New York State of Mind....
As we sailed into New York Harbor at 5:00am this morning I didn't know how chaotic and precious this day would be. Whenever working on a cruise liner that has most of its itinerary outside of the United States, a U.S. port is a valuable day for a U.S. citizen. It's a day of memories, phone calls, familiarity, family, and meeting friends. There's no sightseeing involved after all the places I've lived in and even seen in America. After all according to mapbuddy.com I've seen 29% of the world so far (of course this is a U.S. based sight and at least 10% of that figure are places I've seen in the U.S.). As much as I wanted to phone everyone today though, I couldn't because of the plan I chose to go on for cell service. It's actually more beneficial for me to call from the ship or from a calling card than from my cell. I still made the connections I needed to make for NYC today and I will do more extensive calling from the familiar and busy calling station in Ft. Lauderdale.
Today's venture started out early as I said before. I was up bright and early just before the sun came up at 5:00am. I went upstairs to grab a coffee and in the distance I could see the Verizzano Bridge connecting Long Island to Staten Island. I knew I had more time before we approached so I took a quick rinse and headed upstairs just as we were sailing under. That was a sight to see as we crossed over the threshold from the Atlantic Ocean into NY Harbor underneath one of the many bridges connecting the island networks of the city. The wind was brutal as we sailed in and I had my winter clothing and coat on while outside. The sun started rising over Long Island as we turned the corner and Long Island blocked the western seaboard. We got closer and closer to the New York skyline. We came in from the south so we were headed for the Wall Street region and the Statue of Liberty. She was on our port side as we came in. The wind was strong and cold, but I braved it until we were right up along side of her. There she was in all her glory holding her book and flame as we passed by as so many immigrants past have done coming into this country to find opportunity. Not moments after we passed our lady we sailed by Ellis Island where a ship in the past would normally dock to process all of its incoming passengers for immigration. My understanding is that enough would come through at one time that they had to stay on the island for long periods of time while they were processed for entry into the United States. We sailed onward though to our locale at the 92nd Street pier on 12th Avenue and 52nd Street. We tied our mooring lines and the chaotic shuffle began. Immigration and clearance took nearly 4 hours to complete before crew were allowed to go ashore. We were also told we had to be back on board a whole hour earlier than expected. Boo. I got off the ship and met one of my friends who just happened to have the day off work. All throughout the day I was meeting friends in the city coming in for a lunch or just a short visit. It was great. I'd get a phone call here and there. I wish I could've seen and talked to everyone, but its just not possible in the short amount of time I had on land for this visit. I did get to one of my favorite local restaurants in town. Only the best Thai food in the city, I believe, and that's Pam's Real Thai on 49th and 9th. That is the original old location and I was informed today that there was now a new locale on 47th that I was unaware of. Pam's is spreading out. Other good eats found by other cast and recommended by my local friends are 44 1/2 on 10th Avenue near 43rd Street and Arriba Arriba on 9th Avenue. We also visited the Coffee Pot, which I highly recommend over Starbucks only to support the small coffee vendor (although Starbucks provides many jobs and health insurance for some of my friends). The day ended sadly as I said goodbye to friends on the pier and then to one of my friends who was able to take time out for the ship's tour. He didn't get the tour though since I found out I was too late to bring him on board for security clearance. The whole day was nice and warm with sunny skies. Who could ask for a more beautiful day?
The sail away was exciting, but not as thrilling. I wished we had more time to spend ashore in this port. However, I heard a rumor that it cost the company about $80,000 to port here today in the timeframe we had. Whoa! Talk about dropping cash. On a completely different subject I heard it also costs roughly $140,000 for the ship to transit the Panama Canal. It takes quite a lot of money to port in these places. Whoa. I got to see us pull out of NY Harbor and past Battery Park before I had to go inside for a rehearsal. Now we are in the open water again and heading for Florida.
Today's venture started out early as I said before. I was up bright and early just before the sun came up at 5:00am. I went upstairs to grab a coffee and in the distance I could see the Verizzano Bridge connecting Long Island to Staten Island. I knew I had more time before we approached so I took a quick rinse and headed upstairs just as we were sailing under. That was a sight to see as we crossed over the threshold from the Atlantic Ocean into NY Harbor underneath one of the many bridges connecting the island networks of the city. The wind was brutal as we sailed in and I had my winter clothing and coat on while outside. The sun started rising over Long Island as we turned the corner and Long Island blocked the western seaboard. We got closer and closer to the New York skyline. We came in from the south so we were headed for the Wall Street region and the Statue of Liberty. She was on our port side as we came in. The wind was strong and cold, but I braved it until we were right up along side of her. There she was in all her glory holding her book and flame as we passed by as so many immigrants past have done coming into this country to find opportunity. Not moments after we passed our lady we sailed by Ellis Island where a ship in the past would normally dock to process all of its incoming passengers for immigration. My understanding is that enough would come through at one time that they had to stay on the island for long periods of time while they were processed for entry into the United States. We sailed onward though to our locale at the 92nd Street pier on 12th Avenue and 52nd Street. We tied our mooring lines and the chaotic shuffle began. Immigration and clearance took nearly 4 hours to complete before crew were allowed to go ashore. We were also told we had to be back on board a whole hour earlier than expected. Boo. I got off the ship and met one of my friends who just happened to have the day off work. All throughout the day I was meeting friends in the city coming in for a lunch or just a short visit. It was great. I'd get a phone call here and there. I wish I could've seen and talked to everyone, but its just not possible in the short amount of time I had on land for this visit. I did get to one of my favorite local restaurants in town. Only the best Thai food in the city, I believe, and that's Pam's Real Thai on 49th and 9th. That is the original old location and I was informed today that there was now a new locale on 47th that I was unaware of. Pam's is spreading out. Other good eats found by other cast and recommended by my local friends are 44 1/2 on 10th Avenue near 43rd Street and Arriba Arriba on 9th Avenue. We also visited the Coffee Pot, which I highly recommend over Starbucks only to support the small coffee vendor (although Starbucks provides many jobs and health insurance for some of my friends). The day ended sadly as I said goodbye to friends on the pier and then to one of my friends who was able to take time out for the ship's tour. He didn't get the tour though since I found out I was too late to bring him on board for security clearance. The whole day was nice and warm with sunny skies. Who could ask for a more beautiful day?
The sail away was exciting, but not as thrilling. I wished we had more time to spend ashore in this port. However, I heard a rumor that it cost the company about $80,000 to port here today in the timeframe we had. Whoa! Talk about dropping cash. On a completely different subject I heard it also costs roughly $140,000 for the ship to transit the Panama Canal. It takes quite a lot of money to port in these places. Whoa. I got to see us pull out of NY Harbor and past Battery Park before I had to go inside for a rehearsal. Now we are in the open water again and heading for Florida.
posted by Chris | 8:01 PM
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