COLD! It’s 36 in Long Island City, Queens, right now and I am so glad I don’t have to go outside for very long.
My hotel room view from the 3th floor looking north west a few blocks acrcoss the river toward Manhattan.
Despite the view, I was not sorry to leave The Paper Factory. I want to begin this adventure. I know I live in a warm part of the USA, but, somehow, it seems different to have a tropical Christmas with not a hint of cold in sight.
The breakfast Marijana comped me was excellent. I would never have spent $30 for a :buffet consisting of pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, coctail wennies, various fruits and cheeses, muffins, bagels, and cereal. Her thoughtfulness was apprecciated.
I received an email from Rob and Craig (Reno guys) who were disembarking having spent 10 days in London shopping! Yeah, I wish I had that kind of life! They were stuck in the lounge waiting to be cleared by Customs. We emailed back and forth for a bit before I went down to breakfast.
I was amazed when I checked out to have the clerk ask if I wanted her to go get Marijana from her office so I could say goodbye. I declined as I still had nearly an hour before Hoyt’s came to pick me up, so my reply was that I’d do so before I left. Then I got reading and forgot the time until Harry appeared at my elbow asking if I was ready to have my bags brought down the steps to the street. I sent her an email of thanks and appreciation.
It’s strange that I have now been in this area of Queens so often that I’m recognizing streets and shops! I antiicpated the turn onto 31st to pick up Sheila before the driver put on his signal!
Traffic on the BQE was not as horrendous as in the past, thus we were at the Red Hook Terminal before 12:30 and I was in my stateroom by 1:30. That unusual delay was due to US Customs delays in checking the disembarking passengers, a becoming more the norm experience with ship travelers. I told Sheila that Rob and Craig had not been released from Customs until just after 10:30! She was unsurprised as this same delay occurred when she cruised last month on the Crossings.
My room is lovely. 8013’s balcony is almost past the lifeboats. Three quarters of it is open to the sea and I have a fabulous view of Lady Liberty. It’s also the most forward I’ve ever stayed, being only a few doors from the Library. The BEST thing about it is the floral arrangement from Rob and Craig wishing me a happy holiday and a good voyage. (Sheila is almost as giddy as I am.)
We followed our usual boarding day plan and met in Sir Samuels for a brief nosh before commencing unpacking. She told me she’d discovered another glitch in our cruise timetable - only 50 of the usual 100 baggage handlers of the longshoremen reported for duty, so luggage was much delayed. For most at least, the tip we each gave our guy must have worked because our bags were in our staterooms when we arrived.
We stopped by the Beverly Belles’ a capella performance of carols. This trio is charming and were on board only for the sailing, then were catching a flight back to Denver for another performance.
Dinner was excellent. Our table (71) is just at the base of the stairs in Britannia. Our tables mates are Kenny and Adrian from western Massachusetts traveling with Adrian’s mother and aunt for the fourth Christmas cruise. The women weren’t there so we’ll meet them tomorrow.
Eric, our waiter from last year came over to say hi. I found Roslyn in the greeting line. I left dinner to check out the film Nativity 2: Return to the Manger, which sounded much better on paper than in reality. When Sheila showed up about 15 minutes into the showing, I was more than ready to leave. She enticed me with Monique and then with Marcus our cainthia waiter from previously. So off I went to hear Kelly Broadway, the new orchestra singer. Amazing. She has that husky torch singer voice I love. And I told her so after the entertainment ended. Monique still looks great, tres chic! Marcus says he’ll keep an eye out for us!.
I fell into bed at 12:30 and postponed publishing this entry until today.
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