MITSUGIRLY BREAKAWAY's 1 last time for the year-review/pictorial

[relic2]

:eek::mad::(That is downright scary!!!! Were you very sick with it? I assume you are older and were vaccinated as a baby.

 

 

 

My husband has not sailed since having a lung transplant three years ago. He finally decided he wants to go again, and we are on the Summit next June to Bermuda. It would be a death sentence for him to get something like this. at least the Celebrity Summit has mostly an older crowd.

 

 

Carol, do you remember Evelyn had whooping cough during her Panama Canal cruise last year? I have checked into the booster, but can only find it in the DPT combo and I'm allergic to the Tetanus part.

[mitsugirly]

Always sad to see a cruise coming to an end. :(

 

I loved the carved food pictures! :D

 

The Cirque Dreams show sounds like something DH and I would really enjoy.

 

I'm sure your class will get better. I always found that my professors tended to "front load" the classes that only ran for a few weeks so they would be sure to get everything they needed to cover in before they ran out of time. You will get through it just fine.

 

We just love the Cirque shows on all 3 of the ships. Never really cared for the meal, but the shows are definitely worth it. :)

 

The class is definitely "front loaded" for sure. This week hasn't been "as bad" with the amount of assignments, however the work load has been the same. :(

 

It was nice talking to you that day Kim and yes we should have met at the beginning of the cruise...your family is lovely and very well mannered...can wait to cruise with you all again...

 

Thanks Lorna. I appreciate it and hope we do get to sail together again. :)

[mitsugirly]

Thank you SO much! I loved reading your review! I wish you much success in school! You will be great! Thanks again!

 

Thank you so much.

 

HI all!

 

mitsugirly ~ loved your review as always. I found Snorkel Park to be quite interesting with a museum & swim with the Dolphins place for us non beach lovers. You sure saw a lot more sea life than I imagined would be there.

 

Found your list of ships quite interesting. I love Epic too & am back on it for the 4th time this Christmas. Seems there are many factors other than the ship that can influence how you feel about a cruise. Dawn was also my least fav NCL ship & I'm about to try Sky & Sun in 2016 so look forward to that.

 

I've just turned platinum too so look forward to free laundry. I have paid for a bag before & still have the little tags they put on the garments on some items to this day!:eek:

 

I'm wondering will Kenny cruise again?

 

Looking forward to your next cruise. Have you made a decision yet?

 

Good luck to you with your schooling.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

I was pretty shocked with the amount of sea life I managed to find as well. It just goes to show, you never know. (Although I have to admit I have been to plenty of places that others have said there was no use snorkeling there because it's a "sandy bottom" beach and there won't be anything to see. I ALWAYS find something and some of the most interesting things I have spotted (or my "first time" seeing something) has been at some of these places. So, my rule is to ALWAYS bring my snorkeling gear no matter what...even if it's just the goggles. :D

 

It looks like we have similar taste with you loving Epic and the Dawn the least favorite. You are correct, there are so many factors that influence how you feel about a ship (or a cruise).

 

I haven't really discussed cruising with Kenny since we returned. His gf has been posting non-stop pictures of the cruise since we returned, so I know she's wanting to again. :p

 

I have not made a decision, or even thought about it, since we returned from our cruise about where to go next. I'm just too busy to think about it. :eek: (I never thought I would ever say that). :(

[mitsugirly]

I feel your pain with the school. I am in a doctorate program and it really kills the cruise budget and planning time!

 

Just know you are not alone but it will be worth it in the end.

 

I am definitely feeling the pain at this point. :p It's definitely worth it in the end, it's just getting there is the issue. :o Good luck with your doctorate program. :)

 

I am almost as sad to reach the end of your cruises as I am my own. I really enjoy your reviews and love watching your family in the pictures. Thank you again for all the work you put in on your reviews.

 

Julie

 

Aww, thanks for the kind words Julie. I appreciate it.

[mitsugirly]

Kim:

 

Great review and like always, I enjoyed the read. This takes so much time to put together, thank you.

