bobmacliberty

Glad to hear that everything went well Greg! You should be in great shape for your Beyond cruise. Did you ask your Doc if you can mix Painkillers with your pain killers? 😁 Joking of course.

Chapman when he was with the Reds. He could throw some serious heat. Untitled video (7).mp4

I don't know if this is part of the reason why you struggled, but we turned on closed captions to make it easier to understand what was being said. Made a big difference also when watching Peaky Blinders.

We've been considering Celebrity for future cruises so I've been paying more attention to reviews. Recent reviews haven't been great. As for the butler, Celebrity eliminated them from Sky Suites...even if you had already booked a Sky suite with the promise of a butler. They claimed that the single butler was being replaced by a team for better service, but that's not apparently how it's playing out. You essentially now get a single cabin attendant, who also takes care of a bunch of other regular cabins, so service is basically the same as a regular cabin. I'd be upset if I had booked a suite with a butler and that was later changed on me. Lots of complaints also about food quality decreasing across the board, including Blu and Luminae. Some Celebrity cruisers don't like the fact that they now stop at Coco Cay, thinking it's a family-oriented place (bright colors, water slides, etc.) that's great for Royal but doesn't "suit" the Celebrity image. And then there's "cookie gate"...charging for chocolate chip cookies that used to be free. The president of Celebrity Cruises tried to address many of these concerns but apparently came off as being out of touch and/or lying, depending on your perspective. We may still give Celebrity a shot with an open mind. Things never tend to be as bad as they are made out to be in negative reviews. Plus, we have no prior experience as a reference point, other than Royal. The new Celebrity ships do look very appealing to us.

Greg - I was out of town the past weekend and missed the tail end of your cruise. Sounds like you had a fantastic time. As always, your videos are spectacular. The drone shots take them to the next level (nudge, nudge, wink, wink 😉). We should figure out how to add a Cruise Critic Emmy to your list of awards. Best of luck with your knee!

On a plane headed to Cincinnati, again. Third wedding in less than 2 months. Our daughter and 2 of her friends all getting married at the same time. Should be a fun wedding.

Definitely on my list. Not so sure about Micheline. A tip that I received is if a street cart price is not listed, confirm the price before ordering. Some of the less scrupulous street cart vendors are charging whatever they can get away with if you don't ask. Tourists from other countries in particular may have no idea what a normal price should be for a hot dog and may fork over $20 when told that's the price after receiving their dog.

I found the bar that I was referencing...The Campbell. I saw it on a travel show somewhere. They said it was a relatively quiet place to enjoy a drink or a meal in the middle of Grand Central craziness, and few people know about it (including locals). I don't know how true that is, but it makes me want to go there for a drink. Are any of you NYC people familiar with The Campbell?

If you're asking about a Painkiller, then no. The original uses Pusser's but any gold rum would work.

I'm far from an expert but have gone off the deep end recently with NYC research. The general advice I've received is to fly to whatever airport gives you the best fares/timing since you'll have a somewhat lengthy commute from any of the 3 into Manhattan (although LGA is shorter). You can then either take relatively cheap public transportation into Manhattan, or spend a lot more on a taxi/Uber. Note that Uber/Lyft often have surcharges during busy times and may be more expensive than a taxi. Revel is another option that's fairly new. It's like Uber/Lyft but only uses Tesla cars. General advice again is to stay in Midtown Manhattan if it's your first visit and/or don't mind paying more for a hotel. It's convenient because you're right in the middle of everything. If you want to save on hotels and only add about a 10 minute commute into Manhattan via subway, check out staying in Brooklyn or Queens, specifically Long Island City. This supposedly gives you a better feel for a NYC neighborhood. Again, I have no personal experience with this...just repeating what I've seen others say. This all assumes that you don't mind commuting back to the Cape Liberty Cruise Port the morning of your cruise, which will probably be expensive. You're trading off short/no commutes for your 3 days in Manhattan for a longer commute to the cruise ship. I haven't seen anyone mention staying in Newark as an option when visiting the city, but that may only be because it's in New Jersey. 😁 I got a lot of info from a couple of Youtubers: Sarah Funk - YouTube Here Be Barr - YouTube

The Intrepid is definitely on my list and will be weather dependent, since I believe that part of the experience is seeing everything outdoors on the deck. Is that the "hidden" bar that's upstairs? We'll be looking for that bar. Good suggestions Lenny. Le Rivage looks like a possibility. I like the whispering gallery idea. From what I've read, Grand Central has several interesting/historical things to look at while visiting including the clock and the ceiling. Most people just use it as a key transportation hub. Good to hear that Bryant Park will still have the Winter Village set up. I thought we'd be too late to see any Christmas decorations. Adding Kings of Kobe to the list of possibilities. A good burger is sometimes the exact right meal. The High Line will be highly weather dependent but will probably be a no. Lots of people recommend it but it just seems like a walk through a park. That might be novel to some New Yorkers but we get plenty of that here at home. We'll check the line at Joe's and get our slice there if the line isn't too bad. Just about everywhere I've looked lists Joe's as one of the best places for a slice (along with Bleeker Street Pizza). I'm guessing that most people in line for Joe's are tourists due to the publicity that it has received. That's exactly what I thought it would be. Thanks for the confirmation. This might be the perfect description. 😁

