Nov 12.2009 - New York, NY USA

DKP : Last night has now officially bled into this morning, it's 3am and we are wondering around the iceberg chilled decks awaiting our passage under the bridge over the Hudson River, then onto Lady Liberty, a first for all of us.

This early morning, our friend, DR server and personal photographer Martina has decided to trade sleep for the shots... not a surprise in some ways, but considering her 3-5 hr a night sleep schedule, quite impressive none the less. So 3 crazy chicks have stumbled out of Crew Bar and up to the open Deck to witness the symbolic completion of our long 28 day journey... and what a site it is.

Sharing the few light jackets we have onboard this primarily warm weather trip, we huddle together in the bitter wind trying to hold steady to get shots of passing under the bridge and the Lady herself... not easy under these conditions, which is evident in the quality of the shots, but we GOT THEM none the less and we had a blast doing it. Fortunately the overnight staff has kept the coffee and hot chocolate dispensers stocked with hot beverages, so we jolt ourselves awake as each hour passes.

After a few winks for us and a shower for Ms M, she's back to work in the Dining Room and we join the folks at her station for one last breakfast together, complete with our friends Rick and Pele. So here we all sit having breakfast with one of the best views of the city, on the largest Carnival ship to ever grace it's port - incredible. From here we all go our separate ways, chalking this time up to another gem of a memory akin to the historic South American trip. There is truly no better group to have done these Crossings with and Sandy and I are both feeling very fortunate to sit with them this one last day.

After waiting for our last number to be called, we finally disembark the vessel sometime afternoon and are greeted unexpectedly by some of the nicest New Yorkers one could imagine. We promptly roll our bags up one block to Ink 48, a Kimpton property Sandy found online, and crash in the beautifully remodeled room with a beautiful view of the city and what else.... our girl, THE DREAM, one block down at Chelsea Pier (tear).

However, we quickly learned the how strategic this location was when our crew friends got off work in the afternoon and we set straight up the street to Times Square, Radio City, and Rock Center where we found the rest of the gang wandering around in as much as awe as we found ourselves. New York is simply one of a kind... there is NO city like it. We even fit in a last minute hectic cab ride across town to the World Trade Center site before they had to be onboard.

In some ways, it felt like we never left Europe. You can feel the influence of so many Euro cultures and beyond here, the same concepts of space, cafes, gathering spots, culture, architecture apply and I love it. Seeing NYC through the eyes of the Dream Team of Europeans was pretty cool too. You see, this crew having opened the last 5 of Carnival's new ships, has never delivered one to NYC, only Miami or Ft Lauderdale, so this was a BIG first for them as well and they were blown away.

We took a break when the crew headed back to work the dinner service at 5:30, then met up again at midnight when they were done. At least we got an hour of sleep in while they worked straight through. Undaunted, we took off for King Kong building, the Empire State.

Sandy has been but I have never been and when she went you could only go to the 80th somethign floor. This night, we had the place to ourselves as we bypassed the myriad of rope lines revealing what a daytime visit might be like. We gladly paid the $35 ea to go ALL the way up to the 120th floor.

Our ears popped on the "fastest" elevator on the way up to the first deck. The remodel they've done on the building is stunning and the colorful stone floors and subtle deco designed ceiling greeted us this quiet dark night as we exited the elevators like curious meerkats. First, I have to say that I love the uniforms worn by the staff of these buildings, they harken back to a time of respect and presentation and reminds me a little of the Hollywood Tower of Terror in Disney's Great California Adventure :-))

The entire vibe was mysterious and pensive as we approached the first set of windows. The flags on the North side must have been made of the toughest fabric to have withstood the hurricane force winds pressing relentlessly against them. We were all able to go outside on the 80th floor deck on the South side where we could withstand the wind sheer and fought to hold steady while we zoomed in on The Dream in her berth at Chelsea Pier - what a sight.

The views and the wind were breathtaking and we stayed out until we could no longer feel our fingers, laughing like kids as we power walked against the wind to go as far North as possible. Then we went inside for the final ride up. Thank god for this new "niceness" that New Yorkers seem to have adopted. It seems that the flash of paper we say flying around outside on the deck were the tickets to the upper deck ripped from my back pocket while posing for a pic - yikes! The elevator man took me up anyway and I tried desperately to control the guilt ridden Californian in me and simply look him in the eye for a quick 'Thanks' then boarded the speed elevator for the final run to the clouds.

No open deck here, thank goodness... the constant sway of the slender upper tower indicated just how far up we had gone. The 360º window views were more than satisfying enough... and completely mind blowing. I felt so lucky to be standing there that night, with those sleep deprived hard working friends of mine from that insane South America Crossing. We've been to the bottom of the world 'Fin del Mundo', crossed the Equator twice and have tattoos to mark it... and now here we are, the very same core group of adventurers at the top of the world together in New York City after bringing Carnival's Largest Ship over from a 3 cruise run in Europe - my life is truly on fire, it's lit up as bright as that 30 Rock Tree is about to be at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I hope those guys watch on their TVs in their cabins, knowing they got to see the tree the day it arrived.

We stayed until they kicked us out, we closed the friggin' Empire State and then headed out into the city that supposedly never sleeps. It wasn't exactly what I had expected but we managed to find a coffee at Mickey D's (aka napping motel for folks with nowhere to go) and we managed to make a mockery of ourselves in the Walgreens across the street. Never have I had so much fun playing with cheap Chinese plastic items in the middle of the night and we have the pics to prove it.

We finished her off the way we started, in an Irish Pub called Jack Dempsey, still serving at 3am, gotta love the Irish. My true friend Andras agreed to have 2 rounds with me before he headed back for his shower and his 5am shift... these friends always sacrifice their sleep to spend time with us and we truly appreciate it.

I can't describe in words how much sharing all of this with Sandy and Martina and Ken and Andras and the rest has meant to me. I never had a big family but I have always longed for a group of friends (a family of friends) to explore the world and life with. I guess I found this in kind of an unlikely place on the cruise ships, but maybe not... afterall, it's where my father found his family of friends as well and I guess I understand the bond that comes from working your way around the world, eeking out minutes and giving up the comforts of "normal" life in order to break out of what has been set before you back home... to realize that a day to day life at home is NOT enough for some.

The common bond between me and Sandy and these folks seems to be that we would rather take the unfamiliar balls thrown at us by a life of not always knowing what's around the corner. At least for now, the pulling up of roots to experience more of life outside of what I know is worth it and in the great words of Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) "and I don't want to miss a thing".