One day at a time

 

Right now, it seems as if most intelligent people are participating in a slow motion pandemic shutdown. The roads are less crowded than before I went on my cruise. Businesses are telling their workers that it is OK to work from home for another month or two. And people have again become wary of any activity where they would be in direct or indirect contact with a large number of people.

It seems as if everyone I talk to has come into contact with someone who has been infected by the Omicron variant of Covid-19.  And they are afraid of getting sick - even if fully vaccinated and boosted.  Some vaccinated people have heard horror stories about booster shots going wrong.  Others are sick and tired of the virus, and decided not to bother with the booster.  (My brother is one of these people, and he has gotten infected.  What's worse, he would prefer to get sick than to have been boosted.  Go figure.)  As a result of all this, people are staying home in droves.

This has gotten in my way, as none of the people I might see on weekends are comfortable going to restaurants any longer.  It doesn't help that our local governments are not comfortable instituting capacity limits in public places - they want people to go about their daily business with as few impediments as possible, as they don't want the economy to freeze up again.  So, by not sending a message to be cautious, the people who would be cautious are overcompensating for the lack of informed guidance from our politicians.

As for me, I'm willing to take my chances.  I've been vaccinated and boosted, and am not in the mood to go back to the mindset we had in 2020.  The other day, I chatted with my ex-girlfriend, and she noted that it was almost 2 years ago that everything shut down.  What she didn't recall was that I was trying to get her attention NOT to attend any public events her meetup group was having.  It's amazing that we're seeing similarities in what we're going through now with a time that things were much worse.  It'll be years before people have a "normal" reaction to events - this pandemic has over sensitized people to fearing the risk of illness.  I just wonder what our (great?) grandchildren will be thinking when another pandemic is likely to strike....

I'm thinking of booking another cruise before my Hawaii trip.

 

The above is a map showing the ports on a cruise I'm interested in taking.  Given the uncertainties of the cruise industry at the time I write this, I'm not sure of whether my Hawaii cruise will become a reality later this year.  Although I've been to 4 of the 6 ports before, I'd take this 10 day cruise on the NCL Joy so that I could visit Boston (again), and to visit the ports of Charlottetown and Sydney.  (I'd also gain the 10 Latitudes points I need to achieve Platinum status if my complaint to NCL isn't addressed properly.)

The last time I visited Boston, I was on a cruise with my former cruise partner.  She insisted that I hang out with her son and his girlfriend (now wife), while I wanted to go to the Union Oyster House and to see the USS Constitution. If I take this trip, I will likely be able to do both activities I wanted to do on my last trip to Boston AND get back to the cruise terminal in time to return home.  It'll be interesting trying to go through a military checkpoint with a male id, while presenting as a female.  (And it'll give me a good idea of what to expect when I visit Pearl Harbor, later in the year.)  

However, this is not the only trip I might take.  There is a 5 day Royal Caribbean cruise out of Bayonne that goes to Halifax (NS) and Saint John (NS).  That'd be a much cheaper cruise for me to take AND it would give me an idea of whether I'd cruise with RCCL in the future.  Yet, there is another cruise that really piques my interest - a 16 day Princess Cruise out of Brooklyn to Greenland, stopping at Halifax (NS), Sydney (NS), Nuuk (Greenland), Nanortalik (Greenland), Qaqortoq (Greenland), and St. Johns (NL) before returning home.  The latter cruise may be a budget buster, and would likely require that I travel as Mario.  Saint John (NB) and St. Johns (NL) are not to be confused with each other.  The city in New Brunswick is not that interesting.  But visitors to Newfoundland praise its town.  So this place will be on my list places to visit as I plan future cruises. 

Unfortunately, many of the cruises I plan to take will cost some serious coin.  But it's the price I have to pay to make up for lost travel time....

Being lazy can be so refreshing.

 

I've been trying to find the dress in this picture amongst the clothing in my storage containers.  Sadly, I either donated it by accident, or it is hopelessly lost amongst things I've tossed away.  After letting my apartment go to hell for the better part of two years, I've been slowly working my way through all the clutter in my place.

- - - - - -

After doing nothing all day yesterday, I thought I'd have the energy to get a bit done today.  Surprise!  I had even less energy than yesterday.  I was barely able to get myself moving until 4 pm.  And then, I got a call from TCL that lasted 2 hours.  (I really didn't want to stay on this long, but something happened that she needed to talk about - and we did just that.)  But this got in the way of my plans to shop at Wegmans, and then call for NCL for information on the Hawaii cruise I plan on taking.

