Back from the cruise

I'm going to make an attempt to complete the entries for our trip as best I can. The slow internet on the ship was making it very difficult to keep up.

Day 3 -Thursday March 13, 2014

Today was an early wake up…05:00. I feel better when I get a little less sleep. I use the time early in the morning to take pictures around the ship, while most people are still asleep. The only people around are a few other ‘old’ guys, around my age, sitting around having coffee too.

Being another ‘sea day’ there really isn’t much to write about. We spent most of our time trying to find thing to do. Barbara went to the health spa and put in some time on the bike and treadmill. Then she topped it off with a nice long soak in the hot tub. I went down to the bike storage and completed a more permanent repair to the shift linkage. I feel confident that it will last for the rest of the trip.

After lunch we went to the ice show ‘Spirit of the Seasons’. It was pretty good. It’s amazing how fast the skaters can go on that little ice rink. After that, we took a walk over to the photo studio to take a look at the photos we had taken on the formal night. That was a bust since the pictures did not exist. We’ll try again on the next formal night at the end of the trip.

Dinner was pretty sedate and afterwards we went to the 50’s – 60’s dance party. We were pretty tired, since it was late, so we called it a night and went back to the cabin.

Day 2 -Wednesday March 12, 2014

I was surprised at how late I slept in. I had my alarm wake me at 06:00. That’s late for me. When I’m on the cruise I like to get up early and walk around while most other people are sleeping. It’s a good time to take pictures. I went to the internet lounge to set up the on-line account so that I can use the wireless. There’s a hot spot in the Promenade Café where I get coffee so I’ll be working in there from now on in the mornings. While I was on line I ordered a new shift linkage for the bike. It should be waiting for me when I get home.

The weather today is a bit sporty. The winds are howling around 55mph, giving the seas a little kick and slowing the ship a bit. Barbara and I wanted to go up and check out the jogging / walking track but that deck is closed because of the high winds. It’s supposed to get a bit sportier before it lets up. _­­­

There wasn’t a whole lot to do today. We went to breakfast around 09:30 which lasted for a while. It’s nice not having anywhere to go sometimes. We walked around, checked out some things in the shops and poked our heads into the health club. Lunch was at Johnny Rockets where we were entertained by our waiter. He spoke poor English but did some pretty good but simple magic tricks. After that we wandered around a bit more then took a nap. I hopped down to the casino for a bit and threw away a few more dollars. I really should stay away from the slots and play blackjack instead. Before dinner we walked around a bit more to wake up and stretch our legs. Having the upper outside deck closed really makes you feel caged. When we returned to the room we started getting ready for dinner. Its formal night so we had to make sure things were just so.

Dinner was great. We have a really good table. Six of us have been on this cruise together before, at the same table and the other couple that has joined us is younger but really good people.

Since it was formal night we had someone take pictures of the table. Even that turned out to be fun. Again, we were just about the last table to leave the dining room, a sure sign that we were having a good time. We moved from the dining room to the Maharaja Lounge for Karaoke. The ETA road captains were going to do some singing, which turned out to be pretty good. We didn’t hang around there long as it was getting really late so it was good night.

Day 1 – Tuesday March 11, 2014

What a way to start the trip.

 

Finally, departure day. I’ve been counting the days for the approach of this vacation and it arrived so fast. But, it’s here.

We spent the night at David and Annette’s house so that we would be close to the cruise port this morning.

 

The ride to the cruise port started out fine. It was a bit cool but not horrid. I usually won’t ride below 40 degrees and it was almost 45 so the temps were good. The skies were a bit overcast but I like that…no sun glare. David and I left first on the bikes, with Barbara and Annette following us in the car with all of the luggage. We made our way through the back streets of South Plainfield and the surrounding towns to Rt. 78, the major highway that would take us to Bayonne. There were a lot of pot holes and the roads were covered with massive amounts of sand and salt leftover from the harsh winter that we had had. We hit 78 and were finally able to open it up and make some time…not! We were cruising along at 70 mph through heavy rush hour traffic when we hit the first obstacle. There was a lane merge, two into one. That slowed things down and challenged us to stay together as the drivers in this area don’t give a crap about much, especially bikes. We worked our way past the merge and took off again only to have a small disaster hit. As we were working our way through heavy traffic my shift linkage decided to let loose.

A biker’s biggest fear is having something, anything, go wrong with a bike while you’re zipping along at highway speeds. We were trying to slow down a bit and as I tried to shift my foot shifter just flopped around. At first I thought the securing hardware for the shifter had loosed up but when I looked down I saw that the shifter linkage was flopping around. I’m blessed with the ability to keep my head when the ‘shit hits the fan’, the worse the problem the cooler I stay…sometime too cool. Anyway, I tried flagging David down to stop but he didn’t see me so I hit the gas, accelerated to about 90 and caught up with him to signal that I had to stop. Here we are on a very busy multi-lane, NY area highway pulling onto the median with two bikes and a car.  I surveyed the issue and decided that I could secure the shifter linkage with the right materials. The ball joint on the end of the linkage decided it just didn’t want to hold on any longer so I needed a way to keep the socket on the ball but remain flexible. I dug around in my Tour-Pak and found a few small wire tires. I looped the wire ties around the linkage head together and with a length of Barbara’s yarn, secured the fix in place. Done…one of my better optional engineering fixes if I do say so myself.

