New York, here I come

[lv2snorkel]

Just booked the Miracle for 10/2. Will be first time to NY. Any advice on the Miracle????? Katie

[LHP]

How exciting!! You will love the Miracle. An excellent ship, staff and crew.

 

We are going to be headed to New York as well on September 29th, but we are going on a 7 day on the Victory. (Canada/ New England) It should be fun. (different from the usual Caribbean cruises..but fun!!)

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[mprucha]

Hey, my hubby is ny city native, born and bred and I've been there many times when we were dating and traveling back and forth every 2 weeks from VA to NY.

 

ANYONE who has never been to nyc, do yourself a favor and book a hotel for a night or 2 before of after your cruise and give yourself a chance to at least see a little of it. It's an amazing city. Just keep in mind to budget for it because it isn't exactly the cheapest place to visit but if you like big cities you can't pick a better one ..everyone needs to visit new york city at least once!

[NoPiratesPlease]

We, too, are looking for info on the Victory.

 

We have sailed in and out of NYC several times, and, living in that area, it's wonderfully convenient. No flying...

 

Personally, I avoid the City as much as possible, but I grew up in and around it and simply had my fill. Since we moved back to the area I rarely go in.

 

But that is me, not liking big cities much, and there's no novelty to NY for me.

 

What I'm TRYING to say is if you ARE from out of town, then definitely you should take some time to explore. Whatever is your thing, NY's got it. Some LESS known fun things to do: Visit the South Seaport Museum and the Little Red Lighthouse (under the George Washington Bridge) that was saved by the 40's children's book.

 

A good alternative to the insanely expensive bloated Broadway musicals is to take the Subway down to Astor Place and see a show at the Public Theater. There's now a jazz cafe there called "Joe's Place" after the late founder of the Public, Joseph Papp. There are several small theaters there that seat between 50 and 300 people. The biggest, the Newman, was where both Hair and A Chorus Line were first staged as Off-Broadway shows. A number of David Rabe's plays were first staged at the Public. The Public Theater is/was the HQ for the New York Shakespeare Festival--which still runs Shakespeare in The Park. Tickets for SITP are still free if you are there in the summer. As a youngster I saw actors there like James Earl Jones, Ruby Dee, Stacy Keach, Raul Julia, Rene Aberjonois, and Sam Waterston. There's lots of other Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway to see, too.

 

There are lots of good, but expensive hotels. There's nothing like staying in the 4 Seasons, or its competition, but watch your credit card melt and burn!

 

If you cannot find good food in NY, then you are doing something wrong--like eating in the museums' cafeterias.

 

I know nothing about the nightlife--can't help you there. But some of the famous venues for 60's and 70's rock and roll are still there--I think even the legendary Village Vanguard (which goes back to the 40's) may still be open--but I won't swear to it. It's either that or Town Hall.

[LHP]

We, too, are looking for info on the Victory.

 

We have sailed in and out of NYC several times, and, living in that area, it's wonderfully convenient. No flying...

 

Personally, I avoid the City as much as possible, but I grew up in and around it and simply had my fill. Since we moved back to the area I rarely go in.

 

But that is me, not liking big cities much, and there's no novelty to NY for me.

 

What I'm TRYING to say is if you ARE from out of town, then definitely you should take some time to explore. Whatever is your thing, NY's got it. Some LESS known fun things to do: Visit the South Seaport Museum and the Little Red Lighthouse (under the George Washington Bridge) that was saved by the 40's children's book.

 

A good alternative to the insanely expensive bloated Broadway musicals is to take the Subway down to Astor Place and see a show at the Public Theater. There's now a jazz cafe there called "Joe's Place" after the late founder of the Public, Joseph Papp. There are several small theaters there that seat between 50 and 300 people. The biggest, the Newman, was where both Hair and A Chorus Line were first staged as Off-Broadway shows. A number of David Rabe's plays were first staged at the Public. The Public Theater is/was the HQ for the New York Shakespeare Festival--which still runs Shakespeare in The Park. Tickets for SITP are still free if you are there in the summer. As a youngster I saw actors there like James Earl Jones, Ruby Dee, Stacy Keach, Raul Julia, Rene Aberjonois, and Sam Waterston. There's lots of other Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway to see, too.

 

There are lots of good, but expensive hotels. There's nothing like staying in the 4 Seasons, or its competition, but watch your credit card melt and burn!

