Embarkation Day - Red Hook Port, Brooklyn, NY
This would be our first cruise to the Bahamas and the first 7 day cruise for our family. Originally our au pair Naomi was booked to come with us, but a few days before our departure she became very ill with a stomach virus – so ill that she was hospitalized twice. She tried to rally the day before the trip but ended up driving to the emergency room while we all slept. I felt horrible for her but super grateful that I had travel insurance (Pro Tip: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS GET TRAVEL INSURANCE). I was considering cancelling the trip and rebooking for later in the month, but Naomi would hear none of it. She also knew that she wouldn’t want to recover in a house full of kids and me! Smart girl.
Without Naomi this would become my first ever, completely solo journey with both of my children. Typically, when we travel there is always a family member (or multiple family members!) who tag along or it’s a larger extended family trip. I was a little nervous but also excited to take on the challenge and make a fabulous trip for me and my girls.
We have never cruised out of Brooklyn, so I was unfamiliar with the terminal. My nephew Christopher drove us out to the pier so that saved us a good bit of cash on car service.
Grace & Charlie at the Red Hook Port
When we arrived it was a little chaotic, but a porter took our bags, we said goodbye to Chris and we made our way to the terminal … which was a madhouse. We got on a very long line and while it was moving, it took almost 1 hour to reach the security check point. The line wound in and out of the terminal and it was hard to tell how far it was to security. Of course, when you’re on a line for that long someone is going to need a potty break and one of my girls had to go so badly that we practically ran through security to get to the ONLY ladies room in the whole terminal which you could reach AFTER security. (There were portable bathrooms, the nice ones, at the very entrance to the terminal but once in line you just had to wait.) From what I’ve heard MSC has done a better job with embarkation but our trip was just 2 months after they repositioned the Meraviglia to the Brooklyn port so I think they were still working out the kinks.
Once in the terminal and post-potty break regroup we got back in line to check in and get our sea cards. It seemed just as chaotic as the line for security but we checked in quickly and got our sea cards in about 10 minutes. They had MSC staff manning the line and guiding people to open check in counters so it moved smoothly.
From check in we proceeded right to the ship! Total time from getting out of the car to stepping on board: 1 hour and 27 minutes. We made it!
Heading up the gangway to board the MSC Meraviglia!
