3rdGenCunarder

Because NYC is a homeport for me, I've never had to deal with excursions there. But I do look to see what they offer, and nothing looks that good to me. I don't recall seeing an Ellis Island trip. OP, I'm sorry that was cancelled. it would have been worth your time. Cunard should offer more trips wtih a single focus, considering the time constraints. For anyone who is considering one of Cunard's NYC excursions, I suggest you avoid the bus and "three stops" tour. I was just on the 14 day Canada cruise, and my table companions all had been on since Southampton. One woman said she did this tour, and there was no guidance other than when to get back to the bus. The stops were: 1. "Central Park and an art museum" (her description). This was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a terrible choice for an hour or so--it's huge! I don't know what I would choose to see in only one hour. I spend much longer than that when I go. She said the queue to get in was so long, she just went for a walk in the area. 2. Rockefeller Center. It's a chance to see an iconic part of Manhattan, but not a lot to do other than look around. 3. "Somewhere to see a church." Again, her description. From what she said, I guess it was near Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan. To be fair to the tour, she got on the bus with no idea where she was going, but even if she had done some research/planning, it didn't sound like a good use of a day in NYC.

I do that, too! When I was VERY young, I saw the original Sound of Music, but late in the run, not the original cast. The 17-going-on-18 messenger boy was Jon Voight!!!! I'm not too sure about the all-female 1776. Sounds like "stunt casting," but I will see it as part of my subscription to Roundabout. People kind of roll their eyes and say "boring history, and you know what's going to happen." Yes, you know how it ends, but getting there is dramatic, and like Turtles06, I get that punch in the gut. The founding fathers, for all their flaws, put everything on the line. I get chills just thinking about it.

He certainly doesn't need the tux to meet the dress code. It's a matter of choice if he really wants to wear one to justify the cost. (Or if you want him to wear it to go with your gown?)

People have worried about the future of live theater for decades. Broadway has been called "The Fabulous Invalid" (the name is taken from a play about this), but it perseveres. One of the problems theater faces is that audiences don't look beyond the blockbusters with big advertising budgets and sometimes "stunt casting" of big stars. I love that the Tonys are broadcast on TV so the whole country knows more about theater. But people often want to see the play or musical that won, and good plays that didn't win can have trouble getting an audience. I don't remember the exact statistics, but recently I learned that 20 or more years ago, theater tickets were mostly bought by locals. Maybe 20% of people in the audience were tourists. Now it's more like 75-80% tourists, especially during summer. With ticket prices so high, they're likely to see only one play and they don't want to gamble on an unknown. This sounds like theater snobbery, and I don't mean it that way. It's just how the business seems to work these days. And see SIX if you can. Not a play, more of a pop concert, but it's clever. It's better if you know the history, but that isn't important. Just know that like a concert, it's LOUD.

Jukebox musicals are tricky. Some get a good run, like Movin' Out or Jersey Boys. Some just don't hold together, like Imagine (John Lennon) or whatever the Johnny Cash one was. And, yes, Disney seems to be in every other theater. Not my taste, but if it helps to hook a new generation of theater-goers, that's a good thing. Go to Playbill.com and you'll find a list of Broadway productions, including plays are that are opening in the future, if you're planning ahead.

It's all done by computers, so as long as you do it right and don't need human intervention, it should be fine.

Although your cruise line may have dropped testing for some itineraries, they will require it for Canada. You have to test before you board the ship. Check with your cruise line for details on timing. IIRC, ArriveCAN wants you to upload vaccine record, but not your test results.

For itinerary, look at HAL, especially the late cruises, where they reposition southward. They have smaller ships that can get into smaller ports. Although they have a reputation for an older clientele, they do offer some active tours, and it's easy to do things on your own in most of the ports, if you don't want a ship's tour.

March weather could be spring-like weather or a snowstorm or something in between. If you're driving, watch the long-range forecasts and go early if there's going to be a storm along your route. Yes, your first and last days will be chilly. A lot of people don't like that, wanting to get right to tropical weather. But it's kind of fun to have a different sort of sea day. I've sailed out of NYC in January and it was like changing seasons as we sailed south. And the Anthem should have plenty for you to do indoors.

Mine, too. Okay if she stops off by me before going back to you?

Honor system, aka "liar's club." I wonder how many times one negative result will be photographed. I had to write my name and the date on the actual test thing for my observed test.

