Ahoy the shore summer 2010 part

Ahoy the shore Day 1 August 2010 Cruise

I am a passenger aboard the Emerald Princess cruising in the Western Caribbean, accompanied by my son Ryan (age 18) and daughter Claire (15). This is the fifth successive year in a row we have taken a cruise vacation during the "last week of Summer" preceding Labour Day. On prior trips we have visited Alaska (2009), Bermuda (2008), Canada-New England (2007) and the Western Caribbean (2006).  We left our home in Toronto on Saturday the 28th and boarded the ship on Sunday the 29th when it departed from the Ft. Everglades cruise terminal.  

Our trip got off to a bit of a rocky start on Saturday morning.  Our flight South was departing at 7:20 AM.  I had ordered a limo over the Internet to pick us up at home at 5:30.  We were down waiting at the appointed hour but there was no car in sight.  When I checked the reservation confirmation I realized why... I had accidentally selected the month of September instead of August in the pulldown window as the reservation date.  I immediately called the limo service to report my error but they replied that they would be unable to dispatch a car for another 20 minutes.  Figuring that delay would be too late to allow us sufficient time to pass through Customs, I decided to cancel the order and hail a cab.   

Fortunately there was one passing by and we were soon on our way.  25 minutes later, and an approximately $60 metre fare later we were at Pearson Terminal 1.  The self check in process went smoothly  and there was no line- up at the counter to check bags.  We had to pay a $50 surcharge to check two bags, one of which was very close to the 50 lb maximum weight limit. There were very few attendants at the US Customs pre-clearance so that process slowed us down a bit but we made up for the lost time at the security check in which was reasonably tame.  We arrived at the gate a few minutes before 7 for the scheduled 7:10 departure and boarding began about 10 minutes after that.

We were flying Delta on our outbound trip, connecting through their hub in Atlanta with an approximate 1:00 stopover there.  The first leg of our flight was on a CRJ which is a small regional jet with only two seats on either side of the aisle and limited overhead bin storage.  We had four carrying pieces of luggage altogether which we managed to stow in our aisle (7)' two pieces overhead and two (the kids' backpacks) under the seat.   We were late departing but made up for lost time in the air arriving at the gate in Atlanta a bit ahead of time.   Our second flight leg departed from a gate in a terminal two away from the one in which we landed and we caught a train between the two.  The connection time was perfect as we had only a short wait at the gate before loading.  The second plane was a wider bodied Boeing plane with three seats abreast on either side of the aisle and so all three of us had assigned seats side by side. Like the first, this flight segment was also smooth and uneventful and we arrived  on time.  Our checked bags were also among the first to drop at the carousel.  

Thereafter we proceeded out to the taxi shuttle waiting area and were lucky to see an incoming Holiday Inn Express shuttle dropping passengers off without having to call the hotel.  The driver, who spoke only halting English seemed surprised to encounter us since we had not called in our arrival to the hotel.  She asked to check our hotel reservation per work to ensure we were in fact guests at her hotel (apparently there are two Holiday Inn Express locations in Ft. 
Lauderdale).  It was just after 1 PM during our transfer to the hotel when my cell began to buzz indicating a missed call.  I retrieved a message from my friend Dr. John Carbonell, a local Ft Lauderdale medical doctor, who I had pre- arranged for us to rendezvous with that afternoon.  He was seeking to confirm our safe arrival.  I called him back to advise him that we were en route to the hotel and that I would call him back later to arrange his pick up after check- in.

The cruise port Holiday Inn Express at 1500 SE 17th Causeway made a good first impression.  Unfortunately a room was not made up and ready to assign to us at check- in  (official check in time was not until 3 o'clock) so we were advised to check our bags, go for lunch and check back in an hour or so.  We had to self check our bags in a meeting room ( the hotel has no bell hop service) on the lobby floor.  Thereafter we proceeded off on foot to kill some time.  First, We walked up and half across the lift bridge to catch a first glimpse of the cruise port.  There were three ships in port that day including a Carnival funship and the massive Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas, which towered over the other two vessels.  We passed two restaurants on our route but neither was open.  We caused the street on our way back and found a restaurant called Bamimis across the street.  It offered water views from a rear terrace but we opted to sit in the AC instead because the Florida heat and humidity already has us perspiring profusely.  The restaurant offered a fair variety of food and was reasonably priced.  Claire ordered a pasta dish (Rigatoni), Ryan ordered a chicken Caesar salad and I had a chicken sandwich.  We all seemed to enjoy our dishes.  

After our meal we went back across the street to return to our hotel but paused first at a Walgreens to pick up sunscreen.  They had a beach section where we were also surprised to find watershoes in stock.  As one of our upcoming ports of call will be in Ochos Rios Jamaica, where we plan to climb Dunns Rivers Falls, we decided to purchase a pair for Ryan and Claire (I had brought a pair with me.). Thereafter it was back to the hotel where our room key was waiting for us.  We retrieved our baggage and headed up to our assigned room --412-- which we found pleasant and adequately comfortable for the c$99 a night price we had pre-paid on expedia.ca. I immediately checked back in with John who agreed to pick us up in in 20 minutes. As we would be departing on the cruise the following day, we did not bother to unpack.  Instead I had pre-packed towels and swim wear in a separate carryon.

