Ultimate World Cruise: New York Awaits!

Day 16/22 – Arriving to New York and the end of the Round the World Trip 2024

I had had the chance to travel to 10 countries in 44 days on this Round the World Trip 2024, and for the first time I was arriving back to New York on a cruise, non other than the Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas, part of the Ultimate World Cruise.

The captain had told us the night before that we would be getting into the harbor at around 5:00 am, and since we had a long day ahead of us, we woke up earlier and got ready. In the meantime, the early morning views of New York coming up on the Hudson river were impressive.

I went to Deck 11, and started taking pictures of the skyline over the sunrise, as many people were doing.

Many guests would be saying goodbye here, and not continue to Miami. Yes, even though the Round the World Trip 2024 was now over, the Ultimate World Cruise was going to continue to Bermuda, The Bahamas and Miami, Florida, in the remaining 7 days.

Now fully docked in Pier 88, we were just waiting for the captain’s announcement to exit. The cruise was staying overnight, with a return time of 1:30 pm on the next day, giving us enough time to do plenty of errands on our hometown after 44 days in 3 different continents.

The sunrise was gorgeous, and a reminder of how beautiful my city is.

Being able to be docked in Manhattan, and not New Jersey, like many other Royal Caribbean cruises do, it was an amazing great surprise. Right next to Hell’s Kitchen in Midtown, was an excellent location.

Time to go out and start counting a bit more of 24 hours of errands, and things to do in our city.

Day 17/22 – Exploring the cruise

The day before I had taken advantage of the stop in the city where I live, to do errands, do laundry, do some work related stuff, actually work, getting home and sleep in my own bed. I don’t think many cruisers had that chance during this Ultimate World Cruise lol. I am sorry in advance for not showing anything touristy related to New York, I was really busy, but you can see some of my previous posts on the city that never sleeps:

• Magical Moments: Unveiling the Enchantment of Christmas in New York City
• An Epic 24 Hours: Harry Potter Magic, Avatar Adventure, and Festive Finds at Shwick Holiday Market in NYC
• 12 Things To Do In New York In Spring
• Things To Do In Summer In New York City

For now, and with some minutes to spare, I was boarding the cruise once again, leaving for another week of adventure.

Being on a cruise, in the Hudson River, literally boarding for another few nights, and in the middle of the summer, felt so odd for me, like some kind of dream. I mean, I travel a lot, but this was just a bit abnormal. To process this out-of-placeness I decided to explore some areas I had not been, after having some lunch in the Windjammer. For example, I got in the Arcade for the first time.

Saw the mini golf. I mean it had been rainy, or cold before arriving here, so no wonder we had not explore this much.

The tennis court and the rock climbing were also located on Deck 13. This level gave great views of Midtown and Manhattan in general.

Day 17/22 – Scenic Departure from New York

We left, and the departure from the Hudson River into the New York bay, was definitely one of the best experiences of this cruise. Just wow! Seeing all the buildings and the best skyline in the world unfolding right before our eyes, was just amazing. I had taken boats on the Hudson, but this was at other level. Just amazing.

The Vessel and Hudson Yards looked stunning on this beautiful day.

We had along way until we left the bay.

The Empire State Building was right behind still reclaiming its presence in the New York skyline.

The Edge observation deck, located at the floor 100 of the 30 Hudson Yards building. It offers great views, but the wind coming from the Hudson River can be very rough.

Little Island has become one of the favorite parks in NYC, because of the great views, the entertainment that it offers, and the undeniable architectural and scenic landscape achievements.

We were by Downtown now, seeing now the One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

The Staten Island ferries seemed so small compared to our cruise, and this is not even close to be the biggest cruise on Earth lol.

I do not get to show my borough so much, but Brooklyn was giving a lot today, and the Brooklyn Tower especially looked so good on this day.

We were now out of the Hudson river, on the Upper Bay, and seeing pieces of Brooklyn and the Governors Island on one side.

The Brooklyn Bridge made its appareance as well.

Then the unexpected happened, the captain announce that the Port Authority had granted permission to do a 360° right in front of the Statue of Liberty so everyone would have a chance to see it. This experience here was amazing, we were really lucky.

The boat turned and we were able to see so many angles, wow.

All the upper decks were full of people just enjoying this scenic departure from New York City.

We were so close to the statue of Liberty, it was amazing. I had just seen the ones in Paris, but this one will always be best.

To celebrate going South to even warmer places, we got some piña coladas from the Pool Bar, and relaxed by the chairs on deck, waiting for this departure to be over, and go now into the Atlantic Ocean.

But we still had to go below the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Really was an experience.

A rare view of Downtown, Midtown and Brooklyn skylines, as we left the Lower Bay of New York.

We were even able to see a little bit of Coney Island, probably very busy on this warm day of summer.

Day 17/22 – Dinner and Variety Show

After all that experience, I was so exhausted that I took a nap, and then got ready for the Main Dining Room. I was going to get the seafood pot pie…

…and for the first time I saw tres leches dessert on this cruise, so I grabbed it so quickly.

After that, we went to the Tropical Theatre to enjoy the Variety Show with some members of the crew, which we saw all the time. And it was a nice entertainment for the night.

Time to sleep, but before, I saw some of the Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire movie on the Deck 11. It was so nice to be out without it being super cold, like in the previous nights.

Day 18/22 – Day at Sea

Only 4 days left, and today was a Day at Sea. After getting coffee, going to the gym and getting ready, I went to get breakfast at the Windjammer, and from there, I went to the Tropical Theatre for the Enrichment Today: Destination in detail – Bermuda. This was going to be a new country for me, despite the fact that is so close to New York. The presentation though was a bit odd, it seemed the guy was not fully prepared.

For lunch, we skipped the Windjammer and had it at the Main Dining Room, something only could be done on certain days. For starter I had the salad.

And for dessert, just the chocolate cake.

For dinner, we head back to the Main Dining Room, and got the Escargots à la Bourguignonne as starter.

Also, got the royal seafood salad, because of course I would prioritize all of the seafood offered in the menu lol.

And today, it was lobster day, so they offer it and I HAD to get it. This lobster is just so good. And I would not know now that on the last night we would be getting unlimited lobster. Wait until you see it lol.

The entertainment in the Tropical Theatre was DSB. They sang lot of classics from Journey and it was a good time for sure. But now, we were going south towards Bermuda, but you will see that on the next post.