MarlboroBell

It's berthing in Manhattan: http://www.nycruise.com/schedule/

The terminal is about 10-15 minutes' walk from the closest subway station (50th St on the C and E line), and only a little further from Times Square (subways to everywhere). Cabs and/or Uber are generally plentiful.

And to continue from that, if you're taking Metro-North, there's really no point in parking at Union Station in New Haven for a trip like yours, unless you really want the car under cover. West Haven and Fairfield Metro stations are $6/day, close to I-95 and a much shorter walk to the tracks. (And almost every Metro-North train from New Haven stops there.) I commute weekly to New York and my car lives at West Haven all week. Or, if you want to get close to the city and still park remotely, the new garage at North White Plains is next to I-287, covered, and $10/day. (And I think Stamford is $10/day too.)

For the times when I need to stay overnight in the New Haven area, I've used the Best Western Plus in North Haven -- cheap, reasonably pleasant, somewhat basic but they have a great free breakfast. (And despite the name, it's an indoor-corridor hotel, not a motel.) It's next to I-91 exit 12. But there are many other options.

I am traveling with another couple. Now we are discussing other options - most likely will be driving and maybe even day before. I don't think we want to be too stressed out, driving the same day.

I've done the drive the same day from the Boston area. It's about at the limit of what you want to do same-day, but it's also definitely not a ridiculous idea to leave the night before and find a nice cheap suburban hotel somewhere in southern Connecticut. (Or even an Airbnb on the route -- there's one in Sleepy Hollow that we love.)

From the port to JFK takes 45-60 minutes, depending on traffic and your method of travel.

What I'd suggest is that you store your luggage for the day at Schwartz Travel near Penn Station and explore the city on your own. (The most obvious thing to do would be the WTC memorial and museum, but you could easily pick something else like the Natural History museum.) Then come back to Schwartz around 2:30pm, pick up your luggage, and either take a cab to the airport or just walk a few blocks over to Penn for the E train (or LIRR) to Jamaica, connecting to the AirTrain to JFK.

The other option of course would be to call an Uber (or Lyft), who should be there within a few minutes with no waiting in line. Ubers in NYC are regulated by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, so you shouldn't get any fly-by-night operators. (Honestly my experiences of Uber in NYC are way better than my experiences of cabs.)

One quick add (editing has expired): Avis and Hertz are across the street from each other at 43rd and 10th. So take your pick.

Hertz have an office on 43rd St between 10th and 11th Avenues, which is about a ten-minute walk from the ship. If you come down the West Side Highway, there is an exit from the highway directly into the cruise terminal. Head for the drop-off zone, drop your luggage with the porters, then drive out and return the car. (You'll have very little Manhattan street driving.) Then walk back. (Assuming you've dropped off your luggage already, I'd recommend walking rather than taking a cab -- it's not far and you'll honestly be quicker walking.) You can enter the terminal at ground level on 12th Avenue at 48th Street and take an elevator up to check-in.

There may well be other options, but this is probably the most convenient.

If you're coming from Pittsburgh, I would strongly recommend not doing the whole drive on the morning of the cruise (hope that's obvious!). Drive the previous afternoon/evening, stay in the burbs in New Jersey the night before the cruise (if you choose, you could even stay as far away as Allentown, but I'd usually recommend getting a bit closer to New York), and then drive in after the morning rush has dissipated. If it's a 24-hour car rental you should manage to drop the car well before 24 hours are up.

Thank you Marlboroman. The MetroNorth advise is the best I have seen. I used to commute on MetroNorth when I lived there, but I've lost touch with the system and was a bit lost on which station is the best since not all offer parking for non-residents. North White Plains seems the best on a couple levels. 1. covered parking in winter, 2. direct train to NYC, 3. frequent trains.

 

To compare, I am taking a 10 night cruise so it would be $400 to park at the pier. By taking the train, parking should be $70 (7 weekdays @$10/day) and $35 for 2 r/t train tickets. I don't think it would be more that $20 each way for a taxi to the pier so i'm looking at about $145, savings $265.

You're very welcome! The station is right off I-287, which helps too.

One thing to add is that although there will be plentiful parking if you arrive at a weekend, I can't promise it if you arrive during the week. I haven't been there during commuting hours yet, but my guess is that it probably doesn't fill during the week at the moment. It only opened three months ago and I don't think people have yet changed their commuting habits to use it. (There's no waiting list for permits right now.)

A year, even six months, from now, I would think it'll fill during the week. But either way it's great for a cruise that begins on a weekend.

The main options are:

(1) Drive to the cruiseport in New York. Parking is expensive ($280 for the week) but if you come in along the Henry Hudson Parkway you don't have to hit New York surface streets at all.

(2) Amtrak. The first train of the day that stops at Mystic arrives at Penn Station at 12:53pm on a Sunday, and that's later than I would be comfortable with. You can go to New London for a few more trains.

