Not-quite-Live < limited > cruise journal: QE (Q427) Alaska cruise: 10 night, 30 Aug – 9 Sep 2024 plus Vancouver pre & post

mking8288 · September 10

Winding down that free 1 hour T-Mobile WiFi, numbers for UA in-flight looks good. Station Zebra should be landing in about 30 minutes, seat belts on.

NCL WiFi at sea 🙄🙄🙄

Edited September 10 by mking8288

mking8288 · September 10

Wheels down at 2:30 PM

mking8288 · September 10

Taking an airport concourse meal break - PizzaHut's pre-made pan pizza (Supreme) at $10 each ...

About 1 hour to boarding, time to do our bag tracking ... all good, Samsung SmartTag2 also here at DEN

That's the earlier LGA flight, also fully booked w standby left behind

... Rocking Mountain high, was a bumpy flights on the descent, now take me home / get us home

mking8288 · September 10

Almost home, should board any minutes now - a ton of upgrade standby & wait-list 🫢

mking8288 · September 11

Next 2 hours "live" in-flight, thanks to T-Mobile included plan.

Flight status - HUD like playing MS Flight Simulator 30+ years ago 😁

Samsung's SnartTag2 tracker is working, just like AirTags

In-flight snack & beverage services time 😬

mking8288 · September 11

Flying United this evening, mixed emotions and just saw news flash of 2 Delta flights collided on the ground. Twin nieces were still in elementary school 23 years ago and the message they will carry onward is to Never Forget as to the way we were ... we're downtown, 10 city blocks away already sheltered in place when the towers collapsed mid morning on the 11th.

mking8288 · September 11

Back to Cunard's QE, the mini safe is quite roomy, plenty of room for my travel Sony Vaio notebook PC. My newer Dell 13 inch laptop will probably fit too, got the measurements & will check.

Placed sideway, almost lost in there 🤣

NCL - minus 1 point for this.

Cunard - add 1 bonus points.

Edited September 11 by mking8288

mking8288 · September 11

Back to summer-like weather in NY this week, short sleeves & Bermuda shorts. Not tux or dark suit & tie - stay tuned on thoughts from this gang of 6.

We need a vacation to recover from the QE 😀 😎 😉

Edited September 11 by mking8288

Sugar Magnolia · September 11

24 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

We need a vacation to recover from the QE

Perfect...take another cruise.

Welcome back!

mking8288 · September 11

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Perfect...take another cruise.

Welcome back!

What's this saved $1,000 off gimmick on NCL cruises, any ? I need to catch up with the gossips, dirts and real deals.

30 minutes from wheels down at LGA 😀 descending over NJ & down to 8,800 ft.

mking8288 · September 11

FlightAware - the East River approach over Jackson Heights

Wheels down 10:54 PM. Hard braking & not a smooth touch down but we are safely back in NY.

Edited September 11 by mking8288

Sugar Magnolia · September 11

2 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

FlightAware - the East River approach over Jackson Heights

Do you see the food trucks?

mking8288 · September 11

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Do you see the food trucks?

This 😂 ? ?

In an Uber, $28 + tips .... 3 minutes from our townhouse apartment 👍

mking8288 · September 11

Here comes the 1080p HD MP4 videos starting with this -

Juneau's Mendenhall Glacier's Steep Creek river streams, thousands of adult salmon spawning in the Fall - 30 sec. 54 MB

Kindly let us know if this isn't viewable & will figure out another way of posting, possibly link via Youtube ... thanks.

Edited September 11 by mking8288

mking8288 · September 11

Youtube link to salmon video - post 689

JIMESOPUS · September 11

@mking8288No issues with post #690, #689 didn't work have to assume you fixed the problem found.

Thanks again and welcome back !!!

Jim

cruiseny4life · September 11

10 hours ago, mking8288 said:

What's this saved $1,000 off gimmick on NCL cruises, any ? I need to catch up with the gossips, dirts and real deals.

$1,000 off means my February cruise is now $1,100 more per person.

When making final payment yesterday, we tried to get the $1,000 off, but were denied (not surprised) even though all promos were the same. Only new bookings are eligible and we weren't about to cancel the cruise to spend more money with the $1,000 off gimmick (good word for it, btw).

Sugar Magnolia · September 11

Thanks for the videos @mking8288. Both worked for me.

Solemn day. Will be attending an annual 9/11 dinner. Never forget.

www3traveler · September 11

Henry,

Thinking of you and all your fellow New York City (and area) residents today.

Continued prayers for you and your family.

mking8288 · September 11

It's good to be back in NY, home sweet home - slept late, on Alaska/Vancouver time still (haha) and expect to have a bit of jetlag (despite a long, travel day & tired ... both of us were still awake at 2:30 AM this morning)

Catching up on the internet outage in Sitka, Alaska - latest news, repair to the fiber cable that took the island offline since last month - expected to have full services restored by end of week.

https://alaskapublic.org/2024/09/11/repair-ship-working-to-mend-cable-break-that-took-sitka-offline/

Brought these coasters at the gift shop at Sitka's cruise terminal, end of season sale, everything 40% off.

