Pre-planning – Using our last of prepaid deposit/future cruise credit, we will be cruising out of New York City doing New England & Canada. Cruise starts on September 3rd and ends on Sept 10th. Because it starts and ends in New York, we will be spending a few extra days in New York. Plans include touring Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, 9/11 Memorial, and One World Observatory (instead of The Top of the Rock). Have scheduled airporter to take us to and from the airport in SeaTac. Flight is non-stop from Sea-Tac to JFK (and return) on Alaska Airlines. Hotel and a Hop On Hop Off tour have also been scheduled.
This cruise was originally scheduled for 2021 out of
Boston but due to Covid, it was cancelled in February 2021. We rescheduled it to Sept 2023 as we already
had a cruise scheduled for 2022.
This has been fun planning – determining shore
excursions and tours in NYC. So, here is
our itinerary:
· 9/2 – Fly out of Sea-Tac to JFK
· 9/3 – Board NCL Escape
· 9/4 – Port of Call: Newport, RI
· 9/5 – Port of Call: Portland, ME
· 9/6 – Port of Call: Bar Harbor, ME
· 9/7 – Port of Call: St John, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick
· 9/8 – Port of Call: Halifax, Nova Scotia
· 9/9 – Day at Sea
· 9/10 – Disembark NYC; check in hotel (Yotel Times Square); Hop on Hop Off tours; Harbor Lights Cruise with Nathan
· 9/11 – VIP Ferry Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island; 9/11 Memorial & One World Observatory
· 9/12 – Empire State Building
· 9/13 – Fly home
I’m only including a small sampling of the many photos taken. You will need to checkout Facebook for all the others.
Saturday, Sept 2, 2023
We
spent the day finalizing our packing, getting the house ready (programming
lights to come on and off), asking the neighbors to take care of our garbage,
asking a friend to swing by occasionally, and giving the fresh vegetables to
our neighbor as they won’t last while we are gone.
We flew first class (love that!). Sort of disappointed, no curtain separating us from the rest of the flight. No hot towel to wipe our face. No pillow. We did receive a meal after leaving Sea-Tac, our choice was a fruit, cheese & meat board. We also got a warm cookie for dessert. Our beverages were seltzer water & Sprite. We then dozed most of the flight.
Sunday, Sept 3, 2023
Plane
landed at 7:27a ET at JFK. They fed us a
snack right before landing. I had
popcorn and David had a turkey pepperoni stick.
Not a very satisfying breakfast. Arrived
in the terminal at 7:46. Now, it’s sit
and wait for the transfer bus to the pier, which starts at 10am. What’s interesting about JFK is that there is
a separate terminal for various airlines.
We are at terminal 7. We boarded
our bus just before 10 am. It got
We
were able to get on board around noon (which was our check-in time) but the
rooms weren’t ready for us (won’t be until about 3pm). They had an area near the casino that we
could check our bags until then. This
was great – then we didn’t have to have them with us as we wandered around the
ship. We went to Deck 16 to the Garden
Café to eat lunch (like everybody else did!).
This was about 1pm. This was our
first meal of the day.
After eating lunch, we went to Deck 6
and sat in the Atrium until our rooms were ready (which was almost 3p). We collected our carry-ons then went to our
room (on Deck 10) to unpack and wait for our big suitcase. We did some more wandering around on Decks 7
& 8. Took photos of the NYC skyline while we left port at 5:30. Decided to eat dinner at The Savor (on Deck
6) at 6p. After dinner, stopped at the Internet Café and got the app squared
away on my phone so I can use it. We
also purchased our shore excursions and our photo package.
Advantages
of having Gold Latitude status – discounts on shore excursions & purchases
at the Duty-Free store and photo gallery.
There will also be a special cocktail party later in the week.
Crashed
at 9p as we were totally wiped out due to lack of sleep the night before. #FlatMike had photos taken again today. My Fitbit registered over 7,000 steps.
Monday, Sept 4, 2023
We are “docked” in Newport, RI at 6a. Tenders are required in order to go ashore – not fun. We woke up at 8a. Took showers & went to breakfast at the Garden Café. We wandered around the ship some more then went to catch our “tender” at noon.
The shore excursion we did was a scenic drive. Had a brief stop at Fort Adams. This shore excursion lasted
about an hour and a half. We saw the historic district with examples of Colonial, Federal, and Victorian homes. We also saw Trinity Church, Redwood Library, and the Gothic Church of Saint Mary’s (where Jacqueline & JFK were married).