 

After reading your review, the comment above kind of stuck with me. (I am just joking from this point forward) After all the time you have invested in Cruise Critic with your many wonderful reviews, you are a Cruise Critic celebrity. :eek: After an appropriate mourning period, I think the people of Cruise Critic would step up. Everyone sees the fun you have on your vacations, you would get invited along on lots and lots of cruises. Plenty of Cruise Critic members would step up and being a celebrity here, you would have the pick of the litter. Only Heaven Suites and Garden Villas for Kim. :D:D:D

 

LOL Bruce. I will have to keep that in mind. The people on cc are amazing and I would love to cruise with a lot of them. I have a good time for sure and it's always an adventure if you are in my party. A Haven or a Garden Villa...hmmm, that would be an interesting review for me. :p

 

We did the Dawn to Bermuda in August and 5 days after getting off the ship I came down with Whooping Cough!

 

I also came home with an Upper Respiratory Infection and the coughing didn't stop for weeks after getting off the Dawn. However, I heard a bunch of people on this BA trip also came home with it. I think it's a "Bermuda" thing myself. ;)

[mitsugirly]

I am cold natured too. So I was wondering if you need sweaters indoors at night on the ship?

 

Also, I was just flipping through a magazine of mine and saw this article. It is super interesting about parrot fish. Here is a link. http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201506/parrot-fish-facts-sand-maker/#?insight[search_id]=f384f2bc-8a0d-4a89-80a6-f54c5e47a9af&insight[search_result_index]=0

 

 

This time around I did not use a sweater or jacket inside (except on the way there and back because it was cold outside and I would wrap it around my waist when inside). All the other ships I have cruised on, it was always cold inside, especially in places like the theater. I always make sure I carry one...just in case.

 

Yep, I do know all of that about the parrotfish. :D I do a lot of research on the fish that I come across and learn for the next trip. I also use to be a proud owner of several HUGE salt water aquariums (125-200 gallon tanks and 4 of them) but it sure takes up a lot of time. Some day I will get another. I know Sakari would love it. We have been keeping things simple over the last few years with a small 10 gallon tank with only glofish. They are pretty hardy and we can't even kill them while we are gone for a week on vacation. :p Just add water (from evaporation) every month and feed once a day and you're good to go. My kinda pet! :p

[mitsugirly]

Can you believe I managed to get done with my homework for this week 1 day early??? :p :rolleyes:

 

While this week didn't have as many assignments, it did have a few huge assignments to make up for it. So I'm done and I'm off to work on the rest of my pictures and get this thing done with. :D

[perfect match]

I have not made a decision, or even thought about it, since we returned from our cruise about where to go next. I'm just too busy to think about it. :eek: (I never thought I would ever say that). :(

 

 

Kim, are you sure you're feeling OK? :confused: I've never worried about you before, but you not thinking about your next cruise just doesn't seem right! :eek: Almost as bad as me not thinking about my next cruise! :D

 

I'll be back later to check on your updates.

[mitsugirly]

DAY 8-DEBARKATION:

 

I do need to step back and say that I believe I missed something from "last night". Remember I had sent my laundry off in the morning with the room steward to get my free bag of laundry done with my new platinum perks? I waited all day for them to come back and I have to admit, I was starting to worry. But, by the time we returned for the night, they were sitting on my bed and ready for me to put them into my luggage.

 

I thought it was really nice that they come back in a pretty little wicker basket with handles and they were all nice and neatly pressed, as if done by a robot. Pretty cool! It definitely made it nice to know that I would have less laundry to do when I returned home AND this flatter than pancakes pressing they had done made more space in my luggage as well.

 

Now...I do have to say this. They didn't come back the "cleanest". Honestly, not too clean at all. I don't recall exactly what was on certain clothes at this point (I'm thinking there was a day that Sakari dripped ice cream on her shirt and maybe another ketchup drop or something...then also a day of removing a shirt and her painted face got on it...things like that) but the stains were still on them when they were returned. I can remember another post on here somewhere with someone stating that paying to have their clothes washed while on a cruise was a waste of money...for this exact reason. Now I know what they were talking about. No biggie, I would just re-wash them when I get home (the clothes that still had stains). Still a nice added perk I guess.

