Day 2 - at sea

It's our first full day at sea.  Weather was good and seas were calm. There are so many activities on this large ship.  We started with Sudoku but got there a little late.  We didn't realize it was "speed sudoku" and it was a hard one.  One guy finished in 3 minutes!   Then we played Dingbats with another couple that was a lot of fun and really made you think.  At the last trivia we met a couple from the UK who have been on the cruise for 28 days!  They sailed the Canary Islands and then stayed on board for the transatlantic cruise.  They are doing their third cruise to Florida.  You meet so many nice interesting people.

At breakfast this morning the couple beside us got a call from their recently married daughter.  They just returned from their honeymoon on a Princess cruise and they won another cruise at "Deal or No Deal"!  They booked it for Christmas!

Today is Halloween and we will be in Orlando for the day.  When we looked at shore excursions there wasn't anything to the Kennedy Space Center.  Then we found out there is a launch that has now been delayed until November 1st.  Apparently we may see it from the ship!  

There are 603 children on board.  All well behaved and there is so much for kids to do, they are not bored.  Yesterday they had a Halloween Party.  We saw many all dressed in costume with bags full of candy.   Lots of passengers decorate their doors and I took a picture of this one that actually had candy you could help yourself to.  

We've eaten at Onyx, a great steak restaurant in White Rock.  The manager was a hotel manager for RCCL and Celebrity for years.  They've asked him to return, offered him a huge salary and he may leave Onyx.  His wife won't be too happy, but they get great money and lots of vacation time.  He knows the hotel manager on this ship, sent him our name and this is what he sent us today;

We took the wine to the steak house and had it with crab cakes, Caesar salad (Cec had lobster bisque), rack of lamb and key lime pie!  To top it off we had a Bavarian coffee.  It was an incredible dinner,  We tried to make another reservation for our anniversary but it's all booked up.  I don't doubt it, it's the best restaurant on this ship.

Today we are in Port Canaveral.  Happy Halloween!

Day 1 Cruise

We got a Lyft from New York City to Bayonne.  Our drive was good and the traffic wasn't bad at all.  Good thing we left on a Saturday!

Check-in was so smooth,  We ordered "The Key".  It's an option you pay for that gives you a discount on internet, priority boarding and departure and a gourmet lunch on the first day.  You also get reserved seating at the shows.

We went to the dining room for our "key lunch" and ordered shrimp cocktail, a filet mignon and warm chocolate cake.  Our lunch was so good we skipped dinner.  However we went to the Diamond Lounge for appies and drinks and that worked just fine.  The Diamond Lounge is for people who have sailed more than 15 times on Royal Caribbean.  

We asked for My Time Dining, and it doesn't start until 6:45!  That makes it difficult to make some of the entertainment so the concierge at the Diamond Lounge fixed it for us!  My Time on other cruises starts at 5 PM!  Not sure why RCCL has such a late start time.  We now have fixed dining which is fine and we will share a table which we really like.

Sailing past New York from Bayonne, NJ.

We requested a balcony stateroom on deck 8, midship with a large balcony.  It didn't disappoint.

Great balcony with footstools.  Very quiet!

Our first adventure was the North Star.  It's a hydraulic lift that raises you 300 feet above the ship and over the ocean!   Nice view!

View aft from above

View forward from above!

The capsule is fully enclosed and there is a 360 degree view!  Not scary at all.

They announced there are 4,558 passengers on board and it's fully booked.  It appears things are back to normal.   Off for a day of fun!

A cooler day in NYC

The temperature dropped and it's fall weather here.  Good thing we brought warm clothes.  The high today is 57F.  The Hop on Hop off bus was very cool riding around.  We did the Uptown Tour.  Went around Central Park and uptown.  Lots of museums and gorgeous buildings.  Then a nice walk around Rockerfeller Center.  There are a lot of Halloween decorations. 

I have no idea why I took this picture!

This is where the NYC Marathon ends on November 6th.  Central Park & 66th St.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Guggenheim Museum

American Museum of Natural History

The architecture is amazing!

The trees in Central Park are starting to change colours!

Lots of bikes and horses and carriages to rent.  We opted for the bus!

Rockerfeller Center.  No ice yet, but it's almost ready.  They are getting ready for the Christmas tree.

I checked the calendar and the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular starts November 18.

We had dinner at a Celtic Pub!  We went in for Shepherds Pie.   It was Oktoberfest and the Germany food was awesome!

After dinner we went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.  Over 200 wax figures throughout the exhibit.  Movie Stars, Politicians, Monarchy, singers, sports figures and many more.  Then a 4D movie that featured Marvel characters.  Well worth the visit!  I have a lot of pictures and posted some on Facebook,

On the way back to our hotel, we walked through Times Square again!  Friday night and Halloween made quite the sights.  It was CRAZY!  

It's CRUISE DAY!!!!

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas

 

Another great day

 We started the day at Applebee's for breakfast and did the Hop On Hop Off Downtown Tour.  