As arranged John met us 20 minutes later outside of the lobby in his new BMW.  The plan was for him to take us back to his condo townhouse to go swimming in their pool that afternoon, followed by dinner later in the evening at the cheesecake factory.  This was Ryan and Claire's first time meeting John and it had been several years since I had last seen him (departing on a prior cruise).  On that earlier visit he was preparing to make the move to his new place so this would be the first time I would be seeing it.  After a brief tour of the two story townhouse, we were soon poolside at the condos fabulous swimming pool and recreation complex.  It was truly stunning featuring two waterfalls and beautiful landscape architecture.  We all enjoyed the swim!

After toweling off and changing, we headed out to dinner but first stopped enroute to ascend to the rooftop of John's old condo ( which he now rents to a tenant) to see the panoramic views of the city, ocean and inter coastal waterway.  Thereafter, we drove along the oceanfront to las olas drive, which is the exclusive shopping district.  Although there was some difficulty obtaining parking near the restaurant, we were soon inside and seated at an outside patio taBle after a 15 minute wait ( short by cheesecake factory standards).  Claire and I shared chicken nachos   ( her choice ) from the appetizer menu, Ryan had a pasta dish and John had lettuce wraps.  John and Ryan passed on dessert but I had a red velvet cheesecake slice (1500 calories ) while Claire went for the fresh strawberry cheesecake.

 Following dinner we stopped by a few area galleries and gift shops (sign of the tough economic times--a lot seemed to be going out if business) before returning to our hotel and retiring around 11. 

Celebrity Apprentice contestants

NBC has announced The Celebrity Apprentice contestants for the upcoming Spring season:

former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich,
model Selita Ebanks,
actor and former wrestler
Bill Goldberg,
Olympian Michael Johnson,
wrestler and model Maria Kanellis,
pop star Cyndi Lauper
rock star Bret Michaels,
comedian and writer Carol Leifer,
Sharon Osbourne,
actress Holly Robinson-Peete,
TV host Summer Sanders,
comedian Sinbad,
celebrity chef Curtis Stone,
and former baseball player Darryl Strawberry.

Celebrity Apprentice will return in the Sunday 9-11 p.m. block

Ahoy the shore from Hawaii (part 3 in a series)

Day three: Sunday October 11, 2009

During the early hours of the morning NCL’s Pride of America continued charting courses from the Port of Honolulu on the island of O’hua to the Port of Hilo on the Big Island. We awoke early in the morning before we had docked and ascended to the decks to observe our approach. We fetched breakfast items from the buffet on the Aloha café and found seats at an outdoor table in the aft section of the ship, where we listened to the port specialist describe the port. Hilo is located on the East (windward) side of the Big island, which usually gets a lot of rainfall. However, the skies were clear when we arrived. The Big Island is double the size of the other 7 Hawaiian islands combined and is increasing in size courtesy active volcanoes spewing lava into the seas.

Following breakfast we made our way down to the 3rd level mid-ship, which is where the gangway is located to debark in all ports (the area is designated by stars and stripes carpeting). We wanted to ensure that we would be among the first group to debark the ship to ensure we were placed on the first mini-bus shuttle to retrieve our rental car at the Thrifty car rental location at the International Airport. We did in fact make the first mini-bus and were soon on our way to Volcano National Park in our yellow Jeep Wrangler (which we nick-named The Beast on account of its license plate bearing the numbers 666). The Jeep was a great choice for the trip however it was a tight fit for the third passenger to enter exit the 2nd row seat. Enroute to the park we stopped to buy flashlights at WalMart (which we knew from advance research we would need to navigate the lower unlighted lava tubes in the park). We took the soft-top down in the WalMart parking lot and were able to leave it down for most of the day. The drive to Hilo takes approximately 45 minutes. Admission to the park is $10 per car.

The Big Island of Hawaii is situated atop a “hot spot” that releases magma from the planet’s core through weak spots in the planet’s outer mantle. Kilauea volcano is 4000 feet high and ranks as the world’s largest currently active volcano. While in the park we drove around Crater rim drive and along the Chain of Craters Rd down to sea level by the Holei Sea Arch where the road was closed by lava flow. It was amazing to see the stream vents, craters and to hike into the huge lava tubes, guided by our flashlights. We spent the full day in the park. Rain began to threaten toward the end of our visit so we reassembled the soft top on our jeep to begin the return trip back to the ship.

In evening we had dinner reservations at 7 in the Lazy J Texas Restaurant. Prior to dinner we went to the Napa Wine Bar for happy hour (a selection of wine available at half price). Dinner in the Lazy J Texas Restaurant was well worth the upgrade fee. They offer a fine selection of choice beef cuts, including NY strip, t-bone and fillet mignon. For appetizers, we ordered HUGE jumbo shrimps, oysters Rockefeller (served in a bowl of coarse sea salt) and crabcakes, which were all excellent. The one miscue was the lobster bisque, which was a bit too thick and not very flavourful. The steaks came with a choices of sauces—we ordered poivre and béarnaise and both were excellent. We concluded our meal with cheesecake for dessert and cappuccinos. Service was uniformly excellent. Still not having acclimated fully to the time shift and having missed the performance in the Hollywood theatre we decided to retire early to prepare for our drive on the Road to Hana the next day in Maui