---------------------------------------------

 

Everyone knows that I did not get to see the Statue of Libery on the sail out due to us not leaving until the middle of the night. By the time I woke up that night, we were already out to sea.

 

The last night of the cruise, I had ask an employee about coming back to port and when we would be passing by the Statue of Liberty. I was told that we pass it some time around 4am. Um...ok. I guess I will not be seeing it on the way in. I was very disappointed. Everyone talks about how neat it is to go by her and get pictures and it's part of the "cruising out of New York" experience. This would be an experience I would not get a chance to partake in. So sad.

-------------------------------------

 

I had my alarm set for 6am, since the ship was supposed to dock at 7am. At 6am I jumped up and ran to the balcony to see if I could see anything. We were definitely getting close since I could see all the buildings lit up. However, the more I thought about this "missing of the Statue of Liberty" the more I started to get upset. Does it really take 3 hours to get from the port to her? No way right? Isn't she just kinda around the corner after you pull out? I'm confused. I started thinking about this more and more. Aren't there ferries that you can take over to her from either NY or NJ? How in the world could it be 3 hours? Did these employees mislead me? I was sure that we should be passing by it right before pulling in now...and I still missed it! This is a fail in research on my part I guess. It never occurred to me that I should probably know how long it takes to reach her from the port.

 

I would only get to see the lights along the way...no Miss Liberty.

 

 

 

 

Now that I'm thinking about it even more...maybe we were going by it and I missed it again because I was on the wrong side???

 

We pulled in at 6:30am and I continued to take pictures from the balcony as it started to get lighter out.

 

 

 

I believe I remember being in port with this ship in Freeport once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I went inside to pack a few final things in our luggage and then headed back out for a few more pictures as the family was getting ready for breakfast.

 

 

 

The sun was coming up and the sky was a beautiful pinkish-blue color now.

 

 

 

 

I tried my best to get the pretty color of the sky and then the bright orange-red color of the sun coming between the buildings, but the lighting was just not on my side this morning.

 

 

Zooming in gave me some interesting pictures though:

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

I went back inside and we headed to the buffet for our last meal.

 

They started calling for walk-off's at 7:15am. We scarfed down our breakfast like it was the last meal we would get for the day and headed back to our room to grab our luggage and head out.

 

We ran into the family along the way who had also just finished eating.

 

 

We decided we would all walk out together and I found out that they had also decided to keep their luggage and get a head start on getting off the ship and driving home.

 

We were able to walk right off the ship and it was a steady walk with no stopping or waiting. This was nice. They obviously had things working nicely at this point. Of course since we got to get off first, there was probably no time for a line to back up.

 

We made it out of the building and noticed that Kolin & Courtney got pulled for inspection. No biggie, they just ask them a couple of questions and they were on their way as well.

 

Using our phones, we scheduled for our pick up service with Carmel. I had never used a pick up service where you can't actually schedule them until you get out of the terminal because they can't sit around waiting on you. I mean, I could schedule, but if you are not there, you pay!

 

So I quickly got out my cell phone and scheduled our ride. The awesome thing I do love about this service is they have a map and you can see exactly where you car is at any time and how far away they are.

 

 

When we got outside, we were directed to head across the street. WAIT...THAT STREET? Oh my goodness. That was one scary looking street with a lot of traffic going at a fast rate of speed and not stopping for anything. Here we are with a young child we needed to watch and pull all of our luggage with us while she also tried to maneuver hers around too. This was going to be an adventure for sure.

 

It took us a few lights to make it all the way across, but we finally made it. Whew. Now what? I had no idea where to actually stand and wait for the car. Kendra was having issues trying to schedule her car to come and by this time somehow Kenny/Michelle & Kolin/Courtney were already in a car and pulling away by the time we made it across the street.

