mking8288

Muchas gracias, dexddd - thanks but ... and, that's for my convenience, of course. Are those lobster roll prices or ?? Can you have it delivered directly, haha. Seriously, enjoying your stop at Halifax today, exploring on your own ... Uber & taxi were inexpensive, "cheap" especially when we're using US dollars - $10 CAD from the cruise terminal to the Citadel. BTW, heads to be prepared for a choppy ride inbound toward NY tomorrow, sea states and waves not looking pretty on the forecasted maps for your routing. Wished we could call for better weather instead of wind & rain, but thankful that Ian could've spin around again as a Nor-Easter

According to MarineTraffic site, GA is "parked" at her anchorage just outside Port Canaveral ... surely they can run tenders to go ashore if necessary as otherwise, self-sustaining for the next few days with crews & officers only aren't cause for alarm.

Be sure to inform casino-at-sea when you ask and confirm the booking of your 31 years old daughter's special needs status and other/related requirements, etc. etc. so they can note it on the reservation. Depending on the specific NCL ship(s) you have in mind to book and cruise on - subject to confirmed availabilities at the time of booking confirmation, make it as far in advance as possible as the small & limited # of "over-sized" cabins are quickly taken by other guests with needs - you will all probably appreciate and welcome the extra space. Once confirmed, you should contact special needs at NCL directly, and learn & find out all you can, what is doable and make the requests, and have it noted/added to the booking. I'm sure you are mindful of it, please pay attention to ports with tendering requirements as there are limitations and exclusions, and sometimes - one might instead enjoy the day onboard.

Joy currently in-bound, was barely moving at just 1 knots, appropriately 50 miles south of Nantucket, MA about 7+ hours ago on Marinetraffic. Currently out of AIS tracking range but from very limited data available, should be on on westerly heading off Montauk, NY for NY - with early 4 a.m. local time ETA at Pier 88 ... thus, should be picking up the pilot boat at 2 to 3 a.m. offshore on the approach to Lower Bay. Following info was indirectly relayed via another CC friend of ours (thanks, M & A) as they are in touch with the ship - "left ... Friday and took two sea days towards Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Port call canceled and proceeded to Cornerbrook, Newfoundland (very small town and really not much there ). Then Sydney, Nova Scotia was canceled and two days to get to Halifax, that was last Wednesday. Then ... at St. John, New Brunswick. (No) thanks to Fiona, their itineraries were all mixed up. " Surprised that nobody on that sailing, supposingly with big #'s for the Roll Call and Meet & Greet/Mingle ... no one posting periodic update and status report(s), etc. Perhaps, ran into poor high orbit satellite coverage and signal issues in the north Atlantic ... Hopefully, we'll get to read more about their journey tomorrow and/or later this week ...

Back on topic with some post-cruise reflections, trying to minimize off-topic distractions in replies. We had an extended family dinner with one of the nieces that came back from her Alaska cruise on RCI and suffice to say, one of the out-of-town guests surely appreciated that we are in the clear as she is in remission currently & just completed chemo ... It also reminded me that we didn't see any QR codes for dining onboard the Joy last month, nothing to scan and back to printed, reusable paper menu. This AYCE place in Queens now ask folks to scan & read their online menu, except I nicely informed the server that their webpage link was loading badly & ultra slow ... oops 😬 Not all "customers" are geeks that walk around with a large smartphone or iphone that zoom easily to read the menu. Back to our BA balcony with the bedside USB ports that can charge devices as one dare & wish to (the ports were somewhat loose already & likely will fail sooner than the ship's next scheduled dry dock) There've two 110 volts power outlet and one 220 volts outlet at the desk/counter - and with a simple 2 prong outlet adapter plug, gave us 3 sets of power outlets to use and recharge our tech toys at sea. Having a 10 ft USB extension surely made life easier, as we also used it daily while hanging out in the Fwd Observation Lounge ... many others began to discover the hideaway by the end of the cruise week 😆 Still, the hi-output (10,000 mah) rechargeable power "brick" by Anker was indispensable once we leave the ship to go ashore.

This year, NCL tweaked their outsourced bidding system to take upgrade, not just at the 2 days or 48 hours cutoff to reject low bids, and will do a on-the-spot upgrade at pier check-in, re-issued key cards. Actually, some folks and that includes one of our nieces that went to Guest Services & negotiated an upgrade, picked & asked for deck 15 and only agreed to pay after being shown the balcony first. No, IMHO, downclass passengers did quite well lately in "let's make a deal". YMMV As a matter of fact, on the mobile Norwegian app, there is an option to upgrade the stateroom - not yet functional on our recent cruise 2 weeks ago 🤫

Thank you ... just finished our NCL post-cruise eSurvey and recognized our steward for her efforts, going above & beyond. She found them to bring smiles & laughter not just to us, but apparently - to others on the deck assigned to her. In our 22+ years worth of NCL cruising ... this is a first for us, especially in "steerage" - most certainly earned our token of "appreciation" in a gift envelope toward the end of our cruise week. Also, happy to share that both DW and I tested twice negative on our post-cruise C19 home test kit results. Whew, didn't bring them the invisible micro-visitors home with us and/or risk spreading/exposing others. Time to look ahead at our winter cruise, not ruling out a last minute bargain cruise deal this Fall - of course, after final payment deadline, prices dropped.

Enjoy your cruise on the Sun. If suspecting a problem with the plumbing system ... either speak to your steward and/or dial 00 to inform guest services, as they will dispatch a trained crew member to look into it (on embarkation day, however, they are often busy with the ship's overall mechancial & related sub-system, give them time to respond.)

Of course, you don't have to watch it (until you are onboard on embarkation day), but ... This - on all 3 of our cruises (thus far) this year and actually, I commented in the NCL post cruise eSurvey about this being annoying & could be better dealt with. Maybe, it wasn't 20 minutes long for the extended full version but it was, indeed, much longer - and, it loop & repeated again and again, until you "exit" to return to the main "Menu" Turned on the stateroom's interactive TV, let it run and then, go about doing other things at the same time in the stateroom, i.e. started unpacking our carry-on bags, freshen up and whatever ... It would track & log your "cabin" has now fully comply with the mandatory emergency/evacuation drill requirements per SOLAS. Better off actually - really - looking at the deck plan for primary & secondary evacuation routes, the nearest fire door(s) and emergency (crew access) doors and where's the nearest "house phone" in the area, i.e. usually near the stairs & elevators for 911 or 00 assistance, etc. Here's a bonus quiz for all seasoned cruisers - have you noticed and seen the portable AED pack/case ... often mounted on a wall near/at dining areas, especially at the buffet & near the pool area (not that the average passengers will touch or use it, and unlikely to grab it & know how to quickly use it as an on-scene first responder.

We are en route to MCT Pier 88, got a free upgrades to a minivan ride using Carmel, trip time 48 minutes ... driver was early & we are ready, can't wait 😁 Thanks to the live report onboard from the last 10 days Joy sailing, we are better prepared. Free testing done by CVS, still required by NCL. ArriveCAN was easy & done, despite unclear info at times, watch safety video twice already 🙊 More later ... expecting a good turnout tomorrow for the CC Meet & Mingle, moved to Q Texas Smokehouse as it's much bigger vs. District BH. Let's see what's new, different & changed - or same old, etc. Going to be on Deck 15 AFT port side, near the elevators -