New York QM2 disembarking for an independent day trip?

We are UK citizens and have visited New York three times on the QM2 in the last 18 months and the longest we've taken to clear customs and immigration at Red Hook was 45 minutes, quickest was 15 minutes. It's obviously busier at some times than others, our advice would be to disembark as soon as you are allowed to, but if it did take 4 hours there must have been some other issue. It's certainly not typical.

We are doing a round trip on the QM2 next Aug . I have read that all roundtrip people are told to meet in the theatre to leave the ship together about 10am . Do we HAVE to do this or can we leave earlier ?

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We are doing a round trip on the QM2 next Aug . I have read that all roundtrip people are told to meet in the theatre to leave the ship together about 10am . Do we HAVE to do this or can we leave earlier ?

Yes, you can leave earlier. What you have been reading about is probably for those passengers who do not wish to spend the day in New York. All passengers must go ashore in New York to be processed through the US customs and immigration formalities. No one may reboard the ship until all the arriving passengers have completed that process ashore. Therefore it makes sense for those round trip passengers who would prefer to stay on board to remain on board as long as possible before going ashore in order to minimize the wait time in the terminal before being allowed back on board the ship.

Yes, you can leave earlier. What you have been reading about is probably for those passengers who do not wish to spend the day in New York. All passengers must go ashore in New York to be processed through the US customs and immigration formalities. No one may reboard the ship until all the arriving passengers have completed that process ashore. Therefore it makes sense for those round trip passengers who would prefer to stay on board to remain on board as long as possible before going ashore in order to minimize the wait time in the terminal before being allowed back on board the ship.

Ah,yes, i see. Thanksxxx

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Not the right name however there is a water taxi right next to the dock. You can check the schedule to see if it meets your needs.

Once in Manhattan you either walk or take a taxi/uber to where you get the boat to Ellis and Liberty Island.

I have been to the top of the statute a couple of times. Even with reservations there can be a long line and a wait to get to the top, you also go through security on the Island before they let you go to the top. This is in addition to security before they let you on the boat to the statute. Unless you are doing it for the bragging rights I am not sure it is worth the time to go to the top since you are only in port for the day.