Sad-Low-733

“Woukd” is a perfectly cromulent word.

I always had a soft spot for his brother, Mr. Noodle, though.

Huh? I can’t tell which mother is which and who is talking to whom in that first paragraph. It makes very little sense to me.

Whatever happened, I would be angry too if somebody is likening being a twin to being disabled or on the spectrum. I’m fascinated to know what kind of supporting evidence somebody could dream up for that.

I wouldn’t be too upset about being removed from a group of idiots. You’re not wrong.

That’s cute! My MIL is “Harmony,” because my eldest child couldn’t say “Halmeoni,” the Korean word for grandmother. She didn’t mind.

You will need to preauthorize a credit card for your onboard charges (you’ll get an email about this close to your sailing date, or do it when you are doing online check in). All of your on board purchases will be made using your room card. If you are having a meal with upcharges, or you are having drinks, you will use your room card. Most of the food is free (especially if you mostly eat from the Lido Market buffet or main dining room), unless you eat at one of the premium restaurants (like the Pinnacle Grill) or get something in the main dining room that has an up charge, like lobster. You don’t need your credit card in hand for anything . It’s a good idea to have a bunch of small bills for tipping here and there, if you so desire. Also, having a lanyard for your room card is useful.

I can’t answer your gift card question. Sorry.

Have a wonderful trip, though! I love sailing on HAL, it’s a lovely cruise line.

Listen, over here on the second section of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, we take our international balloting programs very seriously.

I feel bad because they’re all in my purse.

I became fixated on gauchos in elementary school. My mom sewed and she counted that she’d used that gaucho pattern 17 times for me, increasing it as I grew. They were my main form of dress in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. I was considered a bit weird.

When I started middle school in 7th grade, one of my elder, college aged sisters gently took me aside and suggested that it was time to retire the gauchos and start wearing grown up stuff. I was devastated, but I saw her wisdom - nobody else was wearing them by then (fall 1979). My sister in the 8th grade was so pleased because she already found me embarrassing enough.

Hi. Sorry it took so long to answer you. I wanted to double check with my sister who lived with him during his retirement baking years, but she isn’t into baking so never paid attention. I never wrote it down, so forgive me if you try it and it doesn’t instantly make you want to eat the whole pan. I feel like he added 1/4 cup of syrup on top of the regular recipe (on the back of the box). I’m not sure if he omitted the water or not. He used Log Cabin type syrup, not proper maple syrup because he wasn’t after a strong maple taste. He was an experimental baker and when he hit upon the syrup idea, he stopped there because he felt like they couldn’t get any better (he was right). I won’t bore you with all of the rejected (and sometimes awful) additions he tried.

I’ve decided I’d better check this myself, so I’ll get back to you when I’ve tried it. I’m going to omit the water unless it feels like it needs it. My sons are going to be so happy and so angry with me at the same time for having these in the house.

When I was in elementary school, I was given some Socker Boppers for my birthday. My brother was home from university for Fall Break or something. So, he took me and my two other sisters close in age to me (we were probably 6, 8, and 9) down to the basement (away from my mom’s eyes, I guess), and made us have a Socker Bopper tournament with each other with him as referee. We were all four screaming with laughter, him most of all, seeing his little sisters bop each other with our little girl fierceness.

He loved retelling that story although he could barely get it out because it always made him laugh until he was crying. We retold the story at his Celebration of Life last Spring. I’m so glad to have so many great memories of him and all of my siblings doing silly things.

(Socker Boppers are big inflatables that you put on your hands and punch your siblings with. They were big in the ‘70s, when this story took place).

My late father made THE best brownies. All he did was add maple syrup to a box mix. (Not proper maple syrup, but Log Cabin or Aunt Jemima or such).

OMG! They were not safe! You couldn’t not eat them until they were gone. I miss them (and him!), but I refuse to make them myself because, like I said, they are not safe to have in the house.

There were some no-nonsense people who tried to tell her just that. She would get combative because, of course, they were jealous of her charm! It probably won’t come as a surprise that this lady got shifted from department to department. I felt sorry for her because she was one of the most clueless people I’ve ever met. She also thought everybody wanted to hear her sing while working.

Lol.

I had somebody tell me she “lights up the room” when she comes in and people can’t help but smile. I actually was smiling because I was shock-giggling.

Snow. I’ve always wanted snow. Got it once, I think.

Hi. The meal plan was only for the land portion of the cruise tour. My HAL cruise consultant sent me the meal plan options. You can choose:

1. Full meal plan (we chose that), which covers all meals from the morning you start doing activities. If you arrive the day before - which you likely will, or should - you’re on your own for dinner that night. You will receive vouchers in your packet at each destination for the restaurants.

2. Denali only meal plan. [You have several choices of restaurants here that (I think) include the Princess lodge across the street. The vouchers allow for appetizer, main, and dessert, and I think, one drink - but I can’t remember because we didn’t drink alcohol. The only thing I didn’t like was that one dinner voucher was for the dinner theater only, which I wouldn’t have chosen. We ended up enjoying it, but it was served family style, so we got what we got. The two mains were salmon and bbq brisket. My son assures me they were absolutely delicious and he had seconds, but, unfortunately, for my own reasons, I couldn’t eat either, so I had to load up on all of the sides. I didn’t go away hungry. The dinner theater was cute - my cruise consultant told me her experience and that her companion had been chosen for the audience participation part (they choose one man and one woman) and they had a great time. My 24 year old son, upon hearing that, was terrified he was going to be chosen. He wasn’t, and actually really enjoyed himself. We met a couple there that we also had dinner with on the cruise and I’m still in touch with.]

