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

[JIMESOPUS]

The Escape wingman is on the move to 88. Silver Shadow went to Brooklyn

Edited September 17, 2023 by JIMESOPUS

[mking8288]

15 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

The Escape wingman is on the move to 88

Woohoo - Jim, thanks.  Seven Sea Mariner already past Lady Liberty, heading north on the Hudson to dock.  Our turn is next & soon, looked like pilot is already onboard as the Pilot Wanderer just left us a short time ago.  

 

Bags are on their way down below for pier transfer in the morning 🫢

 

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Breaking update: We are on the move now at 23:25 and turning to face Lower Manhattan again and underway at 2.5 knots. Up to 10 knots now at 23:40 - Statue of Liberty ahead, port side. 

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Almost forgot, pictures from the CC Meet & Greet - Yusif as GM and the team.  

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Last evening onboard the Escape ... 

 

 

Drop off some signed messages about those that went above & beyond earlier, you can also email NCL ... but, it's easier 👴

 

 

[mking8288]

Tug boat on starboard, apparently strong river currents 

 

 

 

Almost there ... easy 😉 does it 

[mking8288]

Good disembarkation morning, MDR breakfast ...our ritual before leaving the ship. 

 

 

 

 

Folks on the next sailing to NE-Canada, time to get ready to come to Pier 88, should be ready in a matter of hours ... and Bon Voyage 🛳️ 👌

 

Ship has just been cleared at 7:25 - express self walk-off called now 👍

Edited September 17, 2023 by mking8288

[Mommapadraig]

42 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Good disembarkation morning, MDR breakfast ...our ritual before leaving the ship. 

 

 

 

 

Folks on the next sailing to NE-Canada, time to get ready to come to Pier 88, should be ready in a matter of hours ... and Bon Voyage 🛳️ 👌

 

Ship has just been cleared at 7:25 - express self walk-off called now 👍

Great review. Thanks!

[bedfordmom]

Great review as always. So you had had the  cancellations but you dealt and presented with the changes with grace, dignity and a good sense of humor. What is your next TA?

[mking8288]

A very smooth disembarkation, facial recognition and porter services, booked Carmel on the App. In the minivan by 8:50 & will be home in NE Queens via I-95 Bronx by 9:30 👍

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9:11 AM - Queens... home, almost.

9:18 - arrived 🤗

Edited September 17, 2023 by mking8288

[Sugar Magnolia]

31 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

A very smooth disembarkation, facial recognition and porter services, booked Carmel on the App. In the minivan by 8:50 & will be home in NE Queens via I-95 Bronx by 9:30 👍

9:11 AM - Queens... home, almost.

9:18 - arrived 🤗

 

Welcome back to a gorgeous September morning in NYC. Thank you for another informative and entertaining review.

Do you prefer Carmel over Uber?

 

[graphicguy]

Welcome Home.  Thanks for the great review.  This is one of my favorite North American itineraries.

 

 

[Red-Sol]

Welcome Home Henry!...I have been sporadically on and off CruiseCritic as of late but so happy to have found your latest review. (Yours are always some of the best and this one didn't disappoint at all) Seems like this one was a little bit different type of adventure but as always you kept it real and interesting! Thanks!

[MsTabbyKats]

@mking8288When you met the car service, where exactly did they pick you up?  Second floor of terminal?

[mking8288]

Good morning all, again ... home sweet home.  Transitioning - quick sweep/clean by housekeeping and laundry, brew a fresh cup of coffee and making a note for provisioning ... gallery will be closed together as we'll likely do take-out on the way back after lunch nearby.  A week (and longer, DW now preferred) on a cruise, even if it is CTN, is better than staying home ... beautiful & sunny skies, beautiful early Fall on a Sunday, time to think about an overnight foliage or mid-week, avoiding the weekend crowd.  

 

Had a balance (non-refundable) of $14 on the final "invoice" of itemized credits & charges ... darn it, DW said we should've gone to Starbuck to spend it - heck, we aren't really into SB's marketing hype, let it go, just let it go.  @The P  - Susan brought 2 T-shirts onboard, could've gotten a 3rd one with the remaining credit but spent most of it in duty-free, LOL. 

 

@bedfordmom - going to be an interesting one, stay tuned - T minus 64 days, westbound out of Barcelona to NY ... we twice cancelled her but decided, got to check things out in person to decide ourselves with the mixed reviews.  And, "The Price is Right" so it's a "Deal" - balcony booked outright, no bids and see no need to upgrade to a mini-suite (not Haven people, steerage "buys" more cruise days & fit our easy-going lifestyle better, and Mrs M doesnt care for a spa balcony but the max upgrade bid price isn't bad ... cheaper than minimum for the club balcony "suite".  NCL's partner surely is tossing out a complicated formula.  

