Bahamas Cruise - Day 1 (Embarkation)

 

I've recently hinted that I was going away on a cruise.  Sadly, there was no way that I'd consider writing about what happened in real time.  There are still too many people who'd figure out where I live and burglarize the place.  So, there is a longer than usual gap between the time I sailed on this ship and the time you'll read about my exploits.

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Day 1 - Embarkation.

It's been over 2 years since I've gone on any vacation.  So this trip would be both a chance to relax and a chance to see what has changed to keep passengers safe when cruising on this ship.  This would be a "new" experience for me, as I am accustomed to getting on board the ship "late" and leaving "early".

My scheduled arrival time at the pier was at noon.  So, I worked my times backward and decided that I had to make it out of my house by 9:15, so that I could catch a 9:45 train into NYC.  One problem - the cab service I usually use wasn't picking up its phone. I ended up having to call a cab service in Ossining (one town over from me), and deal with a man who didn't know the way to my apartment complex.  Luckily, he was nearby, and I told him how to reach my place with a few minutes to spare before my train.

I had time to kill when I reached NYC, so I looked around Grand Central for a few minutes.  One of the things I was looking for was a place selling OMNY cards, but none were there to be found. (I'll have to search around the GCT area for OMNY cards the next time I'm in the area.) Then, I killed more time by finding an unofficial place to sit, as the official waiting area wasn't yet open. Eventually, the clock struck 11:30, and I made my way to the cab stand to make it to the pier.

 

Once at the pier, I was directed to a station at Pier 90.  This was the place where NCL had contracted with another firm to do their Covid testing. The antigen test was not as accurate as the PCR test I did the previous Thursday.  But it showed the result I needed - NEGATIVE.  I was cleared to go, and given a pink band to indicate that I passed the test.  Now, I was off to Pier 88 to check in for my cruise.  At Pier 88, I was checked in and on the ship in 10 minutes.  So, after 30 minutes of arriving at the cruise terminal, I was onboard and in my cabin.

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The first subtle difference I noticed on the ship was that everyone was wearing wearing face masks. Although the card-key was still being used, the cruise line was also working with facial recognition technology when getting on and off the ship.  Since I mentioned the card-key, I might as well mention that it was always used in Tap-and-Go mode.  One didn't have to swipe their card-key to enter a cabin. One simply tapped the card-key on the door's reader, and you'd be able to open the door.

Another difference is the lack of selfie stations.  When I last cruised on the Norwegian Gem, there were several places around the ship where you could have your picture taken with a Norwegian Gem background and send it to your friends as free advertising for the line.  In the places where those stations were once found were holiday decorations.  Although the selfie machines could come back, I doubt they will.  They create a sanitary problem, as these stations are operated by direct finger contact.

A welcome change to standard operating procedure was the lack of a formal muster drill.  Instead of marching to a muster area with a lot of other people, one watches a safety presentation in the comfort of one's own cabin.  Once the video is viewed, one checks in at the muster station for a quick presentation on how to use a "Mae West". And that's it.  It's much easier than before, and much more effective.

I expected to see the serve yourself buffet replaced by a buffet where servers would put the foods you select onto your plate - as has been done by other cruise lines.  This limits the possibility of an infected passenger contaminating the food which others may eat.  I was appalled by seeing one teenager take his water carton, and refill it by putting the nozzle inside the water carton.  This is against the ship's rules, but the kid didn't care.  It was too inconvenient to refill the water carton another way.  Sadly, the buffet is one area where the cruise line could implement higher standards of hygiene.

 

Even though I expected to see a relatively empty theater, I was still a little bit surprised.  Based on what I saw, I think that the ship was sailing at 30%-40% capacity.  Although it was nice to have a little more personalized attention, I miss the energy that larger groups generate.  Yet, right now, I was glad not to be sailing on a crowded ship.

A quick note: I could be away for the better part of a month next year

 

The above is a cruise that I might be interested in taking with a friend who knows me as Mario.  Why so, you might ask?  Well, it's hard enough to pack for a trip as Marian, and I am uncomfortable flying into Vancouver in Marian Mode and having to deal with Canadian customs.

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The itinerary below would allow me to visit ports in Alaska I have yet to visit, and would also allow me to visit Skagway again as well.  (I shouldn't ignore that this cruise sails into Glacier Bay, one of the "Must See" places on an Inside Passage cruise. 

