Boston to NYC Day of Cruise

[ALS1214]

hubby wants to leave Boston the day of the cruise ( between 5-6am). What are people's experience. I want to get there in time to park at the pier and actually make the ship.

[khaide612]

Depends on the day of the week, the time of the year...on any given day, you can make the drive no problem. But circumstances can arise.

 

Could I be more vague? :)

[casofilia]

Personally I would NEVER factor in travel on the day of embarkation for a cruise. The cost of 1 night in a hotel far outweighs the "what if" factor when travel is involved.

 

Mike

[hansolosmom]

We've driven from Philly to NYC & Baltimore on the day of the cruise and were fine. Yes it might be a little more stressful than if you come in the day before but we've always been fine.

 

I'm planning on taking the train up the morning of my March cruise. Yes I understand I could run into issues and if I see there is some kind of potential weather issue, I'd reschedule for the day before.

[ALS1214]

It's Sunday for the breakaway . Probably less traffic but I agree with the what if factor

No snow for the Valentine's Day forecast ... So far

Edited February 5, 2016 by ALS1214

[khrivnak]

We always drive from Pittsburgh to Baltimore on the morning of the cruise when we go from there.. its about a 4 hr drive from our house to the port. We never had a problem. However, I've never been to the NYC pier, so I don't know how the traffic is from there. I would do it, adding in a couple extra hours for the "what ifs".

[Coastalbreezes]

I have sailed Breakaway many times and drove to NYC from Rhode Island always on the day of the cruise without incident. It used to take me about 2-1/2 hours so from Boston allow at least 3-4 hours. You can always check this NYC website in advance for traffic advisories and events (such as marathons etc. and plan accordingly) :

 

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/weektraf.shtml

 

Tracy

[Barb Nahoumi]

We live in Massachusetts, and did take an early morning Amtrak into New York from Boston on the day of cruise. We arrived in plenty of time to get to the pier.

 

For our next cruise on the Gem, we are going in the day prior, and staying in a hotel. Don't want the stress of a potential "what if."

[dolphin lady]

We drive down from Mass to NY and stay in Conn the day before the cruise. That way we only have a two hour drive on Sunday.

[bbryan5]

It's a bad idea. Period. Especially when sailing out of NYC..... Look at today for instance.. a crane collapsed in Manhattan. MAJOR sections of the city shut down. Look at yesterday, 2 NYPD officers shot (thank GOD they will both be OK) MAJOR sections of the city shut down. Unforeseen events can and do happen all the time. I personally have no sympathy for people who miss cruises that don't travel far enough in advance.

Edited February 5, 2016 by bbryan5

[Lakesregion]

hubby wants to leave Boston the day of the cruise ( between 5-6am). What are people's experience. I want to get there in time to park at the pier and actually make the ship.

 

I always come into NYC the day before a cruise but that one day does cost almost as much as a five day cruise these days. Given that we had an un forecast snow storm today here in New England I would not want to try to drive through any type of poor weather to get to the pier in time to park. Sundays are the least traveled day but coming in on a weekday can result in taking as long getting across the river or down though the Bronx as it does driving from Boston to the edge of NYC.

 

A cruise is a relaxing vacation why start it being shot out of a cannon. Same goes with trying to get to the airport or train station 2 hours after the ship docks. Ruins the full week of relaxation.

[bedfordmom]

i have driven into NYC 4x from Boston on the day of the cruise without any problems. Twice by car and twice by bus. of course I always a backup plan for potential winter storms like last year.

[ARI421]

We drive to new York from Manchester new Hampshire every cruise! We leave at 6 ish takes 4 ish hours you will be fine

[megansdad1]

you should be fine. I have done it once on of the day of. But it was only because I couldn't get the day off of work the day before. Given the opportunity, I wouldn't risk it. I like to go the day before.

[xcell]

It's not how many times you have done it without any issues but it's that ONE time that it didn't work out and then you will remember it forever...

 

Murphy' law?

 

If you can go the day before...why not....

 

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

Edited February 6, 2016 by xcell

[Cruising Greek]

hubby wants to leave Boston the day of the cruise ( between 5-6am). What are people's experience. I want to get there in time to park at the pier and actually make the ship.

 

We are leaving Bedford, MA to NYC for Thursday's Gem cruise. Looking to leave about 4:30 - 5:00 am. We already have reserved a spot for parking, so it should be ok as long as the weather is fine.

 

We have done this before for a Royal Caribbean Cruise out of Bayonne, and it was great. Got up early, drove down, parked and hopped on the ship. Even if you're delayed a bit, the ship doesn't leave until late afternoon.

[ALS1214]

Did you reserve through the valet service?

[TougherThanTheRest]

The drive can be made easily leaving at the time you suggest. But....there is always the unknown. I once spent hours at a complete standstill on 95 due to a Hazmat spill. If that happened on a departure day, the ship would have left before I got there.

 

As so many others have said, if there is a way to go the night before, it eliminates a lot of risk.

[phoenix1181]

We cruised out of Bayonne a few times & drove the day of the cruise (Thursday) the first time. It worked out fine. We got to the port before boarding started & were very happy.

 

Going home (Saturday) it took us 10 hours!! :eek: :eek:

 

Of course the long day had no impact on our cruise but it made us realize what it would be like if we encountered the same problem (multi vehicle accident, not weather related) going down instead of coming home.

 

If you can go the day before, I strongly recommend it. If you can't, please allow plenty of extra time.

[AKR2011]

I like to save money. I also get really excited about cruises and can't sleep the night before. I say wake up early and just drive. Plan to ideally get there at 10am. Then if there's a delay, you have four hours of a buffer. Even horrible traffic and a crazy crane accident like the one the other day couldn't delay you that long. At least, I would hope not. I live 3 hours from the city and did the exactly this when taking cruises there. I also flew on the morning of my last cruise - a lot more stressful than driving, but again, arrived super early and everything went smoothly :)

[bbryan5]

and a crazy crane accident like the one the other day couldn't delay you that long

 

Yes, it absolutely can. I live in NYC. I know a little bit about this sort of thing ;)

[mking8288]

Well, what are the odds of getting a flat tire buzzing along I-95, Merritt or HRP, etc. coming south on the morning of ... hitting some of the most huge potholes around here, we are pretty famous for them.

 

Add about 1 hour+ to get it fixed. It's not your lucky day should you get 2 flat tires at the same time as that's a towing trip to the nearest service station (and, they don't necessary sell tires on a Sunday); and, remember the emergency/spare tire is not designed to be driven continuously at 65 mph (or, even 55 mph) safely for extended time & duration - until the regular tire(s) are replaced.

 

Got an excellent trip insurance, good :D ... think again. :eek: Happy cruising & safe travel.

Edited February 7, 2016 by mking8288