The Fleet Report and Daily for Saturday October 8th, 2022

[Rowsby]

Oops...wrong ship....

 

THIS is the Westerdam.... just cruising in......😉

 

[TiogaCruiser]

Good Morning All,

 

We have a fall sort of day starting, with a little crispness in the air. Undoubtedly we will be back to summer by noon. Our golden was up 3 times last night with an upset tummy. A couple days ago he had one too. Not sure if it is a continuation or a new incident. I’m keeping a close eye on him.

 

@HAL Sailer Lovely story. One I want to remember. 
 

@dfish Love the natural consequences. I’m wondering if future agents have any access to a listings history ( as far as him stringing you along), or that offers had been made but fell through…

 

Have a great day everyone!

 

[summer slope]

1 hour ago, HAL Sailer said:

Last evening @Quartzsite Cruiser concurred that the electric linemen working to restore Florida power after Hurricane Ian are truly unsung heroes. 

 

Well, I want to do a little singing:

 

In 1998, the Michigan town we lived in and many other communities nearby were hit by 130mph straight line winds. Thousands lost power and lineman came to help from throughout the nation. 

 

On the 11th day, while driving, I heard a local radio announcement thanking the linemen and wishing them safe travels home as all power had been restored. But, when I reached home, we were still out. 

 

Knowing where the lineman were being fed, I drove there hoping to plead our case. A group of Texas linemen were just heading in for dinner but they stopped, listened, marked a map, and one said, "Ma'am, we were headed home, but we'll be there right after we eat."

 

I went home and excitedly told my DH about the Texans who were coming to our rescue. He suggested I was wasting my excitement as he doubted they would. In fact, to prove his point, he parked himself on our front lawn to await their arrival that he was sure wouldn't materialize quipping,  "I'll still be here tomorrow!"

 

Imagine DH's surprise when two trucks with longhorns on their hoods came to a skidding halt in our driveway! Followed by a lineman emerging saying, "Sir, your missus tells us you need power. We're here to figure that out."

 

It didn't take them long to determine that our house was at the corner of two power grids. Both grids had been restored but we hadn't been reconnected to either. An hour later, and after 11 very long days, we had power. And, with nary a whoop nor a holler but only a "Welcome ma'am" to my thank you, they were headed on their long road home to Texas.

 

Just like the linemen (and women) helping in Florida today, those Texas linemen were then and remain still -- HEROES!

 

-Melisa

ALL the linemen are heros.  Happy they could help you when you needed it Melisa.  My nephew and a buddy drove from Ohio to Florida to do linework.  He said they would hook up the poles but had nothing to hook from there.  All the homes were gone.  Found a couple of bodies.  Too...so sad for these young men.

[rafinmd]

Just a thought for those with trouble with many emails.  I do do an occasional email listing of certain threads or forums (update once a day or once a week) but never do notifications.  Instead, I have a link that gets me a listing of my current subscribed threads that I check periodically:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/discover/623

 

Roy

[summer slope]

All jabs finished.  I wish we didn't have to stress over the pre-cruise covid test but what will be will be.

[Vict0riann]

Good morning, Dailyites.  I. too, am amazed at how well Roy manages his Cares and Celebrations lists.  Pat is going to test himself again today, and if he is still negative, we might go to church tomorrow.  Bon voyage to those sailing today!

 

DD in Gander and her BF have Rykers.  I'm not sure I approve, but they are perhaps a little safer than motorcycles.  They were planning a trip to Port aux Basques, but have decided to put it off because of all the damage there from Fiona.  

 

[durangoscots]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

This is what I posted on August 9, 2021 about our visit to Vladivostok.  The pictures I scanned did not turn out the best, but do give an idea of the city.

 

All our pictures of Vladivostok are either pre-digital or videos.  I scanned a few into the computer, while DH checked his videos and added a few screen shots.