 

If you cannot find good food in NY, then you are doing something wrong--like eating in the museums' cafeterias.

 

I know nothing about the nightlife--can't help you there. But some of the famous venues for 60's and 70's rock and roll are still there--I think even the legendary Village Vanguard (which goes back to the 40's) may still be open--but I won't swear to it. It's either that or Town Hall.

 

Thanks for the info. Hubby has been there several times. I have only been through JFK a few times. We are flying a day ahead and have reservations at a hotel in Manhatten...but it won't be expensive...we are using points (hubby travels a lot).

 

We have never sailed on the Victory before..so we are looking forward to a new (at least to us) ship.

[Sandi149]

I am a native New Yorker and all of those suggestions were great. There is also a new musical called The Pirate Queen on Bway that will be coming out the beginning of April. I plan on getting tickets. I believe it is produced from the people who produced River Dance. Off hand, I don't remember the name of the theatre but if you do a search for The Pirate Queen there is a website for it.

 

I don't know what type of food you like but if you like good Italian food there is a really nice place called Rossini's on the east side....around 38th St and 3rd Ave which is excellent. My husband and I have been there several times. There is also a really great seafood restaurant on the upper west side, I believe at 81 St and Central Park West called The Mad Fish. I haven't been there in a while so I'm not sure if it's still there. You might want to do a search for it. If you are into ribs there is also a place which is a chain called Dallas BBQ that has the best ribs, IMO in NY. The location we have frequented many times is on Third Ave between 73rd and 74th St.

 

Btw, we are also going on the Miracle out of NY on June 4th. :D

[NYC-gal]

This thread caught my eye. I am a native New Yorker, born and bred. I would not live anywhere else. I have sailed at least 20 times, only twice out of Ft. Lauderdale, all the rest from NY.

 

The suggestion to stay a couple of nights is good, but treat yourself to a Broadway show. Don't miss out on that.

 

Enjoy my wonderful city.

 

NYC-gal

[OhioJeff]

Im so looking forward to sailing from NYC. Planning to do 3 days before the cruise, checking out Broadway show

http://www.seasonofsavings.com/ http://www.tdf.org/TDF_ServicePage.aspx?id=56

 

Yankees game and visiting friends.

[Sandi149]

This thread caught my eye. I am a native New Yorker, born and bred. I would not live anywhere else. I have sailed at least 20 times, only twice out of Ft. Lauderdale, all the rest from NY.

 

The suggestion to stay a couple of nights is good, but treat yourself to a Broadway show. Don't miss out on that.

 

Enjoy my wonderful city.

 

NYC-gal

 

Yeah nothing like sailing down the Hudson and seeing the skyline and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, eh NYC Gal :D It's such a shame that there are two buildings missing from our beautiful skyline. :(

[NYC-gal]

Yes, Sandi I still miss those buildings. I could see them wherever I drove.

 

NYC-gal

[lhall85917]

We're also looking forward to our first visit to NY to sail on the Miracle! TripAdvisor is a great place to get suggestions for places to stay and things to do. I've also added a few NY links on our group web page if you're interested.

[GBRBEB]

Yeah nothing like sailing down the Hudson and seeing the skyline and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, :(

 

Doesn't Carnival sail from Brooklyn ?

[CruiseCentric]

Doesn't Carnival sail from Brooklyn ?

 

No, they sail out of

 

New York City Passenger Ship Terminal

Pier# 88/90/92

711 12th Avenue at 55th Street

[Sandi149]

Doesn't Carnival sail from Brooklyn ?

 

No, Princess and I believe Cunard also sails out of Brooklyn. The new Red Hook Terminal.

[gypsyrose]

Ditto to going a couple of days (at least) early to explore this wonderful city. We went in 04 and fell in love. A great way to see the whole city is to take the double decker bus tour, you hop on and off whenever you want. We would get on and do the whole tour, which takes several hours then pick a place we wanted to get off and explore. They give you a map and mark where the bus picks up. So convenient and cheap too. We stayed at the Milford Plaza, nice and economical and about 2 blocks from Times Square. I would highly recommend taking in a play. Just consider it 2 vacations. Curious, what is it like sailing out of NY? How are the waters, smooth or rough or is it just like everywhere else?

