ams cruiser

17 minutes ago, happiness is cruising said:

..and the ferry is only 3.00 ppow..per person one way!!!!!

Can't beat that price!

12 hours ago, AF-1 said:

ams cruiser.  You are welcome.  My wife and I will be in NYC next fall for our Princess Cruise.  We plan on staying in the Financial District; so we will take ferry to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; then we can walk to 911 memorial and my wife wants to eat in Little Italy.  Then we will take Pier 11 ferry to the Brooklyn port.  That's our plan and we are sticking to it.  We will most likely fly into LGA since the airfare is cheap from Cincinnati, and it is close to Manhattan.  Have a great day.  

Sounds like a great plan!  We are staying very near Little Italy, so will be trying some of the local fare.

4 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I think it was well-received.  (A great deal of Hamilton isn’t rap.) 

Glad to hear that people liked it!

2 hours ago, lsok said:

So many plays-- so little time!  We are in NYC for 3 nights pre cruise on October 16, 17 & 18.  I am really confused as to the best way to get tickets-- We arrive late (4:30) on the 16th so we are not planning on a play that night, but would like to see Come From Away or Hamilton or ??.  How does the lottery work and is it too early for us to enter?  I saw that Come From Away is available at TKTS-- but there are 4 or 5 different choices, many include a social media account.  Can tickets only be purchaced at TKTS the day of or the day before the performance?

 

I am a novice at this, so appreciate being "walked through" the ticket buying process.

I'm just learning, and I've gotten a lot of good advice here, including downloading the TKTS app, to see what is available.  We are planning on going to the Seaport booth which apparently opens at 11 a.m. (vs noon at Times Square and Lincoln Center), to get same day tickets and matinee for the next day, thus saving ourself a trip the next day.  

I live in the SF Bay Area, and won 2 $10 tickets to see Hamilton this past Sunday by entering online through the Hamilton app. Through this app (or through the website), you can enter in lotteries in NYC, SF, Philadelphia, London, and Chicago, among others, I believe.  If you are a winner, you have to purchase the tickets by 4 p.m. for the show the following day.  The odds of winning this way depend on the number of people who enter each day, but I read somewhere that they are around 100 to 1.

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

 

We belong to a Theater club.We go to 6 shows between September and June and we get a group rate. When we saw To Kill A Mockingbird we had Orchestra seats,direct center $129.

We have tickets for Tina ,April 29,2020,Orchestra seats $100.They are always direct center.We have tickets for West Side Story ,May 20,2020 Orchestra seats $110 each.

We have been going with this group since 2015 and seats have always been great.

If I lived in NYC, I would love to belong to a theater club like this.  I would go all the time.  (And probably end up in the poor house!)  😉

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Speaking of Hamilton— a first for us last night: a Hamilton song on a cruise ship!  My wife and I are on the Celebrity Summit right now, and last night we went to the Broadway Cabaret show — the six singers from the production cast singing show tunes. The usual mix of Les Miz, Phantom, etc.  

 

To our great surprise, midway through the show, one of the singers introduced the next song as having been written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, whom he described as the genius behind In the Heights and a newer show called Hamilton, from which the next song came. My wife and I and a few others applauded, but otherwise there was silence from the nearly 1000 people in the packed theatre. (Do they live under a rock?) He then sang The Room Where It Happens, with the other singers filling the ensemble roll.  He did a great job, and the song was well staged and presented for a cruise ship. My wife and I were so happy that Hamilton has made its way onto a cruise ship! 

That's fantastic! I would have love to have been there.  Was the song received well by the others in the theater?  (It's one of the few numbers that isn't rap, if I am remembering correctly.)

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

Yes,I am.Thank you.

😊

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

They were half price tickets.

Wow, truly half price!  The "Ain-t too proud" TKTS are showing up today at 20% off.

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

Some shows are changing matinee times.Last Wednesday we went to see To Kill A Mockingbird and the starting time was 1:00.

We're just trying to avoid an evening show that runs late on Wednesday, since we have to leave our hotel at 4 in the morning! So I was thinking a Wed. matinee might be better.

