Day before cruise - stay in NYC or outskirts

Driving in two days before my cruise.

Better off to stay out side of NYC for cost of hotel/parking or bite the bullet and stay in the city?

Are their hotels with parking available and how much usually - small town newbie asking

Could you provide more details? Exact dates? Budget? Number of people? Where are you driving from? Can you manage your luggage?

You have to look at the big picture and balance time, money, and stress. Hotels outside the city are less expensive, but you will spend time and money to get in town. Manhattan Cruiseport parking is $40/day which is a good deal compared to the general cost of parking your car in the city.

Park/sleeps are available at Newark Airport, but you have to get yourselves into Manhattan with luggage. You can park at Port Imperial in NJ for $15/day and take the ferry to 39th St in Manhattan and walk or cab to the pier.

The "outskirts" of NYC are very far out. The areas closer to Manhattan are densely populated and can be very urban.

If you are sailing with Princess, most of their ships sail out of Brooklyn. The hotels in Brooklyn are much cheaper then they are in Manhattan. If this is the case stay in Brooklyn and take a subway into Manhattan to see the sights. That is what I am doing this fall.

If you are sailing with Princess, most of their ships sail out of Brooklyn. The hotels in Brooklyn are much cheaper then they are in Manhattan. If this is the case stay in Brooklyn and take a subway into Manhattan to see the sights. That is what I am doing this fall.

Hotels in Brooklyn don't have stay/park/cruise packages any more than hotels in Manhattan do...and the OP is driving in, while I suspect you're flying in since I see you're from California.

PS...looks like the OP is cruising on NCL, which docks in Manhattan.

Coming in from toronto

Planning to park at the pier for the week but I think you cannot park until the day you disembark, so need a place for 2 nights.

Could you provide more details? Exact dates? Budget? Number of people?

What are your sightseeing plans in NYC?

Did you see this post about a NYC hotel bargain?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2168690

Some neighborhoods in Manhattan can be "cheap" to park on the weekends. So depending on your cruise date you might be able to get some "reasonable" parking near the hotel. Another thing to do is google "nyc discount parking coupons" and play around with it. You might be able to find a parking garage close enough to your chosen hotel and the pier that you could just park there the entire week plus the extra two days, save a few bucks in the process.

If you park in the "outskirts" of Manhattan, you will be dealing with major urban transportation hubs, which to those not used to it, can be stressful. Park in Manhattan for the two extra days---you might spend more but have much more time in Manhattan and less aggravation. jmo.

We are cruising out of Bayonne and found a Hilton Garden Inn on Staten Island which has a park and cruise rate and a shuttle to the pier. We plan on taking the ferry into Manhattan to tour.

We are cruising out of Bayonne and found a Hilton Garden Inn on Staten Island which has a park and cruise rate and a shuttle to the pier. We plan on taking the ferry into Manhattan to tour.

Anubi - you do realize that it will take at least an hour for you to get to the lower tip of Manhattan and another half hour to get to midtown Manhattan. The hotel will provide shuttle service to the SI ferry terminal, but it will not be "on demand" because the shuttle also goes the other direction to Newark Airport to pick up guests. Coming back you may find yourselves waiting a while to get picked up. Other folks who have done this have reported either taking a cab back to the hotel or paying to park at the ferry.

Did you consider other options like the park cruise package on Trinityreservations.com at the Ramada Paza at Newark Airport for $197 tax included? How many days are you spending in NYC? Your cruise is only five days, so paying to park at the pier is an option when you consider the overall cost. The Robert Treat in downtown Newark offers free breakfast, free parking, and free shuttle to quickly access the train and PATH options for a 22-25 minute ride directly to New York Penn Station in midtown or the World Trade Center in downtown. It has a very competitive AAA rate of $135 tax included for your dates.

Anubi - you do realize that it will take at least an hour for you to get to the lower tip of Manhattan and another half hour to get to midtown Manhattan. The hotel will provide shuttle service to the SI ferry terminal, but it will not be "on demand" because the shuttle also goes the other direction to Newark Airport to pick up guests. Coming back you may find yourselves waiting a while to get picked up. Other folks who have done this have reported either taking a cab back to the hotel or paying to park at the ferry.

 

Did you consider other options like the park cruise package on Trinityreservations.com at the Ramada Paza at Newark Airport for $197 tax included? How many days are you spending in NYC? Your cruise is only five days, so paying to park at the pier is an option when you consider the overall cost. The Robert Treat in downtown Newark offers free breakfast, free parking, and free shuttle to quickly access the train and PATH options for a 22-25 minute ride directly to New York Penn Station in midtown or the World Trade Center in downtown. It has a very competitive AAA rate of $135 tax included for your dates.

Thanks so much for your suggestion. Just a quick look and I'm intrigued. Definitely will look into this further. :):):)

Please post back with questions. I stayed at the Robert Treat a month ago before a Quantum cruise. I came in from Boston on Amtrak, called the hotel and the shuttle picked me up within 20 minutes. I could also have taken a cab for cheap $$ because the hotel is just 6 blocks away. However, please note that downtown Newark is very urban and not an area to wander around on the street at night. Newark Penn Station is very busy and not a problem.

I had a very comfortable queen room with all the expected amenities including a safe. The room overlooked the park and was very quiet considering it is in the middle of a city. The traffic was on the other side of the park. The street in front of the hotel was lightly traveled by both cars and pedestrians. The hotel breakfast room was spacious and had a very acceptable offering considering it was free. The hotel is full service so you can eat in their restaurant and get alcoholic beverages at night. There aren't any stores on the hotel block, so you would have to pick up stuff before you returned.

