Our Itinerary (Oct 17-24, 2008)
Friday, October 17
We arrived in NYC the day before our cruise and stayed at my brother's apartment in the Meatpacking District. Of all his apartments, this is the one I liked best. It's a couple blocks from the Hudson River and right on the periphery of the Village. It's a quiet and low-key neighborhood.
Saturday, October 18
We made our way to Brooklyn to pick up our ship. One plus to taking a cruise vs. flying is that the security screening is much less severe and time-consuming. This was probably the best part of the cruise because it was the beginning and everything was new and kind of exciting. We had a room with an oceanview balcony, which was cool. I was not thrilled with the bathroom. I'm not claustrophobic but the bathroom clued me into what that affliction would be like. The sink, toilet, and shower were one in the same. It was ridiculously tight in there.
The first night was pretty relaxed. We spent time exploring the ship and figuring out what kinds of activities we could do on board. We didn't spend too much time on the balcony because it got pretty cold and windy at night. I didn't sleep well the first night or any night. I never got physically sick but I think my "seasickness" resulted in uneasy sleeping. The seas were pretty rough. Our nightstand drawers opened and closed and our empty hangers moved side to side in our closet.
Sunday, October 19
Our first port of call was Newport, RI. We pre-purchased excursions for the trip and for this day, we had a tour of The Elms, which was completed in 1901. It was a fascinating and informative tour of the house and gardens. If I had been a part of New York's high society back then, I don't think I'd have only spent my summers in Newport. I would have stayed there indefinitely!
After the tour, we spent time walking around the downtown area and had a seafood lunch. We went to a nearby creperie for dessert and reminisced about our honeymoon.
I was really charmed by Newport. I'd like to return for a more lengthy visit in the future.
Monday, October 20
Then we stopped in Boston, MA. Our excursion in Boston was a little more whirlwind and extensive than the one in Newport. We did the Freedom Trail, most of which I've forgotten, a walking tour of Harvard, which was really cool, and then we were "dropped off" at Quincy Market.
We enjoyed splitting off from the group and walking around Quincy Market. We had lunch and window-shopped. Then we headed off toward Boston Common and walked around there. I love parks, especially in big cities. To me, NYC would be unbearable without Central Park. It's my favorite part of the city. Boston, however, seems like a low-key "big" city. I think I could live there.
Tuesday, October 21
This is the part of the trip I was most looking forward to. It figures that the weather would be terrible and the seas too rough for us to tender ashore. On this day we should've gone to Acadia National Park. It wasn't meant to be...
This is the closest we got:
We were stuck on the ship for the whole day. We played board games, watched a movie, participated in some really hokey crew-organized games, drank. Ha! This was the beginning of the end of the trip, really.
Evan and a few hundred other people got the norovirus - this is what's wrong with buffets, people!!! That meant that Evan was miserably ill and quarantined to our room for two days.
Wednesday, October 22
I went to St. John, New Brunswick by myself. It was a photography-geared excursion. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Thursday, October 23
I was on my own again for a tour of Lunenburg and then Mahone Bay in Nova Scotia. Evan didn't miss much in St. John but I'm sorry he missed Lunenburg. It was a beautiful, colorful town. And I had an amazing rockfish lunch right on the water. I took some nice pictures but unfortunately, I turned on the autodate at some point and it kind of ruined the composition.
By the end of the trip we were SO ready to get back on land, permanently. The off-boat activities were fun and it was nice to get a glimpse of Newport, Boston, etc. but in the future we'll stick to our routine air/land travel. Cruises claim to be all-inclusive but we discovered pretty quickly that you get nickeled and dimed for EVERYTHING. And we had a hell of a time getting reimbursed for the two days that Evan was quaratined. To add insult to injury, the infected people were treated like common criminals and had to depart separately from the rest of the cruise population. I kid you not, I was hysterical at the end. All I wanted was to get home. And I will call out the cruiseline - Princess. We will not cruise again and we wouldn't recommend Princess to anybody.
All that being said, even "bad" vacations can be good experiences. We learned something - we're NOT cruise people. I'd rather know that then always wonder, would I love or hate a cruise? (Hate.) We also got to see some nice places that I hope we'll re-visit sometime in the future. And even though it was disappointing to miss Acadia National Park at least now we can visit it without the cloud of a miserable cruise hanging over us.
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