Once done with TCL, I got showered and dressed, and off to White Plains for food shopping. On my way home, I called MWL to keep in touch.  Like me, she did a lot of nothing today, save that she took down some of her Xmas decorations.  It was a pleasant chat, and she told me how Covid (Omicron) is affecting her lately. Like CWS (and my new friend, RQS), MWL isn't going much of anywhere these days.  Almost all my friends are afraid of the Omicron variant.

I never accomplished two of the things I wanted to do today - Laundry and Calling NCL for cruise information.  Yet, I'm comfortable with what little I did today.  I've needed to rest for a while, and I've gotten two days of needed rest this weekend.

 

The first snow of the season

 

I wasn't in the mood to go to work today, and the snowstorm gave me the perfect excuse to stay home.  Yes, I could have gone into work.  But that would have gotten in the way of catching up on some much needed rest.  And I wasn't going to let that happen.

- - - - - -

The plow had come a couple of times during the night, and there was 4"-5" of snow on the cars in the parking lot.  Instead of getting up earlier than usual to both get dressed as Marian AND clean my car of the snow on top of it, I decided to stay in bed an extra couple of hours and get dressed as Mario for the task of car cleaning.  Luckily, the snow was still fluffy, and I could easily brush it off without trouble,   So, off I went to get a late breakfast (or early lunch, as it might be called), and then back to the homestead.  But I wasn't inside for long before the plow came one last time to clean out the parking lot.  So, it was back into the car, and off to an already plowed visitor's spot.

When I finally looked at my email, I received an email from my pen pal in Canada.  Seems like life isn't going that well for her.  Her mom is ill, and needs surgery.  And if she survives the surgery, they don't know how well she will function.  Afterwards, I decided to see what was doing with my former cruise partner's niece, as she was dealing with stage 4 cancer.  Sadly, her niece passed away before I had the chance to visit.  I sent a message to my former friend to tell her of Becky's death - and have not heard from her.  Just as well.  She'll never get over her hatred for me, and there is no longer any chance to patch things up.  There is one last message I have to send her, and I plan to do so in a couple of weeks. At least, no sane person can say that my last messages were nasty or those of a nasty person....

My Vinyl Collection

 

I have over 600 Vinyl LPs. None of these records have been played in years, and in many cases more than a decade or two.  So I figured that it's now time to sell off my collection, and get pennies on the dollar for what I spent on these recordings.

- - - - - -

In my 30 years at the bank, I met many interesting people - some of which were vendors.  (My former cruise partner was one of them.)  So I had a list of people I could call on for unusual needs, such as selling off my record collection.  When I wrote my friend, I received the following response:

That's an easy one!   Sell it to me!

I buy collections every day, just about.

You know me.  I think you know I'll do my best to be fair.

One way or other, let's get together and I'll give you an estimate.  If it seems fair to you, you can sell to me.  If it doesn't meet your expectations, I will advise you on your other options.

You are definitely in a good position either way, as you know the right guy!

Couple of important notes, though.........

Hopefully you haven't sold any, or given any away yet?   Rule of thumb with collections (and this can be records, or books, or stamps, coins, comic books, baseball cards, etc).  The records may all be good ones, music wise, but the value is almost always in 10% or less of the collection.  As soon as you start pulling out a few pieces, you greatly affect the value of the collection.  The biggest mistake I see people make on a daily basis is that they sell a few pieces online, or let a friend take a couple of handfuls.  Once you do that, you often can't get anybody to buy the rest of the collection.  Invariably, those few pieces almost always are the most desirable ones.  Whether you sell to me, or not, I very strongly advise you to only sell the collection as a unit, all or nothing.

The other thing, I am very interested, but am headed to Florida next Monday for most of the rest of this month.  I don't know how ready you are right now.  I may have some availability to look at it tomorrow but, failing that, it will have to wait until I get back.

There are some albums I plan to keep, but the vast majority are taking up space that I need to use for other purposes.  So, I told my friend that we'll get together when he gets back.  This gives me about 2 weekends to make these albums accessible.

How much do you think my friend will bid on this collection, not knowing what I have in it?  No, I'm not looking for a ball park figure.  Instead, I'd like to know what people think these albums are worth - even though I wouldn't use any of these figures to determine whether my friend is making a fair bid.  Remember the key figures: 600+ albums purchased at $10/each.  I have my own guess in mind, and I want to see what others think.

More on this soon....

Covid and Cruising

 

Today, I read some online journals which noted that NCL was cancelling cruises on 8 of its ships due to uncertainties related to the pandemic.  NCL is not alone, as many ports are refusing to accept ships if there is a hint of Covid on board.  And this is causing many cruisers problems, as at least one cruise was cancelled on the day it was scheduled to sail.  I can only imagine what potential cruisers felt when they arrived in town, and found that their trip was cancelled. 

