navybankerteacher

At all of those ports you can get off and wander about on your own. In fact most of them have a lot to see/do within easy walking distance. You might want to check out Villefranche as a possible tour port, as there is less within easy walking distance as at to other ports.

Of course itinerary and cost should be considered.

I have moved to let a small child sit next to a parent - even though it was their late purchase which left them separated.

You are coming close to rejecting anything less than a suite. As an outsider, I cannot help thinking that he might just have developed a new rationale for refusing to cruise - as opposed to late-onset claustrophobia.

If you are sailing to northern Europe next week, you might see temps in the 40's-50's. If you are heading to the Med it will be pretty similar until you hit Gibraltar, when 50's is more likely

Why would you consider two commuter train rides - taking probably an hour - to get from Penn Station to Grand Central, rather than a15 minute (or less) subway ride?

Aside from much pleasanter weather, September will put you out of the summer vacation mob scene, making port calls much more enjoyable.

Sadly yes. The inescapable conclusion seems to be that people generally have become so self-absorbed that they are unable to listen to (much less abide) opinions which differ from their own. There really seems to be a “new man” - the old rules of discourse have been laid aside.

Agreed - never sugar your tea. Also, just a little salt on fresh grapefruit somehow cuts the bitterness and lets is unique flavor come through.

Good point - but back on topic - Symphony’s 6,000+ passengers compared with Eurodam’s 2,000 means that port crowding should be considered —- in addition to the on-board differences. On our annual three week stay at St. Maarten we have learned to shelter in place on busy cruise days. I pity the poor cruising yahoos who think they are experiencing Caribbean islands when they travel like that.

I recall from scary stories that a human to a wolf is dinner. But what does “A human to a human is a wolf” mean?

Sadly, you are right. We have entered the age of self - folks seem to be increasingly opinionated (while often less well-informed), and, to put it bluntly, tend to act as if they were “brought up by wolves”.

Every ship has some sort of open (unassigned) dining - if only the cafeteria/lido. You always hear of couples who split up while on a cruise , so I imagine their inclination would be to stop eating together.

Hardly “…multiple trains and a trip out to Jamaica Queens…” - just take the 7th Ave IRT one stop from Penn Station to 42’nd Street then the shuttle (one stop) to Grand Central.

Actually a “water taxi” is a boat individually hired to take you across the water - much as a taxi takes you around town. A scheduled service taking people across water is called a ferry. (Posted as a native New Yorker - born in Manhattan, lived there many years, worked there many more until retiring.)

If you are interested in good food (without having to pay extra for alternative restaurants), avoid NCL. Celebrity is likely to have better service and food, but Princess might have a demographic closer to your age. If you like hype and pizzazz you might like Icon, but I do not think I would want to be on something that size —with 7,500 other passengers.

Good suggestion - Penn Station is closer to MCT, Northeast Regional (Amtrak) is more comfortable than Metronorth, and fares are comparable.

You make a good point. But a lot of folks will book the most convenient/ inexpensive flight to any NY airport without considering all aspects. And even if the cruise is from Bayonne, a Manhattan hotel might fit better with an evening Broadway show - because either way OP will have to get back to Jersey either late in the evening after the show, or mid-morning to the pier.

Unless, of course, you need to be among the thousands more people who are likely to be with you on Royal Caribbean.

One important missing bit of information is the cruise terminal from which OP will sail. Unless it is Bayonne, it is insane to think about New Jersey hotels - especially since a Broadway show might be in the mix.

Which, at the end of the day, is a depressing symbol of the depth to which our culture has sunk. “Taylor Swift - person of the year”. — wow, just wow! Of course, the degradation of popular magazines tended to signal our direction: Life Magazine , then People Magazine, then Us Magazine, finally Self Magazine. Things keep getting narrower, more self absorbed. Back on topic: just what is it that makes someone “worth chatting about”?

I’m not sure what you meant by transferring to another station to get to Grand Central. If you are thinking of Amtrak and then transferring Metronorth- why not take Amtrak to Penn Station, then a yellow cab to the pier. Once in NYC, at either station, taxis are plentiful.

I would certainly call twin beds on the floor an “upgrade” over bunk beds. Are you allowed to reject that upgrade and save the money?

This can lead to speculation - preferring discussing politics with strangers to mentioning your profession is unusual. Drug runner, mob hit man, undercover foreign agent as well as other, less savory, fields of endeavor come to mind.

Sadly, objectivity has largely been replaced by self-justification in many areas of life; perhaps most damagingly in the field of education.