Bermuda Cruise 2024 #1 - Embarkation Day (09/29/24)

 

Today was the long anticipated first cruise to Bermuda.  And we had to get up early to make it to the ship, simply because we didn't want to risk traffic jams getting in the way of us reaching the ship in our allotted time frame.   (I had to go to the drug store to pick up some fiber pills, and then pick up breakfast sandwiches to tide us over until we reached the ship.  

The last 2 times I was at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, it took me over an hour from the time I arrived to the time I boarded the ship. Lines formed outside the door of the terminal, and then snaked through the terminal to the security checkpoint, and then to the reception desk where my photograph was taken before boarding the ship.  This time was different.  We arrived at 2 pm instead of noon, and we were on the ship in less than 15 minutes after arrival. (This is much better than the last time I was here!)

We found our cabin without problems, but there was a musty smell in the corridor.  Could the ship have a problem with ventilation and de-humidification?  Who knows?  Once in our cabin, we didn't notice it that much.  Once we had our cruise cards, it was back downstairs to where I could connect my charge card to my onboard account.  After this, we went to our muster station to check in, then to the specialty restaurant reservations desk to schedule our specialty meals - Seafood, Steak, and Mexican.

Later on, it was off to the main dining room for dinner.  Unlike the last time I was on the ship, we had a short line to wait on before being shown to our table.  I chose the French Onion Soup, the Prime Rib, and the Catalan Creme for my meal.  How was it?  I felt the soup was so-so, as I've had much better on Princess and NCL.  The prime rib was 3/4" thick and covered with gravy.  Was it tasty?  Yes.  But I feel that the gravy masked what was good (or bad) about this cut of meat.  Finally dessert came.  The best way to describe Catalan Creme is to think of a Creme Brulee without the scorched sugar coating on top. While at dinner, we met a nice mother/daughter pair from Brooklyn who were taking a cruise together.  RQS and I both enjoyed chatting with this couple, and we figured that they were gaining something from my knowledge of Alaskan and Hawaiian cruises.  Hopefully, we'll meet up with them again on gala night.

After dinner, it was off to the main theater to see a magic show.  But first, the cruise director was prepping the audience with a lot of meaningless things to cheer about.  (Shout if you are from "xxxx!" type stuff.) And then he wasted a lot of time plugging the branded jewelry store on the ship.  The magic show started 20 minutes after we arrived at the theater. Were the magicians good?  Yes, but their show was too short. It was in and out, without satisfaction - like many experiences I've had in the past. :-)

Once back in the cabin, RQS and I noted that both the food and service on this ship was acceptable.  I noted that my criticisms of my last cruise may have been related to the weather we experienced.  But then, I was looking at cruising, assuming a different price point's value for services provided.

By now, I should be back from my cruise.

 

By the time you read this, I should be back from Bermuda.  Last year, I took this ship from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and had an almost forgettable trip.  But then, I'd have liked to forget it, as it was mostly 7 days of bad weather sailing, with a port diversion geared to place us in safe waters in between two nasty weather systems.  (I'm glad I wasn't on the cruise after this, as the ship ended up cruising to Canada in Med-December, instead of the Bahamas as originally planned.)

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RQS and I planned on taking only one Bermuda cruise this year.  But we ended up scheduling two Bermuda cruises.  This will give me a rare opportunity to compare two ships, two cruise lines, two sets of dining & drink packages, and two equivalent cabins.  It's going to be interesting, as we will find out whether RQS likes the price/value equation on MSC enough to consider another trip on this line.

As I'm writing, I am taking care of last minute packing, laundry, and other little things I need to do before going away.  When I get back, I hope to be able to have some interesting things to say about this cruise and entertain you with my commentary. When I sort things out at RQS's house, I'll bet that I've packed way too much for my own good, and may prune things before we go to the pier. 

Although this trip will be done with me presenting as Mario, we're hoping that the next trip will be done with me presenting as Marian.  It'll be nice to wear some pretty dresses for gala nights....

I'm going to get really fat if I don't watch out

 

Today, I ended up having two meals out with friends.  How I did that, I don't know.  But I did enjoy both meals along with the company I had.

