What do you guys do between cruises?

[D Alt]

I can't deal. Always looking forward to the next cruise. Planning for it, staring at my app, staring at old photos..which is only from last month.

I'm addicted.  

Hi I'm Dara and I'm a Cruiser. 

How do you guys deal with these in-between days, weeks, months?  

Work sucks, so that's not a good answer.

 

[AshleyDillo]

Visit messageboards and various cruise groups. Work as many extra hours as I can stand to fill the time.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

With several family obligations currently not allowing us much free time…I try to find a few minutes every day to look up prices…research cruise destinations…read this forum….     Once the family situation is not so demanding we will be able to book what we want, when we want, know where we want to go…and ENJOY!!!

 I know we will get there but family comes first.

[wordell1]

Unfortunately, I still need to work to maintain my habit.  

[MuttMutt]

Currently in the middle of replacing the roof on our house pretty much by myself. I have one ground support person but they are afraid of ladders and heights so everything on the roof is done by my hand.  Also replacing the electrical system, installing datacomm,  and already replaced the water supply lines. Eventually going to split the upstairs in half and turn one half into a master bedroom with master bathroom. Then it's remodeling the current bathroom, kitchen, and other parts of the house. 

 

On top of all that doing dives and cleaning up trash under water when I can, trying to get my youtube channel going, editing video, dealing with life, trolling through here or reddit, among other things.   Thankfully this is a slow week since there is rain and high winds forecasted. 

For those wondering the old roof has 2 layers of cedar shake and 2 layers of asphalt. I removed two old rotten chimneys that were already falling apart and in one of the pictures you can see all the rotten wood I replaced that was below a chimney. It's all getting sheathed, ice and water barrier on the edges and synthetic underlayment elsewhere and the shingles will be lifetime warrantied. Materials cost is around 6k but the cost for someone else to do it is around 30k. 

[D Alt]

Can you do my house? 

I need to stay busy too. 

[MuttMutt]

4 minutes ago, D Alt said:

Can you do my house? 

I'm not going to be done with this one for a few months. It's wreaking havoc on my back shoulder and knees doing the roof and honestly i shouldn't be doing it. But I also don't have the money to pay someone else. The last section that I did took a week from tear-off to tarp. I have 2 more sections to go on this side and then I get to do the other side. 

 

BTW, never done a roof before so believe me anyone can do the work. Just takes time to learn. 

[Sweety]

I am doing research on my cruises and planning new ones for 2023. Currently, I am booked until April 2023. Looking for the Caribbean cruises to open up for August 2023 and April 2024. Bermuda or Southern Caribbean. I will be on a cruise December 18, 2021. Can't wait.

[WAAAYTOOO]

3 hours ago, MuttMutt said:

Currently in the middle of replacing the roof on our house pretty much by myself. I have one ground support person but they are afraid of ladders and heights so everything on the roof is done by my hand.  Also replacing the electrical system, installing datacomm,  and already replaced the water supply lines. Eventually going to split the upstairs in half and turn one half into a master bedroom with master bathroom. Then it's remodeling the current bathroom, kitchen, and other parts of the house. 

 

On top of all that doing dives and cleaning up trash under water when I can, trying to get my youtube channel going, editing video, dealing with life, trolling through here or reddit, among other things.   Thankfully this is a slow week since there is rain and high winds forecasted. 

For those wondering the old roof has 2 layers of cedar shake and 2 layers of asphalt. I removed two old rotten chimneys that were already falling apart and in one of the pictures you can see all the rotten wood I replaced that was below a chimney. It's all getting sheathed, ice and water barrier on the edges and synthetic underlayment elsewhere and the shingles will be lifetime warrantied. Materials cost is around 6k but the cost for someone else to do it is around 30k. 

 

 

Yikes !  Big job.  Be careful !

[MuttMutt]

28 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yikes !  Big job.  Be careful !

For sure.  I am doing my best.  Slope is about 33 degrees or around 8/12.  Hence the reason for roof jacks while installing.  I can stick to the roof without extra help on the new roof but the old stuff you just end up sliding no matter what.  Actually had a worse day on the ground Thursday.  Was cleaning up some debris and while moving the trash can I ended up falling and took a nail to my scalp, was just the head that hit and not a point but still lost a chunk.  Been a few years since I have had a tetanus booster so getting that, a flu shot, and hopefully a covid booster tomorrow afternoon.

[teddy]

Home remodeling is a never ending project.
 

We started remodeling our kitchen back at the beginning of summer (I’m doing the work).  Little did we know that after three years of saving so we could cash flow the remodel, summer 2021 would be the summer of no help at my real job and I’d be working 70-75 hours a week  

 

No house remodel would be complete without finding shoddy work from decades ago.   I had to replace a quarter of the house framing due to an improperly attached deck from 30 years ago.   The studs were so rotted they disintegrated when I pulled on them  

 

[MuttMutt]

40 minutes ago, teddy said:

Home remodeling is a never ending project.
 

