picture of crown princess in construction

[phaelon56]

Your'e from Syracuse? I'm from the southern end of Cayuga Lake. This past May we got to NYC port by way of PA. Left our car at a friends and took a limo in. Just wondering where Red Hook would be in relation to the other port and if we will be able to do the same route the next cruise.You sound like you know NYC pretty well.

 

Laura

Yes - I'm from Syracuse, lived in Ithaca (Wyckoff Ave) from 1991 to 1995, returned to Syracuse and then lived and worked in NJ just west of Manhattan (Rutherford) from 1999 through late 2003.

 

The new port is in Brooklyn quite some distance from the old pier. You'd have to cross Manhattan, head all the way down the West Side Highway to the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, under the East River to Brooklyn and then down a ways in Brooklyn off the BQE to reach the pier. It's not close to anything of note except a slowly revitalizing industrial area and residential area that was once heavily Italian but is now multi-cultural and has many young professionals from Manhattan (attracted by lower rents).

 

I assume there will be secure fee based parking available - there's enough space in that neighborhood for someone to offer it. Your best bet will be to take the Outerbridge crossing from NJ across Staten Island to the Verazzano Narrows Bridge and then head up into Red Hook from a southeastern approach. You'll avoid the hassle of two river crossings in Manhattan and the inevitable traffic. Depending on time of day you'll see some fairly heavy traffic crossing Staten Island but it generally moves very well.

 

I'm fortunate enough to have a friend who lives in Red Hook and has been bugging us to visit. If we take a cruise from NYC we'll just stay on her spare futon the night before. By the way - another benefit to the NJ / Staten Island approach is that you'll easily find some moderately priced hotels down that way in NJ and a Saturday morning drive over to Brooklyn should be low traffic in relative terms.

 

You could still take a limo but the cost may be double if not triple of what you paid before due to the extra time, extra distance and additional tolls.

[Laurab23]

I have friends that live in Howell,NY Where is Red Hook in respect to them.We live in Interlaken,I'm sure you know the town if you lived in Ithaca for a while. Are you thinking of the Crown Princess? We are thinking of the Oct 18,2006 cruise.

 

Laura

[phaelon56]

Yes... I know Interlaken? Is the Hosmer winery up that way? he grew up in my neighborhood and married a girl who went to my high school.

 

Howell is way up by Goshen - heading into the Catskills. I think you're confusing Red Hook NY, a Hudson Valley town, with Red Hook Brooklyn. The pier is in "Red Hook" - a section of the borough of Brooklyn and a part of new York City. If you were to head to lower Manhattan, cross the Brooklyn Bridge and then head south you would eventually reach it about 6 - 8 miles later. It's not particularly convenient to NJ or the Hudson valley and even from Manhattan the only convenient way to reach it with luggage is by taxi or car service from Manhattan.

[Laurab23]

Yes... I know Interlaken? Is the Hosmer winery up that way? he grew up in my neighborhood and married a girl who went to my high school.

 

Howell is way up by Goshen - heading into the Catskills. I think you're confusing Red Hook NY, a Hudson Valley town, with Red Hook Brooklyn. The pier is in "Red Hook" - a section of the borough of Brooklyn and a part of new York City. If you were to head to lower Manhattan, cross the Brooklyn Bridge and then head south you would eventually reach it about 6 - 8 miles later. It's not particularly convenient to NJ or the Hudson valley and even from Manhattan the only convenient way to reach it with luggage is by taxi or car service from Manhattan.

 

Sorry-I meant Howell,NJ. And yes,Hosmer winery is pratically in our back yard.Small world! Sounds like I'm gonna have quite a time figuring out how to get to the port.Oh well,I've got over a year to work on it.

 

Laura

[madelinerose]

We're cruising on the Crown next September 3. We'll be using Amtrak. I'm hoping by then there will be some sort of shuttle from Penn Station to Red Hook. If not, we'll hop in a taxi. ;)

[phaelon56]

I doubt that there will be a shuttle from Penn Station to the pier or even from any other part of Manhattan unless Princess sets one up or one the small shuttle bus companies that serve the airports sees enough opportunity. It won't be too bad a taxi ride - straight across town to the midtown tunnel, down the BQE a bit and then in through Brooklyn to the pier. I think the cost should not be more than $30 - $40 each way including tolls. You might want to look into car service - the line for cabs outside Penn Station is very long sometimes. But you can always do what the locals do - head out the backside to 8th Ave by 34th Street and catch one that's heading up town instead of waiting at the hack stand that's towards the front of the building by 33rd Street and 7th.

