The Daily for Saturday Jan 2, 2021

[65 Gator]

2 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Leon, I'm so sorry to hear your kitty passed away last week.  Hugs to you and Jenny.

It is funny to recall that I was NEVER a cat person until I married Jenny and she presented me with a kitchen mat with the inscription "Love Me...  Love My Cat"...  I guess you know, after 30 years, how that turned out.

[kazu]

48 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I'd like to say good morning to all but somehow I lazed the morning away....  Better make up for it the rest of the day. I have to get the house back in order today and tomorrow as my (now remote) work starts again on Monday. And I didn't want to do cleaning yesterday since there is that old superstition that whatever you do on New Years day you'll be doing all year long....

 

The ravioli sounds good -- can't make it today but I will definitely make it soon.

 

@cat shepard I will have to hunt down that great wine too... it's right up my alley.  My local wine shop has a good selection of Italian reds. I have been educating them about Italian whites over the last few years so thankfully they have now expanded beyond just pinot grigio and prosecco.

 

@StLouisCruisers  I'm such a history buff. I love the idea of your following Shackleton's route from Elephant Island to South Georgia...  Thanks for sharing your cabin photos today. You are definitely giving me a lot of think about regarding my own Antarctica planning....  

 

Love all the cat photos. I grew up a "cat person" -- we had several beloved cats when I was growing up, but never had a dog until I married a "dog person".  Now I'd like to say I see the positives of both. But they are certainly different:

 

 

Your cartoons sum it up perfectly.  😝 

 

 

[Cruising-along]

3 minutes ago, 65 Gator said:

It is funny to recall that I was NEVER a cat person until I married Jenny and she presented me with a kitchen mat with the inscription "Love Me...  Love My Cat"...  I guess you know, after 30 years, how that turned out.

Love it!

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, 65 Gator said:

It is funny to recall that I was NEVER a cat person until I married Jenny and she presented me with a kitchen mat with the inscription "Love Me...  Love My Cat"...  I guess you know, after 30 years, how that turned out.

 

I used to have the same message on my mat. 😉 

That’s how my house of 2 cats grew to 3 when Jose and I got together.  He had the most badly behaved cat I’ve ever seen.  Vicious and spoiled.  I actually feared for my eyes and life when I was brining him back to my house from Jose’s for the move in.

Lucky for me, Jose was going to Mexico to visit his father and I had the 3 cats to myself for nearly 2 weeks.  By the time Jose got back, his cat was eating real cat food.  Was much better behaved and no longer swiping at people or my cats.  He turned into a lovely cat and well mannered (well, as well mannered as any cat can be 😉 ).

 

[Copper10-8]

We're talking cabins here 😉 This is what the security officer's cabin on Noordam looks like

[bennybear]

13 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

We're talking cabins here 😉 This is what the security officer's cabin on Noordam looks like

Glad to see you had friends along😄

[Vict0riann]

24 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Another House Fan!  

 

Sorry about your rain.  Would you rather have this?

 

 

It’s coming down pretty thick and blowing.

 

I don't think so!  A lot of people refuse to retire to Victoria because they hate the dull, dreary, rainy days of winter here,.  They would rather have big snow storms and then the brilliant sun that follows them.  I remember in Montreal, you could get a sunburn after the snow storms!

[Copper10-8]

1 minute ago, bennybear said:

Glad to see you had friends along😄

 

They would only go if they had a porthole................

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

26 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Oh that would have been nice.  The dates of the Norway spectacular were June 16 through July 6, so 20 days.  It began in Ijmuiden, Netherlands, stopped in Copenhagen, then we stopped in 14 wonderful Norway ports.  Norway is our second favorite place to cruise.  Antarctica is the first.  

 

We were also on Prinsendam in late May, early June, 2017 and that included some Norway on it as well.  We sure miss the "Elegant Explorer"!

