MANHATTAN! MANHATTAN!

 The view from the Queen Mary 2 on arrival morning.

Checking-in and getting off a cruise ship are always hassles.  Not so bad this time, but why did the ship have to port in Brooklyn, a long ride into town?

• Manhattan has the longest running cruise port in the U.S.
• The Titanic was supposed to dock at Chelsea Piers, now a sports/entertainment complex.
• In 1935 piers 88, 90, 92 and 94 were added.
• Piers 92 and 94 were later sold.
• On your GPS, 88 and 90 are at 711, 12th Avenue, New York, NY.
• 
  Norwegian Cruise Line uses these two piers the year around.
• Also seasonally utilized by Carnival, Crystal,  Holland, Princess, Disney, Aida, Costa, Regent Seven Seas and CUNARD.
• In the early 2000s, additional home ports were added:  Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Brooklyn, NY.
• The consensus is that the Queen Mary 2 is docked in Brooklyn because it is too long.

You can hardly see him, but my blue-bar pigeon welcomed me to New York.

And finally, we are in the USA.

Views of Manhattan.

This art piece is located at the street level of that tower shown above.

A seniors' community.

A Norwegian liner was at Pier 88,

We then went down 7th Avenue to the Marriott Marquis, which has almost 2000 rooms.

The half-price ticket office is located across the street from my hotel.  Note that our room has the view of the New Year's Eve falling of the ball.  

Only walked 2390 steps today,

Yesterday, I said LIFE IS GOOD!  Actually, life at the Marriott Marquis is even better.  It is wonderful.

Today we plan to take the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus, which normally would cost around $80/person.  For some reason, though, the Marriott Marquis offers free tickets to people who stay here.  This vehicle passes by all the tourists spots, like World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Empire State Building, etc.  Also anticipating the week, we have lunch reservation on Tuesday at Le Bernardin, said to be the best restaurant in the city, and a short walk from our hotel.

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