Best way to see New York After Cruise

My wife, my 2 year old son, and I will be driving in for a cruise out of the manhattan cruise terminal. We are driving into Newark, and catching the cruise shuttle before the cruise. I would like to know what options are available post cruise to see New York City, in particular the 9/11 memorial, and then be able to get back to Newark to our car. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

My wife, my 2 year old son, and I will be driving in for a cruise out of the manhattan cruise terminal. We are driving into Newark, and catching the cruise shuttle before the cruise. I would like to know what options are available post cruise to see New York City, in particular the 9/11 memorial, and then be able to get back to Newark to our car. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

You have to get rid of your luggage. It can be stored at Schwartz Travel on West 37th Street. http://www.schwartztravel.com/ you can then take the subway E train from 34th St to The World Trade Center for the 911 Memorial.

When you return to Schwartz Travel you have a choice of the airport bus from 41st Street between 8th & 9th or train from New York Penn Station at 34th and 8th.

I would advise the bus because your child is free, the bus has under carriage luggage storage, and the bus drops off at each terminal. However you still have to retrieve your car which would probably involve the taking the free Airtrain somewhere depending on exactly where your car is parked at the airport.

Another option is to first take the cruise transfer back to Newark to retrieve your car. Drive to Exchange Place in Jersey City and pay to park your car. Take PATH one stop to World Trade, see the 911 Memorial luggage free, return back to your car, and head on home. Parking in Jersey City is going to be cheaper than paying to get to Schwartz Travel to store your luggage. What exact date would you be doing this? How far do you have to travel to get home?

Another thought. Did you consider parking at Port Imperial for $20/day and taking the ferry to 39th St and walking or cabbing 12-13 blocks to the Cruiseport? What is it costing you to ark at EWR plus round trip cruise transfers for 3 of you?

You have to get rid of your luggage. It can be stored at Schwartz Travel on West 37th Street. http://www.schwartztravel.com/ you can then take the subway E train from 34th St to The World Trade Center for the 911 Memorial.

 

 

 

When you return to Schwartz Travel you have a choice of the airport bus from 41st Street between 8th & 9th or train from New York Penn Station at 34th and 8th.

 

 

 

I would advise the bus because your child is free, the bus has under carriage luggage storage, and the bus drops off at each terminal. However you still have to retrieve your car which would probably involve the taking the free Airtrain somewhere depending on exactly where your car is parked at the airport.

 

 

 

Another option is to first take the cruise transfer back to Newark to retrieve your car. Drive to Exchange Place in Jersey City and pay to park your car. Take PATH one stop to World Trade, see the 911 Memorial luggage free, return back to your car, and head on home. Parking in Jersey City is going to be cheaper than paying to get to Schwartz Travel to store your luggage. What exact date would you be doing this? How far do you have to travel to get home?

Next September, 6 hours from newark

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Next September, 6 hours from newark

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Please read the addition to my previous post. Are you talking about Sep 2018? Where are you driving from? How many days parking do you need for your cruise?

Yes September 2018, driving from Erie,pa parking for 8 days. Is it possible to take path from Newark air port to WTC?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes September 2018, driving from Erie,pa parking for 8 days. Is it possible to take path from Newark air port to WTC?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Path does not run from the airport to WTC. It runs from Newark Penn Station.

I hope you are planning to drive in the previous day. What exact date does your ship sail and which ship is it?

We were planning to leave early in the morning around 4am to make the trip. Sep 5th carnival horizon

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We were planning to leave early in the morning around 4am to make the trip. Sep 5th carnival horizon

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

More details please. I'm assuming you are trying to come up with a plan to minimize your costs, but quite frankly driving in from Erie PA and parking at EWR for a Manhattan cruise on the same weekday as the cruise is risky and may not be the least expensive way to do it.

What will parking at EWR cost you for 8 days including tax? What do the Carnival transfers for 3 people each way cost? That will help me figure out other options for you.

What would you suggest doing? And not actually parking at ewr parking with a park and shuttle service nearby ewr

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

What would you suggest doing? And not actually parking at ewr parking with a park and shuttle service nearby ewr

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

What is the name of the park and shuttle service?

Please tell me you have found something other than Park2Go, which services Cape Liberty, not the Manhattan Cruiseport.

Yep snap is what we're using

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yep snap is what we're using

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Snap is fine. They will shuttle you to the airport. How are you getting to the Manhattan Cruiseport and what are you paying for it?

Carnival cruise transfer $30 per person

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Carnival cruise transfer $30 per person

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Step 1 done - you would pay $180 for round trip Carnival transfers and another $80 to park if you prepay. That's $260 for cruise parking and transfers.

Step 2 - driving in the day the cruise from Erie PA. Is there anything that prevents you from leaving some time the day before and driving at least 2/3 of the way to New York? I don't know if you're purchasing cruise insurance, but if you miss the sailing from NY, it's 3 days before you can catch up with the ship. The drop dead time for being at the pier is 90 minutes before sail time.

I'm not concerned with my arrival I'm really just concerned with a convenient way to see New York City afterwards

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Could you elaborate on what you want to see in New York beyond the 911 Memorial and how much time you will have to do it? Luggage storage is your major problem. Does Carnival offer any post cruise tours with airport dropoff in a bus that accommodates luggage?

I'm getting the feeling that with a 2 year old, you don't want to deal with cabs and/or public transit.

