mking8288

As long as we get our 1-cup sized hot water maker, we are happy even if they run out of those weak coffee pods (flat) & not strong enough (personal preference) for a 6 oz. cup. Being from NY, Cafe Bustelo instant coffee is our choice, creamer/half & half with sugar for that boost. Dunkin & Starbucks not strong aside from the aroma. We also have our small stash of hot chocolate, assorted tea bags just in case - always travel with them. Ranch-99 is a California based Asian supermarket chain, they carried coffee in a filter pouch by Lee's (Vietnamese) Sandwiches, now available in their Long Island, NY retail store. Pre-measured, just add hot water for a great 8 oz. cup anywhere, without fuzzing with French press or the little stainless steel drip filter setup & carrying it along. Buffet & ship's room service coffee are inconsistent and some of it horribly bitter, Joy has the stronger brew lately but the rest, worst than those at fast food chains. Still, no excuse for provisioning to run out of them or get low in the inventory. Hot & iced coffee sold at Lee's Sandwiches retail stores, mostly in California & also in Las Vegas plus select cities will get our business when we are in a mood for great coffee. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S5M3VS8/ref=dp_iou_view_item?ie=UTF8&th=1

Let me guess, about 3 cookies ... similar to the fresh ones found in the cafe yourself.

Very limited heads-up from the Sun's current TA, ship at Funchal today - relayed from our CC friends on WhatsApp: " Good morning ... Strolling around Funchal and enjoying the beautiful weather. Sunny and warm with a shirt ( not really shorts weather ). Wifi is Ok it died for a few hours a few days ago. We stumbled upon the M&G but the officers didn’t offer to take any questions. So no idea about passenger count. I would guess about 75% as there are few line ups. Service and food is not bad, good presentation. May be one third of the passengers has mobility issues. Just sent in one bag of laundry yesterday, plan to do one more next week. The Sun set up is very strange as the main kitchen sits midship on deck 6 which break the walkway into two part. One had to go down to 5 across then back up to 6. We had dinner at the sushi bar only one other couple Dinning. The Teppanyaki had 2 couples at two separate group for dinner. Not busy at all. " and that's their snapshot or preview for this day ...

Uploading 2 pix - captured these earlier today on the BDA port cam panning at Dockyard - lots of pax on the Spirt of St. George, looks like a long queue to disembark the ferry returning to the wharf and with 2 ships there. Check out those waiting at the taxi/tour bus pickup/drop-off area.

Happy cruising ... our friends currently onboard her doing TA, 16 nights and disembarking NYC on April 18th - their booking code should yield them 48 points, your code should add up to 60 points for 20 nights ... could take you up to next higher tier of Diamonds. Ship loaded up with plenty of fresh produce, vegetables & provisions in Libson, Spain before they sailed - last heard from them using WhatsApp. Possibly hear from them again in the morning when they dock at Funchal for the day. Ship apparently sailed near capacity and their upgrade bid(s) did not go thru, unlike previous TA in December 2022. Will see if I can relay any practical & useful info to share here on CC.

Never heard a beep or seen an email from the so-called pre-cruise concierge help desk (not on-board help) on our last 3 out of 4 sailings post-Covid returning, 2022-23 /now. Not even a pro-forma welcome back email, nothing about priority check-in, etc. The one and only time we heard was when we actually last-minute booked the Joy, May 2023 with 2 Family Insides 2 BR "suite" with the water-downed perks. Requested dining reservations with our preference and was acknowledged, supposingly forwarded to the onboard team & advised via email to check with them once on the ship. Suffice to say, restaurant help desk had no record of our requested reservations except for 1 evening but at the wrong time of 8:30 pm instead of 5:30 pm, absolutely useless. We did get the name of the concierge/his team available with certain, limited help - but otherwise, directed to see the CruiseNext team - wasn't sure if that had more to do with our "suites" than anything else, like being Sapphire, LOL. I believed we're cruising then at 70% capacity but Haven being sold out due to all the upgrades done - wasn't really expecting much, but decided to give it a test run. Epic failure, IMHO. Like everyone else, pretty much written them off as a joke - misleading and false promises that NCL never delivered upon - either omit & delete the fake "benefits" and/or revised & live up to the pledged offers.

