Please--Need advice from anyone who has done the NYC to Montreal cruise

[Sheltieluv]

Hi Folks

I could use some advice from any of you who have taken the New England/Canada cruise, departing from NYC and ending in Montreal.

 

We are booked on the Regent Navigator October 14-24, 2012 cruise and even though we are only an hour's flight from New York City, we are flying down the day before and will stay overnight in Manhattan. (I am a firm believer in arriving a day early, no matter what!):) So, we're set for that part of the trip.

 

The cruise departs from the Brooklyn pier at 9 p.m. (I checked the port schedule for NY and it's showing Brooklyn, and not Manhattan, which kind of surprised me.) What time should we leave our hotel to get to the pier? I was thinking around 2 p.m. but we can go earlier of course if that's what anyone advises.

 

Now here's where I can really use your help with options from Montreal on the 24th.

 

Option 1: We live near Syracuse, so if we rent a car and drive ourselves home, it will take a little over 4 hours. (that doesn't take into account any delays at the border, but we shouldn't be stuck there too long as we would cross at Alexandria Bay, or Ogdensburg). The car rental will run us around $150 one-way.

 

Option 2: Fly. More expensive, of course, but having never driven in/around Montreal, which I have heard can be pretty "adventuresome" this could be the less stressful way to go. Time wise, other than having to check in at the airport and all that stuff, and having to connect in LaGuardia before flying into Syracuse, it's about 4 hours.

 

(In both options, we would have to take a cab to the airport, because that's where the car rental would be.)

 

The cruise says "debark" at 7 a.m., but what time do you think we would actually be off the ship in Montreal? Will traffic be awful going toward the airport?

 

Thanks for any and all help!

[138east]

Folks have mentioned taking a bus to Plattsburg NY and renting a car there to avoid the Montreal driving and the border crossing hassle. Do a search on this forum on Plattsburg to see what shows up.

[notl342]

can you rent a car in Montreal and drop it off in Syracuse?

[Sheltieluv]

I emailed National Car Rental, and they replied that I can rent a car one-way from Canada to Syracuse. I went to their website and plugged in some information, and it didn't indicate that it couldn't be done, so I'm hoping to rent and save $ on airfare.

[Sheltieluv]

138East--Thanks for your suggestion. I looked into the bus schedule and it leaves too early for us to make it on time for departure comfortably.