DragonOfTheSeas

That's so funny, Yes, musical preferences are very personal. 🤣 I like that Royal Caribbean has live music.

It was not a well thought out plan. First of all, if you’re gonna take the train you need to take an earlier train. The second thing is why go all the way to Union Station when you could’ve gotten off the train in Alexandria, the metro is right there. I have changed from the VRE train to Metro at that exact spot several times. And your husband is exactly right there are certainly other options that were better than the train for them. we’re staying at the Doubletree also. You can’t beat directly attached to the train station for convenience.

We are finally on the train too. It was supposed to leave Fredericksburg at 12:07 and we were about an hour and 20 minutes late. I was surprised by the number of passengers that got on in Fredericksburg. Think it was 50 people. The cars on this train are better than the last one we were on. there was a group of six people that were waiting with us in Fredericksburg, and when the train initially began being delayed, they would increase it every few minutes by another five or 10 minutes. They were getting very concerned. They stated that they had a plane that left Reagan national airport at 3:30 and planned to ride our train to union station and then take the metro back to the airport.🙄 we arrived at Union station about 2:46 PM. And I don’t think that 45 minutes will give them enough time to get down the train platform to the metro platform ride back to the airport and check their luggage and get to the gate. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Thanks for following along while you have packing to do. 😁

I wish--but, we arrive at 5pm.

DH and I spent our teaching careers in the two counties that surround Fredericksburg, VA. There are lots of colonial and Civil War history there, too. 😊 This will equal our longest cruise. I would be glad to go for a B3B, but, DH is ready to go home by three weeks.

We are Agnes and Alan and live in Louisa, Virginia. [about 45 min west of Richmond] This will be cruise 39 and 40 for us. We have mostly sailed Royal Caribbean. We have sailed on the Jewel before and like this class of ship for a cold weather cruise. We sail Celebrity when we find an itinerary that we enjoy at a reasonable price. We are D+ in Crown and Anchor. Although C & A benefits are a frequently criticized topic on Cruise Critic, we find that they enhance our cruise experience, especially on a long cruise. We will never get to Pinnacle. We are former high school history/government teachers, so we enjoy visiting historic places and national parks. My husband says I can’t pass a church or fort without stopping. I had a freak accident this summer and broke three vertebrae in my back. I am otherwise healthy. [the doctors have given a thumbs up for cruising] I wore a full torso brace at first and then a brace my son says looks just like the body armor he wore in Afghanistan. I only wear it now if I am tired of supporting my own weight. [usually evening] I counted the days until I could take off the braces only to find my core and back muscles had atrophy. UGH! I am working on that. I usually cover it, but there is no hiding I have it on. It is good we visit each port twice. That way I can take a day here or there to stay onboard if I want.

I forgot to include the map. Sorry!

Quebec City is one of my favorite ports we have ever visited. The last time we took a similar cruise we spent three days touring the city and surrounding area.

DH and I are off on another cruise adventure. This time we are sailing two back-to-back one-way cruises from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ to Quebec City and back--and, I can’t wait! [20 nights total] Our family thinks we are a little nuts to be gone this long. This started out as a trip from Quebec City to Bayonne. DH has some mobility issues and airports are a challenge. We took a similar cruise in 2019 and the experience transferring at the Montreal airport [long delay and lots of walking] was not the best. We boarded the prop jet by walking out on the tarmac and up the stairs. So, I found a good price on the one way to Quebec City, and I booked it. Problem solved. That's my story and I am sticking to it. 😜 To make this trip even more interesting we are taking an Amtrak train from Fredericksburg, Va to the Newark Penn Station tomorrow before we board the Jewel of the Seas Friday morning and back after we disembark. We took the train one way from BWI airport [DD lives nearby] last spring to board the Celebrity Beyond reposition to Fort Lauderdale. It was only a 2.5 hour trip. It was a late afternoon train and very crowded. We did not find seats together until we hit Wilmington, DE. We are leaving Fredericksburg around noon in the hopes there are less passengers when we board. The ports for this cruise are Boston, Portland, ME; Saint John, NB; Sydney, NS; Charlottetown, PEI; Saguenay, Q; and Quebec City. Saguenay is the only port that is new to us. We are really looking forward to our Back country and fjord tour.

Sorry to hear that.

We got a Royal Up last summer three days before we sailed. We had to get the porter to make us luggage tags, no problem.

I saw this as I was researching options. We have visited SJ several times and want to do something different. We are doing a B2B. The first cruise stops on Tuesday Oct 24. I noted the website says they are closed on Tuesdays but have extended hours when ships are in port. I also noted they are open Monday and Tuesday of this week. Fingers crossed for our cruise. The second cruise stops there on November 5. Does it stay open that long? The website says it is open until mid-fall. 📆 This looks very fun and quirky.