@disneylover89 iOS and iMessage functions and currently known "open-secret" loopholes onboard NCL ships has more to do with TCP and UDP (data traffic) port control/flow issues (firewalls & ports) - regardless of the data traffic management further upstream, whether it's EMC or Starlink or another ISP/vendor doing the relays. WhatsApp working just fine this week with friends on the Sun's TA, currently somewhere in the Azores but having issues with iMessaging loophole ... and, 99% positive that Starlink isn't deployed or being beta pilot tested. Bottomline, NCL's IT Dept just need to get their acts together and move forward, at a faster pace instead taking 2 steps forward and go back 3 steps. Issues with Starlink itself, among other challenges, is that they need to launch more units up to the low orbits and enabled them. If NCL "choose" to block the exploited iMessage features onboard - as is now, they can do that anytime - regardless of other elements; but, apparently, will cause unwanted problems somewhere else in their systems, including the poorly coded "Norwegian" App functions. We have yet to sail on the Prima but by most accounts, it's onboard WiFi network being among the worst, if not rockbottom - and, that raised the question of competencies, lack thereof. Harry, current CEO-elect/designee, probably was napping or fell asleep when NCL announced Starlink being piloted late in 2022 ... on the Breakaway. Previous news - https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/11/norwegian-cruise-line-tests-spacex-starlink-on-norwegian-breakaway/

Bon Voyage - AIS tracking has her under way at 16:48 EDT currently at 11 knots with Boston Pilot Mystic at her starboard side. Norwegian Gem vacated her berth at Dockyard about an hour ago, early & practically on schedule, apparently leaving no pier runners behind. NCL being one of the major player bringing cruise ship passengers back to Bermuda, tourism bureau continued to email us to promote & encourage visitors to return ... remember those pre-authorization to travel with PCR/rapid antigen testing in 2022 with the $45 p/p fee (and, was initially set at $80 or $85) Just noticed, on page 1 of today's Freestyle Dailies, door decorations are "strictly prohibited" ... flip flopping again ? Lotus Garden, Deck 6 mid-ship available for luggage drop-off holds until staterooms are ready ... Okie Dokie (good idea, not fun to haul those jumbo 29" rollerboards with the kitchen sink or whatever inside and not porter-checked at the pier.) How was that seafood paella, looks pretty yummy 😋

One of our favorite ship, the Gem, watching her sailing away on-time from Dockyard now - slightly ahead of scheduled, hence - leaving no pier runners behind (Tug boat, The Resolute, standing by on starboard side & apparently now returning to her berth as the Gem is quickly up to 11 knots already aiming for the coral reef channel) Thank you for taking time to post, share & enjoy the ship. Do find your way to the ship's port-side bridge viewing room, open on sea days, dawn to dust - and check out the mermaid. Happy cruising !

Happy cruising - expect a good tailwind later leaving the Bay out to sea, just a little rougher than usual and some choppy seas, nothing bad and tomorrow should be fine, until you get closer to Dockyard ... faster & sooner that the captain can get the ship docked this Sunday, the better things will be ahead. Pearl does look just fine, looking the same as it was then when we first saw her in Alaska in 2008 - we're next to her on the Norwegian Star - days of the chocolate midnight buffet, mint on the beds nightly and dial-up-alike internet speed at sea. NCL's first mega ship built, the Epic was still on the drawing board somewhere in the shipyard then.

