Day 1 - video - Thin Buckle with Steven Page

Here is a video we took from the Thin Buckle show on the Pool deck to close out the first night of the cruise.

Enjoy!

Day 1 - Sunday Feb 1st

Here it is, the day we've been waiting for all year!

Boarding day for our third once-in-a-lifetime trip!  

After waking up around 7:30 Stan went for a walk around the hotel while Amy hit the hotel's fitness center.  We met back up at the room an hour later and went to breakfast downstairs in the hotel's restaurant.  We both had the buffet (as we figured we'd practice for the cruise).  There were delicious waffles that Amy enjoyed and delicious bacon that Stan enjoyed!  After breakfast it was time to shower and pack everything up and get this cruise started.  We left the room at 11:30 to head over to the port.  After checking out, we went to wait for a cab and since this was the host hotel the line was full of cruisers and was probably the longest the hotel has ever seen.  There was about a twenty minute wait for us to get to the front of the line and luckily a taxi van pulled up and we were able to share a ride with 8 other "dippers".  The ride took about 8 minutes and cost us $7 each.   We gave our bags, except for our carry-ons, to the porter and we will see them in our cabin in a few hours.

Below was our first view of the Norwegian Jewel upon arrival to the terminal at about 12:15. 

The first thing we had to do when we arrived was to fill out a form for Norwegian that stated whether or not we have been sick in the last 48 hours. We never encountered this with Carnival and this is normal procedure for Norwegian.  Next we went through security and unlike the airlines this goes much smoother; just empty our pockets and x-ray our carry on bags.  Then there was a short line to check in for the cruise.  We had to set up our on-board spending account and get our picture taken for our ID cards.  A short walk upstairs to another line gets us our concert tickets and cabin keys.  

Are we there yet??!!  

Almost--one more line to have our embarkation photo taken and then we encounter our first surprise.  Kevin from BNL is there to greet us as we walk on to the ship.  We didn't see them but the rest of the band members took turns during the boarding process.  The next surprise, that we would get very used to, was the Norwegian staff spraying our hands with sanitizer as we walked on to the ship.  As we found out during the week, they would do this outside of each dining area.  In addition, there were self-sanitizing stations in the hallways, elevators, etc.  

FINALLY!! AT 1:00, WE ARE ON THE SHIP!!!!!!!!!

And what's the first thing we do?  Accept a glass of complimentary champagne! Since they told us our cabins wouldn't be ready until after 2, we headed up to the pool deck to have our traditional embarkation burger and Stan's fruity umbrella drink.After eating we decided to scope out the sightlines for the BNL sail away show that was scheduled for 5.  With the layout of the stage this year we figured our best spot would be on the upper level of the pool deck across from the stage.  We walk around the ship checking out the other concert venues before heading to our cabin a little after 2.  Our first impression of the room was that it was a little smaller than our cabins on Carnival but still nice.   And what do we do when we get there-- Amy immediately gets to work disinfecting the room with her Lysol and Clorox wipes while Stan checks out the view of Miami from the balcony!  With that finished, we take a few minutes to plan out our evening of shows and then it's time to muster.  The muster drill takes place at 3:30 and is mandatory for all on board.   Our muster station is located in the Azure dining room and we are told what to do in the case of an emergency.  Now when the drill is finished it is always a mad dash to the pool deck where everything is vying for a good spot for the sail away show.  Fortunately, we have a system for this, as it is our third time and all.  Stan takes our life jackets from the drill, and literally, throws them in the room while Amy runs to hold the aforementioned spot.  Exercising this morning pays off because Amy was the first one on the second level of the pool deck and had her pick of spots.  Stan made it up a few short minutes later and there was nothing more to do but wait till 5 when the show would start.  We had yet another surprise when, at a little before 5, the ship actually set sail.  This doesn't usually happen until after the band takes the stage but Norwegian officers are on the ball and no one is complaining.

YEA! WE'RE CRUISING!!!

Our hosts take the stage at 5:15 (the first of many shows starting late) and do not disappoint. They kick off the cruise with a great set and everyone is singing along with every song.  When their show is finished at 6:15 we first went to the room to see if our luggage had been delivered, which it had, and then to dinner, at one of the two main dining rooms, Tsar's.  Stan feasted on baby shrimp cocktail, sirloin steak and fries while Amy enjoyed her salad, chicken breast, mashed potatoes and veggies.