The tail end of this cruise ends up in Hawaii.  It's not as good as NCL's 7 day cruise around Hawaii, but it allows the cruiser to schedule his/her own tours of the same places which NCL's 11 day Hawaii Cruisetour goes to.

There is one person who has expressed an interest in joining me on this cruise.  However, I don't think it will come off.  It would be nice to take this cruise, but I am still aiming for the 11 day ALL HAWAII trip.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that I can make to Hawaii in 2022.

What would you do in my shoes?  Should I take the Alaska/Hawaii cruise, then spend an extra 3-4 days in Hawaii?  Or, should I spend the money on NCL's 11 day Hawaii Cruisetour?

 

 

 

 

 

More and More Covid....

 
I received the above message from NCL about my upcoming cruise.  It seems like the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has caused the cruise line to rethink its safety protocols, and determine that we must take a few steps backward to stay safe on board the ship.  As much as I was looking forward to being on a ship without having to wear a mask, I agree with NCL that their first priority must be to keep passengers as safe as possible from the virus.  NCL recommends that passengers take a PCR test before the date of their cruises, and that has been on my list of things to do.  Luckily, CVS offers this service at some of their stores, and it is covered by insurance - for now.  So I know what is needed for me to insure that I am no threat to others who may be cruising with me.

Part of me wishes that I weren't going on this cruise. However, it was a bargain too good to pass up.  At the time I booked my trip, Omicron had yet to rear its ugly head. Now, it's poised to cause more trouble than the Delta variant, as it is more infectious and it can bypass many of the defenses that the vaccines put up to keep us from getting sick if infected.  Yet, if one has been vaccinated and boosted, one will likely be able to avoid a hospital visit - unless one is there for other reasons.  It's the unvaccinated that should give us reasons to be concerned, as hospitals are again being overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients - almost all of them coming from our unvaccinated population.

Shortly after lunch today, our former personnel manager called everyone into a quick meeting.  She told us that two of our workers had been diagnosed with Covid-19, and are quarantining themselves at home.  People working closely with these two people have been told to get tested.  I was not one of those told to get tested, though I got tested anyway.  I figure that it's better to be safe than sorry - especially if one of those two people is my boss....

 

 

 

 

Lately, I've been watching cruise videos for entertainment.

 

Lately, I've been watching cruise videos for entertainment.  Yes, there are several cruises I'm planning to take in the next few years, a Hawaii cruise being one of them.  It'll be strange to get out and about to see parts of the world I've never been to before.  Yet, this is part of the process of breaking out of my shell.

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There are several Vloggers whose videos I watch.  Two of the Vlogs I watch most are "Tips for Travelers" (TFT) and "Emma Cruises" (EC).  Both Vloggers are British, but focus on different experiences.  TFT focuses both on the basics and on high end cruising.  EC focuses on some of the basics, but more on value oriented cruising. There are others, such as Life Well Cruised that give travel hacks, and La Lido Loca that focuses on cruise industry news.  All of these Vloggers proviide valuable information, and their videos should be watched before planning a cruise.

Why do I mention these Vloggers and their Vlogs?  Well, to give one example, I have learned which cabins I should book if I want a "smoother" trip in stormy weather.  Several years ago, I was on a cruise where the ship hit stormy seas.  Normally, I don't get seasick, but I could have gotten so in a storm which made walking through the corridors feel as if I was riding a roller coaster.  If I had his advice, I might never have been in the cabin I was in, had I been traveling alone. As I write this entry, one of these Vloggers is discussing the best cruises to take during each month of the year.  And from my experiences so far, this Vlogger is on target with his advice.

Vlogging earns these people good money.  But to achieve this, these Vloggers must provide real value in their videos.  So far, I'm finding that there is a small number of Cruise oriented Vloggers that know each other and support each other.  It's a friendly competition, as they know that viewers like me will want to see what each of these Vloggers have to say and form our own opinions based on information they provide.

So, if you are planning a cruise, you could do worse than to watch these Vloggers' posts....

Another cruise has been added to my bucket list

I stumbled across the above trip last night, and it's one I'll have to take in Mario mode.  Seeing Antarctica has been on my bucket list for a while.  Although this NCL cruise doesn't go to the Antarctic mainland, it is close enough to suit my wishes.  (I'm not going to blow the whole wad on a Hurtigruten cruise to this region, when I can spend half as much and still have a good time.)

