mking8288

@Turtles06 Hi, how are you - all is good and well. Got these on a flash sale, not premium nor best, not fancy but get the job done. Holds 8 oz collapsed and up to 16 oz. - cautioned to hold carefully as it can flex & spill, no worse than popular bottler water sold around here. Rinse a few times to pre-condition them to rid any possible odor. Space-saver, don't want to lug insulated tall bottles all over & fly home with them.

Turn up the music video and "let's rock" or perhaps the theme song from "Rocky" and maybe some hits from Donna Summer and do your "Flashdance" from the 1983 movie, "Against All Odds" and don't "Let it Go, Let it Go" by quitting. Our ship is coming 🤗

Weather Channel - snapshots of upcoming ports of call, pack & repack accordingly - wet gears a must, layers, good walking shoes, and weatherproof outerwear. This is warm for us 😀 😎 Pearl is on track to arrive around 6 AM tomorrow and not in a hurry, average cruise speed since departing Miami w crews only at 15 to 16 kts. Prima depart from DR scheduled for 3 PM, ETA to NY should be updated ... stay tuned for my crystal ball forecast or guesstimate 😸

Good morning 🌄 sunny skies ahead, not today in NYC and that's okay. Seas forecasted to be good for next several + days to Halifax & Iceland.

Look here - My 22" expandable carry-on is 95% ready now, still heavy at 28+ lbs with Sony Vaio NB, mouse, charger, cables & the chargers, adapters, etc. 1 med. compression packing cube with sleepwear+ and a clean set of warm clothes (this is under 5 lbs) - convertible as standalone into a "personal bag" by itself, maybe in a recyclable shopping tote bag ... permitted, free, carry-on (if necessary) 2x Tumi pouches (toiletry in 1, minus liquid and 2nd one with meds) and slim 1/2 sized packing cube with all misc. & loose items, masks, clips, hooks & lanyards, etc. plus a field first aid pouch. All nested within a convertible, expandable 19" backpack/carry-on. Packing fresh OTC meds, dumping out old, undated vitamins & supplements (why risk expired ones) along with prescribed & labeled Rx ... in case of questions during border crossing or airport security en route home. Outbound or embarkation out of NYC, port security don't even blink while looking for other things. Once, someone paused my bag to examine a pen (metallic) and LED flashlight just to make sure it wasn't something else ... Coleman multi-tool with 1" blade passed thru, no issues whatsoever. Per latest weather forecast, warmer than the outfits already packed, going to re-pack ... sometime on Friday, not a big deal. Folks flying in tomorrow or Thursday, not an option. Not going anywhere at T minus 1 then, aside from lurking for Prima's whereabouts on high seas and calculating my best estimated ETA.

This year's Pearl TA, see post below from fella CC sailing shortly hasn't heard otherwise, fingers crossed for 2025. Deja vu - just saw this on Cruisehive now ...we aren't alone with the times-a-changing 😳🙄😤 but to my fellow RC members, Sharon got it - Let it Go, Let It Be and Let It Roll. It is what it is 😬 In short, not mechanical or engine ... Right whales protection & speed restriction regs, not exactly "unforseen circumstances" after most cruisers, including seasoned ones, have finalized travel plans. Just not (kindly fill in one's own) cool with this. Let the Getaway folks on this upcoming TA speak for themselves.

