Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Disembarkation Day (01/12/26)

 

This would be our last morning on the ship.  Not having a balcony cabin, we weren't tempted to go outside and get pictures of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge and the Statue of Liberty as we cruised upriver to pier 88. The ship was a little late clearing customs, we were a little early clearing out our room, and we were finishing breakfast by 7:30 am.

Most people on the ship for a last breakfast gravitate to the buffet.  We gravitate to the main dining rooms, where fewer people go and where we're allowed to linger after breakfast is finished. Our scheduled exit time was 8:30 am, so we killed an hour on the ship before walking to the exit for our last card scan, And then, we were finally off the ship.

Our next step was to pick up our luggage at the pier.  This part of the trip is slightly less chaotic than on embarkation day, as our luggage is placed in areas on the pier based on luggage tag color.  We were able to find our bags relatively quickly, and then were able to walk outside.  In the past, this would require a stop where a customs official would check the cruiser's paperwork before the cruiser was allowed to leave the pier.  Now, with facial recognition, one walks to a scanner where one's image is matched to one on file, and upon a match, one is free to leave.

Now that both of us had cleared customs, it was time to catch a cab.  One hustler tried to get us to take his car for $65 - a ripoff, when the metered fare would be between $20 and $25 plus tip.  Of course, as native New Yorkers, we went to the official cab stand and got a nice driver who shared serious talk and jokes on the way to Grand Central.  

Roughly 90 minutes after our arrival at Grand Central, we were back in Croton, and finally able to rest.

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #4 (01/11/26)

 

The day started off with us going to our last, non-rushed breakfast at the ship's main dining room.  Nothing special for me, as I ordered the usual: OJ, Eggs Benedict, a Fruit Cup, and Coffee.  (I'd order Scrambled Eggs off the ship, but I've been burnt before with powdered eggs - and I hate them, no matter where they are served.) 

On the way back from breakfast, we saw that the ship's atrium was packed with people enjoying a dumb entertainment - Twenty Questions, where someone from the ship is trying to figure out what is on screen in back of her.  I'm not knocking this, as much as the two of us have experienced better onboard activities on other lines, such as Princess and Cunard.  So, we headed back to the cabin to relax and watch the vidiot box (TV).

Yesterday, I sent out most of my dirty laundry to get cleaned.  Although it should be delivered by 6 pm, I was looking for it well before then, so that I could get a head start on packing - as RQS did before me.  While she was doing that, I kept working on my travel blog, editing pictures and moving them to my laptop for posting with the current entry.   

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We returned from our last lunch on the ship, and guess what?  Laundry had been delivered, and my trousers and shirts had been hung up in the closet.  I haven't yet seen any charges to my account, so I wonder - did the second bag cost me anything?  Well, several hours later, just before going to dinner, I checked again - and there was no charge!  Maybe I got lucky. 

On our way to dinner, we stopped by the Inch of Gold stand and had a nice char with a lady called KD (from Jamaica). We talked of our cruises, and how she gets to spend port days.  I noted that she must love it when the ship makes port in Bermuda, and then she noted how a stop in Quebec City is just as good for her.  And then, we went to the main dining room - and were surprised by a decent meal!  (Remember, when we ate here last, we were upset by everything.)  Although the meal was not as good as that in the specialty restaurants, we enjoyed it much more - and were glad to have eaten there.

Finally, it was time to go back to the room and finish potting out our bags for pickup tomorrow at the pier. This was the greatest reminder that we'll be back in the real world tomorrow morning. 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #3 (01/10/26)

 

Laundry!  I had enough laundry in my dirty laundry bag to take advantage of the free laundry bag service provided by NCL for Platinum level cruisers.  So, I put all the dirty underwear and socks into one bag (the free one) and then put my dirty shirts and trousers into another bag.  This way, I'll have burnt off $20 of my $50 non-refundable onboard credit.