The act of planning a cruise has taken on new risks.  In the past, all one had to think about was arriving in town a day before a cruise, this would provide adequate margin for delayed flights and allow for cruisers to make it to a cruise terminal on time.  Now, cruisers must test negative for Covid before leaving for the cruise, and hope that they test negative again at the port.  Cruise ports may now refuse to allow a ship to dock, and people may not be able to go on the excursions they wanted when they booked their cruises.

I'm trying to nail down what NCL is doing for its 11 day cruisetour.  If you have to be Covid tested negative within 96 hours of boarding the ship (to ensure that NCL gives you a future cruise credit, instead of forfeiting your cruise payment), then you would need to be tested on Tuesday for a cruise leaving Saturday afternoon.  (Wednesday would be a transit day, and Thursday thru Saturday would be occupied by land touring.)  There is no reasonable way that the average person should gamble $5k/person with this risk factor. So I want to find out what NCL's procedures are for their cruisetours, as this would require a different process from a normal cruise.

At the time I'm writing this, the Pride of America's sailings have been cancelled for the next few weeks due to Covid.  If I book the flights on my own, then I have to work with a travel agent to get things changed/fixed.  But, if I let the cruise line book the air legs of the trip, they are responsible for making sure that my air arrangements are taken care of.  This is a great convenience, considering that several cruises out of Miami, Florida have been cut short.  (Who wants to get stuck in Miami for a week, because a cruise returned to its home port several days early?)  Considering that one woman I cruised with last month has just had two cruises cancelled on her, it's nice to be able to let the cruise line deal with all of the hassles of cancelling flights to and from the destination ports.

Right now, the CDC is recommending that even fully vaccinated and boosted people avoid cruising for the present. If one has already scheduled a cruise, one should see what the line's Covid cancellation policies are, and act accordingly.  As for me, I plan to book my Hawaii cruise now, and hope that things have improved by the time my trip is set to start.

I wanna do Debbie! (That should get your attention.)

 

Most people of my generation remember "Debbie Does Dallas" as a porno flick.  But how many of my readers also know it was an Off Broadway play, where the sex has been stripped out and replaced by the addition of music?

"Debbie" got its start at the New York Fringe festival.  Years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing this play at the Jane Theater.  If I remember correctly, the play moved to a larger theater, to accommodate the many people who flocked to the theater to have a great laugh.  Sadly, by the time I was able to convince a then girlfriend to see the play, it was closing.  Luckily, I have the soundtrack from the play and was playing it at the office while I performed my mindless tasks.

One of the highlights of the play is the song "Small Town Girl", where Debbie sings about her hopes and fears as she's about to go into her future.  With the exception of the mention of the Cheerleader uniform and its colors towards the end of the song, it could  have been sung in any Broadway musical.  

Would I pay to see this musical if it were staged by a professional company?  Yes!  All of the set ups for sex scenes are left in, the sex taken out, and the inane lines from the original film will make any adult laugh out loud.  Even now, I can remember the setup for what would have been a lesbian sex scene, and the last line uttered before a scene break: "I love it when you help me stretch."  Yes, you'd have to see the performers to get the joke.  But it got everyone laughing.

With all that we've gone though in the past 2 years, this play might be just what we need to get the laughs needed to make it through the day.

I want to do Debbie again!!!!

 

 

 

Bureaucracies, the bane of modern civilization - a short post.

 

The "All American Cubicle Farm" - it's one of our culture's unfortunate exports to other countries. When one has to deal with a problem transaction, your call is often routed to people like these to deal with you and your problem.  Sadly, it's the very reason many people prefer IVR systems (IVR - Intelligent Voice Recognition) over interacting with people.  As for me, I prefer people to machines, as only they can point a person in the right direction for problem resolution when a SNAFU is encountered.

Tonight, I had to deal with a problem getting my NCL Latitudes Points (frequent cruiser points) credited properly. Only after getting someone somewhat knowledgeable, I was pointed to the right area (an email form, sad to say) that will get to the right people who can help me with my problem.  AARGH!!!  While I was in the mood, I was also inclined to communicate with the travel agent who handled my most recent cruise.  I figure that I'd pose some questions, and see what he comes up with before I call him tomorrow evening.

In both cases, I was dealing with people in a Cubicle Farm.  And it's something I don't like about our modern age.  Hopefully, I'll get things resolved before I take my Hawaii cruise.  If so, it'll be another trip as Marian unless I'm sailing with a new girlfriend.  Either way, keep your fingers crossed.

Where is Skeeter Davis when you need her for a theme song?

 

At the time I started to write this entry, I was watching a film on Netflix called "Don't Look Up."  It's the story of two people who find a planet destroying comet, and all of the lunacy that happens when politicians and businessmen try to spin this knowledge for their own gains.  