Step 1 done - you would pay $180 for round trip Carnival transfers and another $80 to park if you prepay. That's $260 for cruise parking and transfers.

 

Step 2 - driving in the day the cruise from Erie PA. Is there anything that prevents you from leaving some time the day before and driving at least 2/3 of the way to New York? I don't know if you're purchasing cruise insurance, but if you miss the sailing from NY, it's 3 days before you can catch up with the ship. The drop dead time for being at the pier is 90 minutes before sail time.

I agree with cutting it close, you are driving in on a weekday heading east in NJ. Traffic can be brutal here! A typical 12 mile commute to NYC is at least an hour, and that's with a city bus in the express lanes. So many people live west of the city to save money, and commute east every day. And there's always construction and accidents.

But I'm only coming into ewr not all the way into NYC

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

But I'm only coming into ewr not all the way into NYC

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Your ultimate destination is NYC so it doesn't matter if you are driving or you are on a cruise transfer bus for the Newark to NYC stretch. Google says Erie to Newark is 422+ miles, which at your estimate of 6 hours means you would average 70 miles an hour, which is totally unrealistic. You're going to have to make stops with a 2 year old. Add on some bathroom breaks and buying gas. That just gets you to Newark, which is a highly congested urban area. You have to find the parking garage, park and unload the car, connect with the shuttle, get to the airport, connect with the Carnival shuttle, and get into NYC. Do you know when the last Carnival shuttle leaves? IMO leaving at 4 am is too late. You won't have any wiggle room at all for the possibility of encountering an accident, flat tire, road construction, or just plain NY metro traffic.

If you MUST drive in the day of the cruise, I would spend the extra money to park at the port. I80 is a straight shot to the GW Bridge where you get off at the very first NY exit onto the Henry Hudson Parkway South which ends at the cruise terminal. This is the easiest and most direct route to the port. If you can come in the night before, I would look at the cruise package at the Hampton Inn in Ridgefield Park, NJ which includes a hotel room, parking for the duration of the cruise, and round trip port transportation for about $250.

But I'm only coming into ewr not all the way into NYC

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

But then you will have to park, get a shuttle to the airport, wait for a Carnival shuttle, which will just enter the rest of the rush hour traffic (and no express lanes). It would be faster to drive straight to the port and skip the Newark stop.

Rluke029, 138east has given in very clear & direct terms, multiple reasons & gentle advice as to your plan - which I concur, 110% - unless you are driving a hybrid with extended fuel range & maybe doing 1 quick bathroom stop en route, 6 hours of driving time is absolutely, positively unrealistic & impossible to do ... whether you are coming across on I-80 E or I-86 E, via Triple Cities (Binghamton, NY) into Scranton, PA and onward thru the Pocono mountains into NJ for NYC. This is on a weekday, you will run into morning commute traffic in Broome County and again as you get close to NY-NJ.

Have you driven these routes recently ... I have and I am very familiar, from Erie County / Buffalo region all the way down to NYC - you are not going to make this run in 6 hours, not even 7 hours - IMO, it's a 8 hour drive, weather & road/traffic conditions permitting & assuming State Police will relax speed enforcement to overlook speeding to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

If you are going to park off-airport near EWR and need to shuttle to Carnival's ship transfer, you are NOT likely to make it. Advice is free here, it's your choice - leave at 3 AM, load up on coffee/snacks/food - make 1 bathroom & gas/fuel stop - have EZ-Pass available to do the GW Bridge toll crossing into NYC & down the Henry Hudson Pkwy direct to do roof-top parking at the M.C.T. Based on current rates, 8 days @ $40 x 8 = $320, taxes & fees included, no surcharges for van/minivan or SUV, etc.

Otherwise, do a park-n-cruise hotel package, come in the day before - based on price above of $250, you pocket the $70 savings vs. parking at the pier ... maybe enough to subsidize half of your gas money.

Feel free to take your chances - very poor odds. And, you do know that EWR to port/ship transfer can easily take 90 minutes to 2+ hours. I wish you good luck !

Lordy this is painful to read...

We have to get the OP on the cruise before we can even address their post cruise sightseeing objectives.

Mking8288 - thanks for posting about your current travel experience between Erie and New York.

Setting realistic timeline and expectations are key, as this is a matter of attempting to do it on a weekday ... competing with commuters as OP get closer to metro NJ-NY area. Post-cruise & sightseeing is also on a weekday as OP is on a 8 day Caribbean itinerary next September, let's address that later.

Early this morning, I checked real-time traffic & driving conditions - both Google Maps & Waze (which generally do not work that well outside major interstate highways & city streets) showed a projected driving time of 7 hours from Erie, PA to EWR Airport, driving straight & onward to MCT - depending on routing - would add 45 to 90 minutes in late morning traffic into Manhattan ... as the I-95 crossing via G.W. Bridge is typically clogged up with heavy commercial & truck traffic just as the commuter traffic ease up after 9 to 10 AM. Summer time traffic & driving time is better, not in early September when schools are open.

Finding the off-airport parking, shuttle to "connect" with Carnival bus transfer is going to add more time, and, then the final "shuttle" from Newark area to MCT is going to take another 45 to 90 minutes. Far too many elements to click for this to work - even with a 8 to 9 hours "window" for my comfort, if I were to attempt this 450+ miles routing. I apologize for being harsh but calling it for what it is.