We were up at 5:30 and grabbed our last breakfast on the ship.

After packing and showering, we leisurely left the ship. We’d planned on grabbing a Lyft to the closest subway stop, which was about 4 blocks away, but once we got off the ship in the mayhem that was outside, we decided to just take our time and walk the 4 blocks — from 12th Avenue to 8th Avenue.

At the E-train metro on 50th St., we took it downtown one stop to switch to the uptown train, which we took to the Roosevelt/Jackson Heights/74th Street station, where we exited to catch the free Q70 city bus to LaGuardia.

Total cost of our trip from the cruise terminal to LGA: $5.90. ($2.95 each)

---

Since we were going to be at the airport for several hours and the last time we ate at an airport, a bacon, egg, & cheese sandwich was $19, we wanted to grab some food as we waited for the bus to LGA.

I spied a deli across the street from the bus station, and I ran and got us 4 chicken pastry sandwiches and 2 links of chorizo for lunch when we arrived at the airport around noon and a little snack later in the afternoon before our 5:00 flight.

---

As expected, chicken sandwiches at the airport were in the $15 range.

I couldn’t find a plain hot dog for sale to see the prices, but a quick Google search said the average price at LGA was $12. And lest you think a hot dog couldn’t possibly cost that much, look at the cost of this one (which, in its defense, came with fries) in the “Brooklyn Diner” near our gate.

We’re estimating that we saved about $60 by bringing food to the airport with us.

---

Our 5:00 flight on Frontier Airlines was on time and uneventful — if you don’t count the two ridiculously immature girls sitting in front of us (including banging their seats back and forth as they laughed maniacally the entire way) as an event.

Thanks again to Neal for picking us up at the airport!

Today’s BearCruise group’s schedule of activities

Saturday, October 4 – Day at Sea

SLEEP IN!!! You deserve it after so many days in port!!!

12 noon – Bear Lunch – If you want to join others for lunch, meet at The Garden Cafe, Deck 15 Aft. Also note that these restaurants are also open for lunch if you want to try them – O’Sheehan’s Bar and Grill on Deck 7 and The American Diner on Deck 16.

3 – 6 pm – BearCruise Private Dance Party, Bliss Ultra Lounge, Deck 7 midship. Party Theme is Pride Colors. Come dressed in your best pride outfit or dress monochromatic in one of the colors from the pride flag.

Dinner – Taste and Savor on Deck 6 aft and The Manhattan Room on Deck 7 aft.

After Dinner – Ship shows and activities – see today’s NCL’s daily program, the Freestyle Daily, below.

---

Today’s NCL cruise’s schedule of activities

---

I’ve decided that a day at sea on the last day of a cruise is the best. It’s just a good time to sleep in, catch up my blog, and do a little day drinking.

Presumably it was NCL who added this new, blue magnet to our door:

---

I spent the morning in the ship’s Library & Game Room devising Thursday’s and Friday’s blog entries.

A server came into the room at about 10:00, and it reminded me that:

so I ordered a Bloody Mary.

There were 2 women playing gin rummy next to me, and one of them was the type of person who complains about things that are presumably contributing to her not being able to “go out” or “win the round” (e.g., “I keep getting the same cards” and “I have the worst luck”).

And then after each round, she recounted what cards she had and how she wanted to play such-and-such but needed this-or-that, or blah, blah, blah. Shut the fuck up, lady. Nobody cares about what you could or couldn’t play every fucking round.

I ordered another Bloody Mary.

After a while, I put in my earbuds but quickly saw I only had 2 songs I could play without wi-fi access, so I started up a white noise app that I use for sleeping and turned it all the way up to drown out that woman’s yammering.

I ordered a 1792 & soda.

Then, two tables over, a husband and wife were playing a card game, and she made some comment about his hand or playing, and he yelled at her, “You don’t worry about what I’m doing; just play your own hand!” No surprise that it was a grumpy, old, straight, white, emotionally abusive male.

---

We had our BearCruise Pride Party to which we were asked to come dressed in our best pride outfit or monochromatically in one of the colors from the pride flag. This was a private party for which BearCruise rented the Bliss Bar, which we’d been doing late-night dancing in over the course of the week.

Bob and I wore our Guncle shirts that our niece Mary Lou gave us as a thank-you gift after she spend several days visiting us in May.

Guncle: a gay uncle; a source of unlimited fun, help, advice, and encouragement. See also: best buddy

Here’s the Raleigh contingent:

Some other photos of the party:

---

We didn’t join the bears for dinner at Taste, Savor, or The Manhattan Room, because we had the second of our two included evenings to eat free in one of the specialty dining rooms — regularly costing $60.

Cagney’s Steakhouse
Specializing in Premium Black Angus Beef and exceptional seafood, this American-style steakhouse is second to none. With classic cocktails, an extensive wine list, and attentive service, Cagney’s Steakhouse offers a truly delightful dining experience.

Menu

New friends from this week, Karl & Joseph, joined us for our final dinner of the cruise.

Bob and I got the lobster bisque and crab cake starters, respectively. All of us chose the filet mignon for our entree with a baked potato side. And I got the “OMG” caramel-butterscotch cheesecake for dessert and Bob and a bite of it.

And Bob, pleased with his dinner!

---

We called it a night after dinner, as we had to be up early to pack and grab some breakfast before beginning debarkation at 7 am in Manhattan.

Today’s BearCruise group’s schedule of activities

Friday, October 3 – St. John, New Brunswick

Happy Birthday to Donna Jorgensen and Ken Greenlee!!!

11:10 – 8 pm – In port in St. John.

12:00 pm – 5pm – BearCruise NE – Private Bay of Fundy & Sea Caves Tour. Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours.

