Florida-Bahamas Cruise 2023 - Day 1 - Embarkation

 

Florida-Bahamas Cruise - Day 1 - Embarkation - 12/09/23

Today was a day where I had to get my act in gear and get out of the house in time to make a 9:37 train - and I almost didn’t make it.

But first….

Last night, I finally got everything packed (and maybe over-packed at the same time).  But I didn’t get to sleep until 3:00 am, so I knew that I’d need to nap a little as soon as I was able to board the cruise ship.

This morning, I awoke very early (around 6:00 am), and I knew that it was the Adrenalin (or some other stress related hormone) that caused me to wake up.  Instead of rushing to burn off that energy, I tried to relax for a while until the clock told me that I had to get up and get ready to go.

Around 9:00 am, I called the local taxi service to bring me to Croton-Harmon station, and the cab was a little late.  Then, it had to pick up an elderly passenger going to the same place at the same time.  So I barely made it in time to buy my ticket and get on the train - this time with all my bags intact. (The memories of my Chicago trip are still fresh in my mind.) 

 

Arriving in Manhattan around 10:45, I had a decision to make: Do I take the subway to South Ferry and try to make it to Pier 11 in time for an 11:30 ferry?  Or, do I take a cab to the pier?  The cab won out, as it would be a more direct, but expensive trip.  And this was a wise choice, as I made it to Pier 11 with 20 minutes to spare.

Now that I knew I’d make it to the Cruise Terminal in time, I could start thinking about what would come next.  Arriving at the Cruise Terminal a little before noon, I dropped off my big bag and started carrying both my CPAP bag and my weekender bag along the path through the terminal, then onto the ship, and finally to my cabin.  (Next time, I’ll use my rolling carry-on bag for this task.  Without a bag to rest the weekender bag on, I was very uncomfortable.)

Reaching my cabin was an effort.  I had chosen a cabin at the far aft of the ship, and the rear elevators are best described as mid-ship elevators.  So I will likely be getting a fair amount of walking in on this cruise, as I’ve already put in 2.6 miles before 6:00 pm.  But I digress.  Once on the ship, I had to associate my room key with a credit card, so that onboard charges could be made. And this was a minor headache, as the process wasn’t as clear as it could have been.

When I finally made it to my cabin, I found that it was designed for two uses, both of them imperfectly.  The first was for a solo cabin, the way it was laid out when I arrived.  The closet doors wouldn’t open completely because the sofa bed was made up to be a bed for two, instead of for one, and I had to shift the bed a little so that I could hang my dresses in the closet.  The second was for an attached cabin, where one of the connecting doors would be opened so that people in the same party could pass through a doorway separating the two cabins. 

Unlike cabins I once inhabited on NCL ships, this tiny cabin on MSC is noisy, as loud neighbors were disturbing my rest on the first night.  Luckily, I was able to take a nap after the muster process.  But even the muster process was a mess.  First, I had to ask where the muster station was, then hoof it to the back of the ship on another floor then back to my room (requiring me to walk the length of the ship twice). Then the crew member scanning my cruise card/key had problems with his reader.  And after that, once I returned to my room, I had to make a call to register that I completed the muster process.  Finally, after all of this, I was able to take my nap.

While relaxing in my room, I turned on the TV.  Like the other cruise lines I’ve been on, they have a few live channels and some on-demand movies.  One problem - the connection to CNN, TCM, and other satellite channels can be flaky, and I missed the better part of a movie because of this.

As I believed that I was scheduled for late dining, I made my way to the assigned restaurant 15 minutes before seating time.  There, I found out that I had been scheduled for early dining.  AARGH!   Luckily, this wasn’t a problem, and the Maitre’D fixed my reservation slot.  Then I was told to wait on line.  Late dining starts between 8:45 pm and 9:00 pm.  But the doors to the restaurant didn’t open until 9:35 pm.  Dinner came even later.  If one likes “wedding mill” dining, this place wasn’t too bad.  But they couldn’t get my drink order right.  Again, I was lucky to have purchases the “Easy Plus” drink plan, as I got bottled water, a bottomless glass of Merlot, and a bottle of softly sparkling water when they couldn’t bring me either a Club Soda with Lemon (they brought a can of Sprite), or bring me a Diet Coke with some ice cubes in the glass.  Am I fussy?  Far from it.  But, like wedding mills, the waiters and bus staff do not have the ability to give specialized service.  Here is where I will give both NCL and Princess a strong edge over MSC - they know how to make people feel like they are in a restaurant instead of a catering hall.

Once done with dinner, it was time to go to bed.  It was a long day, and I want to be able to get up early enough for breakfast in the morning.

It's a big change for me.