 

@Sugar Magnolia  Prefer Carmel over Lyft in NY, Uber as a backup ... on this trip, Carmel & Lyft's quoted prices are practically identical, about $85 plus toll and tips  (it went up since this January) and now Carmel started charging a congestion fee of $2.75  @MsTabbyKats  We generally take our luggage across 12th Avenue to the NE corner of 12th Avenue, between W. 48 and W. 49th Street - preferred by most drivers, regardless  < address to use:  660 12th Avenue, New York, NY >  

 

When we came out, the porter said it's easier for car service & taxi to come into street level of MCT ... and, took our luggage along & put us there.  There must be like 2 dozens buses on the lower level, including chartered buses for a large trade group booked on the Escape - didn't see yellow taxis and/or car services, or private pax vehicles coming into the lower level to drop off or pick up.  We walked across to W. 50th Street & contacted Carmel to pick up there, and call the driver to update him of our location as to where to meet or find us ... works.  

 

Total of 90 minutes, amazing, from the time we stepped out from Manhattan MDR on Deck 7 AFT to exit thru ship security, downstairs to retrieve our luggage, porter services with a fast track out to 12th Avenue ... Carmel pick-up and then drop-off in Queens.  Transport (taxi / Uber "dispatchers") working their trade approaching cruisers offering ride - just politely say no & keep walking.  Our SIL/BIL had to go to Skyline Bar, Deck 7 AFT by the casino to wait for WC assistance disembarkation, they got home about an hour later than us at 10:30 AM & that was said to be smooth & reasonably fast ... expectations met.  

 

BinaxNow C19 test results last night while still onboard were negative, that's reassuring - no desire to catch and/or bring home anything "foreign" and "unwanted".  Have a small stockpile of valid test kits, better to use them or lose & waste them.  

 

@Red-Sol one of these days, our path should cross onboard ... until then, best regards and thanks. @graphicguy  your turn is coming up next & fast, ready to roll - then, hopefully, I can make the next TA a very fun & interesting live/semi-live report.  Looks like this week's 7 days NE-Canada Escape cruise should be smooth sailing.  Wishing all those cruising this weekend and ahead ... fun, safe, happy & smooth sailing. 

 

@JIMESOPUS Bon Voyage ... P.S.  It is the United Nations General Assembly week - starting tomorrow, expect extra traffic & security, if driving in - avoid the East Side of Manhattan & allow extra travel time.  

[Sugar Magnolia]

U.N. General Assembly 🤦🏻‍♀️😡😱

[bedfordmom]

21 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

 

@bedfordmom - going to be an interesting one, stay tuned - T minus 64 days, westbound out of Barcelona to NY ... we twice cancelled her but decided, got to check things out in person to decide ourselves with the mixed reviews.  And, "The Price is Right" so it's a "Deal" - balcony booked outright, no bids and see no need to upgrade to a mini-suite (not Haven people, steerage "buys" more cruise days & fit our easy-going lifestyle better, and Mrs M doesnt care for a spa balcony but the max upgrade bid price isn't bad ... cheaper than minimum for the club balcony "suite".  NCL's partner surely is tossing out a complicated 

You must be on the Prima. I’ve never been on anything newer than the Getaway. We go for itinerary and price. I considered that cruise but it was during Thanksgiving and that is my big holiday. BCN is a pain to get to fromBOS plus a little too cold for me. My DH is not a travel or so thought we would try the TA with a direct flight to London but need need to get to Southampton.

 

Speaking of flights I finally after 3.5 years got my refund from Level for our cancelled oneway from BCN April 2020. Initially They had offered a six month voucher which I refused thinking that travel insurance would cover it. Which they would not. So last month I wrote on Level  fb advertisement how they were crooks and before I knew it I was taking to the right people at Iberia. At first they only gave me back money for one ticket though the credit card was charged for two and finally got the second this week. 

21 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

@Sugar Magnolia

 

[The P]

Henry, you can't beat living here when you cruise NCL out of NYC! Welcome home to you and the Mrs. Don't blame yourself for the $14 NR OBC; I think NCL has terrible tech and consequently can have screwed up bookkeeping. I watch 'em like a hawk onboard. You're not my first friend who got a surprise the morning they were leaving and unable to spend what remained.

Susan retains her black belt in shopping. The P has spoken. 🗽  😎

[JIMESOPUS]

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

U.N. General Assembly 🤦🏻‍♀️😡😱

Last year flying out of JFK to Southampton for the Prima TA, we made it on time to JFK but the crew got stuck in traffic and was late by several hours. 

[cruiseny4life]

On 9/14/2023 at 10:12 PM, mking8288 said:

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.  

I would love to know what kind of sorcery you use to make this happen! 

