Best car service from hotel in Elizabeth to get to New York meeting place for day tour booked through Trip Advisor or Viator.

[Lorey2007]

I know I read this on one of these threads but I cannot find it. We'll be staying near Port Liberty and will have one full day to explore New York. We're seniors one with limited mobility, can walk 20-30 minutes but not all day. I need to be sure we can get someone to take us to NY to the meeting place of most of these tours.  Or do any of the hotels near Port Liberty on International have tours right out of their hotel? Please help before I book my airfare.

[njhorseman]

39 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

I know I read this on one of these threads but I cannot find it. We'll be staying near Port Liberty and will have one full day to explore New York. We're seniors one with limited mobility, can walk 20-30 minutes but not all day. I need to be sure we can get someone to take us to NY to the meeting place of most of these tours.  Or do any of the hotels near Port Liberty on International have tours right out of their hotel? Please help before I book my airfare.

 Uber or Lyft . Or the car services Carmel LImo or Dial 7 . 

 

Very, very unlikely for any NY City tours to pick up at hotel in Elizabeth, NJ. I'd say absolutely not, but then someone will tell me there was such a tour in 2002 and insist there might still be one 20 years later.

 

FYI, the name of the cruise port is Cape Liberty, not Port Liberty . The only reason I mention that there is an area of nearby Jersey City called Port Liberte so if you asked a taxi to take to you Port Liberty you might end up in the wrong place.

[Lorey2007]

24 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 Uber or Lyft . Or the car services Carmel LImo or Dial 7 . 

 

Very, very unlikely for any NY City tours to pick up at hotel in Elizabeth, NJ. I'd say absolutely not, but then someone will tell me there was such a tour in 2002 and insist there might still be one 20 years later.

 

FYI, the name of the cruise port is Cape Liberty, not Port Liberty . The only reason I mention that there is an area of nearby Jersey City called Port Liberte so if you asked a taxi to take to you Port Liberty you might end up in the wrong place.

Thank you. Does the plan to meet a tour in NY at 9 or 10am from maybe Embassy hotel sound doable?

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Lorey2007 said:

Thank you. Does the plan to meet a tour in NY at 9 or 10am from maybe Embassy hotel sound doable?

What day of the week will you be going into Manhattan? If it's a weekday I'd suggest booking your tour for no earlier than 10 am so you can avoid the height of rush hour traffic. Traffic can be heavy and unpredictable at any time so you have to build a time cushion into your travel planning.

 

What type of tour are you considering? You mentioned mobility issues, so is this a bus tour? Frankly, Manhattan is a place best seen on foot. On a bus you'll be spending lots of time sitting in traffic looking up at buildings. 

[Nitemare]

If you can book that tour directly with the provider, DO SO.  So many complaints on the TripAdvisor boards about lack of communication with providers and no customer service.

 

Always book direct in case there are weather or other issues that require a tour provider to get in touch with you.  Putting any middleman in between means you have a real chance of a message not getting through and a day being wasted.  Plus middlemen make money off of this, too, so you usually save booking direct

[Lorey2007]

21 hours ago, njhorseman said:

What day of the week will you be going into Manhattan? If it's a weekday I'd suggest booking your tour for no earlier than 10 am so you can avoid the height of rush hour traffic. Traffic can be heavy and unpredictable at any time so you have to build a time cushion into your travel planning.

 

What type of tour are you considering? You mentioned mobility issues, so is this a bus tour? Frankly, Manhattan is a place best seen on foot. On a bus you'll be spending lots of time sitting in traffic looking up at buildings. 

Our full day will be Wednesday May 17.  The tours I have looked at are mini busses open top or closed that meet in midtown. The itinerary does have several stops that range form 10 min to 30 min. I think we will be fine if we get to get out several times.  There is a 10am time slot which would be perfect for us how long should we factor in for a Uber or Lyft? 

[Lorey2007]

13 hours ago, Nitemare said:

If you can book that tour directly with the provider, DO SO.  So many complaints on the TripAdvisor boards about lack of communication with providers and no customer service.

 

Always book direct in case there are weather or other issues that require a tour provider to get in touch with you.  Putting any middleman in between means you have a real chance of a message not getting through and a day being wasted.  Plus middlemen make money off of this, too, so you usually save booking direct

Thank you I always try to book direct even if I've looked them up elsewhere.   

[njhorseman]

13 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

Our full day will be Wednesday May 17.  The tours I have looked at are mini busses open top or closed that meet in midtown. The itinerary does have several stops that range form 10 min to 30 min. I think we will be fine if we get to get out several times.  There is a 10am time slot which would be perfect for us how long should we factor in for a Uber or Lyft? 

It's really hard to say because traffic is so unpredictable and "midtown" covers a lot of area. I'd allow an hour an fifteen minutes to an hour and a half, but it might only take 30 to 45 minutes.

[Lorey2007]

I'd rather be early, when I find out the meeting place I'll see if there is a coffee shop etc close by to be there extra early. Thank you. 

[GTJ]

3 hours ago, Lorey2007 said:

There is a 10am time slot which would be perfect for us how long should we factor in for a Uber or Lyft? 

The bus from Elizabeth to midtown Manhattan is scheduled for 35 minutes. (The train, from North Elizabeth station, presumably the station closest to your hotel, to Pennsylvania Station in midtown, is scheduled for 30 minutes.) However, going by automobile will take longer than by bus because there is a bus-only lane leading into the Lincoln Tunnel, bus-only ramps connecting the tunnel with the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and your final destination in midtown might be rather distant from Port Authority. Under ideal conditions it could take 45 minutes, but you should allow 90 minutes . . . or 120 minutes to be safe, especially if the starting point is on the east side. Is the starting point at a location where, once you are discharged from the TNC vehicle, you will have a place to sit and wait?