Pick up at Manhattan Cruise Terminal

[cruiser620]

Can anyone give me info about the logistics of getting picked up from the Manhattan cruise terminal by private car? Is there anywhere for a car to wait for passengers to disembark?

[mking8288]

Short answer, logistics are rather challenging in general - please provide more specifics and we can see whether it's possible. There is no waiting area at/near the terminals - private cars, like car services, are usually directed by port security and/or police stationed there to meet nearby, i.e. across 12th Avenue @ W. 48th or W. 49th Street, etc. It's typically "easier" on Sunday but Saturday isn't too bad, as long as there's just one or maybe two ships docked there, still looking at 5,000 to 8,000+ pax coming off the ship and thousands more arriving to sail.

 

Disembarkation date/name of ship and if you can manage your luggage (# of pieces) and whether you plan to/willing to use porter's services; and, if you have priority disembarkation and plan to walk off the ship with all your luggage. Once you cleared CBP inside the terminal, you are allowed once again to use your cellular/smartphone to call - as it's easily a 10 minutes walk with the crowds, to exit out to 12th Avenue - for the driver of your private car to come around, as local street traffic congestions can be pretty bad.

[cruiser620]

Short answer, logistics are rather challenging in general - please provide more specifics and we can see whether it's possible. There is no waiting area at/near the terminals - private cars, like car services, are usually directed by port security and/or police stationed there to meet nearby, i.e. across 12th Avenue @ W. 48th or W. 49th Street, etc. It's typically "easier" on Sunday but Saturday isn't too bad, as long as there's just one or maybe two ships docked there, still looking at 5,000 to 8,000+ pax coming off the ship and thousands more arriving to sail.

 

Disembarkation date/name of ship and if you can manage your luggage (# of pieces) and whether you plan to/willing to use porter's services; and, if you have priority disembarkation and plan to walk off the ship with all your luggage. Once you cleared CBP inside the terminal, you are allowed once again to use your cellular/smartphone to call - as it's easily a 10 minutes walk with the crowds, to exit out to 12th Avenue - for the driver of your private car to come around, as local street traffic congestions can be pretty bad.

 

Thanks for the info. We will be disembarking from NCL Gem on Sat. June 18. Scheduled arrival is 8:00 a.m. We can manage our luggage -- probably only have one bag -- so will probably do self assist. My daughter will be picking us up. She lives in Ossining and it will take her a little while to get there, so I wasn't sure what time to tell her to be there and where she could wait if we aren't out yet. My husband isn't able to walk very far. We have a handicapped tag if that helps with anything in terms of where we can meet her.

[mking8288]

GEM 6/18/2016 (Sat.) returning to NYC from Bahamas - this is useful info, cross-referenced the NY Cruise Calendar - only one ship docking there, would most likely be using Pier 90 (nothing is definite until the gangway is down)

 

You should/will have a working cellular signal on the ship - about 60 minutes before arriving at the pier, as it get near the VZ Bridge / off the shores of SI & Brooklyn - that's plenty of time to call your daughter that you are almost home. It will take easily another 30 to 60 minutes after docking at the pier for the vessel to be cleared by CBP/local authorities before the Self Assist can begin the walk-off with luggage.

 

If DH cannot walk too far, I would make sure to contact NCL Special Needs or the Access Desk to alert them, and request wheelchair assist at disembarkation - we watched some of these last month coming back on the Breakaway, process is very similar. You won't be able to take advantage of Express Walkoff but you should be able to get off when the color-tags are called, we had Yellow Priority luggage tags and they've already started having the attendants escorting those in wheelchairs to make their ways into the terminal.

 

The bottleneck is that there is only one elevator and there's a long line for it - but, if your DH can use the escalators - that would speed up the process for disembarkation.

 

Would DD be driving south via the Henry Hudson Parkway direct to the pier on the morning, as you can probably try to time her arrival as the ship is coming into port - although things are known to happen last minute with delays, with pax coming off the ships being held on the gangways - when there's too many inside the building & CBP is short on staffing, etc.

 

If DD can pull off the parkway at 125th Street or 96th Street (where it's easy to get back onto the parkway on the West Side) you can call her once you are cleared by CBP and begin leaving the secured area (and, allow to use cell phones again) & have her resume the final segment to the pier, maybe just 10 to 15 minutes - depending on traffic, if it's still early enough in the mid morning hours on a Saturday.

 

With luck, she can drive up to the departure/level 2 upstairs & pick you 2 up quickly and go - if port security at the entrance allow her to drive up. Sometimes they won't & will send all the drivers without passengers (whether it's car service or private vehicle) ... although the handicap tag should, maybe, help - otherwise, you will have to stay downstairs & cross 12th Avenue & get picked up, probably on W. 48th Street (it's very difficult to find a pickup spot along 12th Avenue on the northbound side/heading toward the GW Bridge)

 

Have you sailed out of and return to MCT at Pier 90 or Pier 88 before and familiar with how things generally worked - or, is this new & first time ??

[cruiser620]

Thanks again for so much specific and helpful information. We have sailed out of MCT 3 times before, but it's been a few years ago and we drove and parked instead of being picked up. Actually our cruise is not returning from the Bahamas -- it goes to Canada with final port in Portland. I was wondering if we might be cleared faster since we are coming from a US port.

[mking8288]

Can't help with the procedures on NCL / BA returning from Canada - check with those on the Roll Call returning this month before you sailed, if you could - it's been more than a few years since we've done a Canada/NE cruise out of NYC (but, I seemed to recall clearing CBP (customs & immigration then) onboard the ship before arrival so disembarkation was pretty quick & easy ... non-US travelers had to report to the lounge as the officers boarded the ship & processed everyone while at sea, details fuzzy over the years)

 

Make a tentative plan with DD for the pick-up upstairs, with a pre-set backup location as suggested (across 12th Avenue & mid-block up on W. 48th Street - it's one way, eastbound toward Grand Central/Queens on the crosstown) ... call her while still on the ship, sailing close/under the VZ Bridge (assuming you are early risers) as you should know a lot better then on the timing & schedule. NCL should have the details by the time you docked at Portland, ME and you can call DD to discuss & fine-tune/revise the plan.

 

There's an excellent pictorial guide posted by another CC here on this subforum about driving to the pier if DD needs details, just search for it & should come up.

 

BTW, we used porter services as my knees were acting up when we returned on the Breakaway and it was a sure way to fast track in exiting the secured CBP area - porter dropped us off on 12th Avenue (as they are not supposed to cross the busy & wide roadway due to insurance/safety regulations ... but, he was going to anyway) We declined & waited for the traffic lights and walk the short part across (there's a safety/traffic island in the middle for pedestrians ... slow walkers) to the Taxi Stand ... being early with just 3 people in front, already loaded their bags - we hopped into a yellow taxi & were home in about 30 minutes later.

[138east]

This could be the pictorial link - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2057865

[cruiser620]

Very helpful. Thanks!