Escape New England-Canada Sept 10-17, 2023 updating Semi Live rev 3.0

[Steelers0854]

34 minutes ago, bedfordmom said:

I have a question about AirTags. Do you need to put them in a case outside the suitcase for them to work? 

Nope. Just remember they still need to be able to connect to other devices around it to work. The more you burry them and the more metal or other electronics between them and the outside your bag the shorter their range will be. But I’ve always got mine hidden in my bag and never had an issue. They work great. Will be even better once Google rolls out their version as the systems will be interoperable!

[graphicguy]

7 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Escape on her way, coming home to NY from Halifax, NS doing 19 knots, ETA about 5 am +/- 1 hour docking at Pier 88.

 

This was taken at Harvest Caye in Jan 2019 ... with norovirus outbreak onboard then, a big deal in those days.  Going to be our home away from home for a week. 

 

 

Bags are 98% packed, Airtagged and ready to go.  Carryon convertible backpack is at 24.5 lbs 🫢  -  always take a photo of the luggage, just in case. 

 

Just snagged a deal on an Amazon “flash sale” for 4 AirTags for $20/ea….$80 total.  Have used them before.  Great devices…especially if you’re flying and/or cruising.

 

Bon Voyage!!!!

[Parallel40]

On 9/5/2023 at 4:14 PM, Cyn874 said:

Yep I'm supposed to be on NCL Escape NYC to Canada/New England from Sept 17th-24th. 

 

Or am I~

Can’t even think of packing. But looks like it turning Eastward

[tlreze]

Can you post the link to the Flash Sale you found? 

[mking8288]

T minus 1 ... tomorrow morning (24 hours from now) at this time, we will be at Pier 88, helping our SIL/BIL with wheelchair embarkation.  Our best friends using CAS or Platinum boarding, not that we being Sapphire isn't really going to board much faster, if at all.  Not surprised, but got a feeling we will not see many school-age children and/or teens on this sailing ... probably some pre-schoolers along with their parents - expecting our corridor or hallways near Splash Academy to be quiet, just like our recent Epic TA.  

 

Both DW and I were up earlier than usual, just about everything is done or completed, took another look at the latest hurricane/stormy forecast ahead but what the heck, can't worry what one cannot dictate - medical & trip, travel insurances are all in place.  Lee does look like will make landfall somewhere later next week based on latest forecast models, which typically converge within 5 days - we are going to be on the Escape, regardless - just a question of where & what and how will the ship get out of harm's way and make a run for it ... she can easily do 22+ knots with a good tailwind.  Forecasters in Halifax, NS aren't worry yet and I think she can find a safe spot somwhere in the Gulf of Maine or start her trip back to NY slowly to steer away from expected sea swell and large waves. 

 

Remember this is a 5 stops port-intensive itinerary with just enough time for dinner, maybe a show and we are in a mid-ship (large) Family Oceanview with picture window (yes, that is "close" to the waterline & when it is stormy) on Deck 5 ... this is one of those times that having a balcony up on Deck 15 isn't really necessary ideal (oops, that's very our CAS friends are - midship)  BIL mid-ship on Deck 12.  Got plenty of Bonine around, just in case ... 

 

Latest on ground transport costs - 

- real-time prices this morning ... for the typical airport trip to Pier 88, MCT - folks, flying in and not taking the JFK Airtrain & subway or LIRR into town and then walk that last mile plus  > > > > >  buckle up for safety & don't be shocked.  Going to be even higher by next Spring with Manhattan's congestion pricing surcharge, as little as $8 to 10 per trip and as much as $15 to $20 more.  $$ in the screenshots speak for themselves - will likely use either Carmel or a local car service for mini-van tomorrow to take 4 adults plus luggage for a little less.  

 

 

 

[mking8288]

4 hours ago, bedfordmom said:

 ... I am finally getting to do my TA after a cancelled 2020 one and ironically it’s the Getaway out of Southampton. Other had better ports but this worked better ... 