 

We both remember video DH took inside the Trans-Siberian train, but so far they are elusive.  After walking through a car or two, which the cleaning lady let him look at, he wanted to take the train to Moscow.  Our younger DD had just graduated from UT and had taken Russian.  She told her professor, who likes Russia, and his response was that even he would not take the train across Russia.

 

When we were in Vladivostok in 2000, the city had just been opened to the general population for 8 years.  Before that, as the headquarters for the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, it was a closed city   Even the Trans-Siberian train stopped 10 miles outside the city.  In 2000, there was not a modern mall, but a series of department stores.  The big bridge is new too.

 

In one store, there was a female security guard that could have come from central casting, complete with the wool uniform, wool hose, heavy tie shoes and a very stern scowl.  I decided to err on the side of caution and not take her picture.

 

We also went into the bank to change a ruble or two into coins, which was a procedure in itself.  While I was waiting for DH to complete the transaction, I noticed a older lady looking at her receipt and trying to figure it out, then looking for someone to help her.  Well, she chose me, and was very surprised when I said in English, I didn't speak Russian.

 

Some of these pictures are from our morning tour and others are from our walk around town.  In the morning, we stopped at an overlook outside the city.

 

Another view of the WWII submarine, which we got to walk through.  It is even tighter than the US subs we've toured.

 

Two statues that were not Lenin.

 

Street scenes from our tour and our walk.

 

Where many locals shopped, and some of the younger ones were very fashionable.

 

Russian Navy

 

One of their trams

 

A local train

 

The Trans-Siberian 

 

The Navy band serenaded us as we reboarded the ship and as we sailed.

 

Every time we left the ship, we had to have our passport, then return it when we reboarded.  The passports were also checked by Russians as we came and went.  At that time we did not need a visa to visit the east coast of Russia.  One of the Russians was a very beautiful, young lady who DH did has best to get to smile, but she never did.

 

Lenda

I remember now that Vladivostok was a closed city at the time. My train trip was from Hong Kong to London with a fair number of overnights off the train. I loved the Trans-Siberian Express although at the time it was pretty primitive. I shared my 4 person compartment with an Australian lady and her two adult daughters. We had a blast the entire trip.

[Love the beach]

Bon Voyage to all those lucky cruising dailyites! Have a wonderful cruise!

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Fleet Report/Daily.

I haven't played Tag since childhood, not a motorcycle fan for safety reasons, and music is awesome!

Great quote. I like the meal. Pass on the drink and wine.

I have been to Russia, on a river cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg, but not to Vladivostok.

 

Brrrr. It was 59 in my bedroom this morning. I still haven't turned on the heat, but it's going down to 38 by tomorrow morning. We have frost warnings! But then up to 70 next week. I might cave in and turn on the heat tonight. I scheduled my flu and bivalent Covid vaccines yesterday, but will probably move them back a bit. I could only schedule 2 weeks out, and want them closer to Halloween.

 

Bon Voyage to all cruising Dailyites!

 

@0106 Great selection of recipes!

@rafinmd We appreciate your doing the lists every day.

@StLouisCruisers Thanks for the photos.

@Sharon in AZ Good times! Bon Voyage!

@kazu Yay on being de-planted! 

@GTVCRUISER Bon Voyage!

@dfish Good news that the seller is going to do those repairs. And karma is still affecting that first seller. Bon Voyage and have a great time!

@Overhead Fred Wonderful sunrise!

@HAL Sailer Great story about the Texas linemen.

@Quartzsite Cruiser Thanks for the Vladivostok pictures.

@summer slope That's so sad. Kudos to them for helping.

 

Prayers for the Care List and Cheers for the Celebration List.

Stay safe everyone.

