The plan was to get up at 5, leave at 6, and fly at 8, arrive at 9, get to the ship around 11, board, relax, sail at 4, and have fun!!!!
But…things did not quite work out that way. There was an unfortunate incident during the preceding cruise and the ship was delayed 12 hours. We still got up at 5, left at 6, flew at 8 and arrived at the pier at 11… we were told to return at 6 pm, fortunately we were allowed to drop our luggage off at the pier so we did not have to lug it around Manhattan all day. We took a cab to Times square and walked around for a while until I noticed people lining up in front of various theaters it then occurred to me that this being a sunday there might be matinees and sure enough we got tickets to “The Producers”. It was a great show! Afterwards we stopped for a bite to eat and finally headed back to the pier. We checked in, were given a number ( the 9) and were told that the ship was not there yet and that boarding would not take place before 11pm. Even with five hours to go we were too tired to go back downtown so we stayed…this being fleet week so there were several military ships anchored and a lot of police and military personnel. It feels very unsettling for us Canadians to see so many people wearing guns in full view like that.
The area where we were to wait was a huge empty very cold hangar with nothing but folding chairs. As more and more people arrived it looked like a refugee camp with bodies all over. Many people were too big to sit on folding chairs so they sprawled on the floor. I found it upsetting to see elderly people treated this way. There was only a small sandwich stand and a hot dog vendor who obviously ran out of food quickly. We chose too wait outside and watch people arrive, many of them out of stretch limousines.
Finally there was a a blast from a bullhorn and they started calling numbers. We were herded like cattle from one terminal to the next and made to wait in line for another hour, going through various security checks being photographed and searched numerous times, until we finally crossed the finishing line and entered the ship!….
Granted it was 2 in the morning, but even in daylight, the lobby of this ship has the be the most garish and tasteless piece of design I have ever seen. The theme seems to be urns, dull silver urns…urns on the floor, urns along the stair rail, urns as bar stool base, urns as door handles, urns around the ceiling, urns above the bar, urns along the elevators….Everything else is too dark, too overdone, the walls and ceilings seems to close in on you.
But we were too tired and hungry to really take it all in….so we found our cabin and waited for our luggage. As there was no luggage appearing anywhere we went to check the food situation. The main dining room was closed but people were already lining up for the the buffet. We were too tired to check everything out so, in true refugee style, we offered our plates to the first waiter with a serving spoon. It turned out to be asian food which was fine. Afterwards we made our way back to our cabin and went to bed…only to be awakened at four by someone delivering our luggage…but we rolled over and slept until late the next morning.