*** Live/Near-Live*** from NCL Escape - 01 October to 08 October **2023**

[plainsstormchaser]

So, I got a little too excited about being just three weeks from the start of our next cruise -- to a part of the country we've never visited, let alone on a cruise ship! Original thread was posted with an October ***2024*** date in the headline (eek)..

 

So here we go again!!!

 

21 days from Sailing, midnight this morning, EDT. But wouldn't you know it, this was NCL's system maintenance Sunday, so those of us who are the early birds got nothing...zero...zilch...nada. As I posted on the site which shall remain nameless, the next thing you know, they'll tell us we can't board until 11:03 am on 01 October!

 

Enough o'that rot....

 

We'll be driving in to New York City from Wichita, KS leaving September 29th for an October 1st sail away. It's our fourth NCL cruise, first aboard Escape but second aboard a Breakaway or Breakaway Plus class ship.

 

Our itinerary:

• Monday, 2 Oct: Newport, RI, US
• Tuesday, 3 Oct: Portland, ME, US
• Wednesday, 4 Oct: Bar Harbor, ME, US
• Thursday, 5 Oct: St John - Bay of Fundy, NB, Canada
• Friday, 6, Oct: Halifax, NS, Canada
• Saturday, 7 Oct: AT SEA
• Sunday, 8 Oct: NCL gets out the bulldozer and pushes us down the gangplank

...and we begin the 3-day drive home.

...to be highlighted by our daughter's 21st birthday celebration, at lunch October 10th, somewhere on the Plaza in Kansas City! (no, I won't say where until we tell her, that morning...)

 

Hope you'll join along! If you really want to immerse in the trip, follow along on my blog as well, at https://wecruisencl.com -- since the experiences will be the same the posts will be similar but I'm going to do my best to have unique content for each place and not leave anyone in the lurch! This live-ish blog isn't and ad for that one, nor is that one an ad for this!

 

I'll talk soon about our stateroom choice and the excursions we've planned. We're trying a new room category and have planned a variety of activities. It'll be interesting to see how we do on this port-heavy itinerary, as we prepare for a B2B2B next fall that starts with 24 ports in 24 days....fortunately a string of them double up so we can do every other port going north and the ones we missed going back south.

 

(And for those who simply have to know...I successfully completed online check-in a little while ago and have recovered from the more than 12-hour delay for the most part. Nothing a cruise won't cure...thank goodness I'll be on the ship three weeks from today!)

[abbymac]

We are also on the October 1 cruise.  When I did online check-in today  (after having my account erased for some reason and needing NCL to reinstate me) I cannot get it to accept any of our pictures.  I don't know what the problem is.  It appears that I cannot print the e-documents until the pictures are done???  Anyone have any suggestions on how to get my pictures to work for NCL?

[plainsstormchaser]

That's odd...remember, though, that e-docs aren't ready for 24 hours after you finish, anyway! My photo was accepted just fine, but my wife's was not. And I just had a notice to the effect of "Don't worry about that, we'll just take it at the pier when you board."

 

If it works the same as it did when we sailed last year, you'll get an email tomorrow that e-odcs are ready. If not, just check tomorrow night and call if they aren't.

[plainsstormchaser]

We get a couple of new experiences this trip. The first is seeing somewhere in the northeast US that isn't one of the major historical sights -- Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Washington DC. The second is an aft balcony. From all the reviews I've been able to find, Stateroom 13312 looks like it's an aft balcony only in location, and the photo I saw on Cruise Deck Plans (below) ...

 

Source: Image search/CruisePlans.com, 10 Sep 2023

 

...looks MIGHTY familiar. In fact, exactly like 8112,the deep balcony room we had on Encore last fall. 

 

But we've never had the wake view before, and I'm hopeful that will be a nice difference. Fortunately, the noisy and bright things on the aft of the ship are above us, not below. So they won't cause noise problems when it comes to sleeping. 

