  Trustworthy pet sitters make all the difference in the world.

[bobmacliberty]

3 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I was thinking the same but then I remember visiting Cambodia a few years ago.  There were some snacking on roasted crickets. 😳 I thought should I?  Thinking this might not go good I tossed one in my mouth.   I was so surprised! They tasted good.  

 

Traveling around the world for business gave me the opportunity to eat all kinds of interesting things.  I'm generally an adventurous eater and will try just about anything.  I had roasted crickets in Mexico and agree that they were tasty.  Scorpions on a stick in China were interesting.  Not bad tasting...just crunchy.  Couldn't get myself to eat the live ones though.  The thing that I liked the least was pig brains, also in China.  They tasted too gelatinous.  My hosts claimed that it was a delicacy reserved for honored guests, but I'm not sure that I buy that.

 

[bobmacliberty]

We have our 30th anniversary coming up in September.  Micheline has mentioned wanting to see Billy Joel before he stops touring, so I bought tickets at Madison Square Garden.  I'm looking for suggestions from the NYC experts here on hotel choices.  I'm OK with paying a little more for a nicer place.  I am defaulting to staying somewhere close to MSG for convenience but if you have good suggestions for a better location, we can always Uber to/from the concert. I haven't booked flights yet but I'm guessing that we'll stay there 3 nights.  Might as well get in some sightseeing and a couple of good meals while we're there.

[Sunshine3601]

3 hours ago, CrzLvr2 said:

Congratulations 🎉🍾 on 4,000 pages of messages and 100,000 posts for Dani’s thread!! 

Thank you Dani @dani negreanu for bringing this “Family of Friends” together by starting this thread back in April of 2020!  🥰

 

Sue

 

+1.  Well said🥰

[Sunshine3601]

19 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Traveling around the world for business gave me the opportunity to eat all kinds of interesting things.  I'm generally an adventurous eater and will try just about anything.  I had roasted crickets in Mexico and agree that they were tasty.  Scorpions on a stick in China were interesting.  Not bad tasting...just crunchy.  Couldn't get myself to eat the live ones though.  The thing that I liked the least was pig brains, also in China.  They tasted too gelatinous.  My hosts claimed that it was a delicacy reserved for honored guests, but I'm not sure that I buy that.

 

Ewww...that does Not look appetizing at all.  I like to try new things but that is a hard pass for me.

[Arzeena]

12 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We have our 30th anniversary coming up in September.  Micheline has mentioned wanting to see Billy Joel before he stops touring, so I bought tickets at Madison Square Garden.  I'm looking for suggestions from the NYC experts here on hotel choices.  I'm OK with paying a little more for a nicer place.  I am defaulting to staying somewhere close to MSG for convenience but if you have good suggestions for a better location, we can always Uber to/from the concert. I haven't booked flights yet but I'm guessing that we'll stay there 3 nights.  Might as well get in some sightseeing and a couple of good meals while we're there.

That sounds like a lovely trip. Happy Anniverseay in advance!

I think @George C is our resident expert on luxury hotels and suites. I would wait for him to chime in.

[NHProud]

30 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We have our 30th anniversary coming up in September.  Micheline has mentioned wanting to see Billy Joel before he stops touring, so I bought tickets at Madison Square Garden.  I'm looking for suggestions from the NYC experts here on hotel choices.  I'm OK with paying a little more for a nicer place.  I am defaulting to staying somewhere close to MSG for convenience but if you have good suggestions for a better location, we can always Uber to/from the concert. I haven't booked flights yet but I'm guessing that we'll stay there 3 nights.  Might as well get in some sightseeing and a couple of good meals while we're there.

We’ve stayed at the Waldorf Astoria and no complaints.  We’ve also stayed at the Westin Times Square, the Hilton on Avenue of the Americas and the Sheraton on 7th and 52nd .  
 

That was some years, ago . No complaints about any of them .  
 

 

 

[Jimbo]

6 hours ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

 

I was going to do the same today.  Make Blueberry Buckle

 

 

Care to share the recipe,my Mother used to make them all the time in season (nothing like NJ Blueberries)

[George C]

5 minutes ago, NHProud said:

We’ve stayed at the Waldorf Astoria and no complaints.  We’ve also stayed at the Westin Times Square, the Hilton on Avenue of the Americas and the Sheraton on 7th and 52nd .  
 

