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I love this. I work across the street from Madison Square Garden  and worked in Times Square before that and never have been. I go nowhere. lol. Occasionally I'll go in for a show but only when a friend wants to drive in. 

I love this. I work across the street from Madison Square Garden  and worked in Times Square before that and never have been. I go nowhere. lol. Occasionally I'll go in for a show but only when a friend wants to drive in. 

NYPL

You are getting the best ever weather today. It's gorgeous. Low humidity. Breeze. Welcome to NY (NJ too). NYC doesn't get a lot of great weather. 3 days of spring right into summer. (i'm exaggerating but not far off). Summer is a boil and smelly and gross but today, you've got a good one. 

You are getting the best ever weather today. It's gorgeous. Low humidity. Breeze. Welcome to NY (NJ too). NYC doesn't get a lot of great weather. 3 days of spring right into summer. (i'm exaggerating but not far off). Summer is a boil and smelly and gross but today, you've got a good one. 

Just landed!
 

You are getting the best ever weather today. It's gorgeous. Low humidity. Breeze. Welcome to NY (NJ too). NYC doesn't get a lot of great weather. 3 days of spring right into summer. (i'm exaggerating but not far off). Summer is a boil and smelly and gross but today, you've got a good one. 

Oh, the freeloaders are on board too 😂

We are on board! PTL lol

Today’s travelling essentials:

Good morning! Uneventful travel to DTW this morning. No waits anywhere, except when we got to security at McNamara terminal. They moved us to the international area to go through security. That was a first for us. Just had a quick meal at McDonald’s so the freeloaders don’t starve. Now having a coffee and trying to wake up. Flight looks good so far 🤞
 

Yeah, less than an hour and a half by plane. I wish Royal had more varied itineraries from Cape Liberty. It would make us consider cruises from there more often. 

In a surprising twist of events....Hubby actually packed everything last night! lol
Really, I think it's because I was on his case so bad. He had to run an office meeting this morning and he has another phone meeting after work tonight. I told him he better not be trying to pack in the room while I am trying to go to bed early. Our flight is at 10:00 am tomorrow. With a departure time like that, we don't stay overnight at DTW. We just drive over around 6:00 am. That means I will be up pretty early tomorrow morning.

I work in NYC and rarely go in for fun but when I do my favorite thing is to have no plans. We always find some hole in the wall for food and have never been disappointed. Can't wait to find out where you end up!
 
Have a safe flight and looking forward to your cruise posts!

Stop rubbing it in!! lol
We have "some" plans. But because we (or at least I am) are still traumatized from our last flight, I refuse to get too invested into any of those plans until we actually land tomorrow.
We were talking about it as a family and we are so blessed that we have been to NYC with the girls a few times now that they have seen all the major things there. But this might be our last time in NYC with D17 for quite a while so we pretty much let her pick. Even then, there is nowhere that is really pressing because we have had so many opportunities already. Such a blessing.

I work in NYC and rarely go in for fun but when I do my favorite thing is to have no plans. We always find some hole in the wall for food and have never been disappointed. Can't wait to find out where you end up!
 
Have a safe flight and looking forward to your cruise posts!

I work in NYC and rarely go in for fun but when I do my favorite thing is to have no plans. We always find some hole in the wall for food and have never been disappointed. Can't wait to find out where you end up!
 
Have a safe flight and looking forward to your cruise posts!

I work in NYC and rarely go in for fun but when I do my favorite thing is to have no plans. We always find some hole in the wall for food and have never been disappointed. Can't wait to find out where you end up!
 
Have a safe flight and looking forward to your cruise posts!

I work in NYC and rarely go in for fun but when I do my favorite thing is to have no plans. We always find some hole in the wall for food and have never been disappointed. Can't wait to find out where you end up!
 
Have a safe flight and looking forward to your cruise posts!

We always do when we are together ❤️
I am sure there will be some 😂

I love me an aft cabin. I also think anytime there is more than 3 people a second bathroom is needed.......especially if the 3rd or 4th person is a woman/teenager. 
I didn't think it was strange as the 1br AS is sky class too, but meh. I wasn't going to bid on that one, because I worried about the noise. 

Who’s Going?
Me, Hubby, D17, D15
Flight
Delta from DTW-EWR; booked through Air2Sea again. We really could have gone to EWR or LGA, the schedule was similar, but flying to EWR was a bit cheaper so we went with that. In addition, I already have our driving route mapped out should we need to drive ourselves to Cape Liberty. 😬
Pre-Cruise Stay
For the longest time, I had two hotels booked for this trip. Because we are only flying in one day prior to the cruise, we were not sure if it was worth it to do our usual stay in Manhattan or try out Jersey City instead. The girls and I tossed around both ideas for quite some time and in the end, because D17 loves NYC so much, even half a day there is better than no days there. So, we are back at our usual place in NYC, the Intercontinental Times Square.
Itinerary
24 AUG CAPE LIBERTY, NJ
25 AUG CRUISING
26 AUG BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
27 AUG PORTLAND, MAINE
28 AUG BAR HARBOR, MAINE 
29 AUG SAINT JOHN, NB
30 AUG CRUISING
31 AUG HALIFAX, NS
01 SEP CRUISING
02 SEP CAPE LIBERTY, NJ
Cabin
Getting ready to check out the aft views on a Freedom class ship. Without a doubt, it will be very different than the aft views on Oasis class. And just for fun, I could not help myself, I did put in some minimum bids for Royal Up but I am not going to hold my breath. We are already happy with our cabin, there are no extra perks on Freedom class ships even if we did win the RU.
Pre-Cruise thoughts
-        Hubby and the girls are super excited. We are for the most part, going back to the basics on this one. No drink packages, no dining packages, no CK on Liberty. It’s going to be MDR and WJ all the way. Because we plan to spend most of the port days on land, it might even be WJ most of the way. Hubby is super excited!
-        It is somewhat amusing because Hubby and both girls are hoping that I go back to the basics and end up liking it. On the other hand, I am most looking forward to how the three of them do without what they have gotten used to. If the last few days have been any indication, it’s going be amusing for me. They have already had endless arguments about how they will share a VOOM package lol. One kid just asked me yesterday how she can do laundry on the ship. At least I can admit that I have fallen into the deep, dark, suite hole, unlike some others lol
-        One thing I did purchase was the Evian water package. We need our water in the cabin. Let’s hope it’s Evian that shows up.
-        Once again, in the spirit of a live blog, please do not hesitate to ask any questions.  I will do my best to find out whatever I can for you.
-        When responding to a post with a series of pictures, please do not include the pictures in your reply.  It just makes for easier scrolling.
-        Lastly, I will try to post videos and stories on Instagram.  You can follow me @lovetocruise2002

I am glad you made it home safely and normal.
I am also jealous you are cruising in only 24 days, its 77 for me and then three in a row for Jan, after which I have nothing on the books.😨🥹

Yes. My Bucket Year.

Next year we have seven cruises. I can’t wait. From Freedom to Utopia.