mking8288

Town folks at the Market said they are prepared & missed the crowd and 6,000 to 7,000 passengers are fine to them - small shops & businesses had been hurt over the past 2 years with the pandemic. We happily shop, dine and spend a little while ashore. It's way too much food on the variety platter, DW and I easily do dinner with one order only. The short ribs and brisket were quite good, maybe a little on the dry side but that half chicken is a meal by itself, could be more juicy & tender - maybe it's Texas cooking. I'll say give it a try, especially if you have the dining package or comp'd coupon, and hungry - better than medicore for sure.

Dinner tonight at Tappanyeki was excellent, entertaining & nicely prepared - my filet mignon cooked perfectly to medium well.

2 more pix of SJ view from portside as it began to rain again.

Next stop - Halifax. 6:30 pm - we are turning around to head out & leaving the harbor. Bye, Saint John ... we were going 18 to 20 knots last night, probably the same to make the distance to arrive by noon tomorrow 🫣

Royal's AOS docked behind us and sailed ahead of us, made an "easy" looking turn in the harbor channel with the VOS on the other side ... and on her way. Almost 6 pm here, we should be under way at 6 - all abroad 5:30 pm BTW, there are taxis available just outside by the cruise terminal and also across the street.

Tips: 💡💡💡 From City Market back to (from, too) the ship, we went underground that connect to the shopping mall, then more inside skyways to another building, ending down by the waterfront - escalators or elevators that are accessible friendly ... then a matter of walking on flat street level to the terminal entrance. Because of rising tide, the gangway had moved up 1 deck AFT & lower FWD too.

Lunch at Billy's Seafood - seafood chowder & lobster roll, toasted bun ... yummy good, not expensive at all.

City Market at SJ - pickup 2 pullovers here as souvenir in support of the Purple Heart Project

On top of the world ... I mean, the hill & center of town & tourist area in Saint John ... indoor shopping mall too.

Slowly ascending the hill, stopping for photos & to rest our feet ...

We are braving the rain shower with a bit of wind & pounding wet pavement to walk up the hill to City Market ... and take pictures 🤓. More comments later, pix for now. See the church in the middle, we are going there now.

Gangways now open on Deck 5 Fwd and Deck 7 Aft, ship has been cleared and pax can proceed to go ashore. Proof of vax and ArriveCAN e-receipt/QR code needed, along with the usual ... And, rain poncho or umbrella ☔ and a lined jacket recommended 😉

Aren't you on the Prima this month ? All is well 😅 We're going between 18 to 20 knots overnight, fog horn being used and indeed left Portland behind the VOS. Plus, finally felt the ship moving 😆 Anyway, local time corrected to 8:29 ADT. Weather - wet ... this morning, going ashore a little later. Folks gathering by the gangway already

Good morning, local time 8:50 am now, ship is behind schedule but almost engine full stop now. Raining here in Saint John. Not expected to be cleared for guests to go ashore for maybe up to 1 hour w CBSA clearance. Satellite WiFi is slow & poor, switching over to Google Fi data and on 5G coverage on dual sim Pixel smartphone 😄

Q menus and dessert portions are huge, enough for 2 to 3 to share. Our total came to $109 and zeroed out, and as usual for good to exceptional services, we do a cash tip directly and always appreciated, and kept by the server's team. Tomorrow night, we'll do Teppankai 🥢🍚 for the fun ... the dedicated room is exceptionally large as the ship was destined for the China market when built.

Used on 2nd Platinum dining coupon tonight at Q Texas SH with live music, not very busy & no restrictions, etc. It's a lot of food for 2 to eat and finish, unless you are very hungry.

Ah ... Turn on the lights and found an unexpected guest on our bed tonight, again, 😁 Advance the clock by one hour tonight, per special notice. P.S. will upload all the Freestyle Dailies later with faster WiFi.

Some of the nearby small islands in Portland

The waterfront, easy walking & do it yourself exploring what’s nearby.

VOS left just we started the engines, on our way at 5:22pm. Today, we changed our clock to match local time.

Last pix above is an Irish naval offshore patrol vessel, the LÉ James Joyce (P62) docked at the marina. It started raining around 2:30 pm and it's been steady with a light mist. Apparently, many discovered the forward Observation Lounge, prime windows seating taken. Foliage chasing ?? No signs of colors or leaves changing yet ☹️ Weather forecast for tomorrow in Saint John, NB is showers in the morning, cloudy & 56 deg F in the afternoon.

It's a long walk on the pier as the VOS was docked much closer. Courtesy shuttles (mini golf cart that seat 8 😎 are available, subject to waiting in line to get a seat for the quick ride.

Twin lobsters, lobster specials, and lobster rolls, including lobster n seafood from mobile truck where cash isn't welcomed over mobile payment. Lines formed outside some businesses but sadly, not all survived the pandemic. Need to get a ride and can take a bike along, it's available just like NYC and Boston, etc.

Let's go ashore to Portland's waterfront & see what's happening -

There's no Laundry Special yet as we do our Platinum special, lined the downsized paper bag with a (clean) plastic liner from Residence Inn, rolled tightly and it's going to our steward. Meanwhile, ship just finished running an emergency training drill w the crew, lasted a full hour. Life boats lowered partially as part of the action steps ... watching it from The Local. Yes, they got hash browns today. Tonight's Special ...