All too often, we're finding that our political leadership uses emotional manipulation to keep the common people under control.  Much of our media dulls our senses, so that we won't notice the truths we have to deal with on a regular basis.  In the film, the media is painted as only wanting to deliver "happy news", trying to spin the projected destruction of the earth into an event that will benefit us all.  This is too close to real life for comfort, given the amount of "happy news" being broadcast on network TV.

What would happen if there was an extinction level event?  Given the past few years of politics, I think we'd fail to rise to the challenge.   Hopefully, Skeeter Davis would have had an alternate version of "It's the End of the World." in the can for us to listen to.

- - - - - -

But enough of that....

Today was a typical weekend day that started out with nothing for me to do, save clean up this apartment of mine.  And I proceeded to kill time as to not do that.  Then, I still have a hard decision to make - do I really want to keep this job I have?  I like having the money from the job, but I don't like how drained I feel after a long day at the office.  No, I can't complain about how I'm being treated.  It's the nature of the work environment that I don't like - it's an electronic assembly line that doesn't allow much for social interaction.  This is a problem for me, as I need more social interaction than I'm getting now.

After wasting the whole day in bed watching TV, I decided to go out as Mario.  It feels a little strange getting dressed this way, but it is the quickest thing I can do to get out - even if only to fill my car up with gas.  Unfortunately, I went to the wrong supermarket (ACME) as they did not seem to have a section where I could find pre-made meals that I could heat up at lunch.  So I picked up a couple of frozen dinners, and will eat them until I can go to Stew Leonard's or Wegmans to get something "Fresh."

Once I finished dinner, I called CWS.  Three hours later, we realized how long our call was, and called it a night.  But that wasn't the end of phone calls.  My friend Patty texted me to wish me a Happy New Year, and we ended up on a phone call that lasted another hour or so. 

The end of a week, and I'm all alone.

 

I really don't have much to say about today.  I had nowhere important to go, and no one important to see.  Yet, most of my time was occupied by one thing or another.

- - - - - -

Around noon, I met with another co-op board member to work on the meeting minutes.  Between the two us, we did little for the minutes, and a not of talking.  It was a big waste of time.  And then, I had to rush out to Greendrop to make another charitable donation - another 2 "donation bags" were cleared out of the house to do some good for somebody....

My return home was not meant to keep me inside for the rest of the day.  Yet, that's exactly what it did.  So, I ended up sorting through many of the papers cluttering up my desk and making the mess on top of it a manageable one.  Afterwards, I ended up chatting with friends - one of them until midnight.  

Tomorrow, it'll be the first day of the new year (yes, this entry was written over a week and a half ago), and it will be time to get out of the house.  With the omicron variant of Covid-19 going around, many of my friends are hunkering down again until another "all clear" is given.  As for me, I plan to be careful.

Bahamas Cruise - Afterword

 

One of the reasons I took my recent cruise on NCL was to build up rewards points for the Hawaii cruise I am planning to take next year.  My former cruise partner got me addicted to having a meal or two in NCL's specialty restaurants, and I missed them on the two most recent cruises I took without her.  Luckily for me, on my most recent cruise, I met a dining partner ready and willing to have me share her table at two of these restaurants using her coupon.

- - - - - -

At the time I booked my trip on the Gem, I was supposed to get two extra points per night on the ship. This would mean that instead of having 70 points, and remaining in "Gold" status, I would have 84 points and be promoted to "Platinum" status.

If you look at the benefits offered to Platinum status members over Gold status cruisers, I would get two specialty restaurant meals each time I cruise.  And I wanted to make sure I get it with this cruise.  Unfortunately, NCL did not credit my account with the 21 points I expected.  They only credited me with 7 points.  So I called NCL around 6 pm on the Wednesday after the cruise.  After a disconnected call, I was able to reach a service agent who agreed with me - I was supposed to get credit for 21 points, not 7.  She said that she would reach out to the points department, and get this problem resolved.

At the time I started this entry, NCL has yet to credit me with the extra points.  This is not a make or break issue for me.  But it is something I will include in a letter to the CEO if the issue is not resolved in my favor within the next week.  If it is resolved, I will send a thank you letter.  Either way, I have something to write about - and I will keep my readers informed.

 

I'm finally back home!

 

I'm glad that I saved Google's discontinued photo system (Picasa) to edit images.  It does much of the simple edits that I want to have done without having to use a complex tool such as GIMP.  Sometimes, all I need to do is adjust a picture so that staircase steps are parallel to the ground, and to strengthen colors that were weak in the original photo.  In addition to simple cropping, that's all that was done to make this picture worth publishing. I mention the editing process for the above picture because I find it easier to do on a desktop than on a cellphone or tablet.  So to get a good copy of this image (the only selfie I took on my trip), I had to do it at home.

