New England / Canada : Voyager of the Seas Sept 18th - Sept 25th. Semi-Live

[alexgtp]

I do not see a lot of live or semi live reviews for this particular itinerary. So I felt it necessary to do one.. LOL!

Hope you can all enjoy this trip with me.

Since this is a port intensive itinerary, I will try my best to update daily, but you know how that goes.

 

Some wiki facts:



I have not planned any excursions, as most of them were already sold out. Seems there will be 3 ships operating this same itinerary:
Voyager, Adventure and NCL JOY during that time frame and I will mainly be seeing these other 2 in port stops along the way. 

Just found out that  Frankie and The Dreamers are now officially on this ship, so I plan on being at everyone of their show's 🙂 , as I enjoy Ryan Molloy's rendition of Jersey Boys and find this to be a great show! They are already performing on the Transatlantic trip.

 

New Home for the Next 6 Months:

 

Edited September 12, 2022 by alexgtp
typo

[alexgtp]

Since this itinerary goes to Canada, you still need to provide proof of a negative Covid test.
These are the updated test requirement's:


The dreaded ArriveCAN: 

I have to say this is the worst app ever created.  Interface is not user friendly and would bomb out after trying to upload documents.

Instead I opted to use the Web version and just print out all documentation needed. 
 

 

For this trip I decided to forego a balcony stateroom and opted for a guaranteed inside cabin.

 

NOW will this be the biggest cruising blunder I have ever made? Probably! but the price was just too good to pass up! 

 

- i know this is a touchy subject but I always recommend travel insurance.

For travel insurance we opted to go with the Nationwide Choice Cruise Plan, very affordable and has some great coverage limits and most importantly medical evacuation!

Boston Logan to Black Falcon Port and return service info:

We will be using the RCL provided shuttle service to Black Falcon Port ($24.99 one way P/P) We will only be using 1 way service to PORT. 

 

-Black Falcon Cruise Terminal

1 Black Falcon Avenue
Boston, MA 02210

For out return leg of journey we will have about a 11 hour layover in Boston so we needed something that would pick us up, store our bags,  and allow us to explore Boston on our own (having been to Boston numerous times I wanted to show my parent's this amazing town).

After numerous minutes of searching I found Boston Water Taxi: They offer exactly what I was looking for. Price is about what I would expect for all the services provided. ($50 PP)



6 days away!!! Can't wait for this new adventure to begin!

Please feel free to ask me anything! I will try my hardest to provide you with as much info as I can gather! I plan on taking a lot of pictures, and posting as many as I can provided the VOOM service on Voyager is adequate!

Edited September 12, 2022 by alexgtp

[Sadebud]

Looking forward to your review.  Have a great cruise!

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, alexgtp said:

They are already performing on the Transatlantic trip.

The bearded Dreamer disembarked in Copenhagen - he was a better singer than Flowrider rider.

[cooncat_mom]

I hope you enjoy it! We’re on it too, and Portland Maine is very walkable. There are some sites like visitportland.com that will give you ideas.  Thanks for the heads-up on the show!

[LikeAllCruiseLines]

We board on the 25th. Hope to see a good review from you! Hope you enjoy!

[Luckynana]

Have a great cruise!  I'll be boarding Adventure of the Seas on the 29th for our NE/Canada cruise our of Cape Liberty.   What an annoyance the ArriveCan is!🙄

[thrifty99]

We are on this cruise too - looking forward to it. 

[h20skibum]

I will be following along on this one, because it will show me what I am missing.  We were booked for October, but unfortunately had to cancel.  
 

And yes, to travel insurance.  Never book without it. 
 

Enjoy your cruise. 

[rudeney]

We're two weeks behind you so I am anxious to hear all about it!

[davekathy]

41 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

Have a great cruise!  I'll be boarding Adventure of the Seas on the 29th for our NE/Canada cruise our of Cape Liberty.   What an annoyance the ArriveCan is!🙄

ArriveCan, no biggie. Still having to do the pre cruise covid testing is the biggest annoyance. 🤬

[birdylady]

Thank you for posting.  We are on the sailing right after you.  We too went inside cabin.  For 3 nighters it’s doable.  Will be interesting to see how we do for 7 nights.  We did ‘splurge’ ($6pp more, lol) for virtual balcony.  Will be first time.

Looking forward to following your posts and getting even more excited about our own.

thanx,

Erika

[missaud]

Thank you for doing this!  We are on this cruise October 9.  Can’t wait for the rest of your adventures

[KATHYMAC68]

I will be on the October 13th Can/NE. 
I would love to know if there is a shuttle from the ship to the Faneuil Hall area in Boston. TIA

[Broons77]

@KATHYMAC68 - Do you mean the 16th?  I believe we're on board with you if the 13th is a typo.

