The Fleet Report and Daily for Friday February 2nd, 2024

[kazu]

 

Groundhog Day

Today is Ayn Rand Day, Bonza Bottler Day, and Bubblegum Day
 

I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met. - Herb Caen

Meal Suggestion for today - Slow-Cooker Beef Stew
Drink of the Day - Gold Rush
Wine of the Day - La-Marca-Luminore-Prosecco-Superiore-D.O.C.G. 
Destination of the Day - Paamiut (Frederikshab), Greenland 

Today in History:
1653 New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York)
1901 Queen Victoria's funeral takes place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England
1922 James Joyce's "Ulysses" first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris (1,000 copies)

Ship Locations
 

Eurodam

At Sea Destination Fort Lauderdale, Port Everglades, Florida eta 02-03
 

Koningsdam

At Sea Destination Nawiliwili, Lihue, Kauai Island Hawaii eta 02-05
 

Nieuw Amsterdam

At Sea Destination Fort Lauderdale, Port Everglades, Florida eta 02-03
 

Nieuw Statendam

Grand Cayman Island, George Town Harbour 09:00 - 17:00 
 

Oosterdam

At Sea Destination Puerto Madryn, Argentina eta 02-03
 

Rotterdam

At Sea Destination Half Moon Cay, Bahamas eta 02-03
 

Zaandam

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas Carnival private island 07:00 - 14:00 
 

Zuiderdam

At Sea Destination Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Island eta 02-06

Eastern Hemisphere
 

Noordam

Fiordland National Park, New Zealand 
 

Volendam

At Sea Destination Pulau Komodo Island, East Nusa Tenggara Indonesia eta 02-07
 

Westerdam

Hong Kong, China 07:00 - 21:00

[lvhh]

Good early morning to all.  Thanks for all the contributions.

[rafinmd]

The Groundhog day maps:

 

 

 

Roy

[portofrome]

Thank you for the Fleet Report.

[grapau27]

Good morning.

It is 52°F cloudy and windy in NE England.

Today's beef stew sounds good.

Interesting days in history including Queen Victoria's funeral.

Prayers 🙏 offered to everyone who is unwell.

I hope everyone has a great day.

[Crazy For Cats]

Good Morning Everyone, thanks for today’s daily fleet report.  Today promises to be a nice day.  It’ll be a short but bust work day.  I’m done at noon so that I can take Mona and River for their annual checkup.  Today’s meal suggestion sounds good, I have no idea what’s for dinner tonight.  I hope everyone has a good day today.

Happy Groundhog Day!

[RedneckBob]

Thanks for the Fleet Update and General Info from all contributors!

 

”You might be a Redneck if you celebrate Groundhog Day because you believe in it”.

Edited February 2 by RedneckBob

[JazzyV]

Today’s Care List:

Cruising sister’s great niece Murphy post-surgery, on CPAP, gtube

Bennybear’s having a friend pass

Smitty34877 with multiple house members sick

Marsh hawk feeling ill

JazzyV with right leg pain, tingling and numbness; trouble walking

All in the path of storms and frigid temperatures

 

Citizens of Ukraine, Israel and Gaza; loss of US military members

All Dailyites going through worries and stress, whether mentioned or not

 

From the Rotation:

Tana with pulmonary issues

Atexsix’s DD now in hospice care

Ger_77’s DH Maurice having breathlessness; getting changes in meds/PM

 

Celebrations and Shoutouts:

Pushka welcome to the Daily

RMLincoln’d DH’s doing well after eye surgery

Kochleffel’s (Paul’s) Mohs surgery completed with one pass

Superoma/Kochleffel covering the Daily meal and drink recipes 

Kazu stepping up to keep the FR/Daily going while Rich is cruising

 

The Daily Gardening Club posting wonderful flower pictures

All the contributors to the Fleet Report/Daily

 

Upcoming Cruises or At Sea:

 

6 days for Lady Hudson (Vision of the Seas Feb 8 to Feb 16) 8d Southeast Coast & Bahamas

 

