Florida-Bahamas Cruise 2023 - Day 7 - Sea Day

 

Florida-Bahamas Cruise - Day 7 - Sea Day - 12/15/23

It is the last day on the ship, and part of me wishes it wouldn’t end.  Hopefully, I didn’t gain that much weight on the ship, as it will take some time to get it off without the average of 2-3 miles of walking every day.  Luckily, we have a clear sky today (a rarity on this cruise) and a smooth sea.  

The only reason I got up this morning was to go to the buffet for breakfast, and later for lunch.  While out for breakfast, I turned on the light to tell the steward that he could make up the room.  However, he was delayed, and I had to kill some time.  So I went to buy a couple of pictures from the photo lab - and they tried to upsell me a package of 5 photos when I was only interested in 3.  Instead of buying 3, I bought the 2 I really wanted and went back to my room. The steward was cleaning my room when I arrived with his supervisor discussing work with him.  He asked for another couple of minutes and I gave it to him.

After lunch, I found the disembarkation instructions in my cabin.  Looks like I’ll be one of the last people off the ship, as I have been assigned debarkation group #21.  This is fine with me, as it makes it easier to connect with RQS and travel to Croton together.  The only thing that concerns me is getting back to Manhattan and then to Grand Central. Today, I’ll have the luxury of time on my side.  But I won’t be sure of when I will get there.  So I’ll call RQS when I get on the ferry, to give her an idea of how long I’ll be waiting at Grand Central for her.

Just before I went to dinner, I packed everything into my large suitcase, and prepared to set it outside the door for pickup and delivery to the pier the next morning.  This would be the last of my specialty restaurants on the package, and I was underwhelmed by the seafood joint.  Few of the dishes on my package were worth the price, and I chose the spaghetti with clam sauce - which was very good.  After dinner, I had time to go back to the room and put some more dirty laundry into the suitcase before it was picked up by the stewards.  By doing so, I lightened what I’d be carrying with me in the morning, and committed myself to staying in the room for the rest of the evening.  So I called it a night, though I wasn’t sleepy yet.

Florida-Bahamas Cruise 2023 - Day 3 - Port Canaveral

 

Bahamas Cruise - Day 3 - Port Canaveral - 12/11/23

I had a good night’s sleep last night. How do I know this? I had a strange dream that was pleasant, but can no longer recall. And that’s just as well as I was woken by the alarm on my phone and made it in time to have breakfast in one of the ship’s restaurants. What a mistake that was!

Over the years, I have developed a preference for having my meals in a dining room over getting my meals from a buffet table. This ship, the MSC Meraviglia, has fixed dining hours for its restaurants. Dining room meals are scheduled as follows:

1. Breakfast - One seating - 7:30 am to 9:00 am
2. Lunch - One seating - 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
3. Dinner - Two seatings - 6:45 pm and 8:45 pm

If one doesn’t arrive within the breakfast and lunch hours, one has to go to the buffet for one’s meals. If one doesn’t arrive within 15 minutes of one’s scheduled dinner seating, one has to go to the buffet for this meal. My first night’s dinner seating was horrendous, because fixed seating on the first night takes a lot more time and effort from everyone involved. But the second night’s dinner was almost a pleasure, save that they assumed that I wanted red wine with dinner before I had the chance to choose my meals from the menu.

Today, I had the chance to try out this ship’s breakfast in the dining room. I wished I had gone to the buffet due to its so-called service.  It took almost 15 minutes to be seated when I arrived - MSC is not good at anything that resembles flexible service. A menu was hurriedly put in front of me, and my order was quickly taken. But that was it for the next 30 minutes. No water was delivered to my table, no one asked whether I wanted coffee (there wasn’t even a cup on the table if I wanted any), and no food arrived for 30 minutes. When the food arrived, I received white toast, instead of the rye toast I had ordered - without the expected butter and jam. It took even longer to get coffee, juice and water. To make things worse, they didn’t have OJ - even though it was on the menu. It took more time for food to arrive at my table than I took eating it. Next time, I’ll play it smart and go to the buffet….