Hopefully, I will have a new travel partner by the time I take this cruise.  However, I am not going to limit myself to NCL for a cruise in this region.  I could just as easily take the Princess cruise below:

This is a cruise that spends more time in Antarctica, allowing the cruiser to get a longer view of the beauty of that region of the planet.  This cruise might be the better deal of the two cruises, as it seems to have a broader scope of things to see on the trip.

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Bucket list trips are meant to be shared with someone.  I'm hoping that both of these trips will be available at year end 2023, so that I can choose between the two (or more) Antarctic cruises that may be sailing then. I only wish my late wife was still alive to share this experience with me.

 

What do you do with an old wig when it's worn out?

 

It's too bad I can't do voice impersonations with the written word.  If I could, I'd be channeling Rod Serling's voice and doing a Twilight Zone type of introduction to this entry. Sadly, I can't, and will try to do my best with this limitation.

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Over the years, I have had to replace my wigs on a regular basis.  When I was out and about as Marian once or twice during the week, I replaced my wigs every 6 months or so.  These days, with almost daily use, I tend to replace my wigs every 3-4 months, usually having at least one emergency wig in reserve. Yet, I'm usually left with a wig that's serviceable, but not one that makes me look my best.  So what should I do with it?

Right now, I have a collection of several old wigs that should either be thrown out or restyled for other uses.  They are all in the same style, as there are very few large cap wigs that fit my head and look good on me.  Yet, I can do something with a few of them.  But what?

I expect that I will soon throw away most of the older wigs, keeping one or two for use as backups when I go on cruises.  (Why wear a good wig when going into the hot tub?)  But until then, they will be collecting dust in a dark part of my closet....

I'm already thinking of booking another cruise.

 

I miss the world we were in when this picture was taken.  I had met both a pen pal AND a Vegas performer on this trip, and had a great time sailing alone.  This was a growth experience for me, as I was unable to lean on anyone for emotional support.

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The cruise I'll soon be taking will be fun.  But it will not be much "to write home about".  I was totally bored in one of these ports, and didn't bother to tender to the island in the other.  When a cruise line has to tender its guests to a private island instead of using its own dock, bottlenecks will happen.  And on the one time I was at this line's private island, they had a hard time getting on and off the island due to the weather.

If my cruise wasn't visiting Charleston, SC instead of Nassau, Bahamas, I wouldn't have taken it.  Nassau was only worth the stop if one wanted to waste time shopping for overpriced goods.  Port Canaveral was far from anything interesting or reasonably priced.  But Charleston is a more than adequate place to stop, as it has history worth taking in.  (Fort Sumter is the place where many consider our Civil War to have started.)

Unlike the cruise I took 3 years ago, the pandemic will always seem to be present in the background. When I get to the cruise terminal, I will be Covid tested before I get on the ship. Cruise staff will both be vaccinated and masked.  All passengers will also be vaccinated. Even if masking isn't required of passengers, most will likely be wearing them out of habit. It could be worse.  Could you imagine being on a mixed (vaxxed/unvaxxed) cruise and having to mask up at all times, then worry about which areas one can visit and what areas one must avoid?

Yet, the minor headaches of dealing with the pandemic haven't kept me from considering another cruise. Right now, I'm think of booking some sort of Hawaii trip.  But I could change that to an Alaskan trip at a moment's notice.  Until I am ready to make a commitment, I won't put any money down on a vacation.  Instead, I'll be tracking prices and hoping they go down.

Unfortunately, prices don't always go down.  Although the price of the cruise I'm taking dropped by $250 shortly after I booked the cruise, it is now the same price as when I booked it - under a slightly different pricing structure.  And therein lies the problem.  I'm not sure of how I can best perform price arbitraging on either a Hawaii or Alaska cruise.  But I want to do so to get the best price available over the next year.  And I hope I can do this effectively....   

I may have a new cruise partner

 

This will be a short entry.  Last night, as I was booking my next cruise, a friend of mine was impressed that I was going on a cruise this winter.  She expressed an interest in coming with me on a future cruise if it is on her bucket list of places to visit.