 

We'll be able to check a leaf peeping trip off our bucket list, at least by this conveyance. I still think we'll want to experience it by train and/or car sometime. BTW: I was hearing earlier the forecast was that peak color would be about a week behind us -- based on this map, from SmokyMountains.com, we may yet have the best week for color on the coasts. Let's hope the sailing day Saturday the 7th is close to the coast and it's a nice clear day! 

 

Source: https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/  10 Sep 2023

[plainsstormchaser]

5 hours ago, baarsofia42 said:

Wow, it sounds like you're incredibly excited about your upcoming cruise adventure! Despite the system maintenance hiccup, it's just a matter of days now until you set sail from New York City. Your itinerary looks amazing, with stops in some beautiful places along the East Coast and Canada. I'll definitely check out your blog for more details about your journey. Happy early birthday to your daughter, and I hope the Plaza in Kansas City is a fantastic place to celebrate! Wishing you smooth sailing and wonderful experiences on your cruise. Bon voyage! 🚢😄

Thanks so much! Yes, it is exciting...and I'm also a very poor typist at times. I think it was excitement this time, though. I like being able to do both the "live" blog here and on my site -- I can focus a little bit differently on each. I do wish I could talk about the third place I send so much time in regards to this trip, but CC rules prohibit. And it's their playground so I'll cooperate :-) 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by plainsstormchaser
"very poor typist" indeed. Corrected typing error.

[plainsstormchaser]

And on the topic of my typing skills (what I call "six finger hunt and peck")...

Edited September 11, 2023 by plainsstormchaser
Why else...proofreading AFTER posting!

[mendi]

We are on the 9/17 to 9/24 sailing. Did this same cruise in 2019  with exception of no Newport (we live <2 hours so we go very often anyway) and it is a really nice trip on a nice ship. Hoping Hurricane Lee does not disturb the return of this weeks cruise as it leaves Halifax on Friday when the storm is projected to be hitting there. Keeping up with a live blog on that sailing as we speak to get all the details first hand. Fingers crossed for their smooth sailing and our smooth sail away on Sunday. Hope you all enjoy yours!

[plainsstormchaser]

3 hours ago, mendi said:

We are on the 9/17 to 9/24 sailing. Did this same cruise in 2019  with exception of no Newport (we live <2 hours so we go very often anyway) and it is a really nice trip on a nice ship. Hoping Hurricane Lee does not disturb the return of this weeks cruise as it leaves Halifax on Friday when the storm is projected to be hitting there. Keeping up with a live blog on that sailing as we speak to get all the details first hand. Fingers crossed for their smooth sailing and our smooth sail away on Sunday. Hope you all enjoy yours!

Thus far, I'm not terribly concerned about Lee. But looking at the cone for that time frame, I wonder if NCL might not drop the Canadian ports and sail in circles off the central eastern seaboard to stay out of the path. I don't see them being able to get in and out of St John and back out of the path before the storm closes to within a couple hundred miles.

[mendi]

Yeah that’s looking to be a large cone and not a lot of places to hide. I will be closely watching, really hoping no delays on our departure.

[plainsstormchaser]

Yeah. The possibility of delaying your departure and having two ships full of people needing compensation is part of why I think they'd rather sail in circles after Bar Harbor than take chances getting stuck north. But I doubt we'll know anything until the passengers get the letter from the captain as they reboard in Bar Harbor. Not trying to say I know more than the next person...but I don't see a scenario (except the storm making a decent turn to the east that's currently unforecast) in which they don't end up compensating the current passengers in some way. So it'd make the most financial sense to take the route that presents essentially no risk to the ship, or to accumulating port penalties for off-time arrival/departure, or having to compensate the next shipload of passengers, etc., etc.

[stinkyharriet]

I’ll be getting on the ship after you, 10/8-10/15.  I’m still pretty new to cruising, two trips to Bermuda in the past 13 months, and I’m looking forward to something different (although I love Bermuda and will gladly go back many times).  I’m hoping for some good Fall foliage views as NYC has been very disappointing the last number of years. Your trip’s weather will be closer to mine and I’m still unsure what to pack so I’m really looking forward to your updates once you’re on the ship!