[USN59-79]

We have visited Vladivostok a few times; usually just walked around the city and once visited that WW2 submarine.  I noticed that most of the cars were Japanese with right hand drive although the Russians drive on the same side of the road as we do.  I asked a local about it and he said that used cars from Japan were cheap, that the government in Moscow tried to discourage ownership of foreign cars, but they generally didn't pay much attention to what was said in Moscow.  I have had a few motorcycles, the largest a 750 Honda.  In 1969 I was commuting from Treasure Island to Berkeley on a Suzuki X6, a 250cc two stroke.  It had maximum power at about 7000 rpm, so you had to give it the gas when you started out.  When you did that, it would lift the front wheel a few inches in the first two gears.  I was leaving the Bay Bridge toll booth and a CHP on a Harley was in the next booth.  He immediately pulled me over.  I asked what the problem was and he said it was for "Exhibition of speed".  I finally talked him out of a ticket when explaining the differences between our two motorcycles.

Ray

[USN59-79]

Forgot to mention about Vladivostok.  Got this email from HAL in August concerning our upcoming Westerdam stop.  "Please be advised that due to port closures we will no longer call to Vladivostok, Russia on Tuesday, April 18, 2023."  They substituted Buson, South Korea for the stop.

[dobiemom]

Bon Voyage to all cruising Dailyites!

[HAL Sailer]

2 hours ago, summer slope said:

My nephew and a buddy drove from Ohio to Florida to do linework.  He said they would hook up the poles but had nothing to hook from there.  All the homes were gone.  Found a couple of bodies.  Too...so sad for these young men.

 

@summer slope   Please express my family's thanks to your nephew and his buddy for all they did to help in Florida. Out-of-state workers like them helped restore power to my family's place last night.

 

And, I pray they know that, as difficult as their discoveries were, the reuniting of the deceased to those grieving families gave comfort and closure.

 

My thanks, my prayers,

-Melisa 

Edited October 8, 2022 by HAL Sailer
typo

[ger_77]

Well that was an interesting morning - DH's daughter called and asked if we would join her and her DH at an early morning big box store run.  DH said we needed batteries, so we'd accompany them. 

 

Holy mother of pearl!  First of all we had to stand in line to get in (before the doors even opened), then after the daughter filled the cart to overflowing and trying to navigate between the crazies who were lined up 6 deep trying to get pumpkin pies, we got to the check-out.  Her husband had chosen the shortest line - which took us into the self-check-outs.  Just shoot me now!  It seemed like many days and many hundreds of dollars later (for them, thankfully not for us), we left the store.  Seriously, who in their right mind goes to a store like that on a Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend?  That won't be happening again, trust me.  LOL

 

@Quartzsite Cruiseroh my goodness, my anxiety level went through the roof when I looked at the photo of your DH crawling through a hatch on the submarine.  That gives me the super heebie jeebies with claustrophobia.  There's no way I'd have set food on it, but glad you had the experience.  

 

Off to get ready for our day of socializing!  Stay safe, everyone!

[HAL Sailer]

7 hours ago, kazu said:

rafinmdYou do a tremendous job on the lists - so much detail which is appreciated by all.  Don’t beat yourself up for something that YOU think you mucked up.  I think you are doing a great job every day.

+1

-M.

[ottahand7]

@GTVCRUISER, @dfish, @Sharon in AZ Bon Voyage!!  Have a wonderful time!  🍾

 

Today we went to Costco to pick up John's new glasses and get some Halloween candy.  For the first time since 1997 there may be trick or treaters at our front door.  My empty neighborhood filled in during Covid and several homes have small kiddos.   It is a sunny day but windy and chilly.  I think we will be able to see the Harvest full moon tonight.    

DF John showed me a recipe of provolone stuffed pork chops from Food Network and since my farmer pig chops are cut thick they will be perfect for it.   @0106 Thank you for the lovely chicken recipes, all look like worth trying.    @cat shepard Thanks for the information on the special Hungarian Tokay.  It is one of the finest wines in the world and is called "Sunshine in a Spoon"  I have had Tokaji 6 which is pure heaven.   This is the precious runoff from the natural pressure of the grapes that is much more concentrated.   

Rich, thank you for the Daily and Fleet Reports!   Ray thank you for keeping the care and celebrations list of us.    So happy to see many people getting ready to cruise!   Prayers for Ukraine and those in Florida recovering from Ian.    Sandy and Lenda thank you for the photos of Vladivostok.  A place I guarantee I will never see.  Have a wonderful day!  Time to start making those pork chops!!  