(3) Metro-North. You can drive to a number of different Metro-North stations to leave the car and catch a cheap train to Grand Central for a quick cab ride to the port. The principal options (all close to the highway) are Fairfield Metro, Mamaroneck and North White Plains. All have plentiful parking on a Sunday that anyone can use (you don't need a permit) and all of them allow you to park for the week. At Fairfield Metro you can park for $30 for the week very close to the tracks. The train fare to Grand Central is $12.50 per person each way. Mamaroneck is closer to the city (so the train fare is less, $8.75) but you go up two flights of steps to get from the parking to the tracks. (Make sure you park in a metered space denoted by a three-digit number.) The parking rate is $35. North White Plains is a little more expensive ($50 for the week) but you're in a brand new covered garage. (The fare is $8.75 as well).

Short version -- if the parking cost at the port is a big deal, go to Metro-North. Otherwise drive.

If you can get anywhere close to that kind of price in Long Island City, that would be well worth doing. LIC and Astoria are upcoming areas that are remarkably close to Midtown but remarkably little-known, mostly because people say 'ew, Queens'. Several of my friends and colleagues now live there for that reason. (When I was looking for an apartment in the city I assumed I'd land up in Astoria. As it happens I ended up in Harlem, but I'd live in Astoria in a heartbeat.)

Don't try changing to the F at Briarwood though -- the E doesn't stop there during the day on weekdays. Just go to the next station (Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike) where the F will be on the other side of the same platform. Or continue to Forest Hills, where the F will be on the same side of the same platform.

If you're at the Navy Lodge, public transportation is available to Manhattan, but it's slow. The S53 bus stops right outside, gets on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge right away, and gets you to the 86th Street subway station in Brooklyn directly on the other side of the bridge. This is on the R line, which runs local; depending on your destination you'll probably want to change onto the D or N line a little way up the route. It takes about an hour to get to midtown (a bit less to the Financial District), but you can do it all for the standard $2.75 fare. You'll need to find a way to get a MetroCard though, to qualify for the free transfer to the subway.

You almost certainly won't find anything else anywhere near the price, but other places to look for hotels may be Jersey City, Brooklyn or Long Island City. (Getting to Jersey City and back to Manhattan with luggage may get expensive though.) Or you can try for an Airbnb -- these can be cheaper but they can be very hit or miss.

Thank you. I will make sure to book the Jersey City Doubletree. Do you know about how long it takes to get to the port from there?

About 20-30 minutes, depending on traffic. It's about eight and a half miles.

I am not familiar with this area at all so I need a little help.

 

My husband and I are cruising out of Cape Liberty on Sept. 8. We would like to come in on the 5th and look around New York for 2 days. We do not want to rent a car.

 

1. Where should we fly into from Texas? Newark or a New York airport?

2. Where should we stay? Jersey City, New York? I am thinking around a 200 a night rate if possible.

3. I know we want to go to Ellis Island, Statute of Liberty. How to get there, and what else to see?

4. How to get to the port the day of our cruise. We will have luggage.

 

Thank you for any help you can give. I am reading all the other threads but feel a bit confused.

1. Newark is a better decision in general. For sure you want to leave from Newark after the cruise.

2. Jersey City is a perfect location for this. Carol's suggestion of the Doubletree is very good; we've stayed at the Candlewood a couple of times, which is also good. September tends to be high season in NYC, so hotel rooms can be pretty expensive.

3. You can take the PATH to the WTC, but there's a potentially easier way. A quick cab/Uber will get you to Liberty State Park, where the lines to get on a ferry to the Statue of Liberty are way shorter. You can explore the Statue and Ellis Island at your pleasure, and then you can either return to NJ or continue to Manhattan at your option. (You can return from Manhattan by PATH. Don't try to take a cab across the Hudson, it's insanely expensive.) The 9/11 memorial is well worth a visit; it's unbelievably moving. The most harrowing part is inside a separate soundproof set of rooms within the museum, and it's your choice as to whether to visit it, but I would recommend it.

4. From Jersey City, you can take a cab or Uber directly to the port, or if you want to save a bit of money you can take the light rail (which is different from the PATH and is at ground level!) to 34th Street in Bayonne, and call a local cab to get you into the port there. Either works.

The other option is Uber. They'll usually be with you in five minutes or less, they're fully licensed by the Taxi and Livery Commission in NYC, they're not expensive, and honestly I get much better service in an Uber than a cab. (And if you haven't taken one before, there's usually a deal floating around to get you a free one.)

Second Avenue Deli (which despite the name is on 33rd between 3rd and Lex) is within easy walking distance of the ESB and gets a decent New York deli experience, doesn't it?

I just got the call from Academy. My wife and I were booked to go down to Bayonne in February for the 2/6/16 Anthem cruise. I have no idea what we're going to do now and I'm pretty pissed off. We live in Rhode Island so flying would be a ridiculous waste of time and money (it would probably take us less time to drive). From what I'm hearing, parking is a nightmare there. Does anyone have any ideas?

