We are up very early after a good night sleep. We need to strip the bed and wash it as we have friends staying at our house and well, as a courtesy we thought clean sheets would be a perk.
We are out the door at 6 am driving West to Yarmouth to catch the CAT Bay Ferry to Bar Harbor Maine. Boarding was quick and easy. Lots of places to sit on board.
The ferry is second hand, new to us, but still used. It does show some wear and tear. We did eat a nice lunch on board. We shared a Reuben sandwich and a Mexican salad. We enjoyed both. Prices are what you would expect for a ferry. Both items came to $23 US.
It is a 3.5 hour trip, but arrive about 20 min late due to all the traffic in the Bay. Then we all queue up in our cars to go thru customs. Sadly we were unloaded in the last group so it too another half hour. But customs agent was quick and friendly.
I will say the staff on the ferry were phenomenal. Probably the best staff I have ever experienced. Numerous cabin crew came by and said hi and asked if we had questions. Every one we passed or helped us with loading or uploading of car said hi/bye, thank you for sailing with us. There was a movie shown in one area that was family friendly. They even did a tour of the CAT with Q/A. Heck they even had musicians!
Holland America Ship at anchor in Bar Harbor
There was only two negatives on the ferry, and both minor. The wear and tear. Many cushions had visible tears, walls had marks, and the Boat just needs a little tlc. The other issue was there was no quiet area. Now of course people chat etc. But the front area had musicians, the middle area had a movie, the one area had tv's on with volume up, and even closed captioning! And the aft area where we sat had a family area. Which is great but why not put that family area where the family movie is.
There was one kid in a family of four who I would guess was 4. OMG we wanted to trip him! He ran all over and screamed! Parents had no control over this little guy. Good birth control. The other kids on board where fine.
Taking the ferry saved us 6 hours of driving and that equates to an extra day, which means an extra hotel, food etc. Although the cost of the ferry is high, in the end with some specials they were offering, we figured cost was on par with driving around.
Once on the road we got onto I95 and headed south! Then traffic! When we asked the toll booth attendant if it was an accident she said no, just normal Sunday traffic going home! Oh my! It added an hour to our day. 3 lanes of bumper to bumper for 60 min!
We got to our hotel at 7:30 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, at the Holiday Inn we've stayed at before. Dropped our bags and went to the Panera Bread right in the same area. Soup each, and we shared a sandwich.
Filled out our Princess Health Form, attached our luggage tags so we are ready to go tomorrow.
It says that the route to Brooklyn is 3 hrs but I am adding another hour to be safe.
Again I am not sure when the blogs will go up. I don't have a wifi package on this voyage and not sure how good a signal we will get anyways. But I will write up my blogs and post later.
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We are beat.
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