[cruiseny4life]

On 9/16/2023 at 9:07 PM, mking8288 said:

The other important alert: NCL apparently does NOT pro-rate the discount anymore with the FAS upgrade, price offered is same pre-cruise or onboard, taking into account the value of the free minutes.  The difference is that you can use any OBC, non-refundable ones, when you do the upgrade onboard the ship but NOT pre-cruise as your credit card will be charged.  In other words, if you wait (like we used to) to upgrade after midnight on Day 2 or Day 3, to upgrade - the price is the same as Day 1, no further discount or cost savings.  This is for the Escape - YMMV if you sail or cruise on a different or another NCL ship. 

I guess we will both be experimenting in November to see if it's an Escape or fleetwide thing...though we are still waffling on Free at Sea Plus, so that may put us out of an upgrade pickle. Thanks for sharing this update - very much appreciated!

[cruiseny4life]

Just made it through the rest of your review. I was MIA from Thursday through today. Your positive attitude was certainly refreshing! You really can't beat the views you had from your floating hotel. I'm sure many would pay a lot of money to be where you were for just one evening. As always, love the details, photos, and stories! Thanks for bringing us along.

[Sugar Magnolia]

21 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Last year flying out of JFK to Southampton for the Prima TA, we made it on time to JFK but the crew got stuck in traffic and was late by several hours. 

 

Though I had no issues departing from EWR for the Prima TA last year, my plane landed in LHR on the morning of the Queen's funeral. Since my hotel was two blocks from the Abbey, I waited at LHR until late afternoon before heading to the hotel. I also left behind my luggage at the airport and picked it up the next day.

 

That was a special time to be in the UK.

 

[PistolPete13]

On 9/15/2023 at 11:17 AM, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Calling all @PistolPete13...we miss you, your pics and your commentaries

 

Thanks for the shoutouts everyone!  Been a busy summer work-wise for me.  I was actually in Norfolk this past weekend for an airshow and missed all the fun in NYC with the ships around.  Stayed at a hotel where the relief crew for a Carnival ship was being housed.

I think I can still pass for a young-ish crew member if I kept my cap on!  That would've gotten me a free breakfast at the hotel.

[mking8288]

Raining Days and Mondays "always get me down" ... (humming)  Oh no, cheers and good morning all, the light shower & drizzle outside has turned now into a steady, light rain.  Glad that this wasn't yesterday morning - power of positive thinking, DW and I are going to make the best of it and shelter at home.  

 

Saturday evening, our onboard self-testing was negative using Abbott's BinaxNow Ag, good and we will repeat that tomorrow just to be sure (have a good stockpile via insurance with validity thru 2024) ... then, we can go visit our 4 weeks old grand-nephew and play as mommy niece doesn't want anyone returning from a recent trip to be around for at least 1 to 2 weeks, apparently many of them are caught the invisible bugs and sharing it, yike.  Plan to get our updated annual flu shots next month plus the newly approved booster, since we are - by definition - in the higher risk categories, following our primary doctor's guidance ... no judgement on others, just personal choices.  

 

Unlike the GA, BA, Epic or even the Joy ... the Escape doesn't have Shanghai Noodles/Restaurant-Bar, so we decided to have something different yesterday and ate Vietnamese ... nothing like big & hot bowl of (spicy/chilly - optional) Vietnamese beef pho (noodles) with all the classic trimmings, and, surprising, Escape brought back the "Vietnamese Chicken Pho (rice noodles, to be precise)" on the lunch menu ... not quite authentic & without lemongrass, but still nice to have something different for a change.  Afterall, it seemed like French Onion Soup is a daily menu item and you really don't see Chicken Noodles Soup (well, for your convenience - with that $9.95 + upcharge, get it from the Room Service ("Swift" app) delivery menu).   My non-informed guess is that with the 2 additional, unscheduled sea days, thanks to Hurricane Lee, the executive chef scrambled to feed 4,850 guests (and, crews) onboard with something different daily for lunch and not repeating everything - out of the 14, 15 or 21 rotating menu options, based on what's available in provisioning.  Our main meal yesterday, doesn't that look good - reasons that we really don't go crazy with getting more Specialty Dining onboard ... Food Republic onboard has on its fusion menu, Vietnamese beef pho but the soup stock came up short - give them credit for efforts, but they need - should - use a bigger & deeper bowl, provide bean sprouts & lemongrass. 

 

 

Alas, it's difficult to compare apples and oranges, especially when they are sourced from different places but - oddly enough, no serious complaints about food onboard NCL, it's like "comfort food" and most were high on sodium or salty, and dessert items were too sweet (good for the other 3 members of the gang since they are on meds, whereas we kept our A1C level below 6, mine was recently at 5.4 ... medical assistant joked that mine went up, lol from 5.3 increased by 0.1)