The good the bad and the ugly from my adventures on the Carnival Splendor

[lovelearnteach]

If you'd like, drop me an email sometime (F27TW@aol.com) .. u'd be a pleasure to know and chat with!

 

And i'll gladly meet up with u guys in the city sometime on ur next visit and do the tourist thing with you .. and we'll cap it off with some dinner and drinks at Lips! LOL

 

You seem like alotta fun!

Thanx, you too, would love a tour guide to your awesome city, now that I've had a taste, I want a bite ;):D:)!

[lovelearnteach]

Thanks for the info! I like easy things too

Well we just met, but........:eek:;):rolleyes::p:D:).

 

Your welcome!

[lovelearnteach]

Thanks for the steak house info. I figure we should try it once too. ;)

Well there is a part of me that says we've already paid for our food in the price of the cruise, why pay more. I understand cruise lines need ways to make more money, and my curiosity always wins out :D:).

[lovelearnteach]

I agree absolutely with that! Was it crowded the lst night? Just wondering if I should book it before we sail or wait until we get on the ship.

There were 2 other tables when we went at 7:30p.m. and 3 more sat down in the course of our meal, one a big group. We did make reservations prior to cruising. There was a girl trying to get people to go on embarkation day and she was telling people if they went that night they would get a free bottle of wine. So if they were booked up I don't think they would be recruiting people, and this was a holiday sailing to boot :).

[karinvt]

They really need a drooling smiley!!!

[karinvt]

Great review/account :) We board on Sunday so I found it especially helpful. Thanks for sticking with it when some people were being so rude.

[lovelearnteach]

Dec. 28th, 2013

 

Our last full day in NYC. We have 9:00a.m. passes for the Pedestal at Liberty Island. It said to arrive an hour before your scheduled time, we walked right up to the security checkpoint and went right through and got right on a ferry.

 

On the way to the subway we stopped at Tal Bagels and got our 1st NYC bagels, I got a toasted cinnamon & raisin bagel with strawberry cream cheese, yum and an caramel iced coffee. They had a lot of yummy looking things, but no time we gotta rush!

 

Okay 1st time on NYC subway, I get us on the right train, going the wrong way :o. I figured it out by the next stop so off we go to the other side and boom we are on the right train, going the right way. Hey not bad for a 1st timer, as I never made another mistake again!

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2014 by lovelearnteach

[n6uqqq]

Well we just met, but........:eek:;):rolleyes::p:D:).

 

Your welcome!

 

It's okay................. we practiced safe text!

[lovelearnteach]

So we get off at Battery Park, the signage is very good in telling you where to go once up from the subway. Like I said we go right through and are on the ferry very quickly and I thought why on earth did they say to get here an hour early. I would find out the answer to that when we got back at about 1:30p.m. I'm not even exaggerating the line was at least a mile long to get through security to get on a ferry. The trick is definately to go early, I almost got the latest tickets and we would have been in that line form hell.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2014 by lovelearnteach

[lovelearnteach]

So we sat on the top deck for the 1st leg of the ferry from Battery Park to Liberty Island. It was cold for sure, but worth it for the experience. We rode on the lower levels inside on the rest of the rides.

 

 

 

 

[lovelearnteach]

We arrive to liberty island, and we get our audio tour guide. We have to go through yet another security check to get into the pedestal. There is a museum then you can take the elevator to the Pedestal. So amazing to be that close to the Statue of Liberty! Wow it literally took my breath away the 1st time I looked up and saw Her! I still get chills thinking about it, but I'm corny that way.

 

 

 

 

 

[lovelearnteach]

 

 

 

 

 

So amazing, we're so glad we did it!

[lovelearnteach]

The line for the ferry to Ellis Island :eek:, it moved quickly and we got on the next ferry to arrive.

[lovelearnteach]

Oh wow Ellis Island, what an amazing experience for me as my great-grandparents 1st came to this country on this very same exact spot. I felt such an amazing connection, and the darn audio tour, by the time you reach the great hall upstairs, has all these people telling their stories of immigration and ballin and boo hooin, and got my water works running, I was a sight I'm sure. Loved it, so kewl to feel that connection to my ancestry.

 

 

 

 

 

[lovelearnteach]

 

 

 

Then it was time to head back to Battery Park, it was an amazing experience!

[lovelearnteach]

Back to NYC and we are hungry, so we head back towards our hotel on the subway.

 

 

 

 

[Blk_Amish]

Ok, fine, I am going to New York. You were brave enough to continue with the review, I can make it to NY. Thinking about it that way, NY shall be piece of cake:p

I might even do a review for my next cruise on Princess. Ok, that's just being stupid but excited about the Royal Princess.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Blk_Amish

[lovelearnteach]

So we followed the advice of several good friends and had lunch at the Shake Shack. Forget about getting a seat inside, we managed to snag a table for 2 outside. It was covered, and not horribly cold, definitely cool, but not freezing. It was packed that's for sure, and a pager at a "fast food" joint, okay. I got the Shack Stack and fries, the burger was awesome, the fries were, eh.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2014 by lovelearnteach

[S.C.]

Thank you for writing your review I enjoyed reading it!

[Keel Haul]

Well, that is one example. But believe me, some of them moved on to other cruise lines... Comparing cruise number one this yr to cruise number two... Realistically, I love all great servers regardless of their background. I just am not sure why the ones from Eastern Europe tend to care much more so than the ones from elsewhere. I am sure it has to do with how the corp treats them...? The stellar service we had on previous CCLs fits the description you provide. We also had on DC this yr, absolutely impeccable.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

My wife has a Croatian father and Serbian mother.Every Jan/Feb we would stay in Miami for a month(an ex Captain friend of our was working as a Port Captain on the river) and take a 7 day cruise.We picked the Triumph because of three ports where we wanted to visit friends,we also picked the ship against the advice of many because the Maitre d in our MDR was from the Ukraine and had been promoted to assistant M/D by our friend on another line.

There were quite a large number of first time Serbs and Croats working on board, 90% would never sign another contract with Carnival and ask my wife about other lines.The over riding feeling then was that they could not wait for EU membership.The Croats can for example come to the UK and work in a McD getting a min wage of $10 per hour for a 37.5 hr week.

This has driven recruitment agencies to visit countries that may not find Americans/Brits flavor of the month.

[Keel Haul]

LLT thank you for the Alan Wickering of you N/Y visit, I last visited 20 yrs ago.

[Crusin Karen]

Ken, thank you for taking us along with you on this amazing trip! Funny but I have lived right across the G. Washington Bridge into NJ my whole life and I have either sailed or driven past the Lady/Ellis Island THOUSANDS of times and she still brings a tear to my eye, but I have only visited her "in person" ONCE! :confused::o Hate to impose and highjack this again, but was needing one more bit of advice. DS, his DW and my 2 DGS, aged 4 and 2 are going on RCI EOS a month from today. They will go to PC and I told them about the eco tour. I was looking at the website and looks kind of pricey for a 2 and 4 year old! :eek: Do you think this is something they would enjoy or are they too young for it to be worth the time and $. TIA and glad you had such a memorable trip.

[jimbo5544]

I agree, really nice job that has done homage to the city. Nice start to the review and love the pics.

[lovelearnteach]

They really need a drooling smiley!!!

I agree :)!

[lovelearnteach]

Great review/account :) We board on Sunday so I found it especially helpful. Thanks for sticking with it when some people were being so rude.

Thank-you :)!

 

Happy cruising, have a great time :)!