| Submitted by: David StybrUnited States |
| Submission Date: 14 February 2005 |
|
 |
|
Prologue, Saturday & Sunday, 13 & 14 June: Interstate 80, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
|
Cruises are among our favorite vacations. My wife Denise loves the ships and I love the ports. Most of all we like the Mississippi Queen, and we have taken 5 cruises on it and 1 on the Delta Queen. Over the years we have cruised the entire Mississippi River in 1-week segments from New Orleans, Louisiana to St. Paul, Minnesota, plus the Ohio River up to Cincinnati, Ohio. On oceans we have cruised once in Hawaii, twice in Alaska and 4 times on the Caribbean Sea. That totaled lucky 13 cruises, and we decided to try an unusual itinerary for our 14th cruise.
After a Panamá Canal cruise on the Premier Cruises ship OceanBreeze in January I won a free cruise in a comment card drawing. We chose the North Atlantic Ocean on the SeaBreeze, so on 15 June we sailed from New York to Newport, Rhode Island; Portland, Maine; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and back to New York. The regular itinerary is 5 days, but this special pre-season cruise was 6 days. The extra day was at sea from Maine to Nova Scotia, which gave us more time in both Portland, Maine (8AM-5PM instead of 8AM-2PM) and Halifax, Nova Scotia (8AM-5PM instead of 12PM-6PM). This was a lovely counterpart to our past cruises of British Columbia and Alaska.
As a change of pace we decided to drive to our ship instead of fly. This let us enjoy the lovely scenery along the way which otherwise we would have missed. It is about 800 miles (1300 kilometers) from Chicago, Illinois to New York, New York via Interstate 80. We divided this into 2 days: 500 miles the first day with an overnight in Clarion, Pennsylvania; then 300 miles the next day with an overnight in Secaucus, New Jersey. Interstate 80 follows the Indiana Toll Road and the Ohio Turnpike for half the distance from Chicago to New York, and these roads were a pleasure to drive. It was interesting to see the many long double- and triple-rig semis, which are legal in Indiana and Ohio. Last year in Australia we heard a delightful term for long trucks like these: Road Trains.
|
Day 1, Monday 15 June: New York, New York; depart 4:30 PM
|
Monday morning we drove through the Lincoln Tunnel into New York City to our ship. This was simple, but just before the tunnel half of the traffic suddenly decided they wanted to be in the opposite lanes. Just after the Lincoln Tunnel we turned left (west) onto 40th Street and then right (north) onto 12th Avenue. The entrance to the Passenger Ship Terminal was a left turn (west) at 55th Street. It was an upward ramp to a passenger drop-off area where signs clearly indicated which ships were at which piers. We arrived at 11:00 AM and I dropped off Denise, her parents and our luggage at Pier 88 for the SeaBreeze, where we checked our large pieces of luggage with the porters. Then I drove up another ramp to the parking areas atop the piers. Long term parking cost $16 per day, paid in cash in advance. Parking was open air, but in a secure area surrounded by a fence. Then I locked my car, took the keys and walked to the pier. This gave me a good view of the New York City skyline and the ship, so I took a few photos as the crew prepared the buffet. Then I took the escalator down and prepared to embark.
Embarkation proceeded smoothly. This was the first cruise of this season for the SeaBreeze, so we did not contend with any debarking passengers. At 12:30 PM embarkation began and we queued to enter the terminal. Next we queued for the security checks. Finally we queued to process our documents at the check-in counters, and we were aboard the ship by 1:00 PM. Many persons made the mistake to put away their boarding passes immediately after check-in, and a minute later had to rummage through their purses and pockets for their passes to board the ship.
Premier Cruises are definitely a budget cruise line. The ships are small, old and lack the dazzle and glitz of the new megaliners. However they are a good value for the price and have a plain charm not found on more glamorous but less personal ships. Passengers who have champagne tastes and beer budgets will be disappointed, but those who accept some inconveniences will be happy with a ship that looks and feels like a ship. The smaller size also made it easier to establish a rapport with passengers and crew. The service and cuisine were good.
SS SeaBreeze Statistics
Built: 1958; Displacement: 21,000 tons
Cruise Speed: 21 knots
Length: 605 feet; Beam: 79 feet; Draft: 29 feet
Crew: 400; Passenger Capacity: 840; Passenger Decks: 9
Registry: Panamá
The SeaBreeze has a long and varied history. Built in 1958, she cruised for many years as the Costa Cruises ship Frederico C, and the gates to the bridge show the Costa 'C' designed into the ironwork. Later she cruised with Premier Cruises as the original Big Red Boat: Star Ship Royale. In 1989 Dolphin Cruises purchased it and revamped it into the SS SeaBreeze. Then in 1997 Premier Cruises purchased Dolphin Cruises, and the SeaBreeze returned once more to her previous owners. Evidence of these 3 most recent owners can be seen in the smokestack, with the most recent Premier logo painted over the outlines of the 2 previous logos.