I am sorry to hear that the disembark was slow. We are doing a B2B in Oct/Nov. and I purchased train tickets for 11 am. All of the people n the East coast board said it would be easy to make that. I took a similar itinerary in 2019. We went through customs/immigration at our first US stop. That would be Portland for us. I hope that happens again.

Yep, twice for us, too.

I am sure the times of the tides are determining when they arrive and leave. There are big tides here.

I feel the things I get with D+ on Royal are more useful to me than the perks on celebrity. JMHO --5 free drinks anytime, balcony discount and although I have not used it yet the 150% fee for a solo is a very valuable perk. etc. I would assume we would merge at our current highest level. i.e. similar to our D+ on Royal not our Elite on Celebrity. I could see this as a way for Royal to move to a more dollar-based loyalty program, If they follow Celebrity model of more points per night for each higher category of cabins. I hope this is just a rumor.

Thank you for all of the information! The thread that lists the current CDs says this about her: JEWEL: Katheryn ‘Kat’ Falcon 7-23-23/Mid November So she is about 1/2 way into her contract. I am sorry to hear she is a little stiff. We are doing a B2B from Oct 20-Nov 9. There have been comments on the roll call and FB regarding Halloween. In my experience the quality of those special day activities very much depends on the CD. I guess we had better temper our expectations.

@Rogueperson I hope you will forgive me for jumping on your thread. I am enjoying reading your impressions of the Jewel. DH and I will do a B2B on her from Bayonne to Quebec City and back to Bayonne in October. I have a question for Jimbo or any other train rider from Bayonne. [I have read Jimbo rides the train to/from VA.] The Jewel does not get into Bayonne until 8 am to disembark. I would like to take an 11ish Amtrak home. Or do I need to schedule the noonish train from Newark Penn on Amtrak? We do not carry off our luggage. Also, not in a suite. We are D+ and usually get a lowish number to disembark. So sorry to butt in. I have tried to ask this question in the appropriate threads. TIA

Thank you for the attached map of the station. I had searched online and gotten a couple views. However, they were not as detailed as this. I was pleased to see several elevators. DH could walk these distances. I will certainly look out for the Red Caps, but we likely could manage. He is just not able to manage distances in large airports anymore. I think the passenger used the term in context to say the terminal was not well maintained and she did not feel safe. Therefore, I came to cruise critic to see if others had the same opinion. Most agree the station is not in good shape but have not had an issue with safety. I am looking forward to my cruise and feel the Newark Penn station will be the most convenient for our trip. PS--I did not mean to hijack this thread. Sorry!

Thanks for all your help. I called the Newark Penn Doubletree Hotel and they told me to just go out the door and walk across the street to the hotel. It would be much shorter than using the walkway. She mentioned using the Red Caps, too. The person on my roll call implied the Red Caps were available in NYC, but not at Newark Penn. I am glad to hear that is not correct.

Sorry--posting at the same time. Yes, thanks for your advise.

Yes, that is why I have come on here to see if the station is that bad?

OK, sorry. I was not clear in my post. Our plan all along was to arrive and leave from the NJ Penn Amtrak station. The other passenger state that station is sketchy and suggested the NYC Moynihan station. I am trying to find out about those 2 options. Is the NJ Penn station so sketchy you would not use it? Is the distance from the track at the Newark NJ station too much for someone with some mobility issues and/or to use the walkway to the Doubletree?

We are taking a train to and from the NJ/NYC area for our B2B cruise in October. Cruising from Cape Liberty. Arriving and leaving on Thursdays. DH has some mobility issues. He can walk, but not long distances. In airports I get wheelchair transport to the gate. He can walk around the gate area to reach a restroom and board the plane, etc. Our plan is to board a train in VA and get off at the NJ Penn station. I can not find any information regarding the distances you need to travel from the tracks t the terminal exits. We have a reservation at the attached Doubletree Hotel. We can always cancel that if there is a better option. Also, I am usually able bodied and handle the luggage. However, I had an accident recently and have a back injury. I am improving and hope to be much better by then. [Dr has said I should be fine for the cruise] Also, a passenger on our cruise says the Penn station is VERY sketchy. She suggested that we should travel to NYC Moynihan station. She said arrival might be OK, but not waiting for the train in the terminal after the cruise. Any thoughts? The NYC option seems to be pretty expensive for transport and hotels. We would use Uber/Lyft/ car service or taxi.