[mendi]

10 hours ago, plainsstormchaser said:

Yeah. The possibility of delaying your departure and having two ships full of people needing compensation is part of why I think they'd rather sail in circles after Bar Harbor than take chances getting stuck north. But I doubt we'll know anything until the passengers get the letter from the captain as they reboard in Bar Harbor. Not trying to say I know more than the next person...but I don't see a scenario (except the storm making a decent turn to the east that's currently unforecast) in which they don't end up compensating the current passengers in some way. So it'd make the most financial sense to take the route that presents essentially no risk to the ship, or to accumulating port penalties for off-time arrival/departure, or having to compensate the next shipload of passengers, etc., etc.

Yes agree, hopefully they have the same mindset. Will be closely following the current blog onboard for up tp minute details. Luckily a short drive to port for me so I can make adjustments as necessary without any financial harm but not the case for everyone.

[plainsstormchaser]

9 hours ago, stinkyharriet said:

I’m still unsure what to pack so I’m really looking forward to your updates once you’re on the ship!

Maybe this will help some. I'm the host of the CC Roll Call and Meet & Mingle, and one of the things I do as host on a sailing is prepare a spreadsheet of information about the ports. Arrival/Departure times, Average High/Low, Sunrise/Sunset, Moon Rise/Set and phase, and High/Low Tide times. That way people who like to plan around those things have the info they need without having to scour the Internet for the data. As you said, it won't be a lot different for your trip a week later...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18IX_mMJvtr5GOmV31F0HqlOZlw16-IgsRQEAaNN1igA/edit#gid=0

TL;DR - Average highs 55-70, average lows 48-55.

I won't be packing any shorts -- it'll be the first full week in long pants for me since sometime in May. Will take layers to make for warmth, as we did in Alaska this time last year. So t-shirts, polos, a pullover hoodie and a lined windbreaker. That should cover pretty well.

[plainsstormchaser]

FWIW, I've revised my thinking, but only a lilttle, and considered another couple of options for the current sailing. Rather than drag this thread off the rails, I'll just link to my blog post here for those who might be interested: https://wecruisencl.com/2023/09/about-hurricane-lee/

Bottom line: if the storm can slow just a bit or turn a bit more east (both still possible) I think things may be ok through Thursday. I'd lean toward the itinerary staying as-is through Thursday regardless, with the possibility of some rough sailing Friday night into Saturday. And that bit of pontification is probably worth about what you paid for it! 

[plainsstormchaser]

Look what arrived today....our Mardi Gras beads!

[plainsstormchaser]

Meet our cats: 

Charlie:

 

and Tippy

 

They'll be coming with us on the trip! Ok, not really, but in spirit...

 

This is from the Seattle airport last October, when they "joined" us for our Alaska/Panama canal back-to-back that was cut in half by the death of my father in law. Sometime we'll do the Seattle to Miami portion (or, more likely, the other direction).

 

Watching the thread from the current sailing on the Escape, and it seems NCL is doing just the right thing and most on the ship sound as if they are taking it in stride. The $50/person OBC seems a little paltry, but I guess paired with 10% fare FCC it isn't that bad. 

[plainsstormchaser]

In some ways I'm sorry to see how things actually ended up for the current sailing...though many have chosen to make lemonade from lemons, getting some great skyline photos they wouldn't have, etc. But to sit at anchor within swimming distance of shore (for some) for three days has to be frustrating for many, too. It would be for me. I'd much rather a sailing day be spent actually sailing -- even if it's 25 miles off shore southwest of NYC somewhere. I suspect many more will find it frustrating in the morning when they get their bills and see what not being in international water has cost them in unanticipated drink taxes! 

 

But it is what is is, and I'm sure there are many reasons it couldn't go down the way that would have made me happy. And, as I've heard said before, any day on the cruise ship is better than nearly any day no on one -- so there is that! With any good fortune, we'll be about two hours away from our motel room in North Bergen, NJ exactly two weeks from now. Got the luggage tags printed this afternoon and getting ready to go!