17 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

The school that my daughter attended with Javier Munoz was one in which you had to pass a test to enter.It is an elite school,no sports teams .They have a Chess team that traveled all over the world.

My older daughter,also a teacher was a student there as well .

Impressive! You must be very proud of your daughters.

43 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Friends of ours were able to get tickets to Hamilton at TKTS last Wednesday for a matinee.Row F mezzanine $147 each.

They sound like great seats! ( I imagine the regular price must be over $200?)

40 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Afternoon shows are now also on Thursday for some productions.We have tickets for Moulin Rouge On November 7.

Good to know for the future! (Unfortunately, we won't be there on a Thursday this time.)  

5 hours ago, sparkle said:

Amscruiser, we got lobster tacos at a "food booth", not sure if that is the correct name, just west of the red steps in Times Square. They have tables and chairs out there too. Very interesting to sit and watch everyone.

 

You have a great plan to get tix. I used to do that when TKTS had a booth at the World Trade Center.

 

I am not much of a drinker. DH got me a glass of wine before the show and I gave him my drinks, except I did drink half of the Old Fashion, which was good. I agree, the History of Desserts sounds like a winner!

We'll keep our eyes open for the lobster tacos when we are in Times Square.  (I have a trip planning spread sheet on my phone, with one page devoted just to food places in each of the cities we're visiting!)  

I'm hoping we have some luck with the shows we are interested in at TKTS (Beautiful and Come From Away).  My TKTS app is showing tickets for both for tonight, plus a number of others.  I'll have back-ups in mind, just in case, may "Ain't Too Proud" or "Tootsie".

My DH likes wine or beer, but doesn't care for desserts, so we never have to share!

16 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Yes,he was in In The Heights. Not only do the kids at the high school my daughter teaches in get to see Broadway plays they also have the opportunity to travel.Earlier this year a group of students and teachers ,including my daughter went to Europe for 10;days.

When my daughter was in college,in NY she had the opportunity to spend her Junior year at a college in England . She stayed there the entire year and got to travel in Europe.

Sounds like a high school with wonderful opportunities for students and teachers! It's wonderful when young people can get out and experience the world!

10 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

Javier Munoz 

 

My daughter is a History teacher currently in a high school and brought her class to see a Hamilton last June.

I think that is fantastic!  Do local classes still get to go to Hamilton on field trips?  What a wonderful opportunity for both students and teachers.

Wasn't Javier Munoz also in "Into the Heights"?  He really was in on the ground floor up!

The only cast member that I've had any connection with was Daveed Diggs, who went to the middle school from which I just retired.  I didn't have him in class, but I remember him as an extremely talented 7th grader - brilliant student, great athlete (he was recruited by Brown to run track and field), musical, creative, and a really nice young man.  Before he moved to LA , he came back to do Slam Poetry with some of our 8th grade English students, as he kept in touch with many of his teachers. My son still talks about what a difference Daveed made when he worked with my son and his friends.

33 minutes ago, sparkle said:

Congratulations ams cruiser on winning the lottery!

 

We saw Hamilton in NYC before our cruise, and I am reporting back. DH is a history buff and knew all the history,  so even tho he never heard any of the OBCR, he was not lost and LOVED it! I thought it was very good, but can't say I was totally blown away. Maybe not possible after all the hype. But I truly believe Lin Manuel Miranda is a genius,  fitting all that history into 2 and a half hours. And I love the music!

 

Nitemare, we both thought Daniel Beaker was awesome, and it's hard to imagine that he was not every bit as good as Leslie Odom Jr.  (we have only seen clips of him). DH wants to see it again, and we probably will, but unless we win the lottery, it will probably when the prices calm down.  But now we want to go to Chicago and see Hamilton The Exhibition. 

 

We got in town the night before, and thought we would see Jersey Boys (playing on 50th st at New World Stages). However, we got in at late due to traffic at 6:45 and really didn't want to rush to TKTS, then try to make a 7pm curtain. So we saw another show there, Imbible, The History of Drinking (8pm), which we really enjoyed. The Bartender explained the history of beer, wine, distilling, spirits, etc and the Bar Backs illustrated everything with costumes, acting, singing and dancing. If you like 3 and 4 part harmonies you will love them. The show comes with 3 drinks (beer, an Old Fashioned, and a gin and tonic) and you can buy drinks (full bar) before the show starts if you like. Tix at TKTS were $47, so you get to see a show and drink for about the price of 3 drinks in NYC. I would recommend it if you have an extra day and want to see an entertaining show.

