Canadian traveling from Montreal to NY

[ERLEC]

For those of you cruising from NY and leaving from Montreal region, do you drive, fly or take bus/train?

 

Was wondering if I take the Greyhound bus from Montreal, arriving 2 days prior to the cruise to visit a little. Or if I should just take the car and then pay for parking at the cruise terminal.

 

Thoughts?

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by ERLEC

[Fouremco]

In a similar situation a couple of years ago, with a Boston - Montreal cruise, we flew into Boston from Montreal a couple of days early. We didn't consider Greyhound, which would be a cheaper alternative but a full day's drive.

[ERLEC]

23 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

In a similar situation a couple of years ago, with a Boston - Montreal cruise, we flew into Boston from Montreal a couple of days early. We didn't consider Greyhound, which would be a cheaper alternative but a full day's drive.

Agree... It's a long 7-8h bus drive.... Driving on our own would be 6-7h.

 

 

[DirtyDawg]

Has the train service between Montreal and New York be restated yet? That train used to get you right to Penn Station. Great for visiting the city.
 

[ladysail2]

1 hour ago, DirtyDawg said:

Has the train service between Montreal and New York be restated yet? That train used to get you right to Penn Station. Great for visiting the city.
 

No, not yet. The website says ‘sometime in 2022’.  It’s a lovely trip in the Fall.  

[ladysail2]

6 hours ago, ERLEC said:

Agree... It's a long 7-8h bus drive.... Driving on our own would be 6-7h.

 

 

The train is 10+ hours…..

[xcell]

I've done Toronto to NY, so similar and I like to drive becasue by the time I add in all the waiting time for the plane, driving is a few more hours (depending on when your flight home is, if there are any delays, etc...).   For instance, with a car, once the cruise ports, you hop in and you are on your way.  I'm the only driver in the family so the driving is all on me but I also like to drive. 

 

 

[ALD18]

We live near Toronto and always fly.  Have pondered driving, but always go back to plane.  Primary reasons are to eliminate weather issues, car troubles, or major traffic/construction snarls.  Plus with current price of gas, on both sides of boarder, that is a major factor now too.  Going to have factor in timing for your antigen test to cruise as well.  Regardless, have a good trip. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by ALD18

[d9704011]

I'd take the bus. Although it may be an hour or two longer than driving your own car it's pretty much hassle free, takes you directly to the Port Authority in central NYC for taxis and subways, much cheaper than paying for gas, parking and tolls and the travel day has pretty much used up any time for sightseeing no matter how you do it.

[lx200gps]

We are driving from Montreal down to Cape Liberty in late May, the day before our cruise. It will be the first time we've ever driven to a cruise, but we have driven from Montreal to New York many times. I don't want to waste valuable frequent flyer points (we only ever fly on points) flying such a short distance, and driving down allows us to avoid the airline baggage rules, making it much easier to bring what we want. We also avoid dragging suitcases through airports, in and out of taxis etc. Although there are many hotels in the area with Park and Cruise packages, which would save a few $$$s, we plan to park at the pier. This will make it much easier, at the end of the cruise, to just jump in the car and be home in 6 or 7 hours.  No stress about getting to an airport in time and dealing with all the fun of modern flying, and we would probably be home sooner by driving than by flying, as we can be in the car and on our way possibly as early as 7AM.

[ERLEC]

11 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

Has the train service between Montreal and New York be restated yet? That train used to get you right to Penn Station. Great for visiting the city.
 

Not yet... Hope it will be soon...

[ERLEC]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

We are driving from Montreal down to Cape Liberty in late May, the day before our cruise. It will be the first time we've ever driven to a cruise, but we have driven from Montreal to New York many times. I don't want to waste valuable frequent flyer points (we only ever fly on points) flying such a short distance, and driving down allows us to avoid the airline baggage rules, making it much easier to bring what we want. We also avoid dragging suitcases through airports, in and out of taxis etc. Although there are many hotels in the area with Park and Cruise packages, which would save a few $$$s, we plan to park at the pier. This will make it much easier, at the end of the cruise, to just jump in the car and be home in 6 or 7 hours.  No stress about getting to an airport in time and dealing with all the fun of modern flying, and we would probably be home sooner by driving than by flying, as we can be in the car and on our way possibly as early as 7AM.

I agee... I think every scénarios have their pros and cons... It's just a matter of preferences.

[MamatoJack]

I'm in Ottawa and was going to fly but AC cancelled my direct flights and the new ones would make the whole thing longer than driving so that's what we are doing now, driving. Mind you it's in May, if it was January or middle of winter, I'd probably find a way to fly. We'll be driving down the day before now and staying a bit away from the port in New Jersey for the night. I might see about going to see the Statue of Liberty while we are there as that's one of the things my son is super keen to do. I'm not sure if I could drive in New York city itself, I'm already nervous about driving in New Jersey lol. But I do think once I've done it once, I'll be ready/able to do it again. If the train was operating from Montreal, I would totally do that. It sounds like a lovely trip. The bus could be nice too, not having to actually drive myself. You are all giving me ideas. 

[lx200gps]

Another advantage of driving, in these COVID times, is that if we do contract the bug, it will be much easier to drive back than try to fly while positive.  There appear to be big increases in positivity rates on ships right now with most rules being relaxed (Per the CDC, more than 2/3 of ships under their watch are either yellow or orange right now, with 34% being orange) and not having to worry about having to quarantine would make the trip much more enjoyable for us.