We got back on the backs, back into the car and forced our way back into traffic…another harrowing feat on its own. We didn’t get far before the traffic slowed again. This time the set of lanes to our right was stopped. We crawled along until we made it to the hold up. There was a care on fire in the lanes to our right. Fortunately they didn’t stop our set of lanes and soon we were past that obstacle and on our way to the ship. The rest of the ride was without incident except for the asshole maneuvers being pulled by the drivers around us and the terrible condition of the road.

We arrived at the port and were directed to an area right next to the ship to meet up with the rest of the bikes. We were met by Steve, the leader of ETA. Steve is quite a character, a larger than life kind of guy. Unfortunately he has been plagued with horrible medical issues but still remains extremely upbeat and cheerful. Since this was our second cruise with this group the procedures were known. First we parked the bikes side-by-side while we had a pow-wow. While that was going on a drug sniffing dog inspected the bikes. If the dog sits by your bike you are done. There’s always a lot of nervous shifting going on during this. Next we hopped on our bikes and side by side we moved over to a gate to await clearance into the area next to the ship. We were given access and single file, rode onto the dock right next to the ship. Here we opened our gas tanks so they could make sure we had less that ¼ tank of gas and to shoot some nitrogen gas in to displace the fumes.

Now it was time to load the boat. One by one we went up a ramp and into the ship, making sure to shut down the engines before going inside. Once inside we stored the bikes in a hallway, to be moved and secured later.

We move the bikes inside by having the operator stay on the bike while another operator push the bike. It’s a great system, especially when everyone works together.

With that done we went back outside of the ship and re-joined Barbara and Annette at the cruise terminal. They had already checked the luggage so all we had to do was to go through security and check in. They let all of the bikers enter through the ‘Diamond Member’ entrance to speed things up. Check in was a breeze. We got our passes, had our picture taken and waited for a shuttle to take us to the ship. Once on the ship we passed through another security check point and headed up to the Windjammer Café for lunch. Of course everyone else headed up to the Windjammer o it was quite a task finding a table but Barbara came through and it wasn’t long before we were sitting, enjoying our first meal aboard. When we finished eating it was about 14:00 so we headed up to the room to check things out and to see if our luggage had arrive.

There were no bags yet but we were glad to finally be in the room anyway.

We decided to take a walk around and to get my unlimited soda cup filled. The ship looked the same as our last trip but it was still exciting. At 15:30 a mandatory emergency drill was held. That was fun, yawn. After the drill we wandered around until I had to go to the first bike operators meeting at 17:00. Here we were given a briefing by Steve and the security staff of the ship. We were also issued our ‘crew’ ID badges. Because of our bikes being stored in non-public areas we needed access to crew areas so we are issued cred IDs. The meeting consisted of a lot of information and a lot of good natured ribbing. We waited for the ships staff to finish clearing the storage area for the bikes then moved back to the hallway where the bikes were stored.

Working together, we moved the bikes into the storage area, chocked the wheels and put the bikes to bed for the next few days. I will be going back down today to work my shift linkage. Better to do it today than on our first ride day.

I returned to the room to meet up with Barbara who was emptying our first suitcase. The other two had not yet arrived. In the meantime our room attendant came by to introduce himself…Byron.

Next was the ETA welcome aboard party. ETA is the travel agency that runs the bike cruise. It was an open bar and Steve entertained us with some fantastic piano playing.

 

 

We also paid our cash $325 bike fee which is used to take care of ‘business’ on the islands, allowing us to ride there. Steve spoke again, giving us a lot of information and giving some of the operators a bunch of good natured crap.

After the part we went back to the room to find that our luggage had arrived and Byron had moved it into the room for us. We quickly unpacked the suitcases then went to dinner. Dress was casual so everyone pretty much stayed in their biker clothes. A nice surprise was that there was a couple on the trip that was on our last trip and we were at the same table for dinner. There are eight of us at the table for dinner which is nice. Last time I think there were 11. Dinner was good but service was lacking. I only had one drink during dinner. I wasn’t asked and getting that one wasn’t easy. After dinner we walked through the casino, lost $10 the n turned in for the night.

3 short days - Saturday March 8th, 2014

I started off the day by taking my Grandson David to Aqua-Tots at the Burlington County College pool. That took up a good portion of my morning. Once we got home I started in on several other projects. I finally finished painting the mirror for the Sentra. I'll get that installed tomorrow. I also got the trash collected and made a dump run.
Next I started in on cleaning the bike. The ground was really wet so I had to throw down a ground pad which didn't help much. I pretty much finished up the cleaning and waxing although I would have liked to cleaned a little deeper. I will definitely be revisiting the rims and the engine. While reinstalling the side panels I found that one of the rubber grommets was missing. I added a visit to the Harley dealer to the list of errands I would have to run next.
I gathered up my cleaning supplies, put on my riding clothes and took off to run my errands. First I went to the bank to turn in my coins for vacation. I think the Penny Arcade ripped me off (Chris swears it always does) so I will be calling them today to lodge a complaint. Next it was off to the Harley dealer. I tried to purchase the rubber grommet but they were all out. It's an inexpensive, common part. I ordered two. This is why I like Brian's HD better. I rode back to Browns Mills to pick up a prescription for Barbara then made a required stop at Rita's to visit with Fred and have a Blendini. I finished my ride by taking the long way home.
Once home I put the bike back in the trailer, finished cleaning up outside and moved inside to complete more projects. Since my lazy daughter didn't complete any of the work she was supposed to it put me behind.
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day!