[grapau27]

22 minutes ago, HAL Sailer said:

+1

-M.

+2.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good afternoon.  UT broke a four year losing streak in a big way, 49-0.  The game also broke another record since this was the first time in many, many years that neither team was ranked, with both having 3-2 records.   HOOKEM HORNS! 🤘

 

The olny other task today is filling out the applications for ballots for mail-in voting.  I realized that with the two surgeries and early voting beginning the day of DH's second surgery, it would not be wise for him to vote in person.  At least I can fill them in on line and then mail, email or fax them to the election administrators office.   Once that's done, since it is a nice day in the mid 80sF, I'll be taking my book outside and relaxing.

 

3 hours ago, Rowsby said:

Oops...wrong ship....

 

THIS is the Westerdam.... just cruising in......😉

 

 

What a great picture!  Thanks.

 

3 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Good Morning All,

 

We have a fall sort of day starting, with a little crispness in the air. Undoubtedly we will be back to summer by noon. Our golden was up 3 times last night with an upset tummy. A couple days ago he had one too. Not sure if it is a continuation or a new incident. I’m keeping a close eye on him.

 

@HAL Sailer Lovely story. One I want to remember. 
 

@dfish Love the natural consequences. I’m wondering if future agents have any access to a listings history ( as far as him stringing you along), or that offers had been made but fell through…

 

Have a great day everyone!

 

 

I hope your golden recovers and it's noting serious.  Seeing a fur baby feeling bad is as bad as seeing your child not feel good, but then they are our four legged children.  I'll always told DH that our dachshunds were like two year olds who never grew up, but did not go through the terrible twos.  🤣

 

3 hours ago, summer slope said:

ALL the linemen are heros.  Happy they could help you when you needed it Melisa.  My nephew and a buddy drove from Ohio to Florida to do linework.  He said they would hook up the poles but had nothing to hook from there.  All the homes were gone.  Found a couple of bodies.  Too...so sad for these young men.

 

Dixie, even though I am not in Florida, I appreciate your nephew and his buddy going to help those in Florida.  I'm sorry they discovered the two bodies, but I hope it gives them some comfort that the families can now say goodbye to their loved ones.  That must have been very hard for them.

 

30 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

Well that was an interesting morning - DH's daughter called and asked if we would join her and her DH at an early morning big box store run.  DH said we needed batteries, so we'd accompany them. 

 

Holy mother of pearl!  First of all we had to stand in line to get in (before the doors even opened), then after the daughter filled the cart to overflowing and trying to navigate between the crazies who were lined up 6 deep trying to get pumpkin pies, we got to the check-out.  Her husband had chosen the shortest line - which took us into the self-check-outs.  Just shoot me now!  It seemed like many days and many hundreds of dollars later (for them, thankfully not for us), we left the store.  Seriously, who in their right mind goes to a store like that on a Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend?  That won't be happening again, trust me.  LOL

 

@Quartzsite Cruiseroh my goodness, my anxiety level went through the roof when I looked at the photo of your DH crawling through a hatch on the submarine.  That gives me the super heebie jeebies with claustrophobia.  There's no way I'd have set food on it, but glad you had the experience.  

 

Off to get ready for our day of socializing!  Stay safe, everyone!

 

Gerry, we try to avoid the big box stores when they are busy.  That Russian submarine's hatches were a tight squeeze, but we were 22 years younger at that time.  I'm not sure I could crawl through that hatch now.

 

Lenda

[Cruzin Terri]

Good afternoon from Beautiful Barbados.  Today was a picture perfect day.  We spent most of the day at the beach and had a lovely lunch at the hotel restaurant.

We have a private plunge pool with jacuzzi jets and it is helping my back pains as well.

I will read the posts later but will leave you with this photo right now.

