tazprey

We did The Cat excursion to Turtle Cove -- absolutely awesome! The catamaran is smaller and not crowded at all! The crew was great, especially Adam -- very laid back and fun. Turtle Cove was amazing! Half of my family snorkeled, and half stayed on the cat. The turtles were all around my daughter and she has great pictures, so close! Those who stayed on the cat also saw the turtles very clearly, as they come up to the surface to breathe, and they're huge -- you can't miss them! It was a great time for all of us -- in the water and on the cat! I definitely recommend it!

What time of year were you there?

Are the Seavis excursions, available from Amber Cove?

I looked and couldn't find anything about it. I think it's too far away as its on the other side. Maybe once the cruise ships are in Amber cove longer Seavis will start tours there to. Highly recommend Seavis. I actually arranged a group via our roll call. When we got to the boats our group had an entire boat. They have several boats.

Public bus is fine, but it's New York where a half hour can easily become an hour.

Fair enough!. I checked the bus schedule for around nine and return around 11 pm which is probably what I plan to do. Doesn't get crazy then. Will try to print schedule closer to November. I called the hotel to and they were very helpful. No extra charge for 11 days for parking unlike other hotels that charge after 7 days.

That is awesome about the tour company. I'm going too look into that. Currently we are planning to take the public bus to the bus terminal which is one bus and it's only half hour.

Loved Seavis! Best excursion we've ever done.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We did the Seavis tour to Saona Island. Hands down best excursion we've ever done.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hands down best excursion we have ever done was to sanoa island with Seavis tours. Check them on trip advisor. No up front deposits either. I would do it again in a heart beat

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for the info

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks Carol. I've read many of your posts and you give tons of information and are very helpful. I'm going to wait for the other cruiser to come back with her review to confirm and then I will book. We are still trying to decide if we are going to drive or fly part way. I'm nervous about getting to the hotel.

We are booked here Jan 31st and hoping all goes smoothly. Would love to hear others testimony. I'll let you know our experience when we get back; not sure when you are are looking to book?

Yes please come back with and update. I think I`d like to book. We need to leave our vehicle for 11 days though. Seems like a nice hotel.

Good evening 138east

 

Just came back from our cruise on the gem (Oct 27 to Nov 7)

We arrived at Candlewood suite (279 Secaucus road ) Saturday night the building is fairly new and well kept . On Monday morning we called Secaucus taxi to arrange for a taxi to go to Port Imperial. The driver arrived at 9:30 am as agreed 10 minutes drive to Port Imperial. Purchased return ticket for the ferry, waited 5 minutes and we crossed the Hudson in less than 5 minutes.

We went to 39th St and Lincoln tunnel. It's a 5 minutes walk to the ship. The weather was great so we walked to the ship. We arrived around 10:15 am.

Here's a breakdown of the cost to park the car at the Hotel during our cruise

Hotel for 1 night = $155.00 tax in

parking for 2 weeks (October 27 to Nov 7 ) = $0.00

Taxi from 279 Secaucus rd to port imperial = $30.00

cost of ferry 2 persons @ $9.00 = $18.00

return from cruise Nov 7

Cost of ferry 2 persons @ $9.00 ea - $18.00

taxi service from port Imperial to hotel =$25.00

total = $246.00

 

Now lets compare with leaving the car at the pier 88

1 night at Hotel (assuming you stay one night before cruise) =155.00

toll road for tunnel =$13.00

parking for 11 days (flat fee ) =$400.00

 

total $568.00

 

 

there is a difference of 322.00

 

That's a saving of $322.00

 

here's the website for Candlewood suites

https://www.ihg.com/candlewood/hotels/us/en/secaucus/nycnj/hoteldetail?qRef=sr&qDest=Jersey+City%2C+NJ%2C+United+States&qRpn=1&qChld=0&qSrt=sDD&qSHp=1&qSmP=3&qGRM=0&qLng=-74.0781&qRdU=1&qRms=1&srb_u=1&qAdlt=2&qPSt=0&qRtP=6CBARC&qCiMy=102014&qCoD=10&qLat=40.7281&qCiD=09&qCoMy=102014&qRRSrt=rt&qRad=30&qRpp=10&qBrs=ic.cp.in.vn.hi.ex.rs.cv.sb.cw.ul.6c&qWch=0

click on hotel package

CRUISING WITH EASE

CRUISING WITH EASE PACKAGE INCLUDES FREE PARKING FOR 1 VEHICLE FOR UP TO 10 NIGHTS BEFORE OR AFTER YOUR STAY.

 

The ship was a sellout 2400 passenger I noticed the parking at the pier was half full when we came back from the cruise.