Behind the walls and viaducts, there are miles and miles of wirings for electrical and data connections - and we would be in serious trouble if the ship builders didn't take consideration for future growth & expansion needs - like running premium industrial-graded Cat-7 network cables to connect to their onboard WiFi hotspots, repeaters, switches and hardware/servers, etc. etc. Cisco servers that are currently in use onboard the Joy, Escape, Getaway & even the "older" NCL ships all have fairly robust hardware and network servers in place - I'm doubtful that NCL needs to upgrade their access points or hotspots already deployed, i.e. Breakaway "live" beta testing 1.0 was done fairly quickly several months ago. End users that're onboard & got to experience it reported mostly positive results and faster connections. Upgrading and replacing the Starlink shouldn't take weeks or months to deploy ... besides, it's field tested and used by million others on a daily basis, including cruise ships of other lines around the world already. Not expecting NCL (or other lines) to deliver 1 or 2 Gbps speed onboard while at sea over WiFi 6ax or 6ac - WiFi 4 or WiFi 5 speed would be plentiful to share on most users; and, NCL can surcharge more for a premium unlimited package. Besides, if it is needed or required for work - just "expense" it while on a cruise & claim reimbursement afterward. Not everyone wanted to and/or need to be connected & willing to pay extra $$$ - save the bandwidth for others that do care. On the Norwegian Joy, wait staff in the dining venues were using mini tablets to take food & drink orders in 2022 ... and a direct benefit was that, far fewer errors & mistakes at all, if any and get food on the table seemed to be a notch faster - so, yes, it does make a difference and is a win-win move.

Happy, fun, safe and best wishes for a smooth sailing. Bon Voyage. Following - going to be tracking along with "tools" on Marinetraffic, CruiseMapper, live shipcam (satellite signals permitting while at sea) and do leave a berth open (Dockyard) for the Prima b/c we got our gang of 20+ on your tail leaving Sunday from NY. Current indicators, Prima facing a rougher ride out at sea with their timing vs. yours. A good, strong tail wind to your advantage and if the ship is pushing 22-23, 24 knots to get in earlier than planned, it's for good reasons (hand railings are designed and intended for use when necessary) Be on the possible lookout, however, for Right Whales sighting - slow zones designated NE of Boston, and also near the waters south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket (NOAA advisories issued, effective thru 15 April 2023) ... it's their seasonal migratory movement up & down, along coastal North Atlantic. https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USNOAAFISHERIES-3537071?wgt_ref=USNOAAFISHERIES_WIDGET_1

Right ... and, yours truly waiting for the promise that high-end smartphone (next generation ??) will gain full access to satellite signal for voice comms & text messaging, not necessary fast data connection at sea since I'm on a premium unlimited global subscription. Wishful thinking. Of course, this is NCLH - the industry leader of ... sail and sustain, for your convenience.

@styles27 Sharon "The P" from last week's Prima asked me to help call things out - and, ready to walk the gangplank if I missed the mark, but ... Mother nature changed her mind & they got sunshine instead - could've re-destined for Bahamas or (highly likely) New England instead. Half or a day's worth of rough seas rocking & rolling should be expected - and, with many using their Unlimited Beverage "benefits" anyway, have an extra one & it's all good, LOL. Windy App is free on iOS & Android - use that to "read" the graphs & charts, explore and click to come up with the waves & sea state forecast, move the "pin" around on a touchscreen or with a mouse pointer, and dig deeper to see the odds. @bluesea777 is the other "resident" CC expert on/from Bermuda and he'll probably come follow along to help, if appropriate. Think positive, homes & buildings on the islands, as we know, are solidly built to withstand hurricanes and they are better constructed to offset threats from tornado Sailaway from Boston, MA out to Bermuda tomorrow & en route (Saturday) at sea looks okay, rougher sea state and waves for some, but not terrible. Sunday afternoon/evening into Monday would be the worst - gale force wind and waves outside the reef 11 to 15 ft. (higher to the west/north of the islands) but calming - these are based on BDA's official local gov't weather service forecast - not AccuWeather or The Weather Channel, etc. Will hop over to ride along the live threat/post to catch up. Happy, healthy, fun and safe travel - cheers.

