Escape Plan to USA and the Caribbean in December 2012

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to USA and the Caribbean in December 2012:

Total duration 21D19N
Singapore is 13hr ahead of New York, USA.
Flight time is 18hrs flight on Emirates from Singapore to Dubai and then to JFK.
Friday evening flight on 18th Dec and arrival in JFK in the evening of the 19th.

Day 1 Flight
Day 2 Arrival at Orlando
Day 3 Epcot Theme Park
Day 4 Island of Adventure
Day 5 Royal Caribbean Cruise boarding at San Juan
Day 6 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI
Day 7 Cruising
Day 8 Castries, St. Lucia
Day 9 Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Day 10 St. John, Antigua
Day 11 Christiansted, St. Croix
Day 12 San Juan, Puerto Rico and flight to Washington DC
Day 13 Washington DC
Day 14 New York City – Central Park, Times Square countdown
Day 15 New York City – Museum of Natural History, Madison Square Garden
Day 16 New York City – Woodbury Premium Outlet
Day 17 New York City – Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Brooklyn Bridge, South Street Seaport, Empire State Building
Day 18 New York City – Highline, Broadway Musical
Day 19-21 Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned to do one of the “to-do” item of the bucket list, which was to celebrate New Year in one of the biggest party in the world – New York Times Square, and also take the opportunity to visit the Caribbean and at the same time escape the freezing cold.

Budget nature: Budget buster

Though SGD gained against the greenback which made the spending just a little less painful, the holiday season plus the cruise with similar thinking Americans (who wanted to escape the cold) really dealt the finishing blow to the budget.

Complexity: DIY possible for the beginners

Since there is already no language barrier (less the accent), and with good infrastructure in terms of roads and public transport, making your way around is very straight forward.