Best Way to Manhattan Cruise Port

[bbolt]

Going on a Norwegian Cruise coming up from the southern tip of New Jersey. What is the best way to the Manhattan cruise port? Would it be better to stay at a hotel by LaGuardia where I could leave my car for n/c and take a cab to port? Is it difficult to get to? Not used to driving in/around ciites... :confused:

[njhorseman]

If you're driving from South Jersey, the easiest way to go is to park at the cruise terminal. You really don't have to drive very much in the city...the cruise terminal is just a few blocks from the Lincoln Tunnel. Parking at the pier is $35 per day.

 

If you were to drive to a hotel near LGA, you would ave to do a lot more driving in the city than you would if you were just driving directly to the pier.

 

An alternative would be to drive to the NY Waterway Port Imperial ferry terminal in Weehawken, park there (I think it costs about $10 per day) and then take a quick ferry ride across the Hudson ($9 per person in each direction) to their ferry terminal at West 39th St. and 12th Ave...9 blocks south of the cruise terminal. You can take a taxi from there or it's walkable if you can handle your luggage.

 

My suggestions assume you'll drive up the morning of the cruise, so no need to pay for a hotel.

[lild428]

do you have a local amtrak station? i live in upstate NY and take amtrak from rensselaer, ny to penn station. takes 2 hours. and then i take like a $12 cab ride to the cruise port. i don't use my car, pay for gas, or pay the insane per day charges the port wants to park there. and best of all, trains are pretty much always on time. i've done it 3 times in the past 2 years and never a problem.

 

also, first time i drove to get on a princess cruise out of nyc, it was a nightmare. i'll never do it again. almost missed the boat. literally.

 

TRAIN :)

[njhorseman]

do you have a local amtrak station? i live in upstate NY and take amtrak from rensselaer, ny to penn station. takes 2 hours. and then i take like a $12 cab ride to the cruise port. i don't use my car, pay for gas, or pay the insane per day charges the port wants to park there. and best of all, trains are pretty much always on time. i've done it 3 times in the past 2 years and never a problem.

 

also, first time i drove to get on a princess cruise out of nyc, it was a nightmare. i'll never do it again. almost missed the boat. literally.

 

TRAIN :)

 

There's no train from the southern tip of NJ to New York. Driving to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal from NJ is a piece of cake, as I said it's only a couple of blocks from the Lincoln Tunnel...there's practically no driving to be done in Manhattan.

[lild428]

didn't know there wasn't a train. it's not a bad ride really from where i'm from either. i just don't like the possibility of missing the boat due to traffic, construction, etc. and i can understand the intimidation of driving in a big city.

[Laszlo]

From south NJ, I would just drive and park. Where from the Philly burbs and just park at the pier, its a breeze

[emsiam]

There's no train from the southern tip of NJ to New York. Driving to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal from NJ is a piece of cake, as I said it's only a couple of blocks from the Lincoln Tunnel...there's practically no driving to be done in Manhattan.

 

 

i live in the southern tip of NJ and for our cruises out of NY we take amtrak out of the Wilmington station in DE. It is not far from the Delaware Memorial bridge and it is about 82.00 per adult round trip .

 

 

Jan

[Shelli]

I live in South Jersey, too-- but not as far south as you! :) Sounds like you're in Cape May Court House. Here are some options that we've considered from our neck of the woods:

 

• Take a Greyhound from Mt. Laurel (not far from, say, Cherry Hill, which you probably have heard of) to the Port Authority and catching a cab
   
  
• Take a Bolt Bus from the Cherry Hill Mall (Route 38) and catching a cab
   
  
• Take a NJ Transit train-- we're considering taking Rt. 295 to Hamilton Station and leaving our car there ($7/day), then taking the train to Penn Station and catching a cab
  

 

But from as far south as you... I just don't know. There *is* a Greyhound bus station in Atlantic City ($25 each way to NY), but that's still a ways north from you, right? And I have no clue about parking there... or leaving your car there for a week.

[njhorseman]

i live in the southern tip of NJ and for our cruises out of NY we take amtrak out of the Wilmington station in DE. It is not far from the Delaware Memorial bridge and it is about 82.00 per adult round trip .

 

 

Jan

 

When someone says "the southern tip of NJ" I assume they're talking about the Cape May area, which is the southernmost area, of NJ and is nowhere near the Delaware Memorial Bridge. By the time someone drove from Cape May to Wilmington they could instead be more than half way to Manhattan. It would take close to 2 hours to drive from Cape May to Wilmington because there are no major highways connecting the two.

[spannersmom]

We are also driving from southern NJ. It is easy. Take the Parkway to exit 129. Go North on the Turnpike-where it divides-take the eastern extension. Go to exit 16E(should say either rte. 495 or rte.3) east bound. Go thru Lincoln tunnel, take the Dyer Ave. on the left to 42nd. St. Make left onto 42nd. down to 12th. Ave. Turn right to about 55th. St. where you make a U turn that takes you right to the piers.