Firstly thank you for coming back to post. Our cruise is 11 days so would the hotel allow us to park for 11 or just 10 per your comment above. Also we are travelling with a 7 yr old and our luggage. Is it difficult to lug everything to do the car service plus the ferry? I'm a bit confused on the car service/ferry deal. Although I think we are going to totally different piers so that might make a huge difference. I'm not sure of the pier name but I believe it's in Manhattan, will this hotel still work for such an amazing price?

We are coming from Bangor Maine area (actually Canada) but figured you would know Bangor better. We could stay outside of the area and then drive in during the morning but not familiar with the area and driving around NY, so not sure where to stay or how much time we would need to get around. Also, if there were hotels that are outside the area that have park and stay?

Please share how you made out as we too are coming from Canada (New Brunswick) and will be our first time driving to NYC. Any details/do's and don'ts you can give me when you return would be GREATLY appreciated. Have a great trip.

I just booked this Hilton, so I sure hope there is no bed bug issues.

Can you come back and update how it was? How you found the hotel and shuttle etc. Any details would be greatly appreciated. We don't go until November so I have some time and this sounds exactly like what we are looking for.

I going to be at Amber Cove the week after Christmas. Not planning a tour. Just staying in the port area. In May my ship docked in La Romana(sp?). Not a great area. We went to an open air market in town. Trinkets and very poor people. I can see why Carnival has made their own docking area in Amber Cove.

La Romana was our favorite by far. We booked seavis tours and would recommend them hands down if you ever go there again.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Any recommendations on reputable private tour company?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi All-

We've booked our next cruise, which will be a repositioning cruise from New York (Manhattan). We've only ever sailed from Florida, and I'm not at all familiar with NYC, so I feel like I don't know where to start. Can someone recommend a good starting place? I've been reading through the boards, as I normally do, but I feel like this time I'm starting the instruction manual at step 15 in Turkish. We will be flying in with 12 days worth of luggage the night before late - DH and I and the two kids 10 and 13. I gather it's cheaper to stay by EWR, and since this appears to be equidistant to the port from LGA this would make sense. But then how to get to the port? And what else do I need to know? Someone point me in the right direction please!

Thanks in advance!

We are on the cruise just before, leaving and returning to N.Y. and feel the same way. We have a young child traveling with us to. I think N.Y. Is way different than going out of Miami. Will be following for major hand holding help.

Thanks for all the great info. All this makes me nervous. Cruising first time with child, first time till N.Y. And my uncle is inn a wheel chair. Think we will have some challenges. Hope people that went come back with info. We don't go until 2016

Thanks for all the comments. We will book the Seavis Tour. Couldn't even find one bad review! :) Actually excited now for this port.

Thanks for all the information! We are definitely not interested in the Dreams resort thing (just not our thing) however great information posted and is getting us a little more interested in checking out this port. I keep hearing about this Seavis tour so will definitely look into it. Thanks again.

Sailing on Carnival Breeze at the end of March, one of the ports of call is La Romana. Having difficulty deciding on doing an excursion or staying on the ship. Most of the reviews that I've read mention that the guests stayed on the ship instead of doing an excursion. We've narrowed it down to two; Taino Indian Cave and Catamaran sail and snorkel. Has anyone taken either of these? Were they worth it? Should we just stay on ship? Is there any other excursion we should consider?

We did this a couple weeks ago. Just want to say the menu has changed and the chef said it changes every year to year-1/2.

Can you tell me what is on the menu now? We sail in March and I'm very fussy but really would like to do the chef's table with my husband for our anniversary.

From one of the secret decks looking forward....not really secret, but you have to hunt for the doors to get out there...

 

 

Another picture from the forward deck....does that give you a hint as to where the secret door is?

 

Which floors have the doors to go to the front? We enjoyed doing this our last cruise as not too many people know about them.

We loved the itinerary you're going on so much we're going back to Aruba and Curacao (my favorite) on our NCL cruise in October for another anniversary cruise. Yes, we became Gold while on the cruise. They gave us the Gold cards before we left and we were invited to the past guest party...one of my pictures shows the invites. I believe they had a Captain's Gala type of night on the first formal night, which drinks were $1 off for a certain amount of time. It's kind of foggy so don't quote me on that part.

 

Thanks for the compliments! Glad you enjoyed the pictures and review!

Any suggestions for those ports? I'm really excited for these ports as well. I really don't drink but would have a "free" drink lol. When we sailed many moons ago we got to go to two different hours where you had apps and complimentary drinks. My husband would prefer that (and I prefer they are free lol).

Thanks Chris for the awesome review! Loved all the pictures! We sail on March 30th, we are doing Grand Turk, Curacao, Aruba and Dominican. This will be our first balcony (just a regular one). Did you become a gold member while on this cruise? We need 4 points to reach gold so this cruise should get us there. Also do they still have a Captain Gala night with complimentary apps and drinks? Or past guest nights? I'm assuming they may not have past guest nights now that they have the rankings. And thanks for all the wonderful pictures! Really appreciate your time and effort.