Porters, taxis, at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal?

As I mentioned in another thread, we are currently aboard the HAL Zuiderdam, and were scheduled to dock on September 13 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, but have been bumped to Brooklyn because of the damage done to Pier 90 by the Carnival Horizon. I’m very familiar with the MCT, but have never sailed from or into Brooklyn before. Several questions:

Do the porters have their own customs/immigration line as they do at the MCT?

I know there’s no official Global Entry at the port, but will having it still speed things up as it does at some other ports?

We’ll need a taxi. Is there an obvious taxi line and, if not, any advice for getting a cab?

Thanks as always for the great help on this board!

As I mentioned in another thread, we are currently aboard the HAL Zuiderdam, and were scheduled to dock on September 13 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, but have been bumped to Brooklyn ... We’ll need a taxi. Is there an obvious taxi line and, if not, any advice for getting a cab?

Thanks as always for the great help on this board!

Can't help you w using GE and/or porter services at BCT ... my understanding is that taxi availability and the queue/line for it vary, depending on when you get outside. Signage is good on where to wait for taxis, as they would most likely be first dropping pax off ... unlike Manhattan, taxis will not be "cruising" empty for a fare pickup in this area at all.

As you probably already knew, we typically recommend these 2 car service:

Dial 7 at 212-777-7777 or 866-777-7777

Carmel at 212-666-6666 or 866-666-6666

A Brooklyn-based (Park Slope area, nearby) is Arecibo and many find them to be good, as posted before on CC - 718-783-6465

To ensure that your wait will be shorter once you are clear, might want to pre-book once the ship sailed under the VZ Bridge & head toward Red Hook's pier, and advise the dispatcher of your likely pick-up time but that you will call once ready, to "pre-stage" an extra vehicle/driver in the areas nearby ... since they know with a cruise ship coming in, it's good for business.

Not sure if you are up-to-date with maritime news & weather, Hurricane Florence is spinning south of Bermuda & possible landfall mid-week somewhere along the mid-Atlantic coast & "Issac" is coming fast behind her but likely to slide down toward the West Caribb - still, going to stirrup wind, waves & bands of rain in the Atlantic ... so, be prepared for a likely bumpy ride. Safe travel !

mking, thanks very much for your reply and advice. (And you can bet we had our eyes on Florence!)

We docked this morning, so let me answer my own question about the porters in case anyone else does a search on here: they DO have their own customs/immigration line, and we were out in seconds. Actually, all the lines seemed well staffed and not backed up. That was the easy part.

There were no cabs! Okay, there were two cabs. And maybe 50 people lined up, and that line just grew and grew. Yes, I should have booked a car service, lesson learned. (I just really had no idea when we'd be off the ship.)

As we waited in the taxi line, I called Legends Car Service, recommended by a friend on board who lives in Brooklyn and loves them. They had a car there for us in about half an hour, and we still would not have gotten a cab in that time.

Home safe and sound, thanks again.

@Turtles06 - you are very much welcomed, that's what we do to our fellow CC'er needing a little extra info or help, especially while at sea as satellite internet isn't always a practical option. How was the high sea ride coming into NY ...

Welcome home ! Glad everything worked out - very useful info about the cab situation, it's what I was afraid of & there just isn't enough periodic & consistent feedback on it. Carmel and Dial 7 would probably had a car there for you within the 30 minutes as well.

Next, we are going to have someone ask about Uber & Lyft at BCT, ha ha :D

I suspect the lack of taxis was due to the change in port from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Hardly anyone knew the ship was going to be in Brooklyn and the published port schedule was not amended to reflect the change.

@Turtles06 - you are very much welcomed, that's what we do to our fellow CC'er needing a little extra info or help, especially while at sea as satellite internet isn't always a practical option. How was the high sea ride coming into NY ...

 

Welcome home ! Glad everything worked out - very useful info about the cab situation, it's what I was afraid of & there just isn't enough periodic & consistent feedback on it. Carmel and Dial 7 would probably had a car there for you within the 30 minutes as well.

 

Next, we are going to have someone ask about Uber & Lyft at BCT, ha ha :D

Thanks again. We were essentially on a cold-weather cruise (HAL's Viking Passage: Copenhagen, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Nova Scotia, disembark in NY), but our final sea day (yesterday) was hot (nearly 90 degrees) and very muggy, which hit us all like a ton of bricks. And, we spent virtually the entire day and night before NY in fog, with the ship constantly sounding its fog horn. It was very eerie, almost like we were a ghost ship.

(photo by turtles06)