Ahoy the shore from Hawaii (part 2 in a series)

Day 2 Saturday October 10:

Because of the 6 hour time change between Honolulu and Toronto and despite retiring after 24 sleepless hours, we were up bright and early on Saturday morning. We made our way to the Best Western Coconut lobby for breakfast, which was surprising good. Following breakfast we had the desk attendant on duty call us a taxi-cab to make the trip out to Diamond Head. No one noticed that the taxi driver had “forgotten” to switch the metre on, but his charge ($12) seemed within a reasonable range. Diamond Head is the crater of a long extinct volcano and hiking up to its summit is the number one tourist attraction in Honolulu. We wanted to arrive early, not only to beat the crowd but also to beat the heat. We began our ascent around 7:30, purchasing bottled water from the truck at the parking lot, to ensure we stayed hydrated. The hike took approximately three hours round trip, allowing for photo opportunities along the way. Parts of the lower trail are paved, others parts are rubble and dirt and parts of the upper trail require climbing up a flight of 74 concrete stairs, spiral staircases and a 225 long lighted tunnel. The vertical ascent spans 560 feet over a 1.4 km length trail with many switchbacks. The trail was constructed in 1908 as part of the US Army Coastal Artillery defense system.

Once we returned to the bottom of the path we purchased smoothies and shaved fruit ice to cool off. We had to wait 10 minutes for a taxi at the gate to make our return trip to the hotel. When one arrived it already had two passengers in the back seat so two of us had to overcrowd into the front of the vehicle (without seatbelts)! The driver, Lee, quoted a fare of $5 per passenger on top of what he charged his first pair of drop-offs (over $12 on the metre). Lee, upon hearing we would be boarding a cruise ship later in the day, also arranged to return to the hotel to pick us up and drive us to the cruise-ship terminal at 1 PM. It was after 11 PM when we got back to the Coconut. One of us was exhausted from our climb and decided to stay in the room and rest while we other two were intent on setting out to explore Waikiki beach.

After securing directions from our concierge, we set out on foot toward the beach, passing along the Kalakaua Ave exclusive shopping district enroute. We spurned stores like Cartier to shop for parrotwear at Jimmy Buffet’s Margarittaville. We were able to find some good quality t-shirts on the sale racks, ranging in price for $9.99 to $14.99 (plus 4.5% sales tax) and to also receive a third shirt free for every two purchased. Thereafter we cut thru to the beach beside the famous pink-bricked Royal Hawaiian beach resort. The pre noon-time beach was already packed with sun worshippers, bathers and surfers. We removed our footwear to walk barefoot thru the sand for a stretch then made our way up to a table on a beachfront terrace at the Westin Surfrider hotel and ordered refreshing Hawaiian punch cocktails before retracing our steps back along the sand to Kalakaua Ave. Outside the Royal Hawaiian shopping centre galleria on Kalakaua Ave. we paused to purchase some fresh-flowered leis from a kiosk vendor, before heading back to the hotel to rejoin the missing link in our travel party in time to go for a quick and refreshing dip in the hotel pool before Lee (or driver’s) arrival.

We checked out at the lobby just before 1 PM (having previously been granted a 1 hour extension beyond the normal check out time) and met Lee out front. Lee explained he was suffering from a bad back and required assistance loading our luggage in his town car trunk. The ride to the ferry terminal took around 15 minutes and we were promptly met by a bell hop upon alighting from our taxi. As we paid Lee the agreed on $20 fare the bellhop assisted with unloading our bags from Lee’s car and then escorted us to the initial security screening. Unfortunately the bellhop rushed on ahead with bags we intended to carry on (including on that contained a laptop) and one passenger’s boarding e-docs! Fortunately we were able to retrieve the latter in the nick of time (and the former wound up arriving at our stateroom undamaged sometime later). Once inside the terminal building we discovered tow lines-- one reserved for suites and latitude gold members and the second for general boarding. We joined the first inadvertently, not realizing we were Latitudes bronze and not gold members, but were allowed to pass through nevertheless. After the security screening, the next set of lines also separated into three forks-- one for the suites, one for general boarding and one for latitude members. We joined the third and although it was shorter, discovered it moved much more slowly because it only fed to two CSR positions. Nevertheless we were through all stages of the check-in process with half an hour and on our way aboard.

The gangway from the terminal building enters onto the 5th level grand atrium from the terminal building. We were handed our complimentary champagne as we entered and proceeded over to the dinner reservations desk immediately to make table reservations for the Lazy J Texas Steakhouse and Teppanyaki specialty restaurants (for which a $25 upgrade fee applies). Thereafter we proceeded to the elevators where we were informed that the staterooms would not be available until after 2 PM. So we were diverted onto an elevator heading up to the Aloha (buffet style) café on the pool deck to have lunch. It was after 2 PM when we finished our meal so we proceeded to our assigned stateroom (an interior cabin on the 7th floor aft). Thereafter, we conducted a self-directed tour of the ship (she made a “pleasantly surprised’ first impression) and attended part of the “shopping in ports” talk by the shopping consultant cum Latitudes hostess cum future cruise sales director (she wears many hats) in the Hollywood theatre before reporting to our assigned muster station (two levels directly below in the Skyline restaurant) for the mandatory safety drill (which was very painless but which did require passengers to fasten their safety jacket (which you have to drag to/from your room with you). We returned from the safety drill to our stateroom to find our luggage had arrived safely and proceeded to unpack. Closet and drawer space in the stateroom was ample.