The new garage at Bayonne opened about a month ago. I haven't used it yet but from what I hear, it's really not bad. I'd drive down and park there.

Given that you have a late flight, you might be best served using the ship's tour to get there. It's $160 for two people, but a cab/limo transfer is likely not to be a whole lot less than that anyway and leave you sitting at JFK getting bored.

Has anyone tried UBER from Port Liberty to Newark airport? Also, what's the travel time from port to airport? Should I get a hotel room the night before or is it less than 40 minutes away?

I haven't tried it personally, but I just checked the app and there is a car waiting at the terminal right now, so it should be possible. Uber estimate that the fare will be $18-$24 (though take that with a pinch of salt). Travel time is definitely less than 40 minutes -- I'd estimate about 15-30 minutes depending on traffic.

Not sure if there is any way to get a metro card at LGA?? IF you don't, then you will need to have US COIN for the bus, no change, no bills. IF you don't get a Metrocard, you will have to pay again- $2.75 to ride the subway. IF that is your only option- then load the Metro card- for your entire trip.

There are MetroCard vending machines at each terminal. Of course, they charge the usual $1 new card fee, I believe.

(And at least you can theoretically use cash on buses in NYC, unlike London where they've eliminated cash completely on the bus.)

Oh, one tip that I got wrong back when I was a tourist: if you have a group and swipe the MetroCard multiple times on the bus to pay for them all, you need to swipe once at the subway station to allow your whole party to transfer. Additional swipes will just deplete your account balance for no benefit. (The fare gate will show 'GO 4 XFERS' or whatever, to show how many people can get through on that swipe.)

So i went on to mapquest my directions from Ohio to Parsippany hotel and it seems it just a straight shot on i-80 all the way!! yeah!! does anyone know an app that shows all the rest stops so the grandparents can stop.

We love RoadAhead for that stuff. It figures out which highway you're on and which direction, and shows you what's ahead (including gas prices!) at the next few exits. Perfect for the purpose.

Also I mapquest from hotel to port just to get me to the toll... this is what it gave me. I-78 Express becomes I-78 E(portions toll) take exite 14A toward Bayonne . Merge onto Avenue E(portions toll) stay straight to go to Port Jersey Blvd(portions toll), turn right onto Pulaski Tahe the 1st right onto Pulaski St. Turn left onto NJ-440/State Rt. 440. Take the 1st left onto Goldsborough Dr. turn slight left onto Port terminal blvd. so are these the same as urs or what GPS systems try to take u on??

Yes, they're the same.

Yes, you can. We did this last week.

Top tip -- when coming back to the ship, (a) use a cab, it's a long walk from the subway even with just carry-on luggage; (b) get the cab to drop you at the end of West 49th St (or West 47th). Don't try to go all the way into the ship terminal. We paid $21 for a cab ride from the subway station when we could have paid less than $10 if we'd been dropped at the end of 49th...

Yes, that's about the long and the short of it. We got the dailies really late last night, so I think they made a late decision to try to go for it. Reached GSC and they just couldn't find a place to anchor where the tenders could make it in. Plus, it was raining. About 11:30 the captain came on the tannoy and said that we were giving up. So we're on our way to Nassau, expected in around 6.

If you arrive at any 42nd Street station, the M42 bus will take you pretty close to the port, and it's a free transfer with your Metrocard. From 49th St, the M50 will take you even closer but it's not very frequent.

I didn't think having a passport was required for closed circuit cruises. Will we be able to provide picture id and BC and still get off?

The cruise makes a call in Colombia, which isn't part of the 'we'll let you go on a cruise without a passport' area. So for this cruise, everyone needs a passport.

Hi.I would like to know whether its ok to travel to Bahamas on a tourist visa while on Advance Parole(AP)

 

I have already applied for Bahamas tourist visa from New York,USA.

 

I am an Indian citizen.I have my H1B valid till 2015,but the H1B visa in the passport expired in 2012 and ever since 2012,I have been travelling on Advance Parole/EAD(Combo card).My I-485 is pending.My AP is valid till 2014 May.

 

Could anybody suggest if its ok to travel while on AP and also re-enter back to US?????

 

Highly appreciated.

I've been an H-1B before (I'm now a citizen), one of my best friends is an immigration lawyer, and I do know what those terms mean.

If you've been travelling on advance parole already, then you are no longer in H-1B status -- you're a parolee already. That's no big deal, it just means that you need to keep renewing the EAD and AP until that magical day far in the future when your number comes up and you finally get your Green Card. Another use of advance parole is completely normal. This is what advance parole is for. (Way back in the dim and distant past, there was an expectation that advance parole would be a rare thing and that you'd need a good reason to leave the country while your Green Card application is pending. Now that the world is more connected and these applications can sit around for years, it's routine.)

Just be aware that NCL staff may be less familiar with advance parole than airline staff, they probably don't see it all that often. But they'll have somebody there who understands it and knows that you're legally here and entitled to come back. And if you're worried, bounce it off your (or your company's) immigration lawyer.