Day 1.....arrival time was 9:30am so we parked the car a few blocks away and they drove us to the terminal to begin the check in process. They also gave us huge apples upon arrival, I guess that's what you get in the BIG apple.The service to the terminal was great. Check in, once we left our bags curbside after we hand wrote our luggage labels (I suggest pre printing them so you can drop and go) we waited in line to get through security for sometime maybe 30-45 minutes. It was a stand still line and the security lines were not ready for us to come through yet. Once the security personnel were in place it went quickly. We then headed to the service counter to receive our key cards which also moved slow but nothing too bad!

We then started to board the ship at 12pm. Once on board we headed right to the room to drop off our carry on and check out the much talked about AFT room and balcony (9918) Our cabin steward Maria came to meet us and was perfect from start to finish, she knew our names from day one and never forgot them! We went to O'Sheehan's for a quick lunch and of course some drinks! My favorite was the rebellious fish!!! YUMMY We explored the top deck and walked around taking many pictures to last a life time. For sail away our entire group headed to the AFT balcony and hung out and made friends with our HAVEN neighbors who popped some bubbly and shared with us for sail away! They also showed us their room which was impressive, I was most envious of the bath tub and view from it! The views from the AFT leaving NYC were simply AMAZING! We enjoyed some hot tub time before dinner which was great fun! We went to the Manhattan room for dinner and it was good but we found that the we were sitting for hours at dinner.

Day 2.....woke up to go to the gym and WOW what a busy place. Every machine was taken and there was a wait. The gym was small and very hot to the point where I could not tolerate working out. Way to crowded and no ventilation for so many people on the ship. It was too windy that day to use the jogging track so that was out for that day but proved to be somewhat of a better choice in comparison to the stuffy gym that felt more like a sauna. The weather was mild today so we decided to find a spot in h20 and we did after much rearranging of the deck furniture! We tucked our group away next to the women's room and it was the perfect spot. The service was great here and we found ourselves a waiter to come back and forth with drinks (a little $$$ went a long way and you could tell he appreciated us acknowledging his service!) Yes tip are included but we found a little extra didn't hurt to get the service that we wanted (who wants to get up and get a drink while on vacation!?!) After sitting in our new found area we decided to go to UPTOWN for lunch and this was the place to be for lunch! The BEST burgers made to order and the salads there are not to be missed it was my favorite meal of the day, everyday! We spent a little time in the hot tubs before dinner at savor and it was okay but again we sat for 2 hours which just made us tired and cranky. Read more