- - - - - -

When I got home, the first thing I had to do was unpack.  While unpacking, I found the costume jewelry that I had accidentally left at home.  But I found another thing to be missing - a set of keys used to open up my downstairs storage compartment. Even worse, the key to the co-op's board meeting area (a vacant studio apartment we bought at the bottom of the market) was also missing.  So I ended up asking a fellow board member to make a duplicate key for me.  (We were supposed to meet at the end of the week, so that I can show him how to do things on his computer and be able to edit meeting minutes in my absence.)  This board member decided to test out the replacement key and found that someone broke into the apartment.  Luckily, nothing in the apartment was worth anything to a thief.  But id result in a call to a handyman to secure the apartment for future use.

The second day after my return from the cruise, I was told that the old payroll system was cutting a check for me.  Something got fouled up, as I had my pay being sent to two accounts.  75% would go to an account at bank #1, and the remainder would go to bank #2.  It seems as if the conversion to a new payroll system (to be used in the new year) caused the problem.  The new payroll system does not allow this type of pay split - all money has to go to a single account.  So I'll bet that someone decided to change my status to requiring a paper check be cut, and force me to deal with the issue in the new payroll system.

By the time the end of the week came, I was in the mood to leave my job.  No, this was not an issue of anger or frustration.  It was simply an issue of whether it was worth my time to deal with the issues of working on an electronic assembly line in a time of pandemic resurgence.  This is a decision not to be made lightly.  Yet, it is a decision I should make soon - I can no longer be ambivalent about wanting this job.  The first person I talked about this was my friend Vicki - and she gave me some food for thought.  But I'll be speaking with other friends over the weekend, as I want to be sure of any decision I may make by the next time I report to the office.

PS: I just found out that a former friend became a grandma.  Congratulations!!!!

Bahamas Cruise - Day 8 (Debarkation)

 

I woke up very early and packed.  Part of me wished I could safely go back to sleep.  But I knew better.  If I had taken the opportunity to go back to sleep at 5:00 am, I'd have missed the above shot, as the ship made its way through New York harbor.

When 7:00 am came, I made my way to the main dining room, and had a leisurely breakfast.  About an hour later, I said goodbye to some of the staff there, and made my way to the atrium to wait.  This was not a day to wear a dress - unless it was treated as a longish tunic.  And that's what I did.  I didn't stand out. Eventually, my luggage tag color was called (there were not many of us), and I made my way off the ship for the last time, and into the ship terminal.

Entering the terminal, I knew that my large bag should be in the "gray" luggage section.  But it wasn't.  This could be a big problem for me!  I had so much stuff that would be impossible to replace at short notice in that bag.  Thankfully, I asked for assistance.  And 20 minutes later, my suitcase was found. Then it was off to customs (where there were only 3 stations servicing our ship's passengers) where I waited on line for another 15 minutes before being free to catch a cab outside.  You'll notice that I hadn't mentioned that I have masculine ID, but was presenting as a female.  I've done this enough times, that it's not a big deal to me or the customs agent.  Hopefully, newcomers to our "tribe" will see this and overcome their fears of traveling in their authentic gender.

The cab ride back to Grand Central was uneventful, save that I noticed that the "clock" wasn't ticking.  I ended up getting charged the same for my ride to Grans Central, as I was charged "on the clock" coming from Grand Central.  (I'll have to ask if there's a flat rate from the cruise ship terminal to certain NYC destinations.)  And I was again lucky - I had 15 minutes to find the train to Croton.  And less than 90 minutes later, I was home....

 

PS:  It seems as if I accidentally grabbed someone else's "App-Hailed" ride.  This explains the flat rate of $20 to go from the Cruise Terminal to Grand Central.

PPS: It was so much nicer at the end of this cruise NOT to be concerned about a former cruise partner's feelings about waking up early on debarkation day.

Bahamas Cruise - Day 7 (Sea Day - Christmas Day)

 

"Merry Christmas!" was the theme for today.  And many people were leaving their cabins to celebrate - in their Christmas Jammies.  If I had been wearing a new flannel nightgown, I might have joined some of the people in this activity.  Instead, I decided to get dressed in a "civilian" outfit, and get ready for tomorrow's Debarkation. 

I had awakened early, and knew I'd be paying a price for this later on in the day.  However, I got showered and dressed, then went to the buffet to eat breakfast.  While at the buffet, I met many people in their jammies.  And I found it entertaining how people would celebrate the holiday when they couldn't do many serious gift exchanges.  After breakfast, I decided to buy a couple of pictures.  At $25 each, they are way overpriced.  Since I get a 25% discount, the $37.50/picture is slightly more reasonable.  What galled me was the employee trying to sell me packages of 5 (for $125) and 8 (for $200).  There were no savings for buying them in large quantities, and I felt insulted that they were trying to call what they were doing as offering me a "bargain".

