NYC/NCL Joy - First Truly Solo Vacation - NYC - Bermuda - DC - October 11

It's cruise day and I was ready to go before 6:00 a.m. so I showered, dressed, and went for a walk to see if I could find my cruise ship before returning back to the hotel for breakfast.

She has arrived!

Intrepid Museum - Looks like if I had a little more time I could have toured this aircraft carrier which would have been interesting!

Fueling up

This is the entrance to the pier and where I would later drop off my luggage.

The sun was rising which made for beautiful pastel skies.

This gothic looking church next to a modern skyscraper caught my eye as I walked back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel, I found some breakfast, did a little blogging, and then packed up all my things to head over to the pier.  I arrived about 10:25 a.m.  My check-in window was 10-10:30.  There was a Haven line for security and then once through security, I walked the length of the pier building to the far end where the Haven check in was.  With only a couple people in line and three agents, I was quickly checking in.  They asked a few questions about where my husband was and why he wasn't coming so I had a chance to briefly tell my story and got some really great support and good humor from the agents.

A flashy car that passed on my walk to the pier

By about 10:55 a.m., they started boarding the Haven.  They boarded us in groups by our muster station so they could walk us directly to our muster station and then up to the Haven.  I was group D.  It was a bit chaotic finding our muster station as we were told different things by different people and I don't know where the butler went that was supposed to be escorting us.  I guess I shouldn't have assumed the butler would just take us directly there and looked it up myself.  But we eventually found our way and then headed up to the Haven where we got conflicting information that our rooms were ready when they indeed were not.

Regardless, I did a little exploring and then found my way to the Haven Restaurant where I had a lovely meal with a view of New York City in the background.

A table for one - maybe by the end of the trip, I'll be used to this.  It's not that I haven't eaten alone before.  I never minded spending time with myself but it was always with the chance to later reunite with my husband and share the experience with him.

Israeli Couscous Salad

Grilled Salmon

Lemon Sorbet - it had a nice tart lemon flavor to it!

Here's a glimpse of the Speedway on board - a go-kart track

I found some comfy, shady seats up on the Haven deck

At 2:25 p.m., they announced cabins on decks 14 and 15 were ready - yay!  They had originally estimated 3:00 p.m. so this felt like a pleasant surprise.  It wasn't long before they started announcing the other decks as well.

I made my way to my cabin and what a cabin it is!  I'm staying in a Haven Penthouse Suite which is one of the lower level suites within NCL's Haven.  It is not located in Haven proper, not all Haven cabins are located within the courtyard and enclosed Haven area.  But that's fine.  I don't mind the walk and maybe I'll get out and explore the rest of this ship more this way (or maybe not).

What a closet!  

I'm ready for sail away!  However, a little after 4pm when we were supposed to sail away, the Captain announced that we were waiting for some safety officers with a TBD arrival time.  He implied we could be delayed by a couple hours although assured us that it would not affect our arrival in Bermuda.  I guess I'll just sit here for a while longer.  The weather is perfect and the view is great!

Sail away was timed perfectly with golden hour making the views spectacular!

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

At dinner, there was a small wait and so the hostess asked for my room card to put me on a wait list. I pulled my key card out of my bra and she and the other hostess laughed as they commented on my safe spot and how I must be from the Philippines. Storing stuff in your bra is likely a cross-culture phenomenon. It was kind of a neat connection with other women around the world.

I then went down to the bar on the deck below to order a drink and as soon as my drink was ready, one of the hostess staff came down to get me.

The food in the Haven Restaurant has been really good. I had trout this night which was cooked perfectly.

Ahi Tuna Tataki - I really enjoyed this appetizer although it was a bit spicy.  I ordered it a couple different nights.

After dinner, I went looking for the Latin Music on deck 8 but found it way too loud and busy. I walked through the shops but they also were busy and the sales people were like hawks. One commented on the quality of my watch, I imagine to try and sell me another. I quickly made my way out of there and went up to the cabin to relax and go to bed early. I was a bit disappointed the butler hadn’t turned down my cabin but exhaustion quickly overcame that disappointment.