ERLEC

7 hours ago, PlanoTim said:

Last week on Carnival Vista we had the Social Internet package and it worked great. Facebook was fast and we were able to use WhatsApp, FB Messenger, and iMessage. My wife was able to make a video call on WhatsApp and our web-based AOL email even worked. I was also able to stream Amazon music. I was very impressed with the performance of the cheapest plan.

Good to know. Wondering if my gmail would work as well.

Hello,

With the basic wifi plan (social) can I get my emails? That's pretty much all I need. Emails and some text messages to family on land.

Worse case I'll take the value plan. Just don't want to pay extra if it's not needed. 

Trailways deserves Montreal yes. Just wondering if there's differences between them and Greyhound. They have pretty much the same departure/arrival hours.

Isn't Trailways a Greyhound property anyway?

Anyone has experience with the bus from Montreal? There is Greyhound and Traiways deserving the big apple.

Not sure which one to choose from.

I am really looking into taking the Greyhound bus from Montreal to NY. It's 144$usd per person round-trip and will drop us directly in Time Square. I reserved my hotel already for 2 nights prior to the cruise just across the street from the Port Authority bus terminal.

Think it's really a hassle-free scenario. No worry for parking!

17 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

Last time I looked, Amtrak’s website said that Can-US service will resume sometime in 2022.  But who knows?  I especially enjoyed the train ride back from NYC as it travelled alongside the lake.  So much bird wildlife, so interesting.  Too bad the VIA connections to Ottawa aren’t very good.  I ended up taking Greyhound back to Ottawa from MTL. 

Hello, I sent them an email to get more information about the train resuming itinerary to Montreal. I'll post comments here when they answer.

12 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

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..😊

I like the idea to take the bus on our way to NY and the plane to go back home.

We would love to take the AMTRAK train (even if it's a 11h ride), it's relaxing and you have a restaurant in the train. There's wifi and you can work and do stuff.... But the train is still not in service since begining of COVID and not sure when they will reestablish.

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.

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...

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.

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?

Can you share the internet plan with Carnival when not in use?

Example, I need only the plan for 1-2 times a day to take emails. The rest of the time it could be used by kids. Can I disconnect from the plan on my device and activate on another device?

Yes indeed, excellent news for travelling!

Anyone know if Carnival offers testings as well?

For those of you Canadian cruisers sailing out from NY port and crossing the Canadian border by car, where do you go for testing prior to accessing the border on your return to Canada?

On 3/8/2022 at 2:09 PM, njhorseman said:

You actually will save a meaningful amount of money, but you are right that you lose the convenience of getting right in your car after your cruise and immediately heading out for home.

 

Currently, Uber between Ridgefield Park NJ and the Manhattan Cruise Terminal will run in the $45 to $55 range, so let's say $100 or so round trip. Seven days parking at the cruise terminal is $280, cash toll for the George Washington Bridge is $16 and something for gas...let's say $4 .  A total of $300 for 7 days...more if your cruise is longer than 7 days...so $200 more than free parking at the hotel and using Uber.

 

There's no doubling back in the process for the OP, who will be returning to Montreal from the hotel in NJ.

In fact, parking at the hotel in NJ isn't free. It's a stay, park, cruise package for staying 1-2 nights prior to the cruise. The price is well above a regular room without a package. It runs around probably 100$ more per night. So it's like paying something like 15$/day to park. So if you sum up everything the total saving isn't too meaningful overall. I'm averaging maybe 100-150$ saving overall, if you don't count all the time wasted comparge to parking at the cruise terminal.

5 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Since suspect you'll be driving on the  NY State Thruway I recommend you  find a hotel in either Westchester County, NY or one in New Jersey in the Ridgefield Park area. That will leave only a short drive to the cruise pier the next morning.

That was my goal. Several said to look for a hotel in Ridgefield park area. Some hotel accept to leave the car there while on the cruise. That saves some hassle and money. You just take a Uber the morning on the cruise. Also checking North Bergen area in NJ. Sounds like a great option too. 

We'll most likely drive to NY. Just need to find a place to stay and park the car not too far from the port.

I think it's still the easiest and quickest thing to do.

4 hours ago, njhorseman said:

 

There is, or at least was the Adirondack between NY and Montreal, which if I recall doesn't involve a layover but was subject to long delays at the border for customs and immigration checks. I believe Amtrak still has not resumed the cross border service that had been suspended during the pandemic.

Exactly, it's still not in service and I think it's a 11-12h trip... It's like twice the time it takes to do it by car.

Thanks for your suggestions. We're also looking into taking train or bus or even flying if I get a good deal. It's effectively less of a hassle.

Looking for suggestions for a hotel near Manathan cruise terminal (Carnival Magic). To stay a day or two prior to the cruise.

I would like an hotel where I can leave the car for the whole week and just take a Uber the morning of the cruise and hop to the terminal. We would save the hassle of finding a place to park and also the high prices to park at the terminal.

Suggestions?

13 minutes ago, SRF said:

So spending the $400 will save you money.  Sounds like the best deal.

 

You can always call and see if they will move it (keeping the booking number) with out penalty.   If the first person says NO, try again a day or so, and repeat.  😄

 

Effectively. In fact I tried with the travel agent and then I did on my own by calling RCCL. Answer was the same at the end, no it's not possible to make changes without fees after the 2 months grace period unfortunately. There's no way around this.

RCCL first said yes, they can accomodate me and do the change without fees, but when I asked about the small OBC  we had they discovered it was a cruise booked onboard thru NextCruise they revised and said no. 😞

We're still thinking about this for now

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

That's up to you - is the move to the summer worth $200 to you?

It's 2 cabins, so we're talking about 400$ penality. The main reason to move over a new sailing is to save money. Airfare from here to L.A. in December during holidays is killing us. We didn't know it was that expensive. We didn't check that prior to do the booking onboard, my bad... Departing from NY instead this summer we would save a lot by driving to port and no airfare needed.

I was not offered a refundable price at NextCruise desk. Maybe that was available and it was my job to ask for this. I don't know. Now I'm a bit puzzled if I should just pay the penality and move my booking or else I keep everything "as is". 

It's past the cruise with confidence program unfortunately. It's a booking for December we wanted to move into this summer instead.

We may end up cancelling the whole thing in the end (and losing our deposit).