When I returned to my cabin, I chatted with the steward, and asked whether I'd be seeing him again, so that I could give him his tip.  Unfortunately, he'd be in a meeting when I was going to dinner with my friend from Oregon.  But he told me to leave money on the bed - which I did.  I then asked him about the cyst on his eyelid. He told me that the ship's doctor could lance it today.  But to do so, the steward would lose his last day with people he knew. (To me, I think he wanted to make sure he got his tips.)  Hopefully, he got the cyst taken care of the next day - and rested as the doc would allow him to do.

At dinner, my friend from Oregon asked me about my male name, as she tried to reach me by phone.  I explained that I was transgender, and usually travel this way.  Then, our conversation continued as if this wasn't an issue.  She noted that if it weren't for trying to reach me, that she'd never have known anything.  I guess my presentation (especially, my voice) is getting better than I knew. My new friend noted that she wanted to eat at the steakhouse specialty restaurant on Christmas.  Otherwise, we'd have gotten the free bottle of wine at our first dinner (she doesn't drink), and I could have consumed it on two nights.  (You can easily see why I want to reach "Platinum" status ASAP - I want the 2 "free" specialty meals and the "free" bottle of good wine.)

All too soon, the day had to end.  So I bid my friend goodbye, and went up to the cabin to finish packing.

Bahamas Cruise - Day 6 (Sea Day - Christmas Eve)

 

The above is typical of the views from the ship on Christmas Eve.  One could almost imagine someone reciting "It was the night before Christmas..." in the Gem's atrium to a bunch of young children.  However, none were on this cruise, as the ship was only accepting vaccinated passengers.  So, the only things that might have given away that Christmas was near were Christmas decorations like the tableau below found in the atrium.

- - - - - -

Since the cruise was about to end in two days, I decided to start packing.my bags.  It's too bad that I didn't take pictures of the mess that had to be fit into my luggage.  Luckily, I had no space wasting souvenirs to bring home.  Instead, I had clothing that could get wrinkled, as my dresses, leggings, underwear and socks would all be going in the laundry when I got home.  

Being that this was a sea day, I considered going in the hot tub one last time.  But I decided not to, as I wanted to bring home a dry swimsuit. Instead, I decided to do some reading and watch a movie.  One problem - the communications system for the rear of the boat (maybe just my floor) was out.  I couldn't watch TV, nor could I call my steward to get help.  So I went down to guest services and explained the situation.  On the way back to my cabin, I met another steward - and his phone was out. The problem was localized, and not of a critical nature.  Sooner or later, TV would be restored, and that was fine with me.  I could watch a movie saved on my iPad.

Walking through the halls, I noticed a lot of hang tags like the one below:

I never saw one on doors where I knew people occupied the cabins.  Therefore, I came to  simple conclusion: These cabins were unoccupied.  Given the number of these hang tags found on the second to last day of the cruise, I figured that the ship sailed at 40% (or less) of capacity.

- - - - - -

So far, this had been a wonderful trip.  I had a great time.  Yet, I could say that I did almost nothing but eat and sleep.  I'd miss the crew when I had to leave, as this was the first time I really noticed any of them - even if I couldn't remember any of their names.

Bahamas Cruise - Day 5 (Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas)

 

Great Stirrup Cay - NCL's private island.  It's a nice playground, but not one I wanted to bother with.  If NCL had bothered to build a pier, I might have gotten off the ship to enjoy a pristine beach.  But that was not the case for me.  

- - - - - -

This was another day that I decided to stay on the ship.  Most people had gotten off the ship, leaving the pool/hot tub areas relatively empty.  So I decided to take another soak, and got in the wrong tub.  No, it was not because there was anything wrong with the tub itself.  Instead, I was surrounded with Trump supporters.  One thing you can't do with people who have drunk the Kool Aid is argue with them using facts.  Instead I tried to shift the topic as best I could, so that we'd have more things we could agree on than get agitated about.  (When one of these people mentioned "voter fraud", there was no way that I was going to cite the Associated Press and its statistic regarding this crime in battleground states.  These people would never believe it.)  At least, I got deeper tan lines from sitting in this tub for an hour....

What I found most interesting about this stop was that Royal Caribbean's private isle was next door - Little Stirrup Cay.  Of course, they had to rename the isle "Coco Cay", so that there wouldn't be brand confusion between the two islands.

