Boarding Documents

[Mura]

There were many passengers that had overnighted in Manhattan to be close to the terminal and we ran into more than one couple who taxied to Manhattan only to find out they were nearly an hour away from the correct terminal in Brooklyn!

 

Never assume that the booklet is right!!

 

 

A minor quibble ...

 

It CAN take an hour if traffic is heavy, but it can also be done in 20-30 minutes. However, I will grant you that it's no longer as easy to get a cab at the Manhattan terminal as it once was, especially if you don't anticipate needing one! And it's hard to predict what time of day is going to be a problem.

 

On our first QE2 cruise (back in 2004) we docked at 7am on a Sunday morning. We left the ship, got a cab immediately (we were independent travelers) and were home in Brooklyn Heights in 20 minutes. We live about a mile from the pier, so it could have been another 5 minutes or so to get to the pier.

 

But early Sunday morning is unusual ...

 

I won't argue the point about verifying just where you will find the ship!

 

Mura

[roothy123]

A minor quibble ...

 

It CAN take an hour if traffic is heavy, but it can also be done in 20-30 minutes. However, I will grant you that it's no longer as easy to get a cab at the Manhattan terminal as it once was, especially if you don't anticipate needing one! And it's hard to predict what time of day is going to be a problem.

 

On our first QE2 cruise (back in 2004) we docked at 7am on a Sunday morning. We left the ship, got a cab immediately (we were independent travelers) and were home in Brooklyn Heights in 20 minutes. We live about a mile from the pier, so it could have been another 5 minutes or so to get to the pier.

 

But early Sunday morning is unusual ...

 

I won't argue the point about verifying just where you will find the ship!

 

Mura

 

Sorry to stay off topic a bit more, but I'm curious if there's any way to get from either dock location (Brooklyn or Manhattan) to Penn Central other than by cab. We're thinking of taking one of the New England cruises and from NYC to DC it's just as fast to take a train than it is a plane. However, I don't have a very good sense of how far Penn Central is in relation to the cruise terminal(s) and whether cabs will be readily available after a cruise. A general idea would be nice!

[Mura]

Sorry to stay off topic a bit more, but I'm curious if there's any way to get from either dock location (Brooklyn or Manhattan) to Penn Central other than by cab. We're thinking of taking one of the New England cruises and from NYC to DC it's just as fast to take a train than it is a plane. However, I don't have a very good sense of how far Penn Central is in relation to the cruise terminal(s) and whether cabs will be readily available after a cruise. A general idea would be nice!

 

The problem is distance from the two terminals to public transportation. It's easier from the Manhattan port -- I'm thinking Oceania usually docks around 55th Street and 12th Avenue and Penn Central is just south of 8th Avenue and 33rd Street. The Avenue blocks are VERY LONG walks, especially with luggage. A cab would be best, it's a short ride.

 

However, when we left MARINA in May we discovered they'd changed the system for picking up cabs -- they no longer drove right up to the terminal, we had to cross the highway and wait in a VERY LONG LINE for a cab. And many cabs refused to stop there because they assumed they'd be picking up a short fare -- like to Penn Central or a hotel!

 

If you know you are docking there I'd suggest arranging for a private car service if you want to get to Penn Central.

 

The problem is a bit more difficult with the Brooklyn terminal because you really do need a cab to get from there to the Atlantic Avenue station (Long Island Railroad). You could get to Penn Central easily enough from the Atlantic Avenue station (which also includes the subways), but again, with luggage it is a cumbersome trip and would be easier by cab. As suggested in earlier posts, that COULD take an hour once you find the cab. It might not ... but it could.

 

If I had easy parking I'd be happy to drive you ... but I don't! Parking in my neighborhood is impossible.

 

(In sum, you are better off getting to Penn Central from the Manhattan terminal.)

