2023 Bermuda Cruise - Day 1 (Embarkation Day)

 

Sunday, November 19, 2023.

We considered ourselves lucky today, as RQS had found the handbag which contained all of her ID needed for the upcoming cruise. So it was our “normal” travel routine or rushing to get ready, and hiring a car to get us to where we had to go.

Around 8:00 am, we got showered and dressed and ready to travel. While RQS finished her breakfast, I went out to buy a pair of sunglasses and get some extra money for our trip. With our bags fully packed and ready to go, we called a cab, so that we could take the 10:37 train to Grand Central. The train ride was relaxing, and we caught a cab to the cruise terminal, which got us there by 12:15 pm. Cruise check-in was a little annoying, as the counter agent asked RQS for her passport, and didn’t accept her passport card - normally, the only ID required for closed loop cruises.

 

 

By 12:45 pm, we were on the ship and ready to deposit our bags in our room. One catch - the rooms weren’t all ready for passengers yet. Walking to the cabin, we noticed these signs hanging on the doors.  I hadn't seen anything like them since my December 2021 Christmas cruise during the pandemic restart. We cheated a little, and dropped our bags off in our cabin, then went to the buffet to have a leisurely lunch. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, we were tracking the location of our checked luggage, as our bags hadn’t yet made it to our cabin. Just before the ship left port, RQS’s bag made it to the cabin, leaving the location of my bag still a mystery. Luckily, the tracker reported that it was in the ship’s hold (based on a nautical location ID), and my bag was placed outside our cabin just before dinner time.

Since I have a Platinum loyalty status with NCL, I get two “free” specialty meals when I cruise. But I couldn’t reserve these meals until I was onboard the ship. However, we had booked our cabin with the “free at sea” promotion, and this gave us two specialty meals that we could book. So we proceeded to the Brazilian Churrascaria onboard, and had an “Atkins Diet” feast - all the meat we could eat, and we did just that.

After dinner, we decided to take it easy and go back to our room for the evening. Unfortunately, on the way back to the room, a woman fell on RQS, injuring RQS’s ankle. For the rest of the evening, the ankle hurt, and RQS wondered if she’d be able to walk around Bermuda when we arrived on Tuesday.


What a way to start a vacation!

Does "Marketing" pay enough attention to the emails it sends out?

I just received a pre-cruise email from NCL regarding my upcoming Hawaii cruise on the Pride of America.  If one didn't know anything, you'd think that there was nothing wrong about this email.  But you'd be wrong.  Can you guess what I'm talking about from the above sample?

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My girlfriend (RQS) and I do a lot of internet surfing for information pertaining to the cruise industry, searching for affordable fares and destinations.  My Hawaii cruise is not one of these cruises.  I booked the cruise long before we got serious with each other, the source of much of my information about the cruisetour being MWL.  She noted that there was no casino on this ship, as it is American flagged, sailing solely in Hawaiian waters.  So, I found it strange that NCL would send out a generic notice from their "Casinos at Sea" department, when there is no casino on that ship to enjoy when at sea.

Luckily, it is a reminder for people to start booking their specialty dining and their shore excursions before getting on the ship.  For most people, this is the first opportunity to do pre-cruise booking.  For people with a high enough loyalty status, they could start booking things 4 months before the cruise.  In my case, I made Platinum status on my first Canada/New England cruise, and couldn't start booking things for Hawaii until the day after I got back from the cruise - and many of the pre-cruise reservations were no longer available for booking.  (At least, I should be able to get this fixed once I am on the ship.  But that's another story for another day.)

Given that I don't like making too many "donations" to any ship casino, I won't miss the "action" on my Hawaii cruise, nor will I miss passing by a de-facto smoking area.  This is likely to be one of the more expensive cruises I will ever take, and I hope that it is also one of the more enjoyable cruises I will ever take as well.