 

My first cruise out of New York (Manhattan) was on this ship, the Norwegian Gem. It's a good ship, and it doesn't overwhelm you with its size.  I find it to be comfortable, without any of the needless frills, such as water slides, rope courses, and race tracks, etc. being added to newer ships.

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On an earlier cruise, I traveled in an inside cabin.  This is the type of room that forces you to go outside and be with people.  There is not much in the room, but there is enough room for two people to travel comfortably. 

You'll note that the bed has been assembled as a queen size bad for two to sleep together.  However, the two halves can be moved to the sides (as noted in the second photo), so that each person can have a bed to him/herself.  This is usually the lowest cost cabin category, but can also be the most comfortable, as they are often on lower floors near the ship's center of gravity.  (This can be very important during storm weather.)

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On other trips, I have traveled in an ocean view room.  These cost a little more than an inside cabin, but you get the benefit of an outside view.  (I had one of these on a Holland America cruise, and felt it was a reasonable compromise in the price/value equation.)

There is a drawback to ocean view rooms.  Sometimes, in stormy weather, the ship can rock from side to side.  And I found that this kind of rocking can be exaggerated being on the side of a ship.

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Next comes the balcony cabin.  This is a popular, but more expensive category.  When the pandemic hit, passengers in these cabins had outside air while confined to their rooms. 

However, sometimes, one can find pricing anomalies between the cabin categories between Inside Cabin, Ocean View and Balcony rooms.  In one cruise mentioned in my prior blog, I found a fluke where demand based pricing caused an inside cabin to sell for the same price as a balcony.  Although the balcony uses space less efficiently than the balcony cabin, I'd choose the balcony any day.  Yet, when the same balcony sells for twice the price of an inside cabin AND I'm traveling alone, I'll take the inside cabin.  If one is at sea, the same view can be found on deck, and one has to get up and moving to do so.  If one is in port, you may have a terrible view.  And who wants to pay extra for that?  But that's me - I don't need a lot to feel relaxed.

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Lastly, I'll mention the last of the cabins I'll consider cruising in, the Club Balcony Suite. (Note: not all browsers can support viewing images in the linked page.)  On the cruise that I'll soon be taking, it only costs twice as much as the inside cabin and gives me over twice the room in the cabin to spread out.

If you closely at the bottom picture, you'll see that this cabin has a full bath and not a stand up shower as you'd find in the other categories.  I could get used to traveling this way if I could afford to do so in the future.  This kind of splurge is a big change for me, even though I got the room at a steep discount from its normal price.

I wonder how many of the people I've cruised with over the past 25 years can say they've enjoyed a cabin like this....

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Compare the following cruises and their prices: 

The 12/26/21 cruise on the Norwegian Gem has a single occupancy inside cabin priced at $1707 while the sail away suite is priced at $3681.  This is what I'd normally expect to spend.

 

 

Above is the 02/27/22 cruise on the Norwegian Getaway.  A single occupancy inside cabin starts at $1301 while the sail away suite is priced at $1797.  This looks like another unicorn in the making.  But I'm not as familiar with the size of balcony cabins and sail away suites on that ship.  However, it is not the great bargain as the following cruise with the same itinerary as the above two cruises.

The above is the 12/19/21 cruise on the Norwegian Gem.  You will note that unlike the other two cruises, there is no single supplement.  On this sailing, a single occupancy inside cabin is priced at $650, while the sail away suite is priced at $1154.  You can guess which one of these cruises I chose to take.

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It's obvious that I've encountered a wonderful fluke in cruise pricing that I will never see again.  But I love hunting and pecking through the cruise offerings to find great bargains.  It's a safe way of spending time, as I can't afford to squander money anymore.  By focusing on the hunt for a bargain, I have a purpose for my search.  And when I find a "unicorn", I jump on it for a great trip.  Hopefully, I'll be able to find another unicorn sometime in the near future.



 

PS: The Cruise got even cheaper after I booked it, then went back up....

This is the price for the same cruise as of 10/14..... 

The cabin I booked now sold for roughly $900 plus taxes and port fees.

And then, as of 11/01...

None of the cabins are at their lowest price, and the pricing is a little more rational.  But one day later....

The prices for this cruise started to inch up as we got closer to sailing date.  Even though I could have saved a few extra dollars in Mid-October, that deal had sailed by the time November came along.

And lastly, a price chart taken on 12/08:

These look like the lowest prices we'll see for this cruise.  $1154 - $749 = $405 price savings by booking at the last minute.  Given that they still have mini suites available, I feel that this means that few people are booking this cruise.

 

It looks like one or more of the suites numbered 11632, 34, 36 / 11132, 34, 36 are still available as of 12/08.  It's too bad that I don't have someone who I am intimate with.  I could have afforded to treat her to a great cruise at this price!  Hopefully, next year at this time, I will have company for my travels....