Manhattan tour - end of QM2 Cruise

Hi

Has any one done the Manhattan/Newyork tour ?

Reason i ask is our flight is not untill 7pm and as we will be off the QM 2 quite early we dont want to be sat in the airport for over 6 hrs, i know we stop for lunch ..any idea where this will be and if so any recomendations for a good place to eat.

Mant Thanks

Brian

You could go on your own, selecting 3 or 4 sights that you would most like to see. Or you could take an organized bus tour such as:

http://www.nytours.us/tours/tourType.cfm?ttid2=677&gclid=CPm99vPC_ZACFRsRFQodeBzv1Q

One option is the hop on-hop off bus, similar to those done in London.

If you are disembarking at the Brooklyn terminal, you will get to Manhattan, it about a $35 Taxi ride.

I have been wondering about this tour, too. As far as I can see, the main advantage is that it takes away the hassle factor of getting a taxi to Manhattan and then another one to JFK, and having to find somewhere to leave one's luggage. I also would be very grateful to hear details from someone who has done the Cunard tour, as it is certainly not the cheapest option when there are two or more of you.

It seems we will be doing this tour after all, the plus points are your luggage goes with you and is secure in the vehicle while you have lunch, we go on 10th march and will put this experiance in a trip report for others

Brian

When we returned from the 10th November Caribbea cruise our evening flights had been book through Cunard so they 'had to look after us'.

If you've booked flights independently you are on your own or will have to take the city tour which does, at least, take care of all your luggage.

We were off the ship at around 10.30 and, by the time everyone had boarded the buses and we hit the midtown traffic, it was lunchtime. The tour guide - who gave a very informative (but maybe a tad biased) commentary announced that there would not be enough time to drop everyone off at Times Square for luch and shopping and that we would be stopping for an hour or so at South Street Seaport. It was OK, we'de already been there a few times before - it was just a large pier with a shopping mall and food court. All the other Cunard buses from the ship were already there and we stayed an hour or so. By 2.00-2.30 we had left and were on our way to Kennedy. This might seem early but bear in mind it takes a while to get out there and you have to check in 3 hours before your flight. This was free for us but I don't think I would have been happy paying $99 per person. I would imagine though that if you were paying $99 for the pre airport tour they would have got you off the ship much earlier and given you a proper tour of the city.

When we returned from the 10th November Caribbea cruise our evening flights had been book through Cunard so they 'had to look after us'.

If you've booked flights independently you are on your own or will have to take the city tour which does, at least, take care of all your luggage.

We were off the ship at around 10.30 and, by the time everyone had boarded the buses and we hit the midtown traffic, it was lunchtime. The tour guide - who gave a very informative (but maybe a tad biased) commentary announced that there would not be enough time to drop everyone off at Times Square for luch and shopping and that we would be stopping for an hour or so at South Street Seaport. It was OK, we'de already been there a few times before - it was just a large pier with a shopping mall and food court. All the other Cunard buses from the ship were already there and we stayed an hour or so. By 2.00-2.30 we had left and were on our way to Kennedy. This might seem early but bear in mind it takes a while to get out there and you have to check in 3 hours before your flight. This was free for us but I don't think I would have been happy paying $99 per person. I would imagine though that if you were paying $99 for the pre airport tour they would have got you off the ship much earlier and given you a proper tour of the city.

Thanks for that.. very interesting and just want to clarify that if you are on a cunard holiday.....flight etc then they take you to the airport, do they all stop off at south street sea port ?

We have not read on any documents about this, so we opted for the manhattan tour (which we will now be removing)

cheers

Brian

The lower Manhattan Seaport is not one of the top Manhattan tourist attractions. It's main virtue, from a tour operator's point of view, if that a bus can drop off visitors and remain parked until they reboard. This is not possible in mid Manhattan where the bulk of tourist attractions are. That is why I suggested the hop-on hop off tour buses that would maximize the number of attractions seen in one day. However, it does not solve the problem of what to do with your luggage.

Thanks for that.. very interesting and just want to clarify that if you are on a cunard holiday.....flight etc then they take you to the airport, do they all stop off at south street sea port ?

 

We have not read on any documents about this, so we opted for the manhattan tour (which we will now be removing)

 

cheers

 

 

Brian

Like I said, if you've booked your flights through Cunard and they are not until the evening then Cunard have to take care of you through the day. They will either provide you with transport to an airport hotel where a room will be available for you to use during that day or, most likely, give you a city tour as we had and then take you to the airport afterwards. This is only if you have booked your flights through Cunard. If not you are on your own!

The city tour will show you the sights of Manhattan then drop you at Times Square for shopping and/or lunch then take you to the airport.

As I said, on our day we were late leaving and the traffic was very heavy and they just took us to South Street Seaport which was an easy option for them. SSS is nothing special and I wouldn't even bother going there if I was staying in NYC unless I was nearby visiting Wall Street and Ground Zero. Hope this helps.

