mking8288

Maine narrow gauge railroad mini-tour, booked ours online w eTix, senior discounts at only $15 p/p

Rain poncho, weatherproof hoodies & umbrella day. Most of the walk path is covered but ...

Since we are on the move, comments & replies later when I can. 5G T-mobile signal is solid & strong here on the waterfront.

I "kindly" labeled it petite to be humorous but my old contacts are on vacation. Chewing the assistant manager on duty isn't going to help. By all means, see what the Prima pre-cruise desk can do for you in November. Save some & send it downstairs to us, 😆 lol - just kidding (we'll survive) All 6 of us were shocked. The scoop of eggs were okay ... weight watcher ☹️

@shof515 and @JIMESOPUS The port schedule for this year's NE/C cruise isn't that good to find a better time to schedule the CC Meet & Greet, and had I not stick with the roll call to push it, wasn't going to happen at all - was under the radar and happening elsewhere at the same time. There's a 2nd M&G later in mid afternoon, let's see how that go. Last year, one was hijacked. I've done & helped with putting some of them over the years, takes time & energy to do it and expecting nothing in return. Have 2 good to very good CC roll call going with the newer ship later this year, B2B and not going to let that one slip away since I am putting my free time to keep it straight. Anyway, will look back at this further post-cruise. On a side note, casino on this sailing is very busy & full, even table games ... apparently, lots of CAS players onboard. Good for NCL with the generous nightly donations 😁😄🤔 Light rain falling outside, picked up our priority tender tickets for tomorrow at CruiseNext and will meet in the Supper Club first. Going out shortly to do the scenic mini narrow train track ride, just outside the cruise terminal - slow & easy 3 miles track along the waterfront, good for our SIL using just a cane.

This is the current wine list for the Platinum meals.

We had an excellent dinner at Bayamo last night, Platinum meal was supposed to be 1.1.1 plus dessert and Dining package 1.1.1.1 and dessert, said our server. I said, no problem and put whatever extra charges on my room account, since we have a total of 3 bottles of wine, and use 1 voucher for 2 with the dinner.

Just about docked now at 9:45 AM - going to be a long walk with a smaller ship docked closer. Having breakfast at O'Sheehan's - menu is simple. Sorry, they do not have hash browns 😕 Not a deal breaker but some will be disappointed ☹️ a bit. "Petite" full English Breakfast 😁😳🤔

Snapshots from yesterday's CC Meet & Greet at DBH at 6 pm, who's who among officers, several more going on vacation this Sunday. Not a well-attended CC event and small # of folks in general ... just an attendee myself.

Good morning again, about 3 miles to Portland pier and getting a good T-Mobile cell signal.

Underway to Portland, ME with 10 AM arrival - pilot boat escort, starboard side. Tonight - Bayamo for dinner after a quick stop to meet the ship's officers at District Brew House for all from the roll call. BTW, lots of things to do & see, many free, on your own. It's one of our favorite getaway - 3.5 to 4 hours drive from home.

Let's talk recovery & winching - no, it's not a train, not a plane, not a bird, not a off-road vehicle ... Rather, just the ship's lifeboats, it's belly or underside. Looks like we should be sailing on schedule at 4 PM ... all accounted for. Didn't see anyone embarking with luggage here in Newport, apparently some were expected to be late yesterday & need to catch up boarding today.

O'Sheehan's lunch - menu options really can't be simplified further or shorter. Reuben sandwich was very good today. Comments card are out ...

Luxury one with its own helicopter and an old ship that've seen better days. Homecoming to the Escape and the tender platform set-up.

Lining up to get back onboard, 3 tenders waiting ... it's the slow process of boarding the lifeboat.

Day 2 - Newport's waterfront, boats & nearby ... tendering itself on the boat, about 15 minutes thru the harbor - cloudy, breezy but quite humid day. Noticed that flags are half staff on this special day of memorial.

Escape using Theater/Supper Club - Fwd and Manhattan MDR - Aft as staging to board tenders, 1 from front & 1 from rear. Taking a sneak peek by walking thru I-95 below deck since SIL has special access. Kudos to the crews. Heading ashore at 11 AM

Never forget - moment of silence To friends that we lost then as we're there when the towers fell

Our steward brought us coffee/1 cup maker last night while we're out for dinner. Chocolate strawberries delivered plus 2 Flow water (should be 4) Cabin has 4 outlets, plenty with an extra tap and the 220 volts not yet used for the Chromebook & Fire HD10 tablet. Heading to the MDR to meet the gang for breakfast as they call tender group 4, 5 should be next.

Ship's WiFi & servers are good, supports 802.11.ac ... will probably do the unlimited basic upgrade later, same prices as pre-cruise but we can use non-refundable OBC. Just started calling tender group 3.

Good morning, Dexddd and all. Yes, we are at Newport early, watch them setup for tender operations & announcements, started calling group 2 now. Going to be slow & take a while before they call open tender. We could've picked up priority tickets to go ashore but not in a hurry. "Our" mansion is still there, haven't visited in a while but maybe hop over nearby for some decent seafood, like this place. Cherry/Chaddy just left for vacation from NY, her boss (Kiv) as well and won't get to say hello this time, Yusif from Turkey is GM onboard, going to a Meet The Officers this late afternoon just before dinner. Dense fog & cloudy, about 73 degrees and showers/t-storms on the forecast. Think we are just going out after a leisure breakfast & walk around the waterfront. Later 😎 Shorex should be stopping at places like this. They serve up good seafood but probably not going there this time.

Sailed pass Lady Liberty as we get ready for dessert after a good meal. Cellular signal will fade soon ... Newport , RI arrival at 6 AM ... tendering will be interesting 🧐

Started moving & backing out of Pier 88 around 6 pm, perfect timing with our sunset dinner cruise.

Watched a small group of cruisers boarding around 5 PM. Prime ribs in the buffet tonight. Taste MDR for us tonight - familiar menu of choices. Scheduled to sail at 5:45 pm but maybe waiting for delayed ship pax booked thru NCL. 3 items from Cagney's available for an upcharge, as reported recently by other CC'er.

Feeling annoyed about those nagging email about watching the safety video ... reminders over ship's PA has been repeated at least 6 times since 11:30 AM to proceed to the Assembly Station & check-in with our guest key cards 😳😳😕 No other special announcements from the bridge, perhaps we are staying with the plan, info about tomorrow's tendering at Newport, RI is out. Also the custom declaration is for Canada immigration & customs, not US CBP. Our 2 checked rollerboards have been delivered, I can power down the iPhone or at least stop tracking via the AirTags - safe & now unpacking 😁