There was a lot of thick fog yesterday late afternoon/early evening so Paul was on standby to help out with the midnight to morning shift. Fortunately it lifted and he was not needed on the bridge.
Paul was up early and enjoyed the sights from the bridge as the Maasdam arrived at the pier in Manhattan. To be truthful – I couldn’t really be bothered to get up early to see our arrival which included passing the statue of Liberty. Being at sea with a bunch of loud-mouthed (sometimes arrogant and rude) Americans has really left me even hating the country. Having said that, there are Americans who are genuinely nice. I'm in an awful mood!
Elene from Shore-Ex had kindly put me on a tour, Panoramic New York Highlights, even though it was a partial turn-around port day for the ship. Some passengers were disembarking, others getting on. The cruise terminal was huge and the staff was friendly enough. The huge lift was operated by a member of staff. It was funny to see guests get into the lift and face back out the way they came in (as usual) and then turning around in a synchronised motion when the lift door at the back of them opened.
The bus and its group of guests were soon underway, wading through seemingly endless traffic lights as the driver and guide gave us a tour through the streets of New York. We passed by Broadway, Central Park, St Paddy’s Cathedral (a beautiful 18th century building), Fox studios, Times Square and the Carnegie Hall – to name just a few places. We stopped at the Rockerfella Centre for a half an hour break for guests to stretch their legs. For anyone needing the toilets – our guide led the way through the Rockerfella Centre. When I came out of the ladies there was a lady in a wheelchair being pushed by her husband. They couldn’t find the general disabled loos and had found the men’s disabled one near the ladies. Unfortunately it was locked. There was disabled ladies cubicle at the far end of the ladies room but her husband naturally didn’t want to venture in so I volunteered to take her in. Our guide, on passing us, said that she was sorry but she was not allowed to help. (Not allowed to help because she might get sued? Not allowed because she was not trained to push a wheelchair? That truly put my nose out of joint. What if I hadn’t been around to help the lady – then what?)
Traffic started to build up as we headed towards the 9/11 memorial. We heard police, ambulance and fire engine sirens. I didn’t think much of it though – big city and lots happening as usual. At the 9/11 memorial we had time to walk around the space and view the 2 large man-made waterfalls. Around the square waterfalls were bronze plaques with names etched into them – the names of those who died during the disaster on 11th September. Dotted on the plaques were roses at people’s names. A rose is placed on the name when it comes to date of the person’s birthday. What a lovely small sign of remembrance of that person…. There is a 9/11 museum on site but we didn’t have time to visit it. There was also the pear tree which became known as the ‘survivor tree’ after it survived what happened on ‘9/11’. The tree was discovered at ‘ground zero’, severely damaged with broken and burnt branches. It was removed from the rubble and looked after by the Dept. of Parks & Recreation. It made a good recovery and was re-planted in the 9/11 memorial gardens; was uprooted in a hurricane but survived and re-planted yet again. It stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth. 
It was time to head back to the ship, a usually very easy drive back but traffic was very bad. Our guide kept checking for traffic alerts on her phone but nothing came through until we had almost reached the ship – something had happened. It later turned out that we had missed the car accident at Times Square. All the traffic was being diverted from around the area and we had got caught up in it. We were about 15 minute’s late back to the ship so it wasn’t too bad, and the ‘all aboard’ time was 4pm. So there was still a couple more hours before departure if anyone wanted to take a walk around the city. 
After a quick lunch I had my usual afternoon nap. I was totally shattered from the hustle and bustle of the big city (even though I was travelling in a bus). It seemed to have overwhelmed my senses, leaving me claustrophobic and the need to ‘get out of this place’. The muster drill alarms for newly embarked guests woke me up but fortunately I fell asleep again quickly enough only to be woken up by Paul. He telephoned the cabin to let me know that the ship was leaving and to head out onto the deck if I wanted to see the ship’s passage out. I had a nice headache and was not in the frame of mind to go outside. But I did go outside for a while, catching sight of the statue of Liberty with the late afternoon sun behind her. I have taken some photographs of our journey down the Hudson River but they are not entirely clear due to the smog and also the direction of the sun. |
| Heading to Boston |
Photographs
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| Staff taking pictures - capturing the sights as we leave New York |
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