I wake up into darkness. Something has awakened me but I have no idea what it was. The ship is still moving so we have not docked yet. I stumble out of bed and head to the curtains. It's light out but not very bright. I take a look at my watch - 5:30 am?? Who am I kidding? I prepare to close the curtains to go back to bed but take one look at the sky and halt in my tracks. The sky in front of me is a multitude of shades of pink and lavender, reflecting off the sky. The grey water has that heavy oily roil to it coming off the bow that you only get with calm water. I rush back into the cabin and get out my camera, first drawing the shades to the sitting room so that it doesn't disturb Amanda (point here once again to RSSC for making this available). I snap shots of the awakening sunrise for about 10 minutes before uploading the pictures to the laptop and stumbling back into bed. Amanda is still fast asleep.
I'm awakened once again at 8 am - this time, by the shrill ringing of the phone and the shriek of a jet airliner taking off from Logan International. Our wake up call. Well, at least this time we didn't oversleep. Our food is coming in 30 minutes so we have to get going. We hop into the shower. Something has been bothering me since yesterday about our cabin. It's very faint and comes and goes but there's a small hint of a septic tank smell near the toilet. I smell it again this am. Plus, there are strange swishing noises in the wall behind the toilet that sound like a washing machine's back there. This isn't physically possible, of course, since there's the hallway behind that wall and the washing machine would have to be about 2 inches wide but still, that's what it sounds like. I debate about whether to bring this up to the room steward - it's kind of like bringing in your car when it makes a faint tinkling noise when you're driving. You're not quite sure if it's actually going to make the same tinkling noise when you bring it into the mechanic so you decide to hold off. Plus, it doesn't sound that bad (denial is a wonderful thing). Like 99% of you, I resolve to bring it up to our steward if the matter gets worse.
Breakfast arrives at about 8:45 am - we had specified a time between 8:30 to 9:00 so I guess they averaged it out. I had ordered the banana pancakes, some scrambled eggs, link sausage, OJ, and coffee. Amanda had ordered the French toast, corned beef hash, OJ, and coffee. The banana pancakes are very well done - nice and fluffy. Amanda's French toast is also good and her corned beef hash has red bell peppers in it as an interesting touch. The coffee is VERY strong and to Amanda's liking. All in all, food was good though temperature could have been warmer. However, with room service, this is often hit or miss and it is one of the prices you pay for not eating in the dining room/buffet so this point is forgiven.
After eating breakfast, we ring room service to let them know that the trays are ready to be picked up and get dressed to go. We had done research before the trip on the Freedom Trail (
www.thefreedomtrail.org) and knew that public walking tours took place at 11 am and 2 pm. We were interested in doing this on our own so we headed off to Boston Common to buy our tour. We walked down to the gangway and onto the dock. No cameramen in sight for semi-obligatory cruise stop picture, thank goodness. We follow the signs held by people to the complimentary shuttle that RSSC was operating from the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal to town center. The bus is essentially empty - there are maybe 2 other couples on board. We sit there for maybe 5 minutes before the driver gets on board and with the addition of another 2 or 3 more couples, we head off to Boston.
The bus stops at the southeast corner of Faneuil Hall Marketplace and we all get off. We check our Access Boston guidebook. It's drizzling slightly. Amanda is not very happy about this - she had forgotten to bring rain gear with her. I, on the other hand, am snug as a bug in my North Face packable jacket. This is not conducive to a happy relationship and we agree to get her some rain gear at the first available opportunity. We head off along State Street to get to Boston Common. We follow the street for about 50 feet where I notice a red brick line merging onto the sidewalk where we're walking. Aha, the Freedom Trail marker! In a rare flash of brilliance, I realize that since the Freedom Trail originates at Boston Common, if we follow the trail marker backwards, we should arrive there. Abandoning the map, we follow the red trail marker.
