Academy Bus or "Route 2" bus transfer to NYC terminal?

[BingoSlots]

Has anyone utilized the "Route 2" (as NCL calls it) by Academy Bus line that takes you from the Boston area to the Manahattan Cruise terminal?

 

We are cruising out of the NYC terminal in April and was wondering if anyone who has taken it can give some feedback and insight.

 

1. Is there an additional price to park your car where the bus picks/drops you off? The bus location is in Braintree which is about 45 minutes from where we live. We would have to drive there.

 

2. Are they strict with luggage?

 

3. Priority disembarkation because its an NCL travel arrangement?

 

THANKS! :D:D

[Cruzinnana47]

We have taken the Academy Bus from Braintree. Our last trip using the bus was Jan., 2014 when we sailed from NYC on the Breakaway. No parking fee in Braintree at that time. You may want to check Academy's website for current info. When we went, the r/t fare was $100 pp, but do believe it has gone up a little since then.

 

Very convenient & comfortable way to get into the city. Your luggage goes with you and when you arrive at the NYC terminal, the driver opens the luggage compartment under the bus and will help pull pieces out if necessary. Then it's a short walk to the terminal.

 

Academy contracts with NCL for this service, but no priority embarkation comes with it. Of course if you are platinum or a suite guest, then you would have this perk.

[Ivey01]

We used this bus service last week, returning from NY yesterday. Although the trip to the pier was fine our return trip was not as good. We disembarked at 9:30 as we were told we had to do. The bus is supposed to arrive by 1:00 pm (the same bus that is bringing passengers to the pier is the one that will take you home) our bus did not arrive by 1:00pm one of the folks waiting with us called Academy and was told that the times were approximate, our bus did not arrive until approximately 1:45pm we did not leave the pier until 2:00pm. Apparently the first bus broke down, then the driver got lost in NY city. The cost for us was $110.00 per person plus I paid $113.00 in Worcester for parking.

 

This was just our experience, I think for me personally I will drive and park at the pier for our next cruise.

[Buford T Justiice]

We had one good experience, one less than stellar experience, and now we drive.

 

For us living in Southern RI is was a pain to drive north to go south; hanging around the terminal waiting for the 1:00 PM pickup after the cruise was not fun.

 

Now we drive and are home in RI by 1:00 PM;

 

The second time we took the bus, the driver was over an hour late, and pulled up with a clear case of "bed head"; of course we had to stop for coffee for a half hour at one of the McDonald's rest areas on 95 for his break, and after we finally got to the port, priority embarkation (old system) for Platinum had already started and we didn't get on board with the regular customers until after 3:00 (after having been at the RI pickup location at 6:30 AM