4 pm – Pool / Hot Tub Takeover. If you are back on board, join other BearCruisers on Deck 15 midship at one of the pools or hot tubs.

6:00 pm – Cocktail Hour, Mixx, Deck 6, aft.

Dinner – Taste and Savor on Deck 6 aft and The Manhattan Room on Deck 7 aft.

After Dinner – Ship shows and activities – see today’s NCL’s daily program, the Freestyle Daily, below.

---

Today’s NCL cruise’s schedule of activities

---

We arrived into our final port — St. John, New Brunswick — at around 11 a.m.

---

This container ship beside us in the port:

reminded me of one of my favorite punny memes:

---

Private Bay of Fundy & Sea Caves Tour – our St. John, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick port call excursion

Step into the story of Canada’s first incorporated city with a journey that blends history, geology, and coastal beauty. We begin in Saint John, where your guide will share tales of the city’s rich maritime heritage and unique place in Canadian history.

Our first stop is the renowned Reversing Falls, a natural phenomenon where the Bay of Fundy’s powerful tides cause the Saint John River to flow backward — a mesmerizing sight that must be seen to be believed.

From there, enjoy a scenic 45-minute drive along the picturesque coastline to the quaint village of St. Martins, home to the breathtaking sea caves carved by the world’s highest tides. You’ll have time to walk along the ocean floor (tide permitting), snap photos of the dramatic cliffs and red rock formations, and browse local artisan shops.

Lunch is available at one of the charming seaside restaurants, where you can relax and take in the views before we make our way back to the city.

---

This excursion was very long (5 hours), and just what I would call “alright.”

The tour guide had 3 conversational affections that drove me to distraction:

1) He said “what we call” and “what I would call” so many times it was excruciating. Examples: “This is what we would call igneous rock.” Guess what. That’s what everyone would call igneous rock. By the end of the tour, Bob and I were saying things to each other like, “I’m going to take what I would call a picture of that bridge.”

2) He said “of course” so many times, most times it being incongruent with what he was saying. An example, “When I was growing up, I would of course walk to school.” Why say “of course” here? We don’t know that he’d naturally be walking to school.

3) He told 3 or 4 jokes during the tour and for each of them, he said, “When I pass this area I always tell the joke that…” Why that pre-amble? Just tell the joke!

A couple of other very annoying things he did:

1) He stayed seated behind the bus driver while talking and said things like, “Coming up on the right, you’ll see one of the oldest houses in the area,” but we had no idea how much farther it was. We were toward the back of the bus, so we’d be like, “Is that the house he was talking about?” Then passing another, “Or is this the one?” He didn’t follow up when we actually got to it to say, “Here’s that oldest house I was talking about.”

2) When we stopped at a place where we’d get off the bus, he would alternate the sides of the bus that could get off first. “At this stop, everyone sitting on the side behind the bus driver will get off first.” What are we, 12? I’ve never had a bus tour guide do such a thing, and I’m pretty sure everyone on the bus knew how to alternate sides, from front to back, to get off the bus in an orderly way.

Our first stop on the tour was of course my namesake town of St. Martins.

Here there were two what I would call covered bridges, and it’s the only place in Canada where you can get a picture of 2 covered bridges in one picture.

This is the single picture with 2 covered bridges; the second bridge is to the right and down a little. It’s actually the “old bridge” that cars could only go through one way at a time, and which was replaced by the big two-way bridge.

I’m not sure if it’s the only place where you can see a lighthouse through one of the covered bridges, but here you have it:

All of the guys sitting behind the bus driver were first to get to the ice cream shop at this stop. The ice cream was fantastic, because they make their ice cream in Canada with more milkfat than usual.

And here are Bob and I walking through the covered bridge enjoying our ice cream. I had a waffle cone of Maple Walnut, which I love, and which was my mother’s favorite flavor, and Bob enjoyed a cup of Dutch Chocolate.

The next stop is what they call the sea caves part of the tour. Some people got the world famous chowder, but we didn’t, so I’m not sure if it was clam chowder or seafood chowder or what they would call something else.

And of course the sea caves:

The next stop was at the renown Reversing Falls, a natural phenomenon where what I call the Bay of Fundy’s powerful tides cause the Saint John River to flow backward.

From what we understood, it changes direction when the tide changes, but to us of course since the tide wasn’t changing, it looked like a river flowing one way, which is pretty much what all rivers do.

More interesting to us were the restroom signs in both English & French.

The last stop on this too-long excursion was Saint John City Market, an iconic market that dates back to the 1870s with vendors carrying local produce, meat, seafood, & crafts.

Not being shoppers and having already purchased a refrigerator magnet for this trip at the Anne Murray Centre during our Halifax port call, we didn’t buy anything.

Inside the market we gathered under this clock so the tour guide could tell us what he called some facts about the market.

He asked us who noticed anything odd about the clock.

---

Back on the ship, Bob and I had a small snack, since we hadn’t had lunch, and then I joined our group’s happy hour in the Mixx bar.

I got there before Bob, and where I stepped up to the bar to order my Buffalo Trace & Soda, there were 4 women — Kathy, Bobbie, LouAnn, & Carol — sitting at the bar to my left. Kathy asked me where I was from, and then I asked her the same about their group.

She said, “Oh, we’re from the tiniest little place in western Pennsylvania that you’ve never heard of.”

“Near Erie?” I asked.

“Yes. A little place called Conneaut Lake.”

“I know where that is! I was just in Conneautville (town close by) in April.” I said.

Their entire crowd went wild. “No way!!!” they cried.

I had a fun chat with them, and they had a lot of questions about our BearCruise group.

---

Bob and I opted out of the buffet tonight and ate in one of the complimentary dining rooms.