 

I ended up scheduling a 2nd car (for Kendra) and our car pulled up after several phone calls from the driver letting us know that he was on his way, stuck in traffic, and behind a bus...but he's coming. We stood on the corner of 12th & 48th and he finally arrived. We said our goodbyes to Kendra and family and we pulled away with her having a very worried look on her face about what to do. I screamed out the window "Just stay there" and she screamed back "How will I know it's our ride?"...and off we went.

 

Her driver ended up calling me asking where "we were at" (meaning Kendra) and I told him and he said he was almost there. I hurried to call Kendra to let her know and to give her the drivers phone number and she informed me that he was already there. Whew all was good. The funny part about it was that since I made the reservation for her, I could see where she was at on the "map". LOL

 

 

Now the first time we used this service (on the way to the port), I was unable to use the app to pay for our ride (and tried 3 times according to my cc). This time it would be a success and it actually processed.

 

 

It was kinda neat that we only used this service for the ride to the port in the beginning, but each one of us had earned "Car Cash" that we were able to apply to our ride this time $aving more money. I like to $ave money.

 

Well you know the story...we zoomed into the tunnel and our driver drove pretty decent. The toll was only $8.00 this time for some reason.

 

[tv77]

Love all of your reviews and pix! I just ordered an Olympus tough 860 based on your amazing photos!!! They should sponsor you. :)

[mitsugirly]

We made it to the airport and we got in line outside to check our luggage in. We made it in time for our 11 something flight with some time to spare.

 

When we made it up to the counter, the guy proceeded to tell us that we would have to go inside to check our luggage in because his system was down. Ugh. Ok, so in we went. :eek: ARE YOU SERIOUS?? This place was a mad house. The line was forever long. The hubby and I looked at each other and said "Oh my!" So we headed to the back of the line...............................

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WAIT.....WHERE'S THE END OF THE LINE??? A lady in the line pointed down around the corner and down the hall. GULP! Definitely another "Oh my" moment. We got to the end...or did we? Nope, that was just a gap in the line that an employee had made for people to get by. "Keep going, down the hall, around the corner and down that hall" !!!!!!!!! This line wrapped around the building to places I didn't even know existed.

 

Now I was going to start worrying about us making our trip. I felt bad when several people were coming up to talk to the employees about the line and begging to be able to not have to wait in it because their flight was leaving in 20 minutes...or whatever the case was. I know exactly what they were feeling and mixture of emotions trying to process what you do once you miss the plane. Been there~done that...with Kendra of course.

 

I do have to say that the line moved at a decent rate of "speed" (using that term lightly of course) and we made it up to the counter to check us and the luggage in. It was confirmed that the system for Southwest was down. Once we were done...whew! Ok, let's head to the security line..."No wait, you need to take your luggage with you" the lady at the counter screamed. Um what? She proceeded to tell us that we would need to take the tagged luggage with us and drop it off where the put the luggage in the carts to go to the plane. Oh wow. So down the hall we headed, turn left, then turn right and then to the employees in a different room. Ok, that was over with, let's go!

 

We headed out of the room and toward....I have no idea where we were going. I couldn't find any identifiable signs that told us where to go. We stopped to ask someone and OF COURSE we were headed the wrong way. About face and head back to the next VERY long line for security.

 

We would find that they had 1 (ONE!!! UNO) person working this security desk. Seriously? After standing in line for awhile, they finally decided to open up a total of 4 lines, which moved things along somewhat quicker.

 

I feel like this is a very strange airport. It reminded me of an old Greyhound bus station from back in the day when I use to travel with my mom places. I just pictured it being much nicer for some reason.

 

There were no seats in the area that you line up to get on the plane. It was actually along a hall getting there and I found this extremely weird as well. When they would come over the loud speaker, sometimes it was hard to hear and understand them. I would get up around the time I thought it was for us and walk over to listen.

 

We always do the early bird check in when cruising, since we usually don't have internet service the night before to check in 24 hours in advance. We seem to have pretty good luck with this in the past and this time we were assigned boarding position A48-50. Not bad.