@ontheweb Great idea & worthy for those panicking last minute to find a tour in NS, "downtown" or city centre is walkable along the waterfront, very easy & safe ... some of the other popular stops are slightly uphill. From 2022, 2 of us took an Uber from Pier 20 to the Citadel (barrack/fortress) on the hilltop overlooking the city for $10 CN$ and slightly more hailing a taxi from one of the hotel's waiting zone back to the ship for a late lunch vs. spending more for the hop-on & off bus (price has gone up by an obscene amount since ...) As usual, we'll play by ears & just wing it again since our "Escape" had to skip the stop last September. Museum next door at the pier plus that indoor market/food court is the place for free & fast WiFi, with restrooms. If "The Price is Right" with fresh lobsters in town, not flash frozen as this is still early in the season (unless they have soft shells at 2+ lbs a piece, then I "dive" for them, outta my way) - not going to starve for a few hours. @snorklinbarb Confession: I got lost on the Prima earlier on, took 3 others on an unscheduled cabin crawl toward the far end of the ship ... just once. Now, "I believe I can fly" and neverlost (Hertz car rental commercial ...) Plan to, but haven't really look at Windy App to preview sea state and waves ahead - if the going gets tough, just rock and roll with it, minding the stairs and hold on (loosely, at least) to hand rails. Folks: remember, the triangles on the carpet, look closer, are pointing the way - Fwd/Aft) We have a lot of TA "veterans" on this sailing's roll call, many sailed NCL x times and more, and some with other lines and changing up their pace & sampling to compare. Those non-refundable OBC - head for the duty-free shops and spend it down to zero ... cosmetics prices are usually fair ... LV bags are for sale onboard, "tax-free" and that should "fix" or solve anyone with too much OBC, not sure how to zero it out. Wait, I do wonder if one can refill those Starbucks gift cards and pay for the reloading using OBC. Sharon @Fogfog Probably have a better idea by Thursday as to how bad things could become for Prima's day in NY - my gut feeling is that hailing the taxi from the doorsteps of the hotel is probably the best, fastest, easiest and it's going to be like $15 for the short ride, $20 at most with tips added. Carmel will likely "overcharge" and Uber might not play the surge pricing game except no cars on the display being available in the vicinity. Could be better than expected but too early to call the scores. @kattybiz Great & Bon Voyage in less than 2 days, another app showing the Pearl's scheduled departure time is 18:00 - with an empty ship in ready mode when she get to NYC, should see a relatively smooth embarkation. Besides, NCL can load provisions both while in Miami as well as NY for the TA crossing, unlike "our" Prima - fewer pax to get onboard. Yes, we will be cheering and watching for your 1st two stops as the "pioneer" and pave the way for us. Happy & safe travel ahead for a wonderful cruise. Lord, more spam NCL email about the video, oooookay - waiting, we ain't have a choice on the matter. Heck, it beats 3,000 or whatever #'s people all standing around to wait for the last 100 to show up and for the crew to start the emergency/safety drill demo, which you often can't really hear or watch and then to try to get back to the cabin or elsewhere for the sailaway. It's a no-win deal ... @Fogfog I feel and think we have a fun & diverse group of cruisers onboard this weekend, the M&G will just be the kickoff for 2 weeks of informal & random gathering ... maybe, I should propose, on sea days, we have a daily (PM) roundtable inside Indudge Food Hall for CC'ers to hang out & shoot the breeze. Close enough to the nearby bar at "The Loca" and the Haven elevator/lobby. It was under-utilized on our last TA except during meal services & keep this low profile - just a thought, of course. Too bad the notion of a sailaway didn't materialize and the slot pull is a bust, but at least Peter is gung ho for a bar crawl and maybe surprise us with a scheme for cabin crawl. Nor is there interest for LCR / LCR game on sea day (not that we play) fading away with the newer demographics ?

Important Notice (NCL) again 😬 OK, OK ... got it and stop spamming 🙄 Let's see if and how the Pearl is affected by these regulations or not. They are northbound now at just 15 kts with crews only. Once docked this Thursday morning at Pier 88 by/before 10 AM - they can possibly early board Haven & others by 11 AM, easily. Good for them on their TA. Staterooms will be ready and few will miss lunch on embarkation day ... Err... , I see. "Houston" HQ, we might have a few, slight, logistical challenges (I mean, NCL Miami) with pax possibly affected by these changes. Great for anyone flying in that morning or on a red-eye flight with delays, they'll have extra time to get to Pier 88, in time for afternoon tea & coffee or early bird dinner. Hoping that travel partners will have proper # of buses ready to do the transfers at both area airports for embarking pax, and, for disembarking pax - starting at 10 AM - many will be looking for the best way to ... This could set off surge pricing for Uber & Lyft and a shortage of vehicles at Dial 7 and Carmel. We are better off booking our local car service, 3 to ride minivan for the price of a Carmel standard sedan. Niece is going to meet us at the pier Fortune Teller said, port congestions & traffic jams, and hectic operations inside & outside the terminal ... on the bright side, weather is good. Re-repacking those clothing layers a bit, adjusting for slighting warmer weather; more ,"last minute" stuff coming from Amazon via USPS. Bills payment scheduled, another Fall cruise paid in full ... (yes) tax refunds expected tomorrow. No cooking, grocery runs, cleaning, laundry and garbage disposal, etc. Quoting another CC, another day at sea is better than at home, at work or otherwise staring at gossips & posts on CC or news of trouble around the world.