After 15 more minutes after following the trail marker through some crazy zig-zags that make me somewhat reconsider my "flash of brilliance", we arrive at Boston Common. There are a LOT of school kids here, yelling and chasing each other around the clearing. Isn't it too late in the school year to be having field trips? Muttering uncharitable thoughts under my breath, we enter the Visitors Information Center at 10:15 am.
Fighting through the crowds of kids, we force our way to the desk and ask the lady behind the counter about booking a walking tour.
"There's one starting at 10:30 am and it costs $10", she tells us.
"10:30 am? I thought that the next one was supposed to be 11 am?" I ask, confused. I'm even more confused because the website stated that it would cost $12.
"Well, we're separate from the National Park tour. They usually only run their tours at 2 pm and during the summer months at 11 am as well." she replies.
Even more confused now, I pay the $10/person and buy the 10:30 am tour.
"Wait outside and you'll see a man in a green vest and a cane. He'll be your guide for the tour" she instructs me.
We go outside. There's nobody out there in a green vest and a cane. There are a number of people dressed up in period costume that are milling about along with what seems like at least 50 school children but nobody by that description. I show our tour tickets to a nearby fellow who seems to be dressed as a Minuteman minus the musket in a grey overcoat. "We were supposed to meet up with a guide out here in a green vest and a cane?"
"Oh, that's me." he tells me, lifting up his cane. "Except no green vest. That was my friend who took an earlier tour so I took this tour instead. My name's David." he tells me, offering out a hand.
I shake his hand, "I'm Masaki. That's my wife Amanda over there" pointing to Amanda who has intelligently sought shelter under the eaves of the Visitors Information Center.
"Well, we've got some time until 10:30 am. Let's see if we get any other people and we'll get going around that time" he tells me. We wander around the Common for a bit until it becomes closer to time. A mother-daughter combo from Connecticut and New York has joined us but for all intents and purposes, we have a private tour.
We walk through the Common looking at various sites such as the State House, Bunker HIll, Park St. Church, and then head towards the Granary Burying Ground. David was well informed and funny - we had a great time and was sorry when it ended at Faneuil Hall.
We decide to lunch here. A fellow Cruise Critic originally from Boston recommended a place in Quincy Marketplace called the Chowda House for their New England chowder so we each get a small bowl. While looking for this place, we pass by an Indian fast food place. Now, I know that it's not very New England to eat Indian food in Boston, but we have a scarcity of good Indian food in Hawaii and I had a burning desire to eat Indian now. So, along with my New England chowder, I had a side of vindaloo and tikka masala. Quite a good combination and it definitely scratched that itch.
The weather is clearing up and there's some patches of sunlight coming through. We walk some more to the east to get to the New England Aquarium. I've got a long-standing love of aquariums dating back to when I used to keep reef tanks. We try to make it a habit to visit aquariums in all the cities that we visit that are well known to have good aquariums (we ran out of time in NYC to do the New York Aquarium). I had been to the NEA in the past but Amanda had not. We buy our tickets and spend some time admiring the various tanks. The penguins are quite demanding when it comes to food. The NEA is smaller than I remember but still very good. They're in the midst of expanding and they will be adding another wing in 2007 apparently.
We head back to Faneuil Hall Marketplace. We wander through Brookstone and purchase the travel alarm clock that Ngaire had recommended in the past (we had been debating about it for the past few days). We go up to Bath & Body Works to purchase more gifts for the office (we don't have one in Hawaii). And we snag the last Ex Officio packable jacket in the store for Amanda at Orvis. Feeling quite smug with ourselves, we make a last stop at Boston Chipyard to pick up some chocolate chip cookies that Access Boston had recommended (the fudge chocolate chip in particular was excellent) and catch the shuttle bus back to the ship. The bus is considerably fuller on the way back than it was when we left the ship.
