We had a decent night and the 6am alarm was good timing as we were just approaching the bridge. Sorry, not sure which one! The Statue of Liberty was on ‘our’ side of the ship and there were a fair few passengers up on deck to enjoy the sail in. With Manhattan on the starboard side, the sun was behind the skyscraper skyline but we were determined to take pics anyway.
Up to the Horizon Court for a decent breakfast as we berthed at Pier 88, right alongside ‘The Intrepid’, a retired US aircraft carrier which is now a museum, with fighter planes and helicopters on the top deck and a retired British Airway’s ‘Concord’ alongside.
As you well know by now, we generally take a Ho-Ho bus in major ports and that was our plan today. Leaving the rather grey terminal building, all staff were exceptionally friendly. Across the road (12th Avenue) I asked a policeman if he knew where the Ho-Ho buses were and he genuinely had no idea. So we followed the other passengers walking all the way up to the Times Square area on 7th Street – a fair step. En route, we did meet a couple of very pushy characters trying to entice us onto two different Ho-Ho buses.
Once at 7th Street, it was extremely busy at that time of the day and a taste of things to come. We found the Gray Line stop number 1 on the corner of 47th and 7th and opted for the multiple routes for a discounted price of $54. (Normally $59.) Still a very hefty price and although valid for two days, not much use for us! There were about four or five Ho-Ho bus companies around but we opted for Gray Line as they seem to be reliable with plenty of buses in service.
What did surprise us was that with so many companies and three cruise ships in town, not one of the companies went anywhere near the docks! If you have to walk 5 blocks – uphill – then it is an opportunity lost when other ports either have a Ho-Ho shuttle to stop number 1 or it is on their route anyway. The other strange thing in New York was that all bar one Ho-Ho company had the signage totally covering the windows of the lower saloon, so downstairs, it was obstructed and impossible to take photographs. Given the sometimes inclement weather, travelling on a wet day wouldn’t be too much fun either upstairs or down.
Anyway, we were on the green, downtown loop and the commentary was live, though I never use the ear phones. The lady was a bit of a character by all accounts and Paula kept relaying snippets. The guide found out that she had a couple of Australians sitting near her.
“Hey, in Australia, you have to watch out for the crocodiles. Here in New York, we don’t have crocodiles - we have muggers!”
Not far down 7th Avenue, we saw a large crowd on the pavement – sorry, sidewalk. The guide explained that they were waiting for the discounted ticket office for Broadway shows, which didn’t opened until 10am. Whilst Paula took a pic, she noticed a couple of people waving. Sue and Darryl… They went to see ‘Kinky Boots’. No comment.
Progress through to downtown was extremely slow, hot, noisy and bumpy. I explained to Paula that due to NY’s famous potholes and the rather bone jarring ride, that the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland was less bumpy.
At stop number 12, Battery Park, one stop after the One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Tribute Center (very good according to those who went) where you catch the boats to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Museum and so on, we had to get off. We opted to transfer straight to another bus, rather than walk around. There were 1,000’s of tourists in the area.
The bus continued along the East River bank, past the Brooklyn Bridge along 1st Avenue and turned left at the United Nations building where the flags were flying and back up to 6th Avenue. There we turned right again, up to Central Park (stop 19) and back onto 7th Avenue, where we hopped off on the advice of the guide. First on the agenda was a comfort stop and taking a lesson from Sylvie de Christo, we brazenly walked into a flash hotel and straight to the immaculate restrooms!
Back onto 7th and towards Central Park, we called into a couple of delis (pic is at one with a buffet by weight - $7.95 a pound…) then found a clean looking place and bought a warmed turkey and avocado (plus?) focaccia panini ($7.95!) and a drink, then walked the two blocks to Central Park. Oh the bliss of a bit of peace and quiet. The panini was really superb. We decided that $200 for the horse and carriage ride for an hour was over the top, so we just strolled a little bit further into the park. At 867 acres, this is a very large park (based on the fact that we know what 20 acres looks like) and far too large for us to explore this time, though we did purchase a good $2 map on the way out, for future reference.
It was rather warm and we walked back along 7th Avenue then hung a right and hit Broadway. As we often watch the Late Show with David Letterman on NZ TV, we headed up for a closer look. From the show, we were also aware of the ‘Hello Deli’. The owner, Rupert Gee, is often featured on the Letterman Show and is usually very modest and somewhat embarrassed at being in the spotlight on the show now and again and is not at all outgoing. Spotting him through the window, restocking the fridge with water, we ventured in and he kindly consented to have a photo taken with me. We bought a drink anyway so it wasn’t a total waste for him. We continued our walk back and Paula found a pharmacy and bought some Vitamin C pills as her throat was a bit sore. Meanwhile, the ‘Vick’s First Defence’ seems to be working OK for me, as I haven’t contracted my usual Princess throat and cough (yet), though there have been early warning signs.
The walk back to the ship was very warm as we believe the temperature was about 27C. We felt hot, sticky and grubby, but a coffee stop on deck 7 rather than 5 as they were replacing the coffee machine on 5. Back to the cabin for a much needed wash.
As is usual on a sector port day, it was open dining so we opted for the buffet.
It was dusk as we let go of the lines and we were looking forward to the sailaway on deck 11. Nice to catch up with Ed and Bev again. Several people we spoke to seemed to have done a fair bit of walking and one or two were complaining of swollen ankles or sunburn.
A few minutes after the sailaway commenced, there were lightning flashes galore and then the heavens opened and everyone rushed for cover. We continued to take pics and video from the cabin balcony after nipping over to deck 7 to get the mandatory shot of the Statue of Liberty. Plenty of sheet lightning but not enough forked.
We then opted to watch “The Grand Budapest Hotel” on TV, but missed the beginning. An odd film.
Now we have three days as sea to recover and the weather forecast appears to be pretty good. We are now 2/3rd of the way through this trip.
So, what did we think of New York? H’mmm. Tricky. Being stuck in slow moving traffic for the whole of the bus tour meant we didn’t really fancy doing the other routes. Down on the ground, this may well be one of the world’s busiest cities and a ‘must see’, but if we were to rank it on the basis of a limited one day inner city stop, against the other cities we have visited over the last three years, it wouldn’t be in the top five. I doubt it would even make the top ten. Of the cities covered by this blog alone, we’d not only put Dublin way ahead, but also Nottingham! Bigger doesn’t always mean better. At least Nottingham has a defined city centre with an attractive, traffic free square. NY does not.
If we stick to our 2015 cruise booking, NY is an overnight stop and we are not sure that in itself that is in any way an attraction. Couple that to the rather dead evenings in the atrium last year and this, we are now seriously beginning to reconsider next year’s plans. Much will depend on pricing, who else is doing it and what guarantees we are given regarding the on-board offerings. Traditionally, Princess are either unwilling or unable to say what is going on by the time the six month cut off for getting 100% of your deposit back approaches.
If for example, they were able to mend the broken bridge between Princess and Alan and Alana, then we’d be ecstatic. If they can’t do that or can’t offer anything positive, we wouldn’t be the only ones changing our 2015 plans.
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