[plainsstormchaser]

I'm what some might call a contented over-planner. Others might term it a plan-a-holic. OCD? No...it isn't that...I can't stand when those letters are not listed in alphabetic order! Anyway, whatever you call it, that's what I am, and that's what it takes for me to let go and enjoy a vacation. I'll call that a win any day!

 

[And as a side note, it's a trait I put to work for others now that I'm doing some work as a travel agent...just started that, not going to dwell on it, you can get hold of me directly if you want to know more...]

 

We do have something scheduled for every port -- that's a pace we normally find too busy and I wouldn't be surprised to lose one or the other of us one of the days because we can't maintain the pace. But as I mentioned above, it's kind of an experiment for our Mega Trip next fall, so as I put it together I tried to balance the activities and keep them on the light side of the physical spectrum. 

 

For those who are taking this trip and haven't chosen excursions, or who are considering the itinerary for the future, let me recommend two books. They are quick reads, and contain a lot of tips and good advice from a regular traveler in this area.

 

A PERSONAL FALL CRUISE GUIDE TO EASTERN CANADA AND NEW ENGLAND 2021-22: Volume 1 – Canadian Ports of Call [Print Replica]
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08V4NXBPF

A PERSONAL FALL CRUISE GUIDE TO EASTERN CANADA AND NEW ENGLAND 2022-23: Volume 2 -New England Ports of Call [Print Replica]
Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09TJSYWY8

(Those are not affiliate links)

 

They actually cover all of the ports visited by the mainline cruise itineraries, so you have a great background. You get a taste for the history of each community and the area, what makes the area tick, and enough information that you can build a car trip or longer vacation around it. So it makes a great highlights guide for a cruise selection. I picked breakfast in Portland and lunch in Halifax from the recommendations in the books, and may have leaned on them when weighing a couple of others when trying to choose between NCL or non-NCL excursions.

 

Without any further ado, here is the detailed itinerary:

DAY 1 (Sun): SAILAWAY

  10am EDT: Uber to MCT

  11am EDT:  Check in

   5:30pm EDT: SAILAWAY!!! Party and Toast in Spice H2O starting by 4:30pm, look for the Mardi Gras Beads -- come get yours if you don't have any!

   6:15pm EDT: Cagney's on the Waterfront

 

DAY 2 (Mon): NEWPORT, RI (TENDER)   [0600 arrive, 1530 all aboard]

   9am EDT: Breakfast, Corner Cafe (recommendation from the guidebook)

  10:30am EDT: ROSE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSES AND HARBOR CRUISE  - NCL tour

   3:00pm EDT: Shot glass exchange and Bar Crawl: meet at Atrium Bar, wear your beads, may be a big group!

   6:00pm  EDT: MEET AND MINGLE, The District, Deck 8, forward, port side. Likely to be a very full event!

   7:00pm  EDT: Choir of Man reservations

 

DAY 3 (Tue): PORTLAND, ME  [1000 arrive, 1830 all-aboard]

    Breakfast aboard

    noon EDT: Portland Narrow Gauge Railroad

    3pm EDT: LIGHTHOUSES OF MAINE - NCL tour

 

DAY 4 (Wed): BAR HARBOR, ME (TENDER)  [0800 arrive, 1630 all aboard]

    9:00 EDT: Brunch, Jordan's Restaurant - recommendation from guide book

   11:00 EDT: WHALE WATCHING - NCL excursion

 

DAY 5 (Thu): ST JOHN/BAY of FUNDY NB [0720 arrive, 1530 all aboard]

    10:00 AM ADT: ST JOHN FOR FOODIES - NCL Tour

    1:45pm ADT - TROLLEY ROUND ST. JHON - NCL TOUR

    (Low tide is at 1103am...I don't think we'll get to see the falls reverse on this trip. The ship will be departing on the high tide, pretty much)

 

