Once again, we get up late. This looks as though it's going to be a trend for us. Alarm was set for 8 am ... we end up waking spontaneously at 10:15 am. Apparently, *someone* set the alarm wrong - not that I'm naming names. OK, no breakfast for us. We quickly take showers, get dressed, and head out. We were supposed to be meeting our friend, Kenn, who we had dinner with last night, at 11 am. We are going to be late.

But before we go looking for Kenn, we need to clarify some items about our transfers. We make our way to the RSSC desk in the Waldorf. The instructions that we had picked up had mentioned that we needed to have our bags ready in our room by 10 am to get transferred to the ship. What it didn't make clear is where WE needed to be to get transferred to the ship. They tell us at the desk to be right there in the lobby at 11:30 am. 11:30 am? Our instructions say 1:30 pm. We're immediately excited - go to the ship earlier, have lunch onboard, etc. etc. The lady then immediately dashes our hopes by asking to see our instructions and then changing her instructions to the original 1:30 pm. Darn - maybe we should just take a taxi ourselves to the dock early? Tossing options around, we head out into the light of Manhattan to find Kenn.

After walking into a couple of wrong buildings trying to find his office, we eventually find it at 57th St and 7th Avenue around 11:30 am. We go up and take a look out the windows on the 32nd floor. Wow - that's some view of Central Park, stretching up along the Upper West side. Kenn is familiar enough with the concept of Hawaiian time that he graciously overlooks our tardiness and we're off to lunch.

We head off to Carnegie Deli as previously planned. Amanda and I have been watching a relatively new series on Food Network called "Into the Fire" which had recently featured the deli and as is common for us, became all excited about going there. My Reuben came out as a mound of pastrami on rye with sauerkraut and a blanket of Swiss cheese melted over the whole thing. Amanda and Kenn split a pastrami sandwich which they finished. I did not but made a valiant attempt. The pastrami was excellent, fork tender with the right amount of fat to lubricate the sandwich. The rye bread was also very good. But the sandwiches were not quite as big as what we had seen on TV. Overall, a good experience - and I got to try an egg cream for the first time so a number of firsts!

We take a stroll with Kenn after Carnegie. He tells us that the Soup Kitchen made famous by Seinfeld is close by and we go by to take a look. Amanda is absurdly optimistic that she can squeeze in a small cup of soup after eating her smaller-than-expected-but-still-ridiculously-large pastrami sandwich. Unfortunately (or probably fortunately for Amanda), they're closed. In fact, they're big-time closed. They're not expected to open again until sometime after September (I kid you not, that's what it actually says on a handwritten Post-It attached to the inside of the front door). Later, research on the net shows that he often disappears for months at a time during summer to go back to his native Argentina. Good for him - we all need vacations. That's why we're here in NYC. The irony of his vacation interfering with our vacation is not lost on me.

We move on -- we've indicated to Kenn before that we had interest in seeing the new Time-Warner building that's going up. The reason why we're interested is that Thomas Keller's new restaurant, Per Se, is located here. Thomas Keller of course is the well known chef/owner of the French Laundry in Napa. Not that we're going to be eating here after the meal that we just had - but there's a certain amount of notoriety associated with the place. The new Time-Warner had experienced a number of mishaps during its construction which has delayed its full opening - and Per Se had not been immune from these problems, having a kitchen fire break out within a few months of originally opening which forced its closing for a while. In fact, Doug had informed us earlier that they had done a soft re-opening just recently. The building is beautiful, located at the southwest corner of Central Park, with a large central forum that has stores such as Williams-Sonoma, Armani Exchange, Cole-Haan, and Aveda for the first 3 levels and the restaurants are located on the fourth. Besides Thomas Keller, other celebrity chefs that have opened (or are opening) restaurants in this location include Masa Takayama (the famed sushi chef to the celebrities in LA), Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Charlie Trotter. There's also a hotel in here - the Mandarin Oriental New York (if any of you are thinking about booking a hotel in NYC - this looks extremely swanky and can't beat the location!) We'll have to try these restaurants on another trip to NYC.

We then stroll through Central Park, admiring the greenery. I have been to NYC on a number of occasions but have never actually been in Central Park. I can certainly understand New Yorkers' love of this place and I get to take a lot of pictures including many of a duck family that's looking for a handout. Kenn has to get back to work so we say good bye here and we head down on 5th Avenue to walk back to our hotel. We run into Rockefeller Plaza along the way and stop by to admire the location where the Christmas tree usually goes up. We also walk past the Today show studios and wander into the NBC Store. Didn't know that they ran NBC Studio Tours here - we're interested but run into the same problem as yesterday - it's now 3 pm and we have 5:30 pm reservations at Babbo. We make plans to come back tomorrow to do the tour before we board and head back to the hotel.