For an appetizer, Bob had the Italian Beef Meatballs (spicy marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese) and I had the Brushetta (grilled ciabatta bread, ricotta cheese, roma tomatoes, garlic, basil, & olive oil).

For our entrees, Bob had 3-Cheese Baked Ziti (Parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta cheeses, mushrooms, & chunky tomato sauce) and I had the Montreal Spice-Rubbed Brisket (french fries, horseradish jus):

And for dessert, we each had the Snickers^® Pound Cake (Snickers pieces, peanuts, vanilla ice cream white chocolate curls, & cherries):

---

After dinner, I lay down for 30 minutes before “going out to da club,” and promptly fell asleep for the night. Bob went out and closed down 3 bars on the ship and returned to the room close to 3 am.

Today’s BearCruise group’s schedule of activities

Thursday, October 2 – Halifax, Nova Scotia

Happy Birthday to Mike Cleary!!!

9:15 am – 6 pm – In port in Halifax.

9:30 am – 5:30 pm – BearCruise NE – Private Peggy’s Cove, Hall’s Harbor & Wine Country. Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours.

10 am – 2:30 pm – BearCruise NE – Private Peggy’s Cove & Titanic Heritage Tour. Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours.

4 pm – Pool / Hot Tub Takeover. If you are back on board, join other BearCruisers on Deck 15 midship at one of the pools or hot tubs.

6:00 pm – Cocktail Hour, Mixx, Deck 6, aft.

Dinner – Taste and Savor on Deck 6 aft and The Manhattan Room on Deck 7 aft.

After Dinner – Ship shows and activities – see today’s NCL’s daily program, the Freestyle Daily, below.

---

Today’s NCL cruise’s schedule of activities

---

Sunrise during our sail into Halifax.

I don’t know if you know what an upside pineapple signifies, but it’s fairly well known on cruise ships:

but you might remember that Bob wore a shirt with pineapples (some upside down) on it yesterday, and this morning we cracked up finding that someone had stuck this magnet to our cabin door.

---

Pre-trip correspondence with the centre

We didn’t do any of the excursions offered in this port. Instead, we rented a car and drove two hours to the Anne Murray Centre at 36 Main Street in Springhill, Nova Scotia. Bob is a life-long Anne Murray fan and has always wanted to visit the centre, and being so close, we took advantage of the situation.

Back on April 11, 2025, after seeing on the Anne Murray Centre’s website that they’re closing this season on September 30, I filled out their “Contact us” form with this message:

We (2 of us) are interested in visiting the centre on Thursday, Oct 2, 2025 at around noon. This will be on a cruise ship port call in Halifax from 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.

We’re planning to rent a car at the port as soon as we get off the ship, drive to the centre, spend an hour or 2 there, and then drive back in time for the ship’s 6 p.m. departure.

My questions:
1) Does this seem doable to you?
2) Do the tickets have a time of day associated with them? (i.e., for Oct 3, 2025 at noon?)
3) When would be the earliest we would be able to purchase tickets?

Thanks for any help!

and to our surprise and delight, Wanita Shay, the Executive Director, responded:

Hello John,

Thanks so much for your message and interest in visiting the centre.

The last of September is usually our last opening, but we can come in for you by appointment. You can just pay at the door. Yes, we’re two hours from Halifax and it sounds like a great little trip for you.

Please email me a couple of weeks prior to remind me and confirm, and I’ll make sure someone is here for you.

All the best,

Wanita

Immediately becoming our new best friend, I responded:

Thank you for your prompt and very customer-service-oriented response and generosity, Wanita! I will definitely email you a couple of weeks before our trip to confirm and with any further details we might have at that time.

We appreciate you!

John & Bob

---

Drive to the centre

I woke up too early and couldn’t get back to sleep perseverating about the route to the Anne Murray Centre, which I had failed to investigate and print in case we couldn’t get wi-fi/GPS service, so I got up and used some of our free NCL wi-fi minutes to look at Google Maps and write down the directions just in case.

Earlier in the week, our friend Al found out that another guy traveling with our group was interested in going to the Anne Murray Centre. His name was Ron, and he did indeed join us today.

Walking to the nearby Budget rental place, we passed this “beflagged” building waving the extra-inclusive pride flag among the others:

The drive from the port at Halifax to the centre in Springhill, NS was just over two hours, and we were able to connect our Google Maps GPS to the car’s system, so it was an uneventful trip.

The three of us talked about a lot of things on the way — from sharing jokes to philosophical discussions about sex, relationships, and potential ethical implications of including in book chapters or blog entries stories about, or photos of, people we know, have met, or have observed — just to name a few of the topics we discussed.

Also, Ron actually wasn’t that familiar with Anne Murray’s music, admitting the he really only knew the songs she did that were covers of other artists (e.g., Kenny Loggins’ Danny’s Song & The Monkees’ Daydream Believer), so Bob gave him the blow-by-blow of her entire life and career during our ride there. 😂

Ron surprised, and delighted, us with two gifts for letting him tag along with us — and he paid our entrance fee to the centre:

---

And then we were there!

Inside we met Wanita, the Executive Director with whom we’d corresponded back in April, and Miriam — both of whom were an absolute delight. Wanita welcomed us and Miriam told us a little about how the centre was set up to go through.

If you read our letter exchange with Wanita above, you know the centre had closed for the season and they were opening it for us “by appointment” today, but as it turned out, several folks from Saskatchewan had called about visiting even though it was closed and Wanita had said, “You’re in luck! We’re already opening today for some guys coming from a cruise ship for a visit.”

Here’s Anne at the entrance with her “Ultra Fan” (that’s how the people who run the centre refer to fans like Bob):

Also at the entrance was this ad of when Anne’s book first came out and a wall quote about the centre (ignore that errant semicolon in it — I did):

We started our self-tour!