 

We were in Times Square having some Lobster tacos Friday about 5pm on Aug 23 and saw the TKTS board had discount tix for

Ain't Too Proud, Beautiful, and Come From Away. If you are on your way into the city, you can go online to TDF.org, ticket booth section, and select "TKTS Live" to see what tickets are available (or while you are standing in line if you can't see the boards) it goes live at 3pm for the evening shows.

 

Thank you, we were actually quite stunned to win the lottery seats!

To prepare for Hamilton (the day before, because that's all the advance warning you get in the lottery!), I listened to the original soundtrack for Act 1 (with lyrics), and then read the synopsis of Act 2 and the historical background of the main characters.  It helped a lot, as I knew the gist of what was being said, even though I missed a lot of the words.  In the production I saw, the only character who I couldn't understand at all was Lafayette.  The actor was fine as Thomas Jefferson, but his "French" accent made the rap difficult to follow.  This wasn't the case with some of the videos I have seen of his numbers, so maybe it had to do with the amplification system.

My husband a retired history teacher, and shared a lot of background information and insights both before and after the play which helped deepen my understanding. Like your husband, he knew what was going on, but missed a lot of the nuances, so he's been listening to the soundtrack, now that he's seen the play.  Both of us really loved it.  I was quite moved by Lin Manuel Miranda's ability to make historical figures come to life with all of their warts and flaws, but make you care about them, nonetheless.  And (almost) all done in rap.  Amazing.

All of the musicals you've mentioned are ones that I want to see, including Jersey Boys.  (Where were the lobster tacos?!)  I've downloaded the TKTS app, and have seen Ain't Too Proud, Beautiful, and Come From Away all listed, with ATP having the smallest discounts. I'm really leaning towards going to Seaport TKTS on the Tuesday after we arrive, and getting tickets for Tuesday night and a Wed. matinee in one fell swoop.  From looking at different ticketing websites, there seem to be pretty good availability of CFA tickets, even up until the day before the show.   I would like to, at least save on the ticket fees that are charged online.  (I've been really spoiled by the $10 Hamilton tickets!)

The History of Drinking sounds like quite an experience!  I know my husband would enjoy it.  I'm sure I would enjoy the show, but I don't drink alcohol, so the "perks" would be wasted on me.  Now if there was a "History of Desserts" experience, I would be all for it!

3 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

My daughter who went to HS with one of the actors from the original cast saw the play on Broadway 6 times and off Broadway once.Not exactly an answer to your question but she saw several different actors and she loved every production that she saw.

 

 

Wow, 7 times! Good to hear she enjoyed them all, as she certainly had a point of reference.  The cast that we saw had several actors with lengthy resumes, and a few (in the ensemble), seemingly just out college! (Good for them!)

Just out curiosity, which actor did your daughter go to HS with?

2 hours ago, AF-1 said:

ams cruiser;  how about this scenario.  Plan on taking ferry when you get back.  If it's raining; then you can always take a taxi to your hotel.  The ferry is cheap and it is a once in a lifetime trip; plus the views are awesome.  Have fun on your cruise. 

Hi, AF-1!  Every time I see your name, I smile, because I'm pretty sure you were the person who taught me how to post pictures on my first (and last) trip review on our Alaska cruise a couple of years ago. So thank you, again for helping me!

I was planning on taking the ferry, and even downloaded the app so I could purchase tickets and check schedules.  We rode the ferry several years ago on our last visit to NYC to the Status of Liberty and on our visit to Ellis Island, and loved the views.  My husband mentioned wanting to do a ferry/boat tour of NY Harbor while we are there, but I'm guessing this is different from the commute ferries?

