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A Voyage for the Ages – VY 7/8/2024 – 7/15/2024


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15 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

As per our usual pre-cruise tradition, mother/daughter mani/pedi this morning

I love this 💕 My suggestion is always met with a hard no from Reyd. LOL #lifeofboymom

 

17 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

My gut was telling me to go red for Europe 🙂

Good instincts. They look great! 

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1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Off to the pool store to make sure my water is balanced. Don’t want a green Oasis Lagoon when I return. 

I am so impressed you guys take care of your pool yourself! I need a crash course so I can drop my $95/month pool service. Do you have to over-chlorinate when leaving for long periods?

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3 hours ago, Jax said:

My suggestion is always met with a hard no from Reyd. LOL #lifeofboymom

Don't be so envious. The bill at the end is never cheap lol

2 hours ago, DDaley said:

I am so impressed you guys take care of your pool yourself! I need a crash course so I can drop my $95/month pool service. Do you have to over-chlorinate when leaving for long periods?

Hubby would never pay to have someone take care of the pool! He is way too frugal for that. It was a learning curve the first year, but we are pretty comfortable with it now.

So yes, before we leave for a trip, we make sure to vacuum it the best we can. Then we make sure the water is balanced. That is what I went to the pool store for today. When your water is not balanced, that is almost always the root of any water issues, like algae, cloudiness, etc. If you keep your water chemistry balanced, the water is always usually crystal clear and caring for it is no harder than vacuuming. I check our water chemistry several times a week. We're both science nerds, so it's like a chemistry lab lol

After vacuuming and making sure the water is balanced, we dump an entire jug of chlorine in there along with a bit of algaecide. We also have a Nature 2 Fusion which is a chlorinator (tabs) + sanitizer and we keep that on medium while we are gone. My brother in law also comes by to check on the house and he will dump in additional chlorine about half way through our trip. When we get back, it's dirty with leaves etc., but the water is usually still clear. Fingers crossed it's no different this time.

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Mani and pedis have gotten so expensive. It is ranging about $100pp with tip for no-chip mani/regular Pedi here in Chicago. I like to do them with my mother and grandmother for Mother's Day and if my mother is starting a cruise with us. 

Just one more day until you guys leave. I am excited for you. I normally do no vacation in the summer because too many tiny smalls everywhere. But this blog and the group cruise one is making me wish I was doing something soon. 

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1 minute ago, Jkaczano said:

You need to get a solar powered pool robot.   It floats around all day cleaning the top of the pool so things don’t have a chance to sink.  

Hmm…interesting. I will have to look into that when we get back. Currently we have the Polaris pool vac and it climbs the walls pretty decently, but something that skims the surface…I am most intrigued! 

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So when Hubby and the girls got me the glossy red Beis roller, I totally fell in love with it. However, I also grew concerned because Delta keeps gate checking bags these days. I am especially concerned because our flight from DTW-JFK tomorrow is on a tiny little CRJ900. I don’t even know if they will let anyone roll a roller on. So what does a girl who loves to cruise do when trying to protect her glossy luggage? 😂

IMG_1161.thumb.jpeg.956544590de4331cde7daae3096688db.jpeg

I got one for Hubby too! It was “Buy 2 get 15% off” 😂 Then these got lost in the mail, and when Hubby found out they got lost, he said he hoped they would never be found. As you can see, he did not get his wish. 

Here’s the back:

IMG_1162.thumb.jpeg.d3ac92e61d0dcc4df85a4bae8901bb47.jpeg

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9 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

So when Hubby and the girls got me the glossy red Beis roller, I totally fell in love with it. However, I also grew concerned because Delta keeps gate checking bags these days. I am especially concerned because our flight from DTW-JFK tomorrow is on a tiny little CRJ900. I don’t even know if they will let anyone roll a roller on. So what does a girl who loves to cruise do when trying to protect her glossy luggage? 😂

IMG_1161.thumb.jpeg.956544590de4331cde7daae3096688db.jpeg

I got one for Hubby too! It was “Buy 2 get 15% off” 😂 Then these got lost in the mail, and when Hubby found out they got lost, he said he hoped they would never be found. As you can see, he did not get his wish. 

Here’s the back:

IMG_1162.thumb.jpeg.d3ac92e61d0dcc4df85a4bae8901bb47.jpeg

I suspect hubster and I would get along well.  🤣

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We have the Polaris 280.  Last year we were running it about once a week.  I think we’ve run it once so far this season.  The Betta SE runs around all day long and even picks up the dog fur from our golden - she loves the water.  Only problem is the kids take it out when they swim and forget to put it back in when they’re done

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1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I normally do no vacation in the summer because too many tiny smalls everywhere. But this blog and the group cruise one is making me wish I was doing something soon. 

