Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

9 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

A few more posts about our NYC trip and then I'll be quiet (at least about NYC that is).  On Friday, we visited the Intrepid Museum.  I wanted to do that the last time we were there, but I was overruled by my wife and 2 daughters.  Without our daughters this time, Micheline said that she also wanted to go.  For those who don't know, the Intrepid is an aircraft carrier commissioned during WWII.  It's permanently docked at Pier 86 on the Hudson River as a museum.  There are several aircraft on the flight deck and in the hangar deck, plus the Space Shuttle Enterprise, and the Growler Submarine (a cruise missile submarine from the early 60s).  You can walk through many of the working areas of the Intrepid. We both enjoyed it greatly.  

 

I won't bore you with pictures of planes, but I will include several pictures of lines for @harryfat1 and @Sea Dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some bonus pictures...anchor chain.  You can get an idea of the size of the chain links when compared to my size 10 sneaker.

 

 

 

OK...maybe just one plane picture.  Maverick's F-14 Tomcat.  How could I not show that?

 

 

And since this is Cruise Critic and not City Travel Critic, here's a shot of the Norwegian Getaway docked next door.

 

The Intrepid is also home to the Space Shuttle Enterprise. You can't go inside her, but you can walk all around.

[bobmacliberty]

For you John Wick fans, I was interested in seeing where this scene was shot

 

[lenquixote66]

18 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Nasty jerks....karma always catches up with people like that.

In my entire life I never had a fight with another person ,physical or verbal.I could not believe those people who I never saw previously were so angry at my beard and hair style that they wanted to attack me.

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

Are you watching the Armageddon Network?  More like less than 6 inches I think.

 

My cousin lives in the Buffalo area & posted on FB yesterday a pic of the 42 inches of snow in her yard with another 18 inches on the way. Granted, that's only another 1 1/2 feet but with those narrow bands on lake effect snow,  someone 1/2 mile away might be getting close to 3 feet.

 

[bobmacliberty]

One more...the Billy Joel concert.  As I said earlier, we really enjoyed it.  We had floor seats, about 30 rows back.  For @HBE4, if the stage was by the goal, we were about at the opposite blue line.  We sat right next to the sound mixing board, so the sound for us was perfect (although a little loud for Micheline).  Micheline did wear her Loop Earplugs which helped a lot.  If we were to do it again, I'd aim for one of the more elevated seats on the side.  I was tall enough to look over/around the people standing in front of us and see the stage, but Micheline could only see the overhead monitors.

 

The concert was almost 2.5 hours long and I think everyone knew every song that he played, other than maybe a couple that he tossed in that were not his songs to help show off the talent of his band members, like his rhythm guitarist singing Nessun Dorma.  I thought he always finished with Scenes From an Italian Restaurant but he played Piano Man after that as the last song, until he came back out for a 5 song encore...We Didn't Start the Fire, Uptown Girl, It's Still Rock and Roll To Me, Big Shot, and You May Be Right (with a little Led Zeppelin Rock and Roll in the middle).

 

 

 

I shot a little bit of video of each song as a way to remember the concert in general and what songs he played.  Here are a few.  Disclaimer...the guy in front of me was singing loud and proud but couldn't carry a tune at all.  You can sometimes hear him in the video.  It's not Bill Joel that sounds bad, and it's not me, it's him.  

 

 

 

 

 

I put all of the video that I shot into a single video (with almost no editing) and uploaded it to YouTube.  If you're really interested in seeing all 40 minutes of it, you can find it here.

 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

13 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

My cousin lives in the Buffalo area & posted on FB yesterday a pic of the 42 inches of snow in her yard with another 18 inches on the way. Granted, that's only another 1 1/2 feet but with those narrow bands on lake effect snow,  someone 1/2 mile away might be getting close to 3 feet.

 

 

My brother and 3 of his buddies have had season tickets for 30+ years.  He sent me some pictures from the game.  Their pregame tent city which had heaters and was toasty warm.

 

Their seats.  They moved enough snow away to be able to stand but could never sit.

 

 

Their view of the field

 

 

 

Edited January 17 by bobmacliberty

[Luckynana]

@bobmaclibertyBob, you mentioned that Central Park must be beautiful in the Spring..I can tell you that it was beautiful when our daughter got married at Poet's Walk in Central Park in June years ago.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

A few more posts about our NYC trip and then I'll be quiet (at least about NYC that is).  On Friday, we visited the Intrepid Museum.  I wanted to do that the last time we were there, but I was overruled by my wife and 2 daughters.  Without our daughters this time, Micheline said that she also wanted to go.  For those who don't know, the Intrepid is an aircraft carrier commissioned during WWII.  It's permanently docked at Pier 86 on the Hudson River as a museum.  There are several aircraft on the flight deck and in the hangar deck, plus the Space Shuttle Enterprise, and the Growler Submarine (a cruise missile submarine from the early 60s).  You can walk through many of the working areas of the Intrepid. We both enjoyed it greatly.  

