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. 

 

Eastern Caribbean Cruise 2025 - Sea Day #1 (11/27/25)

 

Thanksgiving - will they have a different menu for us Americans on the ship?  By mid-afternoon, I've seen no mention of turkey anywhere, and that's just as well.

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We thought of going for breakfast in the dining room, but we ended up in the buffet for both breakfast and lunch.  However, neither of us wanted to get up until 9:30, so we ended up in the buffet instead.  It was a dreary day outside, and we were glad to be indoors as the rains came in.

After lunch, RQS went off to an art class, while I stayed in the room resting.   I knew I would have to change clothes for "Gala Night".  And I wanted to wait until the last minute, which I did.  (I'll bet it's related to a GI Tract issue I have, details I won't go into now.)   This would be the first time that RQS would see me in a suit with traditional white shirt and tie (I'd have rather presented as Marian on this trip), and I looked halfway decent for presenting as Mario.

We had a scare that Cunard's computer system dropped our reservations for dinner.  So, we walked over the main dining room to check on things, and again - Cunard's wonky computer system got in our way.  We just learned NOT to trust their system, but to trust the people in charge of the venues to get things right. Dinner was good.  I enjoyed the Chateaubriand, while RQS enjoyed the Thanksgiving Turkey. However, we encountered a miss with dessert - the Pear and Ginger cake needed some kind of sweet drizzle over it to make the dish work. 

After a brief stop in our room, we went to the ship's theater to see a stage show.  Since I'm not a great fan of dance shows, I knew I'd be underwhelmed.  But these performers were competent, and I enjoyed a couple of songs performed by the singers. 

Canada/New England Cruise 2025 - Portland, ME (09/15/25)

 

Portland, Maine.  It's a nice place to walk around when the sun is not too high in the sky.  There is enough old architecture in the port district, that one can easily find interesting buildings to photograph. And yet, it's a relatively modern place to be in, most of the traditional seaside businesses having left the main road years ago.

When we arrived in Portland, US Customs and Border Control requires everyone to get off the ship, so that they can verify every passenger on the ship's manifest.  We woke up early, so that we could get off the ship at our appointed time.  And then, we hit a minor roadblock: someone typed my name wrong on the manifest.  My name was changed from Marian to Narian.  AARGH!  Once the CBP person caught this error, he fixed it and sent me (and RQS) on our way. 

However, this doesn't mean that Portland's nautical past has been forgotten.  Take a walk down any of the side streets and you'll see traces of its nautical past.  For example, the above establishment has been here for years.  Now, it's a full service tavern.   

At the end of the pier is the original Luke's seafood restaurant. From its humble seafood processing beginnings in Portland, it has morphed into a restaurant chain with branches around the world.   We killed a couple of hours before walking to Luke's as it normally opens at 11 am.  One problem: they had no electricity when we arrived.  (A circuit breaker was triggered, and they had to reset it.)  We appreciated this delay, as it gave our breakfasts more time to be digested.

When we finally got into Luke's, we ordered the fried clam bellies, and they were on our plates before RQS was finished in the washroom.  We feasted, and the lady at the next table struck up a conversation on cruising.  It was a nice thing to chat with a stranger about something we all enjoyed - especially our trips to Bermuda.

All too soon, it was time to return to the ship.  So we walked the mile back to the ship and decided to rest for a while before the evening's activities started.

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Tonight was dress up night, and we again donned our finest for the photographers downstairs near the atrium. I couldn't wait to take off my blazer and tie to be comfortable while dining at the ship's steakhouse.  This would be our second visit to the place, and I tried to order different things from what I ordered on our last visit.  Well, I almost did just that, but had the same dessert.  Today's main course was a veal chop so thick that I couldn't finish it all.  RQS was wearing something similar to what I would have worn had I been able to go as Marian.  (Well, there will be opportunities to do that once the Orange Snowflake leaves office.)

After dinner, we went back to our room to relax for 30 minutes, and then on to tonight's entertainment in the ship's theater. Tonight's show was a musical revue called "On The Bayou", and it was a pleasant performance of songs with a New Orleans area theme.  (Mind you, this was a little bit of a stretch, but the best way to label these numbers.)  Most of the performers did their songs justice, and in contrast to the last night's performer did her songs better.

 

Next it was off to the lounge where we saw Carlos Oscar and his comedy routine.  (Think of Joe Pesci as if he had a Puerto Rico background.)  As much as most comedians don't get me to laugh, Carlos did. Much of his routine got into the differences of men and women, but not in a nasty way.  Instead, he exaggerated how our behaviors seem, such as women flothes shopping for themselves and then for their partners.  Would I see him again?  If this show is an example, it will be on the last night of the cruise.

 

Eastern Caribbean Cruise - Port Day (01/26/25 - Puerto Plata, DR)

 

The ship made port at 12:00 noon, and we made it to lunch at the same time.  We were in no hurry to do much of anything, and there would be no need to hurry until the end of the cruise.  So, there was only one drawback for me in waking up early - there was no uncut fresh fruit in the room for me to nosh on to sate my hunger.

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We went to the main dining room for lunch, and this time, service wasn't bad.  Yes, there was a minor mistake.  But it was nothing to complain about.  (Later on, we'd find that 90 people started their contracts with this sailing.  No wonder why service in the dining rooms was iffy at times.)  After lunch, it was again time to relax.  So we went upstairs to the buffet, where we could read in someplace other than our cabin.

Around 5:30, it was time to go to dinner, and our new friends weren't there.  I guess either of 3 things happened:

1. They were still dealing with the aftermath of the water pipe bursting at home, and were still making calls from the ship to see that their home gets fixed.
   
   
2. They flew home from the DR, so that they could deal with their issues in person.
   
   
3. They were tired of dining with us (RQS deems this doubtful), and found another table (and time) to dine at.
   

It felt strange to have a table for 6 to ourselves.  But we enjoyed the meal anyway.

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After another trip back to our room, we went to the theater to see a performer (LsShonda Reese) sing a set of songs by James Brown, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and others.  She was a good singer, but I wouldn't have spent money to see her perform - at least, not in a cruise ship environment.

As usual, we now are finding that our next door cabin resident regularly leaves her scooter in the hallway.  Do I like this?  No.  But there's nothing I want to do about this.  It's a pain to house the scooter in the room.  Yet, I feel that she should have booked an "Accessible Cabin" to deal with this issue beforehand. This is something I will bring up when I write a letter to the cruise line's customer service department.  I don't want to get anyone in trouble (especially not our room steward), but I think the cruise line needs a policy for this, as not all cabin entryways have room to park 1 scooter, much less 2 scooters.

Tomorrow, we will be in Puerto Rico, and we may finally get off the ship.