With our bellies full we went to the merch table (first of many trips) to buy some t-shirts while all the sizes were still there, dropped them in the room and then walked by the pool deck to hear a song or two from Melissa McCelland & Luke Doucet, an unknown to us husband and wife duo.  Next was a night of shows in the main Stardust theater.  We found great seats in the fourth row, just off center.  First up was Sloan at 8:30.  We had never heard of this band before the trip and had just listened to a few of their songs before we left.  Rolling Stones + Kinks = whole lot of crazy Sloan.  We really enjoyed them as they were very entertaining.  Next up was Great Big Sea at 10:00.  We discovered them on the cruise last year and had been listening to their music a lot since.  This would be our first time seeing them that we were familiar with their music and we couldn't wait.  They took the stage and rocked our asses off!  Was it because of our great seats? Our first full show of the week? The energy of them playing their first show of the cruise?  Don't know but we really enjoyed them--a definite highlight so far.

They finished playing by 11:45 and before calling it a night , we would see one more show --Thinbuckle on the pool deck.  (Thinbuckle is Kevin from BNL's band).  We missed their first few songs but made it in time to see Steven from BNL preform a song with them.  The rest of their set was good.  By this time we were starting to get a little munchy so we went over to the Garden Cafe (buffet)  and grabbed a late night snack of hot dogs and nachos.  It's now getting close to 2, so we head back to our room, unpack and call it a night by 3.

Whew...a 3AM bedtime and this is just the first day!!!!!

Pre-Cruise Saturday January 31

Welcome to the latest installments of Stan & Amy’s Ships & Dip blog. With it being less than a week since we disembarked from the Norwegian Jewel and the cruise still fresh in our minds we are finally getting to post our daily recaps. We will try to post a recap every couple of days or so as these post are more like short stories rather than blog posts and we can really ramble and get detailed or as some might say tiresome. Anyway, go grab yourself your favorite beverage and possibly a snack and take a seat in your favorite chair and enjoy.

We start our trip on 1/31 from Blakely where we were packed, ate breakfast (Dunkin Donuts), out the door and on the road by 8:00AM. We couldn’t wait to get out of the cold NEPA weather. The drive was uneventful which is exactly what we were hoping for on our first day of the trip. We found a parking spot in the economy parking lot that was near a pickup/dropoff shelter to wait for a shuttle to take us to the terminal. We were freezing as we were waiting in the cold because we left our heavy coats and boots in the car since we did not want to travel with the extra heavy clothes. After waiting about 10 minutes a shuttle came, after another 5 minutes we were at the terminal checking in for our 12:15 flight to Miami.

With the new US Airways luggage charges we have to pay $15 for each checked piece under 50
lbs and $65 per bag over 50 lbs. We were concerned as we have 2 bags to check and really wanted them to be under 50 lbs. They weighed the first bag which we figured was the lighter of the 2 and it weighed 38 lbs. So far so good. We held our breath for the 2nd bag and it came up 42 lbs. Yeah! No extra charges for us. Now we headed to the security checkpoint which is always a chaotic mess with removing our shoes, empting our pockets and having our carry-on bags x-rayed. We made it with no problems and we were now in the terminal waiting for our flight, US Airways flight #1651 to Miami. We were in the last zone to board and we grabbed our seats in row 8 seats E and F on the “driver” side of the plane. The seats were just in front of the wing and therefore I had a nice view, which I really like. As we were getting ourselves set in, we were talking to the others in our row and they were all going on the cruise too. There were even a few others on the plane as well going on the cruise. It really is a small world after all!

Before we knew it we were on the taxiway and ready for takeoff. We took off a little late at about 12:27. Since we had our laptop with us we watched a movie and then listened to some music on our Ipods.The plane landed at about 2:27 and by the time we got our luggage it was around 2:40. With our bags in hand we headed to the taxi stand to get a cab to take us to the Marriott Biscayne Bay hotel which was the host hotel for the cruise.

The ride was maybe 15 minutes and the hotel was really nice. We checked in with no problem and went up to the room on the 16th floor. We had a really nice view of the Port of Miami and we had a balcony where the door was unfortunately locked. As with all Sixthman cruises the host hotel holds a pre-cruise party and this year was no exception. We do attend for a few minutes but usually do not hang around too long. Before the party we walked to the Bayside Shopping area that was about 8 blocks away. It is like strip mall on a boardwalk. It is pretty nice area with a lot of little stores and restaurants. We walked around for alittle bit and then decided to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a themed restaurant from the movie Forrest Gump. The food was really good but the place was really busy as the Miami Heat were playing the Dallas Mavericks and the arena is about a block away.

After eating we walked back to the hotel and stopped by the pre-cruise party. We grabbed a drink and walked around a bit. We did meet Steve from Sixthman who is our favorite blogger on the Sixthman blog. After hanging out for a little bit longer we decided that it was time to go to sleep and get ready for real start of the cruise.

Tomorrow we will be getting on the ship and seeing BNL for the first time since the last cruise.

Stay tuned!

WE ARE BACK!!