That was some years, ago . No complaints about any of them .  
 

 

 

We stayed at Sheraton and Hilton was our go to hotel until ten years ago when we discovered the michealanglo on 51st and 7th perfect location ( but need short taxi Uber Lyft to msg) they have a 600 sq king suite with a bath and a half . But last two trips we had the king grand suite with two full baths , huge living room and 850 sq ft . Lots of great bars and restaurants really close . Will be happy to suggest some restaurants and bars . 

[NHProud]

@George CWhat’s the name of your favorite hotel near the Sheraton?  
 

George , we were typing at the same time .  Thanks for letting us know the name of your fav hotel. 
 

My husband traveled for decades on business and amassed millions of points on one airline and one hotel brand . We’ve not paid for hotels in a very long time . So , naturally we are cashing in now that he is retired.  

Edited July 22, 2023 by NHProud

[h20skibum]

@SteelCityCruiser10 Happy 30th anniversary yesterday.  Saw you mentioned on Andrew’s live, and thought better to reply here. 

[Ourusualbeach]

8 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Proud of Andrew for giving them a go.  
 

This Andrew doesn’t mind them either, much to the surprise of many here.

Kind of surprised given they have the same chewy texture as raisins...must be the garlic butter

[George C]

19 minutes ago, NHProud said:

@George CWhat’s the name of your favorite hotel near the Sheraton?  
 

George , we were typing at the same time .  Thanks for letting us know the name of your fav hotel. 
 

My husband traveled for decades on business and amassed millions of points on one airline and one hotel brand . We’ve not paid for hotels in a very long time . So , naturally we are cashing in now that he is retired.  

The smallest room in the michealanglo is 400 sq Ft which is a great size . My sister who normally stayed at Waldorf was really impressed with our grand king suite . 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

12 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

@SteelCityCruiser10 Happy 30th anniversary yesterday.  Saw you mentioned on Andrew’s live, and thought better to reply here. 

Thanks for noticing !  It’s actually our 14th  but who’s counting… lol  

 

We aren’t the types to do big celebrations for anniversaries or birthdays.  Usually what happens is I book cruises and then we say this one can be our anniversary present to each other.  This one can be our birthday presents to each others etc etc 

[Sunshine3601]

1 minute ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Thanks for noticing !  It’s actually our 14th  but who’s counting… lol  

 

We aren’t the types to do big celebrations for anniversaries or birthdays.  Usually what happens is I book cruises and then we say this one can be our anniversary present to each other.  This one can be our birthday presents to each others etc etc 

Happy Anniversary🥂💐

[akcruz]

21 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Thanks for noticing !  It’s actually our 14th  but who’s counting… lol  

 

We aren’t the types to do big celebrations for anniversaries or birthdays.  Usually what happens is I book cruises and then we say this one can be our anniversary present to each other.  This one can be our birthday presents to each others etc etc 

 

Happy Anniversary 🎉🥂💖

 

We do the same , maybe go to a bit nicer place for dinner and plan a trip somewhere.

[SteelCityCruiser10]

DW made herself a Watermelon Tito’s Mojito with our home grown mint and fresh watermelon 

 

[Sea Dog]

41 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Thanks for noticing !  It’s actually our 14th  but who’s counting… lol  

 

We aren’t the types to do big celebrations for anniversaries or birthdays.  Usually what happens is I book cruises and then we say this one can be our anniversary present to each other.  This one can be our birthday presents to each others etc etc 

I think that’s a great idea. Happy Anniversary!

[h20skibum]

52 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Thanks for noticing !  It’s actually our 14th  but who’s counting… lol  

Well, dang!   I must have had Bob’s 30th on my mind.  Anyhow, happy anniversary.  
 

My daughter has one coming up the end of the week, and ours is the following week. 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

5 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Well, dang!   I must have had Bob’s 30th on my mind.  Anyhow, happy anniversary.  
 

My daughter has one coming up the end of the week, and ours is the following week. 

Haha no worries for sure … I’m gonna wish you and DD a Happy Anniversary ahead of time since I am perpetually in catch up mode between this thread and Bella’s plus any goodies.