misguy

We boarded yesterday about noon, and the process couldn't have been any easier. It took about 45 minutes from arriving at the port, to drop luggage, park, get back to the terminal through the check in process and be onboard the ship. The ship is amazing. It is our first time on an edge class ship, and so far we have been very impressed. We ate dinner at the Roof Garden Restaurant, and the food was good, and I was blown away by the size of the T-Bone steak. My wife had the feta and watermelon salad and petite filet. I had the wings and the T-bone with the baked potato. Neither of us had room for desert. I am not sure why some of the pictures are upside down, they are correct when I look at them on my monitor.

We just got off the ship today, and it was an hour from the ship to LGA airport. The Princess Grill is definitely an upgrade from Britannia. The food was much better and many more options. There was a second page to the menu that had Filet, and other options on a daily basis. The items that changed were also much better. I will still say that the steaks onboard were not as good as most other ships or restaurants. One factor might be that they were always served with gravy, and I never eat a steak with gravy on it. Most of the entertainment was not appealing to me. I am not a big band or symphony fan, there was one duo that played contemporary music. The comedian was hysterical. He might have been one of the best we have seen in all our cruises. I have photos of the daily sheets and menus, and when I get to our hotel tonight I will try to start posting them. The internet north of Cape Breton was almost useless, and in our PG grill cabin it was unusable unless the door was open, and then only marginally usable. In the public areas it worked well. I was able to find power and tables on deck two in the area forward where they have the puzzles and games. There was also power in the Kings Court. For all of those you will need a power adaptor. There were scooters for rent in Sydney at the dock, and it would have been great if they were available in Saguenay, Montreal, and Boston, all of those ports would be easier with a scooter than with a walker. We cleared immigration in Boston and customs in Brooklyn, and it was walk past them.

We just moved into our PG accessible room, and the room is very nice. We will see what is offered in the menu for tonight. I am just very active and love to have good rock music on a ship. I am 70, and that is what I grew up with. We will not hestate to sail on the ship for transatlantic trips, since my wife's health prevents her from flying trans Atlantic except in a lay flat seat. The cruise is less expensive.

I would say that the fish has been the stand out entree at every meal. I am not sure why but we have liked the lunch menu much better than the evening menu.

I am not complaining about people reading, I love to read as well, but on a cruise I am more likely to be looking for more active type of activities. I have no objection to what other people do. There is a very limited number of main courses on the menu. To put it in perspective, this is our 23rd cruise since the end of the Pandemic, and we have sailed across most lines. Most of the lines we have sailed on, you have a much more extensive choice of items in every category on the menu. The service on board has been good, but it is comparable to what we have received on the other cruise lines. The one exception is the readiness of the staff in the buffet to assist my wife who use a walker. On most other lines some one is always eager to help my wife, but here in most cases the only time she has received assistance is when the manager has seen here and he always immediately directs a staff member to help. The cruise hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been great either, as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, It may be that based on the marketing I had a overblown expectation of what this cruise would be like.

I appologize for going silent, but internet got really bad by the time we got to Halifax. We had a friend take us around Halifax and had a beautiful day there, and then as we went further north, the worse the internet got. We were not able to visit sept-isle because the wind was to strong to dock. Yesterday was a very nice day in Saguenay, and we did the hop on- hop off bus and toured the Fjord Museum, and the Airplane museum. The HOHO is only partially accessible. I am 70 and the crowd on the ship feels too old for me, I am active, and the experience has been more sedate than I prefer. The is the first ship I have ever been on where everyone seems to be reading a book. I have pictures of the food we have eaten, and most of the menus, I will start to share this evening. Internet seems to be good in Quebec. We will do a ships excursion this afternoon, and then do trips on our own tomorrow and Friday. In Britannia, I haven't been impressed by the service, or the food. We ate in the steakhouse, and found the food uninspiring. The steaks in MDR have not been great either, it seems to be the way they are prepared. The steakhouses on RCCL, Celebrity, Carnival, Holland America, and NCL have all had better steaks than what we tried here. The MDR seems to have better choices for breakfast and lunch than dinner. We have eaten there twice, one night the menu didn't have anything we wanted so we ate room service, and we ate room service last night, because we didn't feel like getting dressed after our day ashore. We did really enjoy the food in the Italian restaurant. We will see how we fare in the Princess Grill on our return trip. We only went to one show, partly because we have been busy, but also, we have seen anything listed that caught our eye. I am not sure that I hadn't let my expectations get the best of me. I would be glad to sail again on a crossing or some other deep water cruise where the ship's hull would make for a comfortable ride, but I am not sure I would sail on the QM2 again other wise. Internet at the dock in Quebec is 6.10 down and 5.38 up.

This morning at sea, the ship is moving some, and Starlink is providing 68 M down and 4.82 up in my room. There was a female singer in the theater last night and she was really good, sang a variety of genres. Pictures coming later today.

We are looking forward to seeing Quebec and then the journey back home. We are traveling in Britainia Class this week, and Princess Grill on the return voyage.

We are leaving about 11:00 PM because they are waiting for delayed passengers.

Tomorrow, we will be a long way north headed toward Halifax, and hopefully we will have nice weather for our day there.

The weather has improved and it stopped raining, we can see the Statue of Liberty and I hope the ceiling will have lifted before we sail away so that I can take some photos as we pass under the bridge.

Internet in port was good enough for a zoom call. Download was 33.-96 and up was 6.82. We are in cabin 6024 and there is a access point outside our door.

We left our hotel near JFK about 9:30, and the rain was pouring down. All kinds of weather alerts for flash flooding, and in fact the entrance to the cruise port from the city street had about a foot of water in it. Our uber was Toyota Highlander, and we went through the water to the terminal so many people were getting out walking in from the street to the terminal. We were inside the terminal by about 11:30, and they opened check in at 12:00. By 1:00 PM we were on the ship and dumping our backpacks into the room. It is 3:00 now, and we have the luggage empty and the room ready for our trip. We ate lunch in Kings Court, and found the food very good.

This has to be one of the most unusual restaurants on a ship I have experienced.

We use Scootaround, and they have a power chair that my wife uses onboard, it is very maneuverable, and she can event turn around in small elevators. It is the Whill Ci2 and they are the only ones that rent them.

Here is a video I shot when the Casino was closed in Port.

Ever wondered about the accessibility of dining spots on cruise ships? 🚢🍴 Join us as we explore Canaletto's, the Italian gem onboard Holland America's New Amsterdam. Watch Cheryl navigate with ease using her Whill CI2, showing just how accessible this beautiful restaurant truly is. From breathtaking oceanic views to the mouthwatering dishes, Canaletto's was a treat in every sense. Dive into our dining experience and get insights on accessibility here: If you've been there or have other accessible cruise dining spots to recommend, drop a comment below! #AccessibleTravel #CruiseDining"

Here is a quick tour and a meal review.

Here is a tour of Extra Virgin on the Scarlett Lady, I show our food choices and what we thought.

That is interesting because a lot of the cruise lines are having to cancel at least their partial transitions.

I question whether they will get to go through the Panama Canal, right now there is a 20 day wait to get through, and it will get worse because of the drought in Panama.

We just came back from a 3 day cruise on the Seaside and filmed this video while on board.