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The week after I disembarked the Caribbean Princess, the ship sailed North to a bunch of places, some of which I had been to before, some of which I hadn’t, all of which I would like to visit more than the Caribbean Islands I had been frequenting for the last year and a half. Since I was planning on coming to New York during my vacation anyway, I thought it would be fun to be there when the ship was there so I could see some people perhaps for the last time again. When Andi couldn’t get the day off, my plan changed from playing with my ship friends in New York, to getting on the visitor list and visiting the ship while it was docked.
I set my alarm for 6:45 in the morning, knowing it would take me a couple of hours to get from the top of Manhattan, where I’m staying, to Brooklyn, where the ship is docked. Google Maps didn’t acknowledge the ferry that Andi recommended I take over to Brooklyn, so I did some online research, downloaded the ferry app and planned on figuring out all that when I got down there. I picked up an egg and cheese sandwich on a roll along with an iced coffee (two deli delicacies that don’t taste the same as they do in New York City) and found my way to the Ferry Terminal where I waited for the Ferry to come.
Just kidding. The one I rode is pictured below.
People got off the ferry. The people going to Astoria were directed to their ferry. The lady in front of me threw a little tantrum and I learned that there had been a mechanical issue with our ferry and one of the runs to Brooklyn had been cancelled. So I listened to more Podcasts. Then I looked over and realized that I could see the ship!
I posted a picture on Facebook, and later learned that my friend Ashleigh was in the gym, saw my post and waved back at me!
Finally our ferry came and I found a seat on the open upper level.
It was amazing. I could see three bridges to my right. To my left was the Statue of Liberty. In front of me was my city. I realized that I had moved to New York just about 18 years ago to the day. I was 18. It was half of my lifetime ago, but the 5 years I lived in New York seemed like they deserved a longer percentage of my experience. I could see the building with the green roof that used to sit between the twin towers. I remember the guide telling us that it was once the tallest building in New York, and there it was between the two tallest buildings in New York. Four days later the towers collapsed. Now I could see the Freedom tower built in their honor, as well as the Empire State Building. One of my favorite things in New York is seeing the Empire State Building from different parts of the city. Sometimes it blends into the other buildings around it, looking just about as tall as its neighbors, and sometimes it rises up, like a middle finger or a sore thumb… no. Those analogies aren’t quite right. It rises up… obviously much taller than the other buildings.
The Ferry ride was short and delightful, and it docked right next to the ship. I found the Crew and Visitor Entrance, gave them my name and was promptly told that it was not on the list. They went to go investigate and I started to worry that this was a bad idea. Had I come all the way down here just to turn around and go back? I saw some familiar faces. Crew members who were returning from vacation waiting to get on board, change into their uniforms and go back to work. I was happy I was still on vacation. A car honked at me. It was Jill! She was on vacation! What was she doing here? She had been on the ship for 3 days visiting people. She went to go circle the parking lot and I saw her personalized plates with her name on them.
The lady guard came out and said I had to wait until there was a zero count before I could go on (all passengers had to disembark from the last cruise, and then they would start to let people on for the next one. Even the people staying on had to get off the ship, go through immigration and then re-board), and that would be in about an hour, so I should go away and come back. That’s okay. I had my book. Now I was worried that I’d get on board and be in the way and end up spending an hour on the ship after it taking 4 hours to get there. I found some shade and read my book. Then the crew members that were disembarking started to come out. The cast of the Sky Princess (the newest ship that will launch in October. My mom and Ron Voyage will be on there for the first couple of months) had been on the Caribbean rehearsing for 2 weeks and were now getting off for a little break before joining the Sky in Europe. I got to see so many people I wouldn’t have seen if things had gone the way I’d planned them! Dancers and singers I knew from before, a guy I met the night before I joined the Caribbean the first time (we had quite an adventure getting a hotel room after the one Princess booked had apparently not been booked), Leo from the bridge who was taking a break from ships to go to school, bartenders and photographers who I knew by face if not by name. I spent half an hour smiling and hugging and basking in the serendipity of seeing people you didn’t expect to see.
Finally they let me on the ship. The Security Officer and the gangway guys recognized me and let me go unescorted. I climbed the stairs to the piazza and was momentarily disoriented. A place that had been so familiar that I could practically navigate with my eyes closed was just slightly foreign. I ran into Mike, Cruise Staff from January to May and now a Forward Planner. Or an Ocean Entertainment Director? The position is so new, I’m not sure he has a title yet. And then I found Andi. He was on Embarks so I followed him around as we paced the empty ship and he welcomed guests and answered their questions. It was hard not to jump in and answer their questions.
We slowly wandered around the public areas and caught up. It was so surreal to see two of my worlds at the same time. The interior of the ship I’d lived on for a year and a half. The ceilings seemed lower than I remembered. (Then I remembered feeling the same way when I came back from vacation. Apparently I get used to the high ceilings in real life.). But then there was New York City outside. My other world. The Statue of Liberty and the skyline.
As we wandered, I would grin as I watched familiar faces realize that my presence was out of place. I got to see my friend Kim, from production, who I didn’t get enough time with on board. I realized that we’d worked together for about the same amount of time that I’d been away! It felt like we’d known each other longer than that.
Oh, and of course, Jan Schwartz, President of Princess, and Arnold Donald, the, like, most important guy in the Carnival Corporation, were on board. I laughed. As the first fully Medallion Class ship in the fleet, the Caribbean Princess was always under a microscope. They threw all the new projects on the Caribbean first to see if they would work, and they would be in touch to see how the projects were going. I met so many VIPs, that new Cruise Directors would come on and get all nervous, and we’d have a meeting that went something like ‘keep doing what you’re doing because you do a really good job. But don’t mess up because the VIPs are on board and we don’t want something stupid to happen while they’re here.’ This happened so often that I asked if we could be told when we didn’t have VIPs on board so we could relax. That never happened. Jan and Arnold had been on the ship a few times before, and everyone still thought it was a big deal. I had coffee with Jan once (and other people who signed up to have coffee with her). She was smaller than I imagined, but she was really nice.
We stalked them as we walked through the halls. I clandestinely took this picture through the bars behind the sofa. At one point I smiled at Jan and she smiled back, but I didn’t go say hi. She was busy.
So after all the drama of the morning, I ended up having an amazing day. It was rejuvenating to hang out with my second-half-of-my-second-contract-best-friend and get all the gossip and do all the catching up that can’t be communicated on Facebook Messenger. It was so much fun to see so many people I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was nice to be told I was missed, and begged to get a uniform and stay. But the best part was reconnecting with amazing people and realizing how many friendships I’d formed in a relatively short time. And then, once again, I said goodbye to the Caribbean Princess.
