Our Travelogue
Canada/New England cruise on Crown Princess October, 2011
Day 1 – Embarkation – New York City
4:00 a.m. came very early for us on October 3rd, but we were up and at ‘em and ready for our adventure. We loaded up the car and off we went to the airport. We grabbed our Starbucks once we were checked in and got through security at Lindbergh Field/San Diego. Our flight was on time and before we knew it we were in the air and on our way to New York City.
Our flight was very smooth and uneventful. The views out of my window on the left side of the plane were extraordinary. I could see the Grand Canyon as we passed over into Arizona – then east over landscapes of red clay and dramatic mesas in Arizona and on to the White Sands of New Mexico. Then we were flying over hundreds and hundreds of miles of farmland across mid-America. Each farm was significantly different from the air, I suppose because of the variety of crops being grown on each one. Some of the parcels were square and some were circular. We crossed over the Missouri River and then to the Might Mississippi and up towards Chicago and Lake Michigan. The skies were clear all this way. Lake Michigan was enormous and quite interesting to see all the cities around the shore. Soon after we passed Lake Michigan the clouds filled the sky and remained that way to New York.
After gathering our luggage and finding the Princess Cruise representative in Baggage Claim, we were directed to our ten passenger shuttle to the Intercontinental Hotel on 44th Avenue between 7th and 9th near Times Square in Manhattan. We checked in and found our friend Nola who had arrived earlier in the afternoon. After saying our hellos and freshening up a bit, the three of us meandered out onto the streets of New York for a quick bite of dinner. There was a light misty rain which made the streets damp. We found ourselves at Smith’s Bar and Grill. It was a very noise “joint”, but we found a booth in the back and were able to catch up on Nola’s adventures.
We turned in rather late but were up fairly early to begin our day. Our luggage had to be ready for pick up and transport to the ship by 9:00 a.m. After asking one of the Princess reps where we should go to find a good local place for breakfast, the three of us headed out of the hotel which is right down the street from the Majestic Theater where Phantom of the Opera is playing, and turned left on 9th street where we found The Westside Diner. The place was bustling busy with people at all of the tables and booths – most of them texting on their iPhones or Droids or the like. Some people actually had a newspaper in hand too! We got a booth near the back and enjoyed sitting down in a little quieter place than dinner last night. Nola and Jim enjoyed their pancakes while I enjoyed my cheddar cheese omelet. I must say though, the New Yorkers cook omelets a little differently than I am used to. Their omelets look like two eggs that were cooked separately and then put a slide of cheese in the middle and put another egg on top. Wholla! Omelet!!
Once our tummies were full we had some time and wanted to show Nola Times Square; so we walked up a couple of blocks and there we were in the heart of Manhattan! We could see all the neon lights of Broadway and the ticker neons on all of the billboards around Times Square. The street was busy with hundreds of taxi, honking horns and people scurrying off to begin their day. There were numerous New York City Police Officers everywhere – some in cars – some on horses – and others on foot.
We ventured in to the huge Disney store and picked out a couple of souvenir sweatshirts and t-shirts for our special grandkids then we walked around a bit more down to where Dick Clark used to host the New Year’s Eve show. There is a bronze statute there of George M. Cohen and also one of Father Duffy. Behind them are the grandstands and the stage for New Years. It is a permanent set there.
Once we got back to the hotel, we got our things together then had to gather down in the lower ballroom to wait for our motor coaches to shuttle us to the ship. By now, it is about 12:00 noon. We finally boarded our coach about 1:30 p.m. and our trip took us through Manhattan down past Chelsea Market which is the home of the Food Network, then on past the Holland Tunnel then past Ground Zero. It was a somber moment. Two huge American flags hung flat on the side of one of the buildings. There are police cards and security everywhere. We could see in to where the Memorial was but could not actually see it. We passed by all too quickly. About ten minutes later we were entering the Port of Brooklyn where we met our ship.
Now is where the story turns to humor. YOUR travel agent – yes, that would be me – made the biggest bad decision of her life this morning when I decided to go ahead and send one of our carry-on bags to the ship and not take it with us. I wasn’t thinking – I don’t know WHAT I was thinking!!! That bag had our passports in it!!
We got up to the check in counter a little after 2:00 p.m. and we couldn’t go any further. Nola was all checked in and ready to board and we were instructed to sit in some chairs and wait until they could send someone onto the ship to find our luggage and bring it to us. Well, time marched on and on and on. Supervisors were talking to the ship on their walkie talkies. Supervisors were talking to us. And, all the while, all the rest of the passengers for the Crown Princess passed by us one by one. Finally – and I mean finally – after 5:30 p.m. Monika came walking towards us with our bag! We dug for the Passports and went right to the counter and checked in. (I only broke down twice in the three hours we were there waiting).
We finally made it on board the ship about 6:00 tonight. We ran to our cabin then scurried down to Nola’s cabin and all three of us went up to the Lido where we were directly across from Miss Liberty in the harbor and could also look back at Manhattan and the gorgeous skyline. We could see the new building going up at Ground Zero. It was a magnificent sunset. Then we meandered down through the Lido Buffet where we decided to have dinner. We finally got to our cabin about 10:00 and then unpacked. It made for a long day – but we were so happy to even be on the ship at that point it didn’t matter!
So – chalk this one up to the travel agent who didn’t follow her own advise!!
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