NYC Day 3 / Cruise Boarding
Some ambitious person posted this picture on Facebook of the Escape arriving in the early hours this morning.
After leisurely packing, we met our son and wife for breakfast at Blue Bottle Coffee, then off to do a bit of shopping for things folks forgot to pack. To Michael’s to retrieve my iPad that I left there yesterday, then back to the Courtyard by Marriott New York Downtown Manhattan/World Trade Center Area to finish packing.
We Ubered over to Pier 88. Pier 90 is still not fixed from when a Carnival Cruise hit it a few weeks ago.
Checking in was quite painless, but waiting for the elevators to get to the Garden Cafe is always a PITA. Everyone wants to eat and there’s not really anything else to do yet.
As soon as they called the cabins open, the Cafe cleared out.
Our luggage arrived almost as soon as we did. I checked out the balcony, of course, and it’s hot out there.
Not much exciting. We read for a while on the balcony, had dinner, checked out the other decks to see what’s here, walked around the decks and an early bed.
At Sea, Monday, June 8, 2015
I woke up about 7 and Tom had brought me coffee – hooray!
We went for breakfast at the good old Garden Cafe then went to a talk about Bermuda in the Breakaway Theater. It was pretty good and told us a lot about the island and good places to go.
At 11, we had a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet in La Cucina. The officers didn’t seem to want to be there but we did get cards with their phone numbers, if needed. No offer of a dinner with the officers like we had last time.
I texted Michael using the iConcierge app and he was napping already so I took the time to get Tom’s app working.
Back at the cabin we found out that Michael had bought shorts and shirt in the store. He hadn’t known that he couldn’t use his debit card – it was all on the room key.
Then, of course, it was time for lunch. You know where.
We decided to go on the Bermuda full-day bus tour Wednesday and BAMZ/Crystal Caves on Thursday. Michael signed up for them during lunch, using the app.
We walked around some and came to the ropes course and zipline. Michael went but didn’t walk the plank. I had planned to go, too, but I was wearing sandals and couldn’t go. Tom checked everything out and said he’d try it “later”.
As if the Aqua Park wasn’t enough deck-top fun for one cruise vacation, Norwegian has devoted another generous chunk of the ship’s exterior space to a three-story sports complex with a smorgasbord of gee-whiz amusements.
Among the attractions is a suspended-in-the-sky ropes course that has 40 different elements including The Plank, a platform that extends 8 feet over the vessel’s edge. The sports complex also offers a miniature golf course, basketball court, rock climbing wall, bungee trampoline and a 24-foot enclosed climbing cage called the Spider Web.
From http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/05/01/norwegian-breakaway-five-things-love/2126133/
We went to store for more band aids for Tom. I liked a tshirt but didn’t get it which is pretty amazing for me.
This night we had reservations for the Cirque Jungle Dreams and Dinner. I had read many complaints about the Cirque dinner so we ate in the Garden Cafe a bit before the show. The food (and show) were great. I told the waitress that I was allergic to shrimp so she offered double filet mignon but I declined. My portion was excellent.
The show itself was fantastic, especially for being at sea. The costumes were very clever.
We wandered outside deck 8 before bed.
All pictures from today:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/cushingshelp/B3g57A