 

@alexgtp  Thank you for this!  I'm climbing the walls waiting for my turn on board in October.  I was actually going to try my first 'Live' as I'm planning on doing a whole lot of nothing on my trip and will have time to report.  Just one excursion at St. John for us.  I did take a minor splurge not 5 mins ago and booked Chops for embark lunch.  I'm not a fan of the WJ crowds and lunch choices seem limited.  So we board at 10:30ish, time for a couple of cocktails, lunch @ 12:15 and with any luck, cabins should be open when we leave after lunch.

 

Will you be posting the CC?  And I'm curious to hear about your embarkation experience.  We sailed in May on NCL and I wasn't a fan of the Black Falcon Terminal.  It's an odd setup and I'm wondering how it will do with the crowds from a larger ship.

 

Enjoy your time in Boston!  Hope your folks enjoy it as much as you seem to!  We look to have a good stretch of weather coming up for your journey.

[JCMass.]

Thanks for doing live postings.  We are starting to pack for our cruise out of Boston September 25.  We have a slightly different itinerary Halifax instead of Sydney.  

 

We were wondering who is the Cruise Director ?  Anything you can tell us about entertainment ?   We understand the Meet and Mingle events are on pause, how about others that have been cancelled in recent times.  Do they still do the Captains meeting with all the top officers which is always interesting to us ?   Is the Windjammer back to self-serve ?   Our cruise is sold out but I expect they are not filling the ship, just curious about how many are on board.   Look forward to hearing anything you care to share.  

[rudeney]

I'm most interested in hearing about the boarding experience in Boston.  We've never sailed from there and I hear it's not very well managed like the other RCCL-dedicated terminals they use year round.  

[georgemoe]

We are also on this sailing. DW, MIL, and I have connecting Promenade Interiors. Our first interior. We rarely use our balcony but DW usually insists. This time I get to try one. We have no official excursions booked either. I'm thinking of doing bike tours in Portland with Lighthouse Bikes ( https://rentle.store/lighthousebikes/product/pEf4CgBwUeiPyNuPZOsi)  and in Saint John the Sites & Suds tour with ( http://insideoutnaturecentre.com/bike-tours). DW & MIL will mingle around the port or just stay on the ship.

 

Also looking forward to the Frankie and the Dreamers shows.

[Bikemum]

Lighthouse Bikes is a great spot. There are bike trails near the shop that get you out of the business of the city and out to the area lighthouses. Mellow riding and beautiful.

[mdd3145]

Thanks for starting your post. We will be on Voyager on Oct. 23 with almost the same ports. Have never been to Maine or Canada so we are excited. We are home sick with covid right now after escaping getting it for 2 1/2 years. We are glad we have it now and hopefully will test negative in October.  Can't wait to hear about the ports.

[KATHYMAC68]

6 hours ago, Broons77 said:

@KATHYMAC68 - Do you mean the 16th?  I believe we're on board with you if the 13th is a typo.

 

@alexgtp  Thank you for this!  I'm climbing the walls waiting for my turn on board in October.  I was actually going to try my first 'Live' as I'm planning on doing a whole lot of nothing on my trip and will have time to report.  Just one excursion at St. John for us.  I did take a minor splurge not 5 mins ago and booked Chops for embark lunch.  I'm not a fan of the WJ crowds and lunch choices seem limited.  So we board at 10:30ish, time for a couple of cocktails, lunch @ 12:15 and with any luck, cabins should be open when we leave after lunch.

 

Will you be posting the CC?  And I'm curious to hear about your embarkation experience.  We sailed in May on NCL and I wasn't a fan of the Black Falcon Terminal.  It's an odd setup and I'm wondering how it will do with the crowds from a larger ship.

 

Enjoy your time in Boston!  Hope your folks enjoy it as much as you seem to!  We look to have a good stretch of weather coming up for your journey.

I’m on Adventure out of Bayonne Oct 13th

[Broons77]

3 minutes ago, KATHYMAC68 said:

I’m on Adventure out of Bayonne Oct 13th

 

Enjoy your Adventure then!  😄 

[KATHYMAC68]

3 minutes ago, Broons77 said:

 

Enjoy your Adventure then!  😄 

And you enjoy your Voyage! 🤣

[alexgtp]

Yes I will try to post daily! 

So today I received an email from RCL, they said I can Complete the ArriveCAN process.

A bit confused as ArriveCAN website clearly states if traveling by ship must do it within 72 hours of arrival.

 

 

EMAIL:


Snippet from ArriveCAN website:

LOL!!! If  I were to add trip details today ! I can't since it says travel must be within these dates. RCL get your stuff together !!!

Or am I missing something???

[Rogueperson]

Ack, you're beating me to doing a Canada live thread by 11 days!!  I planned to do my live thread on the September 29th Adventure sailing.  Its actually a b2b live as I'm going to Bermuda first on the 24th.  My first b2b.

 

Still, I can follow your thread right up until i board.