We got
one of the last tenders back to the ship at 3:30, arriving back at the ship at
4:15 and went to our room to cool off.
Since we never had lunch, we headed out for dinner at 5p. We ate dinner at O’Sheehans, an Irish bar
& grill (located on Deck 7). Very
disappointed in the menu.
Afterwards,
we went to the Atrium to listen to some music, watch crowd trivia, then Deal/No
Deal Game Show. Went back to the room at
9pm to go to bed. Forgot to note the
number of steps for the day.
Never
found the photo spot of the day for the port of call. All the Freestyle Newsletter said was 7a
around the ship. No idea as to which
deck.
Tuesday, Sept 5, 2023
Woke up at 8:40. Showered & dressed and went to breakfast at the Garden Café. Then we wandered around the ship trying to find the photo spot of the day. It was from 10a to 11:30. Never found it. We docked in Portland, ME at 11am.
We
also had lunch at the Garden Café before going ashore.
Our shore excursion for this port of call is the Lighthouses of
Maine – lasting 3 ½ hours. We had to be ashore at 2:30. Stops include the Portland Head Lighthouse & it’s museum, Bug Light house & the Liberty Ship Memorial, then we did Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse. My camera battery died so I had to take pictures with my cell phone. Besides the lighthouses, I got a picture of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s childhood home. We got back to the ship at 6:18.
Our
Latitudes cocktail party was at 6:30.
Kind of disappointed in that – they never served us the appetizers. We were lucky to even get our drinks – it
took forever! So, we went to the Garden
Café for dinner at 7p. After dinner, I
went to the Supper Club for Bingo at 8:30.
Over
10,000 steps on the FitBit.
Wednesday, Sept 6, 2023
We “docked” in Bar Harbor, ME at 8a. We didn’t schedule any shore excursions (it was sold out or were too expensive). Notice the fact that I used quotations around the word docked – it is because we had to use tenders again. David was up early and already had breakfast by the time I got up at 8.
After
breakfast, we took a tender to shore to do some shopping. Hurray!
The photo spot was on shore! We
got pictures! David found a long-sleeved
shirt to wear to protect his arms (found out afterwards, it’s not a style he
likes). We returned to the ship at
11:33.
Had
lunch at Garden Café then went to the Atrium and played 3 different trivia
games and watched Bean Bag Toss Game.
David has tried several times to attend the Veterans Informal Social but
either the lounge is closed or nobody is showing up.
We had our first “fancy” dinner – it was at Teppanyaki (Japanese – where they do a show for you while they cook your food). It was
fantastic and very filling! Oh, and our photos were taken.
I went
back to the Atrium and caught the end of the “Battle of the Sexes” Game. Not as funny or good as the first time we saw
this. Then listened to some music (not
impressed with the groups they had performing through the ship this time
around). Then watched “Deal or No
Deal”. Then headed to bed (10p).
Clocks
move forward one hour (Atlantic time zone).
Did just over 5,000 steps on the Fitbit.
Thursday, Sept 7, 2023
Docked in St. John, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick at 8am. We woke up at 8:15a. Decided to have breakfast at one of the main dining rooms (The Taste) instead of the Garden Café. It was nice to not have to run around the buffet or try to find a table. After breakfast, went back to our room and took some photos from the balcony.
Returned to our ship at 3pm and had lunch at the Garden Café.
The
rest of the afternoon was spent in the Atrium to see about European
Cruises. Then went to the Photo Gallery
to check out our photos and get ideas about the missed port of call photos
(because they never tell us where and when!!!!). Then browsed through the t-shirts (didn’t
like any of them).
We had
dinner at The Manhattan. Took longer
than planned so I ended up leaving David and rushing to The Supper Club to get
my Bingo cards (that’s an addiction of mine – although I limit the amount I
spend on cards). Came close to Black out
– only needed 5 more numbers.
Had
over 6,000 steps on the FitBit.
Friday, Sept 8, 2023
Arrived at 10a. An interesting fact about Halifax – it boasts the second largest ice-free natural harbor in the world after Sydney, Australia.
tour. We got our photo taken!!!!! Did you know it was Fleet Week? Oh, and at the Halifax Citadel, we heard the cannon go off! We found a couple of T-Shirts and Band-Aids (needed to cover an open blister on one of David’s toes).