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If it weren't for the fact that today would be the only time this month that I could see my friend from the census without problems, I would have preferred to stay in and relax for the day.  I hadn't gotten enough sleep last night, and the alarms only got me going around 11:00 am for a 12:30 pm lunch.  This ended up being perfect for me, as I arrived at the Italian joint in town and found my friend just sitting down to wait for me to arrive.

This was a day where I dominated the conversation, describing what happened on my most recent cruise. Hopefully, I did it in a way that kept her interest, as I'm pretty sure that she will never sail with MSC. While Carnival is described as the Walmart of cruise lines, catering to the "value oriented" customer, I described MSC as the bastard offspring between Target and K-Mart. From Target, MSC gets the glitz that attracts people to cruise with them.  And from K-Mart, MSC gets the low quality that causes people to say "Never Again!"  People attracted to MSC do not want the Carnival cruise experience, but want a subset of the experiences one can get on other, higher priced, cruise lines. Eventually, lunch had to end, and I proceeded home.  Originally, I was going to go to Jersey and do some shopping.   But I felt that I should put my leftovers in the refrigerator before going out.  As a result, I never bothered to go out until I met Vicki for dinner at Lefteris Gyro.

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I met Vicki just after she was done with her exercise class, and she was famished.  This time, Vicki would be the one carrying leftovers home.  Vicki listened to me describing the cruise, knowing that neither of us would likely cruise MSC in the future based on my most recent experience.  Yet, I felt this was a shame, as with a little more attention to the quality of the experience and less on nickel-dimeing the cruiser, they'd have product good enough to seriously make a run at grabbing market share from the big-3 American based cruise line corporations (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian).  Vicki told me about her retirement plans (which I won't go into here) and chatted about things going on with her and her husband.  All I will say about that is that he will go more than the extra mile for her.

All too soon, dinner had to end and we had to go our own ways.  Not to worry.  I'll see her again when I have my colonoscopy next week....

 

Florida-Bahamas Cruise 2023 - Day 8 - Debarkation & Cruise Thoughts

 

We're finally home!  As much as I enjoyed being by myself for a week, I missed having RQS by my side and couldn't wait to meet her at Grand Central.  

But first things first....

I didn't much get sleep, and I ended up watching the ship's virtual porthole TV channel as the ship was about to go under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge around 4:30 am.  Although I tried to rest a little more, I was unable to do so and proceeded to get ready for the day.  After showering, making up my face, and getting dressed for the last time while on the ship, I packed up all my gear, double checked that I was leaving nothing in the room, and left my cabin for the last time around 7:00 am. Then, it was off to my last breakfast on the ship, where I was seated next to a couple who drove to the pier from Canada.  (I can only imagine what their drive home will be like.)  We struck up a conversation and found out that they had similar feelings to mine in regard to this cruise.  All too soon, they had to leave, and I finished my breakfast at a leisurely pace.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stall things any longer, and proceeded to an area where I could sit and kill a couple of hours - the main dining room.  Although it was a staging area for people who needed assistance in leaving the ship, I was welcome to hang out there as the buffet area upstairs was already mobbed with people trying to get their last ship board meal.  

Around 9:30-9:45 am, my group number was called, and I finally got off the ship.  Although it was a long walk to the baggage claim area, my suitcase was waiting for me there.  Since we cleared customs while in Miami, there was no reason to stop for an ID check when debarking at Brooklyn.  So I took another long walk with my luggage to the ferry, walking through slow moving people and around vehicles picking up passengers for their rides home.  Unfortunately, I just missed the ferry as it was leaving the dock, and I had to kill an hour before the next ferry came.

Around 10:35 am, the ferry came, and I was off to Grand Central.  I texted RQS to let her know that I'd be in Manhattan by 11:00 am, and would likely be at Grand Central's waiting room by 12:30 pm. Instead of walking to the subway station on Wall Street, I decided to do a shoreline walk to South Ferry.  It was a nice day, and I could use the exercise. So, after 15 minutes or so, I caught a uptown bound train and made it to Grand Central ahead of time. 

