By the time you read this, we'll be ready to be landlubbers.

 

 

 

By the time you read this, we'll be back from our cruise.  We originally planned to take this cruise in June, but one thing got in the way: an offer from Princess Cruises to "Move Over" to a different Canada/New England cruise, so that they could make our cabin available for people who paid for a "Guaranteed" cabin. In exchange, we'd receive a free cruise, the money paid for this cruise returned to us as refundable onboard credits.  Within 10 minutes of receiving this offer, we accepted it and were booked on this cruise.  Little did we know that this cruise would be even more popular than the cruise we originally booked.

(New Cruise Cabin Location Above)

 

(Old Cruise Cabin Location Above) 

When we booked the new cruise, we were given a balcony cabin on the Aloha deck (12) of the ship.  this deck is just below the Lido deck (14), and I expect that the cabin will be a little noisy until late hours on the ship, due to the buffet area being above us.  I'm not sure whether it is much of an upgrade from the obstructed cabin we originally had on the Emerald deck (8), as it was near the main atrium.

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We've been on this and similar Canada/New England routes before, so choosing shore excursions wasn't as important to us as it could have been if this were our first cruise together.  We've already been to Peggy's Cove, NS, so we weren't that interested in going there again for a photographic tour.  But, we hadn't been to Lunenberg, NS yet.  So we booked this excursion.  We would have liked to get the Alexander Graham Bell excursion at another port, but this was sold out before we had a chance to book it.  So, we had a few days without scheduled excursions to explore some ports at our leisure.

This will be the 4th cruise we are taking this year.  We have one more left to go.  Strangely enough, we'll enjoy having most of autumn to enjoy on dry land.... 

 

Second Cruise - Day 6: Halifax, NS.

 

 

Day 6: Halifax, NS.

This is our last port day, and we awakened around 10 am local time.  Although my watch is set to “Greenwich Village Mean Time” (my way of saying Eastern Time), my cell phone reads Atlantic Savings Time.  When we cross back into American waters tomorrow, we will be back in Eastern Daylight time, and then when we get home, we will set our clocks back another hour for “Standard” time.  This setting of the clocks is a big pain in the ass.

RQS and I had no plans for the day, save to get off the ship and explore the Pier 21 Museum.  (Pier 21 is Canada’s answer to America’s Ellis Island, and Canada dealt with many of the same immigration issues as we did South of the border.)  So we got dressed, had “breakfast”, and off the ship by 12:30 pm.  This gave us the time to make the museum by 1:00 pm and participate in a guided tour.

After the museum, we decided to walk the shore front and get our walking in.  After we got to a group of kiosks selling food, we decided to have some ice cream before turning back to the ship.  But first, it was a chance to see a ship under restoration and to see some kids playing on a sculpture meant to look like a ocean wave.

Once on the ship, we had a late lunch, then rested before dinner.  Sadly, our choice of dinner venue was a mistake.  On NCL’s larger ships, there are 3 main complementary dining rooms. And we chose the one we in which we last had a pleasant meal.  Not only did we get ignored after ordering our iced teas, but we had to speak with another person on the staff to get our iced teas.  And then, we had to ask for spoons to stir sugar in our teas - something that was a running joke between us on our last cruise.  Fortunately, the rest of the meal went OK, as our server was supervised by his next in command.

Day 06 - Halifax, At Last!

 

To me, the only Canadian port on the Atlantic (for most cruises) that I think is a must visit is Halifax. Not only is it a reasonably sized city, but it is close to Peggy's Cove - site of one of the most photographed light houses in North America.

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Halifax, at last! Finally, a port that I expected to be a highlight of our trip. The ship took its leisurely time getting into port, and we docked at the expected time. After a while, both of us got moving, getting showered, dressed, fed, and ready for the bus to Peggy's Cove.

Today would be the day that RQS would finally get to take some picturesque photos, as Peggy’s Cove is the one place worth using up the remaining charge in the camera.. As for me, I’d be happy to get a couple of good photos on my cell phone, as I’ve gotten good shots in Peggy’s Cove on my prior visits. (And I did get those good shots.) It was hard to get RQS to stop taking photos long enough to get to even more picturesque locations, but it was worth the effort. She loved the place, and wished that our tour could have spent more time in town.

Next, we were off to the cemetery where over 100 victims of the Titanic disaster were buried. It was a fittingly somber end to a nice shore excursion on a day that started out gloomy. Why do I say fitting? We found out that the survivors of the Titanic were taken to New York where their survival could be "celebrated". But the dead were taken to Halifax, where the work of the registrar of deaths could take place unimpeded by the press.

After dinner, we went to see a Beatles tribute band on the ship’s main stage. Although they were decent performers, they left me wanting something better. I'll always wish I could have been in Vegas when Cheap Trick performed the whole of the Sgt. Pepper album, followed by the Abbey Road side 2 medley to close out their show. For a fleeting moment, Cheap Trick became a better group than the Beatles, as the "Fab Four" never intended to ever have these songs performed in concert.

Day 05 - An Unplanned Sea Day

 

When a ship cruises in Autumn, maintenance personnel often take the time to fix up pools on the Lido Deck, as no one wants to swim in cold water.  I have several pictures of workers sprucing up the pool, so that it could be used on the ship's next cruise - to Bermuda.

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Today, we awoke around 10:30 am - a little too late to get breakfast at the buffet.  It was foggy outside, and it was just as well that we were at sea.  Not much to see with a pea soup fog.  

Supposedly, we will be making port in Halifax tomorrow.  But we have doubts about that, given how the captain phrased things.  We already skipped the first two ports we were supposed to visit, and it is possible that will skip Halifax due to the many power outages across Nova Scotia. By the time dinner time came around, we were told that part of our Peggy's Cove excursion would be cancelled (a visit to the Titanic grave sites), and that we’d be getting into Halifax an hour early. 

After dinner, it was off to see a comedian in the ship’s theater.  I was less than impressed, as I fell asleep during the performance. Fortunately, (as requested), we found a towel animal on the bed waiting for us.  RQS loved it!

Accomplishing much and nothing at the same time.

 

If I could find the original negative for the above picture, I'd develop a larger photo from it and frame thhe picture.  This is how I remember the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, and it's how I'd like to see it when I visit again.

Why do I mention this?

RQS and I have been talking about going on a cruise to New England and Canada's Maritime Provinces.  Halifax, NS will be one of our stops on the cruise, and I will insist on visiting Peggy's Cove while we are in port.  However, until I decide to leave my job, I can't tell RQS that it's time to book the cruise.

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Today, I was trying to stay awake during my shift at the office. While there, someone had moved a non functioning refrigerator into the center of the break room, so that a replacement unit could be slid into the spot occupied by the old unit.  Now, we will have enough room to cold store our lunches, instead of trying to cram them all into a small refrigerator that didn't have enough room for all of us.

After work, it was off to the dentist's office for a tooth cleaning.  This was the least expensive visit I have had for a while.  Afterwards, I ended up going home to do laundry.  What an exciting evening!  Not much was done today, and yet, I got some needed things done....