The 5-day sailing on the Voyager of the Seas from Bayonne, NJ, to St. John and Halifax was very enjoyable. The weather was chilly and extremely windy throughout the cruise (even in July), so this is not the right destination for someone who really looks forward to lounging around by the pool and wearing light summer clothing.

I travelled with my husband and this was our 3rd cruise. We combined a brief stay in New York City with the cruise and took a cab from Manhattan on the day of departure. First tip: please make sure you have driving directions with you to give to the cab driver as many NYC cabbies are not familiar with the Bayonne port. We had to give the cab driver turn-by-turn directions, but fortunately after the Holland Tunnel there were quite a few signs pointing to Cape Liberty and all in all the port was easy to find. The taxi ride from mid-town Manhattan (52nd street and Madison) took 50 minutes on a Sunday afternoon and cost $75 + tips.

Embarkation was easy. We arrived at 4 p.m. (official boarding time was 6 p.m.) and found out that boarding had started already at 3 p.m. We were travelling in a junior suite and used the suite check-in desk. The line was long and it took us about 30 minutes just to check in, but then we were immediately on our way ready to board the shuttle bus to the ship. Tip #2: if you enjoy having your embarkation picture taken at the beginning of the cruise do not arrive before the official embarkation time. The photographers were not there at 4 p.m., so we missed out on this photo opportunity (of course there were numerous other photo ops throughout the cruise and we ended up spending a bundle in the photo shop!). Read more