Cruise Review: Escape From New York, Sept. 2-9, 2018

[PaulInPGH]

All that travel to Brooklyn and you coulda had Lombardis at 32 Spring St in Manhattan. I think it's one of the best.

 

Sad to say, there's so much pizza, and so little time. We thought about mixing in some stops in Manhattan, but we realized we could literally only fit so much pizza in the old stomach. I'll definitely note it for our next NYC trip though!

[PaulInPGH]

Hi neighbor! I used to live in Alexandria, VA but now live in Loudoun County (or as my mom would say, the middle of nowhere). Looking forward to reading the rest of the review and seeing more pictures of pizza!

 

Hello, fellow Virginian. Sorry to say, we pizza'd ourselves out in one day, so no more pizza pictures are forthcoming. There will be a ton of other foods though, so no worries.

[PaulInPGH]

Following along .. :D

 

Thank you! I was going to say it's going to be a wild ride, but it's actually more like a mild ride.

[PaulInPGH]

Awesome

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you! Much more coming soon.

[PaulInPGH]

At last satiated, we got back on the subway for another long journey back to Manhattan. We needed some time to digest (yes, seriously this time) and get showered and changed before our night out at the Phantom of the Opera.

Having gone a little crazy with the pizza earlier, neither of us had an appetite for dinner prior to the show. We did, however, want to have a small bite. We decided to compare whether a Nathan’s Famous hot dog was better than a hot dog from a random cart on the street (it was). My wife and I both have fond memories of NYC street hot dogs from when we were kids, but this one was dry and disappointing. Maybe the Nathan’s just spoiled us for all hot dogs forever more.

[PaulInPGH]

 

When we exited the subway at 42nd Street, we found these odd chairs plopped right in the middle of Times Square. I'm guessing not a lot of people stop to take a load off, because I definitely got some laughs. But I couldn't help giving them a try.

[PaulInPGH]

We arrived at the Majestic Theater at about 7:00, one hour before show time. They let us in at about 7:15, which was plenty of time to find the restroom and make our way up numerous flights of steps to our seats. My wife and I had both seen Phantom when we were kids, and we’d been looking forward to experiencing it again. The show was excellent—there’s a reason it’s been running on Broadway for so long. By all means, go see it the next time you’re in NYC.

[boopsahoy]

Great start!

 

I live near L&B and Coney Island! L&B restaurant is excellent. If you want a feast get the chefs table!

 

Did you try the famous Nathan's fries? Even better than their dogs!

 

Yes the commute to the city is horrendous. I did it for over 40 years and it was one of the deciding factors for me to retire last month! LOL

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[PaulInPGH]

 

The lair of the Phantom.

[PaulInPGH]

We were in the mood for a couple post-show drinks, so we took a short walk over to a restaurant we accidentally discovered on our last trip to New York, Havana Central. We drank a couple of their excellent mojitos, and split a few of their standout empanadas.

Now, I know you’re going to laugh, but while relaxing at the hotel earlier in the day, we discovered that my favorite pizza place in NYC had a location one block from our hotel. After a day filled with pizza, it seems insane that we’d want even more pizza, but we wanted to see if my favorite place compared favorably to the slices we tried earlier that day in Brooklyn.

I drunkenly discovered Famous Amadeus late one crazy night about ten years ago while waiting for a train at Penn Station. It was simply the best pizza I’d ever had, and I’ve even returned on a number of occasions while sober to confirm my initial drunken impression. Unfortunately, their location on 50th street lacked the quality of the original near Penn Station, so we were a bit underwhelmed by the slice we split. Or it could have just been pizza overload, I’m not entirely certain.

After a long, full day, we went back to the room and hit the bed, ready for an early start for day one of our cruise the following morning!

Up next, day 3: Boarding the ship, and one last New York treat.

[PaulInPGH]

Great start!

 

I live near L&B and Coney Island! L&B restaurant is excellent. If you want a feast get the chefs table!

 

Did you try the famous Nathan's fries? Even better than their dogs!

 

Yes the commute to the city is horrendous. I did it for over 40 years and it was one of the deciding factors for me to retire last month! LOL

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

Oh, man, when I tell my wife there's a chef's table at L&B she is going to crap herself with excitement. Thanks for the heads-up. Unfortunately, no Nathans fries for us this time around, but I'll put that in the old memory bank for next time, as well.

[Adventuresabound]

Following, thanks taking the time to write it up :)

[PaulInPGH]

Following, thanks taking the time to write it up :)

 

Thank you. I always have fun writing these; it helps me relive the trip. I especially going back and reading them years later and remembering all the things I've forgotten over the years.