 

We finally boarded the plane, but we did leave much later than scheduled. I think with the system being down, it was throwing everyone for a loop today. But we survived. It was a full flight, so things were tight.

 

Up up and away we finally went.

 

 

I had no idea what we were looking at here and once again, I did not spot the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

 

The hubby wasn't ready for his vacation to be over and since he seems to have a tradition of starting out his day with a bloody Mary...this would continue on our trip home as well.

 

 

 

Southwest always sends both of us coupons for free drinks. They obviously don't carry a Toasted Almond or a Dirty Monkey, so I give all of mine to the hubby.

 

 

 

Wow, is the water really that blue here? I thought it was only like that in the Caribbean and Bermuda.

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

Before taking off, Sakari had a million questions about this "system being down". I think she over heard the hubby and I joking around about how would they fly the plane with the system being down and the hubby was pretending to be a pilot in this scenario, "Um yea Roger, we are at...um real high in the sky altitude, cruising along at...um really super fast speeds, which I'm not sure about since my gauges aren't working at the moment with the system being down, and we are requesting to land on that little strip of blacktop we see coming up to my left. That's my left Roger, not yours. I'm not quite sure if we are in the right state, but I'm sure you will have plenty of places for our passengers to go site-seeing at. Do we have permission to land Roger? Roger? Hello, is this thing working?" tap tap tap

 

Yea, that might have scared her a little. So the first thing she did when we got on the plane and got situated...she decided we were stick people.

 

 

I ask her if mommy got left in the plane because I did nothing but gain weight during the cruise and none of those stick people looked like they could be mommy. She laughed and I handed her my phone and put on a show for her to watch on t.v. to get her mind off of it.

 

 

 

It didn't take very long before this was her new position and I would be able to take back possession of my phone to watch some shows myself.

 

 

 

We had 1 plane change along the route home. I would check in with the kids to make sure they were ok in their journey home. Kendra & family stopped after leaving the hotel to pick up some supplies to do a quick oil change on the SUV they had brought (if you remember, when us girls had adventured out to the store, it started making a loud sound) and Kenny was stuck doing the oil change in a parking lot to assure that they would "hopefully" make it back home in this truck. Things were going well with them and they reported back to me that they were a few hours away from home.

 

Again, problems with the Southwest system led to delays, which gave us time to get a snack, and everyone had to give them a paper copy of their boarding pass. That meant that anyone that had downloaded their boarding pass to their phone to check in was forced to stand in huge lines at a desk to obtain some type of paper copy. There was no scanning your boarding pass as you walked onto the plane. They had to write certain things down on paper. It kinda reminded me of working in the ER when the system goes down and you have to revert to the dreaded "paper system" from back in the day.

 

Click below:

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES COMPUTER "GLITCH" CAUSES DELAYS NATIONWIDE.

 

We made it back to our home airport and I have to say that I was quite glad that we had decided to drive to the port with our car because that meant no waiting for someone to come pick us up.

 

 

We hopped on the shuttle bus and away we went to the parking lot. I would definitely use this system again in the future. Much easier than relying on someone to drop you off and pick you up.

 

 

We were hungry once again (at the airport we only had a snack) and decided to stop for fast food right at the airport location to get our bellies full prior to arriving at home and having to unpack everything and settle in.

 

We made it back home safely and the kids arrived a few hours later. Whew, glad to be home and relaxing...now where's the buffet and towel animals for the night?

 

[mitsugirly]

Kim, are you sure you're feeling OK? :confused: I've never worried about you before, but you not thinking about your next cruise just doesn't seem right! :eek: Almost as bad as me not thinking about my next cruise! :D

 

I'll be back later to check on your updates.