When I used to sail with my former cruise partner (FCP), I'd often read my books (or watch TV) in the evening while she did other things.  Often, we'd see each other for dinner, then go our separate ways  And that was fine with me, as I needed to unwind more than I needed companionship.  Now that we are no longer on speaking terms with each other, I realized that sooner or later I might want to find a new cruise partner. And this one sorta fell into my lap.

Although this new woman is a former love interest, we'd travel only as friends and nothing more.  There is no drama in her life, nor is there a need for her to be the center of attention when with people.  Instead, she's very low key and doesn't have that many issues to deal with.  This is perfect for someone that one travels with, as there will be many unexpected hitches during a trip that could cause rifts between two friends.

I am lucky to have this woman as a friend.  It's too bad that things didn't work out romantically for us.

PS: I wonder why the former cruise partner still reads this blog, if I'm no longer a friend....

Thinking about a different cruise than before

 

Normally, I wouldn't think of going on this cruise.  I've been to Port Canaveral, and was bored there.  I wasn't impressed by the cruise line's private island (Great Stirrup Cay), so I didn't take the tender to the island.  (My then girlfriend wasn't that impressed either, as the water wasn't clear, and the tenders were running with delays when we were there.)  But I do want to get to Charleston for a day, as this is a port that is not often on cruises from New York.

With the exception of the single 8 day cruise which adds a stop in Nassau, Bahamas, all of these cruises are reasonably priced.  Given that two of the stops are on US soil, and the other is on the company's private island, I figure that my risks of infection are minimized on this cruise.  I don't plan to get off the boat in Florida, and I may stay on the ship when we're at the private island.  But I will want to go out and see Charleston, and try and find out whether it is worth a return visit.

Yes, this will be a cruise in Marian mode - something I haven't done since my last cruise with my former cruise partner.  Hopefully, she'll be happy doing what she now does without me as a friend.  And I hope I will be just as happy having a stateroom to myself.

 

 

 

 

 

Odds and ends - nothing uneven or ending about them.

 

 

First, I won't say much about a conversation I had today.  But if handled wrong, it could have led me (and the other party) down a rabbit hole of accusations, as someone else's problems reflected issues related to me that should have been addressed in the past.  Luckily, I managed to avoid the rabbit hole, and not get stuck with indirectly referencing my past.

Next, something my immediate supervisor said at the office today leads me to believe that they are gradually planning for my exit.  If that's true, I won't cry much.  In less than a week, I'll probably be happy about it, as I will have the freedom to book a "bucket list" cruise.  No, it's not the cruise I really want to take.  Instead, it allows me to get most of what I want out of a trip to Hawaii without breaking the bank.

Now that I've talked to the custodian firm for my 401k, I'm ready to take a couple of one-time distributions.  However, I must talk to my tax lady and a financial planner before I start this process.  If I were closer to the age I could start collecting Social Security without early penalties, I'd do so.  However, it pays for me to take some money out of the 401k, and let my SS benefits grow by 8% per year.  But this is not the only issue I have to deal with.  I need to find out what are my best options involving Medicare, as well as whether I can find affordable Long Term Care insurance.

Last night, I went to visit an ex-girlfriend.  No, I'm not talking about my most recent significant ex.  Instead, I'm talking about an ex with whom I broke up about 20 years ago.  We are still friends, and this was the first dinner we've had together since before the pandemic hit.  So we had a lot to catch up on - and catch up we did.  Although I had tasty leftover BBQ ribs to take home, they didn't make it to my car.  Sadly, I left them on top of the parking pay station before I went upstairs to fetch my car from the lot.  It was just as well, as the food in this place was a touch salty, and I didn't need to have any more.  If anything, I'd have liked to chat more with my ex.  Hopefully, next time, her husband will be there as well.  He is a great guy, and I know that they are better together than we ever could have been. 

Lately, I've been looking at taking a Hawaii cruise.  The 11 day cruise tour offered by NCL is way over priced, as they have taken actions which should help reduce the spread of the virus on their ship.  Unfortunately, reducing available cabins to limit the number of passengers has also resulted in excessive price increases.  So a cruise I could have taken for about $5,000 (after all expenses) before the pandemic would not cost me about $12,000+.  There is no way I plan to spend that kind of coin for a 10 day cruise tour with the route below:

Instead, I am looking at the following cruise being offered by Holland America.  This seems to be a much better current value, I could get 18 days on a cruise ship, but only 6 days in Hawaii instead of the 10 I'd get on Norwegian.