We started remodeling our kitchen back at the beginning of summer (I’m doing the work).  Little did we know that after three years of saving so we could cash flow the remodel, summer 2021 would be the summer of no help at my real job and I’d be working 70-75 hours a week  

 

No house remodel would be complete without finding shoddy work from decades ago.   I had to replace a quarter of the house framing due to an improperly attached deck from 30 years ago.   The studs were so rotted they disintegrated when I pulled on them  

 

Yep. Looks about like our back porch. Going to need to rip the whole thing off and replace it. It was originally just a sloped porch till someone decided to enclose it. The door swings in so it sits about 4 inches above the threshold when closed and the roof leaked most of the time over the years so it's pretty well rotten. In fact the other day I had to throw a piece of wood down because the floor had a board break. 

 

But even with the work I'm putting in to it the house has been worth it. The footprint is about 30x50 and the upstairs is about 20x50. We got the place for 18k. By the time I am done with the roof and electrical it will be worth about 80k. And when I put in the solar system, office, and master bedroom I'm looking towards the 120k plus area. 

[Jill]

I scoop poop on my horse farm Right now we have 4 trips between March and October. Wonder in March, Radiance in May to Alaska. Land trip to Scotland for British Open and Holy Land/Greece on Odyssey in October with a stay in Rome. I’m planning these basically on my own. My head is hurting Wonder is the easiest as we never do excursions in the Caribbean. Those are sit on your butt in the sun trips. 
 

The Scotland trip just happened as hubby won ticket lottery so we can’t pass that up. 
 

All in all this means no new carpet, no re-doing master bath countertop and eating PB&J 4 nights a week. 
 

However, as my brother in law says, “They (IRS) can’t repossess memories” so we’re going with that

[Ampurp85]

I mostly work and occasionally visit blogs and FB to live vicariously through other cruisers. Originally, I was only allowed to take vacation middle of Oct through middle of Nov and anytime in Jan. But at my weekday job we have decided to only be WFH instead of renting office space. That means as long as I have access to the internet I can work from wherever. Starting in Jan 23' I will hopefully be taking a lot more cruises.

[D Alt]

Life goals to be WFH / remote full time permanently. 

[Ampurp85]

17 hours ago, D Alt said:

Life goals to be WFH / remote full time permanently. 

It is pretty great to an extent. I definitely work more/longer hours some days because of the scheduling of either Teams or Zoom. But on others, I am done with my part quickly enough to run errands and do laundry (truthfully, I can always do laundry).

I am currently helping my friend at his restaurant on weekends, started in 2020, because he is severely understaffed. Which means I don't get to constantly stay in my pajamas and avoid the bad Chicago weather. The plan is to try to get his place fully staffed by the summer of 22' and then be cruising way more in 23'

[JLMoran]

On 12/7/2021 at 8:32 PM, Ampurp85 said:

at my weekday job we have decided to only be WFH instead of renting office space. That means as long as I have access to the internet I can work from wherever. Starting in Jan 23' I will hopefully be taking a lot more cruises.

On 12/8/2021 at 5:58 PM, D Alt said:

Life goals to be WFH / remote full time permanently. 

My employer has also transitioned all IT staff to full-time WFH, although there are other groups outside of IT that have to be on a "hybrid" schedule and go to the office 2-4 days a week depending on their job.

I'm definitely happy to no longer have a commute, but like @Ampurp85 I now find myself regularly doing things like logging on at 7:30 or being on until 7:30 PM. Basically whatever the project and my time budget requires. And I definitely miss being able to pass by a co-workers desk and just stop for 15 minutes of chit-chat if neither of us is super-busy. Chatting over Teams is just not the same.

But I'm saving so much money on gas, take-out food, coffee runs, etc that it's almost like I got a raise without doing anything different. And being able to just step away for a few minutes to make fresh coffee, throw in some laundry, refill the bird feeders while there's daylight, fire up the Robovac or whatever else needs quick doing is fracking awesome. I really hope the company doesn't change this for the next 8 years; after that they can do whatever they want because I'll be retired.

Oh, and since my work computer is in the same room as my home computer, it's a lot easier to do a cruise itinerary / price check or look up excursions without worrying about the company network sniffers picking up the fact I'm slacking for a few minutes.

[D Alt]

I was WFH last year during the pandemic, but unfortunately my job requires me to come in especially lately with losing staff.  So i'm trying to get a better job that is fully remote. I don't mind logging in when I wake up and logging out before I go to sleep because I'm home with my kitties.  the only perks I find at the office are the 3 screens, and the ability to print and I'm probably more productive. I'm an introvert so the interaction with people is not really being missed. 

