MJC

The Chateau Frontenac was busy with tourists. We waited 7 or 8 minutes to be seated because there was a line, and about half didn't have a reservation and were turned away. All the window tables had been booked. They are popular because they look out over the Terrasse Dufferin and the harbor. We had a nice view of the Queen Mary and enjoyed people-watching from our window: Mark had the fish & chips, and I had beef cheeks bourguignonne. We shared black forest cake with cherries for dessert. Everything was so tasty!

It is quite pricey. But I expect that we'll be seeing knockoffs this winter given how often it's showing up in fashion mags. Whenever I like a scarf, I think Laurie will like this too. 🙂

Our deepest sympathy for your loss.

Thank you for all the helpful replies. We always hope to fall somewhere in the middle, so I think our usual "dinner out" clothes will be fine. Super excited to be on a new-to-us ship.

We've used the AmEx Platinum Travel Service for our last 3 cruises and they take care of all of it. We have an agent there now that we especially like, and if she's out of the office even for one day she makes sure that someone is covering us.

DH and I are sailing on the Gem in January, our first ever cruise on NCL. How does MDR dining work? Do we just show up at any which one? Are there differences between Grand Pacific and Magenta as to convenience, ambience, dress, crowding? Any favorite dishes to try?

Flipping through my last two Vogues and this coat keeps popping up. It looks so cozy! https://www.nordstrom.com/s/max-mara-teddy-bear-icon-faux-fur-coat/5717083?color=CAMEL&utm_content=1264438534153860&utm_term=pla-4582627027258106&utm_channel=low_nd_shopping_standard&utm_source=bing&utm_campaign=291444851&adpos=&creative=&device=c&matchtype=e&network=s&acctid=21700000001689570&dskeywordid=92700049874835012&lid=92700049874835012&ds_s_kwgid=58700005465397958&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007631122&ds_a_cid=593274227&ds_a_caid=11578124841&ds_a_agid=109666609901&ds_a_lid=pla-1042719657004&dsproductgroupid=4582627027258106&product_id=31319919&merchid=452&prodctry=US&prodlang=EN&channel=Online&storeid=&locationid=&targetid=pla-4582627027258106&campaignid=291444851&adgroupid=1264438534153860&msclkid=882ab2aa16941b002600d1e4dc8590c2&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=882ab2aa16941b002600d1e4dc8590c2&gclsrc=3p.ds

Fashion interlude... some really pretty colors from jjill right now. https://www.jjill.com/product/saguaro-maxi-dress-247461s-1?searchTerm= https://www.jjill.com/product/embroidered-mixed-media-flutter-sleeve-t-247171s-1?searchTerm= https://www.jjill.com/product/pure-jill-ikat-a-line-maxi-dress-248101s-1?color=4ZD&searchTerm=ikat https://www.jjill.com/product/pure-jill-folkloric-stamped-tunic-248031s-1?color=50Y&searchTerm=folkloric https://www.jjill.com/product/soft-cord-shirtdress?color=035 https://www.jjill.com/product/hand-stitched-diamond-medallions-jacquar?color=5QL

One of the MDRs is always open for lunch on embarkation day, which we much prefer to the buffet crowds. The staff tries to steer you to the buffet, but we always check for ourselves and have never been wrong. Usually by the time we're done our luggage has arrived. We love Skywalkers for dancing at night. During the day we like the bar at the Terrace Pool with the wake view. There have been really good bands in the Explorers Lounge on a few of our cruises. Also if you go all the way forward, through the cabin section on the Lido deck, there is a heavy door that takes you to the deck above the bridge. That's a great spot for photography or stargazing.

Welcome home Laurie! I look forward to hearing about your trip! I almost missed your post because I was putting together my pictures. Have you been to Quebec City? You are so close compared to us. Looking forward to your photos. 🙂

The Old City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so just walking around and looking at the architecture is an enjoyable thing to do. We headed to a section of the old wall. Then started to make our way back to the Chateau for our lunch reservation at 1:30.

We wandered along reading the plaques and things that came up on our walking tour. Eventually we got to the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec, which is the oldest church in Canada (although it has had two major fires and needed significant restoration). It isn't hugely impressive from the outside like a gothic cathedral would be. The inside was a beautiful surprise. I lit a candle in honor of my mother and we sat a bit to look around because there was so much detail to enjoy. When noon came the bells rang and an organist began to play... really well! What a treat.