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Both RQS and I got up early for two reasons - I had to put my laundry in the hall to be picked up, and we wanted to go for breakfast in the ship's pub restaurant.  While at breakfast, we met our "Birthday Boy" and his wife (from our dinner at the Hibachi restaurant), and she asked for the name of my cruise blog.  I figure that she plans to read it later on, and hopefully, she will like it.

Later on, we went to the main dining room for lunch.  This time, the food and the service were what we expected from this cruise line.  Again, RQS went out for a walk to get her blood sugar down, while I stayed in the cabin and worked on my blogs.  By the time she came back, I had taken care of a GI-Tract issue, and was ready to go to the buffet for something to drink.

Once at the buffet, we killed a couple of hours before going to the noodle bar.  If I had known how forgettable the food would be, I'd have said: "Let's take a chance on the main dining room for dinner."  But this was not to be.  Neither of were sated after this meal, so we went up to the buffet for something to drink and for something sweet

It wasn't much of a day, but it was pleasant for both of us. 

 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Nassau, Bahamas (01/09/26)

 

Nassau, Bahamas.  It's another of those "Almost No There, There" places which tend to be popular for beach related activities.  Unlike most islands in the Caribbean, this island has no fort.  Instead it has a shopping district near the piers, as well as beaches a short cab ride away.  Yet, it is one of the largest ports in the Western Hemisphere, being able to handle 7 cruise ships at the same time.  As long as there is a nice beach and good weather, people will love ports like Nassau.  And if I were a warm weather person, I might love this port as well.

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We both got up late, taking advantage of the port day by letting the mobs rush to eat and take their shore excursions.  Around 9:45 am, we went to the only open onboard restaurant to have breakfast, and it was there that I found that I forgot my room key.  Although breakfast was good, I couldn't help but think of the room key. So, we hoofed it back to the cabin after breakfast and found that my room key was not with my lanyard.  AARGH!  This meant another trek to guest services to get a new card key cut.

Eventually, both RQS and I made it back to the cabin, made sure that both of our cards worked and then RQS went out for her constitutional while I stayed inside and worked on this blog.  Sometimes, two people who care for each other need some alone time - and this was our time to be alone for the day.

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Lunchtime came, and we went back to the one restaurant open on the ship on port days, O'Sheehan's.  As we expected, lunch was forgettable.  Afterwards, we went back to the cabin so that RQS could pick up a few things for her alone time.  I stayed in the cabin to work on my blogs, and to experiment with multiple image displays on a single row in blogger.  Although I finally got things right, I still don't like what I'll have to do to make the blogs work right.

Once that was done, I started the check-in process for my next cruise.  Virgin Voyages doesn't make it easy for us geriatric old-timers - virtually everything has to be done via their mobile device app, and it's easy to screw up some of the data entry.  At least, I know what RQS will need to do when she starts her check-in process.

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Finally, it was time for dinner.  We went to the ship's Italian restaurant and were totally underwhelmed.  None of the dishes had any flavor.  The Calamari was forgettable, the Pork Scaloppini was missing something special, and the Italian Cheesecake tasted like it came from a boxed mix.  In the future, we will avoid this specialty restaurant on other NCL ships. 

 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas (01/08/26)

 

Great Stirrup Cay - NCL's private island.  The last time I was here, I declined to set foot on the island because it was a tender port.  And I did the right thing, as choppy weather was getting in the way of tenders returning people to the ship.

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We arrived at the island early in the morning.  The ship emptied out while we went to breakfast on the ship. That meant the ship was quiet and peaceful for a change, and we enjoyed it.  Breakfast was pleasant, as we didn't have to wait to be seated, nor did we have to be worried about overworked wait staff giving shoddy breakfast service.  Normally, we might not have roused ourselves out of bed until noon.  But we were hungry, and the mechanical staff had to visit our room again for a third time to fix the problem with our toilet not flushing correctly.  So, after breakfast, we killed time in the main atrium and gave staff a chance to make up our cabin, and fix the problem with the toilet without us getting in the way.