[AshleyDillo]

This work from home talk is like twisting a knife in the back of this State of Florida worker.  Even though we successfully were able to work from home for 15 months, we are back in the office now with the concession that we still get to work from home one day a week for now 

[WAAAYTOOO]

35 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

This work from home talk is like twisting a knife in the back of this State of Florida worker. 

Yeah, but there are so many OTHER things that make this THE place to be !  I am sooooooo happy that we are now in FL !!

[AshleyDillo]

4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yeah, but there are so many OTHER things that make this THE place to be !  I am sooooooo happy that we are now in FL !!

Oh I am not complaining about living here..just that continuing to work from home doesn't fit the current agenda

Once we are further away from the whole pandemic, maybe it can be turned and be spun to be a positive thing that we are able to still function without having to warm chairs in an physical office building.

[Ampurp85]

@D AltI too am pretty much an introvert. 

Our WFH situation was something I begged for in the beginning......I have been with my company over 17 years. At most we had 11 employees. We always meet the client everywhere but our office and the rent for downtown Chicago is crazy. More often than not I was the only person in the office because I rarely met with clients. So, I am glad that all those expenses have been eliminated. Not to mention mines have reduced quite a bit and I can spend all the time with Senator Meowkins......who think people are on Teams to talk to her.

@WAAAYTOOOand @AshleyDillo I think the best parts of FL are ports and being able to cruise at a moment's notice. The heat is a little much for me.

[PG Cruiser]

In between cruises, I make spoof shirts.

[D Alt]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

@D AltI too am pretty much an introvert. 

Our WFH situation was something I begged for in the beginning......I have been with my company over 17 years. At most we had 11 employees. We always meet the client everywhere but our office and the rent for downtown Chicago is crazy. More often than not I was the only person in the office because I rarely met with clients. So, I am glad that all those expenses have been eliminated. Not to mention mines have reduced quite a bit and I can spend all the time with Senator Meowkins......who think people are on Teams to talk to her.

@WAAAYTOOOand @AshleyDillo I think the best parts of FL are ports and being able to cruise at a moment's notice. The heat is a little much for me.

Senator Meowkins!! love it. 

NY is not WFH much the past few months either, so don't feel bad @AshleyDillo

[D Alt]

1 hour ago, PG Cruiser said:

In between cruises, I make spoof shirts.

you have an etsy page or site to purchase these awesome shirts?

[PG Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, D Alt said:

you have an etsy page or site to purchase these awesome shirts?

I wish I did.  But I couldn't get the technique right.  The print starts peeling off after a few washes.  I'm sure would-be buyers wouldn't want that.

[JLMoran]

On 12/10/2021 at 5:11 PM, Ampurp85 said:

@D AltI too am pretty much an introvert. 

Count me among the introvert crew. It's right there in my official Meyers-Briggs result -- INTJ.

I'm mostly fine being in the house with the pets and family, but I do like to get out and socialize every so often for conversation and laughs. Since it's still hard to do that latter part in-person, I've joined a weekly D&D campaign on Roll20 and that's totally satisfying the Social needs bar of this particular Sim. I'm the oldest by about, umm... 20 or 25 years. But the other folks don't care, they're just happy that I'm a good role player and party member.

On the cruise ships, though, one of my favorite things is going to lunch in the MDR and asking to be seated at a random 10-top so I can meet a bunch of random people and have an hour of fun conversation, learn about people's hometowns / countries, and compare cruising histories.

I dunno, maybe I'm more of an "extroverted introvert"?

[melmar02]

@JLMoran DH just taught the kids how to play so he can get his fix. 

[Ampurp85]

@JLMoran First, I read that an introverted extrovert is a thing. Second, I used to D&D but like 20 years ago when only "nerds/losers" did it. I am thinking about getting back into it since they have so many online groups.

I like meeting people on cruises but only when I want to. I hate being forced into sitting with people. I always feel judge lmfao.

[D Alt]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:46 PM, Ampurp85 said:

@JLMoran First, I read that an introverted extrovert is a thing. Second, I used to D&D but like 20 years ago when only "nerds/losers" did it. I am thinking about getting back into it since they have so many online groups.

I like meeting people on cruises but only when I want to. I hate being forced into sitting with people. I always feel judge lmfao.

I think some couples "feel sorry" for solo cruisers and invite us to sit with them. Sure sometimes, but sometimes I just want to be by myself. 

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, D Alt said:

I think some couples "feel sorry" for solo cruisers and invite us to sit with them. Sure sometimes, but sometimes I just want to be by myself. 

