mking8288

Last night, dinner at Savor - line was long but able to get seated with our 5:30 reservation. Packed with people outside waiting & the bar was busy. Service was good, typical and took 2 hours, would've missed a 7 pm show unless we skipped dessert and ran out of there. Portions were petite, as expected and food temperature, just warm. Dining room was packed full and tables slow in getting turnaround. It's a different experience unlike last year.

Back online this morning, waited till after midnight and upgraded to basic unlimited WiFi, $30 x 11 days at $330, less $145 trade-up credit for $185 in costs. OBC will reduce the net cost further and keep DW happy, and we'll share our usage. Plus, still have 300 minutes on the 2nd FAS package to use. Phone & Messenger app functions still offered at $9.95 per device ... did it once before, not reliable. No Deal.

Good morning 🌞 all. Here's an important written notice from the Captain last night, left on the bed along with FS Daily. Hmmm, what can I say. It's a good thing we are just going to wing it on these scheduled visits to the islands. And, wow, getting back 1 hour to see San Juan, losing an hour at sea 🫢🤔😳🙄

Signed up for Dine w Officers. No BTS tour yet, wine tasting is offered. Dear GM comments - drop box at Guest Services Splash Academy is open, Deck 12 Fwd

Lady Liberty

Just imagine ... enjoy these images

There were more cars parked at Pier 90 this morning than now, maybe some from last Getaway sailing left their vehicles next Pier ? Nothing going on yet up on the bridge's port side console. Zoomed in at 5x from Deck 12 Fwd. Horns been sounded ... Next stop, San Juan, PR at 1,400 nm using Pixel 7 Pro for these shots. Update 4 pm and thrusters on, sideways & now backing out ... let's rock and roll.

We are supposed to sail on time but ... Gives me a chance to test the new Google Pixel 7 Pro's new cameras, using the Queen Victoria as subject, at 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x and 1x. Looks great, looks like my Olympus digital camera isn't needed for backup. S22+ battery down below 40% and fast charging wirelessly, tethering data to share among 3 devices.

Coffee maker / services, on request ... hiding out of sights. Sapphire/Platinum vouchers & perks, 4 cartons of 500 mg / 16.9 oz Flow water. Latitudes/ CruiseNext Party - Mon. Jan 23rd 12:30 pm at Tropicana, Deck 7 AFT Our ship captain comes from Greece, just announced that we should be releasing lines & sail on time at 3 pm. Alvin, CD going over the mandatory safety procedures ... from the bridge. Asst CD is Rod. Sailaway Party at Spice H20, Deck 16 AFT at 3 pm.

Staterooms ready about 1 pm, announced over PA system. Say hi to the bridge from our Fwd balcony. At 1:05 pm, there were folks still waiting to get pickup on level 2. Street or level 1 empty and clear. And plenty of parking over at Pier 90 if needed.

Next door at Pier 90, there were pax with luggage waiting to get pickup, disembarking the QV. @goldmom there are other disembarking pax upstairs waiting for pickup, street level is also possible - but massive traffic jam in the roadway, doubled parked unloading & loading. Assumed you are using Special Assistance when disembarking on yours & use porter services, check & ask them whether upstairs or downstairs is better, as they know - don't necessarily need to cross 12th Ave. I'll check & look around when we come back on Feb 1st. Pizza in the buffet is good, much better than years past.

Galaxy S22+ 3x zoom and 10x zoom

Started boarding for us at 11:05 and they roped off the area so everyone in the reserved area get to go ahead of others. Good. Facial recognition works at security podium for boarding. On board, B6 Assembly Station at O'Sheehan's for virtual muster station. No crowded assembly later 👍 Too early for MDR, up to Cafe to grab a nice window table & relax.

Clearing the boarding area, checking everyone's key card in the Platinum area. Full of people, unlike last year's - as expected

Connected to GA's WiFi, still good choice of Specialty Dining time for the week ahead ... Sunday at Moderno or Ocean Blue Here comes the Haven escorts, looks almost ready for early boarding ... at 10:45 am

Platinum & next to us, Special Needs waiting area, quite full already at 10:15 am. MCT WiFi is free, can also connect to GA's WiFi inTRAnet now to start booking shows & lookup dinner times to change.

Worst traffic this morning, at Pier 88 backed up to Pier 90 with Queen Victoria next to GA, delayed by 10 minutes. Check-in was smooth & quick, long walk to back as we are on Deck 12. Just a few quick health & travel questions, retake photos for DW and set w key cards. Boarding Group #6 but being Sapphire, we were among last to get into Platinum area to wait, it's full. Looks like ship at zero count already.