 

I won't bore you with pictures of planes, but I will include several pictures of lines for @harryfat1 and @Sea Dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some bonus pictures...anchor chain.  You can get an idea of the size of the chain links when compared to my size 10 sneaker.

 

 

 

OK...maybe just one plane picture.  Maverick's F-14 Tomcat.  How could I not show that?

 

 

And since this is Cruise Critic and not City Travel Critic, here's a shot of the Norwegian Getaway docked next door.

 

 

Winner! Thank you.

[Tree_skier]

Amazing pictures @bobmacliberty!  I'm even more stoked for my fall trip to NYC prior to our Liberty Canada N/E cruise.  Sadly I only have two full days in the city and more things to do and see than I have time.

 

Plan so far...

 

I'm going to try and find a midtown hotel... TBD

 

Day 1:

Morning walk through Central Park

Lunch @Trump Tower

Afternoon in Times Square

Dinner @TBD 

Empire State Building Sunset experience

 

Day 2:

Morning Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from morning overlapping lunch into the afternoon.

Afternoon St. Patricks Cathedral

Dinner @TBD

Broadway show... likely Wicked.

 

Am I jamming to much or conversely is there something I have to find a way to shoehorn into the schedule?

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

A few more posts about our NYC trip and then I'll be quiet (at least about NYC that is).  On Friday, we visited the Intrepid Museum.  I wanted to do that the last time we were there, but I was overruled by my wife and 2 daughters.  Without our daughters this time, Micheline said that she also wanted to go.  For those who don't know, the Intrepid is an aircraft carrier commissioned during WWII.  It's permanently docked at Pier 86 on the Hudson River as a museum.  There are several aircraft on the flight deck and in the hangar deck, plus the Space Shuttle Enterprise, and the Growler Submarine (a cruise missile submarine from the early 60s).  You can walk through many of the working areas of the Intrepid. We both enjoyed it greatly.  

 

I won't bore you with pictures of planes, but I will include several pictures of lines for @harryfat1 and @Sea Dog

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some bonus pictures...anchor chain.  You can get an idea of the size of the chain links when compared to my size 10 sneaker.

 

 

 

OK...maybe just one plane picture.  Maverick's F-14 Tomcat.  How could I not show that?

 

 

And since this is Cruise Critic and not City Travel Critic, here's a shot of the Norwegian Getaway docked next door.

 

I love going to the Intrepid Museum. Battleship Cove in Fall River Mass. is also really cool.

[jagsfan]

23 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Thursday had the best weather forecast so we decided to go to SUMMIT One Vanderbilt Thursday morning.  This is one of the 5 observation decks that now exist in NYC.  The OGs are the Empire State Building and Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center.  The newer players are the SUMMIT OV, One World Observatory at One World Trade Center, and The Edge in Hudson Yards.  We chose SUMMIT OV because of the immersive art experience and its proximity to Grand Central Station, the NY Public Library, and Bryant Park.  I'd highly recommend it.

 

SUMMIT OV covers the 91st, 92nd, and 93rd floors on the One Vanderbilt Tower, which was opened in 2020.  There also some introductory things in the lobby area at the ground floor.  The elevator ride to the top is very quick and barely feels like you're moving.  You are let out on the lowest of the 3 floors and you work your way up.  The lower 2 floors are completely indoors with floor to ceiling windows everywhere, and the top floor has an outdoor area.  The immersive art experience comes from the mirrored floors and ceilings, a silver mylar "balloon room", and a large digital display screen.  There's also a completely glassed in area (including floor) that you can stand in.  The website does a better job of explaining the "art" than I can.

 

Here are the views from the lower floor, starting with the view west looking at Hudson Yards and New Jersey.

 

Then looking north toward Central Park

 

And then east toward Queens/Brooklyn, wrapping around to see the indoor space

 

 

I didn't take a video facing south but got a few pictures in that direction.  Of course, I had to include a picture of the Empire State Building.