 

No, not sure at all. I had made a promise that this was our last cruise of the year and I figured as long as I didn't start looking at more cruises and what I wanted to do, I'd have a pretty good chance of keeping that promise. I think I'm pretty safe until this semester is over with. Then I'll put more effort into finding something. :D

 

Love all of your reviews and pix! I just ordered an Olympus tough 860 based on your amazing photos!!! They should sponsor you. :)

 

Ohhhhh, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine. I'm still trying to get use to using my 860. I have a habit of using the 620 a majority of the time because I'm use to it. The functions are a little different between the 2 (even including they completely switched around the opening on the side from where you put in the SD card to where you plug it in to charge from each camera...which is really weird to me). The 830 is a lot bigger in size than the 620 too, which is probably why I always grab the 620 first. But the 830 has a lot more settings than the 620. I just need to learn all of them and experiment a little more. :p

[mitsugirly]

I would like to do a "final thoughts" review/section of this trip like I always do. But by gosh, it feels like this cruise was so long ago that I might have to go back and re-read my review to trigger my memory. :o

 

I'll try to start working on that maybe tonight and post by tomorrow (fingers crossed). I know there are a few things that I didn't mention within the review that I would also like to point out as well.

 

Thank you to everyone who has patiently stuck around until the end. I'm sorry it took so long. :p

[perfect match]

No, not sure at all. I had made a promise that this was our last cruise of the year and I figured as long as I didn't start looking at more cruises and what I wanted to do, I'd have a pretty good chance of keeping that promise. I think I'm pretty safe until this semester is over with. Then I'll put more effort into finding something. :D

 

OK, I'll give you a pass - but only until your semester is over! I can't wait to see where "we" will be going next, and what ship "we" will be sailing on! Nice of me to just invite myself, isn't it? :D

 

Sorry you didn't get to see the Statue of Liberty. She really is beautiful. You did manage to get some beautiful pictures of the NY skyline at sunrise.

 

Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to finish up this review. I know it is a lot of work and takes a lot of your time. I want to be sure you know how much that is appreciated.

[New2cruise1483]

Thank you again so much for taking the time to do such an awesome review for all of us to joy and gain information from. With all you have going on in your life right now, you deserve extra kudos! I also have yet ANOTHER wine suggestion for you lol. Arbor mist blackberry something or another. VERY sweet and VERY fruity, almost like a fruit juice rare than a wine. My BF, who absolutely hates wine, will even steal a sip of this from me every now and then lol. It's also very cheap, as in inky 5 or 6 bucks for one of the smaller bottles, so maybe that's what makes it taste so good to me lol :D. Let me know your thoughts if you try it and your thoughts on it. Thanks again for a great review :)

[CAC104]

NYC has the worst airports in the country because they were built so long ago. Newark and LaGuardia are ancient relics, and even JFK has been around for a long time. LGA is know for long delays getting the planes off the ground and you can sit out on the tarmack for ages.

[Swells1]

I just wanted to let you know that, based on your photos, I ordered an Olympus Tough 850 yesterday. :D Of course, last night I had a nightmare that my cruise came early. I was on the ship with all these people using their own- just snapping away, and I kept repeating, "But mine is on the way. I just ordered it today!"

I didn't have any clothes or money either, but I was far more upset about that camera!

[mitsugirly]

OK, I'll give you a pass - but only until your semester is over! I can't wait to see where "we" will be going next, and what ship "we" will be sailing on! Nice of me to just invite myself, isn't it?

 

Sorry you didn't get to see the Statue of Liberty. She really is beautiful. You did manage to get some beautiful pictures of the NY skyline at sunrise.

 

Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to finish up this review. I know it is a lot of work and takes a lot of your time. I want to be sure you know how much that is appreciated.

 

Why thank you for the pass. :D Would love to have you along with "us" on the next. ;) I REALLY want to head back to the Caribbean. I really miss it. So I'll probably be searching for something there. But who knows with me. I might decide to go all out some time during the year and get adventurous and do an Alaskan cruise. :eek:

 

I really appreciate the kind words and glad you enjoyed the review.