T minus 4 Days - Good morning, out in Long Island this morning briefly to finish some errands, stopping by to see the grand nephews & grand niece as the "teens" are off from school (Happy Passover to those that celebrate and let dream of global peace) and the pooch is chilling as usual (doesn't like "strangers" to approach, let alone to try to pet. After lunch, a quick stop for haircut and then home, dieting until we are onboard and going into semi-lockdown mode, isolating and minimize further, unnecessary contacts ... it's not uncommon for travelers (cruisers) to bring "unwanted" onboard, then unknowingly "spread" it around silently. Seeing the raised "alert" from Iceland's "Met" (gov't weather) office about urgent lava warning about - just going to have to deal with that, when and if we get there ... checking our 4WD rental, can cancel ahead by giving them notice & 100% refundable ... printing the confirmation out & saving PDF, download offline navigational maps. Google Fi's 5G data only nano-sim (2x) activated & in the iPhone and Galaxy S22+, this will be our MiFi hotspot that support multiple devices tethering at the same time, although I prefer to use the Google Pixel 4a 5G sometimes (photos & videos uploaded to "Drive" and "Photo" are unlimited at near original quality, no "caps") As long as we have cellular signals, including roaming (no extra charges abroad, 200+ countries covered & included - 50GB max before "subject to" speed reduction or throttled) - always careful about this, regardless & check billing and SMS alerts, if any - we can pretty much do whatever, off the ship and onboard while docked or within range of land signals - that's one of the beauty of using this highly flexible plan w/o contract. With the S22+ configured in addition to 2 Pixel smartphones, we will be able to catch up on live news (Samsung Live TV Plus) and not depend on "feeds" onboard from NCL's satellite-based signal, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify premium (just turned on a 3 mos. free "trial" that will cancel later) - still need to refresh offline & downloaded video & music, eBooks for reading ... yeah, if and only if we have time on sea days. And, with 23 hours day ahead & several time zone changes en route. Contingency planning and continuous readiness, one of the few vestiges from being involved in disaster & emergency management, learning all the time on how best to improvise.

Was it Philip or Flat 😁 😄 😎 how was your ground transfer/pick-up, airport ride to hotel ... welcome to NYC, a beautiful & sunny day. Best to have indoor plans tomorrow but otherwise, enjoy whatever is on your plan for next 3 days. See ya and all onboard this Saturday.

@Sugar Magnolia Refreshed my AccuWeather app and now it looked more probable & match Weather Channel's - maybe silly AI doing a number on the app and me (or, I simply didn't do a full refresh going thru my list of cities to check ahead ...) At a minimum, heavy wool, gloves, scarf and boots probably optional at this point - that's weight saving & good for those riding the subway and or city bus on the final miles to Pier 88 this Saturday. Updated / corrected forecast for Halifax ahead - P.S. PistolPete13 - unofficial S.I. New York photographer still "AWOL" - well, I tried. Let me see if I can "page" alert to an old CC friend, usually over at a different CC forum these days @meatball_nyc - hello - any chance of "waving" at us (from your balcony window) this weekend when we sail down the Hudson in the evening. Trust all is well.

Holy cow, I might need to find & bring my Bermuda shorts & Hawaiian Tee's for next Monday, and an umbrella ... If AccuWeather forecast is even 85% accurate 😎 🤔 I should note - Weather Channel's Halifax forecast is "slightly" different & lower for Sunday & Monday, about the same for Iceland. Best to check the "official" government forecast issued to cross-reference. Watch out for Prima's chair hogs if not going ashore next Monday. Something about global warming and Europe being another hot summer ahead ... Ripley's, believe it or not.

