mking8288

Not sure if other stewards are doing this. He also kept us well supplied with coffee pods, creamer & sugar, extra clean towers & facial tissues. Most definitely going above & beyond, will fill out a vacation hero card to recognize his efforts, in addition to a little extra appreciation, directly. That's lunch, simple & will hold us until La Cucina tonight at 5:30 PM ... 😋

Today's pillow presentation from our room steward ... Compiled the last 3 days together, subtle and creative, using what's there & not extra towels or sheets, etc.

Fort Wadsworth on S.I. with the historic Battery Weed that guard the NY harbor ... Northern end of Hyland Blvd to the right in the photo, terminating at water's edge ... no signs of PistolPete

Thanks, going to do our best to make it a win-win situation, no matter what ... as they say, when it rain, step out & dance. Update, answer is no regular TV channels as typically offered via NCL ... no BBC, no CNBC, no MSNBC, no FoxNews, and no Weather Channel, etc. Or even the free movies channel. Blackout ... probably a licensing restrictions ?? Bummer - going to hookup the HDMI converter & stream via Amazon's Fire HD tablet, or at least try to ... (annoyed, but it is what it is - not going to get upset over it)

For your convenience, of course, here was this morning's special, Pretzel hot sandwich w eggs, ham & cheese was good, passed 👌 MDR wasn't busy until late and breakfast

@Pav that would be a good choice for some that rather disembark a day early, a solo cruiser is from the Boston area and said yesterday that he wouldn't mind going & change his Amtrak ticket. Otherwise, we are treating this as a floating harbor hotel. @goldmom no regular TV channel, just the usual NCL and info channel, etc. We have Samsung TV Live app on the smartphone & can stream, if we want to ... T-Mobile has great 5G LTE coverage😆 and lots of GB data to use. Tethering now with MiFi on the smartphone 👍

Jim, 😆 hahaha Let me try Uber Eat but I am sure NYPD marine will enforce a safety perimeter around all the vessels docked here along with USCG. Could this be PistolPete ?? 20X digital zoom

Agreed. And, you can order room service for a nominal fee, the selections are actually quite good, order as much as you wish. Everyone discovered the MDR for breakfast, hostess asking couples whether they wish to share a table. Buffet upstairs is busy & full, prime spots taken ... ditto with the Waterfront on Deck 8.

Views on the Waterfront, Deck 8 starboard side. Seemed like this is our anchor for the next 2 days until we can proceed to Pier 88 in the morning hours of Sunday. Belt Parkway off to the right, not far from the medical center where I used to work for, with a Level 1 Trauma Center. We are safely sheltered against Lee but the berth at Pier 88 isn't available to us.

Hi, Bonnie & how's Sol 🤗 Just passing under the VZ Bridge now. We are anchoring inside the harbor, somewhere off Staten Island's north shore ... not international water. Casino & shops will be closed for the next 2 days. Best regards 😎

Good morning, a little after 8 AM EDT, NYC and Lower Bay in the distance, less than 30 nm ... wind is up, wave at 15 ft. with rough mounting sea state. Doing just 6 knots and spotted the VZ Bridge ahead, starboard side with my binoculars ... quite a number of small ships in the area when usually none are seen. Probably waiting for the pilot boat and our turn to proceed.

Uploaded photos - over ship's inTRAnet, not using our limited airtime FAS minutes - from tonight's MDR at Taste - including menu; and, they are most definitely rotating the menus or switching to a fixed menu.

Running down our combined 300 free FAS airtime WiFi minutes (ours are down to around 30 minutes, unused) - just ran another speedtest this evening, expecting it to be very slow as everyone is on the ship & maybe trying to use up their airtime minutes vs. letting it go to waste. Sure enough, not even getting 1 Mbps speed on download but pull almost 3 Mbps upload from my Lenovo Chromebook. By sunrise, we should by fully live using cellular signals from land towers ... charging full all the devices & battery pack, after breakfast - might go stake out a good spot outside on the Waterfront, as long as it isn't windy. Was able to catch up on details & forecast for Lee on ship's Weather Channel, with extensive coverage. @JIMESOPUS - good idea, is PistolG around ... haven't seen him around on CC lately posting as he does excellent photo; and, with 8 cruise ships ?? near his backyard - prime opportunity to capture something historic. Anyway, signed up for Dine With Officers and not a word about it, perhaps they aren't hosting anyone on this sailing - oh well - as there's supposed to a large # of Diamonds, Sapphire & Platinum onboard ... not sure if there "Ambassadors" onboard this week. Over the next 2 days, will make a stop at the iCafe desk when the manager is around (shouldn't be as busy as there is a long line there each & everytime I walked past ...) to see if I can get an update on Starlink's timetable for official fleet deployment. The last few patches of photos were successfully uploaded to CC while logged into CC, over ship's WiFi inTRAnet only - not using any of the free airtime minutes (so logged back in to do serious or necessary "edits") ... something that @graphicguy Dan is interested, as I've done this on the Joy, Getaway and the Epic ... just as "proof" that it is possible, and doing it again & again. Next batch of uploaded photos is from tonight's MDR dinner at Taste, seated at our, unofficially "reserved" window table #11 ... breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Random pictures around the ship, the overloaded atrium lobby, with dozens of folding chairs set out for extra seating - whether it's for The Prize is Right, Deal or No Deal, Demos or CruiseNext presentations. Card Room is small & hidden away and in use, the space outside Le Bistro also used by folks to play board games. Supper Club was used for the Latitudes reception and other private events - maybe NCL should consider moving some of the atrium events into the venue. Kids & Splash Academy on Deck 5 is one of area that's been quiet all week long, with a small number of pre-schoolers on the sailing.

