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Second Anthem - NJ to Bermuda - Oct 19 to Oct 24 - LIVE(ISH)


JLMoran

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? Only two days 'til we go on the cruise, only two days 'til we gooooo! ?

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Laundry is done, hamper is empty, just have to do some ironing and the clothes packing will finish up. Still have to pack all the camera stuff, charger, and other tech gear; and things like sunscreen and my toiletries are still waiting to get shoved in.

Seriously, this carry-on size suitcase is going to be seriously jammed full. Very glad I'm not packing my suit, even if this suitcase does come with a suit pocket.

And now that we're down to two days, I'll reveal the two eBooks I've loaded onto my iPad (and which I suspect I'll be getting a lot more time to read than originally planned):

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The first book is by a guy whose tech journalism I've followed for years, as he was a staff writer for MacWorld and now does tech reporting at SixColors.com. He's also a semi-regular guest on some of the podcasts I listen to, and between liking his writing style online and the stuff he talks about on the podcasts, I wanted to give his debut novel a go.

Second book was sitting in my list of "want to read" after seeing it listed in a "top recommended Sci-Fi of 2018" list (which happened to be written by Dan Moren's partner at SixColors.com, site creator Jason Snell). Then I saw it was being made into a TV series on Starz, and after watching the trailer / reading the summary, decided I'd better buy it and read it.

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43 minutes ago, kimberussell said:

So excited for you and I didn't think I'd be more disturbed by a number than the "3" you found for your countdown but this "2" is ... whoa. Yeesh. ?

I wanted to do a series of number animations from the old Sesame Street or Electric Company shows, but seems that giphy doesn't have any beyond the full opening sequence for "1-2-3-4-5... 6-7-8-9-10... 11-12". ?

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1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

I wanted to do a series of number animations from the old Sesame Street or Electric Company shows, but seems that giphy doesn't have any beyond the full opening sequence for "1-2-3-4-5... 6-7-8-9-10... 11-12". ?

I want you to know I read this in the way it was intended...by singing it.

Enjoy the cruise, get that sun!

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35 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Joe, how is your foot/ankle doing ?

Raye, it's a mixed bag. Had a follow-up at the wound center today; seems to be a bit bigger than it was, which the doc said is normal in the beginning but hardly helpful at this particular point. I've already canceled iFly, no way do I want to risk making it any worse from the high-speed wind buffeting me and making my shoe flap around in bad ways.

I'll definitely be looking for a scooter or wheelchair to rent at the aquarium and botanical garden so that I'm not walking on it too much (beyond what I'll already be doing just in the course of regular day-to-day on the ship). Will take my chances with Horseshoe Bay, since the majority of the beach has very well-packed sand that won't torque my foot around in bad ways; worse comes to worst, while Cathy enjoys the waves and sand I'll sit in the bar there and down a few Dark & Stormy's.

Good news is my doc told me to take Painkillers as needed to deal with any discomfort.

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At least, I think this is what he meant. ?

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It's all come down to this...

? Only one day 'til we go on the cruise,
only one day 'til we gooooo! ?

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3D rendered graphics on Giphy for every number before this. For 1? Bupkis. At least this isn't creepy looking. ?

 

The  bags are packed, the cruise docs and passports are in the backpack inside pocket, all the electronics are good to go, and the wine is in its carrier.

I did decide to take the Conundrum red blend as the second bottle. Nobody besides @Lovetocruise2002 gave any feedback, so she wins by default! ?

 

And in a fun twist, Cathy is not only on board with leaving at 9 to be at the terminal when it opens; she then asked if we can leave at bit earlier, because she has a package that she has to mail out and doesn't want us to get there later! ? Granted, the cruise terminal doesn't open until 10:30, but this ensures that even if we hit the inevitable crawl of cars going into the place, we'll be through right in time for my actual, assigned by the ship 10:30 AM boarding time!

Oh, and when I just re-checked the terminal hours I saw that parking has gone up from $20/day to $22/day. Prices rising is as inevitable as death and taxes, and this is the first raise in at least three years – I remember reading a review of an Anthem Bermuda sailing on Eat Sleep Cruise where it was still $20/day to park – so I'm not going to let it rain on my parade.

OK, maybe a little. That's the better part of a melon & mango 'rita you're costing me, Cape Liberty.

So in 12 hours we'll be on the road, and in a little over 13 we should be on board! Stay tuned!

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Tomorrow is the day.  Am really excited for you both.  So sorry about your foot acting up....an having to cancel iFly and take it easy in other ways.  What bad timing.  But I'm sure you'll still have an amazing time and you're finding ways to work around it.  I like your "painkiller" above.  

Have a great cruise!

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3 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

So sorry about your foot acting up....an having to cancel iFly and take it easy in other ways.  What bad timing.

Believe me, the timing could have been much worse. Like, right before my Iceland and Greenland cruise! I'm thankful this happened now, so that by the time that super-important-to-me sailing comes up this will be fully healed, and I can be sure to take part in that trip to the fullest!

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Meant to mention in the last post -- the weather this time around is much milder than last year. Yes, it's going down to the upper-30s overnight, but the high tomorrow is still in the low 60's (~17º C) with virtually no wind and lots of sun, so that should be a great embarkation. The day we come home is supposed to be in the mid-60s with lots of sun. And on our last sea day, the NJ area is just supposed to have some morning showers with low winds, and again be in the low-60s; I'm hoping that translates into relatively smooth seas for our last sea day and some pleasant outdoor time, but I know that's not guaranteed since we'll still be a few hundred miles away and the weather could be vastly different. But this is still way better than last year, when we left with weather in the 40s and came home to a cold and rainy day.

