Questions regarding cruise out of New York - NCL

What is the best airport to fly into (will be departing from Memphis) if that makes any difference.

Need suggestions on where to stay pre-cruise. We plan to do a tour of the sights and possibly do a shop.

Never been to New York before so any help would be appreciated. We are departing on Norwegian Gem on May 23rd and are looking to fly in on Wednesday or Thursday.

Thanks!

LGA, EWR and JFK all serve NY City. LGA is the closest to Manhattan but none are very far away so your primary considerations should be the lowest airfare and the convenience of the flight schedules. There are a variety of transportation options from the airports to Manhattan ranging from taxis and car services (generally the most expensive ways to go but also the most convenient) to airport express bus services to various public buses and trains.

Since you've never been to NY and want to sightsee and possibly shop, I'd recommend staying in Manhattan. Hotels in Manhattan can be expensive so your budget will be an important factor in picking a hotel. Just be sure to pick a hotel rated 3 stars or higher. While the Times Square area is the center of the tourist district, Manhattan is relatively small with ample ways to get around...via subway, taxi, bus and walking, so it's not always necessary to stay in the center of the action, so to speak.

Check the prices for all 3 APs. LGA is the closest so you will have the least expensive ground transportation costs coming in there. If you aren't going to save at least $100 I wouldn't bother flying into EWR (that's my rule when deciding on an airport around here)

Once you get sticker shock at the prices for NYC hotel rooms, check out deal sites like Priceline or Hotwire but do not stay anyplace less than 3 stars; it's too much of an unknown.

If you really can't swing $300+ per night look at some of the NJ hotels but understand that very few will make it easy for you to get into the City. From a pure aggravation perspective you may be better off in NYC.

As my parents used to tell 1st time visitors, bring two suitcases: 1 for clothes & 1 full of money. You are going to need it.

Also your hotel room is going to be closer to the size of your cruise ship cabin not the standard hotel room you are otherwise used to.

My family of 16 are staying at the Home 2 Suites by Hilton in Long Island City. It is fairly close to LGA and is only 3 blocks from the subway station that takes you directly into downtown Manhattan. Because there are 16 of us, we needed an economical but nice place to stay with easy access to the city. The access to the NYC Cruise Terminal isn't great (we are doing two private vans), but the cost and ease of sightseeing are what sold us.

Hope that helps.

What is your budget and how much luggage do you have?

If midtown is too expensive, you can fly into Newark and from there either take public transportation (if you don't have a lot of bags) or a cab to Hoboken or Jersey City. From there there is easy public transportation into NYC on the PATH train. I read somewhere on the forum that there are hotels on the NJ side that provide shuttle service to the cruise port but I can't remember the details.

If midtown is within your budget, then fly to LGA.

I have and I am staying again at Hotel Mela! It is clean and right where you want to be! Just check out the maps and see where this hotel is located and try to get one close to this one! Now, if you don't need to be where all the action is, a cheaper route is to stay near LaGuardia airport! This is where we always fly into, because it's the closest to Manhatten. :)