You aren't driving a lot in Manhattan. This is the way we have gone many times to the piers. Good luck; maybe we will see you on the road-look for two people with big grins on their faces:D.

[Chinprin]

We too are coming from the south jersey shore. We are hiring a limo so we don't have to worry about anything. I figured out how much parking, gas and tolls will be and the limo is only a total of about $150 more. That is well worth to us to just relax on the drive up and get dropped off right up front, especially with our 3 year old twins.

[saleaaway]

Maybe not for your particular case but for anyone else who might be looking We also live in upstate ny. We have bus company called Yankee trails that has a cruise shuttle. We are a family of five and for 35.00 apiece we get a round trip right to the pier. Other than putting our luggage on the bus we never had to handle it again. No worries either way.

[jlyn1216]

I live in north nj and take rt 80 to the gwb and then the Henry Hudson parkway right to the terminal! It is so easy and rarely any traffic! The terminal is right on the Henry Hudson!

[bbolt]

Thanks for all of the great info...... regarding the limo ride, is that $150 more round trip or each way? That sounds like it would be a great way to go! If it is too much, I think we will just take your advice and drive to the port. We are down in North Wildwood, so the parkway is the easiest to hop on. We did a cruise out of Bayonne on Celebrity and stayed at a hotel that provided free parking up to 10 days and a shuttle over to the cruise port. I was hoping something like that was available on the Jersey side, but haven't been able to find anything.......

[bob brown]

Another option....drive up the Garden State Parkway to Metro Park (Iselin). Parking there is $9. a day, up to 21 day maximum.

Then there is regular New Jersey Transit train service from there to Penn Station, New York, and taxi from there to pier. No worries about driving in congested city area......

[happythoughts]

I know I read some hotels in northern nj let you stay at their hotel for a little over $100 and include free parking for the week and a shuttle to the team but you still have to pay for the train and cab. Probably easier to just park at the terminal.

[Chinprin]

We got a quote for a limo round trip, including tips, gas, tolls for a total of $500. If we drive ourselves, I estimate the gas, tolls and parking will run us about $350. So it is only $150 more total for the whole trip, which is worth it to me, especially with 3 year old twins!

We've actually used this limo company for a cruise out of NYC 5 years ago. And pricing around this time they were over $200 cheaper than the next best price

[spny84]

We haven't done a trip out of NYC yet ourselves but a friend mentioned getting a rental car. Both Avis and Hertz have offices about 6 blocks away from the Pier/Terminal. For us, upstate NY, the two one-way rentals are cheaper than parking at the Pier for a week. Supposedly they give you a lift to the Pier when you drop-off the car (have not confirm this yet).

[bbolt]

Thanks so much for the limo idea! As the cruise gets closer, I am going to start pricing it out. It would be like an extra treat to extend the trip a little!

[martinchem]

Don't forget to consider the Amtrak discount for Carnival/Norwegain guests, they take 20-25% off the rail rate if you spend one night in the city.

[njhorseman]

Don't forget to consider the Amtrak discount for Carnival/Norwegain guests, they take 20-25% off the rail rate if you spend one night in the city.

 

As has already been noted early in the thread there is no train service, Amtrak or otherwise, from anywhere near the area where the OP lives, which is in Cape May county.

[aprylstar]

Hi there. I am planning on taking Amtrak to Penn Station from Buffalo the day before our cruise. How do you book & get the discount? Is it through Amtrak or NCL? Thanks!

 

Don't forget to consider the Amtrak discount for Carnival/Norwegain guests, they take 20-25% off the rail rate if you spend one night in the city.

[Chinprin]

We are using Atlantic Limo, out of Atlantic city, and like I said they were over $200 cheaper than the next best price. Their # is 348-2683. My friend just used them for her wedding last weekend and was happy with them, and we were happy with them 5 years ago when they took us to the NYC pier.

[Arzeena]

I live in South Jersey, too-- but not as far south as you! :) Sounds like you're in Cape May Court House. Here are some options that we've considered from our neck of the woods:

 

• Take a Greyhound from Mt. Laurel (not far from, say, Cherry Hill, which you probably have heard of) to the Port Authority and catching a cab
  
• Take a Bolt Bus from the Cherry Hill Mall (Route 38) and catching a cab
  
• Take a NJ Transit train-- we're considering taking Rt. 295 to Hamilton Station and leaving our car there ($7/day), then taking the train to Penn Station and catching a cab
  

 

But from as far south as you... I just don't know. There *is* a Greyhound bus station in Atlantic City ($25 each way to NY), but that's still a ways north from you, right? And I have no clue about parking there... or leaving your car there for a week.

 

 

When we cruise out of Manhattan we always take the NJ Transit into Penn Station. Then a cab to the pier. It is the cheapest way to get to the port for us. Hamilton has plenty of parking and is a relatively new station.

[FR8]

How is the parking at the pier?? Generally available or do they have to turn alot of folks away because it's full?? We are driving up from MD the day of (9/2) .....