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....
 

 

 
 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas to all my readers!  I'll have a bit of new stuff to come soon. 
But for today, enjoy the holiday with your friends and relatives.

More and More Covid....

 
I received the above message from NCL about my upcoming cruise.  It seems like the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has caused the cruise line to rethink its safety protocols, and determine that we must take a few steps backward to stay safe on board the ship.  As much as I was looking forward to being on a ship without having to wear a mask, I agree with NCL that their first priority must be to keep passengers as safe as possible from the virus.  NCL recommends that passengers take a PCR test before the date of their cruises, and that has been on my list of things to do.  Luckily, CVS offers this service at some of their stores, and it is covered by insurance - for now.  So I know what is needed for me to insure that I am no threat to others who may be cruising with me.

Part of me wishes that I weren't going on this cruise. However, it was a bargain too good to pass up.  At the time I booked my trip, Omicron had yet to rear its ugly head. Now, it's poised to cause more trouble than the Delta variant, as it is more infectious and it can bypass many of the defenses that the vaccines put up to keep us from getting sick if infected.  Yet, if one has been vaccinated and boosted, one will likely be able to avoid a hospital visit - unless one is there for other reasons.  It's the unvaccinated that should give us reasons to be concerned, as hospitals are again being overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients - almost all of them coming from our unvaccinated population.

Shortly after lunch today, our former personnel manager called everyone into a quick meeting.  She told us that two of our workers had been diagnosed with Covid-19, and are quarantining themselves at home.  People working closely with these two people have been told to get tested.  I was not one of those told to get tested, though I got tested anyway.  I figure that it's better to be safe than sorry - especially if one of those two people is my boss....

 

 

 

 

It's getting harder and harder to make charitable donations

 

I used to have no problem getting rid of clothing I no longer needed.  When my wife died, I brought at least 15 large bags of clothing to a local charity - and they were grateful to get it.  Today, with Covid-19 causing many thrift shops to close, it's much harder to get rid of extra clothing without putting it into the roadside bins without receiving a receipt for a charitable donation.

When the LGBT center's thrift shop was open, I used to bring bags of clothing there for resale - and I know that it did the center good.  However, Covid-19 forced the center to make a hard decision, and they closed down the thrift shop.  Luckily, I knew of a few places that still accepted clothing donations.  But they had limited store hours, most closing at 5 pm.  AARGH!  Since I didn't want to wait until I got back from vacation to make my donations, I drove to a nearby donation center - and arrived a minute before closing.  (Their lights had just been turned off as I pulled into the place.)  So they reopened just to take my bags (and of the woman ahead of me), and get us out of there as quickly as possible.

I have nothing against this place, and I will likely use them again.  But I intend to use Goodwill for my next donation, and see what receipt I get from them.  If I'm lucky, I'll get the type of receipt that my accountant can use to maximal advantage at tax time....

It's hard to believe that the year is almost over.

 

This is not what I think of when I think of a hot dog. But it best illustrates the absurdity that we've been through for the past two years.  We think we know what to ask for.  But when our order comes, something has to have been lost in communication.

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Last year at this time, many of were worried about what could happen to us if we were to risk being in the same room with others not part of our residential units.  Now that most of us have been vaccinated, we're not worried about catching the virus - even though the vaccines do not guarantee that we won't get sick.  Last year, it was if we were being told: "Go directly to Jail.  Do not pass Go.  Do not collect $200."  This year, it seems as we're going directly from "Go" to "Free Parking" and back without any risk.  But there is a big risk that us vaccinated people are ignoring.  We could catch a Covid-19 virus variant against which the vaccines do not protect us.

In 2020, our world seemed to slam on the brakes.  This year, it seems as the world has started up again, but with dirty fuel.  So we're seeing inflation, supply shortages, regionally high unemployment - all in a booming economy.  None of us alive can remember a world that surprises us as much as it does today.  And it's just as well that we don't....

