This was our 10th cruise, our 3rd on RCCL. All of our previous cruise have sailed either from Florida or San Juan, so we wanted to try something different. We flew into Newark from Atlanta on Friday night so we could spend Saturday sight seeing in Manhattan. We stayed at the Doubletree Club Suites in the Newport area of Jersey City. The area was very nice with lots of people out and about late into the night. We had a great day walking around the city on Saturday. We had a ride arranged by the hotel to the pier on Sunday morning.

We arrived at the port at about 11:30. The traffic was backed up from the drop off area all the way back around a huge building for at least a mile and a half. We sat in traffic for about an hour before we finally arrived at the drop area. The area was a zoo. No organization at all. After finally getting a porter to take our bags, we headed into the terminal building. No lines - we're thinking great, no wait.

Upon checking in we were told boarding would not start until 2:00 - ugghh - more waiting. After reading about the stomach bug going around the previous two voyages of the VOS, I guess they were doing a deep clean, so we understood the delay and found a seat in the waiting area. I have to give RCCL high marks here, they brought in drinks and snacks for the wait. Boarding started at 2 pm and our cruise started. Read more