A sudden realization hits me - I have yet to take a picture of the ship itself. On all of our prior cruises, I would take a picture from the pier/dock of the ship before we boarded - because of logistics in NYC, I didn't get a chance. Maybe I could finally take a picture here. The walkway to the ship is outlined by metal crowd control gates. There's plenty of space to slip between them to head out onto the remainder of the dock to get closer to the front of the ship. I ask a nearby Boston PD officer whether it'd be OK for me to go outside the walkway to take a picture. He tells me "If you want to take a picture, you can take it from the path. But you can't go onto the dock outside of the pathway." I sulk for a moment about this but brighten when I remember that we're tendering tomorrow for Bar Harbor and it should be simple to take a good picture from the tender.
As soon as we get back aboard, I go down to reception - yes, the Internet access is back up! I purchase the 10-hour package and sign on to LCT to say hi. On the way back, I check with the tour desk - yes, our Walk in the Park is a go! Yes, we'll get a chance to work off some of these pounds we're putting on from all the food we're eating! I'm thirsty and pull open the refrigerator to get a Diet Coke. I'm stunned to find 4 cans of Diet Pepsi sitting in there. Somehow, Radisson has gotten a hold of 4 cans of DP for me despite what Christopher, our assistant steward, had told me yesterday. It's such a small thing but demonstrates the small details that Radisson tries to get right and to go the extra mile for their guests.
We stand on the balcony and watch the ship leave port. The sky has cleared quite nicely and blue sky is visible. It takes longer than expected to pull away from the dock and to head out to sea again. Because of this, we don't start getting ready until 7 pm and we don't get to the Seven Seas Lounge until 7:15 - by which time, the Captain is no longer to be found. Oh well. We head off to Compass Rose.
Today, we tell Patrick that we want to be sociable and he puts us on a table with 2 other couples. Martin and Pat are from Florida and Tom and Terry (sp?) are from New Jersey. Tonight is lobster night and after our waitress tells us that this is the only night that it'll be available, we all order that. They're pouring the Caymus Conundrum tonight and I enjoy a couple of glasses of it. We have a grand time talking about each other's experiences - this is the first Radisson cruise for all of us and we all agree that it's been a great cruise so far, though Tom who appears to be in his mid 40s does bring up that the ship passengers overall do seem to be an older crowd. In a funny coincidence, we all realize somewhere around the dessert course that the Captain's table is right next to ours and Capt. Romeo is sitting in my sightline - this is the first that I've seen of the captain and he appears to be very personable. My lobster which consists of 4 medallions on a bed of pasta with drawn butter served on top of them is done perfectly which, in my experience, is a rarity on a cruiseline. My caramel walnut souffle is the only disappointment of the meal - its somewhat dense texture would seem to indicate that it had fallen at some point. A minor flaw in an otherwise great meal.
After our table breaks up, I look for Patrick again to try to make my request for room service. I catch him going from table to table with who appears to be the executive chef, Quinn McMahon. He's busy making the rounds, and not wanting to interrupt him, I decide to try again tomorrow. At this rate, I may just have to make the request while he's looking for a table to seat us at or I'll get my crab eggs Benedict on the bus to the Montreal Airport Hilton. To remember the dishes, I go to the menu display case to take a picture of tonight's menu but unfortunately, they still have lunch's menu up from today. We catch the latter 2/3rds of the "Tonight on Broadway" show - some singers are better than others. Thought that it was OK for the most part - the "Cabaret" numbers were probably the best.
We get back to the cabin after the show - the casino is relatively active. I'm still curious about checking out the other lounges at some point but haven't had the time yet! We need to meet in the Stars Lounge tomorrow at 8:15 for our Walk in the Park tour so tomorrow is going to be an early start for us. We've been told that our high tomorrow will be 64 and the low will be 43 - will need to dress in layers for tomorrow. Amanda has the advantage on me now - she's brought a fleece outer layer while I only have a cashmere sweater which I'm certainly not about to go hiking in. I set the newly purchased alarm clock to go off at 7 am tomorrow and we turn in for the night ...
Masaki
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