I will not bore your with pre- and post cruise travel and hotel experiences. I will tell you that our train trips to and from Montreal to get to New York were trips from hell. We arrived 5 hours late on each trip, so instead of arriving at 8:40pm in New York or at 7:10 pm in Montreal, we arrive at 1 am the morning following the day we left. The train trip is supposed to be 10 hours, not 15. Our first hotel, the Days Inn New York at 94th and Broadway, was bright and cheery and was rather well-appointed. The bed was small, but comfortable. Our second hotel, New York's Pennsylvania Hotel, where we were greeted by a surly, rude and arrogant Indian man (no racist remark is intended - this is simply a way to identify him should you have the misfortune of being served by him), is a beautiful building on the outside with a grand spacious lobby and 1920s elevators, but, it has dark and gloomy rooms that are overcrowded with large, outdated furniture. The bed there was small and horribly uncomfortable. We chose it for its nearness to Pennsylvania Station for which we took our early morning train back home. It is a very good location, being near Macy's, Madison Square Garden and the Empire State Building to name a few sites, in spite of peeling paint, a mouldy ceiling, a ceaselessly dripping shower. The only logical reason for staying there, in my opinion, is its proximity to Penn Station.

Now about our cruise:

We sailed out of New York return on a 7-day cruise to Orlando (FL), Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas) and Nassau (Bahamas). We have taken 12 cruises in total, 8 with NCL, and it was our fourth on the Jewel. This ship is like home to us. We choose NCL for several reasons. Sometimes it is the itinerary and other times it is the ship, The main reason we choose NCL is their freestyle concept. We really love the fact that we don't have to carry suits, ties and dress shirts, and, more important, we love that we can choose to have dinner when and with whom we choose. Read more