Luggage, ideas & thoughts - Countdown toward final packing in progress, both of our checked 24" expandable (not) spinners are done, hers under 44 lbs. and mine at 43 lbs. That's not bad, aiming to stay with 40 lbs and only possible if we bring less clothes along, given the latest weather forecast trending - Iceland isn't as cold as it might be, that will help lighten our load. As mentioned, if we are just modestly over-weight for our return flight - each of us could do the compression packing cube trick (eBags, medium size or equivalent (14" x 10" x 4" wide if packed full & heavy at 3 to 5 lbs, depending on content) plus our carry-on ... and, not be bothered with paying Norse Air that extra $90 for 1 additional checked bag. Why play with the "pillow trick" to disguise & stuff it - just carry that packing cube (could be our "heavy" winter coat, compressed to fit ... and my 3XL fit) under our arms and board the aircraft - about the size of a child's or travel pillow (slip a case over it, viola) Advantage - flying a wide body B787, priority check-in & boarding, bulkhead/extra legroom - forward section/main cabin - odds of being asked to gate check our carry-on should be lower, personal bag will slip thru as well. Let's see, 4 x med packing cube @ 5 lbs ea is 20 lbs plus stealthy "loaded" travel vest at 8 to 10 lbs - close to 30 lbs combined weight "hidden" ... smartphones, chargers & other heavier items in the zipped jacket/parka pockets. This solved the "bulk" problems when trying to pack as much as we can into the 24" spinner. P.S. Ziplock bags (qt. and gallon sizes) and zip ties, don't travel without them.

T minus 4 ... almost, technically still T minus 5 for several hours based on EDT Norwegian Pearl has left Miami earlier today, crew-only sailing north to NYC at a leisurely 15 kts for her TA, ETA is 5:30 AM - Thurs. 25th Apr and will be visiting Halifax and then Iceland, basically 2 days ahead of us ... I look at the Pearl as being "Pace car" like to give us a good lead of what's ahead (make sense, huh) - whether on what's going in/around the ports, what's open & unexpected, and sea state/waves & weather, and arrival / departure or all abroad / sailaway time. It appear their arrival time isn't being affect by the Right whales speed restriction zones near/around NY's coastal waters. Norwegian Prima, just left USVI for a short run to San Juan, PR in the morning, then onward to Puerto Plata, DR on Wed - departing at 3 PM there - with 2 full sea days - head for NYC, arriving 2 hours later than scheduled at 10 AM (per officially NCL notifications) with pier arrival & check-in, embarkation no earlier than 12 noon - or risk getting turned away. Let's see what happen if and once we see an ETA for NY late Wednesday. Getting ready - time to set up & make some changes on the smartphone (or, iPhone) home screen, enabled that world clock widget < see below > 4 city's "current" time being displayed - NYC (home), Halifax, Iceland, and UK (London) ... of course, the key is to be aware of "ship time" as sometimes (if not always) - it is done slightly different, check the clock at/near the gangway if and when going ashore. Or, risk being involuntary induction into the infamous pier runners club & stranded on the pier, looking for the port agent ... and, always take a photo or note of the agent's contact info: name, email & phone numbers, etc. before stepping off the ship, things happen !

Supplement to "Station Zebra" on this TA cruise - most items are self-explanatory in an effort to miniaturize as much as possible ... having 2 USB-A thumb drive, loaded with bootable ChromeFlex OS and Linux Ubuntu OS, to run off just about any work station/computers. Packing a 12V USB car adapter/charger - renting a 4WD to drive on our own to sightsee - it will keep the smartphone and other's devices charged - wireless charging is expected. Sightseeing buses & trains are often equipped with USB charging ports - always a good idea to bring a cable along. @Ellis1138 - Thanks, will try to see if I can get as much MDR menus as possible and post them, possibly in 1 or 2 batches together, instead of scattering them on a live thread - especially if they made changes. Niece traveling with us has food allergies, with luck, we'll get a full preview early on and not have to do it daily to plan her special orders. From what I've seen thus far this year, maybe minor changes w MDR menus but otherwise, same as 2023 and not the usual large scale changeover. NCL "should" be changing menus as they normally do annually, it's been puzzling ... oh, well. @cruiseny4life - 150 trees for an orchid, that's serious. Your memory is just as excellent, ours an apartment-sized, tiny corner indoor garden ... 2 smaller plants protested over the last 2 years and quit on us, down to just 4 green plants. They are strong and required minimal moisture, a bit of "natural" light daily to be happy ... going in the Home smart app to set the daily schedule, switch on/off UV plant light as the window blinds will be closed. @dexddd just for your commentary 😆