This trip was a departure from our usual type of vacation. My husband and I normally like to lie on the beach in the Caribbean and relax. We were tempted into trying a group cruise with twelve actors from Guiding Light and about two hundred fans called So Long Springfield at Sea. The cruise went from New York to Canada with stops in St John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Guiding Light was a soap opera that had been on the air for seventy two years and was cancelled last fall. There are many fans that still miss the show and this was a fun way to celebrate the show that we all love. My Mom and I are the Guiding Light fans but my husband and my Dad agreed to come along with us. They both have watched the show by default at various points in their lives and were familiar with the actors that were going to be there.
Getting there
Unfortunately our trip had a tragic start. We took Amtrak to Philadelphia and up into Manhattan. Since our cruise left on a Saturday, I wanted to make sure we were in the city the day before so we wouldn't miss the ship. I have taken the train many times over the past twenty years and this was the first time I ever heard of anything like this happening. Our train hit a person who committed suicide by jumping onto the tracks. We were delayed for about two hours while the police and the coroner investigated. Eventually they had another train come alongside ours and everyone transferred to the new train. We were back on the regular route into Philadelphia and then Manhattan. It was a very sad start to our vacation but since we purposefully left the day before, it didn't affect the cruise. Amtrak is a very convenient and comfortable way to travel into New York but I don't think I would take it again with so much luggage. My parents weren't able to pull their own suitcases the distance that we had to go. If we ever go on another cruise out of NYC I might look into a car service instead.
7401 and 7401 on the Carnival Glory -They were 8C balcony rooms. - no problems, good hairdryers, good showers, close to aft elevators but no noise, very clean