This cruise was a birthday gift from me to my thirty-something daughter. We took the overnight bus from Toronto to Manhattan and because we always travel light (two small wheelies and two overnight bags between us} we took the public transport to the Brooklyn cruise terminal.

I wish I had hunted around a bit more on the web to get precise directions to the terminal from the subway that would have saved us the long walk of 20+ minutes or so to find the bus that stops a few yards from the terminal. Public sector workers at the stops near the terminal have no knowledge of a cruise terminal near them and even the bus driver was ignorant of it's whereabouts although his route passed within a few hundred yards from the terminal. I think people outside New York know more about the city then New Yorkers. Embarkation took approx. 30 minutes. We had arrived there a little before noon.

After being on the Caribbean Princess we have vowed never to cruise on another enormous ship like it ever again, at least definitely not with 3100+ fellow passengers. Too crowded, not enough sitting areas and people milling around, milling around, milling around everywhere. Read more