Mindful of public health and personal wellness issues, and our own age-related risk factors, etc. as well as another Cunard thread chats about the QA H420, late August 2024 sailing - we always do at least 2 rounds of post-cruise testing (plus 1 pre-cruise, baseline self testing) to be sure, as we do come into contacts with extended families, some deemed to be at higher risk if exposed & become endangered, health-wise. Initial reports, negative and that's good (one can be asymptomatic due to prior exposure & enduring, limited protection from previous vaccine/booster) Due for our seasonal flu vax, etc. this month or early October ... going to check with our PCP, on best timing to get them ( a matter of personal choice, no need for debate/discussion, it is what & why we do )

Myth-busting about weight gains of 5 to 10 lbs, on average, after a cruise, well ... that's probably true for the brother-in-law & sister-in-law. Susan gained maybe 1 to 2 lbs max and yours truly, managed to gain nothing, weight unchanged since pre-cruise ... YAY. Need to stay on a lighter diet to prepare ahead.

Today, we are in housekeeping and laundry ops, recovery mode & unpacking, sorting & getting ready for our upcoming cruise at the end of this month.

Edited September 11 by mking8288

mking8288 · September 11

Short video clips (stored/uploaded to YT) are getting here, slowly - this is the QE docked at Ketchikan, AK on the morning of Sept 1, 2024 ... cloudy skies ( silenced - background, distracted audio has been detached)

Next one to "post" is a short video clip about Mendallhall Glacier, taken on Sept 2, 2024

mking8288 · September 11

One of the fewer observations is about United Airlines' carry-on luggage, that despite the published size restrictions, in that they were loosely enforced and/or checked by counter or gate agents at LGA and YVR, one being domestic and the other crossing from Canada to U.S.

There were some seriously over-sized carry-on hard-shell spinners in the overhead bin on the B738Max as well as the A320 with smaller sizes bins. When pax followed guidelines and put them up on the side, vertically ... more can fit into each bin.

Still, they know with a full flight, not all the bags will find a space above or under the seats, this volunteers are needed & asked to gate check them to the final destination, free - saving $35, 40 or $50 per bag.

We knew & planned accordingly, and only checked 3 larger non carry-on bags outbound, and 4 on the return flight (my eBag - red one, bulky - expanded carry-on was at 36 lbs) - at DEN and at YVR, we managed to get the 6 and 5 carry-on bags to be checked at no charge, plus Group 2 boarding (we already had Group 2 status) ... and had AirTags and Samsung tracking tags in all of them. We traveled with the smaller personal bags only, essentials, electronics, for meds and 1 change of clothing just in case. It worked well and during our layover at the transit airport, check out bag status. United's App also tracked & informed us, but we didn't want to count on them to be 98% accurate & correct.

We also used luggage straps to mark our bags, easier to spot those TravelPro at luggage carousel upon arrival ... too many dark colored ones.

Edited September 11 by mking8288

mking8288 · September 11

We like the new LGA although I never like the short and busy runways there, it is close or nearby ... less than 15 minutes away during off-peak hours vs. 30+ minutes getting to JFK with its long runways and less prone to air traffic delays and ground stops from weather.

The new shops, stores, cafe & restaurants, as well as the airport club lounges are nice & well located post-security, and the layout from airline counters, bag drops to TSA screening and then to the main concourse, to the gate are largely 175% improvement over the old LGA, which I've used since the mid/late 1970's - ranging from the old B727's (hated turbo props & regional jets) to DC-10's and B757's that once flew in/out of there (might've been permitted to fly B767's - don't recall)

But, getting to our United gates at the main (old "main" terminal) Terminal B concourse, still meant a bit of walking, then using escalators (elevators) down, walking a short distance, then going back up again via escalators (or elevators) up again to the gates.

These series of photos showing some of the steps & walk paths involved, taken during our return flight into LGA at 11:15 PM in the evening ... airport is almost ready to shut down for pax operations at midnight, until 6 AM the next day (except for delayed flights & emergencies, and possibly private/general aviation) From the gate - up escalators & walk, turn & continue, then down escalators again. Once exiting the secured area, turn left without checked luggage out to ground transportation, or more escalators down to luggage arrival hall to wait & collect checked bags. AND, there is no security personnel to verify you are claiming bags that belong to you ... no change from before and same old, just beware.

As far as signage is concerned, they are very good to excellent, and clear. Taxis are out front and for hired vehicles, including App based - Uber & Lyft, Carmel / Dial 7, etc. are in a different waiting/pickup or staging area, in a designated section by the parking lot, with marked sections, i.e. G-1, H-1, H5, etc. etc. Being late night, there aren't as many waiting but took about 10 minutes for the assigned driver/car that accepted the request to reach us at the pickup zone (we used H3) and we easily found each other ... cellular signals in that area being excellent (be sure to enable precision GPS location & sharing is on)

On a side note, if you are traveling light with a backpack and carry-on, and can manage luggage & using mass transit, the free SBS bus service from LGA to the nearby subway/LIRR train transfer into midtown Manhattan (and, elsewhere) is easy (Q70 bus with limited stops at the Woodside Station and Jackon Height Station for the transfer is quick & easy, cost nothing ... riding the subway or train does involve a fare, which you can pay using your iPhone/smartphone App (Google Pay, Apple Pay) or the officially OMNY App - buying a MetroCard to pay for fares, no longer needed ... replaced & on its way out by 2025, hopefully.

Edited September 11 by mking8288

mking8288 · September 12

Climate changes or not - these are selected scenic cruising photos from our previous Alaska cruise on the Norwegian Star in Sept 2008 capturing glaciers and Fjord ... using a digital camera (either the Nikon or Olympus) for comparisons ?? where we saw more wildlife from the ship than this month onboard the QE.