OMG - This wasn't announced or published by Cruise Industry News on April 1st or else, I would've this would win the joke of the year 2023 winner by NCL insofar as the NCL technological innovation, soon to be under Harry Sommer's stewardship as FDR continue to collect his consultant fees & incentives. Be thankful if you are sailing on the Breakaway next or soon, too bad if you are booked on the Prima & hoping to be next - apparently, next in-line being the Viva later this year ... sometime. Fast forward to 2024 and cross your fingers. All that accordingly to the newly re-announced ??? deployment plans, yet to be ... https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/04/84491/ https://cruiseradio.net/starlink-internet-norwegian-cruise-oceania-regent/ Good luck for those that is hoping otherwise for something sooner, faster and better onboard NCL ships in the near future. Of course, if you are planning to disconnect and lock up the iPhone/smartphone in the mini-safe while on a cruise vacation, etc. etc. - this isn't news worthy & feel free to skip ahead without the necessary commentary, as this isn't for your convenience. Just a heads up for some of us that prefer & desire connectivity at sea, for whatever reasons of our choice and some paying a hefty premium for the upcharged, unlimited streaming digital experience onboard. Not too long ago, the unofficial story was that between NCLH and Starlink, they are holding things up waiting for necessary regulatory & licensing approval to use the radio spectrum in certain ports/countries ... and that the hardware are already onboard and a matter of being connected to go live ... not fact-checked for accuracy or details.

@emarismom Looks like you are sailing NCL in late September - street exit / disembarkation will leave you out on 12th Avenue and W. 48th Street - MapQuest's 11 minutes walk to Alamo on W. 44th near 9th Avenue (without luggage) - about 7 or 8 long city blocks. I would probably add another 5 minutes & make sure your rollerboards or spinners got "sturdy" wheels that can handle NY's pavements & sidewalks, etc. Depending on the number in your group - you might also want to consider, using NCL's airport (bus) shuttle or transfer services post-cruise / disembarkation ... was recently priced at $37.50 p/p one-way to either LGA or JFK. You can book this onboard the ship and cancel up to 48 or 72 hours ahead of arrival back into NY. That's a fraction of your Alamo one-way rental with drop-off plus gasoline ... and careful with surcharges on toll with the PlatePass program option. Bus transfer will be a little slower and you'll need to wait for the bus to fill up/load other pax & luggage before they leave for the airport - relax on the way to JFK & let the city driving pro deal with the traffic and road, and, a little slower. Otherwise, licensed yellow-taxi is a fixed flat rate, with toll & all surcharges, congestion fees, etc. all inclusive is about $75 plus tips ... looking at about $90 in total; always the same as using NCL's bus transfer for 2. Uber/Lyft are almost the same these days as yellow taxi, except that on our last 2 cruises returning to NY - their surge/congestion pricing kicked in - upon demand, jacking up the fares much higher. Either option is good for 3 pax plus reasonable luggage. Car service is competitive and almost the same as well - do whatever is within your comfort zones. It seemed to me, these are all "cheaper" alternative and options to get out to JFK from the ship terminal on weekend mornings, travel time shouldn't be more than 45 to 60 minutes, curbside to curbside. If you do use NCL's airport transfer, they will drop you off at one of the terminal and/or AirTrain station's parking lot, and, then you will need to board & take the free AirTrain to the rental car stops, and from there - head over to your car rental place. If rental car pickup is preferred, keep checking back as Hertz use to / likely will continue sometimes - offer excellent deals on one-way car rental between the "city" and their airport corporate locations - with a 4 hour allowance for pickup & dropoff. Pre-Covid, those rates were dirty cheap ... I haven't check them lately. Good luck in whatever you choose & decide upon.

