Please review/comment on these NYC plans

We will be sailing out of Cape Liberty in August and I am trying to detail out our plans in NYC. We are a family of 4 (our 2 kids are teenagers) and will be flying into and out of LGA. We are planning on staying 3 nights before the cruise in Times Square (Marriott or Renaissance) and will fly back home on the day the cruise ends.

I have read many of threads on this board and would like you to review my plans and questions below:

Based on what I have read, we are going to either get a taxi to take us from the airport or hire a car service (we have Dial 7 in mind based on board recommendations). It is not clear to me between the two options, which is the better way to go. If we use a taxi, it needs to be the mini-van variety for the 4 of us and our luggage. I assume that taxi-vans are readily obtainable although I do not know how expensive it would be?

I am thinking that we should arrive around 3 pm to the hotel based on a noon-ish flight arrival time. Suggestions for ideal things to do that evening that does not involve advance reservations in case our flight gets in late?

We plan on hiring a car service to take us from the hotel to the pier on Sunday morning. The ship leaves at 4 pm and I am thinking that we should aim to be picked up at around noon. Is there a recommendation on what we could see/do on that Sunday morning before we leave?

We are planning on hiring a car service to take us from Cape Liberty to LGA. We do not fly out until after 7PM that evening. Still, we are thinking of going directly to the airport first to check our luggage which I guess will be around noon time. I am assuming that we would be allowed to have our bags checked in 8 hours before the flight. And then of course, we are trying to figure out what to do afterward. One possibility is taking the family to see the Mets play since the game starts at 1:10 pm and the stadium is close by. This is not a perfect solution because our daughter is not into watching baseball (or melting under the hot afternoon sun) and we will have all our carry-on luggage with us. My wife and daughter are avid readers and so we have thought of the possibility of having two of them wait at the airport terminal or Marriott lobby with are carry-ons. Any suggestions regarding how to handle our carry-ons or alternatives to seeing the Mets play while we wait for our plane to leave?

We will be sailing out of Cape Liberty in August and I am trying to detail out our plans in NYC. We are a family of 4 (our 2 kids are teenagers) and will be flying into and out of LGA. We are planning on staying 3 nights before the cruise in Times Square (Marriott or Renaissance) and will fly back home on the day the cruise ends.

 

I have read many of threads on this board and would like you to review my plans and questions below:

 

Based on what I have read, we are going to either get a taxi to take us from the airport or hire a car service (we have Dial 7 in mind based on board recommendations). It is not clear to me between the two options, which is the better way to go. If we use a taxi, it needs to be the mini-van variety for the 4 of us and our luggage. I assume that taxi-vans are readily obtainable although I do not know how expensive it would be?

 

I am thinking that we should arrive around 3 pm to the hotel based on a noon-ish flight arrival time. Suggestions for ideal things to do that evening that does not involve advance reservations in case our flight gets in late?

 

We plan on hiring a car service to take us from the hotel to the pier on Sunday morning. The ship leaves at 4 pm and I am thinking that we should aim to be picked up at around noon. Is there a recommendation on what we could see/do on that Sunday morning before we leave?

 

We are planning on hiring a car service to take us from Cape Liberty to LGA. We do not fly out until after 7PM that evening. Still, we are thinking of going directly to the airport first to check our luggage which I guess will be around noon time. I am assuming that we would be allowed to have our bags checked in 8 hours before the flight. And then of course, we are trying to figure out what to do afterward. One possibility is taking the family to see the Mets play since the game starts at 1:10 pm and the stadium is close by. This is not a perfect solution because our daughter is not into watching baseball (or melting under the hot afternoon sun) and we will have all our carry-on luggage with us. My wife and daughter are avid readers and so we have thought of the possibility of having two of them wait at the airport terminal or Marriott lobby with are carry-ons. Any suggestions regarding how to handle our carry-ons or alternatives to seeing the Mets play while we wait for our plane to leave?

Just a couple of things (I have to go to a meeting)

You WILL NOT be allowed to check your luggage 8 hours before a flight. 4 hours is about the max airlines will allow for check in. You also will not be allowed to take anything into the stadium (like carryon luggage).