[PaulInPGH]

Day 3 (Cruise Day 1): “Enjoying” the New York Cruise Terminal

Like the responsible adults we are, we packed up the night before so we’d be able to get a bright and early start on Sunday morning. We wanted to get to the pier early, of course, but our main motivation was our desire—nay, need—to have breakfast like a real New Yorker. This meant a trip to one of our absolute favorite places, Zabar’s!

Only a few short subway stops away, Zabar’s offered us so many tasty treats we’ve grown to love. The bagels are great and the knish are perfect, but the most spectacular menu item is the coffee cake!!! Hands-down, it’s the best I’ve ever had. They also have versions with fruit, for those of you who want to ruin a delicious baked good with healthy crap. We managed to grab the only two available seats at the shared table, and we proceeded to eat enough bagels, knish, and coffee cake to feed a small army.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Zabar's feast!

[PaulInPGH]

We walked (subwayed) off the calories and made it back to our hotel by about 9:45. Checking out of our room was a snap, and a short cab ride got us to the cruise terminal by about 10:15.

Remember way back at the start of this review I mentioned this cruise wasn’t seamless? Well, this is where that began. The Manhattan Cruise Terminal was the worst we’ve ever experienced (we’ve previously experienced Ft. Lauderdale, New Orleans, Miami, and Rome).

First, the cab driver didn’t exactly know where to drop us off. He asked us where to go, and short of giving him the name and address, we had no clue. When he arrived at a likely-looking drop spot, the driver proceeded to get yelled at by someone forallowing us to get out, which was slightly annoying for us as we were trying to simultaneously pay the driver and collect our luggage. Yet, this was only the start of the chaos.

The cab left us at the right location, or at least we thought so. There were people running in every direction with nothing in the way of guidance or instruction. In every other port we’ve ever cruised from, a porter would come over directly to assist and pick up luggage and direct you where to go for check in. Here it was just a big free-for-all. We eventually found our way to the luggage drop-off point and then successfully found our way to the security line.

Security actually went very quickly. It was when we reached the check-in line that things took a turn for the worse. The line was LONG! We were there at what I’ve always considered a reasonable time (a little before 10:30), but this line was epic; I can’t imagine what time some of these folks arrived. What’s more, there was only four or five people checking in in a line of hundreds of passengers. We were definitely in for a bit of a wait.

The ship didn’t allow passengers to begin boarding until about 11:30, which also seemed a bit later than other cruises we’ve been on. This can certainly vary from cruise to cruise, not to mention from terminal to terminal, but it became a sort of theme for this cruise throughout the week: things that are typically done faster/better on other ships (or in this case, other ports), just seemed a bit off on Escape.

[PaulInPGH]

My favorite part of waiting to board, though, was the gentleman making the announcements in the terminal. He kept saying “we’ll be starting the boarding process shortly, but until then, we invite you to continue enjoying the cruise terminal.” A lot of us in line were getting a good laugh, and when we finally boarded, I said to my wife, “Do we need to board right away? I’m really starting to enjoy this cruise terminal!”

My lame wit to the contrary, we were happy to be on the ship by about noon. Before finding a place to sit and relax, we made a quick stop on deck 6 near Teppanyaki where there was a person available to make dinner reservations. We had the Specialty Dining Package for the first time, and we planned on enjoying it to the fullest. While we were able to book Moderno prior to the cruise, no tables for two were available for booking at either Le Bistro or Cagney’s, both of which we’d planned to frequent on this cruise. Thankfully, we were able to book good times for both restaurants—Le Bistro for that evening and Cagney’s on the last night of the cruise.

[PaulInPGH]

Having “enjoyed” the cruise terminal for nearly two hours, we really wanted to find a place to sit and relax with a drink. Still full of Zabar’s, we decided to skip lunch and hit the nearest bar. This would turn out to be a mistake.

We plopped ourselves in the atrium and had the first drinks of the cruise (thank you, Ultimate Beverage Package). The first drink of the cruise was quickly followed by the second, and the third, and quite possibly the fourth.

In another example of things taking longer than normal, staterooms weren’t made available until about 1:45, which naturally just meant we should keep enjoying the atrium and the plentiful drink selection. We eventually made it up to our balcony cabin, pleasantly buzzed and excited to see our accommodations for the next week.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Selfie from our balcony.

[cincicruisers]

More please...enjoying your review

[Sand and Seas]

Love your writing style and anxiously waiting for more:)

[vacation44]

Great start....looking forward to reading the rest.

[PaulInPGH]

More please...enjoying your review

 

Thank you. Should have more posted this afternoon/evening after work.

[PaulInPGH]

Love your writing style and anxiously waiting for more:)

 

Thank you, I appreciate that.

[PaulInPGH]

Great start....looking forward to reading the rest.

 

Thanks very much. The rest is already written, just have to find time to post it all.