Checking in "early" and will call things out later tomorrow & Friday morning - safe & happy travel to Black Falcon Terminal in Beantown ... was our "Joy" to be there last September. Our "group" is leaving this Sunday on the Prima & heading to Dockyard as well, watching for them as well - going to assume that you'll have some WiFi/satellite data access onboard (and, probably in Bermuda) as someone that isn't going to be "disconnected" - just to stay tuned & alerted to the latest. Two local BDA weather "page" - detailed forecast/summary links below - both general and marine summary that's good out to 25 miles off the coastline, outside the coral reefs and inside (that's the shallower "channel" that ships carefully navigate, especially if it's is low tide, to get into/out of Dockyard by looping thru St. George first before turning ... sometime you knew from prior trips/cruises to Bermuda. As others said, it's a complex calculations plus they need the pilot boat for the escort and help to safely navigate ships in & out. http://www.weather.bm/forecastmarineextended.asp http://www.weather.bm/ForecastpublicExtended.asp Port Bermuda webcam - streaming for live views, gives a good idea on wind, current and waves "inside" the coral reefs. My concern or focus ahead would be, will the free NCL fast ferry, The Spirit of St. George's be able to sail and do shuttle loops for passengers destined for St. George. https://www.portbermudawebcam.com/ As of this moment - forecast isn't looking pretty for Bermuda next week, in general. But as noted above, rain & showers typically moved fast toward and then passing, onward away from the island. A packable rain poncho or weatherproof hoodie would be a smart item to bring along. Sunday's morning approach & arrival into Bermuda - looked like - choppy seas & gusty wind, almost gale force but not quite - expect waves and sea swell ... anyone prone to motion sickness, start those generic meclizine or Bonine a day early (it works) and/or other remedies. If the Pearl's captain & team can speed up for a faster run to get there early, should minimize things rocking & rolling all night long (late Saturday into Sunday morning)

@GWAE Thanks, just wanted to cover the possibilities - our niece/mommy leaving this Sunday on the Prima, Bermuda bound with kiddies in tow ... had they managed to get everyone into Haven, would've been un-necessary but all sold out by the time they decided to book. One group will get butler services & take care of nearly everything, but the other 3 balconies will have to make do, LOL. Or, just have them stock "extras" for late night raids. They haven't sail NCL in a while so I won't say anything about the new chick-wings & let them find out or grade them vs. the old deep-fried ones. Ship is going to be at 115%+ or practically lifeboat capacity again this month and with Bermuda forecast ahead, not looking pretty - all the indoor space will be max'd out ... we almost joined them, changed our cruise plan to later this month & postponed it further, got a steal on another ship instead. It's going to be interesting to find how specialty dining work out for groups of 8 and more, to as much as 14 - and, for that matter, in the MDR during the week.

These 4 would be my main "takeaways" from your mini-review/commentary ... not deal-breaking to avoid booking or sailing the Prima, at least not until we get to see things in person ourselves and to experience the new ship design/build at least once. The # 2 (if not #1) complaint these days with newer mega NCL ships is the "ab/use" of the main atrium lobby for almost everything ... designating it Grand Central Terminal or Penn or Union Station, crossroad for all. IMHO, this resulted in serious overcrowding, jam-packed with folks on sea days and especially when weather deemed it unwise for anyone to be outside on the waterfront and/or open/pool decks. Everything from cooking demo, cruise ship talks, game shows, presentations or otherwise a place to camp out for 14 hours - talk about chair hogs ... plenty that'll stalk those prized loungers & comfortable chairs from dawn to dust, except they don't necessary bring their towels - look for jackets, drinking cups & bags used as place holders. It's probably purposely designed and not a mistake, for whatever reasons NCL see fit - we sometimes avoid going thru that area entirely, unless we have to. Paid BTS tour was priced at $80 or $85 p/p pre-Covid ... my feeling is that, NCL, knows that they can charge more & folks will sign up and go for it. Hence, why not. The complimentary BTS tours are now water downed to 1 hour, maybe 75 minutes at best ... used to be longer, 2 hours if I recall. Oh well ... It would be interesting to do a free tour, and see the 3 areas that's included on the Prima, as I imagine it's probably a little different. 2 qucikie questions, are they enforcing and stopping folks from taking desserts to go (mainly from Specialty Dining) - anything else ordered for that matter (i.e. The Locals) as "announced" ?? Gotta give my gang a heads-on on ziplock bag and be tupperware ready ... younger ones that finally get kicked out of their kids club or whatever late night, sometimes want munchies and have zero patience for room service or sit down somewhere to order, wait & then eat without falling asleep & being tired.