Leave ALL the luggage at Schwartz Travel, go to the game and let your wife and daughter enjoy the day in Manhattan looking through old book stores (lots of them in Greenwich Village) or shopping. Wife and daughter can commandeer a taxi/car service to get to LGA WITH LUGGAGE and you and son can go directly to the airport from the game in another taxi. Just arrange a meeting place at LGA. Saves a lot of back and forth and a lot of money for transport. http://schwartztravel.com/

greatam,

Thanks for the information. I saw your Schwartz suggestion on another thread today just after I posted. We will be sure to use them.

We will be sailing out of Cape Liberty in August and I am trying to detail out our plans in NYC. We are a family of 4 (our 2 kids are teenagers) and will be flying into and out of LGA. We are planning on staying 3 nights before the cruise in Times Square (Marriott or Renaissance) and will fly back home on the day the cruise ends.

 

I have read many of threads on this board and would like you to review my plans and questions below:

 

Based on what I have read, we are going to either get a taxi to take us from the airport or hire a car service (we have Dial 7 in mind based on board recommendations). It is not clear to me between the two options, which is the better way to go. If we use a taxi, it needs to be the mini-van variety for the 4 of us and our luggage. I assume that taxi-vans are readily obtainable although I do not know how expensive it would be?

 

I am thinking that we should arrive around 3 pm to the hotel based on a noon-ish flight arrival time. Suggestions for ideal things to do that evening that does not involve advance reservations in case our flight gets in late?

 

We plan on hiring a car service to take us from the hotel to the pier on Sunday morning. The ship leaves at 4 pm and I am thinking that we should aim to be picked up at around noon. Is there a recommendation on what we could see/do on that Sunday morning before we leave?

 

We are planning on hiring a car service to take us from Cape Liberty to LGA. We do not fly out until after 7PM that evening. Still, we are thinking of going directly to the airport first to check our luggage which I guess will be around noon time. I am assuming that we would be allowed to have our bags checked in 8 hours before the flight. And then of course, we are trying to figure out what to do afterward. One possibility is taking the family to see the Mets play since the game starts at 1:10 pm and the stadium is close by. This is not a perfect solution because our daughter is not into watching baseball (or melting under the hot afternoon sun) and we will have all our carry-on luggage with us. My wife and daughter are avid readers and so we have thought of the possibility of having two of them wait at the airport terminal or Marriott lobby with are carry-ons. Any suggestions regarding how to handle our carry-ons or alternatives to seeing the Mets play while we wait for our plane to leave?

Cabs from LGA are really easy to come by and would be your cheapest option, but not sure how easy it is to get more of a van. Another car service that you might consider is Carmel (212) 666-6666 http://www.carmellimo.com/ and they tend to have decent coupons on their website.

Time Square will provide you with so much to do, much of which is just checking things out on foot. A fun place for dinner is churrascaria plataforma http://www.churrascariaplataforma.com/ which is an all you can eat (getting ready for your cruise) food extravaganza in which they stroll through the restaurant with food on skewers. You get a disc that is green on one side and red on the other. While your disc is facing the green side, the waiters stop at your table and slice sausage, chicken, beef tenderloin, and much more from their skewers. Need time to rest...you simply flip your disc to red and they back off. An amazing salad bar comes with the meal including peel and eat shrimp, clams and everything else and more so that you would want in a salad bar.

Another great choice in Times Square is Carmines http://www.carminesnyc.com/locations/tdny/index.php which is family style italian restaurant that is a NYC institution.

Another place that is less fun, but truly deliciious is Becco http://www.becco-nyc.com/#. Your kids will still like it. This is the more reasonably priced restaurant of the many owned in the city by Lidia Bastianich (famous from cooking shows etc.). They have an all you can eat fresh pasta special that is AMAZING. For $18 you can get as much as you want of three homemade pastas that are designed to pair really well. Included in the price is an antipasto platter or bottomless ceasar salad to start. Ask for the back room which has lovely skylights and RESERVATIONS ARE NECESSARY A MONTH IN ADVANCE.

As for activities, you have Madame Toussauds was museum, The King Tut Exhibit, Central Park (rent a row boat for a couple of hours) and tons more. http://www.timessquarenyc.org/. Hope you have a great time.

Thanks, jlondon! Especially for your food recommendations....

On your recommendation, we ate at Becco tonight. We made our reservations (for 4 of us) a month in advance as you suggested which was very important. We also requested the back room in our reservation and that is where they sat us (the skylights were nice and it felt like the tables were spaced a little more apart). Anyways, we all enjoyed our meal and the restaurant. My wife and I had the pasta special which was great.

Thanks again for your suggestion!!