mking8288

There's no Laundry Special yet as we do our Platinum special, lined the downsized paper bag with a (clean) plastic liner from Residence Inn, rolled tightly and it's going to our steward. Meanwhile, ship just finished running an emergency training drill w the crew, lasted a full hour. Life boats lowered partially as part of the action steps ... watching it from The Local. Yes, they got hash browns today. Tonight's Special ...

It's a cloudy morning, 54 degree F and wet weather expected by afternoon - rain on its way. Long pants to pair with a lined jacket for a walk to town along the waterfront. Ship just been cleared & pax can procces to gangway.

We had an unexpected visitor tonight 🤣🤣🤣 Haven't seen these in a while 😊 nor did we asked for anything at all 😃

Sunset with Boston downtown in the near distance 😎

Skillfully done, U-turn and backing out done in 15 minutes, no pilot boat that I can see - only BPD's harbor patrol chasing small boats ahead, siren blasting for not yielding right of way or getting cruise ship's path. Boston's Logan Int'l Airport Portside as we head east before turning north to Portland overnight. Time for a lighter dinner tonight.

Bye - leaving the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal on time. Boston PD's fast harbor patrol boat racing starboard side to get ahead of us ...

Ever Fore - it takes 4 tugboats to help guide the container ship to set sail & navigate sideway first, before heading out - next stop is NYC with a 9/21 arrival. LTE and 5 G signals Portside, onboard the Joy are now much better - by the balcony - without being blocked by the EverGreen's Ever Fore WiFi routers all over the ship as seen here are the key to relaying satellite coverage. And, at 5:55 pm - looks like we are ready to leave shortly. Sideway thrusters are on ... being tested.

WiFi info from the Joy's iCafe Desk, manager hours as posted. The Norwegian App works on free WiFi inTRAnet but not all the sub-modules are fully functional. Restaurant availabilities and booking not offered and available.

From here, Lyft ride back to Falcon cruise Pier is between $15 to $20. Hailed a taxi ride to go back, total came to $20 - tips all inclusive - less than 10 minutes ride.

Summer Street & Beach Street, Boston's Chinatown Archway ... new small businesses are up but many older ones did no re-emerge post-Covid & never recovered. Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center is on the opposite end of the small Chinatown - at Kneeland Ave & Washington Street - quite a contrast of old, historic and low-rise townhouses & buildings vs. modern high-rises.

Otherwise, it's a 30 minutes walk from the Cruiseport to South Station, $20 with Uber or Lyft, taxis are limited but available. Next stop, Chinatown's Gateway on Summer Street, the archway is a 7 minutes walk from here.

DIY Boston tour, a short walk to pick up the Silver Line bus #SL2, $2.50 p/p for a short ride to South Station's underground terminal. And a very helpful and friendly bus driver.

We are off the ship, docked at Terminal 2 VOS on turnaround day, pax disembarking and embarking, crews rotating and waiting to get on.

Breakfast at The Local, simple & fast.

Good early morning arrival into Boston, escorted by the pilot boat, indeed we are docked behind the Royal VOS and watched the princess coming in behind us. That's easily 6,000 to 8,000 visitors to Beantown today. Weather not looking so great for next 2 ports, Halifax on Wednesday appeared to be the "better" stop. I'm sure some will recognize them, part of the Haven team onboard the Joy. Cheers 🥂 Our plans for Boston, freestyle on our own - lunch in town somewhere. 😄

FWIW, this letter was distributed onboard the Joy this week. There are a good # of regular solo cruisers onboard, several at the Meet & Mingle this morning, perhaps they will post how this worked out for them, or not. We dine in Cagney's using our voucher, and order 1 starter, 1 soup or salad, 1 entree plus 2 sides, plus dessert, coffee/tea being complimentary.

How about Outdoors on Deck 8 AFT as it go wraparound, Portside to Starboard and vice versa ??? Not high up on top but you can easily cover it from different angles, just not frontal ones. And, bundle up in layers as it is November 🫢

Dinner at Cagney's - much busier than in May with more passengers onboard First, the complimentary Platinum wine list selections ... pretty short, supply chains 😉 just like no hash browns at breakfast Cheesecake to go ... afternoon tea & coffee on the balcony with it 😹😁😆

Captain's / VIP reception in Haven Horizon Lounge earlier - sunset view on Portside as we're turned north toward Boston, rounding Cape Cod's P-town soon

Tappanyeki - outside here is the location for the Restaurant Reservation Desk. A perfect sea Day, calm and sunny. Time to fill out Canada's Custom Declaration Form & turn them in. Next, heading to the VIP Reception. Latitudes Reception was at 12 noon and 4 pm. Cagney's reservation at 7 pm. Will reply & answer questions later tonight ... photos only for now 😇

One of the favorite breakfast item for me while on a cruise - smoked salmon on a toasted bagel. After a very good turnout for the M&G, moved back to the District Brew House from Q - Texas Smokehouse, we went on to the Slot Pull - 23 players, scored & doubled that $20 plus ... Special thanks to Sharon & Julie for their help. Lunch in Taste was good 😊

Cruise stats - corrected - that the Capt announced over the pa at 10am for the crew to hear: 2900 guests, 24 under age 21, avg age 60.7. New Capt on board. Old Capt staying this cruise for transition then leave next week. Who's who onboard under Roh, G.M. - names & contact ext.

We walked into Manhattan MDR at 6:30 pm and no lines, promptly got a table for 4 to seat 2 of us. Shrimp cake, spinach salad & gumbo soup, Salmon for me & Mrs ordered short ribs (tender & soft) - topped off w creme brulee & strawberry shortcake ... a very good dinner tonight, service friendly, prompt & attentive ... Stopped by the casino player's club to speak to one of the host to put in a request for the CC group's wish to do a slot pull tomorrow, likely won't find out until the morning upon stopped by there again, no voicemail in the stateroom when we came back. It's been a long day, took a shower & time to get some zzzz's. More posts tomorrow and try to answer questions & requests, if possible. Per @fstuff1 - 3,700 pax (not 2,700) with less than 2 dozen children & teens, average age is almost 61 years young, and lots of Platinum members onboard - Latitude party split into 2 groups, one at noon and the 2nd group at 4 pm. There's also a VIP reception for the invited at 6 pm with the Captain & senior team on Day 2. Seas are calm, wavelets under 5 ft. and ship going slowly, feel almost as if we aren't moving at all.

It's a little past midnight, EDT onboard and just upgraded my 150 minutes WiFi to unlimited for 6 days, net cost is about $80 ($30/day x 6 days) less a $100 trade-up credit, paid for using non-refundable OBC. Not too bad if weren't for the high latency, speed & price.

Pictures of the sailaway down the Hudson are worth a thousand words as we head for sunset