Loving those photos, especially food ones - hungry looking at them. Thanks for sharing

Most, nearly all of the Joy's 2 BR Family Inside Suites have been downgraded and/or discontinued since 2021 & early 2022. It is spacious and sleep at least 5, most sleep up to 6 with an upper bunk and the living room convertible sofa deployed - has 2 bath, 1 is a shower. Different layout depends mainly upon whether it's port side or starboard side - within its own interior corridor, avoid the ones next to the white space as that is the service area with carts, supplies & where room "attendants" work from/out of. We booked 2 of them for our last May cruise to Bermuda, pictures & discussion can be found in the Semi-Live link, below the signature. There're additional discussions about this last year into the Fall, expect less - refer to the current NCL description for what's still included. This is an "old" thread with very outdated info. Happy cruising.

@styles27 Kudo for those points about Bermuda ... actually, that's valid anytime someone step onboard a ship & leave the shorelines, LOL. We've done 2 trips on the Crown - 43,000 tonnage - about a 1/2 sized Pearl that you are embarking this Friday ... if you did that trip in the 90's - probably s similar ship in that range. What a wild ride in those days ... DW spent 36 hours in the stateroom but 30 years later, we haven't stopped. Bermuda in April, May, September, October & November - experienced our share of Nor-Easters, hurricane and strong gale force wind ... 30 to 40 ft. waves. From all the descriptions, charts & tracking data, and live webcams that I've seen - this past week wasn't as bad to me (subjectively & personally speaking, of course) and should've been expected. Perhaps, the ship's captain and/or CD could've done a better job informing, advising and cautioning folks onboard in what to expect, how to be better prepared and silly things to not do, etc. Thanks for extending your "invite" to join & comment on your Live Report this weekend - will give it a best effort, disclaimer: I'm not a weather expert & have zero credentials. Will do it to entertain and make it fun, and hopefully watch it play out to see how things turn out. My "gang" is waiting for the Prima to come "home" to fetch them this Sunday & they are heading out to Dockyard this Sunday, so will be tracking & watching anyway - why not, right. Lastly, I need to practice a bit since we do have a stop at Dockyard too, coming up shortly ... but, fully prepared for that to be called off & become a "fun day at sea" - will be loading up the Amazon Fire Tablet soon with videos, music & eBooks, etc. as I don't want to put 1/2 doz. eggs into the other basket - satellite WiFi is never 98% reliable while at sea, regardless. Isn't this fun and appreciate the "invite" to join as a guest commentary, LOL. Friends that we met via CC just left Lisbon, Spain on the "Sun" & both of them nearly lost both of their checked luggage on Air France in FRT. Apple Air Tags "save" them but the courier services nearly ruined their embarkation, failing to delivered them last night ... life is full of surprises. Roll with sense of humor, pack patience and go with the flow - that's our motto these days.

Haha, absolutely nothing "express" about the self style walk-off NCL ships - besides, not my style to wait up at 5:30 am, skip breakfast & scramble to get ahead of most to drag the rollerboard and/or spinner & carry-on as "exercise". We do made a beeline to the MDR for a sit-down breakfast first ... then, figure out if and when it's less chaotic to head for the gangway to join the queue into the terminal building. OP should be home in MA by now, de-compressing with his strengthen sea legs. CC friend from Hell's Kitchen that ran the small Roll Call's M&G has been home for a while ... comments over there. Preaching to the choir below - for the benefits of others: We've ran into some rather nasty storm & weather systems in the Atlantic over the last 2 decades, whether it's the Florida/Bahamas or Caribbean routes or the Bermuda runs - mother nature always get the upper hand & last say ... IMHO, 15 to 20 ft. waves aren't pleasant but manageable except for those adversely prone to motion sickness. Still got vivid memories from the GEM & Crown being tossed around in 30-35 ft. waves; and, it's a given & not just bc it's "hurricane season". What I feel, is, we are seeing the tip of the iceberg with climate change (and - some will disagree - global warming) - practically zero snow fell in NYC this winter aside from a handful of dry storm but the Atlantic has been smacking ships around. Cruiselines cannot guarantee perfect weather, calm seas and smooth sailing regardless of the season - motto for me: go with the flow, pack humor & patience and flexibility. Folks that expect otherwise, ought to invest in and buy CFAR insurance where available & sold, to insure & cover possible cancellations and be prepared to sit down for 5 days or whatever nights otherwise on a cruise ship. Afterall - Prima is sold out again, left nearly on-time & close to lifeboat maximum legal capacity with premium pricing. As for ship's design, staffing and service issues & matters - those discussions are standalone on its own.