The only time I started thinking about the car service again, was when I called them to arrange a pickup from our hotel to JFK at the end of our stay in NYC, and asked how much a pickup would be from the cruise terminal. I thought their price quote of $28 from Brooklyn to our hotel in lower Manhattan seemed quite reasonable, since we will have to get a taxi/Lyft from Wall St. to our hotel anyway.

But I'd much rather spend time out on the water than sitting in traffic, so your plan really does sound the best.

Thank you!

49 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

We used to use a car service all the time in Brooklyn.

It is very difficult to pin down a PU time.

I always gave myself a cushion of at least an hour after I thought I would disembark.

Which left us waiting a long time.

I stopped using them quite awhile ago.

Now we use Uber/Lyft and they are there within 10-15 minutes after calling them, and they are cheaper.

Yes, we don't want to have to wait longer than need be.  I have very little experience with Uber/Lyft, but had heard about surge pricing during commute time (which I imagine we'll be in going from Brooklyn to lower Manhattan), and didn't know they were cheaper than a car service.  Thank you for your advice!

2 hours ago, Redhaven said:

I think it is very difficult to predict exactly when a car should arrive, except perhaps if you want to set a "safe" time and then wait outside the ship for that time should you be early.  We arrived at Brooklyn a few weeks ago and the disembarkation was delayed because of customs or dock workers, never sure which was the true answer.  Our approach is to call Uber, Lyft, or take a taxi whenever we get off the ship, and thereby don't need to worry about an exact time.  The actual time can vary for many reasons, some external to the ship and some because of scheduling on-board the ship (like needing to get transfer passengers off first to make flights, etc.).

Thanks for your insight.  This is only our 3rd Princess cruise (across a decade or so!), and we don't have much personal experience to draw upon.  Sounds like a less stressful way to do it.

Has anyone ever seen "Hamilton" on both Broadway and San Francisco (or any of the traveling casts)?  We just saw it for the first time in SF (I think with the "Peggy" cast?) yesterday, and absolutely loved it.  A couple of the main roles were played by standby actors, I believe, but they were very good.  Just wondering how the Broadway cast compares.  Are the "best" productions (or more experienced actors) always on Broadway?

We hadn't been to a show in years (!), but had been planning to see  Hamilton, at some point, when the tickets became more readily available.  And then we just never got around to it. But we actually won the $10 lottery - bought the tickets online on Saturday as soon as we got notification, and saw the matinee on Sunday.  Had great seats in the Mezzanine at the Orpheum, and were thrilled to be there!

51 minutes ago, skynight said:

I am thinking you are on the Caribbean Princess Oct. 4th sailing from Quebec to Brooklyn. In this case you will go through U.S. immigration at the first U.S. port, Bar Harbor. When you arrive in Brooklyn you will not have to go through immigration. We did this cruise mid August this year. Early walk offs began shortly after 7am. Assigned times where you pick up your luggage in the terminal started shortly thereafter. Believe all were disembarked by around 9:30. It's very quick without immigration. Unlike all other Princess cruises we have been on we did not receive a disembarkation questionnaire in our cabin. I think times were just assigned. We visited passenger services, asked what was going on, and requested the early walk off. So if you have a specific time in mind to be picked up visit passenger services and request that time. You can request your time at passenger services and then contact your car service from Boston.

The ferry terminal is literally next to the ship. If you decide to go the ferry route purchase your tickets on line. I'm told the line is very long for tickets. Believe ferries come about every 15/20 minutes.

You should receive medallion 2 weeks in advance if you live in the U.S. If not in the U.S. medallions will be at the pier. 

Thank you for the very detailed and helpful information!  I appreciate the hint about purchasing the tickets online.  I already have the ferry app downloaded, just in case. 

This answers a lot of questions for me, and also puts my mind at ease regarding the medallions.  I live in California, so hope to have them delivered by early next week.  

Hello!  I posted this on the Canada/New England thread and got some very helpful responses, including a suggestion to post here.  I am thinking about scheduling a car service to pick us up at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal  to take us to our hotel on a Monday morning.  The Caribbean Princess is scheduled to dock at 7 a.m.  We're not in a particular rush, because we can't check into our hotel until 3 p.m.  I called the car service that is going to take us to the airport at the end of our NYC stay, and they wanted to know what time we needed to be picked up at the Brooklyn Cruise terminal.  They did say if I could give them an estimated time, I could call them early Monday morning when I have a better idea, as I don't know what group we'll be assigned to disembark.

