Portland, Maine

We are nearing the end of this trip in which the role of Morty has been played by the Norwegian Spirit cruise ship. Our cabin was about the same size as Morty's space with the kitchen and dining areas being replaced by the desk and easy chair. Also the shower was plenty large enough to be useful -- even though some say you need to soap up the walls and then enter and spin around.

Friday we make our last port of call, Portland, Maine. While we take our breakfast out on deck, I notice a few individuals, avidly engaged in cell-phone conversations. Ah, yes! We are back in the good ol’ US of A and thus have cellular data available, instead of ship’s WiFi that costs $.50 per minute! Wow, it hits me that we really need some cellular data plan if we are going to take Morty north of the border.


So, for the first time in many days, I have the luxury of being able to spend all the time I need on my option trades, and of course, since there is no sense of rushing, everything works like a charm.

After my workout and a leisurely lunch in the Windows Restaurant, we spend an hour or so strolling around the art galleries of the Portland harbor area. We even stumble across Stonewall Kitchens, from which we have received Christmas gift baskets in the past. So this evening we are headed back to Boston to mark the conclusion of two weeks, and too many calories. Now I plan to head up to the Internet Lounge and upload the last of these blog entries and pictures.

Boston Harbor

Boston was our embarkation point. We flew into Boston from Columbus with the plan of taking a water-taxi to the cruise ship dock. On checking with the NCL coordinators we got a lot of conflicting information about how to do that and even how it was impossible. Our research had said the Port Authority published the water taxi companies and their rates to the ship docks. It’s not the job of these gals to take care of us, since we didn’t buy the NCL connecting bus rides. But they did have our heads spinning with a lot of contradictory advice both with respect to the Port Authority and to themselves. To be safe, we ended up with the land taxi, which was about the same cost, and much more direct.

In the Fall splendor department, Boston was a little lacking in that it was still 99.24% green – at least that was preferable to Columbus’s drought-stricken brown.



We arrived at the airport at 9 AM. Arrived at the ship a little after 10. Had to wait an hour and a half to board. Had a buffet lunch, and then had to wait another hour to enter our stateroom. The room was fairly well cleaned, but there was a towel deficiency, soon to be followed by a tissue shortage. A few words with the room steward soon had us swimming in towels, many rolled into animal shapes. On all our prior cruises, we were reminded daily of our cabin attendant’s name rank and serial number. Now, we never learn our roomie’s true identity. I’m guessing computer magic will match up our service charge/tip emolument with the right cabin person.

From Boston Harbor

Our friends had arrived the day before, but we did not make any special rendezvous plans. We walked out onto the deck to survey the Boston Harbor and there they are doing the same. The initial impression of the ship is that it is very little changed from its earlier incarnation as a cruiser for the Asian market. The décor is strongly oriental, with highly polished veneers and bright, bright colors. Most importantly, the cabins are quite a bit smaller than those on ships built for the Americas, except for the bathrooms, which are perhaps just a little larger. But compared to Morty, the spaciousness is compelling, and we really have no complaints.