Sailingdutchy (Rotterdam to Feb 4, 21d PC Sunfarer & Southern Caribbean Seafarer),Tupper10 (Rotterdam to Feb 4, 9d Southern Caribbean), Norseh2o (Oceania Regatta to Feb 8 ) 12d NZ Discovery, Cruzin Terri (Oceania Vista to Feb 11) 11d Windward Islands Explorer, summer slope (Koningsdam to Feb 17) 18d Circle Hawaii, Sharon in AZ (Koningsdam to Feb 17) 18d Circle Hawaii, Quartzsite Cruiser (Koningsdam to Feb 17) 18d Circle Hawaii, Dfish & Sue (Koningsdam to Feb 17) 18d Circle Hawaii, 0106 (Oosterdam to Feb 20) - celebrating her birthday on board, 22d SA & Antarctica, Ottahand7 (Eurodam to Feb 24 B2B2B Caribbean), Cruising-along (Volendam to April 6) 94d Grand AUS & NZ voyage, Durangoscots (Volendam to April 6, 94d Grand AUS & NZ voyage), cruising sister (Volendam to April 6, 94d Grand AUS & NZ voyage), Cruisercl (Volendam to April 6, 94d Grand AUS & NZ voyage), Richwmn(Volendam to May 4, Jan 3 94d Grand Australia & NZ Voyage + Apr 6 15d PC Cruise + Apr 21 The Atlantic Coast), Cat in my lap (Zuiderdam to May 11, 128d Grand World Voyage) andAliaschief (Azamara Onward WC to June 9, 156d World Voyage)

[kazu]

Happy Groundhog Day everyone. I look forward to all ground hog  reports beginning with  Shubenacadie Sam even though I know you can’t count on them.  LOL.

 

 

LOL on the Caen quote.  Waiting for it to get light enough out so I can see what’s going on.  It looks more like freezing rain now than snow from what I could decipher when Ivan came back in 😠  hope I am wrong 🤞 Today’s meal is a nice one on a winter day for sure.

 

 

 

I hope the seas have settled and are much smoother for Debbie & Sue @dfish and everyone on board 🤞 Thanks to all our contributors and to Rich, Roy, Vanessa, Ann, Paul & Eva for their dedication.

 

 

Prayers for those on the Care list, those suffering losses, grief, pain, health issues, worries and those that need them 🙏 Cheers to those celebrating and cruising 🥂 

[RedneckBob]

Yesterday I asked an interesting question that no one either knew the answer or was not interested in except travelnap. The question was why was Lake Gatun bottom lowered when the new locks and bagels, sorry, just locks, at the Panama Canal were built. Travelnap answer was they did not want to rock the boat. Wrong and not close.

 

The answer was they did not want the surrounding area around the lake to flood. What? ( Of course this is not a problem now with the drought in the area.)

 

This is a very interesting engineering issue. I learned this issue when I attended South Alabama Farm and Complex Engineering College. By adding the new locks added many more vessels in the Lake. More vessels meant more displacement of water which would raise the water in the Lake and cause flooding along the shores of the lake. By digging out the bottom and lowering it would give more area or volume of water to fill. Still don’t get it?  It’s like you have a hot tub at home. Let’s say the capacity is four people and four of y’all get in. No problem. But if 2-4 more people get in the hot tub, the water will rise and may overflow the tub flooding your deck. Of course if the original people get hot and bothered and create waves the tub could overflow but I won’t go there!

 

So this is was RNB’s  Fridays lesson on a complex engineering problem.

[seagarsmoker]

Good morning dailyites and thank you for the Daily Report.  

Two interesting items about Groundhogs day. The Groundhog is wrong more than 60% of the time in his prediction.  The other item is they used to eat the groundhog after his prediction....

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Edited February 2 by seagarsmoker

[puppycanducruise]

Happy Groundhog Day.  Is it six more weeks of winter or six more weeks until spring?  I wonder what Wiarton Willie will predict.  I read Atlas Shrugged years and years ago, maybe I should read it again.

It's cool and cloudy here today with a high of -1°C (30°F).

I like the quote.

The meal sounds good.  I hope the drink and wine are tasty too.

Prayers for everyone on the Care List.  Cheers for all the celebrations.

Have a good day.  Stay safe.

 

[StLouisCruisers]

Good morning friends!  I woke up 10 minutes late today and have been hurrying to catch up ever since.  The weather here is 38F and we expect to rise to possibly 68 with sunny skies today.  Excellent weather for Groundhog Day!  Expect 6 more weeks of winter, I always say, no matter what the groundhogs prognosticate.

 

Thank you Jacqui @kazu and Roy @rafinmd for the Fleet Report and Daily plus the fleet maps.  I can appreciate Ayn Rand, Bonza Bottler day and bubblegum.  Someone is always making up a new day and why not Bonza Bottler, though why that name I'm not sure!  Funny quote!  The beef stew sounds nice and if gold came with the Gold Rush, I'd try it.  I'll also try the prosecco.  Good days in history though a sad one for Queen Victoria.  I'm glad I got to tour and see St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle because now when something big happens there I can picture where it is and what it looked like.  Thanks to Eva @superoma, Paul @kochleffel and Ann @cat shepard for the food and beverage reporting.  I'm sad to hear some of our cruisers on the Koningsdam are feeling unwell due to seas.  This has been a particularly rough ride on the Pineapple Express this week.  Feel better!

