The Cruise

So we’ve been home for ten days and the post-cruise high is finally starting to wear off so it’s time to sit down and rehash it all with you guys to squeeze every last drop out of it! Now this could be short, concise and entertaining but instead I think I’ll make it like one of those vacation slide shows that left you wanting to tear your eyeballs out – hope you enjoy!

First off, both Nard and I need to once again say a big thank you to my mom and dad who took two weeks off to come out to Halifax and take care of Dylan and Jack. We never would have been able to have taken this trip without their help and we are truly sorry to Jason, Tracy, Amanda and Jeremy for ruining Bill and Cheryl for any future long term babysitting!

Pre-Cruise and Embarkation

Despite Halifax’s best attempt to keep us here with a last minute snow storm, Nard and I managed to make it to the airport on time and by 11am our driver was dropping us off at our hotel in Jersey City. The hotel was right on the Hudson giving it a great view of Manhattan. We dropped off our bags and spent the rest of the day exploring one of our favorite cities, New York. Rockefeller Plaza, 5th Avenue for shopping, Museum of Natural History and Soho for dinner at the pub – a great day in a great city.

The next day it was off to Cape Liberty Cruise Port for the start of our adventure. We arrived at about 1130am and by 1pm we were sipping our first drinks on board the Explorer of the Seas. First impressions of the ship – awesome! Some of the highlights included three swimming pools, a spa, rock climbing wall and skating rink, a shopping mall called the Royal Promenade, a three story main dining room and a casino! After exploring the ship (pun intended) and making a couple of dinner reservations at the specialty Italian restaurant we decided it was time to check out our cabin.

We were in room 8390, located on the eighth deck in the aft or back of the ship. The main advantage to having a cabin in the aft was the size of the balcony, which was almost three times as large as a balcony on the side of the ship. Nardine and I took advantage of this almost everyday by enjoying breakfast outside. Inside the room was more than adequate with a very comfortable king sized bed, small couch, desk/powder area and our own bathroom. Also there was the bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries that we had ordered ahead of time and so begins the fun.

We popped the cork and settled onto the balcony to watch New York harbour disappear behind the ship. We had great views of the Manhattan skyline, Statue of Liberty and the Verrazono Narrows Bridge (which we only cleared by a couple of feet as we passed under it). Before we knew it the bottle of champagne was gone and we headed down to the Schooner Bar to continue the celebrations. It was there that we met Donny the bartender who hailed from the Philippines and made a very dangerous drink called Italian Tea. Long story short, Nard and I may have been a little to excited about finally being on board the ship and by the time that we met our tablemates at dinner that night neither of us could see straight! As such I won’t say to much about them on this day as we really didn’t meet them all until day two! Needless to say it was an early night to bed but overall a great first day on the ship!