The cruise was great. It was great because we chose to go with a level called Haven. I’m not sure they offer this in other cruise lines. Certainly a larger suite in other cruise lines is very expensive and I’m not certain they offer these same extras included in a larger suite. But for some reason this was very reasonable and since it was my 65th birthday I decided I was old enough now to try it out. I would not cruise Norwegian any other way. This boat holds 4500 people. The crowds were horrendous.
The Haven is a privileged level with a separate restaurant, lounge and outdoor space, sauna, hot tub. Each show, we had special seating and every chance to go somewhere they brought us to the service elevators and had separate privileged passage, even when leaving the boat.
BUT most important was just the quieter areas and a very good restaurant that we could eat breakfast lunch and dinner if we wanted. The private outdoor lounge had jars of fruit gummies and m&ms, my two favorite snacks and fresh fruit and fresh cookies every day. We had our own butler with a mobile phone to call him from anywhere on the boat. He brought videos to our room, changed reservations for us. We had a hard time finding things for him to do. He was very efficient.
I booked a spa suite so it was twice the size. We had fresh flowers in the room, fresh fruit daily and tea sandwiches and sweets delivered every afternoon to our room. AND everyone knows how much I enjoy afternoon tea!
- Even though there was an extra cost, the specialty restaurants were excellent. Ocean Blue topped our list both for the quality of the food and the service. It was definitely in our minds, a 4 – 5 star restaurant if not even a Michelin Star. When they bring out an “amuse bouche” right at the beginning, I knew this was going to be good. The 16 oz Delmonico Steak was superb, perfectly cooked and would be defined as melt in your mouth softness. My lobster and scallop dish could have had more flavor definitions but the portions were enormous. My greedy eyes replaced my critical eye. We had to have the steak packaged to take back to our cabin.
It was so delicious that we kept it faithfully in our little fridge till the end of the cruise and it actually walked off the boat with us and into the fridge of our New York apartment where it mysteriously disappeared one day. Better to have fond memories.
We were on the 14th floor of the boat so one level from the spa and gym and of course the water treatment area. Every day we got up and did the stretch and abs class starting at 7AM…then spent time on the treadmill and weights. The thermal water spa was also included in the Haven package, so after the gym we steamed, salt bathed, and had water pressure massages… then we would lie on these heated tiled benches that are shaped to your body. Covered with the large generous towels, and exhausted from our early morning efforts, the heat immediately put us to sleep. It was still morning.
This timing was ideal since we avoided the hordes scrambling for breakfast. We tried the buffet one late morning and promised never to do that again. However arriving at The Haven outdoor deck usually around 10:30 we would sit in a peaceful calm area, order our French press coffee and have the waiter standing behind our table, cut up fresh fruit for us. Really, what more could you ask!
At Cape Canaveral we chose to not get off. Our kayaking with the manatees was cancelled for lack of interest. Pierre and I have always been good at choosing the road less travelled. The weather was rainy and windy so we were not allowed to tender to one of the island stops. So, we had two more days at sea. In fact we only got off in the Bahamas, which meant that we were on the boat a lot. Fortunately, we really enjoyed our Haven area so much that it was not an inconvenience. In fact, it was more like, “Yeah, we can just stay here!”
We arrived in NY after 7 days of grooming and preening ourselves. My phone call before arrival ensured me that it was a short walk to our booked apartment. So loaded with backpacks and three suitcases we started to walk towards Time Square. Intrawest has apartments in AKA Time Square and they are very modern fully equipped apartments with washer dryer, TVs in every room, etc. It is walking distance to everything, MOMA, Central Park, all the shopping.
I was stunned at how brilliant, shiny and exciting NY is. We are talking about Time Square.
The people are funky and funny. It was like entering Disney land… flashing neons, large sky high TVS, Rotating gigantic signs, street 
food everywhere. This is America at it’s best. There is no other.
We loved that glitz and energy in London but the pound is so expensive, we think we have found our new London. And with a direct flight from Cathay Pacific there is no doubt we will be back.
On our first day, since we arrived so early, we left all our luggage and hit the flea market. It was bright, sunny and warm. 