After a great day of sightseeing, we went to The Red Lobster!

I had shrimp, Cec had crab!  It was delicious!

We return to NYC at 7 AM on November 6th, NYC Marathon Day.  We have a city tour before we go to the airport.  Should be interesting!

We stayed on the bus when it got dark!   The traffic is horrendous.  We were stuck in traffic and this emergency vehicle tried to get through!  It was gridlock in front and behind the bus.  I don't know how the police, ambulance and firemen cope.

NYC is gorgeous at night!

New York!

We flew WestJet Premium Economy. We had money in our travel bank from a COVID flight cancellation, a companion code from my Royal Bank WestJet Mastercard and enough miles to pay for two premium economy tickets, to New York.  However, we had to fly through Toronto and change planes.

The flights weren't bad, and then WestJet changed them.  We had a three hour wait in Toronto and had to clear US customs.  The three hour wait, turned out to be a six hour wait because of traffic congestion at LaGuardia.  Comfy seats, great service but I'm sorry we didn't fly direct.  

When we arrived the temperature at 2 PM was 68C!  It's just like summer and it's almost November.  

We took Lyft from LaGuardia to our hotel near Time Square:

We drove 9.65 miles and it took almost an hour!  I wonder what a cab would have cost?  Lyft and Uber are so much cheaper and came in two minutes.  The driver was excellent and drove a Toyota Highlander so we had lots of luggage and leg room.  We weren't in a hurry and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

OCTOBER 26, 2022 AT 2:11 P.M. Thanks for riding with Ranjit!

Lyft fare (9.65mi, 58 min. 21 sec.) US$45.73 Congestion Surcharge US$2.75 New York Sales Tax US$4.28 LGA Airport Surcharge US$2.50 Black Car Fund Surcharge US$1.45

And we're off on our vacation!

Last night we flew from Vancouver to Toronto.  I am writing this at the airport in Vancouver as we connect in Toronto for our flight to LaGuardia!  Let's hope it goes smoothly. 

It was pouring when we left home.  Cheryl drove us to the airport which was great.  I checked in online, so just dropped our bags off and they tell me they are checked right through to New York!  I bought two "air tags" and they are showing me now where they are at the airport!  Let's hope they make it all the way without a problem.  Checking their location is easy on the app!

Our flight is about to arrive and the paramedics just showed up!  I hope the passenger is okay!

We don't get into New York until late morning and I'm sure with a red eye flight, we will be pretty tired.  I will post when I can.

I will not miss the Diwali fireworks that kept us up until 1 AM last night.  I hope Halloween fireworks aren't too noisy for all the dogs and cats.  I remember our cat was terrified and I'm sure last night was really hard on all the animals.  They are illegal in Surrey but I guess they never got the memo.  They went on from just after 6 PM until 1:10 AM.  

Weather in New York looks good!

Tuesday smiles

 

Never give up

Image: Charlottexbx on DeviantArt

At age 17, she was rejected from college.

At age 25, her mother died from disease.

At age 26, she suffered a miscarriage.

At age 27, she got married.

Her husband abused her. Despite this, her daughter was born.

At age 28, she got divorced and was diagnosed with severe depression.

At age 29, she was a single mother living on welfare.

At age 30, she didn't want to be on this earth.

But, she directed all her passion into doing the one thing she could do better than anyone else.

And that was writing.

At age 31, she finally published her first book.

At age 35, she had released 4 books, and was named Author of the Year. 

At age 42, she sold 11 million copies of her new book, on the first day of release.

This woman is J.K. Rowling. Remember how she considered suicide at age 30?

Today, Harry Potter is a global brand worth more than $15 billion dollars.

Never give up. Believe in yourself. Be passionate. Work hard. It’s never too late.

Barely the day started and .... it's already six in the evening

Barely arrived on Monday and it's already Friday.

... and the month is already over.

... and the year is almost over.

... and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed.

... and we realize that we lost our parents, friends.

and we realize it's too late to go back...

So... Let's try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time...

Let's keep looking for activities that we like...

Let's put some color in our grey...

Let's smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.

And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left. Let's try to eliminate the afters...

I'm doing it after...

I'll say after...

I'll think about it after...

We leave everything for later like ′′ after ′′ is ours.

Because what we don't understand is that:

Afterwards, the coffee gets cold...

afterwards, priorities change...

Afterwards, the charm is broken...

afterwards, health passes...

Afterwards, the kids grow up...

Afterwards parents get old...

Afterwards, promises are forgotten...

afterwards, the day becomes the night...

afterwards life ends...

And then it's often too late....

So... Let's leave nothing for later...

Because still waiting see you later, we can lose the best moments,

the best experiences,

best friends,

the best family...

The day is today... The moment is now...

We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away.

Smarter generation?

If you think you are smarter than the previous generation....50 years ago the owners manual of a car showed you how to adjust the valves.  Today it warns you not to drink the contents of the battery 

Halloween is coming soon

Good thing I'll be out of town

 

Life is too short!

 

Computer humour