Food pictures from today's MDR lunch as addendum to the menu posted, pretty yummy - passed ☺️

@JIMESOPUS Counting our lucky stars this evening ... we evaded Hurricane Fiona last September sailing the Joy to NE-Canada in mid September and looked like we are pulling another against Lee, thanks to the navigational skills of NCL's ship captains in charge of these vessels. Disappointed, like many, of 2 cancelled ports & itinerary change, missed our favorite stop at Restaurant 66, Bar Harbor with lobster, seafood & lobster rolls. As for being last in the race toward NY for safe harbor, I can understand NCL's decision to sail slow - the Caribbean Princess left Saint John hours earlier than us - ride continued to be smooth & pleasant since we left port, no complaints from us. Hope our TA this Fall with a Bermuda stop scheduled will be just as nice. Shops onboard are running low on sales merchandise already and will be closed after 11 PM tonight. But, those with unlimited beverage, Starbuck & soda packages, etc. will be charged sales tax once we get into NY - not going to be popular & a surprise to some. Doubtful that it will make a dent for NYC and NYS sales tax collections as extra revenue. MDR wasn't busy at all, perhaps folks are rushing to specialty dining to spend down those extra OBC, both refundable & non-refundable ones ... heard that all the available slots are full for the remaining evenings. It will feel odd to be back at home, inside NY Harbor but still unpacked and ready to or able to disembark ... good thing is that we will gain full use of 5G cellular data via T-Mobile (Google Fi) and AT&T while anchored off Staten Island, but we might get assigned to a less desirable spot, given the ship size & tonnage - maybe not. Good reminder to flip on the Scanner App on the smartphone to monitor VHF marine radio traffic, should be interesting to tune in & listen to.

Outside on Deck 8's Waterfront, starboard side, just before 7 PM. Low clouds cover & foggy, moderate sea swell and 8 ft. wave heights. Lee is hundreds of miles in the distance on a northerly heading as we sail west & further away from the approaching hurricane. Just another cruise during the Atlantic season of storms.

Sea is calm again and sea swell reduced, sunset can almost be seen to the north - starboard side.

We made the turn into clouds & fog now, and larger swell - can feel a little motion, that's all. Not a big deal to us.

Text-based late afternoon onboard "Escape" update - ship/local time 18:00 (6 PM ADT) Thurs. Currently we are cruising at 15.5 knots, approximately 245 nm to Pier 88, already sailed 305 nm from Saint John, NB. Barometer is steady, air temperature 70 degrees F and humidity lowered to 93%. Sea state is reported & observed to be moderate swell, wave height at 8.1 ft (about 1.5 m) ... haven't seen any small white caps at all, just large swell sweeping across the ocean. Sailed further south & away from the southeast Cape Cod into Atlantic and should turn right toward NY. From Deck 5, midship, not feeling any rocking or rolling motion. In fact, it has been a very smooth ride for us since we left Saint John, NB Canada last night. Over the last 2+ decades, we have done quite a few cruises with far, far worse wave heights and strong gale force cross wind conditions that this one - last September, we made it back on a similar NE-Canada cruise before Hurricane Fiona left her calling cards in NS, including Halifax. Not aware of anyone onboard doing B2B or else and it looks like by the time the Escape is ready to sail this Sunday afternoon, conditions should be clear as to any significant impacts to the scheduled ports in NB and NS, and changes are warranted. Safety first and this is the peak hurricane season. Onboard shops are said to be closing down after 11 PM tonight and stay that way - due to regulations - once we arrive into NY area for safe harbor & sheltering from the storm. Casino operations will be stopped by 7 AM tomorrow morning as we will be leaving international water and no longer able to stay open. Expecting to see a packed & busy casino tonight filled or packed with players - it was that way earlier this afternoon ... left a modest donation, very small amount to try my luck, the bandits won. Latest bridge update from Jack, CD (Asst CD is Jeff) - ship will be met by pilot around 8 AM and proceed into the harbor, then drop anchor at 10 AM at a safe location. Clock will be turned back one hour at 2 AM in the morning to EDT. Stay Safe & Be Well. Cheers !! mking8288 - Henry

Ya know about that old Las Vegas hotel trick at check-in with the extra sandwich slip 😉🤫🤭 Slip a bit of cash in advance does wonder, we don't even need to ask him to hurry & clean our cabin first. Direct cash is motivation 😄

Rotating MDR menu for lunch ... Chicken Pho - Vietnamese style is back. Today only. Photos later, WiFi on ship extra slow today 👎 NEC wireless hotspot/router strategically situated in the hallways

New pillow vs old towel animal, new & simple but different pillows placement on the bed this morning when we came back from breakfast.