Some great Korean, Greek market food eating on a little bench outside is what I call really enjoying the flea market (also found a little green vase and bargained for a better price).
That same afternoon we saw, The River with Hugh Jackman…a very strange play with a storyline that we could not figure out. Stranger still was the lack of a write up in the booklet about the play…no synopsis, no hint about the story (what there was). The story was not much of an acting challenge for Hugh Jackman. Except for his poetic description of the sunset, I thought I could have done the rest of the play as well as him. Pierre had to wake me several times and then I heard the man next to me snore as well. Would not recommend this play.
My friend Jim Toy had sent me a list of “must do and must eat” places for New York. We found Oceana, listed as a splendid highly recommended set menu and great food for the value. Somehow City Lobster, across the street with their giant menus on the window beckoned us to look. I think the pecan pie at the end of their set menu made Pierre chose this place instead. After ordering the beer and settling in to order the set menu, the waiter told us that it was only available for Thanksgiving and we could have that menu in two days. Stunned and disappointed, we sat back to reconsider. The wise thing would have been to pay for the beer and leave. Out of Canadian guilt we actually ordered a chowder and calamari, knowing there was nothing else we wanted to eat on this menu. Of course that meant when we ate up the chowder and all the calamari, we crossed the street to the original recommended restaurant and went in to enjoy a full 3 course menu. More food than we needed, but this was so much better in quality of service and in the food. 
We waddled home that night with more doggy bags. I hope all the walking today burned some calories.
Day 2 was a walking day. We wondering into the streets late morning. Everywhere we walked was full of temptations for shopping, food, visual excitement. We had to stop at the winter market at Bryant Park…full of lights, tasty smells, shops, fun food like gooey grilled cheese but most of all, lots of seating, where people were strolling, chatting, communing, enjoying, happening everywhere.
We finally arrived at The High Line walk which is an elevated freight rail line transformed into a free, public park on Manhattan’s West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th and 12th Avenues….an absolute delight. 
It also hel
ped that this was our second day for glorious fall weather. The dry bronzed, yellow grasses in the gardened areas, waving in the breeze, the wooden loungers with people lounging, the well paved path that made wondering so easy, the elevated view of the river and city that you would never see if not for this amazing effort of reclaiming unused land…what a fine example for every city in the world, to reclaim land for people’s enjoyment.
This walk ended for us at the Chelsea Market…an explosion and a riot of little boutiques of designer clothes, unique eateries. We found fun pieces of clothing from young designers and lunched at a Thai take out, offering the best Pad Thai I have ever had. You would think that we would have eaten our calorie intake for the day but my friend Jim Toy did say there was the best Deli in New York, and it was almost along the walk home. So yes we did walk to it. Our feet were needing a rest by this time. True to his work Sarge Deli supplied the tallest Pastrami sandwich I have ever seen but it was their green pickle that won my heart. A non pickle pickle…it was almost just a cucumber with a bit of pickling so kept it’s brilliant green color and crunch. Of course the Matzo Ball chicken soup tasted home made light and fluffy. I can imagine how much chicken fat was used to get that matzo ball that fluffy. Even at bursting point I had to order the New York cheesecake and YES, I proved that it was just like the cheesecake that I make.
Day 3: a day at MOMA
Still another warm delightful breezy day… we strolled over to the MOMA. I have to say my neck got tired from looking up. Even in the bright day, the neons and gigantic screens with racy messages and tantalizing imagery is titillating and novel. We don’t see that in our Canadian cities or many other US cities.
The Henri Matisse Cut Out exhibit was an inspiration…not to do what he does…but to just create for the sake of creating. This was a great exhibit with lectures on the tape providing adult and children’s perspective on many pieces. It truly demonstrated his reasoning, his writings during this time and all the creative efforts from this period of his artistic life and the overwhelming task of restoring these wall size cut out pieces of art so they could be exhibited. We scoured the shops of MOMA leaving with the desire to return tomorrow to buy more. It was another long day and so with purchased street food in hand we got back at a reasonable time to pack and prepare departure tomorrow.
Day 4: Time to go home. What a turn of temperature!! We woke up to blowing snow and sleet.