We left home and picked up friends met thru Cruise Critic who agreed to share the auto/tolls/parking expense. This was our first cruise we did not need to fly to and what a pleasure to not have to weigh our suitcases! Arrived at Cape Liberty cruise port at 10:10AM. Signs getting in were pretty good but once on the loop there were no signs and we were inadvertently in the pick up queue rather than the drop off. No big deal, but it would be nice if it was made clear where to go.

Dropped everyone off and the porters took the luggage promptly. Took 2 minutes to park, and then a 2 minute walk to the terminal where I quickly found my DW. They checked our passports, we passed thru security, and were at the counter within 5 minutes. 5 more minutes brought out our seapass cards and we were given shuttle pass #1. They told us that boarding would begin at 11:00, and iced water and fruit punch was available while we waited.

At about 11:05 an unintelligible announcement was made but we saw the shuttle bus and we figured it was time. Sure enough, we were soon on the shuttle and 2 minutes later were walking on to the Summit. Photo taken, and Celebrity's traditional welcome champagne or mimosa was handed out. We were told lunch service would begin at noon so we used our time to explore the ship. Read more