Growing up in Buffalo and eating wings slathered in hot sauce, I've learned this same lesson, including eyes and jewels. For your mouth, dairy products (e.g. milk, yogurt) and bread helps. I substitute beer for the milk because...we'll because it's beer and not milk. Beer doesn't work nearly as well though. You're on your own for the other body parts. Sounds like you all had a fantastic day. I'm so glad that it all worked out for you to enjoy each other's company, and that the private charter gave you enjoy extra time there. I kept checking the webcam and the weather looked great. My first Painkiller was at a now defunct Pusser's restaurant in Cruz Bay on St. John in the early 90s. It was so good that I took home a drink coaster with the recipe. I've used this recipe ever since and will sometimes make a pitcher full of the pineapple/orange/coconut so that I just put rum in a glass with ice, top with the mix, and grate some nutmeg on top. Very easy and very delicious summer drink.

Thanks everyone for the NYC ideas...keep 'em coming. We've been to South Street Seaport (although it's been a while) and will probably skip it this time. Same with the Met, although if the weather is bad, we may go again for an indoor activity. It's hard (impossible?) to see everything at the Met in one day so a return visit would certainly be fun. Ellen's Stardust Diner is a possibility. I like the idea but Micheline still needs to look at and approve the menu. 😉 Gallagher's is a possibility if we want to get a nice steak dinner, but we don't eat steak nearly as much as we used to. Good to know that there's a good bar in there if we decide that we just want a drink.

The primary reason that we're going is to see Billy Joel at MSG on Jan 11. We also got tickets for the Book of Mormon. We're staying at The Michelangelo on 51st and 7th per @George C's recommendation. Looks great and a good location. Pizza, bagels, breakfast sandwich, deli lunch, black and white cookies are all in the plans. We have reservations at a restaurant called La Masseria on W 48th, based on a recommendation from a friend who lives here but visits frequently. We'll probably go up to the Summit OV, weather allowing. We've previously done Top of the Rock and Summit OV looks interesting with its various "art rooms". It's also right next to Grand Central Station, which we've never seen. We'll also visit the 9/11 Memorial. Still deciding what else we want to do. Weather will be a big deciding factor. I'm hoping for something closer to Lenny's wedding weather but planning for snow and cold. Any other ideas...I'm all ears.

@lenquixote66 Lenny - Thank you for the "Bodies" recommendation. We are 3 episodes in and are hooked. It's such an interesting premise.

I'm practicing for my trip to NYC in January so that I can properly order a "cawfee" in the morning. I play golf with 2 guys...one from NYC with as big a NY accent as you can get and the other from Georgia, with as big a GA drawl as you can get. They practically can't understand each other. 😁 I'm so glad that you posted this. I just did battle with some eggs a few days ago to make egg salad and I was ready to throw things around the kitchen by the time I was done. I had to pick off the shell in little 1/4" by 1/4" pieces...sometimes taking a chunk of egg with the shell. I'm writing this down!

Sorry. ☹️

I wouldn't try to avoid I-26 unless Google Maps/Waze tells you that it's really busy. That's usually only around major holidays. If I-26 has a problem, then I-95 in SC will almost certainly have a problem also. It was bad enough once (going South) that I "cut the corner" and took SR 21 from Orangeburg down to where it ties back in to I-95. I'm not sure if it saved me any significant time, but at least it wasn't stop and go.

That's probably the fastest route, depending on traffic on I-95 and I-26 in South Carolina. Those stretches of road are only 2 lane and can get backed up quickly. It's been a while since I've driven I-77 north but I don't remember the curves being too bad.

Looks like the gang is enjoying some refreshments in the water. I'm getting way too much vicarious enjoyment watching the webcam. This must be what stalkers feel like. 🫣 Soggy Dollar.mp4

Or a Zac Brown Band song...🎵 got my toes in the water, a$$ in the sand 🎵. Life is definitely good today.

Actually, I can't confirm 100% that it was Greg on the webcam, but the guy is wearing a Seadog tee shirt, is shooting a video, is wearing a brace on his knee, and has a Painkiller in his hand. I'd say the odds are pretty good.

Never mind...got it back to real time and guess who's there? Edit: Looks like there's a white plastic cup in his hand. 😉

It's "live" right now, but the embedded clock in the video says 7:45 when the EDT time here is 9:30. I think it's an hour ahead of EDT, but things still don't line up to be truly live. 🤷‍♂️

I'm not sure if the winding road that you're referring to is I-40 north of Asheville or I-77 in Virginia, but taking I-75 all the way is a pretty easy alternative. It's a little longer and involves going through Atlanta, but it's certainly better than driving the twisting/turny section of I-40. There's a little bit of winding road north of Knoxville on I-75 going over the Great Smokies into Kentucky but it's not too bad. We've never stayed in a hotel in Columbus but there are a lot of options in the Polaris area (both hotels and restaurants). Columbus has a great zoo and a great science museum called COSI.