Disembarkation in NY (Manhattan) After Overnight

We'll be arriving at Manhattan aboard QUEEN ELIZABETH on Sunday January 15, early afternoon....overnighting at the West Side piers....disembarking the next morning, Monday January 16.

I'm trying to plan for a limo pickup time for Monday morning.

Usually, the ship arrives, there is that slow methodical disembarkion process, then customs & immigration, etc. I know how to plan for that, time wise for a limo pickup..

Has anyone gone through the version we'll run into in January ??

Specifically, do you (can you) disembark early because of the overnight ??

We'll be arriving at Manhattan aboard QUEEN ELIZABETH on Sunday January 15, early afternoon....overnighting at the West Side piers....disembarking the next morning, Monday January 16.

 

I'm trying to plan for a limo pickup time for Monday morning.

 

Usually, the ship arrives, there is that slow methodical disembarkion process, then customs & immigration, etc. I know how to plan for that, time wise for a limo pickup..

 

Has anyone gone through the version we'll run into in January ??

 

Specifically, do you (can you) disembark early because of the overnight ??

You can select self-help disembarkation and leave when you wish. That requires you to handle all your luggage, large and small, yourself. Diamond status folks get early disembarkation too (I'm sure someone else will explain how that works). Other than that the ship offloads luggage by decks and announces which decks are cleared to go. If you use a Cunard transfer you also get priority. We disembarked in Manhattan twice and it was very, very crowded and rather chaotic. May I also suggest, since the ship is docking in Manhattan, there will be plenty of cabs available at the pier and you shouldn't need a limo if you will be traveling to an airport or staying in the city. I hope this helps. May you have a smooth voyage and enjoy NYC.

Diane

Thanks, Diane !

We're veterans of many Manhattan and Red Hook arrivals & disembarkations...always the same day.

The overnight angle is the part that's different this time.

Customs & Immigration should be on the Sunday when we arrive (allowing everyone to go ashore, etc.); it seems to me the process should be a little streamlined on Monday morning considering (a) the ship is already there and (b) the formalities have [one hopes] been handled the day before.

I think you're right - self help is the way to go !!

Thank you, also, for your kind wishes !!!

I'm also on this trip. I did one of these overnight stays a few years ago, the ship arrives too late for flight connections. Immigration for both transit and ending was on arrival, took at least 4 hrs due to so many doing US-VISIT, didn't finish til about 6 PM. But I cannot remember how luggage clearance for ending passengers (I was transit) was handled the next morning, which of course is your question. I'm assuming clearing Customs will be permitted by 8AM but I don't know that for sure.

We too are arriving in New York on 15th, but just in transit.(Southampton to SF)

We are hoping to meet friends in NYC for dinner. Could anyone advise what time we should be able to get to, say, Times Sq area to meet them?

We are in QG so I guess we get some priority in getting of the ship?

We did an overnight at the Manhattan terminal with QE about five years ago.

The first day it was dreadful - long queues, scheduled disembarkation times pushed back several times, everyone had to get off the ship even if they had no intention of venturing into New York, buses for ship's tours were stacked up and running very, very late and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The second day everything was a complete contrast - much easier and straightforward. I guess you might have a little more delay with having to clear customs for your luggage, etc. that we didn't experience because we were onward bound to other east coast ports. But if you've done it many times before, I see no reason why there should be any surprises.

.

Hi Tom,

Originally Chuck and I were going to be on the QE crossing that you are on. I booked it last January, and we were to be in a Princess Grill room. At that time the price was astronomical, and I knew that I would cancel if the price didn't come down. I waited as long as I could and the price never lowered. I cancelled. Well, the price finally did come down, and during October what Cunard wanted last January for a P-2 would have put us in a Queens Grill penthouse with plenty of change left over! Too late for me though as I, and my friend Cheryl, were booked by that time in Queens Grill on the QM2's January crossing at a fraction of the original QE price.

Now to your question! Customs and immigration will be cleared the day that you arrive. Be ready for long lines. Everyone needs to leave the ship and stay off the ship until everyone has cleared. So if you want to go into town for a bit, you might want to go through the formalities early and head into town for several hours before you come back to the ship. If you plan on getting right back on to the ship, do hold off and be one of the last to clear customs.