A framed copy of other songs on Billboard’s Hot 100 on November 4, 1978 when Anne’s hit, You Needed Me, reached #1:

Bob’s photos, most of them highlighting her records and awards.

And we wouldn’t be gay if we didn’t notice some of her outfits.

Anne Murray was born and raised in Springhill, NS (where the centre is), and her father was the town doctor.

Before the town became famous because she was from it, it was mostly known for its mining disasters. Anne honored that history in this display in her centre.

And the town has a monument to the 1891 accident in which 125 miners died.

Before we left, we met Miriam back in the gift shop, where we bought the only souvenirs of our entire cruise, including this refrigerator magnet and pen. We bought a couple of other pens and several post cards.

---

Return drive

Our ride back to Halifax was a little bit stressful, as at one point, Google Maps had us traversing two separate 7-kilometer-long dirt roads, which we did not encounter on the way there. I hate when GPS does that shit. Then we hit traffic jams in 4 different places where they were repaving the highway and had lane closures of several kilometers each. Even though we had plenty of time to get back to the ship before it left the port… well, let’s just say that patience is not a forte of mine.

Rental car return

We appreciated that the rental car guy told us when we were picking up the car to get gas upon our return at the first place we came to after getting of the highway, because gas is the same price at every gas station in this province, and it gets complicated to get some the closer you get to the congested area where there are 3 (huge) cruise ships in port today. We heeded his advice, which made it an uneventful gas stop.

Finally back at the rental car place, we got stuck at the gate into the garage where you returned the car. We had to grab a ticket to raise the gate arm, and I had to open the car door to reach the ticket machine. It was one of those cars that turns off when you stop for any amount of time at all, and it did.

When I got back in, started it back up, put it in drive, and pressed the gas, the car wouldn’t move. I was freaking out, just knowing a car would pull in behind us as it was the only entrance into the garage. Then I thought, “Well, if we’re going to get stuck, this is the place to do it.” The rental car office was just inside the gate, although no one noticed us stuck there to come out and help. Finally I noticed that I had inadvertently engaged the emergency break. Whew!

---

Back on the Norwegian Getaway

We got back on the ship at around 4:30, and Bob and I had a snack in The Garden Cafe, since we hadn’t had any lunch and it was already getting close to dinner time.

Before we knew it, it was time for BearCruise happy hour in the Mixx bar. To our delight, Brian & Gwen (whom we’d met at our table during our Teppanyaki dinner last night) showed up, and we shared a drink and fun conversation until their imminent dinner reservation time.

We had dinner with Cronin in one of the complementary dining rooms, either Savor or Taste…

it’s all a blur when I wait a day or two to catch up my blog! Cronin is always a pleasure to be around.

---

We stopped by the Bliss Bar at for the “Late-Night Party with DJ Tax,” but we’d had a long day and left after just a little bit.

Today’s BearCruise group’s schedule of activities

Wednesday, October 1 – Bar Harbor, Maine

Happy Birthday to Rich D’Amico!!!

7 am – 4 pm – In Port. Bar Harbor is a tender port. If you are on a shore excursion, you must ensure you get onto an early tender to get to the meeting point on shore by 9 am.

9:30 am – 12:30 pm – BearCruise NE – Puffin & Lighthouse Cruise. Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours.

10:30 am – Noon – BearCruise NE – Lobster Fishing and Seal Watching. Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours.

4 pm – Pool / Hot Tub Takeover. If you are back on board, join other BearCruisers on Deck 15 midship at one of the pools or hot tubs.

6:00 pm – Cocktail Hour, Mixx, Deck 6, aft. It is also BearCruise Hawaiian Shirt Night! Wear your favorite Hawaiian Shirt to cocktail hour and dinner.

Dinner – Taste and Savor on Deck 6 aft and The Manhattan Room on Deck 7 aft.

After Dinner – Ship shows and activities – see today’s NCL’s daily program, the Freestyle Daily, below.

---

Today’s NCL cruise’s schedule of activities

---

We didn’t do any of the excursions offered in this port. We just walked around the cute little seaside town.

At the end of the exit ramp from the ship, there was this huge totally unrealistic, big black plastic whale the screamed “photograph me.”

Some very festive store fronts:

I’m always happy to see bookstores wherever I travel and this one, hailed as “Maine’s Oldest Bookstore,” drew me in.

To complement that whacky whale was this lobster holding an ice cream cone.

The town’s Village Green:

And the town’s protection:

We passed a store that had a lot of dogs outside of it, and it was a minute before I noticed the name of the store there — Bar Harbor’s own:

While walking around, I was on the lookout for a coffee-shop with free wi-fi and without success, I stopped into the Visitor’s Center and asked the lady there about one, and she said, “The only one I know of is Choco-Latte, which is (pointing) up the road a couple of blocks on the left.

It was a great coffee shop, and I bought a cup of regular drip coffee just to make a purchase for using their wi-fi. While I caught up my blog there, several beautiful men walked in and out of there. We also saw a flannel of lesbians in this town, many of whom apparently drink coffee.

---

It was our group’s Hawaiian Shirt Night, and we all looked pretty festive at today’s 6:00 happy hour in the Mixx.

Bob and I bookending some of the Raleigh guys in our Hawaiian shirts:

Other bears in the Hawaiian shirts:

The bar service was super tonight, because as is not uncommon, when the cruise line finally “gets” that a group of our size is going to descend on the same bar at the same time (in this case Mixx bar at 6 p.m.) they upped the number of bartenders from 2 earlier in the week to 8 tonight.

