Day 1 - Cape Liberty and Sail Away.

We had booked transport from the hotel in NYC City to the cruise ship through Carmel Limousine service. The car arrived exactly at 10:30 am and an hour later we were ready to go on board the Anthem of the Seas.
The same procedures as usual with passports - As Europeans we had to go through an extra passport control, as we also would visit Canada.
We were on board at 11:30 am and went straight to the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. Found a table on the outdoor aft deck.
At 1pm, our cabin were ready and suitcases came right away, so we could get unpacked. Excellent.

Booked a table at Jamie Oliver's restaurant and also some excursions. We had decided to do Boston on our own, and buy ship excursions for Portland (Kennybunkport), Bar Harbor, Halifax (Peggy's Cove) and Saint John (Reversing Falls and St. Martins)
Enjoyed a cafe latte in the sun on our balcony.
The captain is Danish - Henrik Loft Sorensen - we sailed with him through the Suez Canal in January 2011.
At 4 pm we started our cruise and exceptionally the captain had been allowed to sail into New York Upper Bay. We passed by Manhattan's skyline and the Statue of Liberty (see video below) . Then through the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and headed north.
At 06:30 pm we got a glass of white wine in the wine bar, and then dinner in Jamie's - olives with bread and tapenade, lasagna and dessert (pavlova and tiramisu).

Passing Statue of Liberty...

... and New York skyline

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Here is a short video from the sailaway.