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

[aussielozzie18]

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I never had a problem with elevators but for 20 years I worked on the 17th.floor of an office building.Twice there were fires and I had to walk all the way down to the main floor .That did not bother me but my wife worked on the 87th.floor of the original World Trade Center and I could never imagine walking down 87 floors.

I remember doing yearly fire drills when we were on the 6th floor.  Walking down the six flights of stairs.  DH says they have never done fire drills at his building.

[aussielozzie18]

36 minutes ago, Coralc said:

 

My mom never learned how to swim, so she wanted to make sure I did. Started swim lessons around age 5. 

 

Funny quick story. We were having a swim instructor organized back stroke race down the length of the pool. All the moms used to sit on the bleachers. I thought I started off well, but it seemed like I backstroked for a long time. I finally heard my mom calling me, and I opened my eyes, and I was only midway down the pool. 

 

Apparently, I had been making big circles in the center of the pool, while everyone else had already finished. 

Backstroke is a tricky one.  They now have flags near the end of lanes during school swim races so you have something to aim for😀

[grapau27]

6 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Does Pauline go into oceans ? I was in an ocean once after my experience .

She sometimes walks along the edge of the sea and just gets her feet wet.

[grapau27]

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I fell down an escalator from top to bottom as a child and stayed off one until age 20 when I talked myself in to trying again.I fell down again and have never been on one since.

I'm so sorry to hear that Lenny.

Did you break any bones?

I fell down the stairs at home when I was very young and fractured my wrist.

[sgmn]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:51 PM, h20skibum said:

We have our first NE cruise coming up in October, leaving from Boston.  It will be something different for us, and will be a nice getaway after our summer with the grandkids. 
 

We have stops in Bar Harbor and Portland, Maine, plus St John, NB and Halifax, NS. 
 

The only thing I have booked so far is Acadia National Park when we are in Bar Harbor.  
 

I have read about Peggy’s cove in Halifax, and may book an excursion there. 
 

For anyone who has been to these ports, any recommendations?   I usually have time to research, but it seems my free time is limited this summer. 

It's very easy to book car hire in Halifax.  The offices are close to where the ships dock. That's what we did last time. You can then drive to Peggy's Cove, it's easy to park there or in the opposite direction there are some nice sights. The titanic museum is interesting too 

[sgmn]

On 7/8/2022 at 5:33 PM, jagsfan said:

I’ve visited at one time or another just about everything in London. 
Nit the State rooms at Buckingham Palace, though. I wasn’t there in the summer. 
I was there not king after Diana’s death, though. 
On a stair landing in Harrod’s was a little shrine. A large framed photo of Diana and one of Dodi, a large flower arrangement, and a large padlocked box with a slot in the top and a little sign saying Donations!!!

We walked to Kensington Palace and saw hundreds of sheaves of flowers attached to the gates. 
That was such a sad time, and still is, for me. 
BBC was setting up for some kind of presentation or interview. 
We were on an 8 hour layover on the way to Kenya, so had to move on. 

Think the whole country went into some kind of collective morning, never known anything like it. Literally a sea of thousands of flowers outside KP. 

You probably know that Dodis dad owned Harrods at the time . Presume donations were for charity? Seems strange 

[sgmn]

On 7/8/2022 at 10:23 PM, jagsfan said:

Years ago, they were dull,  no sparkle.
Then a new room was created with the best possible lighting. 
what a huge difference that made. 
I went from unimpressed to wanting to grab and run!

I was there last year and they are well displayed now were a very slow moving travellator in front so everyone gets a good look. You can go around as many times as you want.  It was in-between lockdowns so was pretty quiet without the normal overseas  visitors

[sgmn]

On 7/9/2022 at 3:49 AM, John&LaLa said:

2 years from today we will be headed to Barcelona to end the 3rd leg of the world cruise. I wonder what will have impressed me the most by then?

Can't wait to hear about it, hope you'll keep us updated 

[sgmn]

20 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good afternoon.

It is 75°F and sunny.

We had a lovely lunch today.

Wow yum yum as always Graham.  You're looking well BTW

[grapau27]

5 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Wow yum yum as always Graham.  You're looking well BTW

Thank you Sue, I appreciate your kind words.

Graham.

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, HBE4 said:

Add me to the list of people that can't swim. I can float, I'm a real good floater. Lake, pool, ocean, doesn't matter. There have been times when I float on my back and the water is calm enough, I start dozing off only to be awakened by the life guard whistle if I drift to far away.