Sure do, how are you and always happy to know others find these semi / live trip reports informative, fun & helpful.  Westbound is nicer as you gain an extra hour going thru time zone, minimizing effects from jetlag - don't forget to look for that Int'l Time Zone crossing ritual onboard.  By all means, help bring her across to NY, nieces & extended family circles booked theirs on GA in December, found them great balcony deals.  Meanwhile, we are entirely out of those CruiseNext Certs by transfering some to them ... hence, going to make the Latitudes rep onboard happy with new "sales" or else we can't book anything else next year.  Doing a report on your TA - let us all know, love to follow along since we are going to be catching one not much later than you 😉 😉  (different ship & embark port, etc.)

 

On the question of AirTags, already answered & spot on - just going to toss ours inside the checked suitcase with the extra luggage tag.  Don't mind the crew delivering the bags "late" as long as they make it onboard - just peace of mind, not fun to rotate with just 2 sets of clothes for the week.  

 

Android has an app for those activated AirTags, it's not great and waiting for the big change - expected shortly from Google.  There is no need to use a pricey or waterproof tag holder.  Using one of the tags on our car in lieu of fancy LoJack ... lots of practical applications & possibilities in tracking, privacy considerations being noted. 

 

[graphicguy]

4 hours ago, tlreze said:

Can you post the link to the Flash Sale you found? 

I just went to look again, and it's gone.  Amazon does those every once in a while.  They usually only last a day.

 

Sorry!

 

But, if it happened once, it's likely to happen again.  Just keep your eyes on them.

[bedfordmom]

Yes I will bring the Getaway back to NYC safe and sound. Today I bought 4  AirTag key holders from Walmart only 5.88 to attach to the inside of suitcase. One will eventually go into the car and perhaps my key ring. 
 

Doing great and even better since I have collected on my one way Level/Iberia 2020 BCN to BOS airfare after 3 years. After a social media post brought me attention they gave me back one fare but still waiting for husbands.
 

I really had my eye on the Escape TA for April but wanted  something sooner. At 1600 plus for inside it is too much for me. I will try to have patience this time and wait for the 60 day mark to decide. 

[Steelers0854]

Day 0 New York, New York

 

We arrived around lunch time and headed to our favorite vegan place Vegan on the Fly. Neither of us are vegan but with DW’s allergies it’s way easier to eat vegan then all we have to worry about is the gluten which most vegan places handle very well. I love this place and always get the impossible kefta platter and DW gets the loaded fries. We were so hungry that I didn’t grab photos.

 

After lunch we wandered around a bit. The city is a mad house because of the Labor Day Parade and March. Dozens of streets are closed and traffic is more of a nightmare than usual. We made our way to DW’s favorite ice cream place Van Leeuwen and she got her go to peanut butter fudge brownie honeycomb (it is vegan they use vegan honeycomb. She also beat me to it and I had to get a late photo lol). I love banana pudding and always wanted to try Magnolia bakery which is just down the street. So DW secured her ice cream and I got my bread pudding. Both were delicious!

 

 

 

 

After our treat we walked around and went in and out of some shops. To be honest it’s kind of brutally humid today with not much wind so we didn’t stay out long and headed to the hotel to relax until dinner.

 

Dinner tonight is at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle. We have tried most of the major steakhouses in NY and this is one of the last ones on the list. While sides can be kind of hard steakhouses are generally very easy for DW to eat at and the majority of the time she can get some kind of potato and/or veggie.

 

Del Friscos is a hit.  Now our favorite steakhouse in NYC.  Great service, beautiful huge space and the steaks are excellent.

 

I started with the Tuna Tartare and it was very good.  The Tuna was chilled, fresh and flavorful.  They included just the right amount of avocado, the spicy aioli was the perfect accent and the prawn chips were light, crispy and airy, the perfect vehicle for the tuna without overpowering it.  Their bread service is also amazing, warm, soft, buttery and slightly sweet dinner rolls, these were incredible.