DAY 6 (Fri): HALIFAX, NS (1000 arrive, 1930 all aboard]

    10:00 Private tour - stretch limo with three other couples.
       Highlights TBD by the group
       lunch included
       back to dock about 1530-1630, may see the things at dock then if still open

 

DAY 7 (Sat): AT SEA

    10:30am ship time BEHIND THE SCENES TOUR, 3 hours

     5:15pm  ship time La Cucina

     7:00pm  gong to try for Choir of Man again, maybe

 

Day 8: Ejected kicking and screaming from the ship for the three day drive home :-(

   

Other things we intend to do:

* Supper club - at least one dinner + show

* Comedy club - sample the family-friendly fare, decide one-by-one whether the R-rated show is likely worth the time.

* Smaller musical shows -- these will probably depend on our energy at the end of each day.

 

 

Events we won't be taking part in:

* Slot pull: Saturday morning, 10:30am in the Casino (conflicts with behind the scenes tour)

 

[plainsstormchaser]

My calendar has started to lighten up ahead of the cruise. This is the scheduled from Planning Center Online, the tool my church uses to schedule volunteers. You never see me with a three week hole in the schedule unless there's a cruise involved 🙂

 

HOWEVER, as I mentioned in my blog post this morning (Three Days Before the Trip...and you did WHAT?) my calendar was looking a bit TOO light this morning!

 

"For someone who lives their life electronically, this would come under the heading "check the newspaper, buddy, and see if your obituary shows up and nobody bothered to tell you."

...or the phone needed restarted.

 

Yeah, that was it.

 

[plainsstormchaser]

My friend and first travel customer, Pamm Tropp, is an avid photographer. She took "only" 6,000 to 8,000 photos on their two-week cruise tour this spring, and shared a few of them with me for the slide show. I wanted to share them with you here, too. More are in the blog post linked above.

 

 

[plainsstormchaser]

Oh, I've been talking back and forth with NCL's shoreside events team for Escape, and should find out today if the Meet and Mingle will be moved to a larger venue. I stopped taking signups for it around mid-August when the signups grew past 200. The-group-that-shall-not-be-named is now nearly 10% of the listed full capacity of Escape. I've honestly been a bit frustrated/concerned at what has appeared to be much less involvement in roll calls across the board on CC this year and what I can see of next -- there are so many sailings that don't even have a roll call! I'm not sure if that's a post-COVID impact, an impact of having a different toolset for driving engagement, or just what it is. There's so much good stuff here, and I do everything I can to promote people signing up for CC accounts and availing themselves of the wealth of info on the boards as well as the posts. But when I compare this sailing to my sailings last year, the CC roll call is much smaller and much less active. I'd love to hear what others think about that and what we can do to help keep engagement and quality high on Cruise Critic. 

[KansasTexan]

I’m getting excited now, for sure!!! Doing one last load of laundry before I finish packing tomorrow or Friday. I’ll be at the ICT airport bright and early Saturday morning. See you on board!

[CScapeMama]

My family will be boarding in Manhattan while you are beginning your journey home. We are experienced cruisers, but first time with NCL and first time with a New England itinerary...so thrilled to get a first hand account of both!

Thank you in advance for letting us peek in on your adventures...I'm looking forward to following along!

[plainsstormchaser]

16 minutes ago, KansasTexan said:

I’m getting excited now, for sure!!! Doing one last load of laundry before I finish packing tomorrow or Friday. I’ll be at the ICT airport bright and early Saturday morning. See you on board!

I think we're doing one first load of laundry tonight, maybe a second. I'll be packing thru the day tomorrow, To an works. Gotta do it very last minute because of the stress it causes on our kitties.

[plainsstormchaser]

Probably ought to have put this in the M&M/Roll Call thread first, but this was the more active thread so it came up first!

 

MEET & MINGLE HAS MOVED -- It is now at Syd Norman's Pour House, Deck 8 Starboard, just to the aft of the forward elevators. IT HAS ALSO MOVED TO TUESDAY NIGHT AT 6PM EDT.