 

But when I start to swim, one of two things happen: I start to sink or I stay abouve water but no forward momentum. Just a lot of thrashing and splashing.

I love swimming either in the sea or pools but can't for the life of me get the hang of crawl 

Gary's tried to teach me but just can't get it

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, Luckynana said:

With all of this talk about swimming,  I just wanted to add that our granddaughter Ava is a Lifeguard at one of the Jersey Shore Beaches, and she made a "save" on her first day on the job.  Two kids were caught in an undertow, and Ava and another lifeguard were able to get them safely back onshore.😊

Well done Ava, especially on her first day.

My son was also a lifeguard during collage and saved a few people 

In Kenya he was walking past the pool and noticed a young girl on the bottom. Nobody in the pool had noticed her. He got her out, she had to go hospital but survived 

In my teens I belonged to a surf lifesaving club on the beach in Perranporth in Cornwall . It's on the Atlantic coast and has big waves. But in those days the girls tended to look after lost kids and minor first aid and the guys did the life saving thing. My how times have changed 

Edited July 10, 2022 by sgmn

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

For those that asked about mom she is doing OK. Mom left the hospital yesterday afternoon for the retirement home for convalescent care.  The surgery was late Thursday. 
 

She has been doing a bit of walking but the fear of the pain is a mind game for her. The huge positive thing is we have 24 hour PSW care for her for 2 weeks, and once a day hourly physiotherapy arranged for her at the retirement facility. A nurse comes and sees her every 2/3 days to check her wound and change the bandaid and covering. We arranged this over and above the care at the home. 
 

Today was a bit better than yesterday and I hope tomorrow is a bit better yet again. She is enjoying her food there as well.  I just hope that she can get over the fear aspect a bit more every day. I spent 8 hours with her and another 5 today. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

 

Thinking of your mum and all the family. Sounds like she is in an excellent care home

[HBE4]

8 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

They were better many years ago when each store made fresh donuts every day.   Now their donuts are shipped in from whatever plant makes them.

 

I agree. Back in the 1970's & even 1980's, I used to love Dunkin Donuts.  Back when each location made their own. I still remember the old commercial of the baker getting up in the wee hours of the morning (the middle of the night for most of us) and shuffling off to the store muttering "Time to make the donuts" over and over.  If I was lucky, I'd be in the store  when a new batch came out. Coffee was real good back then as well.

 

Not sure when they switched to factory made donuts but the quality has declined. So did the coffee which now resembles hot water with a hint of coffee flavor. To be fair, it's been years - maybe decades - since i last had DD coffee so maybe it's gotten better again?

 

A couple of years ago, they removed "Donuts" from their name and now are just "Dunkin".  No longer just about the donuts, I guess.

[sgmn]

Gary's cycle ride to Ypres is going well. Its pretty hot but he seems to be coping OK

The charity is The Royal British Legion which is a forces charity for veterans and their families. Normally he does the London to Paris ride where there is over 300 who take part but this is a much smaller ride with around 50 

Here are a few pics from yesterday and this morning 

Meeting at dawn for the ferry to Dunkirk 

One of the stops along the route

View from top of a hill looking back towards Dunkirk 

Hydrating 

The Vimy Ridge memorial to over 11,000 Canadians who lost their lives in this area during the first WW

 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by sgmn

[aussielozzie18]

Thank you for sharing the photos of Gary’s ride @sgmn.  How long are they expecting the ride to take?

[Keksie]

5 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

My mom never learned how to swim, so she wanted to make sure I did. Started swim lessons around age 5. 

 

Funny quick story. We were having a swim instructor organized back stroke race down the length of the pool. All the moms used to sit on the bleachers. I thought I started off well, but it seemed like I backstroked for a long time. I finally heard my mom calling me, and I opened my eyes, and I was only midway down the pool. 

 

Apparently, I had been making big circles in the center of the pool, while everyone else had already finished. 

My mom couldn't swim either so when I was maybe 6 my father and I both took swim lessons.  It was all going well until it came time to dive.  I was at the edge of the board, the instructor came up behind me and pushed, the older boys got to dive to the bottom to retrieve the metal edge of the board that I ripped off with my toes.  I never did learn to dive but I swim well.  Many summers were spent all day at the pool.  My mom would drop my friends and I off and come back before dinner.  Big fun!