I'm pretty fast on my phone, but I still take paper. Boarding in Vancouver in June, there were 5 or 6 stops along the way (not including the immigration kiosk or security scan) where it was show this, show that, show the other thing. Some documents were looked at twice. If I had to keep poking at my phone in a situation like that, I'd probably drop it. If I drop paper, it doesn't break! Boarding HAL in FLL, you have to show boarding pass at the door to the terminal. I don't know how many people I've seen digging through folders or purses because they didn't have docs convenient to hand.

June 14? Worst embarkation I've ever been through! But that wasn't anyone's immigration service, it was all the people who hadn't done ArriveCAN combined with clueless port staff. Disembarkation in Vancouver was not as bad, but still not done well. Even though there was no immigration to go through, they got behind on the schedule, so people left their cabins at the assigned times only to find things were backed up. So much for trying to keep passengers from congregating... You can't dawdle over lunch. I've had a leisurely lunch, looked at my watch and thought, oh dear, I've missed the first 5 minutes of that talk I want to go to. Then I realized I'd missed it entirely.

You say customer service didn't respond. How did you try to contact them? Do you have a travel agent to work on your behalf?

Thank you for the detailed review. I love Carinthia for a light lunch, but never thought to try there for tea. On my list for my upcoming cruise. I will have to check the Chef's Galley for a lunchtime salad. The salad bar at Kings Chaos is one of my pet peeves. Such pathetic offerings. As for the photographers, yes, VERY stilted poses, particularly what I call the "prom pose," where the man stands behind the woman with his arms around her waist and her hands on his. Been there, done that when I was 18. Now, I want something different. Twice, on QM2, I was able to convince the photographer to take the pose I wanted and I still love those pictures. You have a chance if they're holding the camera and not stuck on a tripod. I have to say, the photographers on QE were very good about details, like fixing a crooked necklace.

I had a great whale watch with Hoonah Travel Adventures. Orcas came up near our boat, gave us a good show, dove, and then reappeared by another boat. Great performers!

I love Gastineau! I've gone with them twice. Their boats are just the right size. I don't want to be on a big double-decker. I think they're often contracted with the cruise lines. The last time I went with them, I had to book through the ship. The ship's description sounded like their tour, so I called them. They confirmed that their tour that day had to be booked through the ship, so that's what I did.

I did an engine room tour many years ago on a HAL ship that was steam-powered. Statendam, maybe. I doubt insurance rules would allow it now. We walked along a narrow catwalk next to the turning shafts. One false step and it would have been like going through an old washing-machine mangle! Yes, the QM2 tour is a lot of standing and climbing steep stairs. They did not allow cameras, I suppose so hands would be free to old the railings on the stairs. HAL did allow cameras. I don't see why Cunard should include the cost of the behind-the-scenes tour in the cost of the ticket. Shore excursions aren't included. I think of the BTS tour as a shipboard shore excursion.

I didn't see the pie shop, but I did see the one with the small cast playing inmates of Fogg's Asylum. I missed the "theatricality" of the full-set production, although the performances were excellent. Patti's hair kept falling in her face, and I wanted to offer her a bobby pin to hold it back. I suppose it was the unkempt inmate look, but I found it very distracting.

My first ship tour was on a HAL Vista. I knew about it because of Cruise Critic and booked it right away. I think there was a tiny announcement in the first day's program, but it wasn't easy to spot. On Cunard, I did the same thing, sign up asap. I don't recall seeing anything in the program for it on QM2.

I'm planning on Dave's, one of the food shacks, followed by one of the ice cream vendors. The problem is the friend who is on for the second week is vegan. So the plan is for her to get something to go from a vegan cafe along our walk after the gardens, then we'll head to the water where I'll get my lobster roll, and we'll find a picnic table or bench somewhere. I just hope the weather cooperates.

I agree. And in a port with many ships, like Fort Lauderdale, you could have a long ride all around the port if your ship is the last stop.

Thanks. My itinerary doesn't have a lot of lobster roll ports. It looks like Boston and Halifax may be the only places I'll get lobster roll this time.

Was the lobster roll at the Governor's Pub a special, or is it on the main menu? I've been looking at restaurants in Sydney and haven't seen lobster roll on any of the website menus. I have a vague memory of food trucks or shacks at Sydney, but maybe that was somewhere else. I was hoping for a quick lunch before my tour leaves.

Sweeney Todd will have a full orchestra, the wonderful original orchestrations, so I'm thinking it won't be weird like in a pie shop or with Patti Lupone playing the tuba (no, I am not making that up). American Express tickets are available now. General sales open Sept 19 (or thereabouts). Come from Away is wonderful, but closes soon (Around Oct 1) Into the Woods has just been extended into January. It's an excellent production, worth the price just to see the puppet cow!