 

 

 

Interesting point of view looking DOWN at the Chrysler Building

 

 

And I worked up the courage to overcome my fear of heights and stand on the glass floor.  Looking 1100 feet down to Madison Avenue. 🫣😵🥴

 

 

You may notice the little booties on my feet.  Everyone had to wear these to protect the mirrored floors.  The also gave you sunglasses if you didn't have your own (to be returned at the end) since all of the mirrored surfaces brightly reflected the sun.

 

Here's the open area of the bottom floor, called Air: Transcendence.  

 

 

And looking down toward that area from the floor above.

 

 

It can definitely be a little discombobulating.  And finally, what the artist calls Air: Affinity, but what I call the balloon room.

 

 

Like I said earlier, I'd highly recommend SUMMIT One Vanderbilt.

 

I can’t do heights with glass walls. I have a hard time with walls I could fall over, and windows to the floor make me panic. No can do!

Speaking of panic, the last time I was in Central Park in the snow, we had eaten at Tavern in the Green and decided to walk all the way back to the Plaza. 
The sidewalks had been cleared, but were icy.
We were still a couple of blocks north of 59th Street when I saw a couple of grey squirrels alongside us in the snow. 
I had just said “Oh, look at those poor squirrels” when one ran straight towards us. 
That’s when I realized they were big rats!

I just about killed myself trying to run on the icy sidewalk in strappy stilettos screaming, as were my friends. 
I was never so glad to see anything as when I finally saw the street ahead. 
 

[lenquixote66]

23 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

 

I had low expectations for Wicked and loved it! One of my favorites, up there with Chicago, Book of Mormons, Spamalot, Kinky Boots & Come From Away.  That's kinda what my taste in Broadway.

 

 

I've usually waited 30-45 minutes. When the weather is nice & you've got a good crowd, time goes by quickly.  I've never done it during the winter months.

 

My family knows a woman who was on one of the planes that land in Newfoundland.She was flying home to NY from the UK.

[lenquixote66]

5 hours ago, h20skibum said:

I still get that.  Several times when my wife and I have been out to eat, a waiter has walked up behind me and asked what you ladies would like today.  
 

Then, they walk a little more and see my beard and go Oops. 
 

I have a few stories about traveling in the south with a couple fraternity brothers during my college days, and the “reception” we got in some places.  Different times!

 

In my college days nobody had long hair .A few had goatees and Van dykes.I had a mustache.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

For you John Wick fans, I was interested in seeing where this scene was shot

 

I had never heard of John Wick . Was bred one night last week and being a fan of actors in the movie I watched the first 3 in a row.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

26 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Amazing pictures @bobmacliberty!  I'm even more stoked for my fall trip to NYC prior to our Liberty Canada N/E cruise.  Sadly I only have two full days in the city and more things to do and see than I have time.

 

Plan so far...

 

I'm going to try and find a midtown hotel... TBD

 

Day 1:

Morning walk through Central Park

Lunch @Trump Tower

Afternoon in Times Square

Dinner @TBD 

Empire State Building Sunset experience

 

Day 2:

Morning Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from morning overlapping lunch into the afternoon.

Afternoon St. Patricks Cathedral

Dinner @TBD

Broadway show... likely Wicked.

 

Am I jamming to much or conversely is there something I have to find a way to shoehorn into the schedule?

 

 

Looks do-able. I'd personally skip the day 1 lunch - much better places around. I personally am not sure you need a full afternoon in Times Square. It's mostly tourist trap t-shirt shops and stores you can find pretty much anywhere.

 

And Day 2, I know my family was not super impressed with the basically grab and go offerings on the island - we had planned lunch there but ended up waiting until we got back to Manhattan.

 

I'd definitely make your dinner reservations in advance - Open Table is good for that. And I'd plan on buying yout theater tickets in advance as well. I now you said that there were no Wicked tickets on sale for the 2 days you're there - are there for other days around that? Or have they not dropped a new block for that time frame yet?

[lenquixote66]

39 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Amazing pictures @bobmacliberty!  I'm even more stoked for my fall trip to NYC prior to our Liberty Canada N/E cruise.  Sadly I only have two full days in the city and more things to do and see than I have time.

 

Plan so far...

 

I'm going to try and find a midtown hotel... TBD

 

Day 1:

Morning walk through Central Park

Lunch @Trump Tower

Afternoon in Times Square

Dinner @TBD 

Empire State Building Sunset experience

 

Day 2:

Morning Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from morning overlapping lunch into the afternoon.

Afternoon St. Patricks Cathedral

Dinner @TBD

Broadway show... likely Wicked.

 

Am I jamming to much or conversely is there something I have to find a way to shoehorn into the schedule?

 

I recommend dinner at Carmines if you like Italian cuisine.