After dinner we headed to the Liberty main restaurant for dinner at around 6 PM. We were seated without delay in a section near the aft window. Service was polite and pleasant but with long delays in food arrival between courses. Nevertheless the food temperature and quality was good. Among the entrees our party selected were jerk chicken with plantains and dirty rice, Mahi mahi and salmon from the everyday menu. Dessert selections included a banana soufflé and a Bavarian cream. We passed on coffee in order to make it upstairs to the upper decks to enjoy the “lights of Honolulu” sailaway. Thereafter, still acclimating to the time shift, we adjourned to our staterooms to retire for our first evening.

Still to come: Our day in Hilo at Volcano National Park

Imprisoned at sea!

This very annoying (from my perspective) interruption to my Hawaiian cruise series blog is brought to you by the NCL America line's Pride of America medical department acting under the auspices of the US Centre for Disease Control (“CDC”).

I boarded a Hawaiian island-hopper cruise aboard the NCL Pride of America at the port in Honolulu on Saturday October 10th. I am traveling in a group with two others. At embarkation, we were presented with the standard issue medical questionnaire and since all of us were feeling well, we answered all of the questions honestly, disclosing no known symptoms of nausea or upper respiratory infections. However, several days later, on Tuesday October 13th, after several days of suffering with cold/flu like symptoms (of increasing severity), one member of our travel party reported to the medical centre sick bay around 9:00 AM for treatment by the on duty attending physician—Dr. Ali Yasser.

The other two of us in our travel party reported with her to lend our support and waited for her in the medical centre reception area. About half an hour after arrival there and following an examination, the two of us waiting in the reception were ushered in to join the patient in an examination room. We were advised that our patient had tested positive for Influenza A and would be confined to her stateroom under quarantine for 5 days (until Saturday morning). We were also advised that, even though we had not been sharing a common stateroom with her (our cabins were separated by three decks, hers forward, ours aft), because we had been in contact with her (within 6 ft), enroute to the ship, at the dinner table and on our port excursions that we were also under suspicion of being of being infected with the Influenza A virus and would have to undergo testing. We submitted to the testing voluntarily. It took about 12 minutes to get the test results. Our two tests came back negative.

Despite receiving the negative test results for two of us, after checking with head office by phone, Dr. Yasser returned to advise us that we would also have to submit to quarantine and be confined to our cabin for at least three days (until Friday morning). We were further advised that we would also have to submit to re-testing for fever / the virus on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings (nurse visits) before being released from quarantine. If we test positive on these subsequent occasions, our stateroom quarantine could be extended until Saturday as well.

As an alternative to stateroom quarantine we were offered the opportunity to debark the ship and to fly home or to make independent arrangements for accommodations on shore and flight arrangements to re-join the ship in port on Friday morning. Because of the incremental costs making that choice would entail, that was really not a viable alternative for us, so we quickly rejected it. After that, we were given respiratory filter masks to place over our noses and mouths, which we were told to don. We were then told to return to our cabins. We made our way unescorted from medical to our staterooms through the general passenger hallways and elevators. Of course, there were many questions to answer from inquiring passengers and crew that we met along our path from the 3rd deck to the 7th.

Once we were back in our staterooms we were contacted by Charles, the head room steward, who made arrangements to relocate us from the staterooms that had originally occupied (inside cabin on a the 7th deck) to balcony staterooms on the 10th deck (presumably on the assumption that having access to an open air balcony and sunlight would make a 72 hour in-cabin “house arrest” more tolerable). We also had to make arrangements for crew members to return a rental car that we had parked near the ship in port parking that we were required to return to Thrifty by 3:30.

Dr. Yasser made a subsequent visit to our staterooms to conduct a quick routine ear nose and throat examination. We then packed our clothes and moved up to our new staterooms. Since then, we have not left our room. We have had to call in all our meal orders for room service delivery. The room service menu is much more limited than dining room menus, however we have been supplied with dining room menus to order dinner from between 5:30 PM and 10:00 PM. Our stateroom attendant has come by to exchange linens and provide us with ice but to date has not entered our stateroom to clean.

As for activities to occupy ourselves in our room, the options are very limited. Other than staring out at the ports (wonder what fun we are missing out on a shore) there is a small TV set (with a snowy picture) and we have our laptops along. We have been using our laptops to review digital photos we took from our first few days on freedom on the cruise and to browse the internet. We have requested a credit to defray the high costs of web surfing at sea and were advised that our request would be forwarded to a senior passenger service crew member but so far no one has contacted us to follow up on our open request, 18 hours later.

In short, this is an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy… a heartbreaking way to have a dream vacation suddenly unravel. While I understand there is a need for the ship to be cautious and follow CDC protocols to protect the health of other crew and passengers and prevent a mass flu outbreak on board, particularly when H1N1 is expected to return with a vengeance this flu season, I do take exception to how our situation has been handled so far. No one has asked us what crew and/or passengers we may have had interaction with in the ships restaurants, lounges or excursion buses to contact them for testing. Also passenger services has not been especially pro-active in contacting us to ensure we are comfortable while suffering under “house arrest”. No one has offered to run to the library to check out books for us to read or to run to the games room to get us board-games to play to while our hours of incarceration away. No one offered us an on-board credit to defray the cost of purchasing internet packages (or even responded back to our inquiry with respect to that (quite reasonable) request- we had to call passenger services back later). Likewise, our outstanding requests to replace a broken coffee-maker and a room service menu have gone unresolved for a prolonged period.