 

Prayers were said for my family and friends with extra ones for Scott.  His wife says he had a mini TIA yesterday and she is very concerned for him.  The doctors said since he could smile and raise his arms afterwards that he is doing okay.  I think I'd want further examination after it but that's just me!  So he was first on my prayer list.  I also prayed for everyone here on the Daily and hope that there is improvement in each of your situations.  Then I included the people in Israel and Ukraine at war and for the hostages still not home.  We can't forget the military members who have already lost their lives and the remainder of them still dodging missiles, rockets and drones every day.  Frightening!  🙏🙏  Annie @marshhawk I was sorry to hear it is time for Bubbles to be free from pain but know you are making the right decision.  I also hope you are feeling better and hope you are using your oxygen.  For all those celebrating happy events and cruising I wish you congratulations, smooth seas and following winds.  Especially the Koningsdam cruisers! 🚢🥂🎂

 

The port this morning is a brand new one which is exciting.  Paamiut, Frederikshab, Greenland!  Therefore there will be no link posted.  I won't have any photos for Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser so if she has any on her tablet she can post them today.  I have been there once in 2018 on Seabourn Quest so will have to start at the beginning and that may take a little time.  But I'll get it posted as soon as possible.  

 

I was kept pretty busy yesterday and didn't get to come back to post later in the evening but will try to keep up today with you.  We will get groceries and DH might wash my SUV.  I won't let the dealer wash it since they don't use a brushless automated car wash.  Then we should prune the crape myrtle tree and cut back the ornamental grasses perched at the top of the slope this month and today is surely a nice enough day to do it.  We shall see!

 

Meanwhile, have a great day today everyone and please try to stay safe and keep well.

[ottahand7]

Good morning off the north coast of Cuba.  Fort Lauderdale tomorrow.  Of course we stay on the Eurodam other than the trip to facial recognition.  I wonder if passengers will cooperate tomorrow. Thanks for the Daily Reports and maps @kazu and @rafinmd.  

Thank you for the cares and celebrations reports @JazzyV. I hope there is some relief for your leg pain. Prayers for everyone at @smitty34877that the illness hasn't gotten worse, especially for Tana.   Well wishes for our group members on the Pacific for a beautiful journey.   

Photos from this morning and last night's dressy dinner.  I had CO jambalaya and John still had some leftover credit so he ordered Morimoto lobster.  He said it was ok but Tamarind upcharge lobster is better.  I had.no sugar added tiramisu. Have a lovely Friday. Nancy 

[StLouisCruisers]

We arrived in Paamiut, Greenland on Aug. 11, 2018 on our Seabourn Quest Route of the Vikings II cruise.  We would be seeing half a dozen Greenland communities along with Prince Christian Sound.  I was enchanted by the scenery in my first glimpse of Paamiut.

 

 

We tendered to shore and ended up at this tiny dock.  Good enough for me!

 

 

My first sight was this home with these huge antlers adorning it.  Caribou or reindeer, I’m not sure, but they’re some of the largest I’ve ever seen.

 

 

More dwelling units overlooking the small marina area

 

 

We set off to walk around the town and see as much as we could.

 

 

 

 

 

The brightly colored buildings help keep spirits up during the dreary winter months

 

 

No idea what this building is but it’s very different!

 

The mural on this building represents the fishing industry

 

This is a very neat grocery store with no customers to mess it up.  With a population of only 1308 in 2020 this is the 10^th largest town or populated area in Greenland.  The population has dropped every year the past several decades.

 

The Paamiut Museum

 

The “famous” Paamiut Church

 

 

The green building in the distance is the school

 

A view just on the edge of town

 

 

Back on the ship I saw the kayaks getting ready to go out again

 

A nearby iceberg the kayakers might want to check out

 

As we left the Paamiut area we saw several whales

 

And that evening after dinner in the distance we could see what looked like a glacier or perhaps part of the Greenland Ice Sheet.  We were heading north to Nuuk.

 

I really enjoy these smaller, unusual ports of call and hope you can explore more of Greenland someday.  I hope we can go back to some of them again.

[StLouisCruisers]

I want to say thank you to Vanessa @JazzyV for the lists today and for all her hard work reading and keeping notes on everyone!  Hoping for more sleep and less pain for you ASAP!

 

Nancy @ottahand7 nice photos today of the sunrise and food porn.  I hope you continue to enjoy life on Eurodam in the Caribbean!🥂

 

 

Edited February 2 by StLouisCruisers

[Denise T]

Happy Friday. Thanks for the Daily and Fleet reports. 

Finishing up some work today. Have to get fingerprinted as I have applied for a Delaware counseling license. This word by my third as I am licensed in PA and NJ. I was invited to speak at a conference in North Carolina this June. Looking forward to that. 

It's a bit rainy here. I don't have much confidence in the groundhog today. 

Thinking of all on the care list. 

Celebrating with all who are celebrating. 