The next morning it's your choice what to do. It's really quite like departing the ship after any other cruise, but you have already cleared immigration. Now mind you this could all change at the fiat of Homeland Security, but that's how it was done the last time I was on the QE and we stayed at Pier 88 overnight.

As far as plenty of taxis being available...forget it! The lines for departing passengers were long and slow waiting for a taxi to come by. People were schlepping their luggage off of the pier and across the highway to the taxi stand, and waiting in the brutal cold till their turn to get a cab. It wasn't pretty!

With that all being said, Bon Voyage, and one of these days Chuck and I will catch up with you and Jan!

We are in QG so I guess we get some priority in getting of the ship?

Surely you jest? U.S. Homeland Security's Customs and Immigration Officers run the show, and honestly they don't care if you're in the LACONIA Suite or an inside room.

Surely you jest? U.S. Homeland Security's Customs and Immigration Officers run the show, and honestly they don't care if you're in the LACONIA Suite or an inside room.

I can vouch for that. At Manhattan everything was by deck number order and even though we were in a Q4, by the time they called deck 7 we were already over an hour behind scheduled time and the immigration hall was like the holding pen outside a bank giving away free money.

People can't possibly have hit the front of each line in deck number order so it seemed nonsense to me. We certainly were out of order since being in a wheelchair I got sent to a separate desk and skipped about 45 minutes of standing time.

.

Hi Tom,

 

Originally Chuck and I were going to be on the QE crossing that you are on. I booked it last January, and we were to be in a Princess Grill room. At that time the price was astronomical, and I knew that I would cancel if the price didn't come down. I waited as long as I could and the price never lowered. I cancelled. Well, the price finally did come down, and during October what Cunard wanted last January for a P-2 would have put us in a Queens Grill penthouse with plenty of change left over! Too late for me though as I, and my friend Cheryl, were booked by that time in Queens Grill on the QM2's January crossing at a fraction of the original QE price.

 

Now to your question! Customs and immigration will be cleared the day that you arrive. Be ready for long lines. Everyone needs to leave the ship and stay off the ship until everyone has cleared. So if you want to go into town for a bit, you might want to go through the formalities early and head into town for several hours before you come back to the ship. If you plan on getting right back on to the ship, do hold off and be one of the last to clear customs.

 

The next morning it's your choice what to do. It's really quite like departing the ship after any other cruise, but you have already cleared immigration. Now mind you this could all change at the fiat of Homeland Security, but that's how it was done the last time I was on the QE and we stayed at Pier 88 overnight.

 

As far as plenty of taxis being available...forget it! The lines for departing passengers were long and slow waiting for a taxi to come by. People were schlepping their luggage off of the pier and across the highway to the taxi stand, and waiting in the brutal cold till their turn to get a cab. It wasn't pretty!

 

With that all being said, Bon Voyage, and one of these days Chuck and I will catch up with you and Jan!

Thanks for the info, Frank. It's reassuring to get it from you, in particular !!

We're gonna ship one big bag home via White Star, then shoot for Self-Help disembarkation the next day.

BTW, Jan & I will do everything we can to hold you & Chuck to that promise - and that'll be catching up on the high seas !!!

I am curious if anyone knows what the scheduled arrival time is for the ship on Sunday the 15th??? I know the Cunard page says afternoon but I'm trying to get a more accurate estimate. I know sometimes they run into rough weather on the way over too but I feel like in the past some of the arrivals were more like late morning 9-10am?

I am curious if anyone knows what the scheduled arrival time is for the ship on Sunday the 15th??? I know the Cunard page says afternoon but I'm trying to get a more accurate estimate. I know sometimes they run into rough weather on the way over too but I feel like in the past some of the arrivals were more like late morning 9-10am?

My travel agent has your arrival at noon, but you do know that is simply an estimated time of arrival (pretty good track record though, so I wouldn't count on a morning arrival). We'll keep a light on for you :)

Confusing. We're on this cruise too. I know US makes everyone get off the ship. So does this mean we will have to deal with 2 days of lines & immigration. We depart in ny. My hubby says we should just leave on Sunday but don't want to miss 1 day & also will have difficulty with luggage? Don't know what we'll do ??

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If passengers clear immigration the day of arrival there won't be any immigration queues subsequent to that during the port call.

Won't we have to clear immigration with our luggage? It seems to me we would have 2days of immigration

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Immigration (admitting you into the country) and customs (clearing your luggage) are ordinarily two separate steps. Think of an international airport arrival.