After a quick nap, we head out to Babbo . Mario Batali who's the executive chef is not my favorite Food Network chef but I admire his dedication to ingredients. Plus, we've read multiple glowing reviews of the food here. Babbo is located in the Village and is in the middle of a bunch of houses on Waverly Street. The color scheme inside is earth tones and the small interior lends to a very intimate setting. We select the 7-course pasta tasting menu (a little different from ours on this web available menu) with one substitution (I had learned previously from chowhound.com that they would allow you to substitute one dish out of the tasting menu) and decide on a wine with the help of the sommelier (interestingly, Babbo allows you to order wine by the quartino , 1/4 of a L or 250 cc, instead of by the glass which makes this quite a bargain and allows you to try a variety). All I can say is that the food was fantastic and the service was impeccable (first time in our experience that our tablecloth was de-crumbed several times throughout the meal - or maybe we were just slobs and this was their way of letting us know :) ). We had warned our waiter that we had 8 pm Broadway tickets and they timed the courses to make sure we were out of there by 7:30 pm. If I was looking for things to nit-pick about, I could say that the dishes are a touch on the salty side and that the portions are a little bit too generous for a tasting menu (what am I saying, I'm complaining about too much food!?) But all in all, a very worthwhile meal and one that I would highly encourage anybody visiting NYC (or who lives there) to try at least once. The cheese course (course #6) with the triple cream goat cheese with cherries and mint was really to die for.

After a slight mishap with the subway, we manage to slide into our seats at the New Amsterdam Theater at 7:55 pm. We've seen clips before on Oprah of the Lion King stage production and seeing it live does not disappoint. The songs are mostly familiar from the animated movie of the same name but the costume and set designs are truly amazing.


We catch a taxi back to the hotel and start packing. We've got a busy day tomorrow - we call the front desk and request a late checkout which gives us the room until 1 pm. Finally boarding the ship tomorrow - it's going to be hard to sleep tonight from all the excitement. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Masaki

Masaki & Amanda, You are going to need that first sea day! Glad you are enjoying NY. I'll be leaving from Baldwin Harbor NY to get the Navagator on July 7.I'll probably play golf that morning. Look foward to your next post.Don't forget to see the Natural Arches in Bermuda just beautiful! Macy

Masaki:

Your reviews continue to amaze and entertain. How I wish I was traveling with you. You would bring out the "foodie" in anyone with your selections and discriptions! I'm drooling on the keyboard right now.

Can't wait to read your next installment.

Masaki -

Add another LCT member drooling away on the keyboard here. :)

Can't wait for the next installments. Enjoy your trip!

Kathy

Good grief Masaki - how do you do it all? I'm exhausted just reading your reports - I need a nap!! Wow - no wonder you are waking up late every morning, not to mention the 6 hour time difference - I'm sure you will be ready for that day at sea come tomorrow!! Anyway, great report, keep it coming - have fun and a wonderful cruise.
JoAnn :rolleyes:

Masaki,

You have a real flair for writing terrific reports and I am so enjoying reading them.

From what you've shared so far, it sounds as if your trip to NY has been one fabulous experience after another.

Keep the reports coming. They're great.

Maskaki and Amanda,
You do realize how greatful we are, taking time from your vacation to give us these wonderful updates!
I can't wait to hear what you think of the cruise. I am so looking forward to meeting the both of you on 007!

No sea day tommorrow for Amanda & Masaki; they're on New England/ Canada itinerary and will be in Boston. But they're young!!!

Really enjoying your adventures!!

Kat 4

Hey M & A....

Lovin' the posts.....however, how a person could ever, in their wildest dreams, mention Time-Warner and "the rat" in the same post just astounds me!!!

All kidding aside, thanks for the terriric posts. You are keeping up with your rep of being quite the prolific poster!

You should be boarding soon.

Champagne wishes!!

R (...and caviar dreams...)

Masaki,

You've made me salivate at the mention of a pastrami from Carnegie...I know it is kinda touristy but everytime I go to NYC I always get a couple to bring home. Forget about halves, a quarter of a sandwich usually does it for me (also makes it go longer!).

NYC is such a wonderful city, magical and bustling with an energy found nowhere else on earth...I am so glad you have been able to see it that way too!

I can't wait to read your reports once you are on board...drool drool.

WOW!
I think it would be worth while to stick close to Masaki and Amanda on the "MINT" cruise. :D

Keep it coming cant wait for shipboard reports. This is after all a FIRST time RSSC cruiser. You write so well Masakai you are in the wrong business.