[Sandi149]

Ditto to going a couple of days (at least) early to explore this wonderful city. We went in 04 and fell in love. A great way to see the whole city is to take the double decker bus tour, you hop on and off whenever you want. We would get on and do the whole tour, which takes several hours then pick a place we wanted to get off and explore. They give you a map and mark where the bus picks up. So convenient and cheap too. We stayed at the Milford Plaza, nice and economical and about 2 blocks from Times Square. I would highly recommend taking in a play. Just consider it 2 vacations. Curious, what is it like sailing out of NY? How are the waters, smooth or rough or is it just like everywhere else?

 

Well I only did 2 Cruises to nowhere from NY. The first one that we did was totally smooth the whole 2 nights and that was on the old Premier line which was a very small ship. The last one we did was this past Oct and the first night the seas were calm and you could barely feel the ship move, the 2nd night the seas were very rough and the ship was rocking a lot. From what I have been reading it just all depends on the seas and the weather. Could be rough anywhere and on any ship. Compared to the ocean even the largest ships are just little specks. Some people say it can get a bit rough around Cape Hatteras. If you get sick, just take some Bonine before you go. That is what I will be doing when we go on our 8 night on the Miracle in June.

 

Now as far as the experience.....there is nothing like sailing out of NYC. Although for me there really isn't much of a Wow factor because I have lived here my whole life and I see the skyline, Verrazano bridge, Statue of Liberty, etc. driving into work. You will love it though. :D

[spfar]

lv2snorkle - there's a group of us - 22 couples booked on the 10/2 cruise with you. We're from Upstate NY and I have to agree with everyone who says that if you haven't been to NYC - plan to book a day or two to experience the city. As for the Miricle, none of uor group has sailed her before, but all the reviews sound good!

[spfar]

Curious, what is it like sailing out of NY? How are the waters, smooth or rough or is it just like everywhere else?

 

Our experience on our last cruise from NYC was very smooth - and the view was breathtaking!

[CruiseCentric]

Our experience on our last cruise from NYC was very smooth - and the view was breathtaking!

 

Im really looking forward to sailing out of NYC in 09 :)

[massgirl0213]

I lived there for three years, and can't wait to go visit again (I'm actually going for a few days in March, nothing to do with Carnival :) ). I miss it. I'm sailing out of NYC on 05/27 on the Miracle and I hope the weather is nice as I'm sincerely looking forward to the photo ops from the ship.

 

On a side note, anybody sailing on the 05/27 Miracle cruise, it's Fleet Week in NYC that weekend. There will be lots of people out and about, and would be a great weekend to come down a day early and experience NY before you leave.

[Sandi149]

I lived there for three years, and can't wait to go visit again (I'm actually going for a few days in March, nothing to do with Carnival :) ). I miss it. I'm sailing out of NYC on 05/27 on the Miracle and I hope the weather is nice as I'm sincerely looking forward to the photo ops from the ship.

 

On a side note, anybody sailing on the 05/27 Miracle cruise, it's Fleet Week in NYC that weekend. There will be lots of people out and about, and would be a great weekend to come down a day early and experience NY before you leave.

 

You are going on the sailing right before ours. We are going on June 4th. :D Fleet week the city will be crazy. That's why we chose the week later. Didn't want to deal with all the traffic. :eek:

 

Have a great time and write a review when you come back. Can't wait to go!!!!

[massgirl0213]

I know it'll be crazy, but at least one other person and I are planning on heading on down the day before and staying in Manhattan the night before, so we won't be too far away from the terminal.

 

Mmmmm...sailors:p

 

LOL

[Sandi149]

I know it'll be crazy, but at least one other person and I are planning on heading on down the day before and staying in Manhattan the night before, so we won't be too far away from the terminal.

 

Mmmmm...sailors:p

 

LOL

 

 

Then you shouldn't have a problem if you are coming in the day before. Traffic here is bad enough on a regular day, fleet week is absolutely crazy. :eek:

[SunnyinMA]

Yeah nothing like sailing down the Hudson and seeing the skyline and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, eh NYC Gal :D It's such a shame that there are two buildings missing from our beautiful skyline. :(

 

IMO the BEST sailaway we ever did...just breathtaking.

[Sandi149]

IMO the BEST sailaway we ever did...just breathtaking.

 

It's the only sailaway I ever did....LOL!! But I've travelled to many cities throughout the world and NYC to me is the most breathtaking. Unfortunately 2 buildings in my lovely city have been destroyed. :mad: