I took this cruise with two girlfriends as a quick getaway. We had a balcony room for three on deck 8. Our room was a bit on the small side, but worked out fine. I have sailed on RCI 5 times prior, and have also cruised three other lines. EOS was the very first cruise ship I ever sailed on in 2005, and while the ship overall is in OK shape, it is no secret that it is time for a major refurb. There were signs of wear and tear, and things that needed to be updated.

This cruise was appealing because we could drive to the port. Since we were leaving husbands/kids behind for this trip, it had to be a fairly quick one. We arrived at Cape Liberty at around 11:30. Getting to the port was a bit confusing, having never been in that area before. But we did OK. Once at the port, we pulled up, dropped off our luggage, then proceeded to the parking lot. We paid the attendant, parked and headed over to the terminal. I realize that this port is in major transition, and is temporary, but they can make some much needed temporary improvements. Namely in the way of restrooms. I found one restroom, that had one, yes ONE bathroom. Not a bathroom with a few stalls, ONE bathroom. And it was filthy at that. No need for this. In the terminal I encountered my very first snarky employee. Perhaps I have just been lucky in my limited cruising experience, 9 completed, but the attitude shocked me. It was over something very silly at that, I had seen the person in front of me put all the things in their hands in the bin to go through the scanner. So while I don't usually put in my Passport, and won't again, I did that day. Monkey see monkey do I guess, but I got a stern unpleasant speaking to about it from the terminal agent, and she went so far as to accuse me of being an idiot basically. I just smiled, apologized and kept moving. But not the way I like to begin my cruise experience.

We had to take a bus from the terminal to the ship, again probably a temporary measure while they build a new terminal. Not a big deal, but a bit of a pain. Then we entered on the first floor of the ship. I like entering in the grander ship areas, not the bellows, but not a big deal. We took the stairs and headed to the Windjammer. We had lunch, then we were able to go to our cabin to unload our things about 1:30. We took the stairs a lot during this saling, elevators were hard to come by. But it was better to get the exercise from the stairs anyway. Read more