This cruise would still keep me in the $5,000 base.  But I would still need to deal with transportation, gratuities, and excursions.  Yet, this is the trip I will likely take, as I don't see the Norwegian Cruise becoming cheaper anytime soon.  I mentioned this to a friend, and she sent me a link saying that people of our age shouldn't be going on cruises at this time.  The one issue I have regarding this cruise might be the air travel needed to reach San Diego.  I hate flying, with all the TSA headaches.

However, I have a plan to help me minimize the effect of TSA on my travels.  If I can't avoid security theater, I can make sure I'm not on stage for long. There are two TSA Trusted Traveler Programs that I am interested in: Pre-Check and Global Entry.  For the extra $15, I'm leaning towards Global Entry - even though I've never flown outside of the USA.  (I have a niece that now lives in London, UK.)  With a trusted traveler number, I can breeze through security - and reduce the number of interactions I have with people who can hassle me at key points on my trips.  So, do I spend the $85 for Pre-Check, or do I spend the $100 on Global Entry?

As I now write this entry, I am watching "When the levees broke", a documentary on Hurricane Katrina and our government's inadequate response to the needs of the people in New Orleans and the rest of the region.  Why do I mention this?  We recently started evacuating American Citizens (and a few others) from Afghanistan, and we're showing a similar ineptitude.  Americans have short memories, and we do not learn from our collective past.  A hundred years ago, we suffered from the "Spanish Flu" pandemic, and we forgot those lessons.  And now we are making the same mistakes we made a century ago.  I've come to believe that we need the power of big government, but limit the size of the bureaucracy to allow leaders to implement quick and informed decisions.  But, if we get rid of the bureaucracy, we run the risk of incompetent, corrupt leaders steering America towards an authoritarian government.  

You'll note that I've rambled from short and simple things to ideas of a complex scope in this entry.  My brother complains that I can't help but talk of politics, and he is right.  As long as humanity has existed, our ability to communicate well has affected us at both micro and macro levels.  Communication skills and thought are involved in each of the items mentioned in this entry.  In the first case, I understood the hidden message meant to trap me into a discussion on someone else's terms.  In the case of the 401k, it illustrates my need to communicate with people who have information I need for planning my future.  In the case with my ex-girlfriend of 20 years, I realized that I couldn't communicate well enough to have a good relationship with this woman. With my cruise, the internet facilitates communication that I would have once depended on a travel agent to supply for my decision making.  And lastly, regarding government, we see that these issues affect all of us at both micro and macro levels.  There is a limit to how much information each of us can process, and not all of it makes us feel comfortable.  Last night's conversation may not have made me feel more comfortable about things which have happened.  But they made me more appreciative of what I have accomplished in my life.

 

 

 

Lately, I've been falling behind with my posts.

 

 

No, the winter hasn't been getting in the way of things.  It's been the pandemic.  When one has nothing to do all day, it's easy to do nothing.  In many ways, it feels like the snow has locked all of us inside for the winter, save for the fact that there is no snow on the ground.

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It's been a long while since I've been to Provincetown. And I'd love to have the legitimate reason to be there on a day like this, when I could see one of my favorite places filled only with locals.  No, I don't want to get stuck there in bad weather.  Instead, I simply want to see the town as only locals see it - without any of the tourists around.

There are so many places I'd like to visit without tourists.  If I were an Italian, I might be able to see Venice without the tourist invasions which befoul the city. Supposedly, due to the pandemic reducing commercial activities, the waters in that city are becoming cleaner and less reminiscent of a cesspool.  In the United States, however, the pandemic has made it impossible to travel to some places on my bucket list.  For example, I was considering taking a repositioning cruise from New York City to Seattle via the Panama Canal.  The early days of the pandemic made that impossible.  Next, I was considering taking a Hawaii cruise/tour this past December.  Again, the pandemic squelched that idea.  Now, the same cruise/tour costs over 50% more, as the cruise line is now restricting projected capacity on these vacations.

If I stay healthy and am able to afford it, I will still take similar vacations sometime in the future.  Until then, I expect the days to blur together, forcing me to catch up on my posting when I get around to it.