The Four Seasons Observatory is a large area of forward deck space on La Bohème Deck (B Deck), a place to view as the ship comes into port. At the aft are the Prélude Bar and the Water Music Whirlpool, a cozy trio of hot tubs. Carmen Deck (C Deck) features the Pastorale Café, a casual outdoor dining spot at the aft. Just forward of this is the Carmen Lounge, the main showroom which has somewhat uncomfortable large semi-circular sofas and pillars which interfere with sightlines. Amidships on this deck are the duty-free shop La Boutique Fantastique, the Surprise Casino, and the Harmony Room which has art auctions and table games. Forward of these are the Light Cavalry Arcade which features video games, and the Royal Fireworks Lounge which also holds casino table games.
Daphne Deck (D Deck) is primarily cabins, but also includes the Allegro Shop for snacks and non-prescription drugs, and the Slim Gym Center. The Serenade Bar at the aft is a piano bar, and just outside is the small La Mer Pool. Electra Deck (E Deck) features the Intermezzo Theatre forward, Purser Square and Bacchanalia Restaurant amidships, and the Children's Corner. Meals are served in 2 seatings in the Bacchanalia Restaurant. Way down below on Juliet Deck (J Deck) is Agitato Disco, with its art-deco style.
The food in the Bacchanalia Restaurant was generally excellent, varied and often inspired. We prefer first seating, and a table for 8 helped us meet interesting people. Denise, her parents and I were very lucky because we had excellent dinner companions. We dined with a fascinating couple from New York City and another from Massachusetts, and they added immeasurably to our enjoyment of this cruise. Both couples were on their first cruise whereas we were on our 14th cruise, so it was fun to compare impressions. Denise's parents marked their 47th anniversary in June, and one evening we celebrated at dinner with Captain Dimitrios Chilas. The Captain was very charming and seemed to enjoy the chance to chat with some of his guests.
Breakfast and lunch were generally open seating, except on days at sea when they were assigned seating. Buffets were also available in the Pastorale Café and the Planets Counter, which also featured hamburgers and hot dogs. Generally we dined in the Bacchanalia Restaurant because it was our chance to try all sorts of unusual dishes. The Midnight Buffet was generally spectacular, and each night had a different theme such as Chinese, Mexican, Italian etc. Despite all the great meals that cruise ships offer, on almost every cruise it amuses us in port to see how many people run from the ship to the nearest McDonald's or Pizza Hut for some 'real' food. Somehow we have always managed to endure the delicious cuisine for the entire cruise.
We had a Deluxe Oceanview cabin on Electra Deck. The cabin was quite spacious with a double bed, a single bed and an upper bunk which remained folded away, but no chairs. We had 4 small closets and a dresser with 3 drawers and a pull-out desk top. The bathroom and shower were small but adequate. Instead of a window the cabin had a porthole. Our cabin steward was nearly invisible but efficient.
The mandatory life boat drill took place before we sailed and proceeded smoothly compared to some of our other cruises. Some passengers complained about the need to stand in life jackets at our lifeboat station until everything was checked. However we made a virtue of necessity and used the time to chat with some of our fellow cruisers.
Much of our cruise brought either overcast or foggy weather, but this was more than compensated by some of the smoothest waters we have ever sailed in the open sea. Indeed, the fog wrapped much of the scenery in a romantic blanket of misty stillness. The weather frequently cleared in the afternoons, and in any case the slightly cool temperatures were a welcome relief from the heat wave that struck Illinois in June.
New York, New York
Generally I like to research the places we will visit beforehand, to help us better appreciate the ports. Some statistics: New York City is in southeast New York State on New York Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River. The city population is about 7,350,000; metropolitan area 8,500,000; greater metropolitan area 20,000,000. It is the largest city in the United States, a major port, the trade center of the nation and, with its banks and stock exchanges, a major financial center of the world. New York City is made of 5 boroughs, each of which is a county: Manhattan (New York County), an island; the Bronx (Bronx County), on the mainland, northeast of Manhattan across the Harlem River; Queens (Queens County), on Long Island, east of Manhattan across the East River; Brooklyn (Kings County), also on Long Island, on the East River adjoining Queens and on New York Bay; and Staten Island (Richmond County), an island southwest of Manhattan across the Upper Bay. In 1624 the town of Nieuwe Amsterdam was established on Lower Manhattan. Dutch colonial administrator Peter Minuit supposedly bought the island from its Native American inhabitants for about $24 worth of trinkets. In 1664 the British seized the colony and renamed it New York. During the American Revolution they held it from 1776 to 1781.
As we sailed out of New York Bay, we passed some famous sights. The Intrepid is a United States Navy aircraft carrier from World War II and Vietnam now permanently moored as a museum in the Hudson River with other navy ships. Nearby are the boats of Circle Line Cruises, which offer a 3-hour, 35-mile narrated cruise completely around Manhattan Island. We took their cruise several years ago and found it a great way to spend an afternoon.
The Empire State Building is on Fifth Avenue, between 33rd Street and 34th Street. It was designed by the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, and built in 1930 and 1931. With 102 stories, it was the tallest building on Earth until 1971 when the World Trade Center was partially complete. The World Trade Center in lower Manhattan consists of 7 buildings and a shopping concourse. Most prominent are the 110-story, rectangular twin towers which stand 1,350 feet (411 meters). |
|
| Copyright © - "David Stybr" |
|
 |
| Other travelogues by the same author: |
|
|
|