 

 

 

DW wasnt particularly hungry and got the 8oz filet and they were able to do French fries for her.  They said they could have done sautéed spinach or the asparagus but apparently she was on a fry kick today.  Also, they finish their steaks in butter so they left that off hers.  These steaks were perfectly cooked and were seasoned beautifully.  I got the 8 ounce filet and also the sauce flight.

 

 

 

Im a sauce guy, even though most steaks don’t need it I still love a good sauce.  The horseradish sauce was very good, perfectly spicy with the right amount of creaminess.  The Bernadine, which is usually my favorite, was disappointingly thin and bland.  The real star was the Chimichurri, oh my, fresh, herby and a slight kick, I could drink this stuff.  The peppercorn sauce was interesting.  It had a gravy like consistency and taste to it.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favorite.  IMO Benjamins still has the very best steak sauce.

 

 

We also very much appreciated the pace of dinner, it was efficient but we never felt rushed.

 

After dinner we slow walked back to the hotel and called it an early night as we got our bags ready for tomorrow.

[mking8288]

@Steelers0854  welcome to the Big Apple ... in addition to whatever "mess" left behind by the Labor Day weekend ... U.S. Tennis Open is going on, tomorrow is the last day - in Flushing, NY (Queens) so traffic nearby / in the area is a big mess.  Next week is United Nations Week with its annual gathering ... security goes up a notch citywide but mostly east side of midtown Manhattan, followed by Fashion Week - hotel prices are up all over & taxi/Uber might be in short supply even with surge pricing kicking in.   Steakhouse dinner looks great, although we don't venture into the "city" as there is another Peter Luger out here on Long Island, rated #11 vs. one of our favorite, Bryant & Copper Steakhouse in the town of Rosyln, not too far & is a local legend - visitors and out-of-towners usually don't get to dine like us.  City Island in the Bronx has a # of great restaurants serving up great, excellent & fresh seafood, broiled lobsters 1.5 to 2 lbs & sometimes they get soft shells, plus their clam bake.  

 

Cagney's and Bayamo onboard are good, but we don't get too excited about it as there are so many nice & great ones locally.  Unlike the Breakaway, Getaway or the Epic, Escape doesn't have a Shanghai Noodles or Restaurant - and what they serve isn't anywhere close to good, passing grade as basic comfort food, much like O'Sheehan's and The Local.  We did a nice authentic Shanghainese lunch with our friends nearby - nothing fancy and inexpensive ... if only NCL can try harder and do a little better, sometimes.  

 

 

Have a good night, see all in the morning at the pier & getting check-in done, and let's get onboard.  

 

Navigational & related update: Escape is on her way - just checked Marinetraffic & CruiseMapper for latest - slowed down from doing a fairly steady 19 knots to 15.5 now, off the eastern tip/end of Long Island's South Fork (East Hampton) - roughly 80 miles from MCT, with the ETA arrival of 4 AM, EDT looking pretty good ... plus another hour navigating thru the NY Lower Bay, pass under the VZ Bridge & Statue of Liberty.  Docking at Pier 88 before 6 AM should be expected - and early express / self walk-off disembarkation by 7:30 assuming CBP is on stations and ready with their facial recognition. 

 

NCL's website just went offline as scheduled at 10 PM & expected to resume at 6 AM in the morning.  Hopefully, everyone printed out their eDocs - it was still available earlier today.  

Edited September 10, 2023 by mking8288

[RRSeeker]

Booked my own flight on American and sat at the Pittsburgh airport all day, flight cancelled at 7:45 tonight (kept delaying). Quick change of plans, leaving at 2am and driving to port. Had to book parking and too late to cancel hotel for tonight. This is turning into a very expensive trip since I used frequent flyer miles for the flight it wasn’t costing too much to get there but the hotel was expensive and I still have to pay for it.