I also now understand why the balcony stateroom that is our jailhouse went un-booked earlier. It is located directly under the pool-deck, which creates two problems: first, the edge of the deck protrudes to overhang the balcony—while this enhances shade, shelter and privacy, it limits the amount of sun you get and also creates noise problems as deck furniture is re-shuffled for events at dawn and dusk.

I will post further updates as our quarantine progresses, presuming my “condition” doesn’t suddenly deteriorate such that I am unable to sit up and write…
For now I am signing off from the MS Prison of Aloha

Ahoy the shore from Hawaii (part 1 in a series)

Day one: Friday October 9

I am currently traveling with a group of three (along with Gary and his sister Cathy), making my first trip to the Hawaiian island group. We are on a 7 night cruise of the Hawaiian islands aboard the NCL cruise line’s Pride of America. We left our Toronto apartment at the crack of dawn on Friday October 9th in order to make our 7 AM flight to Vancouver’s YVR airport, aboard Air Canada. Check-in at Pearson went without a hitch. The 767 was fully loaded but boarding went smoothly and our flight remained on time. The seatbacks were equipped with a VOD system and I watched “My Sisters Keeper” (featuring Cameron Diaz)—a real tear jerker and the intense Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker” (excellent).

We had arranged our travel plans so we had an 8 hour stopover in Vancouver to tour and stretch our legs before begin the second leg of our flight to Honolulu. We picked up our rental car—a Toyota Corolla sedan from Thrifty—at the airport and were soon on our way. Unfortunately, enroute from YVR airport to the city, a wide load truck carrying a heavy load of stone sideswiped us on the drivers’ side knocking off the back of the rear view mirror. The driver—a 22 year old kid--- didn’t even realize that he had hit us and continued along. I was in the passenger seat and so jumped at the next red light intersection to confront him. He pulled over to the side, admitted he was at fault and we were able to get his name, company name and vitals to lay a claim for damages.

Thereafter we proceeded on to Stanley Park. We stopped in the park at a few points--- the aquarium, the prospect point look-out near the Lions Gate Bridge (where we had lunch), near the totem poles / sea wall / lighthouse and finally at the tea house (where we enjoyed afternoon tea). Lunch ot the Stanley point deck was delicious. Gary ordered a cheeseburger with a smokey and peameal bacon and fries. Cathy ordered a club sandwich and I had haddock fish & chips. At the teahouse Cathy had a cup of Earl Gray tea, Gary had a chocolate mouse and I ordered a poma-tini (a cosmopolitan type martini with pomegranate juice substituted for cranberry). Before we knew it, it was time to head back to YVR to catch our flight! We reported the damage to the rear-view mirror when we turned the rental car in, passed on the information we had collected from the at fault driver and were advised that a claims agent would be in later touch.

The second leg of our flight from YVR to HNL was also aboard a 767 and was similarly crowded. On this leg of the journey, I used the seatback VOD system, I watched the comedy The Hangover (about a bachelor party in Vegas gone wrong) and an interesting feature documentary (Art and Copy) about the advertising business.

By the time we arrived at HNL we had been awake for over 20 hours and were feeling quite groggy. After collecting our luggage from the carousel (it all arrived in one piece) we caught our cab to the hotel—the Best Western Coconut-- we had booked for a single night pre-cruise to catch some shut eye. The hotel was surprisingly clean and tastefully decorated for a Best Western, although the mattresses were a bit on the soft and lumpy side. We retired around 10 PM, exhausted, to ensure we would rise in time to get out to Diamond Head around dawn to begin our hike to the summit.

Still to come—Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach stroll, Embarking the NCL Pride of America

Premiere week TV series ratings

Set out below are the ratings for the prime time series broadcast in the major US network Fall season premiere week. The first set of ratings are for the key age demographic (that advertisers target) and the second set is for overall viewership levels for all viewers.

Adults 18-49 viewing for the week ending September 27, 2009:


Rank Shows.... Net.... 18-49 Rating.... 18-49 Viewers (000)