Carmel is early, Honda minivan loaded, buckled up, on our way, going over Bronx WS Bridge, fastest route to Pier 88. ETA 40 minutes Progress - 9:20pm ... on I-95 under "The Apartments" in upper Manhattan, traffic is heavy but moving, should be there in 15 or 20 minutes as we turn south on the Henry Hudson Pkwy

Re-checking our ground transport option, nephew is working at JFK today, can't drop us off at Pier 88. Uber & Lyft are more expensive than last year. Good thing that we already booked Carmel, leaving at 9 am. Citi-biking, with luggage, is not an option, LOL. Our pre-cruise diet is over, plain & simple breakfast until we get onboard later. Gallery at home closed for 12+ days now. DW realized after we booked the cruise, this Sunday is the Lunar (Asian) New Year celebrated in many countries around the world 🌎 Thanks, Turtles06 (best wishes to you sailing on the GEM) & dexdd and others ... stay tune virtually sharing this journey with all.

Rise-n-Shine, let's get ready. Our ship is here, see all soon. Always take pictures of your bags, besides using whatever, like Air Tags, for tracking & lost recovery.

FYI - considering booking NCL despite all the "adverse" chats & negativities around here lately, here's one. Mentioned in the Getaway's Freestyle Dailies as part of the extras/inserts that many just throw away. As described and it is valid, that's all I will say, did a mocked booking for a Fall sailing ... could a few months to decide since those CN Deposits are sitting around & paid for, got nothing to lose - can always cancel if a better deal come around. Verified myself and able to use 2 deposits and it's not a balcony being booked (assumed it's good for a Studio on mega/plus ships). Coupled with the current extra points promotion - a nice deal to not say "no" against booking. It might not work for everyone and anyone, but worth taking a look. Too late for those Spring T/A crossing deals, but. Psst ... triple points per night (and, possibly more with suites too) concurrent with other promotion. If you like the terms, play it and see if prices drop, etc. etc. Have fun, good luck & enjoy this find, hopefully. Off to the Getaway in a matter of hours, time for getting a little zzzzz's

Unless NCL relocated the entire Medical Center from Deck 13 elsewhere - I can vouch and confirm, 100% that it has always been on Deck 13 Fwd, just behind the bank of elevators, behind a set of fire doors that's kept open except during emergencies. The door to gain access into the MC, including a waiting area & reception for clinical services, is beyond the 2nd door - with the coin-dispensing OTC meds cabinet on the wall cabinet to the left, exterior to the center entrance. We had stayed on Deck 13 Fwd in 2019 and walked daily passing the area multiple times, and knew what's been there all along. Current deck plan just removed the description & make it a white space - and isn't shown anywhere else on NCL's official deck plans. What's on Deck 5 are Guppies Nursery and further back in the middle section, Splash Academy. Getaway & Breakaway has the MC on Deck 5, not the Escape by design. As to helping with the questions about noise below - sorry, can't help with that.

Getaway currently north of Atlantic City, approaching Toms River, NJ at 14 kn, light breeze and calm seas, waves at 1.3 meter or about 4.2 ft, aided with a good tailwind. This is earlier than being already quite early ... welcome home to all those onboard.

