Golden 05 - Port of NY to LGA Timing

[mina]

Hi all:

 

We will be sailing the golden to new england next fall -- out of new york. We have a 12:20 flight from laGuardia -- will we be able to disembark and make it to the airport by then? The ship is scheduled to dock at 7 am -- we can't change to a later flight as we are going on FFlyer miles and this is the only flight out on USAirways. I would ask on the New England board - but no one appears to be reading it. Hope someone can help!

 

Thank you!

[Mike A]

If the ship is on time and you are one of the first off the ship you should have no problems. LGA is only 15 - 20 minutes away without traffic. If you are disembarking on a weekend you should have no traffic. If you are taking a taxi, do not wait on the taxi line. Walk across the street (12th ave.) and you can get a taxi without waiting.

[Host Caroline]

Hi all:

 

We will be sailing the golden to new england next fall -- out of new york. We have a 12:20 flight from laGuardia -- will we be able to disembark and make it to the airport by then? The ship is scheduled to dock at 7 am -- we can't change to a later flight as we are going on FFlyer miles and this is the only flight out on USAirways. I would ask on the New England board - but no one appears to be reading it. Hope someone can help!

 

Thank you!

I am host on New England now and you are right, it's a very quiet board.! We sailed back into NYC last year and had flight same time out of LGA.. we "self disembarked" at 8:30 when ship was "cleared" (we arrived at about 7:00 a.m.) and were at the airport in security line by 9:45.. We took cab the Central Park route and there was zero traffic BUT on the Saturday prior from LGA to the port it was a nightmare.. I don't know if Princess does self-disembark there but if they do and you can handle luggage that's "the" best way IMHO to disembark these days.. we do it all the time in Caribbean when we drive to FL and it saves at least an hour and a half.

[sammiedawg]

We were on the Golden 2 years ago, Sunday disembarkation. We were at Laguardia by 9:30 or 10. However the port of New York can be problematic, the week prior our embarkation and the previous cruise disembarkation was a nightmare d/t a coast guard inspection and traffic was ungodly due to Columbus Day weekend events. People couldnt get to the ship or away from the ship. Total gridlock, we ended up walking the last few blocks to the ship.

So whatever you do make a beeline for the quickest getaway possible and don't let up until you are safely at LaGuardia. Don't do shuttles, get in the cab line asap and go.

Try to get to NYC a couple days early, get a priceline hotel and relax. It is one of the nicest cruises we have taken. Quite thrilling to sail in and out of the city, get up early and watch the return into New York Harbor it gave me the chills.

[Budget Queen]

You need to be well organized. Now it is common for 5+++ ships in port on Sat and Sun- weekends, a far cry from the single one of a few years ago. Congestion can be a nightmare. For clairfication- you will want to walk to 11th Ave- the pier is on 12th. It is a long block so pack light and have a good rolling bag. Do not go with a ship bus transfer, and take a cab or arrange car service with the ability to call once the ship is in port to coordinate pick up.

[mina]

Thank you all for the input. We will take your advice and walk to 11th ave/st. We usually only take a carryon roll bag each -- too many cruises under our belt to pack heavy anymore! We are very excited about this cruise -- have always wanted to do new england coast. Thank you!!

[Joy2Day]

We returned to NY this fall on the Grand Princess on one of those Sundays w/5-6 ships in port. We had a noon flight, so we requested early disembarkation, and received Red 2 (2nd group to disembark). We went ahead and set our luggage out the night before.

 

The morning we arrived in New York, I called a driver that had taken us from the airport to the hotel upon arrival. Assuming disembarkation would start around 9 - 9:15, I asked her to meet us at approx. 9:45 along 12th Ave. Disembarkation did not start until 9:40! We disembarked right away, found our luggage, crossed the street, found our car (thanks to cell phones), and were on our way. We were at LGA by 10:40 and made our noon flight with no problem.

[Mike A]

As Budget Queen said the weekends can bring a large number of ships into NYC. Please see the attached link that shows the calendar for 10/05 at the NYPST. Hopefully, it will assist you with your travel plans. http://www.nypst.com/

The Golden Princess is in NYC on 10/8 and 10/22. On the 8th 3 ships will be in NY along side the Golden Princess, including 2 megas over 100,000 tons, Queen Mary 2 and Carnival Triumph as well as the the small Seven Seas Navagator. On 10/22 the Carnival Legend 88,000 tons will be in port along with the Seven Seas Navagator.

[mina]

Wow - mike thank you for the website -- we are not leaving in October -- 9/24/05 is when we will be disembarking --- unfortunately -- there are SIX ships in port that day!! We will arrange a driver in advance and set up a place to meet him or her away from the port -- I also changed our inbound flight - we will come in Thursday night instead of Sat morning -- spend a day in Manhattan. This way we do not have to worry about making it to the ship in time.

 

THANKS for the advice folks! Happy holidays!