1 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL..... NBC..... 6.8..... 8,901
2 HOUSE P.....FOX.....6.7.....8,862
3 GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM P.....ABC.....6.7.....8,848
4 FAMILY GUY P.....FOX.....5.2.....6,900
5 THE CLEVELAND SHOW P.....FOX.....4.9.....6,485
6 SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK.....NBC.....4.9.....6,460
7 NCIS P.....CBS.....4.8.....6,351
8 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES P.....ABC.....4.7.....6,185
9 BIG BANG THEORY, THE P.....CBS.....4.7.....6,149
10TWO AND A HALF MEN P.....CBS.....4.5.....5,879
11NCIS: LOS ANGELES P......CBS......4.4.....5,835
12COUGAR TOWN P.....ABC.....4.4.....5,767
13CRIMINAL MINDS P.....CBS.....4.4.....5,738
14CSI: MIAMI P.....CBS.....4.3.....5,705
15SIMPSONS P.....FOX.....4.3.....5,602
16MODERN FAMILY P.....ABC....4.2.....5,568
17 CSI P.....CBS.....4.1.....5,381
18DANCING WITH THE STARS P.....ABC.....4.1.....5,360
19CSI: NY P.....CBS.....4.0.....5,328
20FLASHFORWARD.....ABC.....4.0.....5,328
21OFFICE.....NBC.....3.9.....5,153
22FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3.....NBC.....3.7.....4,883
23SURVIVOR: SAMOA P.....CBS.....3.7.....4,830
24 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER P.....CBS.....3.6.....4,793
25AMERICAN DAD P.....FOX.....3.6.....4,787

Overall viewing (all ages 2+) for the week ending September 27, 2009:


Rank Shows.....Net.....# Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000).....HH RATING .....HH SHARE

1 NCIS.....CBS.....20,600.....12.4.....20
2 NCIS: LOS ANGELES.....CBS.....18,730.....11.3.....17
3 DANCING WITH THE STARS.....ABC.....17,794.....11.3.....17
4 NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL.....NBC.....17,469.....10.7.....17
5 HOUSE.....FOX.....17,156.....9.8....15
6 GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM.....ABC....17,034.....10.9.....18
7 CSI.....CBS.....16,009.....9.7.....15
8CRIMINAL MINDS.....CBS.....15,841.....9.6.....15
9DANCING W/ THE STARS-9/22(S).....ABC.....15,367.....10.1.....16
10 DANCING W/STARS RESULT SP(S)....ABC....15,356.....10.0.....17
11 MENTALIST, THE.....CBS......15,067.....9.5.....16
12CSI: NY.....CBS.....15,062.....9.2.....16
1360 MINUTES.....CBS.....14,884.....9.6.....17
14CSI: MIAMI.....CBS.....14,195.....9.0.....15
15GOOD WIFE, THE.....CBS.....13,714.....9.2.....16
16DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.....ABC.....13,643....8.6.....13
17TWO AND A HALF MEN.....CBS.....13,629.....8.5.....12
18SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK.....NBC.....13,347.....8.2.....14
19BIG BANG THEORY, THE.....CBS.....12,956....7.9....11
20MODERN FAMILY.....ABC.....12,605.....7.8.....13
21FLASHFORWARD.....ABC.....12,467.....7.7.....13
22SURVIVOR: SAMOA.....CBS.....11,664.....6.7.....11
23COUGAR TOWN.....ABC.....11,280.....7.1.....11
24EXTREME MAKEOVER:HM ED-8P.....ABC.....10,419.....6.4.....10
25 AMAZING RACE 15.....CBS.....10,404.....6.2....10

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

KEY

Rating: Estimated percentage of the universe of TV households (or other specified group) tuned to a program in the average minute. Ratings are expressed as a percent.


Share (of Audience): The percent of households (or persons) using television who are tuned to a specific program, station or network in a specific area at a specific time.

Time Shifted Viewing – Program ratings for national sources are produced in three streams of data – Live, Live+Same Day (Live+SD) and Live+7 Day. Time shifted figures account for incremental viewing that takes place with DVRs which are currently in approximately 24.4% of all U.S. TV households. Live+Same Day (Live+SD) include viewing during the same broadcast day as the original telecast, with a cut-off of 3:00AM local time when meters transmit daily viewing to Nielsen for processing.

ABC wins the week 1 new fall season network derby

For the 5th season in a row ABC has claimed top spot in key demographic viewership levels for the Fall TV season premiere week:

WEEK NO. 1: ADULTS 18-49 TOTAL VIEWERS

No.1 ABC 3.3 No.1 CBS 11,770,000
No.2 CBS 3.2 No.2 ABC 11,040,000
No.3 FOX 3.1 No.3 NBC 7,560,000
No.4 NBC 2.7 No.4 FOX 7,350,000
No.5 CW 1.0 No.5 CW 2,170,000


Source: Nielsen Media Research (National Live+Same Day Program Ratings), week of 9/21/09,

Ahoy the shore from Alaska (last in a series)

I have been home from our family cruise vacation for almost a week now... how time flies! I have been too busy (until now) to wrap up my travel journal entries. In prior installments of this series, I had outlined our experiences on the Norwegian Pearl cruiseship, our adventures in our departure port of Seattle and in the Alaskan cruise port towns of Juneau and Skagway. In this final report in the series, I will outline our visits to our final Alaskan port of Ketchikan, our final port in Victoria British Columbia, share my final impressions on the NCL Pearl and comment on the debarkation process.

Glacial Bay (Thursday September 3rd):

In between porting at Skagway and Ketchikan we enjoyed a second day at sea that included scenic cruising through Glacial Bay National Park. We entered Glacial Bay at Bartlett point early in the morning. Glacier Bay is a US National Park (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) comprised of 3.3 million acres of mountains, glaciers and forests. A park ranger boarding the ship at 7 AM to offer live commentary in the Spinnaker lounge for broadcast over the PA system throughout the balance of the day. We were late rising and we were already well into the Bay by the time we surfaced to the pool deck for breakfast. We were able to find a breakfast table at the Great Outdoors cafe at the rear of the ship to watch the glaciers. There was one particularly large tidewater glacier that towered high above the ships' upper decks and the rails were crowded with groups seeking pictures against this stunning backdrop. We managed to insinuate ourselves along the railing long enough to get a few good camera shots. You could actually feel the air temperature drop as we drew in closer, drawing within 100 yards of the glacier. The ranger commentary continued until about NOON, by which time we were already heading back along the fjords to more open seas to chart our course for Ketchikan.