[Sue from Canada]

17 hours ago, MamatoJack said:

I'm in Ottawa and was going to fly but AC cancelled my direct flights and the new ones would make the whole thing longer than driving so that's what we are doing now, driving. Mind you it's in May, if it was January or middle of winter, I'd probably find a way to fly. We'll be driving down the day before now and staying a bit away from the port in New Jersey for the night. I might see about going to see the Statue of Liberty while we are there as that's one of the things my son is super keen to do. I'm not sure if I could drive in New York city itself, I'm already nervous about driving in New Jersey lol. But I do think once I've done it once, I'll be ready/able to do it again. If the train was operating from Montreal, I would totally do that. It sounds like a lovely trip. The bus could be nice too, not having to actually drive myself. You are all giving me ideas. 

I'm also in Ottawa and we have such crappy flight choices to the states.  Even if you can get a direct flight to Florida in winter, AC usually changes one or both flights and you end up going to Toronto (uggg).  So frustrating.

[DirtyDawg]

5 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

I'm also in Ottawa and we have such crappy flight choices to the states.  Even if you can get a direct flight to Florida in winter, AC usually changes one or both flights and you end up going to Toronto (uggg).  So frustrating.

Easy fix to that. Move to the GTA. 

 

Better flight options. Better weather. Better live threatre. Better food scene. Better hockey team! And better quality alone time ... sitting in your car in a perpetual traffic jam, quality alone time.  What's not to love???  If you decide to move here I can get you a nice little  700 square foot downtown, empty nester condo for just over a $mil. And with maintenance and parking of just a grand per month, it's a steel!

 

 

 

[ladysail2]

On 4/1/2022 at 8:17 AM, ERLEC said:

Not yet... Hope it will be soon...

Amtrak website says sometime in 2022, train service will resume from Montreal.  🤞

[ladysail2]

On 4/1/2022 at 6:59 AM, d9704011 said:

I'd take the bus. Although it may be an hour or two longer than driving your own car it's pretty much hassle free, takes you directly to the Port Authority in central NYC for taxis and subways, much cheaper than paying for gas, parking and tolls and the travel day has pretty much used up any time for sightseeing no matter how you do it.

Have you taken the bus?  I would but don’t know where to get it.  Greyhound pulled out of Ottawa, literally, a few years ago.  There’s talk of another service coming in, but I haven’t seen anything further than the talk of it.

[MamatoJack]

9 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

I'm also in Ottawa and we have such crappy flight choices to the states.  Even if you can get a direct flight to Florida in winter, AC usually changes one or both flights and you end up going to Toronto (uggg).  So frustrating.

 

A coworker drove to Montreal to fly to Orlando for March break, I'm sure the cost was less, and of course he was able to do direct flights. They drove there, but I believe there is a train option as well, just not sure how well it lines up with the flights. My only concern there is weather, it's so easy to end up having to drive in a storm or change plans last minute. Though of course if the weather is that bad you could have ended up with a cancelled flight any way. 

 

[d9704011]

2 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

Have you taken the bus?  I would but don’t know where to get it.  Greyhound pulled out of Ottawa, literally, a few years ago.  There’s talk of another service coming in, but I haven’t seen anything further than the talk of it.

Took the bus once to NYC many years ago.  As you say, right now the bus service to Montreal from Ottawa is a little lacking, especially if you want to get to Dorval.  Orleans Express runs an intercity service leaving from the train station but only one per day to YUL and that's in the afternoon to service evening flights to Europe.  FixBus has started a new service from Ottawa to Toronto and there is some negotiation going on to establish better service to Montreal, probably as Covid restrictions continue fo relax and more people are on the road.

[lots-of-km2]

 

 

On 3/31/2022 at 3:55 PM, ERLEC said:

Or if I should just take the car and then pay for parking at the cruise terminal.

 

If your terminal is on the west side of Manhattan, it's quite expensive to park there for an extended period of time. 

https://www.nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/parking/

 

If you're leaving from Bayonne NJ, parking at that terminal is a bit cheaper, but still a cost to be factored in.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by lots-of-km2

[lots-of-km2]

6 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

If you decide to move here I can get you a nice little  700 square foot downtown, empty nester condo for just over a $mil.

Wow! That's actually a bargain here in TO these days...

[kjzzz3]

Check out Yankee Trails bus line out of Albany.  I drove from Montreal, 4 hours.  You can park at their depot for free, they take you to the ship and pick you up after.  I think it is a good deal.  

[dolfan1980]

I love to drive to the US (am Ottawa based), but for what the parking would be in NYC plus tolls in/out of the city, I suspect flying saves 16 hours plus the hassle.  The bus is I'm sure a decent option if you're going far enough in advance to deal with a cancellation for a day if needed.  If driving, consider parking in NJ somewhere and taking a train into Manhattan.  The tolls the last time I drove into the city were about $40 return just to get from the I95 into NY and back out, that's without parking. 

 

Here's a suggestion, take the bus there and fly home, then you don't need to face the prospect of a 10 hour bus ride after the relaxing cruise.

[ladysail2]

Great suggestions, Dolfan1980 and kjzzz3 and d9407011.  I’m not against flying, I’m for calm and peaceful….which airports aren’t.  Taking the bus there and flying home might be a compromise..😊