We came back to a room with a working toilet (Thank God!) and relaxed for a while before going to the buffet for a late lunch.  Again, we killed a little time, as we had an early dinner at the Hibachi restaurant. There's not much to say about this place, save that the food was tasty and plentiful.  I've seen the Hibachi show way too many times to be impressed by it, and I'm glad that we didn't get stuck eating 3 specialty meals in this place.

After dinner, it was off to the ship's theater to see a show we saw on one of our trips on this ship - the Broadway Cabaret.  Unlike the last show we saw in this theater, we enjoyed it - even though we had seen it before.   The ship's singers and musicians were at the top of their game, and we stayed to the closing number.  (We left during the number, as we both needed bio-breaks.)  And then we were done for the night. 

 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Port Canaveral, Florida (01/07/26)

 

 

Port Canaveral - a place where "there's no 'there' there."  It's a short distance to the Kennedy Space Center, and 90 minutes from Florida's theme parks.  But it's not a place to visit in its own right.

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We decided to get up late and go to the buffet for breakfast.  this would have not been an issue for us, save that there was an emergency drill starting, and that the Watertight Doors had to close for part of the drill.  So, when we started walking to the elevator bank (about 0.1 km away), we had to hurry up before the doors closed.  

Arriving at the buffet, only a small section was open to us both due to the closed watertight doors and due to the transition from breakfast to lunch service.  It was not the breakfast either of us would have wanted, but it was the one we got.  The omelet station was running out of eggs.  There was almost no bacon left for me to grab.  But the soda stations were open!  So, this wasn't a totally wasted meal.

Shortly after we got back to our cabin, the emergency drill ended.  RQS went outside to work on her art, while I decided to rest again.  (I had a bad sleep last night.)

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Around 6:30 pm, we went to dinner.  Sadly, it was one of the most disappointing dinners I've ever had on a cruise ship.  NCL's food and service quality has gone down since the last time we cruised this line.  We noted that even MSC's dinners were better than the dinner we had tonight.  Not only was the soup below the standard set by Progresso's canned Pasta and Bean Soup, but my local "red sauce joint" serves a better Cannoli.  To make things worse, the after dinner coffee was served lukewarm, so much so, that we had to go to the buffet to have a hot cup of decaf.   

 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #2 (01/06/26)

 

Up again at 8:00 am could become a short term habit for us.  Unfortunately, this hasn't made it possible for us to be served quickly in the main dining room.

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We made it to the dining room at 9:15 am, knowing that we'd have to wait a little.  After standing on line to reach the restaurant's reception desk, we took a pager and walked to a nearby sitting area to await the buzzer.  About 20 minutes later, we walked back to the restaurant, and we were seated without waiting.  However, the restaurant is supposed to close itself off to new diners at 9:30 am, so everyone seated afterward might be affected by the pre-lunch preparations that start at the end of breakfast service.

Well, it took over 15 minutes for us to even be noticed by wait staff, and that was only because I had to flag someone down.  This server noted that things were busy today, and that they were having trouble handling the volume of cruisers wanting a served breakfast.  (I feel that NCL is skimping on staff at all levels, but that's a topic I'll cover elsewhere.)  Our order was eventually taken, and we were waiting until after 10:00 am for our food to come.  (We were thinking of skipping out and going to the buffet, as service was that slow.)  When it came, my Eggs Benedict were missing.  It took another 10 minutes (or more) for them to come.  By the time they came, staff had already started to clear the tables and cleared off the coffee creamers before we were finished with our coffee, and then they cleared the butter pats off the table before I had finished buttering my toast.  This was not a good omen for future visits.

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Lunch was at the ship's "American Diner" venue, and I made a big mistake before going here - I forgot to bring my sweater.  If the place had a good windbreak, I'd have enjoyed dining here.  RQS had a freshly grilled burger here, while I had the fish sandwich.  Both were done well, and were very tasty.  Would I eat here again?  Only on a warm and calm sunny day, as this venue is open to gusty winds that can bring in unpleasant weather.