In the evening we attended a pre-dinner theatre show starring Shark Bait-- two former Barnum and Bailey circus clowns-- a dou that entertain with a highly imaginative comic juggling / balancing act that features extended audience participation segments. It was far and away the best show of the cruise. Thereafter, we headed to the promenade deck in time to make our dinner reservations at the Teppanyaki area of the Lotus Garden Asian themed restaurant. There are four cooking tables in the Teppanyaki area, two of which are active at every dinner seating (with reservations taken for every half hour.) A total of 8 persons fit around each grilling table. We shared our table with an Asian family of four from Long Island, NY. For appetizers we were served Miso soup, salted sugar snap peas and seaweed salad with a ginger dressing. Available entrees included Chicken Yakosoba, Seafood Diablo (Lobster, Calamari and Sea Scallops) , Fillet Mignon and combos like Samarai (Chicken and Jumbo Shrimp), Land 'n Sea (Steak and Jumbo Shrimp), Shogun (Steak and Chicken Breast) and Shinto (Scallops and Jumbo Shrimp). All of the entrees were expertly grillde for our entertainment by our chef and were served with garlic rice and teppanyaki veggies. Our chef juggled knives and caught eggs in his chef's hat for our amusement. For dessert we chose of a mocchi ice cream duo or fresh fruit sashimi.

Immediately after dinner, we headed to the Spinnaker lounge to watch the "Dancing with the Stars" gameshow. Hosted by cruise director Julie, the show featured a judging panel that included the assistant cruise director and two second city members. Meanwhile, backstage "elimination" interviews were conducted by another SS troupe member. The competing pairs featured cruise staff "stars" partnered with fellow passengers. Every round featured a different dance step and the elimination of one pair, until only three couples were left standing for the finals. Ironically, the dance captain of the Jean Ann Ryan dancers was the lead of the first eliminated pair. Overall, this gameshow was easily the most thoroughly entertaining of the entire cruise.

Ketchikan (Friday September 4th)

We awoke very early in Ketchikan because we wanted to see the town and do some shopping at the "end of season" sales before reporting dockside for our "Driver's Seat" motorized inflatable boat tour excursion. We walked up into town in a light morning rain and then up an incline to see the salmon run up the river at a lookout and the native totems displays. Another popular attraction in Ketchikan is the lumberjack show, but we passed on that. Thereafter, we weaved our way back through the town to the shore to meet our shore excursion director. Unfortunately, he had some bad news to share with us-- our excursion had been cancelled on account of high winds. Fortunately, he referred us to another tour promoter who was able to arrange a 90 minute flight for us on a Beaver floatplane for a reasonable discounted rate of $179 pp. The Beaver floatplane (built in Toronto at Downsview in 1955) was owned by Southeast Aviation and piloted by Captain Mark (its former owner, who makes his Winter home in Seattle). The flight took us over the saltwater "misty fjord" outside of Kitchikan. We flew up over soaring cliffs, glaciers and millions of trees, setting down mid-flight in the water at a floating platform. The views were breathtaking, although we encountered some turbulence on the way out that left at least one passenger onboard motion sick. We were all equipped with headphones and mikes to allow us to stay in contact with Captain Mark, who was happy to answer questions and provide commentary. Overall, the excursion offered excellent value, as a last minute substitute!

We re-boarded the ship in time for a buffet lunch at the Garden Cafe and then enjoyed a leisurely afternoon before sailaway. Again, we went to a pre-dinner show this time featuring the Jean Ann Ryan company in a performance of "Garden of the Geisha"-- a Japanese period / costume performance that made excellent use of a Polish acrobatic duo. Thereafter, we had dinner in the Mambo's latin restaurant on the 8th deck (above the Cyrstal Atrium, across from the 24 hour Blue Lagoon cafe). This specialty restaurant was advertised as offering both tex-mex and tapas dishes, but the emphasis was definitely on the former. There were tortilla chips already on the table when we arrived and everyone received a complimentary first margarita (lime, available in an either a frozen or "on the rocks" variation and without alcohol for the children) We had grande nachos as a table appetizer while many in our group opted for chicken quesadillas for their personal apps. For my personal app I ordered taquitos, which is pulled pork with refried beans, jack cheese and ranchero sauce. For the main course, the most popular choice was fajitas but I ordered BBQ pork ribs. Invariably, most menu items came served with a trio of guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo. There were some temperature issues with the food served at Mambos (more warm than piping hot). However, the ambience was enhanced by the music of the Wildfire duo (featuring a male guitarist and female fiddler) performing in the Crystal Atrium below. Following dinner we attend the Lairs Club gameshow in Spinakers, where a panel of ship celebrities (including comedian Tim Kaminski, Cruise Director Julie and the Skarkbait duo) offered alternate comic definitions of obscure words, challenging the audience to identify who was telling the truth. The Pearl version of this show was passably entertaining but not the best I have seen at sea. Before retiring for the evening, the kids surprised me with birthday balloons and gifts, catching me off guard, since it was already my birthday (the clock having ticked over to midnight)!

