Thursday August 4, 11:58am, NYC Port of New York, cruise ship terminal
So today we set sail from NYC to Canada. The weather is perfect, at about 80 degrees.

The secret to a cruise embarkation is to get there about an hour earlier than it says on the brochure. That way, you avoid the super-long lines and longer wait times. We have ported out of San Juan, New Orleans, and Miami, with this being our first try out of NYC. The port here is about a $10 (incl tip) cab ride from Times Square. Sometimed the cabbies will pass you up because they know it’s a short fare. We got lucky and had a nice guy.

The boarding time for this cruise was noon – 3:30pm, so we got here at about 11:20. We waited to check in for about 3 minutes, and we sat in the pre-board area for about 20 before we boarded the ship. Not bad. Last time, in San Juan it took us about 15 minutes to go through everything, but we were VIP’s because we had a suite. This is another secret to cruising, with Carnival anyway.

On Carnival you are considered a platinum VIP once you sail 10 times, no matter what type of ship, length of cruise, or destination. Also, you get VIP status for booking a suite or above. VIP status gives you several other benefits, too, so it’s worth it.

Today, it took us about 30 minutes to get through security, check in, and get on the ship. Way good!

We will be at sail for two days, then we will land in St. John,NB. We have not been to Canada before, so this should be fun.

So, we wish everyone back on land a nice week For us, it’s bon voyage!