The Daily for Wednesday August 04, 2021

[atexsix]

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

I second Luggage Forward.  You can also have it sent to your hotel (we've done that).  Our hotel (Movenpick in Amsterdam) was right next door to the cruise terminal. I wanted to be sure we had our luggage before the ship departure -- paranoid 😉   They will also send it to the ship on embarkation day, you could have an overnight bag for the hotel. 🙂  It has to be certain airlines and cities, I believe, so something to check. 

We always use limos to go from our residence to the hotel so it's not really going to be a major requirement for this trip but we will strongly consider it elsewhere.  

[Sharon in AZ]

7 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Speaking of the like button, after it started working on my tablet last night, it quit working again.  This morning it's not working on yesterday's Daily, but is working on today's Daily.

My like button isn’t working today.

[mamaofami]

2 hours ago, JazzyV said:

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily.

Great days! I love chocolate chip cookies, salute the Coast Guard, and kids are great (although I have none). Also a salute to white wine, although I prefer red.

Pork chops sound good (but too much sodium in that recipe); I'm making a spicy chicken dish for dinner. The drink and wine sound good too.

I haven't been to today's port.

 

Not doing too much today. We're having some nice cooler days. I was trying to schedule my MRI but it looks like there's only an auth for 1 part of it, and not the other. So working on that.

 

@grapau27 Nice. I miss the beach, having grown up at the New Jersey Shore.

@St. Louis Sal Good luck with the LP.

@smitty34877 Great news on Miss Camilla being out of the hospital! 

@StLouisCruisers So sorry you're going through this; such hard decisions but necessary to protect your family.

@rafinmd I agree about testing at embarkation before boarding. I think it would help keep any spread down.

@ger_77 Prayers for your friend's surgery tomorrow.

@mamaofami Enjoy your down time.

@durangoscots I'm glad to hear the Shelter Director is home, but dialysis can be tough.

@bennybear I'm glad to hear DSIL is doing better. Great picture.

 

Prayers for the Care list and cheers for the celebration list.

Stay safe everyone and wear your 😷 if need be.

Where on the Jersey shore did you grow up?

[cruzn single]

Good afternoon, all!  Happy news about Miss Camilla.  

 

COVID still hangs over us and manifests itself in different ways.  @StLouisCruisersI am so sorry that you will be missing a very important event in your family!  I do applaud you both for making the difficult decisions.

 

Our valley is full of smoke today.  Not sure where it is coming from, but am pretty sure that we have no new fires here in Colorado.  We have enough problems with our Interstate closed indefinitely--just this morning the first gas station where I went was out of gas.  Thinking we will have gas shortages (and high prices) for a long time to come.  They can't even get the mudslide mess cleaned up to start assessing the road damage.  If the slides ever stop, it will take a very long time to repair the road.

 

In order to stay healthy prior to my August 21 cruise, I will be staying home as much as possible, and masking up when I do have to be out.  And a side effect will be conserving gas!

 

I am on a conference call for Red Cross right now, and the discussion is on COVID and the Delta variant!  EGADS--very scary.

 

Sorry for such a downer post.  I am always inspired by the positive posts shared on the Daily!

 

Have a good rest of the day.

[Horizon chaser 1957]

Good afternoon, all! A lovely collection of days, but let’s be honest. Only National White Wine Day really counts! 
We are on Salt Spring, and I’m putting up the apricots we brought back from the Okanagan.

Our niece is coming over for the night, so it will be nice to have a visit. 
Happy Wednesday, all! I love watching people gearing up for their return to a BHB. Soon these mats will be underfoot again!

[Sharon in AZ]

Good afternoon everyone and Happy Wednesday!  Thank you for the Daily Rich. 
 

Crazy, but my like button is now working. CC’s been weird lately. I did notice that it looks a bit different when you upload a picture. 
 

I am home now from DM’s doctor appointment and lunch and spending the afternoon with DGD. Thank you for adding her to the Celebration list yesterday and today @rafinmd for her birthday today.  She starts school tomorrow, 8th grade. 
 

 

Welcome home Little Miss Camilla!

 

 I hope everyone has a great day!

[kazu]

Looks like masks are going to be required on HAL sailings shortly in public areas.

 

Testing is probably coming next.  I was sad when we cancelled our cruise in the Fall but now, I’m kind of relieved with the ever changing developments.

[kazu]

11 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

lovely collection of days, but let’s be honest. Only National White Wine Day really counts! 

 

A woman after my own heart 😉 😂 

[kazu]

25 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

My like button isn’t working today.

 

Mine wasn’t yesterday for a while and then I could later.

 

Later on, I couldn’t post.  I hit submit and nada.

I don’t think CC has everything totally fixed yet.  Just my guess though

[JazzyV]

43 minutes ago, mamaofami said:

Where on the Jersey shore did you grow up?

 

Asbury Park

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

56 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

My like button isn’t working today.

There is definitely a problem CC needs to fix.  After my post this morning, the like button stopped working on the tablet, again!.. It is still working on the laptop.  🤞

[StLouisCruisers]

Just now, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

There is definitely a problem CC needs to fix.  After my post this morning, the like button stopped working on the tablet, again!.. It is still working on the laptop.  🤞

 

It's still working for some of us.  I had a problem on only one post earlier today but it worked the second time I clicked the button.

[rafinmd]

12 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

It's still working for some of us.  I had a problem on only one post earlier today but it worked the second time I clicked the button.

Me too.

 

Roy

[Sharon in AZ]

10 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I think I may be impervious to noticing earthquakes.  We had one last night about 15 miles from me and I never felt a thing.