[DaniDanielle]

My grandson, my older daughters’s son,

was accepted to all the Catholic high Schools he applied for. Scholarships to all. We are very proud of him.  His dad would have been over the moon.  The school he wants is home of the Vikings, his father was Norwegian!  My son’s daughter also did well and made the honors programs in the high schools she applied to!  Such happy grandparents here😃

[MJSailors]

@bobmacliberty I enjoyed the photos of your visit to Central Park.

My DH and I enjoyed many walks through the park during all four seasons. Spring and Fall are especially beautiful there.

We have enjoyed dinners and lunches at both Tavern on the Green and The Boathouse.

When my Godaughter and her sister visited NYC for the first time as children, they insisted on finding the statue if Baltic in the park.After quite a trick,we found it! I think it was in the area of the Dairy building.

We always enjoyed watching the remote controlled boats there and ice skaters in the Winter.

I am glad that you included CP on your itinerary.

Unfortunately, my DH and I have not been to the City since Nov 2019. Dealing with Covid and hearing reports of the general decline of Manhattan- as you witnessed in Grand Central- has prevented us from making visits there.

Maybe we will make a return visit someday.

MJ🙎🏻‍♀️

[jagsfan]

On 1/4/2024 at 3:49 PM, Momof3gurlz said:

I’m finally getting caught up after a busy week, well actually a few weeks including the holidays. I got all the Christmas decorations put away this week. Why does it seem to take twice as long to put them away as it does to bring them out and decorate? Different mindset, I guess.
We are on our second Samsung TV and have been pretty happy with both. The first one lasted nearly 10 years, we only replaced it for a bigger one when we moved to this house in 2017.  Our Samsung refrigerator is fine but has that mysterious ice maker issue, where it just randomly stops working.  Andy wanted the one with the electronics and computer screen, supposedly we’re going to watch TV on it or listen to music. We’ve had the fridge about 3 years now and neither of those things has happened.  We also have a Samsung dishwasher, it’s just okay.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Orlando to spend 3 nights at Walt Disney World.  Our daughters are running in the marathon Sunday morning, so we’re all going to show our support.  In actuality, only Cristina has a chance to finish as she’s the only one who’s actually trained for it.  Jessica will be at a very slow pace, mostly fast walking, due to her pregnancy.  Ali hasn’t really trained at all but she has completed half marathons before so she will also end up a combination of walking and running.  It sounded like a great idea many months ago when they registered, LOL.  

When we get home, I need to buckle down and figure what we’re doing next month prior to our two cruises. We’re on Allure 4 night, 2/26 then right onto Adventure 8 night, 3/1.  We want to spend several days before somewhere in FL and probably a few days after as well. We’re driving so we have plenty of flexibility.  
Safe travels to everyone flying or driving this weekend and Bon Voyage to those cruising!
 

I’m trying to catch up, it’s Jan 17th so I’m still way behind. 
Just  wanted to say I’m on Allure Feb 26 too, with DH and 33 of my friends. 
No tshirts saying Mandarin Women’s Club, but it may look like more old fogeys on the cruise!

[bobmacliberty]

3 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

Unfortunately, my DH and I have not been to the City since Nov 2019. Dealing with Covid and hearing reports of the general decline of Manhattan- as you witnessed in Grand Central- has prevented us from making visits there.

 

We didn't find Manhattan to be as bad as some of the reports that we had read.  It may have been the area where we were staying, but there weren't many homeless people.  Times Square was, well Times Square, but nothing new there.  The only thing we noticed was the smell of pot in several places.  We never saw anyone actually smoking though.  We never felt unsafe.

 

One other general thing for people who take taxis...download and set up the Curb app.  You get in a taxi, enter the pairing number of the taxi that you're in, and your trip gets automatically charged.  No need to handle any money.  There's a screen showing a running total of exactly what the charge will be.  You can also use the app to schedule a taxi but we never did that.  We just flagged one down, or had the doorman do it.  It's as easy as Uber.  

[George C]

59 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Amazing pictures @bobmacliberty!  I'm even more stoked for my fall trip to NYC prior to our Liberty Canada N/E cruise.  Sadly I only have two full days in the city and more things to do and see than I have time.

 

Plan so far...

 

I'm going to try and find a midtown hotel... TBD

 

Day 1:

Morning walk through Central Park

Lunch @Trump Tower

Afternoon in Times Square

Dinner @TBD 

Empire State Building Sunset experience

 

Day 2:

Morning Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from morning overlapping lunch into the afternoon.

Afternoon St. Patricks Cathedral

Dinner @TBD

Broadway show... likely Wicked.

