1shipshape

Hector: If I don't get another couple by tomorrow when I leave for Newark, I will call Freedom Tours and sign us up for the 10-14 van. We will connect on the EOS and I'll let you know any changes to our plans. Toni

Thanks, Martha. Hopefully we will be able to meet on the seas one day. Thanks for the well wishes! Toni

Debbie, so sorry to hear of your loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Toni

MaryLou: Yes, we will definitely get cheesecake also. One of my favs. Howard: I love musicals and know I will thoroughly enjoy my first Broadway experience. Glad to know others have enjoyed it; we are very much looking foward to it. Looking forward to the nice weather and seeing all these new sites will be enjoyable. Thanks for all the Bon Voyages, everyone!

Debbie, I am TOTALLY looking for GREEN, instead of desert brown, and won't even be upset if we get rain... we rarely, if ever get those here. I am even happily packing my rain coat and umbrella. LOL. For us, we are leaving in 5 days and flying into Newark and spending the next day in NYC. We will be eating wonderful "deli" sandwiches at "The Carnegie Deli" and then walking over to the Gershwin Theatre to see "Wicked". After that... we will fly by the seat of our pants!

Thanks for the weathercast, MaryLou. I was looking up those 10 day forecasts also to get a better idea of what to pack. I just need to find the right clothes in my house because we are still wearing sandals, tank tops, shorts. My daughter told me to get out my jeans and I looked at her like I've never heard that term before.... LOL... I'll be working on it. I'm sure I'll be packed by Monday night, since we fly into Newark on Tuesday. I will enjoy every "cool", "green", rainy(??? maybe) moment on the trip. I better pack a couple umbrellas! Les's tux is cleaned and pressed, if only I could get the same done with my dresses... Have a nice cruise, Howard. We hope you have fair weather and a lovely time!

Thanks for your help with packing, everyone! Sounds like I don't need my babushka or gloves this year. We were just in WI last week and with higher humidity, we seem to stay warmer. My sister was actually cold and she lives there. Hahaha. I'll watch the weather internet site to see what they forecast when it goes closer to us leaving. We are packing for my father-in-law's funeral this week. He passed away this morning. It's only been a month since he was diagnosed with the Stage 4 cancer. When we get back, I will just leave the suitcase out and add a couple more! We are definitely getting to the final countdown. Can't wait to meet everyone! Hi MaryLou! Good to see you checking in and being such a great member to our booster club! Hope you and Jim are doing well at this point. Great news about the shrinking of the tumor. We'll keep praying and hope it will continue shrinking. Rose, glad you made it back and that you had a great anniversary cruise. What a Mr. Nice Guy you are married to.

Are you all packing and getting ready for our cruise??? I'm at least thinking about which suitcases to bring. Wonder how cool it will get in the Northeast.... Do I need a stocking cap and gloves? The high in July in Halifax was supposed to be about 67 degrees. Sweatshirts and sweatpants? Sweaters? Any of you who have been there before, can you let us know what kind of clothes to pack? Thanks for your help!

Looks like a winner! Enjoy.

If he doesn't need a jacket, he definitely won't wear one. What did you wear to Chops? Is Portofino's about the same? Good luck, shopping, Rose! Hope you find something you like at a price you like! I'm waiting to see what the weather is like. I have a couple long dresses I wear when it is a bit warmer... usually for the Caribbean, but if it's still mild, I may bring them. I'm just getting excited to be able to pack a suitcase soon!

Regarding suit and tux. Les has a tux but I don't know if he'll bring a suit too since we're going to Portofinos and the men have to wear a suit jacket. Regarding long or short dress.. it just depends what I fit into that week....LOL... I have a calf length cocktail dress, a long black one, a calf length sparkly gown I wore for my daughter's wedding and I have velvet pants and a sparkly long sleeve top. I will have to see what the weather will be like on the internet about a week before we sail to see which ones to pack. Of course, I'm all for buying something new if I find a great sale!!

39 DAYS!!!! Luggage tags arrived this week. Whoppee! We made reservations for Portofino's the first night. It's usually not very crowded that night because everyone is touring the ship and those traveling all day are really tired. We made reservations at Portofino the first night. It's usually not crowded. Most people are settling in and forget about the specialty restaurant that night. We found that to be true on other cruise lines as well. So, we took advantage of the opportunity. Our reservations are at 7 p.m. We also made excursion reservations for the Maine Foodie Tour in Portland. It is a walking tour and you have a tour guide and stop at various venues and taste their wares. That's at 10:30 a.m. Lasts a couple hours. We're also considering the lobster boat tour there. I'm going to check on that today. We will be in NYC at the broadway play on Wednesday but we have tickets for the matinee at 2 p.m. I guess it lasts a couple hours. If we aren't meeting for dinner somewhere that night, we'll probably eat in NYC and then catch a train/subway/bus back to our hotel. I just want to know how everyone is getting to the cruise terminal on Thursday and what time you are going? I have a few phone numbers for reservations by independent drivers or companies but just wanted to know what everyone else is doing. Also, what time would you recommend we go to the cruise terminal? The tickets say 2 p.m. but I know most other cruise lines start earlier. What do you RCI people recommend?