Day 15 Panama & Carribean Cruise

Day 15 New York City

The QM2 docked at the Brooklyn Cruise terminal at 6AM this morning, but we weren’t awake to see it – we were knackered and fast asleep in our cabin. We finally rolled out of bed at 7:30AM, packed up our hand luggage and headed out to the buffet for a final chow down. Our designated departure time from the ship was 10AM, but we had to be out of the cabin by 8:30AM so we found a quite spot in the Library and settled down for our wait. Even though we are sad to be leaving the ship we are also looking forward to 3 nights in Manhattan before we return home.

After several announcements it became apparent that departures were running 45 minutes late; I began to worry that we would be late for our pre-ordered car – and end up paying waiting fees. However, Sandra went to the Purser’s desk and explained the situation; this resulted in us getting an escorted exit off the ship – which was very nice; a snide comment from one person in line was soon silenced by Sandra and a minor riot was avoided. We picked up our baggage and were through the customs check by 10:45AM.

Our van arrived and we were whisked off to our hotel in Manhattan; the Waldorf-Astoria. This hotel is fancy (that’s an understatement); we passed through a massive ornate vestibule and into an equally large columned lobby area. It was only noon, so we had to haggle a bit with the desk clerk to free up a room for us – not really a problem.

We have a beautiful corner room on the 11th floor (1130); doorbell, high ceilings, period furnishing, large screen TV and large bathroom – by mid-town Manhattan standards this is a large room.

Mike and Kat joined us and we headed out to find somewhere to eat lunch; after all we are coming down from the cruise ship induced food high – and we need our fix! After checking with the concierge about a real NY deli we were directed to the Carnegie Deli at 55th and 7th; 5 blocks up Park Avenue, turn left the about another 10 blocks. We decided to walk, trying to burn off some of those extra cruise pounds. It was raining a bit, but not too cold; still, by the time we got there we were ready to get warm and eat.

Carnegie Deli did not disappoint; we were fortunate to get straight in without waiting – even though it was busy. Eating at this deli is a total experience; massive sandwiches, rowdy atmosphere and a healthy dose of abuse from the server. Both rooms of the deli have walls that are packed with signed photographs of just about every famous person you could imagine.

Our server, Wayne, was the star employee and he had a standard routine that he worked on first-time customers to help you speedily get though the daunting menu. A series of movie-shorts was playing on a large screen at the back of the room; I soon realized that our server Wally was the star of the show – performing his own song and dance routines and black n white sketches (all very well done). Our food arrived; Sandra and I had decided to spilt a corned beef sandwich – it was outstanding and a struggle to get through. Mike ordered a Woody Allen sandwich and when it came he almost fell off the chair; there was enough meat on the thing to feed 6 people – I kid you not! Wayne would not let us leave without ordering cheesecake – we broke down and let him bring us 1 piece, which turned out to be more than enough for 4! A great experience, the total for 4 with sandwiches, drinks, slaw, onion rings (excellent), cheesecake, coffee and abuse was $111 + tip.

We hopped in a taxi and headed for the Guggenheim Museum, about 10 minutes north. The architecture of the Guggenheim is unbelievable; it’s like a big spiral, similar to a snail shell. We paid out $18 entry fee and headed is; almost the entire exhibit was Kandinski the abstract artist – these are the kind of paintings you have to stare at for 15 minutes then walk away just as confused as you were 15 minutes ago (at least this is how they appear to me). One consolation was a side gallery that showed some great impressionist paintings. The lowlight for me was another side gallery featuring an installation by a new “up and coming” artist; the very large white room was completely empty other than a big black dried liquid stain on the floor along with a burned out light bulb attached to a cord plugged into an outlet in the floor. Amazing. One lady nearby asked the guard assigned to the room “does it light up?” – being nice to her the guard replied “it used to”. I appreciate that there are people who appreciate this stuff; as hard as I try I just don’t get it. Well at least the building was spectacular.

We hopped in a taxi and return to oasis that is the Waldorf. Later in the evening we took a stroll to Time Square, about 10 minutes away. The square has changed quite a bit (for the better) since our last visit; the center section has become pedestrian-only, tables and chairs are set up and the ticket booth has a large official structures. The lights in Time Square are amazing; walking past one particularly large screen I think I could feel heat coming from it. We took a quick shifty up and down the square and then fell into an Irish bar in a side street; we weren’t hungry since we were still trying to digest the lunch time sandwiches, so it was Guinness and cocktails!

We were really pretty merry by the time we started to walk back to the hotel; it was cold so we were all buttoned up tight, but it had stopped raining. We detoured past the Rockefeller Center and checked out the ice rink and other Christmas installations – including a gigantic tree which we’ve heard is to be lit tomorrow night. There was also a really good light and music installation on the side of the Saks building. We made it safely back to the hotel and stumbled into bed.