Have a safe and healthy day. 

[travelnap]

In South Dakota we do not have any ground hogs, so to celebrate the day, we use an old gopher named South Dakota Sam.  The custom is also a little different here.  If Sam can dart across the road without being run over by a passing vehicle, then its 6 more weeks of winter.  If he doesn't make it, it means we need to look for another gopher for next year.  

[MISTER 67]

Greetings from beautiful Punta Gorda where it’s 53 right now with a high today of 73

Meh on the days

I do have a memory like an elephant though I’ve never met one up close and personal 

DW wife makes a great beef stew, one of my favorite meals

I have no interest in visiting anywhere that it’s freezing like Greenland, we did an Alaskan cruise in August of 2000 and that was cold enough 

This just in, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow so look for an early spring up north

Have a great day and stay well

 

 

Edited February 2 by MISTER 67

[kazu]

1 hour ago, seagarsmoker said:

 

Two interesting items about Groundhogs day. The Groundhog is wrong more than 60% of the time in his prediction.  The other item is they used to eat the groundhog after his prediction....

 

That is pretty accurate for Phil.  Wiarton Willie is the worst being wrong 75% of the time.  The most accurate so far is Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam who has been right 45% of the time as you can see below.

 

 

 

 

And for those that didn’t know….Shubenacadie Sam is a she 🙂   And SHE has predicted an early spring.  I fear this is a year she will be wrong 😉   After all, Lucy the Lobster disagrees and has predicted 6 more weeks of winter.  They usually both agree on any predication.

 

[1ANGELCAT]

Breaking news.. Phil did not see his shadow.🎉

[cat shepard]

Thank you for today’s FR & D, Jacqui. Roy thank you for showing us where the fleet is.  It was 47 when Bindi and I headed out this morning & no wind. It felt quite comfortable. And the sun has already burned off the marine layer!

 

Vanessa thank you for keeping up with all of us. I really do suspect that you are psychic sometimes. 😎 Praying that you soon get permanent relief for your pain. Is it possible to hire a mover to help you pack up the small things in the four rooms?

Gym, Bindi walks, more grout cleaning - I am starting to see the results of my labor, and other fun chores will keep me busy. 
 

 

 

 

 

Prayers for all who need our support. Those suffering from pain, debilitating conditions, grieving the loss of a loved one, or in a funk. The caregivers. 
Thinking of you & Tana, Terry. Hope Tana’s cold symptoms go away - fast. 

 

Cheers to all who are celebrating! @Pushka welcome to the Daily!

 

May we each find a reason to smile today. 

 

***********

La-Marca-Luminore-Prosecco-Superiore-D.O.C.G. 

This Prosecco sounds lovely and perfect for a celebration or just sipping. The wine maker suggests using it to make cocktails, but I would use less expensive Proseccos as mixers. Widely available, loved by consumers, and online prices start at a reasonable $21.95.

Winemaker Notes

Luminore sparkles with a pale, golden straw hue and lively bubbles, bursting in the glass. Delicate aromas of white flowers and stone fruits complement the soft, creamy texture. Subtle hints of fresh citrus, pear and nectarine round out the exquisite palate. Clean, crisp acidity balances a touch of sweetness and offers a light, refreshing style.

Elegant and versatile, Luminore Prosecco sparkles by itself or pairs beautifully with foods and brings light to special occasions. Enjoy a glass as an aperitif before dinner with friends. Sip alongside main entrées such as grilled seasoned chicken or pork as a pleasant palate cleanser or as you end the evening with a pana cotta with lemon zest.

90 Wine.com

 The La Marca Luminore Conegliano Valdobbiadene is a cut above the many in the Prosecco world. TASTING NOTES: This wine is fresh and enticing with its aroma and flavors of fresh and alluring ripe fruit. It is smooth and delightful. Serve this with appetizers or as a greeting beverage for guests. 

[cat shepard]

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

The Groundhog day maps:

 

 

 

Roy

 

Roy, if a BHB sees its shadow, does that mean six more weeks of cruising? 😎

[MISTER 67]

23 minutes ago, travelnap said:

In South Dakota we do not have any ground hogs, so to celebrate the day, we use an old gopher named South Dakota Sam.  The custom is also a little different here.  If Sam can dart across the road without being run over by a passing vehicle, then its 6 more weeks of winter.  If he doesn't make it, it means we need to look for another gopher for next year.  

I was stationed at Gettysburg Air Force Radar Station in South Dakota in 1966 and early 1967, some of our guys had personal rifles and as a favor to local farmers they would drive out to some of the fields and shoot the gophers or prairie dogs as the gophers harmed the crops. 

[cat shepard]

50 minutes ago, ottahand7 said:

Nancy, this pic belongs on a canvas. Breathtaking.