---

Bob and I didn’t join the bears for dinner at Taste, Savor, or The Manhattan Room, because we had the first of our two included evenings to eat free in one of the specialty dining rooms — regularly costing $60.

Teppanyaki
Sit at a lively shared table as a skillful chef perfectly prepares shrimp, steak, chicken and fried rice on a large steel grill. And you’ve got a front row seat to all the sizzles and surprises in our Japanese restaurant.

Menu

Waiting to be seated, we met three sisters cruising together who were behind us in the line.

Bob got the Asuka (New York strip & jumbo shrimp) and I got the Edo (sea scallops & jumbo shrimp). All of the meals came with the Miso Soup (mushrooms, dashi, tofu, & wakame — not to be confused with Whac-A-Mole at the state fair) and the Seaweed Salad with ginger dressing. For dessert, I chose the Green Tea Cake (which came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream) and Bob chose the Fresh Fruit Sashimi of sliced exotic fruits.

Our chef was adorable and funny and made us laugh mostly by the cute way he laughed at his own jokes, which he told while cooking at our table. We watched him flip, twirl, and pass utensils behind his back, and we sang a lot of songs.

He made several egg-related punny jokes while frying the eggs, creating a floral design with the slow-dripping egg whites from a slit he made in a couple of eggs,

and culminating in asking something to the effect of where the eggs came from and proceeded to pull a rubber chicken out of his hat throwing it on the side of the grill.

We ate our grilled vegetables while he cooked the meat and fish.

My scallops and shrimp and my Green Tea Cake dessert.

If you’ve eaten at these type of places, ours in Raleigh is called Kanki, you know you’re seated with other people (usually 8 people to a table), and we sat next to Kathie & Debi, who are friends that live in Southern California, and we had a lot of laughs throughout dinner.

At one point, we were talking about getting older and Kathie made a comment about her breasts hanging down to her waist adding, “I guess you can’t relate to that,” to which I said, “Oh, I think it’s not dissimilar to our scrotums now hanging down to our knees.” 😂 😂 😂

Toward the end of dinner, the lady of the couple (Gwen & Brian; that’s them at the top of the picture above of the rubber chicken on the grill) on the opposite end of the table asked about our Hawaiian shirts and when we told her about our group, she said, “I didn’t get the memo to wear a Hawaiian shirt. I want to get on the text list!” We told her it was a private list, only for people who are traveling with the group, but she and her husband were welcome to be at the Mixx bar at the same time we have our happy hours every day.

In telling everyone about our private excursions, which I said that we have so that we don’t get harassed like we might on the general cruise line excursions if we show any kind of affection for each other while on them, Kathie asked how we arranged those as she’s going on a future cruise with a bunch of ladies in which it might be nice to have excursions of their own.

---

Tonight’s 10 p.m. ship activity in the Bliss Bar was Music of the 80s, but we were tired and not feeling it, so we stayed long enough to have one drink, and I actually had a Shirley Temple, because I’d reached my saturation point of free cocktails.

And yes, that’s Boy George of Culture Club singing Karma Chameleon in the video.

Today’s BearCruise group’s schedule of activities

Tuesday, September 30 – Portland, Maine

11:30 am – 7 pm – In port in Portland.

1:00 pm – 5 pm – BearCruise NE – Portland by Land and Sea – Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours.

2:00 – 4 pm – BearCruise NE – Private Portland Walking Tour – Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours.

4 pm – Pool / Hot Tub Takeover. If you are back on board, join other BearCruisers on Deck 15 midship at one of the pools or hot tubs.

6:00 pm – Cocktail Hour, Mixx, Deck 6, aft.

Dinner – Taste and Savor on Deck 6 aft and The Manhattan Room on Deck 7 aft.

After Dinner – Ship shows and activities – see today’s NCL’s daily program, the Freestyle Daily, below.

---

Today’s NCL cruise’s schedule of activities

---

The line to get off the ship was crazy long, driving home the fact that this ship holds just under 4,000 passengers — with about 3000 of them in front of us to get off the ship. Also highlighting the 350-yard length of the ship, the line went from one end of the ship turned the corner at the other end and wound and all the way back to the end we started at to go down the stairs and out.

This was a tender port, which meant the exit line didn’t take you to the dock, but to the side of the ship where you got in the tender boats (capacity 250) to get to shore.

It’s always interesting to see our ship from the shore.

We didn’t do any of the offered excursions at this port, because my long-time friend — from high school! — Kathy Vaillancourt, who lives nearby in Georgetown, ME, met us at the port and gave us a personal tour of the area.

She took us to see Portland Head Light, which is a very popular Portland tourist attraction and one of the stops on many of the paid excursions offered through NCL and BearCruise. It’s easy to understand its popularity, as it’s beautiful.

And nearby cliffs:

People pics there!

John & Kathy
 
 
John & Bob

Next on our private tour, Kathy took us to her favorite (and pretty much) only place from which she’ll get lobster rolls.

And it did not disappoint. Bob and Kathy got theirs with mayo on them, and I got mine with melted butter. I’ve been disappointed in most lobster rolls that I’ve had, but these were freaking delicious! Maybe because of how fresh the lobster was!

And… drum roll… Bob’s and my sandwiches.

Kathy drove us back to the port, where I sat in the Navis Cafe coffee shop, which was right across the street from our ship, to post Sunday’s and Monday’s blog entries before returning to the ship.

It was so great to see and spend the day with you, Kathy! 😍 And thanks for the lobster-shaped pasta and the THC-laced chocolate caramel confections!

---

I got back on the ship just in time to get to our BearCruise Happy Hour in the Mixx bar, where a lot of us caught up with each other’s day.

One time when I was ordering more drinks, an old, privileged white lady asked one of the bartenders, “Do you know how to make a martini?” OMG! Then she said, “What I want is some gin added to a Manhattan.” People!