The annoying thing was when I called to cancel the hotel they wanted to charge me more than I paid for the room so I checked in online and I am only paying what I booked the room at. Doesn’t make sense since they could have resold the room if I cancelled and I just paid what I booked at.
 

Oh well, I hope we make it in time.

[mking8288]

@RRSeeker Wow, sorry to read about your AA flight delay - cancellation.  There is plenty of rooftop parking above the cruise terminal at Pier 88 and 90, reservations not needed and is a new thing - shouldn't really matter.  Showers and thunderstorms in forecast later in the day.  Please drive safely & carefully, ship isn't sailing until 5:30 pm. 

Edited September 10, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Latest NHC forecast map/chart - as of Saturday evening - will be "monitoring" to stay informed ... 

 

Tech checks & prep - as a matter of routine, making sure all OS updates, security patches and apps are current, backup done (home server running Linux, in addition to routine cloud storage).

 

Gadgets & tools that are coming along:

10,000 mAH USB Battery Bank-Charger at 100% capacity, travel notices submitted to credit cards.  
Lenovo Chromebook w. bluetooth wireless mouse and USB Dongle & external storage
Google Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 4a 5G (mine) dual e/Sim - Google One VPN and CG VPN
Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus (hers) - Google One VPN
iPhone SE 2022 and iPad Mini (VPN enabled) - dual e/Sim enabled
Amazon Fire HD 10 w 128GB mSD card (off-line media & eBooks) - Google One and CG VPN

 

Footnote - Escape's HDTV @ 720 dpi should be "Sole" branded and uses HDMI as default input source.  Coming along is USB-C to HDMI converter/adapter, Chromebook & Samsung Galaxy tested friendly for videos. 
 

Google Fi is our primary cellular carrier, which uses T-Mobile in the U.S. with global coverage for voice and text in 200 countries, and nearly all with high speed data, 4G LTE as 5G isn't necessary nor available everywhere.  Tethering and hotspot included at no extra costs, supporting multiple devices as needed. 

 

Bonus info - Does T-Mobile work in Canada?  Short answer is yes - (our 2nd line is on AT&T, roaming supported/enabled as needed)  - https://querysprout.com/does-t-mobile-work-in-canada/

 

This is the lower or street level of Pier 88, where motorcoach or buses, occasionally - car services & limo will drop passengers with luggage off, sometimes - porters will "escort" folks here to wait for their pickup ...  Giant manned elevators and escalators will take you up one deck or level to reach security and thru to check-in for embarkation.  

 

It's now past midnight - Sunday, Sept 10th is here - countdown is zero.  Escape is less than 60 to 70 miles from NY, off Shirley, NY (Long Island) coming in early.  

 

Time to get some zzz's or sleep and then it's rise-n-shine, light breakfast & then get ready to meet our friends to share that minivan ride by car service to Pier 88.  In a few hours from now, this will quasi-officially go "live" or at least semi-live.  Good night all  👴

[Cruisingcouple69]

Can’t wait to follow along!! Have a wonderful cruise ☺️

[shof515]

5 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Bonus info - Does T-Mobile work in Canada?  Short answer is yes - (our 2nd line is on AT&T, roaming supported/enabled as needed)  - https://querysprout.com/does-t-mobile-work-in-canada/

 

when i was in St John, New Brunswick Canada last month my tmobile cell phone was able to only get a weak 3G signal and the internet speeds was like being on the ship. not sure if due to my phone or just the way how international roaming works. i also noticed that sometimes my phone will have a hard time staying connecting as they will be times when my phone says no service

[Steelers0854]

52 minutes ago, shof515 said:

 

when i was in St John, New Brunswick Canada last month my tmobile cell phone was able to only get a weak 3G signal and the internet speeds was like being on the ship. not sure if due to my phone or just the way how international roaming works. i also noticed that sometimes my phone will have a hard time staying connecting as they will be times when my phone says no service

well I can tell you for certain in a few days. DW and I travel quite a bit internationally and switch to T-Mobile from ATT about a year ago because of the free international data they offer (up to 5 GB per month and a reasonable price to buy extra if you go over that). In the countries we have visited we haven’t had any issues and most of the time connect at 5G and the occasional LTE. 