Robin

Thanks for taking the time to reply, we have booked our flights with Cunard, so it will be a call to cancel the manhatten tour...$99 x 2 = more champagne on the QM 2 :D

Regards

Brian

Has anyone done the $119 Manhattan Tour? We have not booked our flights with Cunard? I was wondering what sights in New York it covers and where does it stop for lunch (and for how long). I believe that it gets to JFK at about 5.30pm. I would be very grateful to hear details from anyone who has done this tour, or the $99 one.

We were quite apprehensive about our disembarkation day. We had not booked with Cunard and saw that their tour of NY stated that it was for flights departing after 6 pm. Our flight was leaving JFK actually at 6 pm so we decided that we would just sit it out at the airport. In the event, it was absolutely fine. We left the ship at 10.30, picked up our hired car at just before 11 (it was chaos at the terminal and the cars were being held up outside) and were dropped at JFK at about 12 noon. We checked in straight away (British Airways) so that took care of our luggage. Found very comfortable seats - the terminal was practically empty - had a relaxing read of our books, watched the planes, had a wander around the shops and an excellent lunch. The time just flew by - all our worrying had been for nothing. We had been in New York for 3 days prior to our cruise so thought that 99$ each was a bit of a waste.

Thanks for your reply - the trouble is that our flight does not leave until 8.30pm and that seems a very long time to wait!

The last cruise from the Caribbean we did, we booked everything through Cunard and the Manhatten tour was excellent. We did Ground Zero, the little church and was dropped outside Macey'e for lunch. Something we passengers voted for!

Hi

Just cancelled our Manhattan tour, i spoke to the cunard people who informed me that the exact route etc will not be decided upon untill all passengers are on board and then they can see who have flights booked via cunard.

If you have a flight booked then basically when you leave the boat on disembarkation they look after you untill they get you to the airport at approx 1600hrs (for 19.00 hrs flight)

This could be the full manhattan tour or as previously mentioned on a post it is controlled by events on the day (traffic being one) then they would opt for the small shops / food places near to the port area, (not giving good comments) or downtown hotel and do your own thing..

which ever it has saved us $198 which will be spent in the Champagne bar no doubt

Brian

I too have an evening flight with BA following my cruise. Direct to Manchester Airport. I did the day tour when I did a BTB crossing last July. I will also be in NY for 2 nights prior to the Cruise. I think I will make a decision on the Ship. I would need to look at the cost of getting to the Airport by taxi. Anyone have any idea of this.

Many thanks for your advice.

Sue

hi,we are on the 29th feb cruise and fly back to manchester at 19-35 from newark on the 10th march,so are you saying brian that cunard will take us on a coach tour etc free of charge and maybe dropped off somewhere for a hour or so. thanks keith

We haven't officially been told yet what time we'll be disembarking, we should get a letter tomorrow or Friday, apparently. The nice lady at the purser's desk thinks that deck 8 will be 1000, which might be OK if we dawdle down the gangplank, and deliberately have trouble finding a car/cab (lunch reservation in nearby Brooklyn isn't until 1200, flight at 1825 from JFK).

The deadline for booking transfers/manhattan tours etc., was Tuesday night, and the tours desk was closed all day today (Wednesday). This is a very poor show.

If we find we're disembarking at (say) 0800, surely I needed to know this before the deadline for tours/transfer booking? In this event, we would want to scrap the Brooklyn lunch (no way of filling four hours before lunch with four cases in tow) and instead do a Manhattan/JFK tour/transfer - but it's too late to book (well, there might still be places available, but there might not).

If Cunard inject a whole load of stress into the back end of what has otherwise been an utterly perfect first cruise experience, it'll leave an extremely bad taste in my mouth.

(Turns out we don't need to be out of rooms until 1000, disembark 1030, through the system by 1130, so works out just fine - no need for any stress!)

hi,we are on the 29th feb cruise and fly back to manchester at 19-35 from newark on the 10th march,so are you saying brian that cunard will take us on a coach tour etc free of charge and maybe dropped off somewhere for a hour or so. thanks keith

Hi Kieth

after reading this forum i posted a question about the manhattan tour, this was due to a member stating the tour/or similar was included if you had a flight with cunard.

I initially filled in our excursion list with the manhattan tour and decided to contact cunard direct to clarify the matter, after speaking to a very helpfull lady who informed me that cunard will look after you untill they get you to the airport... approx 4 pm for a 7pm ish flight.

She went on to say that they would not know the exact route untill day of departure...ie full manhattan tour, stop off for lunch then airport... or direct to Manhattan hotel then left on your own, then to airport....or to a area with some shops and a couple of restaurants, (a member did comment it was poor but this was due to extreme traffic jams)

So yes it appears cunard will look after you from embarkation to getting to JFK......for peace of mind give them a call...

Brian

nice one brian, yes i will give them call.

keith

.... hope this clears it up for you all!