Quebec City was so beautiful and we had so much fun. I highly recommend a visit there. On our way up the St. Lawrence River, we did get to see the Montmorency Falls, which is one of the excursions people take. The port area is really nicely done, with a fountain, a park with benches, and an easy terminal to navigate. We were headed up the cliff, though, to the Old City. You get there by funicular: And arrive at a big plaza honoring Champlain. We sort of followed a self-guided history walk that I had downloaded onto my phone. We didn't visit the Chateau Frontenac yet since we would be having lunch there later in the Bistro Sam. You can see the glass-windowed bistro in this photo near the bottom, to the left of the main turret. It is very popular and I had made our lunch reservations back in May using Open Table.

I was up early on our first sea day and walked around a bit. It was like the ship was empty! Loved the peace and quiet. The decor is very elegant and there are flowers everywhere. Every evening where the piano is there would be music. Sometimes a harp, sometimes a trio, sometimes just the pianist.

Getting around Boston: There was a taxi dispatcher at the cruise terminal and he got us a taxi really quickly, there was a stream of them entering the port (huge NCL in port with us). Then from the museum to the garden we called an Uber because it wasn't a neighborhood where there were taxis driving around. From the Public Garden we could see taxis whizzing by but we didn't know how to hail one. We asked the doorman at the Four Seasons hotel how it worked, and he suggested we go the Park Lane hotel where there was a taxi stand (one block away). There was a line of cabs there, we hopped in one, and were back at the terminal in 15 minutes. Super easy. Taxi tips: always go by the meter, and listen to your gut. Our first driver didn't seem to understand us or where we wanted to go. We got out and asked for a different one. That's exactly what we would have done if we were at home in NYC.

Our next stop was the Boston Public Garden. It is also a sort of arboretum with an interesting collection of trees which are all labeled, like this interesting redwood. I wondered if there would be any color left, but there was quite a bit blooming still. One of the dresses I forgot above.

She was friends with many famous artists and writers of her day. She was very close with John Singer Sargent and his wife. He painted this portrait of her and this large painting. Some of the rooms were a bit dark but this location for this painting just added to the drama. Many of the other rooms were just chock full of art and other objects she collected. We spent more than two hours there. We had lunch in the small cafe and then grabbed an Uber to downtown.

Our first stop was Boston. We went first to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. I always envy people who are able to live surrounded by great art. Also the central courtyard was stunning. We had a beautiful sunny day that ended up in the mid-70s.

We figured out how to take full length photos on our balcony, but the lighting wasn't great. But it was a fun thing we did as we were getting ready and having some wine before dinner. Apparently we missed a few nights. I know we didn't take one on the last night, and one night it was raining. This is the first cruise where we have coordinated our outfits by color. It does make for better pictures, I think not to mention looking better IRL. 🙂 This dress is the plummy purple velvet: Black cut velvet:

Roaring 20s night I ended up wearing my black flowy dress with red shoes and gold jewelry for Red&Gold night. I just wasn't feeling confident in the red dress I had bought. We didn't keep any photos because between the black dress and the tux, they were just really boring. We did look great though!

Here are two of our formal night outfits. We didn't buy pictures of the other two. I wore the long dress on Black and White night, and the short dress on Masquerade night. I look like I'm wearing a headdress with those flowers behind me!

We're taking our first cruise on NCL in January. What kind of fitness classes are offered? Is there Zumba or a similar aerobics-type class available? TYIA

That's what we were told on our first night of the QM2 to Canada/NE, but we were able to arrange a fixed time and table on the first night with the Maitre'd for that section. Maybe he was able to be accommodating because the ship was at 70%?

Ask your cabin steward for deck blanket. They are very cozy. We kept ours for the whole cruise, stowing them on the top shelf in the closet when not in use. Also make a great wrap if you're out on deck in the wind taking pictures etc.

It was really windy so the only pic of me on deck for sailaway looks like I have Medusa hair. 😀 In addition to my 4 formal dresses, I took these dresses for dinners. The other four nights I wore tops and dress slacks. The purple velvet I had bought for a wedding we didn't get to go to bc I had a load of stitches in my head from that cystectomy in 2019. The blue jjil I got on clearance this summer and have been waiting to wear. The black and tan was a TJ Maxx find and is super soft and comfy. The last one I've had for at least 20 years and can't even count how many times I've worn it, and it's still in great shape. Here are my shoes (all worn multiple times): I did actually wear my Zumba shoes, I found a secret place and did my class 4 times on different sea days! I also participated in chair aerobics and what they call Fun Fitness, a kind of Zumba lite. Less Latin, low impact. Our luggage all set to go: Mark's blue backpack mostly had wine in it, plus he brought his computer case. I also had a small crossbody bag for on shore. Our computers were mostly useless because the wifi was terrible, and the ship intranet called My Voyage was also largely not available. Aside from saving our photos on them, they stayed in their cases. It was actually quite nice to have a tech break. We did check in with family on our phones on port days.