NorthWes

What a delight to wake up in chilly Alaska and catch up on your journey! We're aboard Serenade on the Dec 14 sailing. Loving the photos and commentary - and my wife is laughing at my total joy over the 'recon reports' on cookies & coffee. Looking forward to sailing along with you 'live'!

Thanks for the great suggestions! Now to review ideas with my travel partner...

At the cruise ship port.

Thank you!

We rented a car via Avis. The drive to West Point where all the beaches are is approximately 30-40 minutes. There are more than a dozen beaches within a few miles of each other. Cas Abou was probably the biggest beach we saw but we ended up at BigKinip since it was secluded and that is what we were looking for.

Curious - we've planned on going to Cas Abou but haven't made our car rental reservations yet. Did Avis have the car at the cruise dock area, or did you have to take a cab to the airport to get it?

We wanted to see the Key Deer Sanctuary on the Key West side of the Bridge. Is that as risky a drive to make as crossing the bridge?

I would suggest getting BACK to the hotel around 10-10:30 so you can gather your other half and your belongings, grab a coffee, etc....then maybe get picked up around 11 or so to head to the pier....it's about 30 minutes, but there may be a slight tie up getting in...

 

hth

Thanks for sifting my ideas through your local knowledge grid of wisdom - my "other half" chuckled when she saw the remark about being back to the hotel NLT 1030am... obviously you've encountered those folks who "think" they're quick, but get so wrapped up in what they're doing that time passes without meaning! I've set 0930am as my 'must depart' time from my sprint around the waterfront at Liberty State Park as a result of your advice.

Thank you too for the PITA warning regarding construction on the highway northbound from Philly to EWR. Working in construction support I know what you mean about crazed drivers. (I sell everything orange you see at those sites, from cones & barrels through signs & clothing all the way up to the message boards that tell you your route of choice is closed and you should've just stayed home...)

First of all, I want to thank megr1125 for your blogs & your willingness to answer graciously all these questions! You are truly the Cape Liberty 411 woman, and your information has made me comfortable with the following travel plan.

My wife & I are aboard the 10/14 EOS sailing (work constraints forced a change from a cruise aboard the Allure out of FL scheduled for earlier in the month, so we decided to return to lovely Bermuda for a week). We're flying in from Anchorage Alaska to Philadelphia via Seattle on Alaska Airlines. We'd have gone into EWR as we've done before except (due to our last-minute changes) we found those flights full. Not a problem; we leave ANC after work on Friday evening, have a short overnight sleep in a nice hotel right alongside the Seattle airport, then hop east to Philly in daylight arriving around 5pm - with just enough daylight to get a rental car onto the turnpike north to NJ (a route I've driven several years ago). The super bonus came when we were bumped to first class seats for the entire series of flights.

We're staying at the Courtyard Newark Elizabeth (on Glimcher) on Saturday night (having stayed there before, I was familiar with it, and the CI property showed full for the night, although it's now listing availability again). I'm a geocacher, and have my eye on a dawn visit to Liberty State Park - crazy possibly, but I'm planning on a quick and early visit there and am hoping that early Sunday morning traffic will be low volume. I'm then dropping the car at EWR, hopping back to the hotel via their shuttle from the airport, and joining my wife for a cab ride over to the port with an expected arrival to the terminal around noon. We're not too pushed to get to the terminal much earlier; this gives my wife a chance to sleep in as part of adjusting to the four hour time change coming east (and I can indulge my desire to visit Liberty State Park at dawn for about an hour or so). We're expecting to take a cab from the hotel. Do you think there will be enough cab availability to just call as we're ready, or should we schedule that in advance with a car service? Any other thoughts on our plans?

“The local Branch Pilot Anthony Robinson assigned to Pilot the Explorer of the Seas was enroute to Dockyard on the Tender Bermudian and he was transferred to the Norwegian Star to assist with the operation."

Makes perfect sense, after reading the more complete details in the Royal Gazette the next day. Wow - quite the flooding the island had there from that storm front too! Sounds like the Explorer's fine - DW & I are on the 10/14 sailing & didn't want to hear the ship was damaged... we're really looking forward to a Bermuda visit before we settle in for another Alaska winter.

Explorer and NCL Star bumped today:

 

See:

http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=60575&SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270

Any word on why the Explorer had to depart Bermuda late? Was it damaged? The article only has photos of damage to the Norwegian Star...