As I got to the waiting area, I noticed that the women's room line was out the door.  Winter tourist season had begun, and Grand Central was much busier than usual.  After taking care of business, I picked up a sandwich downstairs and proceed to wait for RQS.  It wasn't a long wait, as we were able to make the 12:23 train to Croton with a few minutes to spare.

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Would I take another cruise on MSC in the future?

I'm just as ambivalent on this as I was before taking the cruise?  MSC is a cruise line for "value oriented" (price conscious) cruisers.  If Carnival is the Walmart of cruise lines, then MSC is aiming to be the Target of cruise lines. Nothing shouted "Don't cruise with us again" or "I can't wait to cruise with you again."  Instead, everything said "I don't care if I cruise with MSC again or not."  Everything seemed to be a notch below that of other lines I've cruised with, save for the glitz in the public areas of the ship.  That was often over the top.

The other day, I watched a cruise Vlogger whose main gig is being a Travel Agent. One of her clients noted that they tried MSC and told her empathically that they would never cruise with MSC again.  Another said, "No, I will never cruise with MSC again," but was attracted to cruise with them twice because of MSC's low prices.  Yet, this travel agent wouldn't be honest with her viewers about this cruise line, trying not to say bad things about them, so that she could collect her fees when booking people on this line.

MSC provides decent value for the money spent for their cruises.  But I wouldn't expect a top notch experience unless one has spent the money to enjoy their Yacht Club experience.  (Like most cruisers, I can't afford that experience.)  It's a line I might cruise on again of the price and itinerary was right.  So far, I haven't seen any future cruises that would get me to take another cruise on this line.

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.

I'm back from my cruise - and will soon post about it.

I just got back from my cruise, and will post about it over the next few days in a diary format.  

Being apprehensive about using the MSC cruise line before my vacation, I approached it as both a learning experience and as an opportunity to spend 8 days interacting with the outside world solely (with an exception or two) as Marian.  And this experience didn't disappoint me, although some experiences on the ship did just that.  (I'll explain over the next few posts.)

As much as I wanted to give a solid "thumbs up" or solid "thumbs down" on this ship and MSC as a whole, I found myself unable to do this by the end of the cruise.  Instead, I found myself feeling that, with reservations, I would take a cruise on this ship again - but only with a limited set of itineraries. 

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For someone living in New York's Northern suburbs, transportation to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal as a solo traveler is a pain in the ***.  For me, when I do it again, I will try to choose as late an embarkation time as possible, but try to get there as early as possible.  Why, you might ask?  The answer comes with the weak links in transportation: The New York City Subway and The NYC Ferry system.  Although both are reliable in their own rights in weather that is not too cold, hot, windy, rainy, or snowy; add stressful weather, awkward connections between transit modes, and scheduling issues to the mix, and a 2 hour trip could take 4 hours.  For a solo traveler on a pension, this is a reasonable trade off, as I could spend only $42 (approx.) round trip between my house and the ship.  Yet, for a family of 4 (including 2 young children), it can make sense to spend $390 in gas, tolls, and parking to reach the same destination.  It all depends on a traveler's circumstances.

I suggest that anyone reading about the trip look for the things they like most or dislike most and comment about them.  I'll answer any questions you might have, so that others like me can travel the world the ways we want to....

I'll be going on another cruise soon - this time as Marian!

 

By the time you read this, I'll have already packed for my cruise. It's a simple 7-day run from NYC to the Bahamas via Port Canaveral.

I'm not much of a fan of visiting Port Canaveral, as it is only a restocking stop for the ship gussied up as a place worth visiting.  If one wants to go to Orlando's theme parks, one has to take an overpriced shuttle to reach them AND pay for a 1-day pass which will only be used for less than half of a day.

Given the relative cheap price for me to take a solo cruise, I figure that I'd try out MSC as a cruise line.  Even if I like this cruise, I don't intend on cruising on the line that often, as they do not yet have any West Coast / Alaska cruises which would make it worthwhile to use them for special vacations.  Yes, I could have tried them out for our Norway cruise next year.  But I didn't want to risk having a bad cruise with RQS taking money out of her savings account to finance her trip.

