This was our second cruise for my DW and I. Our first was last year on the Star. We were celebrating our 10th anniversary and left the kids with their grandparents back home. I will try to comment on all experiences we had on the ship.

Pre-Cruise - Flew into New York LaGuardia on the 9th from Toronto. We were supposed to arrive at 3:35pm but due to a ground stoppage at LaGuardia and air traffic congestion our flight was delayed and we didn't arrive in New York until 7pm. We grabbed our bags which were waiting for us and grabbed a cab to the hotel. We were booked at the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge and the cab fare was $35. The Marriott was a fabulous hotel and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a hotel in the Brooklyn area. We were on the 20th floor with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. We had king size bed and a large flat screen TV. We booked it online for $239. Due to arriving late we ate at the hotel bar which was very good. We had booked a bus tour in New York for that evening, but again, due to arriving late we missed the departure time. We went for a quick walk in Brooklyn where I purchased some beer for the ship. We returned to the hotel where I packed the beer in my suitcase. Went to bed and had an awesome nights sleep.

Embarkation - We left the hotel at 11am and took a car service to the pier. (Flat Rate of $15) In the end it was a good choice over a cab as we sat in traffic for 45 minutes near the cruise terminal. It was a traffic nightmare. I guess the pouring rain didn't help matters and people leaving the ship were soaked. Once we got out of the car, we were whisked into the cruise terminal where we checked in immediately (12pm) and then waited for boarding to start. We were on the ship by 12:30pm and went straight to our cabin. Read more