---

Bob and I had dinner at one of the 3 complimentary restaurants, since we’ve eaten at The Garden Cafe (free buffet-style dining) ever since the day we boarded while waiting for our stateroom to be ready.

Starters: John’s Waldorf Salad comprised Granny Smith apples, grapes, celery, & candied walnuts. Bob’s Cheese Ravioli was topped with a lobster cream sauce.

Entrees: John’s 3-Cheese Baked Ziti comprised parmesan, mozzarella, and ricotta cheeses, mushrooms, with chunky tomato sauce. Bob’s Almond-Crusted Hoki comprised delicate white fish, buttered green beans, and mashed potatoes

Desserts: John had the Bananas Foster (dark rum sauce, vanilla ice cream) and Bob enjoyed the Brownie S’More (Graham cracker and roasted marshmallow cream).

---

Bob and I had reservations to see this ship’s show this evening but completely forgot about it. Were we drinking?

Step back in time to the era of flannel shirts, scrunchies, and frosted tips with this electrifying new show! Join us for a nostalgic journey through the greatest hits of the decade, featuring chart-toppers from grunge rock to hip-hop to pop sensations. Relive the magic of *NSYNC, Spice Girls, Britney Spears, and more, as our talented performers bring the Bring Back the 90s.

With electric choreography, dazzling costumes, and a playlist that will have you singing along all night, this is a musical extravaganza you won’t want to miss. Party like it’s 1999!

---

We did meet a bunch of the guys at 10:00 in the Bliss Bar for the ship’s 70s Groove and ABBA Dance Party.

It looked like people figured out what was going on when half the dance floor was men with no female dancing partners. At one point I “shadow danced” behind one of two girls dancing together. I was mimicking her dance steps so that we were dancing in sync, although she didn’t know it. Eventually the girl she was dancing with (and facing me) noticed what I was doing and started laughing, which made the other girl turn around to see what I was doing behind her.

I said to her, “Don’t worry, I’m not creeping on you; I have a husband.”

To which she scream-laughed, “So do I!!!”

“We already have so much in common,” I said.

It was a fun night with the music that Bob and I love — it’s the kind of music we listen to at home.

Naturally, “It’s raining men!” was a highlight song for the gays.

---

Oh! I checked out the photos from that professional photo shoot yesterday by a ship’s photographer who caught me in the hallway walking from one happy hour to the next, and whom I told I wouldn’t buy any of them. And before leaving I asked him for a coupon, and he gave me one for a free 8X10. (See the end of yesterday’s blog entry for the details.)

At the photography shop purchasing kiosk, there wasn’t a way to add the coupon to get it free, so I called a worker over to help me. He said, “Oh this coupon only works if you’ve purchased the Dining Room Photo Package, which of course I hadn’t.

I told him what the photographer told me, and he said, “I’m sorry, but it’s only good if you have the package.” And then proceeded to tell me how I could go in with 3 or 4 friends to split the $150 package, and then apply this coupon… blah, blah, blah. I said, “I’m not doing that.”

Then before leaving I said, “Since I was mislead, can I just take a picture of this picture on the kiosk? He looked around to see if any of his colleagues were in sight and said as he walked away, “I’m not supposed to allow you to do that, but I’m not looking.”

So, voila! There’s probably some AI photo editing app that would help me remove those words over the photo. It was a fun shot, so I’m posting it here for posterity.

“Does this pose make me look gay?” 😂 😂 😂

Today’s BearCruise group’s schedule of activities

Monday, September 29 – Newport, Rhode Island

Happy Birthday to Miguel Reyes, Jeff Dodd, and Andre Pate!!!

7 am – 3:30 pm – In Newport, Rhode Island. Newport is a tender port. Ships anchor in Narragansett Bay, and passengers are transported to and from the city using smaller tender boats. These tender boats drop off passengers at Perrotti Park, which is conveniently located downtown. If you are on a shore excursion, you must ensure you get onto an early tender to get to the meeting point on shore by 9 am.

9 am – Noon – BearCruise NE – Private Trolley Tour with Breakers Mansion – Follow the meeting instructions on your voucher from Compass Tours. Al or Dan will on the dock in Newport as you exit the tender to help guide you to the trolley.

12 noon – Bear Lunch – If you want to join others for lunch, meet at The Garden Cafe, Deck 15 Aft. Also note that these restaurants are also open for lunch if you want to try them – O’Sheehan’s Bar and Grill on Deck 7 and The American Diner on Deck 16. This is a great time to try these restaurants while other passengers are still ashore.

3 pm – 6 pm – BEARCRUISE PRIVATE DANCE PARTY. Headliners Comedy Club, Deck 6 midship. Party Theme is “Hey, Sailor!” Come dressed as a sailor of any kind… captain, pirate, Gilligan’s Island” castaway, swabbie, Crackerjack, Captain Crunch… you get the idea…

4:00 pm – Solo Cruiser Meet and Greet. During the Dance Party we are going to pull all of the solo travelers to one side of the room so that you have a chance to get to know each other.

Dinner – Taste and Savor on Deck 6 aft and The Manhattan Room on Deck 7 aft.

After Dinner – Ship shows and activities – see today’s NCL’s daily program, the Freestyle Daily, below.

---

Today’s NCL cruise’s schedule of activities

---

We arrived in Newport on schedule and we took tender boats to shore, where Bob and I joined this BearCruise-only outing:

Private Trolley Tour with Breakers Mansion – our Newport Rhode Island port call excursion

Step aboard a classic Newport trolley and experience the city’s most captivating sights in luxury and comfort. This fully narrated tour begins in the heart of Colonial Downtown Newport, where your expert guide brings the city’s rich past to life—complete with stories of 18 famous television and film productions shot in this historic seaport.