[mking8288]

Good morning, Escape arrived shortly after 6 am and disembarkation already underway by 8 am. We are getting ready for our short 30 minutes trip soon to get there. Apparently, beginning with yesterday, a number of flights into NY area were delayed & cancelled, and continuing this morning, blamed on weather - folks are doing whatever it takes to get here or catch up with the ship. Safe travel and hope all can find a way here. 

 

 

 

Quick check of airport status suggesting otherwise, individual flights are affected 😳🫣🧐 - per FlightAware site.

 

Thunderstorms and rain moving into area this morning, that's not good for air traffic along the East Coast corridor 👎. ORD or Chicago had a ground stop last night which didn't help to keep flights on schedule, since lifted. 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by mking8288

[Mommapadraig]

31 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Good morning, Escape arrived shortly after 6 am and disembarkation already underway by 8 am. We are getting ready for our short 30 minutes trip soon to get there. Apparently, beginning with yesterday, a number of flights into NY area were delayed & cancelled, and continuing this morning, blamed on weather - folks are doing whatever it takes to get here or catch up with the ship. Safe travel and hope all can find a way here. 

 

 

 

Quick check of airport status suggesting otherwise, individual flights are affected 😳🫣🧐 - per FlightAware site.

 

Thunderstorms and rain moving into area this morning, that's not good for air traffic along the East Coast corridor 👎. ORD or Chicago had a ground stop last night which didn't help to keep flights on schedule, since lifted. 

 

 

 

Good morning. Safe travels. I’ll enjoy following along. Thanks 

[mking8288]

9:10 AM and we are on our way,  Carmel was very early and we can leave early.  Traffic going across town is heavy so we are going via I-95 Bronx & down the Henry Hudson straight to Pier 88.

 

 

9:28 AM - almost there on West Side Hwy already 👍😁😎

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by mking8288

[bedfordmom]

Good morning : safe travels. For Halifax, I recommend renting a car ( across the street from terminal) going to Peggy’s Cove  beating all the crowds stopping at this lobster place ( sorry can’t remember name) in the rough. Circling back to Titantic graveyard all in a half day. For St John we did a speedboat tour in the raging rapids which no longer exists, not surprised lol

[mking8288]

Lines moving - security is open & screening 

 

 

 

And, started to rain outside.

 

There is a wedding group checking in for the cruise 😄

Edited September 10, 2023 by mking8288

[JIMESOPUS]

@mking8288 Bon Voyage, safe travels. Outbound waves and wind look great for the sail north. Inbound let's just say challenging at best.

Front passing through, and rain is forecasted for most of the day.

Last time on the Escape in April, one of the better-run ships in the fleet IMHO. The crew was energetic and very hard-working.

If you are a fan of Syd's but don't like the packed sardine environment, the outdoor Syds had working TVs with the show and the sound was great.

Jim

[mking8288]

 

 

Thanks @JIMESOPUS  one of the better & faster check-in at Pier 88, all done by 10:05 & sitting in the lounge. Told we no longer need a boarding card or zone/group # - just listen to priority when called and proceed. Oue CAS friends are stalked with wedding party & section with Haven. Folks slowing coming in. 

 

Disembarkation is done as not seeing more guests coming off late.

 

 

 

Something new, odd or new protocol - we are getting CBP declaration card distributed at check-in ???  Could it be that we might head to Halifax first ??  The suspense ? 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by mking8288

[shof515]

Hopefully the weather does not dampen the sail away mood. lots of rain and thunderstorms in the NYC area from now till around 5pm

[dexddd]

Just catching up.  Have a nice trip.  Escape a great ship.