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Hi Everyone! Here are the details on the Princess New England Cruise I took.  New
York:
Stayed at the
Marriott Marquis Times Square. Nice hotel, in the
middle of it all. Had a great view from my window of
part of Times Square. Room was quiet, comfortable and
big. Safe/hair dryer/internet connection. No fridge
though there is a cavernous space in the armoire where
is should be. Since we only had one full day in NY we
really did not want to waste time trying to figure out
how to get to where so we did the Gray Line Hop on Hop
off Tour and I could not have been happier. We got to
see everything! I really feel it is a great value ($44)
and a wonderful way to see the city. You can also take
the night time tour which is included and they drive you
all over Manhattan and into Brooklyn so you can see
Manhattan at night. What an awesome sight! My concern
with the tour was that I did not want to waste a lot of
time waiting for buses, this is not a problem, these
buses are everywhere and come all the time, never had to
wait very long at all. They are the double decker buses
so you also get great views.
Highlights:
Little Italy, happened to be there while they were
having the San Gennaro Festival. The streets were lined
with vendors and the atmosphere was wonderful. Had
lunch there - I am not a big fan of Italian food but I
must say I had the most yummiest lasagna ever. This is
probably one of the most memorable meals I have ever
had. Of course I had to explore Greenwich Village.
This is such a cute neighborhood. Great architecture.
St. Pauls Chapel across from Ground Zero was a place for
reflection. There was a lot of 9/11 information, it was
very moving. Times Square is a great place to wander.
The guy walking around with a huge yellow python around
his neck was just a plus and the naked cowboy is REAL.
 Crown
Princess:
This ship is very
elegant, very big and pretty easy to navigate. While it
was big it also seemed small. The cabins were nice,
great storage space. The itinerary was very port
intensive (one sea day) so we did not spend a lot of
time on the ship during the day when a lot of the
activities were going on. The problem was that there
was not enough room for everybody while everyone was on
board. As the top four decks are mostly pool/open air,
they were not used as it was too cold. That made
everybody go inside so the two times we did try to see a
show there was no seating and it was also a complaint we
heard from other passengers. We did the Movie Under the
Stars one night, there was about only
But on to the ports:  Newport:
I was a little
disappointed. I thought it would be this cute little
village type setup and the first thing you see when you
get on the dock is a GAP. It did not really have the
seaside/boardwalk type atmosphere I was hoping for.
However we did do a tour of the Breakers, one of those
big mansions that the Vanderbilt's had built back in the
day. Wow... very interesting and extravagant. We also
did part of the cliff walk, which is a path along the
shore behind the mansions. What a wonderful walk. I
would love to have that at my disposal everyday. So
very beautiful. I wish I had been able to walk the
whole thing. This tour was through the ship and it was
really good - there was not that many people signed up
for it ( I think because of the walking - most of the
people on board where older folks).
Boston:
I love
Boston! Architecture is like New York but not as big
and with history. We also did the hop on hop off tour
here as we had such a good experience with it in NY.
Upset because I really wanted to tour the USS
Constitution but it is closed on Mondays! Walked part
of the Freedom Trail, visited Old North Church, State
House, Paul Revere's House, Boston Commons, Fanueil Hall
and Quincy Market. Tried to duplicate our Little Italy
lunch from NY in the Little Italy in Boston, still good
but not as good as the one in NY. Loved the vibe of
the city, not frenetic like NY and loved the history of
it.
Bar Harbor:
My favorite port.
Now this is what I wanted to see, a charming little
town. They have a free bus there that takes you all
around Arcadia National Park. We took it over to Sand
Beach where I ran around like a five y
 ear
old climbing on rocks and chasing the waves. I got to
stomp around in the forest for a bit and then we took
the bus over to Thunder Hole which is a place on the
shore line where the water has created a cave that when
the waves roll into it, it causes it to make a noise
like thunder. Got to climb around on rocks here too.
Fun times! I would love to come back here and hike some
of the trails. Went back to town and I had a whole
lobster! I wanted to have the experience but probably
would not do again - too messy. Also tried some Maine
Blueberry Ice-cream. Very yummy. I needed it after
running around in the forest all morning. Loved
exploring the cute little shops. The foliage was
changing here and there - I can only imagine how
glorious looks when it is all done. Such bright colors
of red, yellow and orange. Really want to come back
here.
Saint John:
Loved it. We did
a tour to St. Martins. This is a cute little fishing
village with the covered bridges and sea caves. The
drive was about an hour and then we had lunch at a place
that claims to have famous seafood chowder, I agree with
that claim. Then we got to look for wish rocks on the
beach and explore the sea caves as the tides were out.
I had so much fun running around on the beach, climbing
in caves and looking for the rocks, I was sad to go.
Wish rocks are rocks that have a band of another type of
rock in it. It is said that you make a wish on it and
when it comes true you give the rock to somebody else.
We also saw the Bay of Fundy. This place is really
interesting, the bay meets St. John's river. Between
high tide and low tide the water levels are equal.
During high tide the bay pushes against the river
causing the river to change the direction it runs, it is
called the reversing falls. During low tide the river
falls into the bay causing rapids. We were there during
low tide so we did not get to see the reversing falls
but we did see the rapids. The difference between low
tide and high tide can be as much as 55 feet. When we
were in St Martins all the boats in the dock were not in
water, that is how far the water recedes. Our guide
explained that there is only a twenty minute increment
twice day when boats can dock in and out. Ok, too much
info. Let's move on.
Halifax:
It was ok. We
walked up to Citadel Hill and along the board walk, saw
some tall ships but nothing really interesting here to
me. A couple of interesting churches/cemeteries. Next
time would probably take a tour.
Overall it was a
great trip, and I would love to go back to New England
when it was full fall to see the foliage.
JDahlstrom@ElanTravel.com or 623-561-1111
Thanks for reading! Jennifer Dahlstrom. |
ten people. It was so cold we had two blankets and
would have liked more. I love this concept though - it
is really fun to be sailing in the ocean under the night
sky and watching a movie on comfortable deck chairs.
Best movie theater ever I'd say. I am sure the space
problem is a non-issue in the Caribbean where the top
decks would be more utilized and the people more
dispersed. The food was the best I'd ever had on a
Princess Cruise. We had personal choice dining, we
prefer to eat alone rather with a group so we always
waited for a table for two. They would always say
twenty minutes but before we could get a drink order at
the nearby bar they would already be beeping us. We
never waited more the five minutes. The food in the
dining room was always really good. The buffet was just
average though I will say the choices were a lot more
varied then the last Princess cruise I was on. Always
different stuff everyday.
If
you have any questions, let me know!