Pier / Parking / Noordam ?

[Jimjam]

When Noordam sails from New York, is the pier in New York city or the new Red Hook Terminal in Brooklyn? If it's the Red Hook terminal in Brooklyn, how is the parking and safety? Thanks!

[SnorkelBear]

Noordam sails from Manhattan. Westside Hwy and about 54th I believe. Buy a month of parking. It is cheaper than daily rate. Parking is safe, secure and very convenient. Drive up, drop baggage and most passengers, drive up the ramp, park, done. If you are coming from the North, take the Henry Hudson PKWY to the Westside HWY right to the pier. From Jersey, take the Holland Tunnel to the Westside HWY, turn right on Westside HWY to the Pier. It is an awesome sail away from there. Enjoy your cruise!!

[Cruishappy@aol.com]

We are also sailing out of New York on the Noordam - October 24 and Jan 12
we will be coming up from the Cape and checked various methods and I think that we seem to have the most convenient for us --- it may also work out for you --- we were able to find a limo service that leaves from either Framingham or Boston--- it appears to be pretty nice --- offering leather recliner seats=== a choice of either a full lenght movie - DVD - player - an attendant that will serve you and looks pretty comfortable --- the price is $79.00 each way --- which is better than driving all the way to New York - especially if you are not familiar with New York --- plus the price of parking is rather expensive -- plus the price of gas --- and the best part is that you do not have the hassle of an aiirport and having to worry about lost luggage --- this will be our first experience with this kind of transportation and I hope it works out as well as it sounds --- we have been on 54 cruises and are looking forward to this new adventure lol ??????

[RuthC]

$79 for a limo from Boston/Framingham to NYC?!?!? That is a great price! Even if it isn't door-to-door it's great.
I've hired door-to-door limo's from Warwick-NYC several times and would kill to get anything near that price.

[SnorkelBear]

I think it was $180 for the month pass. When are you sailing on the Noordam? We will be on her Nov. 4.

[helenp2]

$79 for a limo from Boston/Framingham to NYC?!?!? That is a great price! Even if it isn't door-to-door it's great.
I've hired door-to-door limo's from Warwick-NYC several times and would kill to get anything near that price.


I know I am impressed. We live in the Western suburbs of Philadelphia (approx. 120 mi) to the pier. Cheapest quote for a limo (not a stretch) is $1200 round trip.

[MBeamTX]

HAL offers a homeport motorcoach into Manhattan that my parents will be taking from Stroudsburg, PA for $89 each in November. A July HAL promo offered free motorcoach transfers on select sailings from these cities: Albany, Boston, Burlington, Harrisburg, Jamesburg, Mt. Arlington, New Haven, New London, New Paltz, Philadelphia, Providence, Stroudsburg and Wayne. Not sure what the regular price is from cities other than Stroudsburg.

Happy sailing,
Susan

[YankeeCruiser]

DH and I will be sailing on the Noordam in February - we'll take the Acela from DC to Penn Station. 3 hours - and unless bad weather is predicted, we don't have to worry about coming in the night before. We just moved back East from Denver; it's so nice to be able to take the train instead of having to fly all the time!

[helenp2]

DH and I will be sailing on the Noordam in February - we'll take the Acela from DC to Penn Station. 3 hours - and unless bad weather is predicted, we don't have to worry about coming in the night before. We just moved back East from Denver; it's so nice to be able to take the train instead of having to fly all the time!

We have great Acela service available to us from either Wilmington, De or Phila. We were warned however to be very aware that AMTRAK will not allow checked baggage and that there will probably not be a porter to help with loading and unloading our bags. We would take the Acela in a minute if we thought we would have somewhere to put our bags. They tell us all bags must be stored overhead. Even if only 30/35 lbs. this would be too heavy for me. We are sailing in early Jan 07 so I will let you know if something changes. In the meantime, could you check in your area and let me know what they tell you. Thanks

[ejbmorr]

[QUOTE=MBeamTX]HAL offers a homeport motorcoach into Manhattan that my parents will be taking from Stroudsburg, PA for $89 each in November. Not sure what the regular price is from cities other than Stroudsburg.

Last February we took this same coach in to Manhattan from Harrisburg, Pa for the Noordam Maiden cruise and the fare was $84.00, so my guess is that the fare is the same no matter where you board the motorcoach. It worked out well and we would do it again.

[7x5090g]

We are also sailing out of New York on the Noordam - October 24 and Jan 12....

I hope you are not sailing the Noordam out of NYC on Oct 24. I am on the cruise before you and I am due back in NYC only on Oct 25.:D

[Sunshine91]

Helen - HAL offers the motorcoach service from Philly too! We used it for the maiden voyage in Feb. It was $49pp roundtrip. The bus picks up pax at the SunPark near the airport. I think its Essington or Ellington Rd, right off I-95. Very convenient. Two hours each way. We're using it again for our Jan 6 Noordam cruise. You're on that one too, aren't you?

John wound up loading most of the luggage for the driver into the bus, but once at the pier, the stevedores unload everything. You don't touch your bags again until they are in your cabin.