I decided to take a mid morning nap, and got up in time to go to the buffet for lunch. Today, it was much less crowded, as many people decided to eat before leaving for their shore excursions when the ship docked - around 1:30 pm. Compared to yesterday, the ship seemed empty. And I was glad about this. About the one thing I didn’t like (and this is a very minor issue not under cruise line control) is that it has to charge state sales tax on all beverages consumed at the bar while in port.

While at lunch, I noticed that there was a ship infested with rodents next to us. Although there were rat guards on the lines securing the ship, I could easily tell that there was a pair of giant rodents onboard. And they even had names for these rodents - Mickey and Minnie.😊  Needless to say, even if one doesn’t like the “House of Mouse”, one has to respect it for what it does.

After a mid-afternoon nap, I decided to explore the ship a little before having the first of my 3 specialty dinners. Not much happens while on the ship on port days, so it was peaceful during the day at port. All of the stores were closed, and the main promenade was relatively empty. Around 6:30 pm, I walked over to the theater to watch the magic show. This show had a variety of magicians including illusionists, mentalists, and conjurers. It was an entertaining show, even if one has an idea of how things were done. With that being said, the entertainment was lacking, as the show was only 45 minutes long.

As the show let out, I was in a rush to visit the first of my 3 specialty restaurants - a Mexican joint called “Hola Tacos!” On the way there, I had to bypass a performance about to begin in the mid-ship promenade. Although I might have liked to see the performance, my stomach was telling me that tacos were needed. Once inside the restaurant, I was shown to my seat and placed my order. The food came out quickly. It was very good, and one could get an unlimited amount of it - I ate more than my fair share. Even if I had to pay the up charge to have a meal at this place outside of the dining plan I bought, $18 would have been a small price to pay for food this good.

At this point, I was done for the day. So I went back to my room to sleep. Before doing so, I had the chance to ask my room steward about the virtual porthole behind my bed, and he noted it was out of service. Just as well. It might have disturbed me in the morning.

Florida-Bahamas Cruise 2023 - Day 2 - Sea Day

Florida and Bahamas Cruise - Day 2 - Sea Day - 12/10/23

Last night, my CPAP mask frame failed. Unfortunately, I had used the headgear way too long, as the glue holding the hook-and-loop tabs failed. So I ended up Jerry Rigging a fix with adhesive tape, hoping it would last until I returned home on Saturday. Luckily, I fell asleep easy with this fix in place, although I had to be much more careful when wearing the CPAP mask. 

In the morning, I didn’t hear my alarm clock as the volume was set too low for me to hear it. Instead of going to the Main Dining room (MDR) for breakfast, I ended up at the buffet for a forgettable meal. Once back from breakfast, I took a little nap and watched some TV. By the time I was ready for lunch, it was 2:00, and the only thing open was the buffet. As a result, I ended up suffering the crowds to get a bite to eat. Once done, I decided to schedule my specialty dinner reservations then relax a little.  

 

While in my cabin, I chatted with RQS via Facebook Messenger. She told me that it is raining heavily in New York. That got me hoping that the work being done on our co-op’s retaining wall would be mostly completed by the time the rains started. As much as I've made her think that this is a terrible cruise, it’s not as bad as I’ve made it out to be. MSC is the F.W.Woolworth of cruise lines (5¢ and 10¢ deals - the origin of the phrase "Nickel and Dimeing"), and it shows. I’ve grown to appreciate lines with more personal service, and am willing to pay for it. MSC is a good value for people new to cruising, giving them the chance to encounter a variety of experiences that would help them find a cruise line and itineraries that best fit their desires. But I expect that many people will grow tired of this cruise line once they experience the service provided by other lines.

I’m giving MSC 7 days before I have a final opinion on this cruise and of the cruise line. If I could change one thing, I’d give my highest priority to making the dining experience more flexible, more attentive, and serve a higher quality of food. Having to wait standing in line for almost an hour to get seated at a fixed dining time, not having personal service, and having a meal where none of the food makes me say “Wow!” makes me want to choose another ship and cruise line.