Terri

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

1 minute ago, Cruzin Terri said:

Good afternoon from Beautiful Barbados.  Today was a picture perfect day.  We spent most of the day at the beach and had a lovely lunch at the hotel restaurant.

We have a private plunge pool with jacuzzi jets and it is helping my back pains as well.

I will read the posts later but will leave you with this photo right now.

Terri

 

Terri, thanks for the great picture and the good news you could spend the day at the beach.  I hope the good weather holds, and I'm happy the plunge pool is helping your back.

 

Lenda

[StLouisCruisers]

5 hours ago, HAL Sailer said:

Last evening @Quartzsite Cruiser concurred that the electric linemen working to restore Florida power after Hurricane Ian are truly unsung heroes. 

 

Well, I want to do a little singing:

 

In 1998, the Michigan town we lived in and many other communities nearby were hit by 130mph straight line winds. Thousands lost power and lineman came to help from throughout the nation. 

 

On the 11th day, while driving, I heard a local radio announcement thanking the linemen and wishing them safe travels home as all power had been restored. But, when I reached home, we were still out. 

 

Knowing where the lineman were being fed, I drove there hoping to plead our case. A group of Texas linemen were just heading in for dinner but they stopped, listened, marked a map, and one said, "Ma'am, we were headed home, but we'll be there right after we eat."

 

I went home and excitedly told my DH about the Texans who were coming to our rescue. He suggested I was wasting my excitement as he doubted they would. In fact, to prove his point, he parked himself on our front lawn to await their arrival that he was sure wouldn't materialize quipping,  "I'll still be here tomorrow!"

 

Imagine DH's surprise when two trucks with longhorns on their hoods came to a skidding halt in our driveway! Followed by a lineman emerging saying, "Sir, your missus tells us you need power. We're here to figure that out."

 

It didn't take them long to determine that our house was at the corner of two power grids. Both grids had been restored but we hadn't been reconnected to either. An hour later, and after 11 very long days, we had power. And, with nary a whoop nor a holler but only a "Welcome ma'am" to my thank you, they were headed on their long road home to Texas.

 

Just like the linemen (and women) helping in Florida today, those Texas linemen were then and remain still -- HEROES!

 

-Melisa

What a wonderful story about the Texas linemen!  I loved reading about them.  Thanks so much for sharing that with us.❤️

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

This is what I posted on August 9, 2021 about our visit to Vladivostok.  The pictures I scanned did not turn out the best, but do give an idea of the city.

 

All our pictures of Vladivostok are either pre-digital or videos.  I scanned a few into the computer, while DH checked his videos and added a few screen shots.

 

We both remember video DH took inside the Trans-Siberian train, but so far they are elusive.  After walking through a car or two, which the cleaning lady let him look at, he wanted to take the train to Moscow.  Our younger DD had just graduated from UT and had taken Russian.  She told her professor, who likes Russia, and his response was that even he would not take the train across Russia.

 

When we were in Vladivostok in 2000, the city had just been opened to the general population for 8 years.  Before that, as the headquarters for the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet, it was a closed city   Even the Trans-Siberian train stopped 10 miles outside the city.  In 2000, there was not a modern mall, but a series of department stores.  The big bridge is new too.

 

In one store, there was a female security guard that could have come from central casting, complete with the wool uniform, wool hose, heavy tie shoes and a very stern scowl.  I decided to err on the side of caution and not take her picture.

 

We also went into the bank to change a ruble or two into coins, which was a procedure in itself.  While I was waiting for DH to complete the transaction, I noticed a older lady looking at her receipt and trying to figure it out, then looking for someone to help her.  Well, she chose me, and was very surprised when I said in English, I didn't speak Russian.

 

Some of these pictures are from our morning tour and others are from our walk around town.  In the morning, we stopped at an overlook outside the city.

 

Another view of the WWII submarine, which we got to walk through.  It is even tighter than the US subs we've toured.

 

Two statues that were not Lenin.

 

Street scenes from our tour and our walk.

 

Where many locals shopped, and some of the younger ones were very fashionable.

