Day One - Embarkation - 06-29-2009 (Part 1)

We awakened about 6:00 AM in our hotel room the morning of embarkation. If you know us, you'll know that this counts as sleeping in in the Russell-Auch household. The dogs get us up at 5 AM seven days a week, so it was nice to have a chance to sleep "late". We showered and decided to walk down to the dock to see if we could catch the Triumph pulling into the pier.

As we walked to the waterfront park where the Circle Line tours leave from at 45th Street and the Hudson River, I spotted the "whale's tail" of the Triumph over the top of the Circle Line ferries. Very exciting stuff and perfect timing!

This was one big ship!

We walked over to see which pier it would dock at (pier 90) and watched them tie the lines then went back to the hotel to wait until it was time to go down to the pier.

Embarkation

Embarkation went pretty smoothly. We checked out of the hotel at 10:30 and walked next door to the garage where we had parked. ($48 for overnight parking ... gotta love NYC!) Drove the mile or so out 45th Street to 12th Avenue and turned right. Made a left onto the passenger ship pier and dropped Jeff off with the bags at the front door and went to find the rooftop parking.

The pier is set up with three levels. Street level is bus drop off and service entrance. Passenger drop off (including taxis) is the middle level and the rooftop level is parking. There are three piers in total and a corkscrew ramp at each end of the group of three to access the different levels. When we entered at 55th Street, the overhead signs directed us to the middle level. The sign at that end for the rooftop parking had a big "X" over it and an arrow pointing you to the middle level. So I drove up and dropped Jeff off, figuring you went up the ramp at the far end. That ramp, however, was blocked by Jersey barriers and all torn up. I had no choice but to exit the pier "complex" back onto 12th Avenue, make a left turn and go back to the 55th Street entrance. I thought maybe I had missed the entrance to the roof at that end in our excitement and would try again.

Waited in line at 55th Street for the left turn into the pier and went back up the ramp and sure enough, the sign to the roof did indeed have a big red "X" over it and an arrow directing people to the middle level. I stopped in the middle of the pier and asked one of the police officers directing traffic how you get to the rooftop parking. He said you have to use the ramp on 55th Street. I told him it was marked with an "X" and he said, "Just ignore that. They never turn it off."

So back out onto 12th Avenue and around the whole couple of blocks again, up the ramp and to the parking lot. Poor Jeff has been waiting outside about 15 minutes at this point. Paid for the parking ($150 up front for a 5 day cruise ... a bit more expensive than Philly, but cheaper than the NYC hotel parking garage and still cheaper than two train tickets to NYC plus cab fare to the pier) and drove about 30 ft past the cashier's booth to the security station. Turned off the engine, popped the trunk and let the bomb-sniffing dogs check out the car. Agreed not to take any photos from the rooftop parking lot (why?) and explained that my luggage was already at the front door. Parked the car and headed down to the middle level to find Jeff.

Friendly tip: you can just drive up with all your luggage and there are porters in the parking lot who will take it from you up there. Jeff had to wait quite a while to get a porter to take the bags at the front door to the pier.

Security screening and check in were a breeze. It was probably a few minutes before 11:00 at this point and there was no one in line. Well, maybe a couple, but there were plenty of TSA employees and we just walked right up and had our carry on bags x-rayed and went through the metal detectors and up to check in line. There were more Carnival employees at the desk than there were passengers in line at this point, so we didn't wait at all. Handed over our Fun Passes and passports and got our Sign and Sail cards/room keys and were directed to the general seating area by 11:05. We were boarding group #4.

Almost immediately after we sat down, they started boarding the single wedding party on board, complete with the bride rushing up the pier in her jeans, heels and veil, then the special assistance passengers, followed by group #1. There were maybe 3 or 4 minutes between groups and we were called about 11:15 to board.

The gangway left a lot to be desired. Kinda rusty and narrow, but didn't feel unsafe. Looked like they brought the passengers using wheelchairs, walkers, canes, etc in on a different gangway which was a good thing because the main gangway was too narrow for most wheelchairs. Entered into the 3rd deck lobby, had our photos taken and imprinted into the S&S card and headed for Guest Services to put some money on the account. Then headed up to the Lido deck for lunch and drinks!

So 30 minutes after arriving at the pier, here's Jeff enjoying his Fun Ship Special. Hey, it was noon somewhere!