 

Thank you again so much for taking the time to do such an awesome review for all of us to joy and gain information from. With all you have going on in your life right now, you deserve extra kudos! I also have yet ANOTHER wine suggestion for you lol. Arbor mist blackberry something or another. VERY sweet and VERY fruity, almost like a fruit juice rare than a wine. My BF, who absolutely hates wine, will even steal a sip of this from me every now and then lol. It's also very cheap, as in inky 5 or 6 bucks for one of the smaller bottles, so maybe that's what makes it taste so good to me lol . Let me know your thoughts if you try it and your thoughts on it. Thanks again for a great review

 

You are very welcome and glad you enjoyed it. I'll take those extra kudos and run with them. :D

 

Cheap is good. I'll have to add it to my list. Thanks for the suggestion.

[mitsugirly]

NYC has the worst airports in the country because they were built so long ago. Newark and LaGuardia are ancient relics, and even JFK has been around for a long time. LGA is know for long delays getting the planes off the ground and you can sit out on the tarmack for ages.

 

Yea, it wasn't at all what I expected from there. I definitely thought they would be more "updated".

 

I just wanted to let you know that, based on your photos, I ordered an Olympus Tough 850 yesterday. :D Of course, last night I had a nightmare that my cruise came early. I was on the ship with all these people using their own- just snapping away, and I kept repeating, "But mine is on the way. I just ordered it today!"

I didn't have any clothes or money either, but I was far more upset about that camera!

 

Oh my gosh that's hilarious about the dream. My dream would probably go something like that as well with all the bad luck I have had regarding my camera's in the past (forgetting the chargers twice now while cruising).

 

I hope you enjoy the 850. I wonder if it has the same features as the 830. Since it's an upgraded version, hopefully it'll have more. :D

[mitsugirly]

MY FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE HOTEL:

 

EMBASSY SUITES NEWARK:

95 Glimcher Realty Way

 

If you have the opportunity to stay here, I highly suggest it. It's a very nice hotel (as it should be since it's fairly new) from the decor to the rooms.

 

I thought it came with an excellent price, considering all the other hotels we had checked on, and the best part is that if you are a "bigger" family, this is the perfect place to accommodate you.

 

The rooms are HUGE and have a bedroom that is completely in a different room, which makes it nice when traveling with family, friends or children. It sleep 6 comfortably.

 

If you are driving in and need to park...IT'S FREE for the week. Yes, FREE! Unlike the other hotels in the area that are charging close to $100 for leaving your vehicle there for a week.

 

Added amenities such as the pool, hot tub, exercise room are all great if you require them. There's also a touch screen in the lobby that you can look up any information.

 

Having a restaurant on the premises is a nice added feature if you don't want to adventure out.

 

If you do want to go out, you can walk to several different restaurants right there at the lot. Also a mall is there for shopping.

 

The FREE breakfast in the morning was GREAT! From the hot foods to the cold and even "Made to Order" (the name of the breakfast). Definitely an added plus!

 

The nightly gathering party...well, the only downfall (for us) and wasn't exactly what we expected. The drinks were limited to only the house drinks (and you only got 1 for free) and the "food" was just a snack (when we had hoped it would be a light meal like we've had at other places in the past).

 

Another downfall (to some) might be they charge for the internet service (which is normally free at most places). It didn't bother us since we just used or phone service for free.

 

**Tip** If you plan to buy some pop to drink while there, do it from the vending machine because it is cheaper than at the front desk "snack" area. ;)

 

Only other downfall is that there doesn't seem to be a gas station or store within walking distance if you plan on buying pop to take with you on the cruise.

 

Everything else was perfect and the staff was friendly and helpful.

 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. :)

[mitsugirly]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON USING CARMEL TRANSPORTATION:

 

I would definitely use this service again when in town. Although they didn't have a vehicle to accommodate our large 10 person crowd, it still worked out fine.

 

The drivers were prompt picking us up at the hotel (before expected).

 

They were fairly prompted picking us up after scheduling once we returned from the cruise.