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Around 7:00 pm, we headed to the ship's theater to see a musical revue.  The ship's musicians and dancers performed a show centered around British Pop Music which became popular in the US, with songs from groups like the Beatles, the Who, David Bowie, Elton John, and the Spice Girls.  There was a little something for everyone in the music, but the dancing left a bit to be desired.

Sadly, we left the theater early, as we had 8:00 dinner reservations at the ship's Mediterranean restaurant.  (Think of Greek Seafood.)  Both of us loved our meals, but I wish portion size was larger - the octopus appetizer was the best I've ever had, as it was flavorful, tender, but not chewy! (Too bad I couldn't get a dinner sized portion of the dish.)

All too soon, reality hit us and we went back to our cabin after missing half of the comedy show.  We were in for the night, and will need to see if we can make reservations for the Noodle Bar tomorrow. 

 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #1 (01/05/26)

 

This would be the first full sea day of our cruise.  Nothing to do, and we're doing it well.  If the alarm wasn't set, we'd have stayed asleep until lunch.  But the alarm was set, and we were up a little after 8:00 am, so that we could have breakfast in the main dining room.

We had to wait 10 minutes to get a seat at a shared table, and we got lucky - our table mate was a nice lady from Buffalo about to have her medical residency in Queens.  Most of our chat involved cruising and places to visit, with the cruise lines best for specific routes.

After breakfast, we went back to our room and it hadn't yet been made up.  We left the room around 1:00 pm, so that the room steward could make it up.  We went to the buffet to kill time, and he hadn't taken care of this by the time we got back.  (Several years ago, NCL cut the number of room stewards in half and doubled the number of rooms they service, leaving cruisers with once-daily room servicing.)  So we knew he was running late, servicing rooms as they freed up.  We simply vacated our cabin at the wrong time for him.  So again, we left the cabin for an hour, giving him time to do his job. 

Later, we went to Cagney's, the ship's steakhouse, for dinner.  Sadly for those who liked the Brazilian BBQ restaurant, Moderno, it is now gone with the 2025 retrofit of the ship, with Cagney's doubling the real estate used for the restaurant. With that out of the way, the food is as good as we remembered it, with beef portions that do more than fill you up - they satisfy a craving for a steak perfectly done.

Once done with dinner, we decamped to a "quiet" area on the ship before going back to our cabin.  It was a nice day, a chance to rest without anyone bothering us. 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Embarkation Day (01/04/26)

 

The alarms rang at 8:00 am, but didn't wake either of us up.  I had already been awake since 6:00 am, and couldn't get back to sleep, while RQS simply hit the snooze bar for another 30 minutes.

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When we finally started to move, I took my shower first and went out the door to pick up breakfast.  One of the delis that I'd usually go to as Mario was closed (unusual for a Sunday morning), so I went to another one nearby.  After finishing our breakfasts, we carted our bags downstairs and waited for our taxi.

Arriving at the local train station, we were a little surprised by how the change in railroad fares would affect us.  No longer could we buy a senior round-trip ticket good for use one day, and for a return several days later.  We now have to buy tickets before each leg of our trips, as they only offer single day use "unlimited" trips.  (Yeah, right.  Who wants to go back and forth into and out of New York City in one day?)  As a result of the fare change, we now have to plan our arrival time at the train station more carefully, so that we don't miss a train because we didn't allocate enough time to buy our tickets.

Once at Grand Central, we took a cab to the cruise terminal, and were on the ship in less than 20 minutes.  Unlike our last cruise, this ship felt crowded.  It didn't help that many cabins weren't ready for occupancy until after 2:00 pm.  This meant that most of the venues where one could sit down were crowded, without any room for newcomers.