As the trolley glides along the scenic Ocean Drive, you’ll take in sweeping views of the Atlantic and Newport’s iconic coastline. Then it’s on to the famed Bellevue Avenue, home to the city’s legendary Gilded Age mansions. Marvel at the grand architecture of “summer cottages” once owned by America’s wealthiest barons, as your guide shares tales of opulence, rivalry, and high society.

The tour culminates with a stop at the Breakers Mansion, the crown jewel of Newport’s historic estates. Guests receive passes for a self-guided tour of this 70-room Vanderbilt masterpiece. After exploring the mansion’s lavish interiors and oceanfront grounds at your own pace, you’ll return to the ship filled with stories and images from a golden era.

Our pictures from the excursion:

We couldn’t have been any luckier with the weather we had for an open-air trolley. It was in the low-70s and sunny. The tour guide, who was funny and super knowledgeable, said they’ve usually closed up the open-air trolleys by this time of the year.

Our first stop was at Fort Adams, which is a place my dad used to fish for conger eels and probably drinking Narragansett beer while doing so.

The Rochambeau Monument

Bob and I in the monument area:

There was a cool historical ship there:

It’s always interesting to see our ship from the land.

Leaving Fort Adams, we took a scenic route to the Breakers Mansion, passing many mansions of the gilded age in Newport. And speaking of The Gilded Age, several of these mansions were used in filming HBO’s The Gilded Age, and our tour guide had lots of stories about them.

Three other ones of note were The Eisenhower Mansion and Jay Leno’s place, which he bought when his wife said, “I’d love to have a mansion here.”

and the house whose facade was used as Barnabas Collins’ house in Dark Shadows.

Our second stop was at the Breakers Mansion, for which we had tour tickets for. It was a very well-done tour, which included an app you downloaded and listened to as you walked around the mansion. It was outrageously ostentatious, and Bob captured the best of our pictures of it.

Two things captured my imagination and interest — the library

and this jockey-weighing chair:

On the way back to the ship, we passed the chapel in which JFK and Jackie Bouvier got married:

---

As soon as we got back on the ship, it was time for the BearCruise Dance Party, for which we were invited to come dressed as a sailor of any kind — captain, pirate, Gilligan’s Island castaway, swabbie, Crackerjack, Captain Crunch — you get the idea.

We had a great DJ, who was traveling with our group and his husband dressed in “nautical drag”:

Our group:

It was a fun party, which had a surprise at the beginning! It was Will & Buster’s first BearCruise and they were called up front. I missed the picture when Will got down on one knee and proposed to Buster in front of the goup. Awwww!

Our costumes:

There were a lot of great costumes with my vote for most elaborate and creative one going to the “Semen.” Get it?

Here I am with Captain Hook whose hook was dangerously close to my person.

And with Ben and Steve, Raleigh friends of ours.

We got all of our Raleigh friends together who were on the trip and attended our pre-cruise meet & greet at our house the weekend before the cruise:

It was a fun, fun party, and one for which BearCruise picked up the tab. I might have snuck a picture of the tab. Those 4 “Buffalo” (for “Buffalo Trace”) might have been my contribution to the evening.

---

Once again, the next thing on the ship’s activities was the LGBTQAI+ happy hour, which started right at the time our BearCruise Dancy Party & Happy Hour ended.

On the way to that happy hour, I got nabbed by one of the ship’s photographers, whom I assured I was not going to buy any professional photos, but he was a fun guy, so I humored him by letting him take some shots of me. He had me placing my hands in various positions, which no doubt will make me look “gay as hell,” but since I am, it’s really not an issue.

After about the 8th shot, I asked him (I’m pretty sure he was family, too): “Girl, you got a wind machine to make my hair blow for the next one?”

Upon finishing up, I asked, “You got a coupon I can use in case I get weak and end up buying one?” He jumped with joy and gave me 3 coupons “Good for one (1) FREE 8X10 portrait photograph.” Some people call me cheap. I prefer “financially savvy.”

We met just a couple of non-group people at the ship’s gay happy hour, then Bob and I got some dinner at Sheehan’s Bar & Grill, which was just okay.

After that, I was beat so went back to the cabin to read (mostly the back of my eyelids after about 10 minutes), and Bob went out gallavanting finding many of the other boys about the ship.

Today’s BearCruise group’s schedule of activities

Sunday, September 28 – Board the Ship and Sail from New York City

Happy Birthday to Russell DeSantis!!!

10:45 am – Checkout and meet in the lobby of the host hotel.

11 am – Depart Hotel for Manhattan Cruise Terminal, 711 12th Avenue New York, New York 10019. If your check-in time is later, you may be asked to wait until they can work you in.

1:00 pm – 4 pm – Make sure you watch the safety video and check in at your Muster Station. You will find your Muster Station location on your sea pass card.

3 – 4:30 pm – BearCruise Hospitality Desk – Atrium Bar, Deck 6, midship. Come check in with us if you did not check in with us on the bus or at the hotel.

5 pm – Sail Away – Spice H2O, Deck 16 aft. Wear a hat and / or t-shirt with a bear on it to help us find you in the crowd. Note: we are a group of 135-150 out of the 3,906 passengers this ship accommodates. Alternate location in the event of inclement weather is The Sunset Bar, Deck 8 midship. Don’t miss sailing out of New York passing the Statue of Liberty, going under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge past Staten Island on your right and Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Brighton Beach, and Coney Island on your left. It is one of the most interesting ports to sail from.

6:30 pm – Cocktail Hour, Mixx, Deck 6, aft.