 

Mura

Edited November 22, 2015 by Mura

[giraffelt]

The Manhattan Cruise Terminal logistics are horrendous when disembarking. Embarkation not so bad. Having to take your luggage across the street and wait for a cab on a street corner is just ridiculous planning. We came off a NCL ship with a few hundred others trying to get cabs. Many were going to Penn Station. It was chaos. One couple tried to get to the head of line; when I politely pointed out there was a queue, the wife became verbally abusive. I was starting to get my temper up and then she yelled at me about being a Rude American (they were British). Thats when I started to laugh. What idiot would stand on a street corner in NYC and yell that.

We eventually did get a taxi. The driver told us that normally the cruise lines advise them when a ship is disembarking but NCL hadn't done so.

[giraffelt]

My last post about Manhattan Cruise Terminal was a digression. I visited this thread because we have misplaced the blue booklet. We receive so many brochures from Oceania that I can only assume that it got thrown out with other brochures.

One of the earlier postings in this thread mentioned an email from Oceania about 3 weeks before sailing. We are within that timeframe but haven't received such an email. Will I be ok if I just print off the passenger information from My Account on O's website? I assume luggage tags are available port side at embarkation or is there a way to self print luggage tags as some other cruise lines make you do?

[LHT28]

My last post about Manhattan Cruise Terminal was a digression. I visited this thread because we have misplaced the blue booklet. We receive so many brochures from Oceania that I can only assume that it got thrown out with other brochures.

One of the earlier postings in this thread mentioned an email from Oceania about 3 weeks before sailing. We are within that timeframe but haven't received such an email. Will I be ok if I just print off the passenger information from My Account on O's website? I assume luggage tags are available port side at embarkation or is there a way to self print luggage tags as some other cruise lines make you do?

My Blue book comes by Fedex no brochures come that way ;)

 

call your TA & tell them you are missing the final cruise doc

It looks much like an invoice but has some other information included

(Maybe it got deleted as well)

I think the subject line say "Final cruise summary" or something to that effect

 

No way I know of printing off luggage tags just ask at the port usually the porters have blank ones

[StanandJim]

FYI, New York City keeps saying that the "cabs across the street" issue was a temporary response to a terror alert, and that the cabs will once again be returning to their originally planned pickup area, just outside the debarkation exits, when things have "settled down". This is an illustration of how it is supposed to work:

I suppose that the key is in determining when the powers that be will call things "settled". :o

[quaker54]

For our Sept. Cruise out of NY, I looked at cruise ship ports out of NY and found

our cruise leaving Brooklyn cruise port while Oceania had Regatta leaving Manhatten cruise port. I found this months before September 20 departure.

Marilyn

[roothy123]

For our Sept. Cruise out of NY, I looked at cruise ship ports out of NY and found

our cruise leaving Brooklyn cruise port while Oceania had Regatta leaving Manhatten cruise port. I found this months before September 20 departure.

Marilyn

 

Yes, I did go to the port web site and the Oceania cruise I'm looking at is assigned to dock in Manhattan, which seems to be more common than Brooklyn. However, as someone said above, once in a while port assignments are changed after initially made. That happened to us in Copenhagen and in Tortola (Oceania cruises), and recently in Venice (other cruise). While it's not the norm, it does occur, and it's why I always look at port websites right before I leave, especially since I always do transfers on my own.

 

Just looked again out of curiosity, and it looks like mostly just Queen Mary 2 and large Princess ships are scheduled to dock at the Brooklyn location, at least next fall. Looks like Regatta will be alone "my" day in Manhattan and a big Princess ship will be alone in Brooklyn.

Edited November 22, 2015 by roothy123

[giraffelt]

LHT28,

I did receive that email sometime ago and I didn't delete it. I thought a previous poster was referring to some other email that Oceania sends out. I guess we are good to go.

[LHT28]

LHT28,

I did receive that email sometime ago and I didn't delete it. I thought a previous poster was referring to some other email that Oceania sends out. I guess we are good to go.

 

You get so many emails from Oceania/TA it is sometimes hard to tell the difference ;)