We got
back on board the ship at 1:45; had lunch at the Garden Café. Played trivia and watched a few things. Got another “make-up” photo for a missed port
of call. Picked out our luggage tags for
disembarkation. Had dinner at the Garden
Café, played Budget Bingo then returned to our room a little after 9p.
Saturday, Sept 9, 2023
This is a Sea Day as we are heading
back to NYC. I was up early. Had breakfast at our usual location. Caught the “Battle of the Cake Masters”. It was hilarious. Cruise Director Jack and I think it was
Assistant Cruise Director Jeff along with the Bakery Chef. The Chef took them through the steps of
making a cake. Wish I had taken
photos. Then it was off to Bingo in the
Supper Club. Then lunch at our usual
place.
The
afternoon was spent shopping in the Duty-Free store for souvenir t-shirts. Checked our photos out at the gallery – some
are missing. So asked about that. Also, asked about the discounted shore
excursion prices (they were not reflected on the account as well as the $50 credit
for a couple of our shore excursions).
Then went to the final Bingo game in the theater.
We had dinner reservations for 8:45 – I
got them changed to 7:45 at the Moderno, a Brazilian Churrascaria. This was the last of our specialty
dinners. OH my, was it fantastic! Lots of meat – chicken, beef, lamb, and
seafood. Your meal starts with a buffet
salad bar and bread. Then they come by
your table with the various meats and slice it for you to grab with your tongs
to put on your plate. Then it is
finished off with a dessert.
We
picked out our photos to be delivered to our room after 11p. Went back to our room and finished packing –
putting the big suitcase out in the hallway.
Turned our clocks back an hour.
Sunday, Sept 10, 2023
Disembarkation
day – up at 6:30, went to breakfast in the Garden Café then back to our room to
do final packing. We had lime-colored
tags for 9:15 debark time. Although, we got
to leave a lot earlier. We cleared
customs with no issues.
Caught a taxi at the
pier to take us to our hotel (Yotel Times Square located at 570 10th
Ave (near 42nd) – arrived just before 9a. Checked our luggage in with the concierge
then took off for our Hop on Hop off tour of NYC.
M&M World (7th & 48th) where the first stop is for the tour. Found out that only the red line was running, which covered the “downtown” area. Rode the full route (12 stops) as it was pouring down rain. Not conducive for wandering around the sights. When we returned to the starting point, we got off and went to Applebee’s for lunch.
We then went back to
M&M World to get on the bus again, this time planning to get off at some of
the stops. Stop 2 was Times Square East
(this is where you can get the Uptown Tour or Blue Line if it was
running). Stop 3 was Empire State
Building/Koreatown – we have ESB scheduled for another day. Stop 4 is known as the Flatiron District –
Harry Potter New York. Stop 5 is SOHO – it would have been nice to have seen
the Museum of Ice Cream but it was already a cold day. Stop 6 is Chinatown/Little Italy – not
interested in shopping or dining at this time.
Stop 7 is the Brooklyn Bridge – a lot of people get off here to walk the
bridge. Not us. Stop 8 is Wall Street/Charging Bull. We did get off here as we wanted to go to the
National Museum of Native Americans. So
many people getting their picture taken at the charging bull. The museum was real interesting
although my feet were starting to hurt from all the walking we’ve done. You had to go through security similar to the
airport (bag & body screening).
After the museum, we got back on the bus (these are double-decker buses
and you have to be careful where you sat as the rain leaked into the lower
areas). Stop 9 is Statue of
Liberty/Battery Park – also scheduled for another day. Stop 10 is World Trade Center – again
scheduled for another day. Stop 11 is
Hudson Yards – an interesting shopping area.
Stop 12 is Circle Line Sightseeing – we should have gotten off here as
it was close to our hotel but I spaced out.
We got off back at stop 1. Then
walked back to our hotel so we can check in.
Hard to believe we
spent the entire day riding the buses.
Checked in and retrieved our luggage and got to our room shortly after 5
pm. We are supposed to have met Nathan
at the restaurant for dinner at 5. We
walked down 42nd Street two blocks to meet Nathan. We had a quick meal (Nathan picked up the tab
as he owed us for the harbor tour) then walked another couple of blocks to get
to the Circle Line Sightseeing to catch our Harbor Lights Tour. Got there just in time (6:15p).
Harbor Lights
Tour lasted about two hours and it was fantastic. Got to see the NYC skyline, New Jersey
skyline, and the Statue of Liberty all lit up (my pictures of that didn’t turn
out – will have to check with Nathan).