Booked hampton inn in times square - decided to stay down town cause I got a decent rate...now to find parking. is a minivan considered an oversized vehicle?

Please post back with questions. I stayed at the Robert Treat a month ago before a Quantum cruise. I came in from Boston on Amtrak, called the hotel and the shuttle picked me up within 20 minutes. I could also have taken a cab for cheap $$ because the hotel is just 6 blocks away. However, please note that downtown Newark is very urban and not an area to wander around on the street at night. Newark Penn Station is very busy and not a problem.

 

I had a very comfortable queen room with all the expected amenities including a safe. The room overlooked the park and was very quiet considering it is in the middle of a city. The traffic was on the other side of the park. The street in front of the hotel was lightly traveled by both cars and pedestrians. The hotel breakfast room was spacious and had a very acceptable offering considering it was free. The hotel is full service so you can eat in their restaurant and get alcoholic beverages at night. There aren't any stores on the hotel block, so you would have to pick up stuff before you returned.

Two questions. Is the parking secure and how far to the port? :confused: There will be more questions but I'll start with these for now. ;)

Two questions. Is the parking secure and how far to the port? :confused: There will be more questions but I'll start with these for now. ;)

The parking is on the property and is restricted to hotel guests. It is NOT open to the public. That would greatly enhance the security level of the parking. My impression was that the hotel takes their security seriously. I had the sense that everyone who came through the door was eyeballed by the desk staff and they had a visible security person at night.

It's about 10-11 miles to the port - about the same as Newark airport to the port, but the transportation to get to NYC is much better and much much cheaper.

The parking is on the property and is restricted to hotel guests. It is NOT open to the public. That would greatly enhance the security level of the parking. My impression was that the hotel takes their security seriously. I had the sense that everyone who came through the door was eyeballed by the desk staff and they had a visible security person at night.

 

It's about 10-11 miles to the port - about the same as Newark airport to the port, but the transportation to get to NYC is much better and much much cheaper.

Thanks for that information, its exactly what we wanted to hear. This is one of the reasons I love CC. The information on hotels is always from someone who has been there.

We have just booked the Robert Trent for our pre-cruise stay!! :D:D:D We asked for a higher room with a NYC view!

BTW - that picture of you on the tube, was it Dominica? We did the tubing there and it is among our best memories of any shore excursion.

Good guess. That is me in Dominica.

I think you will be much happier staying somewhere closer to Manhattan than Staten Island that has good and reasonable transportation options. Pull the Robert Treat up on google Earth so you know what to expect. I only spent one night there, but I was very happy with my choice. Getting to Cape Liberty on a Friday morning was very easy by public transit and very cost effective. I used to commute through Newark Penn Station and I know it is a quick trip to either New York Penn Station or World Trade Center.

Do you know how to find the NJTransit train schedule and the PATH map and schedule?

Good guess. That is me in Dominica.

 

I think you will be much happier staying somewhere closer to Manhattan than Staten Island that has good and reasonable transportation options. Pull the Robert Treat up on google Earth so you know what to expect. I only spent one night there, but I was very happy with my choice. Getting to Cape Liberty on a Friday morning was very easy by public transit and very cost effective. I used to commute through Newark Penn Station and I know it is a quick trip to either New York Penn Station or World Trade Center.

 

Do you know how to find the NJTransit train schedule and the PATH map and schedule?

Yes, already found them. I tend to do a lot of research when we are staying somewhere pre-cruise because you don't have a lot of time and you want to make the most of it and since this is our first trip to NY we want to see everything!! I'm looking forward to seeing some of those legendary 'rude' New Yorkers and if we hit the subway during rush hour it'll be all around us. LOL :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

We are on the NCL Breakaway at the end of March and plan to spend Saturday in Manhattan before the cruise starts on Sunday.

We looked at our options and decided to stay at a hotel in the (expensive - $350 with tax is a "bargain") and parking at $60 for 24 hours after deciding the time and cost to get in and out of the city would have quickly counted up toward that extra $200. It will be worth it for the convenience of being right there in the theater district. Also it means a slow Sunday morning breakfast rather than a rush to getup and drive in.

We chose the London NYC Hotel on 54th st which has valet parking or a garage directly across the street.

We also chose to park at the pier because - good parking rate, and, no waiting for a car or shuttle to pick us up, get to our car, and then start our drive home. We'll save 2 hours time getting home this way. Again, worth the parking cost to us. We know that pick up is a madhouse at the pier - hard to spot your driver, hard for them to get to you.

You can probably save $10-15 on your parking by using this site: http://nyc.bestparking.com/

Good luck and have a great trip!

Do you have any idea what it would cost to get from Newark airport to the cruise terminal in Manhatten?

The easiest economical way to do it is to get the airport bus to port Authority outside baggage claim for $16/pp one way or $28 round trip. http://www.coachusa.com/olympia/ss.newarkairport.asp

At Port Authority you will be dropped on the street where you can get a cab to the Cruiseport for $10-15.

Train to New York Penn Station is $12.50/pp, but it involves toting your lugegage on Airtrain at the airport to go over to the train station and toting your luggage through NY Penn Station to get to the street to get a cab to the Cruiseport for about $15.

Taxi or car service from the airport would be in the $100 range including tolls and tip.