Triple extra points per night is new, NCL doesn't repeat "this" often for "select" cruises - meaning, based on their best projections, are still under-performing with new sales or bookings. Double extra points per night has been running post-Christmas 2022. Technically, someone finding a (sweet) deal on a suite can get as much as 5 total points per night ... times 7 night for a total of 35 points. On one of the "eligible" 15 nights TA cruise - one can book last-minute solo (just Insides available) at a bargain steal rate with all the FAS and get 60 Latitudes point, that's crazy - can nearly jump instantly to Platinum afterward with just 2 to 3 "smart" sailings booked. T&C aren't always "promptly" updated to reflect the changes - proof will be in Amenity Confirmation emailed after reservation or (mock) booking is made.

@graphicguy Customer care, support & after-sales service - I agree - is excellent - I'm on both and hasn't travel without an iPhone (SE 2020 with integrated battery case for multi-day standby & as MiFi hotspot, using Google Fi's data only nano sim - chipset plentiful fast for my needs) Just heard from our friends that boarded the Norwegian Sun a short while ago in Lisbon, Spain on a 16 nights TA, their Air Tags saved them as LH lost both of their (JFK) checked bags in FRT 2 days ago during their 2+ hour layover, fumbled with the courier failing to delivered last night, and had to Uber to the airport spending 3 hours retrieving the bag. As my nephews joked often, things happened and it wasn't Delta this time, United has routed our bags to IAD when it was supposed to go LGA-ORD-YVR & luckily, we flew in early too ... Samsung is pretty good with their warranty & extended sales support, they replaced the OEM battery at no extra charge when another friend's just out-of-warranty Galaxy S22 Mo.Board failed & had to pay $199 + tax, not bad as the entire device received a 12 month full warranty extension afterward. Yeah, these flagship adult toys are getting too pricey & out of hand, timed our trade-in during the early Black Friday sales on Google and Fi Store so it wasn't bad as I won't paid full MSRP for them. Hate the SS bloatware so I'm on pure Android 13 by Google, waiting for "14" to roll out this Fall - 5 years of OS and security upgrade/patches ... if the OEM battery holds up. iOS updates got my head spinning this winter ... Hey, it's 20 Days To Go ... will we be chatting via Starlink on both ends later this month ?? One can dream b/c the folks on Prima reported this week that it's still awful. Just reset my monthly Google Fi data metering, on the Unlimited Plus global package with tethering/hotspot & up to 4 data only sim with no extra charges - saved us from being entirely offline twice in the last 2 months when squirrel(s) chewed our FiOS feeder cable in the basement crawl space and Verizon truck rolled again to restore. @JIMESOPUS - seeing Jim chimed in ... have you look into Google Fi (T-Mobile being their backbone) for travel & "home" base as I think their towers & signal should be as good as VZW up & down the Hudson River and nearby. We could do T-Mo's senior plan for 2 lines for less but not the flexibility & global coverage when traveling abroad. Maybe do a trial & time it when sailing the Star and/or Viva, stay tune as I will probably, hopefully "report" semi-live from Portugal & Spain, et. al. soon enough.