Background:  This was my fifth cruise on the Carnival Miracle due to the convenience of getting to the Port of New York without flying. Overall this is my ninth cruise, all with Carnival. Seven friends sailed with me and three of us did this same itinerary last year. We chose this cruise again because the ports are relaxing and there were a few others things we wanted to try that we didn't have time for last year.

Pre-Cruise:  Five of us are from central Pennsylvania and we took a bus into NYC the night before the cruise from Scranton, PA. The prices were very reasonable for the bus, parking, and relaxed baggage restrictions. The other three met us in the city and traveled by bus or train. We stayed at the Eastgate Tower Hotel located on 39th and 2nd. It was a walk to Times Square, but still doable. When I booked in March they ran a special on a 2 bedroom suite for $309, including taxes. For a clean room that comfortably slept eight, that was a great deal. I highly recommend this hotel. After checking in we walked to Dave & Buster's in Times Square, and then took a subway to the Yankees game that evening. It was a fun day in the city to get the vacation started.

Embarkation:  It took three cabs to transport all eight of us with our luggage to the cruise terminal for about $25 with the tip per taxi. We left the hotel a little after 9:00 AM and we all arrived at the pier by 9:40. We handed our luggage over to the porter inside the terminal and waited in a roped-off area. Once they began letting us through security around 10:30, the embarkation staff let those in the roped-off area line up first. Security and check in went fast and we were in the final waiting area with boarding zone 1 cards in less than 10 minutes. A wedding party boarded promptly at 11:30 followed immediately by pre-boarding and general boarding. Zone 1 was called around 11:45. It seems that every time I sail from New York, Carnival continues to improve the embarkation process and it is at the point where it couldn't get much better unless they allow guests to go thorough security and check in earlier. Read more