The years are right, but we did nor board until July 20 in 2016, and August 4 in 2017.  Maybe, we’ll be on the same ship at the same time — someday.  🤞

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all!   Saving some fruitcake for posterity!  Never had a cat,  my mother disliked them and DH is allergic,  so just dogs,😄

 

@StLouisCruisers that balcony looks nicer than a signature suite!  Gorgeous!  We’ve been lucky once to have a Neptune wrap, and it was wonderful in the Med, shade or sun,  watching the Pleiades meteor shower as we sailed in the Aegean eating a beautifully served dinner.  Sigh,  kind of spoils you!  Room for a lovely cocktail party,  and big enough to host inside when it was too warm out.  Mostly we just have balconies with a Signature a couple of times.  But maybe we will try one of the luxury lines in the future!  
 

Enjoy your day! 

[kazu]

5 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

 

I don't think so!  A lot of people refuse to retire to Victoria because they hate the dull, dreary, rainy days of winter here,.  They would rather have big snow storms and then the brilliant sun that follows them.  I remember in Montreal, you could get a sunburn after the snow storms!

 

OMG I’d rather have rain than snow and I remember how wonderful your flowers are so much more early in the spring than ours are.

 

But I remember your weather a bit ago:

 

[Seasick Sailor]

2 hours ago, Live4cruises said:

 

Stitches and staples come out Wednesday - I will be very glad to have this episode behind me.

Have a terrific weekend, everyone.  Mask up, watch where you put your feet.  😐

 

I hope you are feeling better. I worry about my wobbly husband tripping over our new kitten.

[Copper10-8]

The bridge of the Noordam. Normal staffing at sea when the ship is on "autopilot" with a pre-programmed course is one senior deck/nautical officer, one junior deck officer and two quartermasters/lookouts from Indonesia

 

Every sea day morning at 1030 hrs. is "coffee time" on the bridge when all the officers of the nautical dept., incl. the captain, staff captain and SECO show up. Depending on where the ship is, this gettogether can be followed by a nautical meeting, known as a BRM or Bridge Resources Management, where the particulars of the next port of call are discussed, using a power point presentation 

 

2nd pic is one of Noordam's mouse pads as used on the bridge  

Edited January 2, 2021 by Copper10-8

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good morning, all! I love the quote, and the collection of days. No fruitcake this year, but it would have been eaten long ago if there was. I wonder how we'll all react the first time we see a buffet again? Will it be a shock to look ahead at your fellow diners breathing heavily on the food you’re about to take, or will they hopefully be served HAL style where you point at food behind droplet proof glass?

With all the talk of tourtières yesterday, I’m making one today.  DH was raised in Quebec, so he is very fond of them. @cat shepard, the recipe I used contains mashed potato, so,it won’t be the one you’ve been hunting for. The rain continues unabated here. Other than our walk and making the tourtière, we may just binge watch Halmark Christmas movies, as we’ve done a few times over the holidays. There’s an endless supply of them!

Enjoy your weekend, and Happy Saturday from the Amsterdam elevator mats!

 

[Marmot@Sea]

Good Morning and Happy Mew Year.

 

It is a quiet wet morning.  Slowly working my way into the day.  Later today we will be watching World Junior Hockey from Edmonton.

 

No fruitcake here and dinner will be leftovers from either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.

 

I had cats for years, but now we are a dog only family.

 

This photo is of the stray cat I brought home from work years ago.  My dh swore she was pregnant, and he was correct.

 

 

Val

Edited January 2, 2021 by Marmot@Sea

[Copper10-8]

BRM (Bridge Resources Management) meeting on Amsterdam, a sea day with one of the "RTD2's" 😉 on the port side, and one of the ship's basketball teams. Basketball is an extremely popular sport in the Philippines. Most of the officers and officer cadets are in khakis on various work details around the ship. Sea days are always good for those😉 The gent in the center with the "shiny top" is Amsterdam's then staff captain, Friso, since promoted to captain, As is usual with HAL, this was a very multi-national team of deck officers, hailing from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the UK

Edited January 2, 2021 by Copper10-8

[Live4cruises]

Joy, thank you for the good wishes.  I’m recovering, but have a whole new outlooks on self-preservation.  I always thought of myself as the household “safety committee”, but that is obviously untrue as I both created the hazard, then took advantage of it!  