 

Roy

I once felt an earthquake that was centered in Western New Mexico when I was in bed but I think the only reason I felt was because the bedroom is upstairs. 

[AncientWanderer]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

Looks like masks are going to be required on HAL sailings shortly in public areas.

 

Testing is probably coming next.  I was sad when we cancelled our cruise in the Fall but now, I’m kind of relieved with the ever changing developments.

 

Yes to all of the above.

Somebody show me to the white wine.  I've been on a pre-cruise six-week dry-out, but not sure that'll be a success.   🤯

[Tbay]

10 hours ago, smitty34877 said:

Good  morning to  all. Thanks  for  the  Daily,  Rich and  thank you  Roy for  our  lists. I  like  the  recipe today  and  the  quote  is  a  good  one.

 

Miss Camilla  left  the  NICU  and  went  home  with her  parents last  night. My  niece  and  her  husband(they  are  both  nurses ) set  up  a  monitoring  system that will  help  keep  track  of  her  heart  rate. I  am  awaiting  new  pictures as  the  doting  grandparents and  my  great  niece were  there  for  a  while  to  offer  assistance. I  hope  all  went  well  last  night. There  were  a  few  happy  tears  shed  here in  our  2  family  household  as  we  were  eating  dinner  together  when  we  got  the  news.

 

It  is  so  wonderful  to  have  good  news  to  tell  everyone  today!

Terry

Wonderful news.  So exciting for her family!

[Tbay]

9 hours ago, ger_77 said:

  Asking for extra prayers for my friend who will undergo a double mastectomy tomorrow, hoping all goes well for her and the surgery team.  Raising the glasses together to cheer all on the happy list.  Stay well, be safe, wash your hands, wear your masks, tell your neighbours if there's Covid in your house, and hydrate!

Positive thoughts and prayers headed to your friend.

[Tbay]

7 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

We've decided not to risk our family members catching this.  Have to assume DH is positive until we've quarantined 10 or 14 days.  We notified the kids, then texted the graduating grandson to tell him the bad news.  He texted back that our health is #1 priority and he will send us photos from commencement.  😪

So sorry you had this happen, but your grandson is right.  Your health, and your family are the most important right now. You made a good decision, even though it must have been hard to make.

[StLouisCruisers]

37 minutes ago, Tbay said:

So sorry you had this happen, but your grandson is right.  Your health, and your family are the most important right now. You made a good decision, even though it must have been hard to make.

 

Thanks!  There are several directions we could have turned, but this is what we feel is best.  I wonder how the Covid world will be in December when the second grandchild graduates from college?  😕

[kazu]

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Yes to all of the above.

Somebody show me to the white wine.  I've been on a pre-cruise six-week dry-out, but not sure that'll be a success.   🤯

 

No need to make the 6 week dry out a success 😉 😂 🤣

 

I say enjoy the white wine!  After all, it’s white wine day 🙂 

[AncientWanderer]

@StLouisCruisers, I've been thinking about your situation all day.  I know my DH would be running around all over town finding tests so we could go.  I'd worry my brains out and say no we're not going.

These times have been really hard.  We have antivaxxers in our family who are essentially ostracized.  We've missed multiple events when we all should be together.  Your situation now actually brings tears to my eyes -- probably because we all saw the end in sight to this awful pandemic and here we are again.

All I can say is hang in there.  One foot in front of the other.

[Seasick Sailor]

5 hours ago, atexsix said:

No I have not seen that, but it sounds intriguing, I will have to check it out for times when we're not staying in a hotel the night before. 

 

They will also pick it up from your hotel. 

[Mr. Boston]

4 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Now you know why we aren't going out for rapid tests, but instead are just staying away from everyone.🤷‍♀️

Well at least you don’t have to stay away from us.

[smitty34877]

Miss Camilla makes her home debut!

 

 

[HAL4NOW]

4 hours ago, kazu said:

Looks like masks are going to be required on HAL sailings shortly in public areas.

 

Testing is probably coming next.  I was sad when we cancelled our cruise in the Fall but now, I’m kind of relieved with the ever changing developments.

Tests required beginning next week. Here is a portion of the email we received from HAL today: 

 

Please carefully review the information below regarding new, temporary testing requirements:

Effective with cruises departing on Saturday, August 14, 2021, we will require ALL fully vaccinated guests to produce a negative viral COVID-19 test (medically supervised PCR or antigen test) taken within 72 hours of their embarkation on all Holland America Line sailings. Fully vaccinated guests will be required to provide proof of this negative COVID-19 test, along with proof of full vaccination at least 14 days prior to embarkation, upon arrival in the terminal and can then proceed on board. Please note that testing in the terminal will not be available so it’s critical that you have your negative test results with you at cruise check-in. We will not be able to accommodate guests without proof of a negative test. Please check our TravelWell® health protocols at HollandAmerica.com/TravelWell for further details on testing requirements.

In addition to testing requirements, we have also made adjustments to our onboard mask policy as follows:

We strongly encourage all guests to wear face masks when indoors. All guests will be required to wear face masks in elevators and in designated indoor entertainment areas, all retail shops, and in the casino, except when eating or drinking. Guests will be required to wear face masks prior to being seated in all dining areas. You may occasionally be asked to wear a mask in other designated areas where larger number of guests may congregate. As a reminder, masks are required during embarkation and debarkation in the terminal, and masks must also be worn during the debarkation process on board. We recommend guests wash or replace their mask daily and choose a good quality double-layer cloth or medical-grade mask. Please note that bandanas, neck gaiters and masks with exhaust valves will not be accepted as a substitute for a face mask and that visors and face shields are only permitted when used in addition to a mask.