While walking around the ship, I found that it is bigger inside than I first thought. The “main drag” of this ship is located on decks 6 and 7, and reminds me of Freemont Street in Vegas done with a Miami Beach vibe. A picture of the ceiling lights can give a better idea of what I mean by this, as there was a lot of activities going on in this area, and few places where one can get away for a quiet drink and to read a book.

One thing I noticed is that on cruise ships, cell phone times update themselves when in Airplane mode. That happened to me today, and I went to a theater an hour early. After checking with someone, I found that I made this dumb error - and proceeded to kill time in both the lounge reading a book and in the casino playing the slots. (The casino was eerily empty when I was there, only getting busier as the evening progressed.) During my stay in the casino, I added $4 to my bankroll before moving on to the theater for the cruise line’s musical tribute to Houdini. This show featured a cast dressed up as circus performers, including trapeze artists, strongmen, a gypsy, a harlequin and a magician. Was it worth the $5 I (would have) paid for it? To some people, yes. But not to me. So I was glad that they refunded the $5 because the full show couldn’t be performed. Although I sat through the show, I was glad it was over, so I could run down to the main dining room to eat.

Today’s dinner was much better than last night’s dinner. This time, they got much more right. Things were helped by people knowing where they would be seated. Tonight, it was a pleasure to eat there, although I would have liked to have waited to choose my wine, as I wouldn’t have had red wine with fish. Since red wine was poured, I ordered the Chicken Parmesan, and enjoyed the meal. I’m not sure if it is my American taste buds, but the cheese cake wasn’t as sweet as I expected. But that was only a minor complaint. After the end of my meal, the Maitre’D asked me about how I enjoyed the meal, and I noted some things based on yesterday’s experience. The conversation could have lasted longer, but I had a pressing need to return to my room for the evening - which I did.

2023 Bermuda Cruise - Day 7 (Sea Day)

 

Saturday, November 25, 2023.

This would be our last day on the cruise ship, and we dreaded the task of packing to leave. A good part of me wishes we could have done a “Back to Back” cruise, but this would have been way too expensive for us at this time.

We awoke to sunny skies and a calm ocean - appropriate for a last day at sea. It’s always a little sad to know that a cruise is about to end. But this was a good cruise, and one we’ll take again sometime in the future - if it has the better part of 3 days and nights in Bermuda. 

Although the rooster in my cell phone crowed at 8:00, we didn’t get moving until 9:00 am. This would be the last day we could get up late, as we will have to be up and moving by dawn tomorrow.

RQS and I decided to get moving early enough to have breakfast at one of the complimentary dining rooms, and then pick up some jewelry she had bought. Instead of doing much in the public areas of the ship, we spent a quiet day in our cabin, taking care of final issues such as packing.

Around 7:30 pm, we went downstairs to our final dinner onboard ship.  As usual, we had a pleasant meal in one of the complimentary dining rooms, then proceeded to the ship's theater to watch a comedian that we saw the other day.  Sadly, he didn't have enough new material for a second show, and we left before the show ended. We were tired, and we were glad that our suitcases had already gone to the hold, so that they'd be on the pier for us to pick up in the morning.

California Vacation 2023 - San Diego

 

Our plan for the day was to meet RQS’s Cousin, then see San Diego’s Old Town and Balboa Park. We made sure to have a quick breakfast and get off the ship by 10:30, so we could meet her cousin by the pier. This plan worked like a charm, save that her cousin parked a little further away than planned. When we met her cousin, it was like ‘old home week’ for the two of them. Conversation between the three of us flowed quickly, as her cousin drove us to Old Town San Diego.

For those who don’t know San Diego, Old Town is where the original settlement of San Diego was established. The site consists of many buildings which illustrate what life was like for the original settlers before the seat of government moved to a new site five miles away. We latched onto a tour already in progress, and learned a bit about the site before moving on to some of the remaining exhibits.

Then, it was off to Balboa park. I can not do justice to this park, other than show some photos I took. “Museum Row” is inside this park, as well as the famed San Diego Zoo. Much of the architecture in the park hearkens to the Spanish Colonial era, but modern architecture is found there as well. We had a nice lunch at a restaurant there before moving on to the artist community. And that’s where RQS looked at the handicrafts that were on sale, while her cousin and I took a rest in the shade.