Once on the ship, we checked in at our muster station (no problem, as it was right by the elevator bank we needed to use to get to our cabin.)  But we didn't expect the amount of walking we'd have to do between the elevator bank and our cabin.  (We were so far forward, that if we went much further, we'd be on the bow of the ship.)  We dumped our carry-on luggage in the cabin (even though it wasn't officially open for us to do so) and went to arrange for our 5 specialty dining meals.  (We got 3 due to the length of this cruise, plus another 2 due to my loyalty status with the cruise line.)  Although there was a long line to book specialty dining, we got slots in each of the restaurants on the ship, and had one of our favorites booked for this evening.

Having taken care of the time sensitive stuff, it was time to get lunch.  Unfortunately, cabins were not yet officially available to cruisers, so no one was giving up any space in the buffet.  I figured that with a little searching, that we'd find a spot - but I was wrong.  I ended up putting a full plate of food down in a public place for someone else to clean, and then proceeded to another restaurant for lunch.  We were told that we'd have to wait for 45 minutes, which caused us to go to our cabin for 30 more minutes (again, the cabins weren't officially available yet) before returning to the restaurant for pub food. 

Now that we were done for the afternoon, it was back to the cabin to rest for a couple hours.  Just before 6:00 pm, we went to the ship's French Bistro for dinner.  As expected, the food was yummy.  Nothing in the menu has changed in 2 years, and that was good enough for RQS and me.  If one goes to this restaurant, go hungry - I had a 16 ounce pork chop, and couldn't finish it!  The food was good and filling, and worth going out of one's way to eat there.

After dinner, we went back to the room to relax for the evening.  Being sleep deprived, it made sense for me to finally be able to rest with no time pressures. 

Florida/Bahamas Cruise 2025 - Final Preparation (01/03/26)

Right now, we're making final preparations for our upcoming cruise.  Last minute packing, double checking documents, and figuring out when we must leave to make it to the cruise ship on time are among the things we have to deal with today.

One of the things I have to take care of is picking up a prescription at the drug store.  This forces me to be in Mario mode for the day - and for once, it's not a bad thing.  I expect some very minor annoyances when I tell the pharmacist that I only want the blood pressure medication my doctor prescribed, and that I want the prescription transferred to the mail order pharmacy.  But first, I will have to transfer both money and legal ID into Mario's wallet.

A last laundry basket has to be done - if only because I don't want to come back to an overflowing hamper. This is something that forces me to get off my ass when I don't want to do so.  More importantly, this is a task I prefer to do when RQS is not around, as I fold and store my clothing differently than she does. Finally, we have to clean out the perishables from the refrigerator.  Milk and other things get dumped, and then we take the last trash bags to the dumpster.  

Yet, there was an unplanned wrinkle to my day - I lost a set of keys when I was out to dinner last night, and I had to replace them before we went away.  So, after I picked up my pills at the drug store, I drove to Home Depot to get my keys cut.  The fellow at the key cutter couldn't find one of the blanks needed for me, so I had 3 or 4 of the keys I needed.  This meant that I needed to go to a hardware store for the last key.  And even there, they had a problem finding the right key.  But they found it.  Now, I had a set of 4 keys that I can again keep with my handbag. 

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By the time you read this, we'll be back from our cruise - and I'll be writing much more while I'm on the cruise.

Getting ready for my next cruise.

 

The above is far from my favorite cruise itinerary.  This is a route I've sailed twice before: once with XGFJ, and once as a solo traveler. Both cruises are best forgotten, albeit for different reasons.

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When I last cruised this route (albeit to another cruise line's private island), it was the worst cruise I ever sailed on.. There is "no there there" for Port Canaveral, and the only reason that I got off the ship there was to go to the Kennedy Space Center.  (I'm surprised that the Orange Snowflake hasn't yet named it the "Trump - Kennedy Space Center".😆) 

Next is Nassau. The first time I was here, following a disappointing trip on a glass bottomed boat, XGFJ and I walked around the port area a little bit and got bored.  Since I am not into beaches, I'd get bored going here again.

