Lisa Plotnick

Boston sailaway on NORWEGIAN JEWEL

August 22, 2025

12:45 pm EDT

We’ve boarded our Norwegian Jewel in Boston, our hometown, and are now seated for lunch. Our weeklong itinerary is scheduled to take us to Québec City via Portland, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, and Saguenay (La Baie). Only Saguenay is new to us—the rest are like old friends.

[“We” is comprised of myself, my husband, and our young adult son.]

In the foreground large letters affixed to the terminal building spell out cruise port Boston.
Alongside Cruiseport Boston, with Boston skyline in the background, on Norwegian Jewel, August 22, 2025. (c) Lisa Plotnick and NauticalNotebook.com

9:46 pm

In this bedtime summation of the day, let’s start from the beginning. We arrived at Boston’s Black Falcon Cruise Terminal at 11:50 am. We dropped off our 3 large suitcases with the porters, took our carry-on and backpack up the escalator, and then through security. By 12:10 we were checked in and walked onto the ship from the gangway at 12:30.

After lunch we checked out the ship a bit. As is our custom, we did not consult a deck plan. We’ve been on this class of ship before and I quickly relearned my way around.

As viewed from the ships deck a narrow road crosses a channel, with the city taking shape in the background.
This bridge on Summer St. is where I usually take photos of the ships docked at Cruiseport Boston. (c) Lisa Plotnick and NauticalNotebook.com

Sailaway was at 4:00 and we didn’t want to miss a moment. We can watch cruise ship departures from the beaches near our home, and I’ve done this for many years. Yet this is the first time since we moved here 10 years ago that we are on one of these ships! As we departed, my mind jumped back and forth between our current situation and what I can see from land. It was so peaceful and exciting at the same time. We are back at sea!

Looking after from an upper deck of the cruise ship reveals the NCL funnel and in the near distance a runway of Logan International Airport.
Passing Logan Airport soon after departure from Boston on Norwegian Jewel, August 22, 2025. (c) Lisa Plotnick and NauticalNotebook.com
Viewed from a distance is an oceanfront community featuring a water tower atop a hill as the ship travels on calm seas under a blue sky with a single cloud.
One of the beaches from which I often photograph ships departing Boston, as viewed from Norwegian Jewel, August 22, 2025. (c) Lisa Plotnick and NauticalNotebook.com
Ribbons of orange span the horizon between a calm dark blue ocean and deepening blue sky.
Sunset as viewed from Norwegian Jewel off the Massachusetts coast, August 22, 2025. (c) Lisa Plotnick and NauticalNotebook.com

Next up: Lighthouses of Portland, Maine

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