My daughter & I just spent 4 days in Manhattan last week. It is a wonderful city! It's been 3 months since my heart attack and since we are planning a 3 week Radisson vacation in Aug. I thouhgt this would be a test run for Moscow and the rest of the Baltics & Lisbon. We walked all over in rain and shine; rode many subways (ended up in Brooklyn by mistake. Went to Katz's Deli on Houston on the lower East side. Visited the tenament museum a few blocks away. Very interesting. Found huge portions in Little Italy at Pelligrino's and in the theatre district a good place called Carmine's. Also had a wonderful lunch at Rockefeller Center on the ice skating rink. IT has umbrella tables in the summers a

sorry my computer cut out. Anyway the lunch was very nice. We too, saw the Lion King and Phantom of the Opera. If figure if I can take on NY then I can take on Moscow. By the way, I return to work tonight after 3 months of recoupering. <img border="0" alt="[12]" title="" src="graemlins/18.gif" />

Masaki,
I didn't think anyone talked about food as much as I--your review so far is wonderful! I'm glad other people think food is a very special and important part of a vacation too.

Judy:

So GLAD to hear that you are well enought to go back to work!

Masaki:
Babbo was reviewed in today's New York Times...The morning after you ate there!!

Doug

At the rate M is going, it wouldn't surprise me if he wrote the NYT review!

Masaki-

Your reports are wonderful - it's like being there with you. I hope you and Amanda have a great cruise - I'd like to do the Canada/NE itinerary sometime - maybe next year.
Please keep posting you're a fantastic writer. Enjoy the ship and you have to try one of the chocolate martini's they were really good. If you see Rina in the Star's lounge tell her the lady that gave her the lighted martini pin said hello.

Kat 2

Wonderful posts, Masaki!!! You covered so much ground in such a short time, and my mouth is watering with all the foodie descriptions. By the time I'm writing this I guess you are onboard experiencing your first evening on an RSSC ship. Can't wait to hear what you think. Enjoy every minute!

Robert,

LOL! Sooooo True!

Thanks guys ... I honestly think that my writing is mediocre to fair but as long as it imparts the flavor of what I'm trying to get across, that's what's important. I'm glad that you're enjoying them though!

Doug - I'll have to take a look for that Babbo review on NYT when I get back ... :)

Masaki

PS: Kat 2 - chocolate martini?? I'll have to let Amanda know ... <img border="0" alt="[Drinking]" title="" src="graemlins/062802drink_prv.gif" />

Masaki,
Don't belittle your fine work. I've enjoyed your ventures through New York - I even lived there and didn't visit all those delis and restaurants you've managed to work your way through. Somebody earlier wrote you exhaust us, and they needed to take a nap - well that's exactly the way I feel too! I'll just take a quick snooze, and recharge.
Keep your reports going - as they say in Brooklyn
"Ya done good, Joey!"
Marty

Hi All - We are just back too from NYC and Navigator to Bermuda. It was really great to meet Marc and Arlene! Too exausted to post much but I Missed you all. Masaki, I was wandering around the Waldorf Lobby when we left the ship waiting for our room to be ready. Was hoping to see you. I found a bunch of people waiting to board and was telling them we just left and how much fun they'd have. Will have to read the rest of the posts tomorrow when I can keep my eyes open.

As they said in Wicked and The Wiz - There's no place like home!

Welcome home Kathy. We enjoyed hearing from you from the Navigator. Hope you'll have time to give us some end of cruise impressions after you settle in at home.

Welcome home Kat 3!

Thank you so much for the seamail, very informative. Would love to hear any additional "tidbits," if you have time. We leave early Tues.AM for Montreal.

Did you ever meet JeanneS? She has posted very favorable comments on CC Cunard board and will be writing a review.

So glad you had a great cruise! :app:

Kat 4

Kat 3 - welcome back! We were down in the Waldorf lobby around 12:45 pm or so, checking out. What time were you in the lobby? Glad to hear that you had a great time - we're having a great time as well though sad that it's getting closer to ending!

Masaki

Welcome home, Kathy!

Claudia

We were in the Waldorf lobby from 11:30 to 1:00 or so when we decided to go get lunch. Had we planned it we could have had lunch! We had too much stuff to be walking around NYC with (I brought my camera gear - lenses and tripod and all for Bermuda) and our room was not going to be available until 1:30 - 2:00. Amex had screwed up and told me we'd be getting upgrades that we were not entitled to because we did not book in the Towers. Waldorf made a consession and did give us a deluxe room with one breakfast and we were pleased at $199. per night for two. Oh well, there is PIP and I will come down and greet the MINT crowd!