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I've been told that MSC's basic drink package works on their private island.  This means that I'll be able to have a beer or two while there and not worry about getting nicked when back on the ship.  (Some cruise lines' private islands do not honor the onboard drink package when on some of their private islands.)  Since I don't drink much, this is not much of an issue for me.  But it might be for some of my readers.

For those who cruise often, MSC is an outlier in the way it does things.  For example, it doesn't attach your credit card information to your cruise card account before embarkation.  Instead, it requires that the cruiser to register his/her card shortly after embarkation.  To make things worse, since the line is headquartered in Switzerland, one should bring a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, as one might get nicked extra service charges on every shipboard debit made to one's account.  (The big 3 "American" cruise lines all use American banks. so one doesn't have to worry about these fees when one is onboard the ship.)

I'll miss RQS on this cruise.  But it'll be nice to travel as Marian again, and will be even nicer to see her when I get back to NYC....

I might be planning another cruise soon.

 .

For better part of a year, RQS and I have been talking about taking a Norwegian Fjord cruise next year. Soon, we will need to plan for this trip, else we won't be able to take it at all.

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As I might have mentioned elsewhere, 2024 will be the last year that conventionally powered cruise ships will be allowed to cruise the Norwegian Fjords.  This is a classic bucket list cruise, ranked up there with Alaskan cruises, Panama Canal cruises, Hawaii cruises, and Atlantic crossings on a classic ocean liner. I know that this is a "budget buster" item, something that RQS will have a hard time affording with all the traveling we are doing this year and will likely be doing next year. So we have to think carefully as we plan this trip out.

 
Right now, I'm looking at options from 4 cruise lines: Holland America, MSC, Norwegian, and Princess.  The big problem is choosing a cruise with the right price point and length with an acceptable itinerary. This is something we have to discuss.  There are some 7-day cruises out there that look good to me.  But there is one 14-day cruise that I'd really like to take, a Princess cruise that sails out of Southampton and goes to both Norway and Iceland. But I'm not sure that we'll be able to take this cruise, given RQS's finance and scheduling concerns.

Assuming that we take the Norwegian Fjord cruise, this will be the first time I have left North America and the first time that I will need to present my passport for travel.  There is a big part of me that is afraid to take this trip, as it takes me well out of my comfort zone.  But everyone has to have a first time, and this might be mine.

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Unlike the Bahamas cruise that I'll be booking soon, this cruise will be taken as Mario.  There would be way too many complications for me to take this cruise presenting as Marian to risk making a mistake. However, when I eventually take my British Isles cruise or do the Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, I hope to take it presenting as a female.   Unlike many British Isles cruises, the above cruise does not stop in France.  To me, this is a bonus - I do not need to worry whether someone I come into contact with will be able to (or bother with) speaking my language when on a shore excursion.  

As you can guess, I'm working on checking off bucket list trips while I'm still healthy enough to do so.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get through most of this list while I'm still in decent shape for my age and weight.

 

Crusing without RQS? (a short post)

 

I won't go into all the details of why I want to take this cruise - especially when RQS wouldn't be with me when I sail off for a week. But RQS approves of my reasons, and I want to see about whether it makes sense to try out a new cruise line.

With the above being noted, I have my concerns about sailing on an MSC ship.  Almost all the Vlogggers I watch have made comments on the food found on MSC ships - and they say that the food is middling. Although I can accept middling food, RQS will not do so. So, it's in my interest to try out this cruise line, as we might want to consider it as an option for a Norwegian Fjord cruise.

Assuming I book this cruise, I will take it presenting as Marian.  Of course, this means that I will NOT get off the ship in Nassau. And there is nothing I want to do at Port Canaveral, so I will stay on the ship there as well.  But what about MSC's private Island, Ocean Cay?  Will I have a problem being gender non-conforming?  I do not have my former cruise partner backing me up anymore.  Nor would I want her to do so, even if we were still friends.  

Whatever I choose to do, I will make that decision soon.