Yes, you and your DH are probably already in the habit of watching little Sophie, who believes she is showing adoration as she plops in front of you!

[Seasick Sailor]

1 minute ago, Live4cruises said:

Joy, thank you for the good wishes.  I’m recovering, but have a whole new outlooks on self-preservation.  I always thought of myself as the household “safety committee”, but that is obviously untrue as I both created the hazard, then took advantage of it!  

Yes, you and your DH are probably already in the habit of watching little Sophie, who believes she is showing adoration as she plops in front of you!

 

I forgot to ask whether you retired from your unhappy situation at work? 

[cat shepard]

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

unfortunately, it turned out I gave birth to a couple of allergic children, so that put paid to that.  I had to make a choice, cats or children...

 

So Ann, tell us which one did you choose? 

[Live4cruises]

Just now, Seasick Sailor said:

 

I forgot to ask whether you retired from your unhappy situation at work? 

I have a date set for early July, so the light at the end of the tunnel has made the aggravation more bearable.  However, this week has me thinking “life’s too short”, especially since I was on the phone with an executive-created emergency until 7:00 NYE, theoretically a day off for me.  In the past year my company has lost its humanity and is turning into just another bureaucracy.  I feel more obligation to them than they to me, and that’s about to change.  Out with the old, here’s to 2021!  I hope I’m not just a big talker —-

[Seasick Sailor]

Just now, cat shepard said:

So Ann, tell us which one did you choose? 

 

Omg that's a good one sis! A knee slapper! 

[Rowsby]

 

Best way to spend New Year's Day.....with your buddy......:)

[cat shepard]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

@cat shepard I will have to hunt down that great wine too... it's right up my alley.  My local wine shop has a good selection of Italian reds. I have been educating them about Italian whites over the last few years so thankfully they have now expanded beyond just pinot grigio and prosecco.

 

You & @bennybearimmediately popped into my head, when I read about it! You might even be able to find it more cheaply!

[Seasick Sailor]

1 minute ago, Live4cruises said:

I have a date set for early July, so the light at the end of the tunnel has made the aggravation more bearable.  However, this week has me thinking “life’s too short”, especially since I was on the phone with an executive-created emergency until 7:00 NYE, theoretically a day off for me.  In the past year my company has lost its humanity and is turning into just another bureaucracy.  I feel more obligation to them than they to me, and that’s about to change.  Out with the old, here’s to 2021!  I hope I’m not just a big talker —-

 

Hang in there. We put a plan together for Allen to retire at 55. The other pilots kept telling us we were crazy. Keep making money, take the extra flights. Allen told them when is enough enough? For us, it was enough and retired very blessed.

[Suslor]

Thanks Rich and Roy and the “drink ladies”. I’ve been enjoying reading the posts for a few months and finally showed up yesterday at Roy’s invite to come out from the shadow. 
I think today I wandered onto the wrong site - this looks like cat lovers anonymous so you can tell I’m not a fan. 
DH and I always book a Neptune suite. We got an upgrade once from a Signature suite and as they say “Once you’ve gone Neptune you never go back “! I’ll look for some pictures from our travels to share. I agree, those curtains around the bed in the Prisendam’s Neptune suite were great. Also enjoyed the fact that you could close the door between the WC and tub room which gave you a powder room when you had guests. 

We’ve picked up some good tips from our “lurking” and so booked the Panama Canal cruise from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego (even though we’ve done the canal before) to join up with our Hawaii and South Pacific cruise in February 2022. The Hawaii, French Polynesia and Marquesa cruise is a do over from our COVID-19 cancelled Maasdam cruise last March. Sadly that turned out to be the Maasdam’s last HAL cruise.