Its not all about the High Seas ……

More and more people are extending their cruise holiday with either pre or post cruise hotel stays. Not only is this very popular in Europe but now I would say 80% of my customers who book cruises departing from a US City will add on a hotel duration longer than the standard one night before the cruise. When you are flying so far to meet a ship it only stands to reason you get as much out of it as possible.

Two of the most popular cities to combine with a cruise are New York and Las Vegas – yes the land locked, dessert surrounding Las Vegas but more about that later.

New York

This is such a popular city as most airlines use this as a main hub – which means l lot of passengers stop off her to get their connecting flights to other cities in America and further a field. It means it is a really popular place to get a few days of sightseeing before you board our cruise ship.

This is exactly what I did in 2014 before embarking on my Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Splendor. We got a direct flight from Belfast to Newark with United airlines and landed at 1 o clock lunch time. The perfect time to quickly hop on airport shuttle and still get into the city in time to have a leisurely afternoon stroll in Times Square.

The hotel we stayed in was the Hudson Hotel on West 58^th Street. It is in a perfect location for Central Park and is really close to some reasonably priced restaurants in Hells Kitchen as its away from the main tourist hustle and bustle of Times Square. The rooms were very comfortable but I would avoid buying a drink in the hotel bar – it cost us $26 for two bottles of Coors Lite!!

We spent three nights in New York and decided to pre-book the 3 excursion package for £60 each but you can also have a 5 excursion package for £95 so that is also great value. We used our 3 excursions on the Hop on off bus, Empire State Building and a sightseeing boat trip.

On the day we were boarding the cruise it was such a simple process getting to the port. We could actually see our ship from the hotel window the morning of the cruise which only enhanced the excitement. We took a taxi to the port and it only cost $15.

The best part was looking at the downtown sky line when we were sailing out. Not even the cloudy sky and light rain could take away from the spectacular view of Manhattan.

Next week : Why Las Vegas should be on your Bucket List to twin with your Cruise