Bermuda, meanwhile, is looking like it's going to be perfect -- partly cloudy with modest winds, and a high each day we're there of 79º F (26º C). 20% chance of rain, just means if it happens we'll duck into a store or restaurant, or hang out a bit longer at the aquarium.

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Aaaaand just re-printed all of my luggage tags. Why? Because I needed one extra for the third suitcase we realized we were going to need (because carry-on apparently isn't enough for the two of us ?), and when I went to print it out, I saw the tag color is green.

And the ones I printed earlier came out gold, because the printer ink was too low.

Does the color matter? Maybe not to the longshoremen at the port, but I imagine that helps the crew figure out the right place. So... new copies it is!

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At Cape Liberty. Easy-peasy with no traffic. Get here at 10:08, quick bag drop off and parking, now just waiting with the other gold passengers for 11 AM boarding.

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We did have to get our pictures re-taken, they could tell they weren’t recent. So I guess they can tell if a pic was reused from a prior sailing.

And putting the Set Sail passes in my phone’s Wallet for lock screen access worked like a charm. We can even use that on the ship until we have our Sea Pass cards.

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I screwed up, to the tune of $50.

Logged on to the WiFi and it said I only had Surf, not the expected Surf and Stream. Went to the rep and he pulled up the online purchase from last year. Shows that I bought 2-device Surf.

Remember that amazing $17.99 price I talked about at the start of this blog? Yeah, I didn’t read the label carefully enough before canceling and rebuying. So I “saved” $5 on my original Surf & Stream Package, only to have to pay $50 onboard to get back to what I meant to have.

Nobody’s fault but mine, no way I was getting mad at the rep for my own screw-up. At least it’s still 20% off today. But damn, that stings.

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20 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I screwed up, to the tune of $50.

Logged on to the WiFi and it said I only had Surf, not the expected Surf and Stream. Went to the rep and he pulled up the online purchase from last year. Shows that I bought 2-device Surf.

Remember that amazing $17.99 price I talked about at the start of this blog? Yeah, I didn’t read the label carefully enough before canceling and rebuying. So I “saved” $5 on my original Surf & Stream Package, only to have to pay $50 onboard to get back to what I meant to have.

Nobody’s fault but mine, no way I was getting mad at the rep for my own screw-up. At least it’s still 20% off today. But damn, that stings.

I did the exact same thing for a sailing last year!  Only I caught it about a month before we sailed.  I am so jealous right now!  I need to get on a cruise so bad!

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Actually did lunch in the Wind-zha-mehr today. Managed to get a spot outside on the aft patio area. A little chilly, but worth it for the fresh air and quieter space.

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Trying to eat a little less excessively and a little more healthily.

 

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I did say a little. ?

Raspberry tart (without so much rat in it) and mango cheesecake. Not pictured, the sugar-free Black Forest mousse. Which, despite being sugar-free, was by far the best.

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Rooms weren’t ready at 1, got told it wouldn’t be until 1:30. So we went to Two70 Lounge, where I was able to confirm the $75 new onboard price for the DBP.

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Had to wait a bit for a bartender, but eventually got myself my first drink of the trip: a genuine Dark and Stormy! Yes, they have Goslings ginger beer as well as Goslings Black Spiced rum!

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Now sitting in the “All About Anthem” presentation; using it be off my feet, have a chance to blog, and with some luck score something in the raffle.

After that, it’s muster drill and then sailaway!

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52 minutes ago, heffy2 said:

Have a wonderful cruise! I got an email last night about a coast guard drill the day you get back, so boarding is delayed by two hours. I always feel for the crew on days like that.

Nope, no delay for our boarding. Key, Pinnacles, and suites boarded at 10:45, us lowly Gold got on right at the expected 11:00.

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Muster is done and we’re already well clear of the Verrazano. Still about 90 minutes until we clear the channel. After muster, the captain came on the PA and let us know that tomorrow should be in the mid-70s, so I’m getting some sun tomorrow!

No pics of sailaway; bar service was slow, compounded by no one seeming to respect basic “deli counter” etiquette and just calling out their orders when they saw an opening. But, I eventually got my sailaway margarita – A mango melon ‘rita with Avion Reposado.

Got back to my cabin and saw the one other item I honestly forgot I’d bought at the last decent sale delivered to our cabin: a plate of 9 chocolate covered strawberries. Cathy loves those, and the sale price of $16 was with it to me. We enjoyed them on our balcony while sipping our beverages and watching the Verrazano go overhead.

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Got a little too cool for comfort with the breeze, so now we’re back inside and waiting for Joyce Kuo to perform in the Schooner Bar before dinner.

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16 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Speed test results from our cabin

Interesting it picked an NYC area server.  
 

23 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

waiting for Joyce Kuo to perform in the Schooner Bar before dinner.

Joyce from WWRY?   If so, she’s good.  Love the thing she does in The VIA.  Hoping she’s still on in January.  

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44 minutes ago, twangster said:

Interesting it picked an NYC area server.  
 

Joyce from WWRY?   If so, she’s good.  Love the thing she does in The VIA.  Hoping she’s still on in January.  

NYC area server is probably because that’s where my cable internet provider is located.

And yup, same Joyce. Soon as I saw that I knew this was a must-watch.

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