Thursday, 13 September 2012

Final Day at Sea

I have just returned from the “disembarkation information session” in the Eurodam’s two-level theatre, which is a real reminder that the cruise is coming to an end.  We are scheduled to sail under the Verrazano Bridge at 5:30 am tomorrow morning and to pass the statue of liberty at 6:00.  Because this is the Eurodam’s first visit to an American port in over four months, the customs and immigration officials will be doing a major check of the ship before anyone is allowed to disembark.  So even though we will be at the pier by 7 am, it will be a while after that before disembarkation actually starts.  Each passenger receives a specific disembarkation time and the ship’s crew is very diligent in making sure everyone follows the rules.  I am set to leave the ship at 10 am, which means I will have time for a nice breakfast and a nap after getting up early to capture our entrance into New York harbor.

In my last posting I mentioned that although the food is quite good, some of the standards of classic shipboard cuisine seem to be fading.  Well, wouldn’t you know, that very night the menu served up duck pate, escargot, and two giant lobster tails!  And the next night brought the late-night chocolate extravaganza.  Perhaps tonight we will have the requisite parade of Baked Alaska.

St John’s, Newfoundland, the port on the eastern edge of Canada that we skipped, was really battered by hurricane winds and floods.  The captain made a wise choice to take a course through the channel that runs on the northwestern side of that Island and separates Labrador from Newfoundland (check your maps!).  Instead of coming around the eastern and southern sides of Newfoundland Island into the Atlantic (and the worst of the storms), we took a course  through the Gulf of St Lawrence and the Cabot Strait down to the southern side of Nova Scotia and into Halifax, where we arrived one day ahead of schedule.  Although there was lots of rain during those two sailing days, the winds were calm and the ride was quite comfortable.

We arrived in Halifax on Tuesday at noon to bright sunshine, which continues to be with us as we sail to New York.

Tuesday and Wednesday in Halifax