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Tonight's dinner was with the woman I met on the trip to Fort Sumter.  The specialty restaurant we visited was good as usual, and I continue to be impressed with what they can do with meat on a grill. Now if only, I could get their recipe for a grilled pineapple, I'd be in heaven.  But that's another story. After dinner, I went to the casino, and then to the lounge.  I had a good time, but was surprised to find out that the lounge singer didn't know (what I think are) well known standards, such as "St. John's Infirmary."  And there was another person in the audience who had the same feelings that I did.  Too bad that I didn't get the chance to meet her husband.  I'd have liked to meet someone who'd forget his wallet at home.  (He has to be worse at remembering things than I am, as I only forgot my jewelry before going on this cruise.)

Bahamas Cruise - Day 4 (Port Canaveral, FL)

 

I'll bet all of my readers have seen "Fish out of Water" stories on the silver screen.  Crocodile Dundee is one of my favorites in this genre.  When we arrived in Port Canaveral, I tried to come up with a joke that fits this genre.  But all I could come up with was that NYC is testing out a new ferry route to remind our snowbirds where their home should be.  In reality, this ferry was one of 3 being built in Florida, and was on its 14 day journey from where it was built to where it soon call home.

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Why did I point out this ferry, and not other things found at this port?  Well, I was in this port with my former girlfriend, and was unimpressed with things to do here.  There is no downtown.  One has to be bused to get anywhere, and that includes 90 minute rides to Orlando's theme parks.  And, if one goes to any of these parks, one will need to leave early to make it back to the ship on time before it sails out of the country.

In my case, I decided to stay on the ship and soak in the hot tub.  This is the first time I got to wear my swimsuit in 2 years.  And I felt good about it.  (I think I look much better as a female in a swimsuit than I do as a male. A skirted swimsuit can hide a hell of a lot of things!)  The only thing I wish I could have done was to have better fitting swim forms.  But that's another story for another day.

At dinner, I met one of the two ladies I've dined with before on this trip.  We exchanged contact information and agreed to have dinner again in a couple of days.  (I had already made plans to have dinner with the other woman, and didn't want to have a scheduling conflict.)  When we were through with dinner, I moseyed over to the casino where I won some cash. So I took my winnings and went to the theater to see the comedian's scheduled performance.  He was good, but I had to leave early due to GI Tract issues.  Too bad this was the 9 pm showing, or I'd have gone back for the second show....

Bahamas Cruise - Day 3 (Charleston, SC)

 

If this cruise stopped at Nassau instead of the port of Charleston, I'd have passed on taking this cruise.  Yet, if I had known it was going to rain, I wouldn't have selected this shore excursion.  Go figure....

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I decided to take the afternoon trip to Fort Sumter, even though it was drizzling all day.  I had paid for this trip before the cruise, and I didn't want to consider the $100 I spent on the tour wasted money.  This was a good thing, as I met a new friend who I'd dine with at the Gem's Specialty Restaurants later in the week, and that I got a much better understanding (in a 10 minute presentation by a park ranger) of the causes for the Civil War than I ever got from the history books I've read.

After getting back to the ship, I ended up dining in the main room with the same lady I dined with earlier in the week.  This lady is a former opera performer, and we seemed to hit it off well.  (Too bad I wasn't in Mario mode.  But then, just as well, as she had already been divorced 3 times.  I don't want to be number 4.)

 

There seemed to be fewer performers on the ship than in the past.  They may have been given easier duties, but required to perform longer than usual to keep staffing levels down.  But then, with lounge areas this empty, I'd expect that the cruise line would need to use gimmicks to make people feel like they were getting their money's worth of entertainment.  (No, this is not a criticism of the cruise line.  Instead, this is a recognition that they have to be careful with every dollar they spend until the ships are running at full capacity again.)  When I looked at the shows on the main stage, I noticed that one of the shows is the same as I found on the ship over 2 years ago.  I guess that they needed to get a show up and running quickly, and re-staging an old show might be the most efficient way of making sure that each ship has at least one "theatrical" production.

 

PS: You'll note that I've said nothing about being transgender.  With the exception of showing my legal ID when returning to the ship, my gender and presentation wasn't an issue for me....

Bahamas Cruise - Day 2 (Sea Day)

 

I woke up early. only to fall asleep again.  By the time I was fully awake, it was lunch time.  This is typical for me when I'm on a cruise - such as going out in my female presentation.

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This was the slow boat to Charleston, and yet, it was already warm enough outside for some people to take a dip in the hot tubs on the Lido Deck.  I figured that I was going to get at least one or two days use out of my swimsuit this trip - and planned accordingly for it.

When I got back to my room, I noticed that my TV wasn't displaying my account status.  (I like knowing what charges are being applied to my account in real time.)  So I went down to the main desk and asked for help.  Too bad this may have caused a minor headache for my room steward, as the person at the desk had English as a second language and could not pick up the nuance in how I was describing the problem.  Eventually, I caught up with the steward, and he found out that the problem was with the remote control and not with the upstream software.  (I'll be sure to give him a good review when I participate in the after-cruise survey.)