4 days away...where's the time going?

I feel like I still have so much to do and not enough time to do it. I had all day and only got two things out of 16 done on my list. It didn't help that little David kept me busy all afternoon...but that's ok. Tonight I hope to catch up after I return from the doctors. I do have to run a few errands on the way home but that shouldn't slow me down too much. I have to pick up wire hangers. Where do you get wire hangers? They are the only ones that fit in the hanging luggage. At least I have 90% of my clothes together. The hard part that's left will be picking out ties. I usually bring twice as many as I need just so I can change my mind. You sure need alot of clothes on an 11 day cruise.

5 days left and lots to do

I'm not really going to be able to make any progress with the bike or trailer until the weekend, when the temps warm up. My focus right now is getting my clothes and other stuff together so that I can get packed before the last minute.

6 days...6days..it's coming up too fast ;)

I can't believe the cruise is less than a week away. Time to get the Jeep and trailer ready. The trailer has a light out; the right side fender clearance light. It's under warranty until the beginning of May but I don't have the time to drive it down to the dealer right now. I'm going to see if it's a simple fix like a loose connection. It's a double LED light and they're both out so I'm sure it's just a connection problem. Otherwise the trailer is ready to go. I just have to relocate it so that I can hook it up. I can move it by hand when the bike's not in it.
The Jeep is another story. There's a nail in the back left tire, close to the edge of the tread which means it may not be repairable...which means a new tire. The right front also has a slow leak which means it too may have a nail in it somewhere. Actually it means a new set of tires since they're all way past replacement anyway. I also have to do an oil change...a 15 minute job.
The weather outlook for Saturday keeps improving, with the forecast being 54 and sunny. I should be able to go for a ride, install the horn and finish cleaning the bike. For the final cleaning I'll spray it down with S-100, wash it off with the hose and blow it dry with the leaf blower. The S-100 should be able to help clean and de-grease the hard to reach parts and the hose will spray it out...the leaf blower will blow it dry leaving no water marks. Then it will be into the trailer and secure it for the trip.

7 days...a week away

It's super cold this morning. I'm really looking forward to some of that tropical weather.
It looks like it's going to be Plan B for getting to the ship. There's a Dunkin' Donuts close to the port. We're going to trailer the bikes there and unload them. The girls will stay at the Dunkin' Donuts and watch the bikes while Dave and I take the trucks and trailers back to the house and get the car full of the luggage. We'll go back to the Dunlin' Donuts where the girls will take the car to the port and Dave and I will ride the bikes there; a short ride.

I still have a little work to do to the bike. Friday and Saturday might be just warm enough to finish up
without freezing my fingers off. I did bring the saddlebags and side panel inside to clean and wax but there's more. The biggest and hardest job left is to clean and polish the rear wheel. It's really dirty and needs a good polishing. I'd like to try to remove some of the rust from the front rotors too. The dashboard and inside of the fairing needs a good going over too. Then it's time to revisit the engine and transmission to try to finish as much of the hard to reach places as possible. If there's time I hope to get the new horn installed.

8 Days To Go

I'm starting to get nervous. Only eight days to go until the cruise; seven if you consider that we're leaving the night before to stay with David & Annette. The long range weather doesn't look good for riding to the ship. I don't mind the sub-zero wind chills that we would have to endure for the short ride to the port but David doesn't like the thought at all. That and the awful condition of the roads. Today I'll call David and we'll work on plan B.

9 Days To Go...we're into the single digits

I spent almost two hours out in the cold yesterday, cleaning the bike. My fingertips are split from the drying effect of the cleaning compounds. It's definately not coming as clean as I'd like but it will have to do. I guess I've covered about 90% of the bike, except for the saddlebags and a side cover. I brought these inside to clean...where it's warm. One of the few areas left is the rear wheel. It's a real bitch to get at but the rim really, really needs to be cleaned. I hope to get to it today, before the weather turns. We're supposed to get about 8" of snow tomorrow. I watch the weather alot these days, especially the long range forecast. As of rright now, our departure day, Tuesday March 11th, is predicted to be 43 degrees and sunny. What that means it's good enough to ride from the Lissy's house to the ship. If we can ride to the ship we don't have to pay for parking for the trucks and trailers!!! Lately that's the best news I've had. Of course the day before is supposed to be 38 degrees with snow. That means there may be a chance of some black ice and some slop left on the roads to dirty up our nice clean bikes. I'm packing a cleaning kit for shipboard use...some plexus, a damp cloth or two and a few polishing cloths.