After the tour, we all walked back to our hotel then Nathan headed to
the Amtrak Station to go back to Philly.
You know I said my feet
were hurting – well I had the start of a couple of blisters on the bottom of my
feet. So, for the rest of the vacation,
I had band aids on them to prevent them from breaking open. I had over 15,000 steps on my Fitbit (no
wonder I had blisters!).
Monday, Sept 11, 2023 – Patriots Day
Woke
up about 7a – took showers then went down to the 4th floor (our room
is on the 16th floor) to the restaurant to eat breakfast (not
included in our hotel cost). Returned to
our room to get ready for another busy day of sightseeing.
Caught a taxi to take us to the Native American Museum to meet up with our Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Tour. Our tour guide was very informative. We had a group of about 12 people – although it dwindled
down to 6 due to illness on board the ferry crossing to the Statue. We walked through Battery Park to get to the ferry dock. When we got to the Statue of Liberty, we walked all the way around the base (didn’t have tickets to go inside) and then we had some free time to explore the museum. David went inside to see the original torch.
We
then boarded another ferry to take us over to Ellis Island. We had a quick snack (I had a pretzel so that
the salt can replace what I lost through perspiration). Our tour guide provided some information
about Ellis Island then left us to our own devices. We didn’t do much but rested our feet a
little bit then caught the ferry back to Battery Park.
When we got back to Battery Park, we
walked to One World Observatory. Oh my,
the area was packed, and the 9/11 Memorial was “closed” for the
ceremonies. We caught the tail end (bagpipes
playing Amazing Grace). We showed our
tickets for the Observatory – it took us up (over 200 floors – our ears
popped!) and we were able to walk around and view the NYC skyline. Took lots of pictures, had our free drink
then headed back down. We got lost in
the Oculus (subway and shops). Made it
outside and we were at the 9/11 Memorial.
It was still closed because of the special ceremonies, so we caught a
taxi to take us back to the hotel.
We were very tired, so
we ordered a pizza to be delivered.
Unwinding and watching the thunderstorm happening outside (from 5 –
6p). Did some catching up on emails and
text messaging with Mary about the house.
Had over 10,000 steps on the Fitbit.
An interesting tidbit
about WTC – it is actually made up of several towers (at least 7) and only two
were lost from the plane crashes.
Tuesday, Sept 12, 2023
our Empire State Building tour at 10:30. We ate breakfast then caught another taxi. We arrived at about 10am. Able to get in. WOW! View was fantastic! The elevator ride to the top was interesting. It had a video showing the history of the site. But it went by really fast. The first stop was where you wandered around and looked at the mechanics of the construction (like a museum). This was the 80th Floor. Then a different elevator took you to the 82 (or was it 84th) Floor to the observatory. You can walk around and take pictures of the skyline. If you had special tickets (which we didn’t), you can go up to the 102nd floor.
Afterwards,
we had lunch at the Chopt (a salad place that operated like Subway but it was
just salads) at 11:45. Very delicious! Then caught a taxi back to the hotel (arrived
at 1:30). Reorganized our suitcases,
checked into our flight and arranged transportation to JFK (have to be in the
lobby at 4:45a).
We ate dinner at the
restaurant in our hotel. Originally, we
were eating outside, but the wind picked up and it was getting a little chilly
and I was getting bitten by bugs. So, we
ate inside. It was an alright meal. Meals are very expensive in NYC – almost
double what it is here. Then we went to
bed early (hard to get to sleep).
Wednesday, Sept 13, 2023
We
were up just before 4a. Finished packing
and headed to the lobby to check out.
Caught our “taxi” earlier than scheduled to head to the airport. Checked in through security – no issues this
time. Ate a light breakfast (a sandwich)
then went on to Gate 2 (we were in terminal 7) for boarding. Plane is on time (7:30a). They served us breakfast on the plane -good
food. I had the frittata and David had
strawberry French toast. Flight time is
anticipated to be 5 hours and 8 minutes.
David is napping and I’m doing puzzles and reading. It appears to be nice weather as we fly West
– it was raining when we left NYC. I
think we arrived a little bit early in SeaTac.
Got our luggage and went to catch our airporter.
HOME
SWEET HOME at 12:45p.
Had to do a final
walk-through on our new home then give the okay to process the closing papers. Determined that we need to have the painters
come and give us an estimate for exterior soffits and interior touch up. Oh, and David ended up sick with Covid. Not a fun way to end our vacation.
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