20 - 24 July

Friday 20 July and Saturday 21 July – New York.

Welcome to America and the excessive immigration procedures, I sat in the theatre waiting to start my tour for over 1 ½ hours for my turn to be processed by immigration.  Normally, we just walk off the ship, not even taking our passports with us and the whole process takes a few minutes.  Not here, we have filled out forms, paid for a visa, lined up, had our finger prints taken on both hands and a retina picture taken and passport checked.  The immigration staff was friendly and we were made to feel very welcome.

My gosh, what a fantastic entry to the city of Manhattan, we sailed into the harbour and although the day was overcast and the famous Statue of Liberty was difficult to see, we berthed right in the centre of the city, we were 5 streets away from Times Square.

I went on a city drive by tour and unfortunately it was raining although it wasn’t cold and windy which was good and it wasn’t a Sunday.

Well it was like sitting in the lounge room at home with the telly on, we passed by:

the Empire State,

the place where John Lennon was shot and were Yoko lives now

Broadway

The twin tower site and saw the damage and the new building

Took pictures of the Statue of Liberty

The headquarters of the United Nations

Some of the sites from Seinfield and Friends.

We drove through Harlem and Flushing Queens and so much more, it was really a lot of fun and we loved every minute of it, especially after seeing a country that’s history was the same as Australia.

We went back to the ship and then ventured out by ourselves, New York is a very easy to move around as the Avenues are very long and the streets are short.  We were going out to a Broadway show that evening so we decided that we would see how far away it was and although it was still raining we wandered around the city and had a coffee and donut in one of the local shops.

Many of the passengers were going out to see a Broadway show, I went to Rock of Ages, Yvonne saw Jersey Boys, John went to see Porgy & Bess, others went to see Phantom of the Opera and War Horse, everyone enjoyed the experience.  To see a show on Broadway is truly an experience which is made even more memorable as we then walked one street to Times Square.  The rain had eased off and although it was after 2230 there were heaps of people in the Square, so we wandered around and enjoyed the atmosphere.  Over 1 million people cram into Times Square to watch the ball drop at midnight; I could not imagine how crowded it must be.  

It was well after 0200 and I wanted to find a hot dog stand and try a hot dog but it seemed that I was in the wrong place and had to settle for a Mc Donald’s hamburger.  As we were returning back to the ship the crew were just leaving for a night out.

The poor things they still had to constantly sterilise everything and we now have had everything taken of the table and the stewards have to serve everything including the pepper and salt.  Our cabins have been totally stripped and thoroughly cleaned as the virus is getting worse and when someone gets sick they are totally quarantined until they have been clear of vomiting and for 24 hours.  Touch wood, I am still well, it has been hard as a lot of people have not been able to go one shore especially the ones who missed out on New York.

The next day had been designated for shopping and we were off the ship early and fortunately the weather had cleared up and we headed for Central Park.  What a huge place and as it was Saturday, it was full of walkers, runners and people riding bikes and of course a heap of tourists.

We then went to two huge department stores and I tried on heaps of clothes but it seems that most designer clothes are made for ‘pencils’ and not shapely one like me.  I managed to find a few things and I bought a lovely Celvin Klein shirt, my first designer outfit.

We then walked back to Time Square which is closed off on Saturdays and they set up stall and there were streets of them selling everything you can think of.  Unfortunately it was soon time to return back to the ship as we were leaving at 1600 hours, 1 ½ days is not enough time and everyone just loved NY, it is nothing like you see in CSI and Law and Order, there were Police everywhere and zero tolerance against drugs and violence.

We had a lot of new faces on board during the sail away party that evening.  It was an experience sailing past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the skyline of Manhattan, the weather was perfect.   

Sunday 22 July & Monday 23 July. At sea and the ship is still experiencing health problems and sanitation is everywhere, the stair handrails and in fact every surface that can be touched by a human is constantly being cleaned.  I am told that this has happened before on other ships, it comes from so many people living together and of course new people coming on board with the germs.

Tuesday 24 July. At sea and today we had bit of excitement as the ship had to evacuate 2 very sick passengers.  The aft of the ship had to be evacuated and as my cabin is right at the back I was unable to return to my cabin for 2 hours.  The Coast Guard sent a plane and helicopter from their base in St Johns and the plane continued circling the ship while the helicopter hovered over the ship and a crew member repelled down to the ship and then the stretcher was winched back up into the helicopter.  The load was too much for one helicopter so a second one was sent and they both went to an American hospital some distance away.  One of the patients suffered a heart attack during the repeated vomiting attacks and the other patient needed an emergency blood transfusion which was performed by the medical team here but he needed further treatment.  It was an interesting exercise and I think everyone was thankful that it could happen, knowing it could have been them.