Cruising with Friends to Genoa, Italy

So we’re enjoying our winter stay down in the Florida Keys, when we get an e-mail from our Australian friends, Keith and Sheila.

Reunited at the condo!

We had cruised with them four years ago when we did our Australia/New Zealand cruise, and they picked us up when the ship docked in Brisbane and took us to their home for a delightful day. They wanted to know if we were going to be anywhere near Miami the first part of March so that we could meet up when they flew into Miami for a repositioning cruise to Genoa, Italy. Our Key’s rental was only through the end of February, but having missed other opportunities to travel again with them, we checked out the itinerary and decided there were some new places worth visiting, and suggested that we cruise with them.

Waiting for the sunset in Mallory Square

They loved the idea, so we jumped in.

Planning to arrive 3 days prior to the cruise, we wanted to show them the Florida Keys, and particularly the some of the attractions in Key West. We rented an ideally-located, two-bedroom condo on Key West’s waterfront, picked them up at the airport, and drove them to Key West where we luxuriated in this tropical setting until it was time to board the ship.

Keith's next building project!

While we spent most of our time relaxing and catching up with each other’s lives, we did get to learn about treasure diving at the Mel Fisher Museum (highly recommended), and made the obligatory trek to Mallory Square for what would be a clouded sunset, before returning to the condo where everyone dined on Capt. Larry’s Alfredo chicken pasta.Visits to the Butterfly Museum, the Southernmost Point, and Ernest Hemingway’s house consumed most of day two, but Sheila and Jane still managed to find time for shopping the tourist traps, and we all enjoyed an authentic Cuban lunch (something that’s not Australian, even though kangaroo might be a good substitute for Cuban pork!). That night, Keith commanded the “barbie” to produce an absolutely delicious steak dinner. On embarkation day, we had a beautiful drive up through the Key and another Cuban lunch, before we boarded for our cruise.

At the Butterfly House

Leaving Miami, we spent the next two days at sea cruising to our first port of call, New York City, exploring the ship, and reintroducing ourselves to our arch nemesis—the cruise line buffet. The cruise was warm and smooth until we got into the North Atlantic where the winds picked up, the seas got choppy, and the temperature plummeted.

The Southernmost Point

Nearing New York, the captain announced that we would pick up our pilot around 0500 and pass by the Statue of Liberty around 0700, just as morning twilight would be appearing. We invited Keith and Sheila to our room to view our entrance into New York Harbor.

At Hemingway's House

They arrived shortly before we passed under the Verazzano Bridge, and we got to pass under this bridge for a second time—the first being on our Great Loop boat trip in 2011. Once again we passed “Lady Liberty” and Ellis Island, and could have seen the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan had we gone to the other side of the ship. 

Passing under the Verazanno Bridge

We docked at Pier 90 which put us at 50^th street and a 20-minute walk from Times Square and Broadway. It could not have worked out better!

After a late breakfast, we struck out for Times Square.

Passing 'Lady Liberty'

It was Sunday and St. Patrick’s Day, but the parade, which NYC is famous for, ran the day before, so we had a St. Paddy’s crowd without the headaches. On our way to the square, we found the theater where we had tickets to an afternoon matinee.

The Ambassador Theater

We absorbed the visual LED displays in the square before going through the M&M’s store, and then had some lunch at a local pizzeria. Arriving at the Ambassador Theater, an older, smaller theater, we settled in for our show while Jane looked for some boater friends’ children who were also supposed to be at this performance, but to no avail.

The sights of Times Square

We all immensely enjoyed the show and recapped the performance on our walk back to the ship, before finishing our evening with a great dinner.

The next day was our last in the city and we faced an 1800 departure sailing. So that Keith and Sheila could see most of the highlights the city offered, we decided to do a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. 

NYC skyline

Leaving the ship after breakfast, we bought our tickets and boarded our bus. We had our choice and time to do two loops, and decided to start with the uptown loop. This loop took us past Central Park, the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, South Central Park, and Columbus Circle.

Trump Tower

Switching to the downtown loop, we saw the Empire State Building, Greenwich Village, the World Trade Center, NoHo, SoHo and Little Italy, Chinatown, and Grand Central Terminal. Together we toured NYC for about 5 hours, and the Aussies thought they had ‘seen it all.’ Back onboard, we were leaving the dock when we glanced up the river and recognized the 79^th Street Marina we had stayed in for 5 days when we did the loop.
We were at the ship’s nighttime show as we passed under the Verazzano Bridge for our third time!