And finally, there is the cruise line's private island.  Great Stirrup Cay was a disappointment when I was there, as there was no dock for the ship.  Everyone had to use tender boats to go between the island and the ship, and I didn't bother going to the island with XGFJ.  She wasn't that happy with the snorkel experience she had, as the water was churned up too much to get a clear view of the underwater life.  To make things worse, the tender boat had a hard time returning to the ship due to high winds.  (Although I've seen evidence that the new pier for this island is finally available, I still see little gain by visiting this place.)

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So, why did I choose this cruise?

It was the cheapest way I could find for RQS and I to spend a week together and to see whether I'll consider cruising on NCL again for cruises other than the Bermuda run from NYC and for the 7-night Hawaii run from Honolulu.  Many people have reported that NCL now has the feel of a cruise line that nickel-dimes too much.  My impression has been that post-pandemic cruising has a much different feel (and I'm not referring to health related changes) than the pre-pandemic cruises that made NCL a go-to cruise line for me.

Will we have been spoiled too much by Cunard and Princess to choose NCL in the future?  Who knows? But I know that there are only a limited number of cruises that NCL offers that I want to take.  Without being able to get self-service laundry onboard, I will avoid taking cruises longer than a week on this line. (The free laundry bag provided to Platinum, Sapphire, Diamond and Ambassador status is a little too small to clean most garments other than undergarments and socks.)  

I may have outgrown NCL as a go-to cruise line.  But I'm glad to know that I still have good cruises ahead of me on other lines.    

You no foola me. There ain't no Santy Claws.

 

I love the Marx Brothers.  Almost 100 years ago, the Marxes exposed America for what it is in their first 5 films for Paramount.  In The Cocoanuts, they used the Florida land boom as a backdrop on which they hung their jokes; in Animal Crackers, they skewer that pomposity of high society; in Monkey Business, they have fun with the nature of the Transatlantic Crossing, being stowaways, and America's love for celebrity; in Horse Feathers, they have a field day with colleges, football, gambling, and speakeasies; and finally, with Duck Soup, they expose high level diplomacy and war for what it is - human foolishness. 

So, why did I start off with the Marxes today?  Well, RQS and I are gluttons for punishment.  I finally had a good excuse to buy a cruise for RQS as an Xmas gift, and we'll be going on the cruise sometime in the new year.  What does that say about us?  There is a feeling of absurdity I have about what we're doing, as I wonder whether RQS can keep up my pace.  Are we living like we're dancing in the ballroom while the Titanic heads into an iceberg?

With this new cruise, it will be the 3rd time that I've traveled this planned route (New York - Cape Canaveral - Nassau, Bahamas - Cruise Line Private Island, Bahamas - New York), albeit with different cruise line private islands. As of yet, I have little interest in leaving the ship in the Bahamas.  I might want to visit the Space Center when in Cape Canaveral. But, I've been there before and only want to see the area from which rockets take off into space, and not want to see the amusement park like areas of the center.  Luckily, RQS and I will be happy if we never get off the ship.

I am not a fan of cruise line private islands.  NCL has its Great Stirrup Cay (GSC).  MSC has its Ocean Cay Marine Preserve, Royal Caribbean has its Perfect Day at CocoCay.  It seems like every cruise line is getting into the private island business - and for good reason.  All money spent on these islands is captured by the cruise line with little going back into the local community.  Since I am not a beach bum (I spent too much time in the sun while I was young), I have little reason to get off the ship at these islands.  And now that NCL has decided to exclude GSC from a ship's drink packages, I feel that NCL has again reduced the value provided for money spent for a cruise, making its private Island even less attractive for me.

So, why did I choose a winter cruise with a less than optimal itinerary?  Well, I wanted to get away again, as well as finally give my gift to RQS.  In short, I wanted to show her in a concrete way that I care for her. This cruise does just that.  Hopefully, RQS will have a good time on this cruise.