6:45 pm – Solo / Single Traveler Intros Mixx, Deck 6, aft. – If you are sailing solo or if you are a single person sailing with a friend, Meet Al from BearCruise where he will have informal
introductions of all of you solo / single guests.

Dinner – NCL has freestyle dining which allows you to go to any of the main dining rooms at any time. You may wait in line during the busiest times. There are three main dining rooms on board – Taste and Savor on Deck 6 aft and The Manhattan Room on Deck 7 aft.

After Dinner – Ship shows and activities – see today’s NCL’s daily program, the Freestyle Daily, below.

---

Today’s NCL cruise’s schedule of activities

---

Astonishingly, everyone was in front of the hotel in time to board our transport from Holiday Inn Times Square (the BearCruise pre-cruise host hotel)

to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, where the Norwegian Getaway ship was waiting for us.

---

After boarding the ship around noon, Bob and I had lunch at the Savor dining room enjoying a glass of champagne with lunch. Bob had a wedge salad and I had a Caesar salad. Bob enjoyed the Turkey Cottage Pie (peas, corn, shredded carrot, mashed potatoes au jus, while I had the Chicken Quesadilla (cheddar and Monterrey jack cheeses, flour tortilla, pico de gallo, & sour cream). For dessert, Bob had the Basque Vanilla & Cherry Cake and I had the Caramel Flan with Berries.

Waiting for everyone’s stateroom to be ready, Bob and I had some cocktails (Buffalo Trace & soda) in Syd Norman’s Pour House on deck 8 — one of the many, many bars on the ship. Somebody’s (not ours) fancy drink at the Pour House:

---

We got into our stateroom at around 2 pm:

Although NCL lists door decorations as prohibited items (due to potential fire hazards), lots of people had them on the door, and our stateroom attendant said it was okay to hang ours:

Home for the next 7 days:

---

The BearCruise group met at the Spice H20 bar for sailaway. Although everyone in the group was encouraged to wear a shirt with some kind of bear on it to help us find and meet each other, a good number of us had been wearing them all day and had met, or at least said hello, sometime during the day either checking out of the hotel and boarding our transfer to the ship, or in line at the ship waiting to board, or during the time we got on the ship until our staterooms were ready.

Bob’s and my bear shirts:

Bob and I had brought some small gay flags with us to hand out, and you can see some people holding them, or most blatantly, as our friend Steve’s antlers.

Sailing out of Manhattan, NCL highlighted 3 sights we’d be passing: the Statue of Liberty, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and Coney Island. I only captured Lady Liberty.

When our BearCruise sailaway happy hour ended, a lot of us went down to the ship’s 6:00 LGBTQIA+ happy hour, in the (apropos) Sugarcane bar (“He’s got a little sugar in his loafers!”) — where probably over a half of the people were from our group.

As often happens at the ship’s gay happy hours, other gay people on the ship who’d never heard of BearCruise and weren’t expecting such a gaggle of gays on board (i.e., our 130-strong group), were thrilled to see us and learn about us being on the ship for the week.

And finally, it wasn’t lost on us after 2 hours of drinking that the next thing on the ship’s schedule activities was the “Friends of Bill W. Meeting.”

---

After that it was time to get some food on our stomachs and Bob and I had dinner at The Garden Cafe, which in essence is what people think of as “the all-you-can-eat buffet” on cruises. In reality, it’s a bunch of stations with different kinds of food at each, and you may eat as much as you want from as many of the stations as you want.

---

These two retirees retired early after a long, long day. The cruise is off to a good start.

Thursday, September 25, 2025 – This begins my series of blog entries about our:

The cruise sets sail on Sunday, September 28, and we’re in “the city” for 3 days before boarding.

---

Our flight on Frontier Airlines from Raleigh-Durham International to LaGuardia was uneventful:

Our friend Neal, whom we so appreciate, generously gave us a ride to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

---

BearCruise negotiated a group rate per night for a pre-cruise “host hotel” in NYC, which we’re taking advantage of for 3 days before we set sail on Sunday.

Holiday Inn New York City – Times Square

Usually when we go to NYC, we get a hotel down in the Financial District, where it’s much cheaper.

It’ll be a nice change to stay in Times Square without breaking the bank for these 3 days, as we plan to see 2 or 3 Broadway plays that we’ll be able to walk to.

---

We caught the free Q70 shuttle from LaGuardia to the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street metro station, at which we paid $2.95 each to take the metro E line into Manhattan, exiting at the 42nd Street / Port Authority stop, and then walked 2 blocks to our Holiday Inn Times Square hotel. Without a doubt, this was cheaper than a $54 Uber/Lyft ride.

Bob and I each noticed an absolutely stunning guy on the metro… probably an actor out of work… or perhaps one day to be a superstar. He was flawless until Bob pointed out, “He bites his fingernails.” 😂 😂 😂

The gods were looking down on us with favor with a liquor store directly across the street from our hotel, where we bought a bottle of Buffalo Trace, which had only a $15 Times Square (New York fucking City) mark-up, and a 7-Eleven store right next door to our hotel, where we bought 2 1-quart bottles of club soda for $4 each.

Our friends Kevin and Eric, who aren’t going on the cruise with us this time but are in NYC for the pre-cruise weekend, dropped by our hotel room (we’re on the 21st floor; they’re on the 28th floor) for some cocktails, before they had dinner with a high school friend of Eric’s at a restaurant called Maison Pickle.

---

It’d been a long day, and we grabbed dinner from the Berlina Café right across the street from our hotel. You just can’t beat deli sandwiches in NYC, and Bob’s Reuben (corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing on rye bread) and my Turkey Club (roasted turkey, bacon, ham, lettuce, tomato, American cheese and chipotle mayo on a roll) hit the spot.