 

As became my routine, I decided to eat in the Grand Pacific (main) dining room.  It was strange to see this many staff members waiting to direct guests to available tables.  When I had the opportunity to talk with the woman in charge of the dining room, I found out that the room has been this way since the Gem started sailing earlier this year.  This ship has been operating below 50% capacity for weeks, and there is no sign that things will change anytime soon.

I finally had the chance to do my nails.  No, the polishing wasn't so great.  But it did get me through the week with minimal touch-ups.  If I had thought about it and had the time before the cruise,  I'd have gotten a mani-pedi.  Yet, it's nice to have nails on which I could leave painted for a while.

As would be expected, I forgot something at home - my jewelry.  So I used the few items I brought with me when I went to the photographers on later nights....

Bahamas Cruise - Day 1 (Embarkation)

 

I've recently hinted that I was going away on a cruise.  Sadly, there was no way that I'd consider writing about what happened in real time.  There are still too many people who'd figure out where I live and burglarize the place.  So, there is a longer than usual gap between the time I sailed on this ship and the time you'll read about my exploits.

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Day 1 - Embarkation.

It's been over 2 years since I've gone on any vacation.  So this trip would be both a chance to relax and a chance to see what has changed to keep passengers safe when cruising on this ship.  This would be a "new" experience for me, as I am accustomed to getting on board the ship "late" and leaving "early".

My scheduled arrival time at the pier was at noon.  So, I worked my times backward and decided that I had to make it out of my house by 9:15, so that I could catch a 9:45 train into NYC.  One problem - the cab service I usually use wasn't picking up its phone. I ended up having to call a cab service in Ossining (one town over from me), and deal with a man who didn't know the way to my apartment complex.  Luckily, he was nearby, and I told him how to reach my place with a few minutes to spare before my train.

I had time to kill when I reached NYC, so I looked around Grand Central for a few minutes.  One of the things I was looking for was a place selling OMNY cards, but none were there to be found. (I'll have to search around the GCT area for OMNY cards the next time I'm in the area.) Then, I killed more time by finding an unofficial place to sit, as the official waiting area wasn't yet open. Eventually, the clock struck 11:30, and I made my way to the cab stand to make it to the pier.

 

Once at the pier, I was directed to a station at Pier 90.  This was the place where NCL had contracted with another firm to do their Covid testing. The antigen test was not as accurate as the PCR test I did the previous Thursday.  But it showed the result I needed - NEGATIVE.  I was cleared to go, and given a pink band to indicate that I passed the test.  Now, I was off to Pier 88 to check in for my cruise.  At Pier 88, I was checked in and on the ship in 10 minutes.  So, after 30 minutes of arriving at the cruise terminal, I was onboard and in my cabin.

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The first subtle difference I noticed on the ship was that everyone was wearing wearing face masks. Although the card-key was still being used, the cruise line was also working with facial recognition technology when getting on and off the ship.  Since I mentioned the card-key, I might as well mention that it was always used in Tap-and-Go mode.  One didn't have to swipe their card-key to enter a cabin. One simply tapped the card-key on the door's reader, and you'd be able to open the door.

Another difference is the lack of selfie stations.  When I last cruised on the Norwegian Gem, there were several places around the ship where you could have your picture taken with a Norwegian Gem background and send it to your friends as free advertising for the line.  In the places where those stations were once found were holiday decorations.  Although the selfie machines could come back, I doubt they will.  They create a sanitary problem, as these stations are operated by direct finger contact.

A welcome change to standard operating procedure was the lack of a formal muster drill.  Instead of marching to a muster area with a lot of other people, one watches a safety presentation in the comfort of one's own cabin.  Once the video is viewed, one checks in at the muster station for a quick presentation on how to use a "Mae West". And that's it.  It's much easier than before, and much more effective.

I expected to see the serve yourself buffet replaced by a buffet where servers would put the foods you select onto your plate - as has been done by other cruise lines.  This limits the possibility of an infected passenger contaminating the food which others may eat.  I was appalled by seeing one teenager take his water carton, and refill it by putting the nozzle inside the water carton.  This is against the ship's rules, but the kid didn't care.  It was too inconvenient to refill the water carton another way.  Sadly, the buffet is one area where the cruise line could implement higher standards of hygiene.

 

Even though I expected to see a relatively empty theater, I was still a little bit surprised.  Based on what I saw, I think that the ship was sailing at 30%-40% capacity.  Although it was nice to have a little more personalized attention, I miss the energy that larger groups generate.  Yet, right now, I was glad not to be sailing on a crowded ship.