Ugh exactly. 

My first solo cruise this family tried to force me into their plans. Their cabin was across the hall, and they made a joke the first day about being lucky to have a balcony room all to myself. Every morning they would knock on the door and tell me what they were planning to do, and I could join them. I felt awkward trying to explain why I didn't want to join or what my plans were. Of course, this was almost a decade ago when it was very weird to be alone.

[BrianAlt]

On 12/5/2021 at 6:01 PM, D Alt said:

How do you guys deal with these in-between days, weeks, months?  

Plan my next cruise(s)!

[D Alt]

5 hours ago, BrianAlt said:

Plan my next cruise(s)!

Hey Brian, your next cruise is on Anthem out of Bayonne, right?  Are you parking in the cruise lot or another cheaper lot maybe? 

P.S. how weird we have the same Alt in our username. LOL

[JLMoran]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:46 PM, Ampurp85 said:

I used to D&D but like 20 years ago when only "nerds/losers" did it.

I'm an OG D&D player, from the "Blue Box" days of the basic game and first edition Advanced rules. Late 70s / early 80s. When only the hard-core nerds and losers played, and it was determined by some to be covertly Satanic in nature. Not helped by the movie Mazes & Monsters, with a very young Tom Hanks.

[BrianAlt]

19 hours ago, D Alt said:

Hey Brian, your next cruise is on Anthem out of Bayonne, right?  Are you parking in the cruise lot or another cheaper lot maybe? 

I always park in the lot.  It's not cheap, but also not ridiculous.  The biggest factor is that the convenience is absolutely worth it.

19 hours ago, D Alt said:

P.S. how weird we have the same Alt in our username. LOL

Our last names perhaps?  Part of mine at least.

____________________________________________

@Ampurp85& @JLMoran - another big D&D player from back in the day.

[D Alt]

4 hours ago, BrianAlt said:

I always park in the lot.  It's not cheap, but also not ridiculous.  The biggest factor is that the convenience is absolutely worth it.

Our last names perhaps?  Part of mine at least.

____________________________________________

@Ampurp85& @JLMoran - another big D&D player from back in the day.

yes first 3 letters of my last name. 

[teddy]

On 12/12/2021 at 1:28 PM, JLMoran said:

I've joined a weekly D&D campaign on Roll20 and that's totally satisfying the Social needs bar of this particular Sim. I'm the oldest by about, umm... 20 or 25 years

I just got home Monday night from Enforcing at Pax Unplugged......I'm about to be 52...it was my 11th Pax 

[JLMoran]

On 12/16/2021 at 10:56 AM, teddy said:

I just got home Monday night from Enforcing at Pax Unplugged......I'm about to be 52...it was my 11th Pax 

Haven't done Pax. Guessing that's a regional convention?

And let's hear it for the 50+ D&D crowd!! I'll be 52 next month.

[teddy]

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Haven't done Pax. Guessing that's a regional convention?

Pax Unplugged is in Philadelphia 

Pax West in Seattle

Pax East in Boston 

Pax South was in San Antonio, but it fell victim to the pandemic. 

[MuttMutt]

I am a major geek but also had almost no friends so never got into D&D or anything like it really.  Then around high school we moved to a place where the closest town was maybe a mile and didn't have a gas station so you can imagine how that went being a major geek.  Later on did get into some of the trading card games but usually more of a PC gamer and even then it's a little limited.  I like to goof with some FPS's but tend to end up in building style games a lot and was actually doing some video creation as well but the place I am at is lucky to get 1Mbps upload so that is pretty well dead for now.  I was trying to upload 1440P with 60FPS so it would take about 12 hours where I am at now and even my dive video's are a pain to upload but they are much less often.  

I have been told I need to go down to city hall and talk with the mayor about the tech stuff so I guess I need to deal with that soon and who knows maybe they will build out their own fiber network or something.  I actually ran 4 ethernet, 4 coax, and 2 OM3 Multimode LC to LC cables plus power to the place I want to use as a demarcation point for all of my datacomm stuff so if fiber comes in I am all set.

Got to a stopping point on the roof yesterday as we had wind and rain in the forecast with cold and snow possible Saturday so I opted to go get my covid booster today and feel kinda cruddy.  Not as bad as the second one but still sore and tired with my arm feeling like Tyson just slugged me cause I smarted off about something, thankfully didn't chew off my ear.

Oh and my father is bugging me about his server he is trying to copy a file over from his desktop and it won't work which sounds like a permission error but could just be him.  And he wants to update the jails running Plex and Syncthing plus he just swapped out a failing drive the other day but thankfully on his own as I was doing another section of roof.  Have one more to go but it's going to be a little bigger than the last one.  Hopefully have good weather again after the 4th.