 

Russian Navy

 

One of their trams

 

A local train

 

The Trans-Siberian 

 

The Navy band serenaded us as we reboarded the ship and as we sailed.

 

Every time we left the ship, we had to have our passport, then return it when we reboarded.  The passports were also checked by Russians as we came and went.  At that time we did not need a visa to visit the east coast of Russia.  One of the Russians was a very beautiful, young lady who DH did has best to get to smile, but she never did.

 

Lenda

Thanks for all the great photos and commentary on your Vladivostok visit.  Your description of the security guard woman in the store brings to mind our Alla tour guide in St. Petersburg.  The scowl, the heavy tie shoes and wool hose describe Marina to a T!  We thought she might be KGB!  On the other hand while in Vladivostok we saw a very good looking woman or two making their ways to work in the downpour.  The men in our group sure enjoyed the view!😠

 

 

 

4 hours ago, summer slope said:

ALL the linemen are heros.  Happy they could help you when you needed it Melisa.  My nephew and a buddy drove from Ohio to Florida to do linework.  He said they would hook up the poles but had nothing to hook from there.  All the homes were gone.  Found a couple of bodies.  Too...so sad for these young men.

That is a very sad story about your nephew and his buddy finding those poor deceased people.  It's so nice that there were thousands of volunteer linemen there to help out with the huge volume of work after the hurricane.  I thank them all from the bottom of my heart!

 

 

 

3 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

Forgot to mention about Vladivostok.  Got this email from HAL in August concerning our upcoming Westerdam stop.  "Please be advised that due to port closures we will no longer call to Vladivostok, Russia on Tuesday, April 18, 2023."  They substituted Buson, South Korea for the stop.

Can't imagine any tourist would feel safe in Russia these days.  Hope you enjoy Busan.🚢

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, Cruzin Terri said:

Good afternoon from Beautiful Barbados.  Today was a picture perfect day.  We spent most of the day at the beach and had a lovely lunch at the hotel restaurant.

We have a private plunge pool with jacuzzi jets and it is helping my back pains as well.

I will read the posts later but will leave you with this photo right now.

Terri

How nice the weather cleared up for you.  I'm glad to hear the jets in the plunge pool have been helping your pain.  Hope things continue in this direction!

[Cruzin Terri]

Well, I read the posts and can now make some comments.

Thank you Rich for taking time from you vacation to post the Daily and Fleet report,  Hope you have a wonderful cruise with your fellow Dailyites.

I used to play tag as a child.  Like music, but never rode a motorcycle.

Do like the Emerson quote.

Roy, you have nothing to apologize for.  Thank you so much for the work you do every day to keep the cares and celebration lists in order.  If something was amiss today, i didn’t even notice.

Christine, thank you for the recipe.  As much as I like Caprese salad and chicken would be a welcome addition, I will have to skip it, because we will have to choose from the menu offered at the resort, Very good choices, I might add.

The wine is a bit above my budget.

 

Prayers for all on the cares list and Cheers for those celebrating, especially our Dailyites who are cruising out of Quebec today.

 

As I said previously, we had a wonderful day, and now it is raining.  

I leave you with three photos.

One of the plunge pool and the others of our cottage.

Have a great evening and God bless,

Terri

Edited October 8, 2022 by Cruzin Terri

[Sharon in AZ]

Hi everyone!  We had a longer check in process than I expected, our passports wouldn’t register, but we both think it was user error— meaning the rep, not us. Then the zigzag gangway covered walkway to the ship was very long. It took an hour and 15 minutes from getting off the bus. Not that bad but slower than our last 4 cruises. The ship seems and feels full. 
 

Good evening!

[bennybear]

Good day. A few photos of Vladivostok. BBC was reporting with photos of the Westerdam in the background as the leader of North Korea was arriving at the train station the next day. A beautiful bridge but crumbling infrastructure.

 

We visited the green submarine 

 

[erewhon]

Thaanks for posting the Daily and the locations of the HAL Fleet.

Will read all the posts later.