[bobmacliberty]

I swam competitively at our neighborhood swim club (Old Orchard Swim Club...home of the Old Orchard Otters!) when I was young...3rd and 4th grade.  What I remember most is waking up very early for swim practice before school in June.  Rain or shine, warm or cold...didn't matter.  We were in the water swimming lap after lap, including laps with a kickboard to work on legs.  For some reason, I was good at butterfly.  Other kids struggled to do that stroke properly.  I therefore swam anything involving butterfly...the 25 and 50 fly, the 100 IM, and the 100 medley relay.

[h20skibum]

Susan never learned how to swim either, but she usually will have a life vest on or a wetsuit, whenever she is in water over her head.

 

My kids all went to classes to learn to swim, and the grandkids are all learning swim.

 

Today is packing day for our trip to Myrtle Beach tomorrow.

[Arzeena]

15 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

 

Yes, the no "meeting" was disappointing, more so since she's continuing to show that people brought her the Trader's Joe snacks she asked for, and I KNOW that I had such a big part in this. 

 

I've asked cruisers in all the Beyond roll calls for May, June and July, as well as those in the other social site. I've answered their questions, kept track of who managed to buy them, wrote to "her" about them.

 

There is a huge difference between asking for them in tik-tok, and me "targeting" the very people who in a short time will board your "boat"....

Ok, so forgive me, but I really do not understand this post. Are you tracking who brought stuff and how much was invested for a visitation with her? I just don't get it. 

Love you and respect you Dani, so don't take this in the wrong way but I really don't get this "investment" part and keeping a track of stuff presented. 

Anyway, let it go, for your own peace. 

[aussielozzie18]

Tonight I  watched No Time to Die, the most recent Daniel Craig James Bond movie.  I think I did really well to have avoided the spoilers.  Thought it was very well done.

[Sea Dog]

14 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Blech on Olive Garden.  IMHO fake Italian food. Best restaurants are like the one you used to frequent.  Doesn't have to be upscale with expensive prices.  Not a chain but family owned and operated taking pride on what comes out of their kitchen.

 

I agree. We have a Olive Garden by our house, the parking lot is always packed. Less than 3 blocks away is a longtime Italian family owned restaurant that serves incredible Italian food that is very reasonable priced. I could never understand why people would eat at OG and not drive a couple blocks down the road and have the real deal.

 

 

13 hours ago, HBE4 said:

Add me to the list of people that can't swim. I can float, I'm a real good floater. Lake, pool, ocean, doesn't matter. There have been times when I float on my back and the water is calm enough, I start dozing off only to be awakened by the life guard whistle if I drift to far away.

 

But when I start to swim, one of two things happen: I start to sink or I stay abouve water but no forward momentum. Just a lot of thrashing and splashing.

 

As a kid I had a near drowning experience. Scared me to death. My parents enrolled me in swim lessons but I was never a great swimmer just ok.. Now that Linda and I are cruising more and spending time in the ocean I want to become a better swimmer so I have been practicing at our neighborhood pool. 

 

The one thing I can not seem to master is floating. Linda has tried to help me as she is a good floater but I seem to tense up and sink. I can keep my upper half floating but my legs keep sinking. The only way I can float is by kicking my legs to keep them near the surface. I have no idea what I am doing wrong, thought?

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

For those that asked about mom she is doing OK. Mom left the hospital yesterday afternoon for the retirement home for convalescent care.  The surgery was late Thursday. 
 

She has been doing a bit of walking but the fear of the pain is a mind game for her. The huge positive thing is we have 24 hour PSW care for her for 2 weeks, and once a day hourly physiotherapy arranged for her at the retirement facility. A nurse comes and sees her every 2/3 days to check her wound and change the bandaid and covering. We arranged this over and above the care at the home. 
 

Today was a bit better than yesterday and I hope tomorrow is a bit better yet again. She is enjoying her food there as well.  I just hope that she can get over the fear aspect a bit more every day. I spent 8 hours with her and another 5 today. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

 

 

Andrew thanks for the update. Hopefully her recovery will keep on getting better everyday. Let her know that we are thinking of her and wishing her a speedy revcovery.

[Jimbo]

 

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I remember doing yearly fire drills when we were on the 6th floor.  Walking down the six flights of stairs.  DH says they have never done fire drills at his building.

I was the Fire Warden on the floor I was working on.It was up to me to make sure everyone was out of offices and bathrooms.We had monthly fire drills.

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, grapau27 said:

She sometimes walks along the edge of the sea and just gets her feet wet.

That is what I usually do.The condo that we live in has three outdoor pools I am probably the only resident who has never been in a pool.They have tables with umbrellas ,lounge chairs and regular chairs.I used to go there for conversation.