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When I started at my current job, I never thought I'd be here at year end.  And now, I will finally go on the company's health care plan.  This is only a short term thing, as I will be on Medicare by mid year.  Will my costs go down?  Probably not.  But for this gal, I expect that my world will continue to spin faster and faster as things continue to change quicker than any of us are used to....

Lately, I've been watching cruise videos for entertainment.

 

Lately, I've been watching cruise videos for entertainment.  Yes, there are several cruises I'm planning to take in the next few years, a Hawaii cruise being one of them.  It'll be strange to get out and about to see parts of the world I've never been to before.  Yet, this is part of the process of breaking out of my shell.

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There are several Vloggers whose videos I watch.  Two of the Vlogs I watch most are "Tips for Travelers" (TFT) and "Emma Cruises" (EC).  Both Vloggers are British, but focus on different experiences.  TFT focuses both on the basics and on high end cruising.  EC focuses on some of the basics, but more on value oriented cruising. There are others, such as Life Well Cruised that give travel hacks, and La Lido Loca that focuses on cruise industry news.  All of these Vloggers proviide valuable information, and their videos should be watched before planning a cruise.

Why do I mention these Vloggers and their Vlogs?  Well, to give one example, I have learned which cabins I should book if I want a "smoother" trip in stormy weather.  Several years ago, I was on a cruise where the ship hit stormy seas.  Normally, I don't get seasick, but I could have gotten so in a storm which made walking through the corridors feel as if I was riding a roller coaster.  If I had his advice, I might never have been in the cabin I was in, had I been traveling alone. As I write this entry, one of these Vloggers is discussing the best cruises to take during each month of the year.  And from my experiences so far, this Vlogger is on target with his advice.

Vlogging earns these people good money.  But to achieve this, these Vloggers must provide real value in their videos.  So far, I'm finding that there is a small number of Cruise oriented Vloggers that know each other and support each other.  It's a friendly competition, as they know that viewers like me will want to see what each of these Vloggers have to say and form our own opinions based on information they provide.

So, if you are planning a cruise, you could do worse than to watch these Vloggers' posts....

Brunch with the Fun Time Friends

 

 

There were two things on the docket for today: 

• Brunch with the FTF's in Connecticut
• Dinner and a Concert in Tarrytown with Vicki
  

Both of them would have me attending as Marian.  Yet, if I had my druthers on this dreary day, I'd have stayed at home and in bed.

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Although I was awake before the alarms rang, I still needed them to get moving.  In a rush, I ended up putting on my makeup outside my normal sequence. And this delayed my departure, as I had do triple check that my presentation was on target.  When one has a masculine body, one has to make sure that as many signs of masculinity have been disguised, and that as many signs of femininity are displayed. For the most part, I think I do tolerably well as presenting as a large size woman.

After an hour and a quarter of driving in the rain, I made it to the meetup and had a nice brunch.  The seafood pot pie was large, and well worth the price that the restaurant charged.  However, I had two meals out scheduled for the day, and should have chosen the salad for the first meal.  But I didn't know this at the time.

When the meal was over, I drove home, talking to a new woman from OK Cupid.  She's a widow, and located on Long Island.  Given our mutual schedules, we probably won't be seeing each other until the second week of January.

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Around 5:30, Vicki came over, and we drove to Tarrytown for dinner, then went to the Music Hall (a theater) around the corner to see K.T.Turnstall and Martin Sexton perform.  When we got to the theater, we were directed to a pair of orchestra level seats that Vicki found unacceptable - she ordered a pair of seats on the aisle, not in the middle of the row. When people were directed to our seats, we knew we had a problem.  So we ended up (after a discussion) being told that our seats were on the balcony level.  And again, the seats were not what Vicki thought we were getting. So, again, it was a trek to find someone who could help us.  This time, our seats were exchanged for two seats in the orchestra section, closer to the stage than before. But we had the aisle seats that Vicki wanted.

We both enjoyed the concert.  Yet, we were both glad when it ended - it was a long day for both of us. So, I dropped her off at her car, and I did the most feminine thing I could think of - take off my bra, and get into something comfortable....