Eventually, the cousin’s daughter arrived, and we took a walk over to the Zoo’s entrance. This was where we took some pictures of us against the Roaring Lion statue by the entrance. And then we walked some more before getting ready to leave. Before proceeding to the car, we got someone to take our pictures in front of a fountain there.

Once back in the car, RQS’s cousin drove us back to the ship. The three of us wished this visit could last longer, and hoped we could do this again soon. And then it was onto the ship. After going through the security gauntlet (not as bad as it once was on other cruises), we were back on the ship and ready to have dinner.

Once we refreshed ourselves, we went to one of the complimentary restaurants and sat down at a shared table. Two of our table mates were well traveled, and pleasant to talk with. Unfortunately, the next couple seated at our table ruined the meal for the first couple. The lady could be best characterized as an “Entitled Jewish American Princess”. The soup was not hot enough for her. The game hen was not moist enough for her. And she inconvenienced everyone enough in her attempt to make the theater on time, that the remaining four of us were denied that option.

Sadly, this was not the way I like to remember dinner with new people….

Seeing FH for a seafood dinner

 

It's been a while since FH and I got together, Part of me was ambivalent about seeing her, as we do not have too much in common.  But then, I think my ambivalence was related to once dating FH.  Today's post has almost nothing to do with me being transgender, save that I showed FH pictures of me in Marian mode while in Hawaii.

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When I have nothing to do, I relax as much as possible, and relax I did. By the time I was ready to drive to FH's place, it was 4 pm, and I still had to gas up the car, then get cash for the week before proceeding to FH's place.  As much as I tried to avoid some traffic jams, I still took longer than expected to get to Forest Hills.  Once FH got in the car, it was like old times.  No, I don't mean that things went smoothly.  Instead, I mean that it was obvious why I could never have a serious romantic relationship with her, and why she could only be the type of friend I could meet for an occasional dinner once in a blue moon.

We arrived at the restaurant a little bit early, and sat down for dinner as soon as we arrived.  Yes, it was a little bit of sticker shock for FH, but I wanted her to make sure that whenever we get together that it is "dutch treat". She wanted an adult drink, while I could have settled for something a child would drink. Yet, she didn't know what she wanted to drink, and had the waiter suggest a drink.  Too bad that she didn't like it - she had to flag down our waiter to get a different drink.  As for me, I have several go-to adult drinks that I will order, and I decided to have one with dinner.

After waiting a while (and eating the bread, carrots, and celery that was in front of us), dinner came - and we both were filled to the gills. And then it was time for us to go home.  By the time I dropped FH off, I realized how much I missed RQS and wished that she were here with me. 

A Salt & Battery

A Salt & Battery.  If you want a place with almost no atmosphere that serves authentic British style fish and chips, this is the place to go!  It's a hole in the wall place next to its sister restaurant, Tea & Sympathy, which makes some of the best fried seafood in NYC.  Mind you, there may be only 4 seats in this place, so get there early!

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But first....

I had made plans with one of my TG friends (let's call her SRB) to meet for dinner.  SRB and I have gone out to eat before, and she drives in from her job from the hinterlands of Brooklyn.  Today, she had a hard time getting to the restaurant because of rush hour traffic. But she started to relax when we finally got together.

SRB asked me a personal question regarding my relationship with RQS. And I answered her questions, noting what I was able to give up in my path to femininity to have a romantic relationship.  She said I was lucky, as her ex couldn't deal with it. Then, she told me of a fruitless job search, and I noted that our age and TG status could have gotten in the way of things.  (I'm not going to get into details here, as SRB deserves some privacy.)  All too soon, it was time to leave the restaurant, as others wanted the 2 seats we occupied.  So, off we went to find a Starbucks, or another place where we could sit down with a cup of coffee.  Too bad that the local Starbucks closed an hour earlier than the times posted at the store.

After walking a couple of miles, it was time to part.  I made it to Grand Central with just enough time to take a bio-break and get some iced tea from the Starbucks at Grand Central.  Once I made it to my car, I had a quick chat with RQS before going to Wegmans for some grocery shopping.

As I said in another post - one busy day out of several before I get a chance to have a day solely to myself....