NCL's Online check-in opened up for everyone at 21 days, promptly completed ours - eDocs and eLuggage tags were available in less than 24 hours ... unlike our NCLH shareholders, which took 2 attempts at 10 days apart during the Christmas/New Year holiday. Finally & perhaps, someone was WFH and on Jan 2nd - a legal US holiday, posted our $100 OBC to the account, all good. I.T. glitches aren't new with getting checked in, etc. but that too recovered. One of the questions for tomorrow's Embarkation is the mandatory safety/emergency & muster station drill - is it Live or not, virtual or in-person. Take a wild guess, whatever. The only thing that is certain is we already 6 emails already - don't recall when we initially booked - between 2 of us, to re-watch the 94 seconds YouTube Video about emergency/life/fire safety drills & putting on the PFD. Hence, is it Live, Semi-Live, or Limited - definitely not Memorex per se ... not looking forward to being jammed into the (main) Stardust Theater - as I think, being Deck 12 Fwd - our "Assembly Station" is probably there and not O'Sheehan's - will be packed as ship is full, egress will take easily 20 to 30 minutes jamming the elevators if sailaway is on time at scheduled 3 pm. Time to wisely mask up ! We booked a "BA" Balcony on Deck 12 Fwd, Port side with considerations to bid for a Club Balcony, as they are usually mid-ship, not that we care for the bigger double-sink bathroom or the tub with the taller side to step over, in/out of ... or the tiny extra space (length-wise) in the "living" area, as long as the bid is reasonable. Well, no Club Balcony for us. Reason for staying put, our best friends will be coming along as CAS guests. Cancelled & postpone cruises since the pandemic & it's their first return "post-Covid" They bidded and won, very early, surprisingly, on an upgrade bid in early December (not a typo) for a low/fair offer - under $350 in total. Assigned "BA" balcony on Deck 12 Fwd (port side) - stone's throw from us a few doors down. Nice win. Cancelled our pending bid for Club Balcony, money "saved" to do other things ***** A few words about Upgrade Advantage bidding - this isn't new to most seasoned NCL cruisers on CC, but my basic analysis lately suggesting that NCL and its partner handling the bids are re-writing their playbook and gaming strategies, with live bidding ... Psychology 101. Haven suites & spa balconies listed as sold out by end of December ... Insides & Studios remained available last week. Club and Balconies were briefly available this month and then "sold out" again. There are those doing live bidding (eBay style) - end up paying for, on top of whatever base fare all-inclusive total already, an extra $1,500 to $5,000 plus (+) to be in Haven, ship within a ship. What a frenzy, good for them, win-win results. Everything is ready for tomorrow and the next 12 nights with us. Those "live reports" are really useful and the Getaway is going to feel very different unlike a year ago, with less than 2,000 onboard then. Looking forward to doing the Dine with Officers again but not expecting Behind The Scene tour to be offered unless NCL feels they no longer need to protect & isolating the bridge team. ***** Google & Samsung got our money, pay for the balances on 2 out of 3 smartphone upgrades. DW's Samsung Galaxy S22+ was free, after trading in her barely used Galaxy S21 into Google Fi. More about this later as it's not related to the Semi/Live Cruise Report. A single checked 24" bag for each of us, final check on its weight, mine at 42 lbs, hers at 39 lbs. NCL eLuggage tags attached and an interior tag, photo'ed for easier ID in case they are "lost in transit" to file insurance claim, with digital proof of content. There are, at least, 3 power outlets in each stateroom - excluding the one in the bathroom clearly marked that it is low voltage & for shaver use only - two (2) for 110 volts and one (1) for 220 volts, which with a simple adapter plug (used with the Samsung charger on the right) - you can tap it for your iPhone/smartphone charger as those are dual voltage, auto-sensing ones. Now that newer iPhones are almost switching with fast charging (middle one) with USB-C connector, invest in 2 or 3 high output, dual or multi-USB charger (on the left - by Anker) so you can quickly boost them. Check that they are UL-approved/certified, electrical & fire safety on a ship are vital.) Also, bring along a 10 ft. and 2 6 ft. USB A-B extension cords, making it much easier to reach all the way to the far side of the bed and out to the balcony. There is a fourth hidden power outlet that should be hiding but easily tapped - need to verify first onboard before I share this "secret" - perfect for laptop, notebook & Chromebook connections and charging devices. Follow this & if I am correct, "reveal" and share this discovery. Take a closer look at Pier 88 port's pier operations, see those safety nettings - they are there in case the forklifts used to lift fully loaded luggage carts (20 to 25 bags easily or about 1,000 lbs total) lost its balance or slipped, to avoid being dropped straight into the Hudson River below on the pier. There was a report going back a few years that CC'er spotted luggages floating beside the ship during turnaround. Accidents do happen and tip those unionized port workers accordingly as they aren't with NCL - and, yes, they now do cross 12th Avenue when you disembark the ship post-cruise.

@kitkat343 - Thanks for the comment about various SD and we aren't going upstairs to Haven, zero chance ... The last remaining Courtyard went past $2,650 p/p x 2 is what I read, crazy - that's enough for 7 to 10 days worth of vacation, not necessary cruising. Please do feel free to comment on Ocean Blue as we have yet to try it, Le Bistro was our favorite for a decade plus until the cuts that started several years ago ... Cagney mostly still good, Moderno can be hit-n-miss with the earlier days being superior w more variety choices at the salad bar (just need to resist offers of sausages & certain cuts and wait for the better cuts to come along) We have both Platinum & SD meal meal vouchers but beginning to feel like Teppanyaki is a waste, seen the junior chef's show often, more than "once & done with and enough" now with the substituted meat cut. Too bad, Food Republic isn't on the GA - but we'll not go hungry for 12 nights. As always, opinion & reviews of food are personal and subjective, but temperature of food served isn't one of them - having different perspective in dining onboard are always helpful. To all and all others onboard the ship, have a wonderful evening onboard the Getaway.