Although we live in southern DE, my aunt lives in Newtown Square. We spent the night before with her & then she dropped us at the SunPark on her way to work. On the return we just kept in touch via cellphone so she knew when to come get us. We're planning to do the same in January.

Just call your TA to see about adding it. All those free motorcoach promos didn't include our sailing. I'm still watching for it though. Our TA said that if a promo came out for the free bus for our trip we could get that refunded. Yay! Maybe we'll meet on the bus? :)

[Sunshine91]

For those parking at the pier - what I remember reading about earlier this year is that you pay when you pull into the garage to park. Not when you leave. The rate was $180-$200 for the 10-11 day cruises. Don't remember what forms of payment are accepted - cash, debit or credit cards, trav checks, pints of blood. :p :eek:

Perhaps Ship Services would be a place to start? Anyone parked at the Noordam pier in the spring remember what forms of payment they take?

[MBeamTX]

Here's the info on parking at the Manhattan cruise terminal:
http://www.nycruiseterminal.com/parkNYC.html

It says $180 for the monthly rate (8 days or more), paid in cash or travelers' checks, no credit cards.

Here's a link to a .pdf version of driving directions to the terminal:
http://www.nycruiseterminal.com/documents/Directions_MTN.pdf

On the same web site is a good explanation of how you will enter the terminal whether you are arriving by bus, limo, taxi or private car.

Happy cruising,
Susan

[YankeeCruiser]

We have great Acela service available to us from either Wilmington, De or Phila. We were warned however to be very aware that AMTRAK will not allow checked baggage and that there will probably not be a porter to help with loading and unloading our bags. Thanks

In D.C. we do have porters that will help you get your luggage out to the train, and will even get you seated a little early, for a small tip. There are large luggage racks at the end of each train where you can put big bags. I think the problem with Wilmington is that by the time the train reaches that station, there are already a lot of people on the train, so the luggage racks may be quite full - but I still think you could get them on (you also may not be able to find seats together). I frankly can't remember the station at Wilmington - it is possible that there are no porters due to the design of the station. I should think you'd be able to find some in Philly, but can't be sure of that.

[WNYCRUISER]

Here's the info on parking at the Manhattan cruise terminal:
http://www.nycruiseterminal.com/parkNYC.html

It says $180 for the monthly rate (8 days or more), paid in cash or travelers' checks, no credit cards.



Wow, I think we need to get some sort of clarification. When I first read this, I thought I am POSITIVE I used a credit card for our cruise this past March. The web site I used was www.nypst.com (http://www.nypst.com)

On that site it indicated Visa and Mastercard are accepted!

[anley]

:)I used my master card for parking at NY pier March 15 Noordam.
It is 180 dollars and so easy to do.
Happy Sailing
Stan:cool::cool:

[Jimjam]

THANKS to everyone for this very helpful information..I think we will drive up from Cherry Hill NJ and park and cruise..One other question- upon the return and after claiming your lugage, how do you manage to get to your car..Do you have to carry the luggage to the car or drive the car to a pick-up point for the luggage? Again, thanks to everyone for your very helpful information.

[WNYCRUISER]

THANKS to everyone for this very helpful information..I think we will drive up from Cherry Hill NJ and park and cruise..One other question- upon the return and after claiming your lugage, how do you manage to get to your car..Do you have to carry the luggage to the car or drive the car to a pick-up point for the luggage? Again, thanks to everyone for your very helpful information.

I am going to assume that you are traveling as two persons (since you said we). When you pull into the pier, you drive to a location in front of the slip where your ship has docked. As you take the luggage out of your vehicle, make sure it has your HAL tags on it, as the porters take your luggage, and the next time you see it will be in your room. BE SURE NOT TO HAND OVER YOUR CARRY-ONS OR VALUABLES.

At this point, the non driver waits at the entrance, while the driver takes the vehicle up one level to the parking area. You pay when you get there, and they direct you where to park. From there, the driver can take an escalator down and meet the rest of the party.

On your return, you claim your luggage in the terminal, and the non driver would wait outside with the luggage, while the driver goes up and retrieves the car. They drive down one level and pick up the non driver and the luggage.

[MBeamTX]

Wow, I think we need to get some sort of clarification. When I first read this, I thought I am POSITIVE I used a credit card for our cruise this past March. The web site I used was www.nypst.com (http://www.nypst.com)

On that site it indicated Visa and Mastercard are accepted!

The www.nypst.com (http://www.nypst.com) site is run by P&O, which manages the port operations. Maybe they started accepting credit cards at some point but the www.nycruiseterminal.com (http://www.nycruiseterminal.com) site wasn't updated to reflect that.

[Joanandjoe]

http://www.nypst.com/ does, indeed, say that Master Card and Visa are accepted. The "one month" fee is listed as $180.

Check with HAL regarding the buses. At least for a while, it was free for our 11/25 Noordam cruise from many places; but there was no free transportation for folks like us from the NYC suburbs.

We have a different question. Many of the Noordam cruises are in the winter. Ours, for example, gets back on 12/6. If we come back and there's snow on the ground, will we have to dig our cars out; or do they do the shoveling when it snows?