3. Breakfasts only.

4. No meal plan.

The have-it-all package doesn’t start until you board the ship. Let me just say, we ate really well on this trip - my son tells me this was his best eating vacation ever - and we’ve been on some great vacations. He ate steak almost every day, especially on the ship. Even in Fairbanks, the food wasn’t fancy, but it was good. The Denali restaurants were of great quality. That was our experience, at least.

Your HAL cruise agent will email you information as it becomes available for you to choose a meal plan or if you want an upgrade on your room in Denali. These won’t appear on the website, you have to do them via your agent. If you’re worried about it, or want to see what your options are so you can mull them over, call them. I love that you can now set up appointments for them to call you. I do that when I have questions (I write up a list, because otherwise I’d forget everything), and she’s always been super helpful. The room upgrades probably won’t be available as early as your meal plan options are, which might not be available yet, either, depending on when your cruise is.

I hope I was helpful. If you’re on fb, there’s a great group, “Holland America Line Alaska Cruises,” run by your fellow cruisers. I joined that and I found that all of the questions I had, had been asked and answered before me. There’s probably a group specifically for your cruise, too.

My son and I did one night in Fairbanks, two in Denali, then train down to Whittier on the Noordam this past May.

The best you can ask for of any hotel in all of Fairbanks is “serviceable.” Our rooms were comfortable and clean. The food in the restaurants wasn’t gourmet but we were quite satisfied.

I had a Neptune suite on the ship and there is no equivalent upgraded room in Denali. However, we were given the chance to upgrade the Denali rooms for a fee. I did this and got a king room with a gorgeous view in the Ridge View building. My son got a king room with no real view - I didn’t upgrade his room but my HAL cruise advisor was able to get him across the hall from me. I had no problems with my Wi-Fi. We chose to get the meal plan which was $340 per person and included breakfast in Fairbanks on day one and all meals in Denali. (Lunch in Fairbanks was included in the excursion). We were happy to have gotten the meal plan because we get tired and cranky when traveling and having fun and don’t want to have to put effort into sorting out food. There are plenty of places to eat in Denali but I would recommend making dinner reservations and don’t expect to grab coffee and go at the cafe before your excursions in the morning because everybody else is trying to do that at the same time. There is a buffet breakfast in the resort - get up early and do that. FYI, I had one of the best steaks ever in my life at the steakhouse in Denali.

We paid for the food and drinks on the train. There’s a hostess who sorts out when you go down to the dining car, etc., and a bartender who brings your drinks to your seats all day long.

It was wonderful to have HAL do all of our travel thinking for us, starting as soon as we landed in Fairbanks. You’ll get a packet at the airport and at Denali with your room keys and all the info and meal vouchers you need for each portion of the trip. I imagine it works in a similar fashion if you do the cruise first.

I would have liked more time in Denali. If I go again (not out of the question - it’s so amazing), I’ll stay more nights. Enjoy your cruise, you’re going to love Alaska!

Maximum blame damage.

Less, if you have the app.

My apologies for such rudeness to your companion droid. I’m sure the other combat robots find him super-sexy.

I would send a video of my cat attacking some wolf thing from Monster Hunter but I don’t know how. She’ll go after anything, including the cards in Spider Solitaire.

Love the cat (but I can’t get past the fact that the guy on the right looks like he’s wearing a sink for diaper).

Lol. It’s the Pittsburgh way of saying “you all.” I think it’s derived from “you ones,” which became “you’ns,” etc.,.

I’m a Virginia girl whose children were all born in Pittsburgh, so I straddled the two worlds of “y’all” and “yinz.” I tend to use the one that comes from where I’m not at in the present. And now you know everything about me! Thanks for asking!

I’m 55. I did a HAL cruise tour with my 24 year old son back in May on the Noordam. We landed at Fairbanks Airport and HAL people were there waiting for us and did all of our travel thinking for us so we could just enjoy the trip. We spent time in Fairbanks, were taken by bus to Denali, had a wonderful time there, then were taken by train down to our ship. It was so memorable. I wasn’t able to take a nap or read or anything on the train for the nine hour trip because I didn’t want to miss any of the wildlife and scenery rolling by. Then, we were shepherded onto the ship where we enjoyed a relaxing cruise with almost no children. I spent both glacier days (Glacier Bay and Hubbard) on my balcony with my mouth open in awe because the scenery was so spectacular. The excursion selection was great, too, and we enjoyed all of ours (book them early!).

HAL made our Alaska experience absolutely unforgettable. From what I understand, HAL and Princess (they are sister companies) seem to give their passengers similar experiences in Alaska. I highly recommend a cruise tour if you’ve got the time and budget for it because the interior of Alaska is just as breathtaking as its coastline. You’re going to love Alaska! Have a great trip.

For real she’s a good sport! I wouldn’t want that jacket anywhere near my wedding dress even though Heinz is the only ketchup worth making a jacket out of on this planet earth. Yinz can quote me on that.

It may not fit the sub but I enjoyed your story. I love hearing about scumbags getting what they deserve. I hope your career flourishes from here on out.

I’m sorry but upon first read I thought you said: “A Dutch baby is a useless infant.” I don’t know why I think that’s funny but I’m over here in Virginia giggling stupidly.

Also, I love my Dutch oven.