Victoria, BC (Saturday September 5th)

Most of this day was spent at sea, although we did have a late-day port in Victoria at 6 PM (until midnight). After rising, two of us attended the captain's talk in the Stardust theatre, where Julie and the Captain presented a formal presentation on the Pearl and the life of her crew / staff at sea and then took Q&A. We then grabbed a quick bite in the Garden Cafe, taking our plates to La Cucina, which functions as buffet overflow seating at breakfast and dinner, to consume. We found time to pack our bags mid-day (although they didn't have to be set out for collection until between 10 Pm and 2 AM) before heading to the Stardust Theatre for the International Talent Show-- a showcase for the talents of the show's crew. The show opened with a performance of "Proud Mary" by a Filipino rock band. It also featured two male Filipino solo vocalists (one who was outstanding performing "This is the Moment", from the Broadway show Jeckyl and Hyde), a sound technician performing a guitar solo, four women performing a Polynesian folk dance and a deck hand preforming a female impersonator lip sync routine to "Its Raining Men". The performance concluded with the expected (and always hilarious (not to mention wet)) performance of "Fountains" by the cruise director's crew!

Immediately after the show, we headed to the Summer Garden for our final dinner of the cruise. English style prime rib dinner was the popular entree choice, while I had the catch of the day again. At dessert (in addition to the souffle I ordered) I was served a very large birthday cake to share as some of the dining room staff serenaded me with the "Happy Birthday" chorus. We were already sailing into Victoria Harbour by the time our dinner concluded. We debarked in Victoria alongside the Star Princess. There were several options for making the commute into town from the pier, including shuttle buses, water taxis and pedicabs. We elected to share a taxi, which was a very reasonable fixed fare of $7 each way. It was already twilight when we reached town. We spent about 90 minutes strolling around the grounds of the provincial legislature building (Victoria is the capital of the province of British Columbia), the old Fairmount Empress hotel (linked to the Convention Centre) and the inner harbour. There was a jazz festival and folk arts market happening at the inner harbour. Following that self-directed tour, we walked up Governmnt St., past the Bay department store, stopping to purchase some delicious gellato in ChinaTown, a jade "inikshuk" native sculpture and a book at Monroe's bookstore. Then we walked back through Bastion Square to the inner harbor along Wharf St. We re-boarded the ship around 10 PM in time to set out our bags for collection and to head to the Spinnakers lounge for the "Open Mike" Joker's Wild Night (hosted again by the ubiquitous Tim Kaminski), followed by the (uneven) Second City improv demonstration. Thereafter, we retired to our stateroom for our final night onboard the Pearl.

Debarkation and flight home (Sunday September 7th):

Not wanting to be laden down with luggage and with our flight not departing SEA airport until 12:30, we decided to opt out of the "easy walk off" self-debarkation option. Instead, we set out bags out for collection the night before. The pattern of debarkation was from the top decks down so we were in the lime colour group (designated for "independent guests" in staterooms on levels 4/5) with an approximate debarkation time of 9:30. Before debarkation and breakfast, we had time to complete a final "video tour" of the ship and finally made it to the bridge observation deck on 11 (in time to see Julie making the PA call for an early colour group). Then we enjoyed our final meal of the cruise in La Cucina, selecting our breakfast items from the Great Outdoors grille with our carry on lugagge table side. We sailed through Customs, easily found our bags in the terminal and were able to get a standard sized taxi without wait (the cabbie was initially reluctant to stow 4 passengers with luggage but capitulated when he realized it was a big fare to the airport). We had no incidents with security or boarding our plane at Seattle airport. I was able to find a lounge seat adjacent to an AC outlet to download some JPG files to my laptop. Although the plane was jammed packed, the flight was comfortable. Most of us watched "The Proposal" (a comedy starring Sandra Bullock, ironically set in an Alaskan town) on the seat-back VOD service enroute back home. Once home we also sailed through the Canada Customs declaration and lugage claim process. The limo service did not send the same car and driver for or return trip home but the van was spacious and we arrived swiftly and safely. All in all, it was a great family vacation!

TIFF 09 Schedule

The 2009 (34th annual) Toronto International Film Festival Starts tomorrow. I have finalized my screening schedule and have my tickets in hand. My personal film list is set out below. I will try to post mini-reviews at this blog after the screenings.



TIFF 09 schedule


Antichrist................................................ Thursday Sept 10....09:00 PM.................... Ryerson
Last Ride................................................. Friday Sept 11..........06:45 PM.................... Scotiabank 1
Fish Tank................................................ Saturday Sept12..... 12:30 PM..................... Winter Garden The Men Who Stare at Goats............... Sunday Sept 13....... 11:30 AM......................Ryerson
Leaves of Grass...................................... Monday Sept 14...... 9:00 PM........................Ryerson
Youth In Revolt...................................... Tuesday Sept 15..... 8:30 PM........................Winter Garden Love and other Impossible Pursuits....Thursday Sept 17.....9:00 PM....................... AMC #6