Just wanted to add a quick post to let everybody know that we are back from our trip.
We had a great time except for some weather issues.
We are currently going through our over 1500 pictures and 8 hours of video. We also have to get caught up with all the TV we missed while we were away.
Oh yeah we also have to go back to work. We will work on the daily recaps/novels and post them as soon as we can. Here are a couple of quick pictures to hold you over.

And away we go!!!!!

We are on our way to Miami. Whoo-Hoo!!!

LESS THAN 5 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!

Well this is it. We can count the number of days left on 1 hand and we can not be any more excited!

We doubled checked all of our reservations and confirmations and we are good to go.

The only major thing left is our final clothes packing. I did a quick "run through" of my packing and I will have to do it at least 1 more time as I think I under packed. Since I am working all week I have to do a little here and there whereas Amy is off work on Friday and she is planning on doing everything she needs to on that last day. Good Luck Amy!

Besides the clothes packing I have set aside this last week to get our electronics together for the trip. The plan is to take 3 cameras (film, digital, video) and a couple of ipods for the very few moments on the ship that there is not a concert going on. With these we have to make sure we have all the assorted cables, headphones, film and tape and most important, batteries. In addition we also need to take all the different battery charges. So this leaves us with quite a cache of equipment. Oh and lest we forget that I can not be away from the internet too long so we will also be bringing our laptop.

Well that's all for now. We'll see you on the flip side! (I never liked this phrase - oh well)

P.S. By the way the weather for Miami for Saturday/Sunday is sunny high around 70°

P.P.S. And before we go here are 2 quick pictures from last year.

The first is from our departure from Blakely and the second one is from the Sail Away show leaving Miami.

You never know what's gonna happen on the cruise-ah!

COUNTDOWN: 17 DAYS

Just over 2 weeks to go!

Flights are booked. Hotel rooms are booked. Rental car reserved.

Now it's time to start thinking about what to pack.

The first year we definitely over-packed. Last year I think we did pretty good. I hope we can do the same this year. Not only do we have to pack for the 5 days of the cruise but we also have a night in Miami pre-cruise and we are driving up to Orlando for 2 nights post-cruise. It's always a challenge to pack for a "summer" vacation in the middle of winter.

With the holiday's behind us we have been really getting into the cruise and to get us even more excited I have been listening to BNL pretty much non-stop and Amy even created a special Ships and Dip V playlist for her ipod for when she's at the gym.

2 years ago today, January 15, 2007, we set sail on the inaugural Ships and Dip cruise.

Some quick highlights from 2007:
-shipping out of Ft Lauderdale on the Carnival Legend
-surprise embarkation photo with the band
-2 sail away BNL shows on the lido deck
-dune buggy driving in Turks & Caico
-2 awesome BNL main shows
-The Vanity Projects, Thinbuckle and The Brothers Creeggan
-Guster, Gaelic Storm, Jason Plumb,
The New Odds, Oakhurst, Harland Williams
-late night all-star final night jam
-"Feliz Ships and Dip!"


There are many more but this is enough for right now to get the gist.
(one of these days we will have to transcribe our diary of events from that first cruise)

Wow! Hard to believe that is has already been 2 years since the first cruise and that we will be embarking on our 3rd "once-in-a-lifetime" cruise with BNL.

Who knows what memories Ships and Dip V will hold for us but you can be sure we will tell you all about it!!

COUNTDOWN: 24 DAYS!

HELLO! Is there anybody out there?

As it has been almost a year since we last posted, we wanted to be sure this blog is still active.

You know, clean the cobwebs and dust the mantle and get ready for

SHIPS and DIP V!

Ships and Dip V will be leaving from Miami on Feb 1 (Super Bowl Sunday) aboard the Norwegian Jewel. After 2 years of being with Carnival we are now cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line and their "Freestyle Cruising" (we'll have a full review post-cruise).

Leaving Miami on Sunday and after a full day at sea on Monday, we will arrive on Tuesday in Cozumel, Mexico at 8AM and depart at 6PM. Wednesday will be spent at sea as we head to Great Stirrup Cay (Norwegian Cruise Line's private island!) from 8AM - 6PM on Thursday. And finally arriving back in Miami on Friday at 8AM.

In between all this travel from these exotic locales there will be plenty of music from the following artists:

Barenaked Ladies
Sarah McLachlan*
Great Big Sea
The Weakerthans*
Butterfly Boucher*
The Odds
Brothers Creeggan
Sean Cullen
Luke Doucet*
Mike Elvin*
Christine Fellows*
Gaelic Storm
Boothby Graffoe
Dave Foley & Kevin McDonald from Kids In The Hall*
Melissa McClelland*
Sloan*
The Mountain Goats*
Thin Buckle
Vanity Project
- whew!

* - denotes first time dippers

Stay tuned as we will have the 2009 edition of our rediculously long and detailed daily blog posted as soon as we come back Feb 8th.