 

Am I jamming to much or conversely is there something I have to find a way to shoehorn into the schedule?

 

The 9/11 memorial is walking distance to the Statue of Liberty ferry .

 

We visited a cousin in May who lived a block from Central Park on 35th floor , there apartment had a great view of park and the river , he was renting but bought another place same building and view but on 40th floor this is right by Lincoln center, 2 bedrooms and bathrooms, he has someone walk his dog in Central Park daily. 
 

if your a veteran you can get discount on admission to Intrepid 

[h20skibum]

32 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

My grandson, my older daughters’s son,

was accepted to all the Catholic high Schools he applied for. Scholarships to all. We are very proud of him.  His dad would have been over the moon.  The school he wants is home of the Vikings, his father was Norwegian!  My son’s daughter also did well and made the honors programs in the high schools she applied to!  Such happy grandparents here😃

Well done by the grandkids.  Congratulations.  

[Keksie]

We picked out the granite for the kitchen today.

 

[Momof3gurlz]

52 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

I’m trying to catch up, it’s Jan 17th so I’m still way behind. 
Just  wanted to say I’m on Allure Feb 26 too, with DH and 33 of my friends. 
No tshirts saying Mandarin Women’s Club, but it may look like more old fogeys on the cruise!

Mimi, if it’s okay with you I’d love to say ‘hi’ if I see you onboard.  I’m pretty sure I’d recognize you from a couple of pictures you’ve posted. 

[MJSailors]

54 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Amazing pictures @bobmacliberty!  I'm even more stoked for my fall trip to NYC prior to our Liberty Canada N/E cruise.  Sadly I only have two full days in the city and more things to do and see than I have time.

 

Plan so far...

 

I'm going to try and find a midtown hotel... TBD

 

Day 1:

Morning walk through Central Park

Lunch @Trump Tower

Afternoon in Times Square

Dinner @TBD 

Empire State Building Sunset experience

 

Day 2:

Morning Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from morning overlapping lunch into the afternoon.

Afternoon St. Patricks Cathedral

Dinner @TBD

Broadway show... likely Wicked.

 

Am I jamming to much or conversely is there something I have to find a way to shoehorn into the schedule?

 

@Tree_skier As a native New Yorker - NYC that is-I have a few suggestions re:your planned itinerary for your Fall trip.

I hope my input is helpful.

   I would check the weather forecast and take a trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on the better of the two days,then plan ahead accordingly.

The Staten Island Ferry will take you past both sites for a nominal fee and the ferry can be an experience itself. Or,you could book a tour that brings you to both sites’ grounds. The cost is considerably more, but you will see more of course. 
   You could do a walk in Central Park,visit St Pat’s and have lunch in midtown in a few hours. Lunch could be at Rock Center Cafe situated on the rink at Rockefeller Center ( love the leather chairs there if they still have them) or in Grand Central Station either at Junior’s- famous for cheesecake and deli or the landmark Oyster Bar Restaurant. This could be done on the day that you don’t go to the State of Liberty.

   Be mindful of sunset at the Empire State Building. You may want to do that before going to dinner depending on the time of sunset,of course. 
    You could combine Time’s Square with dinner and a show being that you will be going through TS on the way to the theater.

Carmine’s is in the Theater District. They serve family style with full platters of Italian specialties. I would also recommend Sardi’s. The bar upstairs is a bit less crowded and more comfortable. Bartenders know what they are doing. Waiters will realize that you probably want to make the show curtain,so service should be very efficient. 

I would make dinner reservations ahead of time and purchase theater tickets ahead also. 
   For a midtown hotel, I would suggest the Warwick. It is a stately hotel that has been in business for decades. Across the street is the Hilton. It is a massive hotel. Both hotels are on Sixth Ave within walking distance of Central Park, Rockefeller Center ,Theater District  and St’Pats.

I think @GeorgeC favors the Michaelangelo,so you could check that out also.

The Fitzpatrick is a very good hotel also,but it is near Grand Central and Third Ave. Good service,but a bit out of the way for your purposes.

Wherever you choose to stay, I would suggest checking in with the Concierge. They can guide you about tours and transportation. I always like to make contact with the Concierge desk whenever we visit a different area/city to establish a connection with someone in the area.

   Now,a safety tip. You probably know this but,walk with confidence and a purpose. Check and know  your route before you set out walking or taking a cab/ Uber etc. Try to keep a quick pace. 
  Hoping you enjoy a safe and healthy visit to NYC. 
MJ🙎🏻‍♀️