The Big Apple

Monday September 22,

This is the last day of the second cruise and the first day of the third cruise.

We packed up our things and got everything ready for the move which will take place while we are off on our tour of the city.

We knew we would be coming into port early so I think Ken set his internal alarm because at 3:24 he was peering out the window watching the pilot boat come alongside the ship.

Soon I heard him saying that the Statue of liberty was in view. It was amazing because there she was right outside of our window.

We had ordered breakfast in our room but the card was never picked up so we had to make our way to Horizon Court. It is a zoo there most of the time and even more so on changeover day. But we sat with a very nice couple and had a lovely beginning to our morning.

The tour group met in the princess theatre and went ashore together. We had to pass through Customs and immigration so it was a long procedure. My foot was not pleased with all of the extra walking but I did manage. A letter that came to our room the night before told us that we had to come with our old key cards, our new key cards, our passports, our customs declarations and our in transit cards. Of course some people did not read the directions and they had to return to their room for missing documentation so the entire bus had to wait for them. But soon our guide was introducing himself ( ANTHONY) and his driver ( Stephen) and we were underway. The traffic was horrendous. Apparently there is a major meeting of nation heads of state because of the ISIS situation as well as the Ukraine. That meant loads of streets were blocked off and many motorcades with official looking limos were everywhere. But in spite of it all we were given a great tour. We had a photo and rest stop at Rockefeller center. There was a valiant attempt to get us to Ground Zero but it was not possible. We also had another photo stop on the Hudson. During our 5 hour adventure Anthony pointed out many landmarks including the Empire State Building, China Town, central park, Time Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Battery Park,the site of 911 and the memorial from a block away.

I was impressed with how big the city is, how clean the city was and how well kept it was. Because it was so near to bankruptsy  I expected the roads and parks and buildings to be run down but they were not.

This is the most amazing place to people watch….. people, people everywhere.

We were back to the ship at two o’clock and when we disembarked we gave Canada Pins to our guide and driver along with their tips. They did such an amazing job of showing us their city in spite of the traffic  nightmare so we felt they deserved a special thank you.

We boarded the ship, activating our new cruise cards and finding our new room. A gift of champagne and a coffee card are waiting for us. We certainly are treated well by Kim and her agency. We have been given 3 coffee cards, three bottles of wine and more than $300.00 in on board credits and chocolate covered strawberries during this adventure.

 Oh my, it is nice to be back in a balcony room. It is so bright and so much larger and just plain grand. This will be great for the next ten days.

We decided to just have a burger at Neptune since the dining room was already closed. Then I unpacked my things and got settled in. I think I am getting a bit of a cold, I hope not!! I got a little rest and then we went to the dining room for dinner. Our new table mates include a family of three, Mom, Dad and son Jason. Jason is Downe Syndrome and he is 37 years old. He has very limited language but can take care of himself at the table. He even enjoyed a sip of red wine. There is supposed to be 2 more people but they were not there last evening. We ate our dinner but we left before dessert because we wanted to enjoy sail away from our balcony. 

It was beautiful and we certainly did enjoy it.

Tomorrow we go to Rhode Island and a tour of the Rose Island lighthouse.