I cannot wait for the day when I won't have to cruise with the tiny smalls and pay even higher pricing. Few more years and I will revamp my whole cruising schedule.

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43 minutes ago, SMOKEY0202 said:

Well just other day mention of Delta food in the blog and there was story where a Delta flight from Detroit to Amsterdam served spoiled food and some passengers got sick.  

I can't even imagine.  Definitely eat in the new lounge.

 

I saw that this morning! I told the kids to eat in the lounge! Then D17 said we (her and I) might be safer since we ordered the vegetarian ravioli lol. Hubby got the beef and D15 got the chicken. I have Imodium 😂

2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Even worse than WJ I bet!

Without a doubt! Just awful! lol

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18 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Without a doubt! Just awful! lol

Haha this reminds me of a memory of us texting about this trip. Discussing the drive from Calgary to Whistler among other things. Pretty sure the “infamous hike” was mentioned. lol At least our Mountain views and landscapes didn’t disappoint.  That and your stays at the various Fairmont hotels.   

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41 minutes ago, Jax said:

Haha this reminds me of a memory of us texting about this trip. Discussing the drive from Calgary to Whistler among other things. Pretty sure the “infamous hike” was mentioned. lol At least our Mountain views and landscapes didn’t disappoint.  That and your stays at the various Fairmont hotels.   

Did I send you pics of that infamous hike? Lmao 

Fairmont properties was the only highlight of that trip! Hubby went to Arizona back in the fall with his boys and they had a great time. I am just not built for the outdoors, and I am perfectly ok with that 😂

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9 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Hubby would never pay to have someone take care of the pool! He is way too frugal for that.

Somehow ... sorry ... i just don't see your family and "frugal" in the same genre.... maybe that's just me.  😄

I had one Bezos recommendation that i failed to mention on my own blog, but it's 🤪 crazy and i feel like I'm going to leave Bezos recommendations to @asquared17 🤣🤣 I mean, it's never going to come close to the clip cup anyway (which i still struggle with fully understanding 😁).  I have the reusable 3-1-1 bag, but not as nice as what @mashley1021 recommended (which BTW, the link you posted was hilarious. I was severely warned i was *gasp* using a Canadian link!).

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4 hours ago, asquared17 said:

 

incredible 😱🫨🤩

 

4 hours ago, Jax said:

My thoughts exactly!! 😳🤩

I am happy to provide coaching 😂

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

Somehow ... sorry ... i just don't see your family and "frugal" in the same genre.... maybe that's just me.  😄

Our own two kids laugh at us through years about this. They are still trying to figure us out. We will spend for things like vacations or Hubby’s Star Wars obsession, but he will take care of his own pool, hoard and reuse everything, fix/repair own fridge and dishwasher, park a mile away to avoid paying for parking in a lot, try to reuse everything etc. 🤷🏻‍♀️

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

I had one Bezos recommendation that i failed to mention on my own blog, but it's 🤪 crazy and i feel like I'm going to leave Bezos recommendations to @asquared17 🤣🤣 I mean, it's never going to come close to the clip cup anyway (which i still struggle with fully understanding 😁).  I have the reusable 3-1-1 bag, but not as nice as what @mashley1021 recommended (which BTW, the link you posted was hilarious. I was severely warned i was *gasp* using a Canadian link!).

I think I have the 311 bag too. But I also did not like it. Not enough space. I could squeeze more into a ziploc. I posted a Canadian link because I remember @Kelseylovestocruise saying she is a fellow Canadian. I personally bought off the US Amazon site 😉

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3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We will spend for things like vacations or Hubby’s Star Wars obsession, but he will take care of his own pool, hoard and reuse everything, fix/repair own fridge

That’s funny. Repairs, lawn/pool maintenance, etc. are things I happily pay for (well, not happily, but I’m not doing them even if I know how). We all have our own versions of frugal I guess.

Safe travels!

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1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

That’s funny. Repairs, lawn/pool maintenance, etc. are things I happily pay for (well, not happily, but I’m not doing them even if I know how). We all have our own versions of frugal I guess.

Safe travels!

No way! I do find that pretty funny. We’re totally opposite lol

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11 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We’re totally opposite lol

My laziness & lack of being handy hasn’t come up much, lol. Also, in my defense, doing outdoor maintenance in FL when the heat index is 114 (that’s from the morning news here for today as I was typing) is brutal. I’d rather go hiking with your hubby & I am NOT outdoorsy, lol.

EDIT: At least we have more important things in common like RC signature drinks.

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