Yankee Trails coming home?

[Big2Little4me]

I booked myself, DH and DS on Yankee Trails Cruise express ( Hate the thought of driving in the city). My question is what time should we disembark at the end of the cruise so that we make the bus at 11:30 and where do they pick us up?? Thanks in Advance

[Big2Little4me]

wow with all the people who recommended this I thought I'd have in answer right away..

[janetz]

Yankee Trails will give you that information. ;)

[Big2Little4me]

Yankee Trails will give you that information. ;)

 

I know they say what time they pick up. ours is 11am but what time should I disembark to catch said bus. Sorry for the confusion

[nybumpkin]

I know they say what time they pick up. ours is 11am but what time should I disembark to catch said bus. Sorry for the confusion

I haven't used Yankee Trails, but I have sailed on Carnival and our neighbors swear by Yankee Trails. Carnival uses two types of disembarkation: self-assist, where you keep all your luggage with you and carry it off the ship yourself, and zoned disembarkation, where you can have the stewards collect your luggage the night before. You then wait for your zone to be called to leave the ship. We have never used self-assist - with four of us, it's a pain. Using zoned debarkation, the latest we have ever left a Carnival ship is 9:30-10:00. If you meet your bus at 11:00, you should have plenty of time for zoned disembarkation. (Trust me, they want you off the ship no later than 10:00-10:30. There are new passengers waiting to board.:D)

[Big2Little4me]

Is there a place to wait at the pier or are we stuck on the sidewalk till the bus comes?

[runner15km]

Take your time no need to rush, we were one of the last groups off the ship and still waited about 1 hr for the bus to arrive. You will have to wait on the side walk in the same location of the drop off point.

The driver will give you written instructions on timing and meeting location.

[SnowshoeCat]

They pick you up where they drop you off (maybe not the exact spot, but the same area). After all, they just dropped off this week's passengers, and are now taking last week's passengers back.

 

I got stuck in a slow, disorganized (spring break) disembarkation. I called the office to let them know I was coming. No problem. They say they will wait for you. As it was, I wasn't the last one on the bus, and we still departed on time.

 

They will give you an information sheet with everything on it.

 

I guess that doesn't really answer your question. What cruiseline are you sailing on? I don't know the different procedures, but you don't want to get off too soon. The arriving bus won't get there until 10, 10:30. Once you get through customs and immigration, it's just a short walk to the bus area (I was on NCL).

 

OK, now I see you're on Carnival. I hope this helps, anyway!

[flowers44]

My Daughter and I used Yankee Trails two years ago. We sailed on NCL to Bermuda so we got on at the Manhatten Pier. We made the mistake of self-assist and were off the ship by 7:45 AM. Wrong move. Take the timed disembarkation. We found that we could go back upstairs to the embarkation area and wait on the far right side of the area, away from the new passengers, near some big windows. We could see the buses arriving from there down on the street level. There were a few chairs and restrooms in the area which were both very welcomed since our bus did not arrive until almost noon. there is an elevator on that side that takes you back down to the pickup level. We returned to NY City in November so we were really glad to find the inside place to wait for the bus.

[Dave4120]

Hello...I'm not sure what cruise line you're on, and can only speak from cruising Royal Caribbean out of Cape Liberty, NJ.

 

We have used Yankee Trails 6 times so far, and, will use them again when we cruise the Explorer again, in May, again, out of Cape Liberty.

 

We have always found them to be excellent and on time from the start near Albany NY, to the return trip back.

 

In their information packet, they claim that the bus will leave around 11:30-AM from the pier at Cape Liberty for the return home, and, everyone should be on the bus by 11:15-AM. That would mean that people plan their departure time off the ship accordingly so they have enough time to go through customs and locate their luggage.

 

However, we feel that Yankee Trails should adjust the return time and here is why.

 

When the bus arrives to drop off new passengers, the time is always around 10:30-AM or so. Most passengers making the return trip have normally arrived at the bus around 10:45, and can board at that time. If all passengers were at the bus at that time, the bus would leave around 11 or, a few minutes after 11. However, because Yankee Trails says be at the bus for departure at 11:30, a few passengers time their departure off the ship later, and based on that time. So, almost everytime, the bus is just waiting for a couple of people to arrive so it can leave, where if everyone arrived earlier, the bus could leave earlier because it always drops off the new passengers around 10:30-AM.

 

This is not the fault of the return trip passengers, but something Yankee Trails could, and we feel, should adjust. No, it's not the end of the world, and we all adapt.

 

We give Yankee Trails an A+++ for a great trip. How nice it is not to drive for 3 1/2 hours to Cape Liberty...plus, the $600 to $800 we save on airfare, along with no day prior hotel charge allows us to use that money on more shore excursions and shopping.

 

Hope this helps.