 

The app they have for the service rocks!...if it works. On our trip there, it wouldn't allow me to pay using my cc on the app (but I had brought cash anyhow). On the ride back, it did allow me to pay using the app and my cc. I'm not sure if it was the cc or the app.

 

The app has the feature that allows you to "see where your driver is" which is just awesome.

 

You can also add in the tolls and the tip on the app to pay.

 

The drivers were...um, quiet. VERY quiet. As a matter of fact they didn't talk. So if you like those local drivers that talk up a storm, carry on a conversation with you giving you history and stuff along the way, this is not your company. ;)

 

Now I had absolutely NO problems with our service. Kendra did on the way home. I'm not sure if these drivers are using their vehicles or not, but Kendra's pick up ride came and the driver had a bunch of his "crap" in the trunk of the car. He had one of those big 24 packs of water and a box and I can't remember what all she said. He could not fit all of their luggage into the trunk (they had 4 between the 3 of them). She ended up having to put one of them up front with her...AND SHE WAS CHARGED FOR THAT!!! I personally would have fought that, but for some reason she didn't, which is unlike her. Carmel has a policy that all luggage must fit in the back and if any goes up front, you are charged an extra $10. :eek: I'm sorry, if you pull up with YOUR crap in the back where MY luggage goes, YOU are moving YOUR crap out to fit mine in and I'm not paying you an extra $10. Plain and simple. That or consider the extra $10 your "tip" since you won't move your crap. :rolleyes:

 

Other than this issue, everything was fine...except the driving, which I'll chalk it up to the "New Yorker" coming out in them and everyone does it. :D

[mitsugirly]

FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PORT AND NEW YORK CRUISING...

 

I found the cruise port here very confusing from start to finish getting on. It's really weird how they have certain sections to check in and it seemed pretty unorganized to me. People telling you to go different directions for different "floors" your room is on BUT YET still handing you a ticket with a number for boarding FROM A DIFFERENT AREA! Like why would they do that?

 

Obviously from my review I found the people working there to be very rude from start to finish. The way they spoke to me and my family, the way they shuffled us around and especially the way the lady flat out told me I was a liar is unacceptable in my book. I was very put off by the behaviors of the employees here and it set my tone for the rest of the time we were in the building. Obviously no reflection of NCL because I believe these people don't work for the ships. :(

 

This place was CROWDED! No place to sit, over packed and flowing with anxious people to get on the ship and just plain uncomfortable. This is a reflection of NCL and I'm not so sure this staggered arrival time has any benefits at all. Does it really make a difference what time you sign up to arrive at the port when they aren't going to allow anyone on before a certain time anyhow...so it's just a multitude of people arriving at various times and you all end up together in a crowded building. Isn't that the same as just coming whenever you want? You're still all in the building together anyhow and forced to wait. :mad: :rolleyes:

 

Getting off the ship was a breeze and we constantly walked during the entire process. It was great. But then again, like I said in my review, it might have just been because we were the first "batch" off the ship and it hadn't got backed up by then. Plus this was the first time we had ever carried our own luggage off the ship so there was no waiting or having to find our luggage.

 

All-in-all: I can honestly say that I really didn't care for cruising out of New York. I'm always up for a different experience and new places, but it was just not my cup-of-tea. I'm not sure I care to ever cruise out of there again. I really prefer cruising from the south like Miami, Port Canaveral, Tampa or NOLA. I just feel more comfortable and at ease in those ports.

 

The other factor is cruising from a Northern state (NY, Boston, Baltimore) is the weather and the time of year. I DO NOT care to cruise during the cold months from a cold state. No if and's or buts about it. I'm done. I have had cold and crappy weather from all of my sailaways from these ports this year and unless it would be during the summer and hot outside, it's just not for me. When I think of cruising, I think of hot weather and having a sailaway party on the deck with a drink in my hand and HEAT! Not cold. The same goes for coming back. You may be going to a warmer climate, but when you have to bundle up on the way home, it's just not worth it to me. I feel like I didn't get to do half of the things I would have if it would have been nice HOT weather...like the water slides and pool. :( No more for me.