I'd appreciate a suggested time to give the car company.  Does it take much time to pick up your luggage and will customs take much time?  (I don't know how Customs works, since we'll have docked in Bar Harbor, and Boston before we arrive in NYC, and on our last cruise, our luggage went straight to the Seattle airport.)

One suggestion that has been made is rolling our suitcases to the neighboring dock, and taking the ferry to Wall St., and then a taxi or Uber to our hotel in Lower Manhattan.  Before deciding between the ferry (what if it's raining in October?) and a car service, I'm hoping to figure out the logistics of scheduling a pick up time.

Thank you so much for your suggestions.

And if I can sneak in another question, how far in advance will Princess mail our medallions?  We applied through the APP on 8/20, and we are leaving for a bit of pre-cruise traveling in less than two weeks, so I'm getting a little anxious.  (The Princess telephone hold times are excruciating, and I haven't found enough time to wait until they pick up my call.)

If this question isn't allowed, I'll post a separate thread.

Thanks, again!

On 4/28/2016 at 2:21 PM, sebas030 said:

 

 

Hi Barbara,

 

There is a flat rate for a taxi from the airport to downtown Montreal for 40$.

 

The flat rate for a limousine ( easily available without reservation at the airport ) is 55$.

 

The catch is that the "downtown" area stops at St-Laurent boulevard...it's one street west of your hotel....so if you were to get out on St-Laurent and walk one block to your hotel, it's 40$...if the go outside that area ( hotel door ) they will charge per meter from the airport and could be 5 or 10 or even 15$ more just for that block...

 

Flat rate for a limo from the airport to your hotel door is 60$...not a bad deal at all...and a limo ride can start a holiday on the right foot !

 

Have fun !

1 hour ago, martincath said:

Nope, you didn't miss anything L - that was entirely my mistake. I was operating from memory about where cab & limo zone boundaries were and thought that Saint Laurent was both the eastern end of the fixed taxi zone and the limo 'centre-ville' $58 zone boundary. Thanks for catching my mistake! Google Maps does actually list a second Springhill Suites but it's also within the zone, and appears to be a restaurant!?!?!

 

@ams cruiser you can safely take a cab for just $41, apologies for the mistake, and nope, haven't tried the speakeasy or resto you're asking about... but if you're looking at restos for your other dates I'll throw Au Pied de Cochon into the mix as it remains my absolute fave in the city; it's the only resto I have never failed to visit when in Montreal (except trips before it opened obviously, but on most of them I think the chef was at Toque!)

Oops, here it is.  I'm just getting the hang of how to quote more than one post at a time.

1 hour ago, martincath said:

Nope, you didn't miss anything L - that was entirely my mistake. I was operating from memory about where cab & limo zone boundaries were and thought that Saint Laurent was both the eastern end of the fixed taxi zone and the limo 'centre-ville' $58 zone boundary. Thanks for catching my mistake! Google Maps does actually list a second Springhill Suites but it's also within the zone, and appears to be a restaurant!?!?!

 

@ams cruiser you can safely take a cab for just $41, apologies for the mistake, and nope, haven't tried the speakeasy or resto you're asking about... but if you're looking at restos for your other dates I'll throw Au Pied de Cochon into the mix as it remains my absolute fave in the city; it's the only resto I have never failed to visit when in Montreal (except trips before it opened obviously, but on most of them I think the chef was at Toque!)

Many thanks to laverendrye and martincath for this information. ( I'm trying to do a double post to include the post back on p. 16 that had me wondering about the best way to go to the Springhill Suites.  This post also indicated that Springhill Suites is not considered a part of the downtown area.)  

It sounds like we should be able to take the cab for $41.  Martincath, I will definitely add Au Pied de Cochon to my list.  I'm now faced with the happy "problem" of having too many great choices.  (As my friend, who just returned from your beautiful area just wrote to me, "I wanted to try more places, but I just ran out of dinners!")