 

LauraB23 - Howell is a long haul from Red Hook Brooklyn. But you could have your friends drive you over to Belmar and take NJ transit train to penn Station and then cab it from there.

 

My next cruise will be on the Caribbean Princess departure of this Oct 29 2005. Went on the Grand in Oct 2003 for my first ever cruise and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to this one as well.

[gopher's girl]

This is very exciting - thank you for sharing!

[madelinerose]

phaelon...Yes, we always "do what the locals do" at 8th & 34th. ;) Won't hold my breath anticipating some sort of shuttle.

 

I doubt that there will be a shuttle from Penn Station to the pier or even from any other part of Manhattan unless Princess sets one up or one the small shuttle bus companies that serve the airports sees enough opportunity. But you can always do what the locals do - head out the backside to 8th Ave by 34th Street and catch one that's heading up town instead of waiting at the hack stand that's towards the front of the building by 33rd Street and 7th.l

[phaelon56]

It's only 6 1/2 miles by car from Penn Station to the red Hook Cruise ship pier. Let's assume an extra mile due to NYC street issues... an extra dollar or two for slow traffic here and there... $6 for the toll (paid one way only) and we have about $25 - $26 plus a tip. I think $30 - $35 is a realistic estimate.

 

Once the new pier is up and running we should expect to see some developing changes. These will likely include some hotels in Brooklyn near the pier, new dining options (not hotels and only bare bones dining exists over there at this point unless one gets further back into Red Hook away from the pier).

 

NY Water taxi DOES have ferry service to Red Hook that runs from the Wall Street Pier the closest) at $4 pp one way and also from the World Financial Center (fare unknown but it's further away). At present there appears to be only one ferry stopping per day for Red Hook and only on weekdays. I suspect that if demand develops/exists there will be a special ferry service offered for cruise ship passengers - a few Saturday morning departures and returns.

 

NY Water Taxi runs free shuttle buses that go cross town and up and down town within a limited range near each of the piers they use. Combining that option with a Priceline or Hotwire hotel deal in the Financial District could be a very good way to combine a night or two in Manhattan with a cruise. But it's all wait and see at this point.

[HumanCookie]

From another cruise site:

 

I just scanned and uploaded new deck plans for CROWN PRINCESS. Be sure to click on "Get Original Uploaded Photo" to see them in full size. The link should be just under the picture itself. Keep in mind these are large files and will take a little time to download if you have a slow connection.

 

 

Here is the link:

http://public.fotki.com/eroller/crown_princess/

 

All in all some very nice improvements to CARIBBEAN PRINCESS. CROWN PRINCESS is still based on the original GRAND PRINCESS, but the design has evolved quite a bit over the years. None the less, I think it's time for Princess to come out with a completely new design.

 

Hope you enjoy! Ernie

 

[madelinerose]

Thanks for all the info. Have no idea if we'll just take the Amtrak on departure day or head up the day before. So much can happen between now and then. Our cruise leaves on a Sunday, so there certainly wouldn't be any traffic in the financial district, however, if we're gonna hop in a taxi, we'd just as soon go directly from Penn Station to Red Hook and skip the water taxis.

 

We have a time share in Midtown, so perhaps we'll stay there the night before. No problem with the taxi fare. I'll get all these details together next year.

 

DH doesn't even know about the cruise. I'll tell him the Crown's booked on his next birthday in April, 2006. ;)

 

Thanks again for your details...they're very helpful.

 

 

It's only 6 1/2 miles by car from Penn Station to the red Hook Cruise ship pier. Let's assume an extra mile due to NYC street issues... an extra dollar or two for slow traffic here and there... $6 for the toll (paid one way only) and we have about $25 - $26 plus a tip. I think $30 - $35 is a realistic estimate.

 

Once the new pier is up and running we should expect to see some developing changes. These will likely include some hotels in Brooklyn near the pier, new dining options (not hotels and only bare bones dining exists over there at this point unless one gets further back into Red Hook away from the pier).

 

NY Water taxi DOES have ferry service to Red Hook that runs from the Wall Street Pier the closest) at $4 pp one way and also from the World Financial Center (fare unknown but it's further away). At present there appears to be only one ferry stopping per day for Red Hook and only on weekdays. I suspect that if demand develops/exists there will be a special ferry service offered for cruise ship passengers - a few Saturday morning departures and returns.

 

NY Water Taxi runs free shuttle buses that go cross town and up and down town within a limited range near each of the piers they use. Combining that option with a Priceline or Hotwire hotel deal in the Financial District could be a very good way to combine a night or two in Manhattan with a cruise. But it's all wait and see at this point.