St. Patrick's day celebration before boarding NCL Gem

[iatag]

We are sailing out of NY on March 17th aboard NCL Gem. We typically board the ship as early as possible, but with this being our first visit to NY (arriving 2 days prior) we would like to experience as much of the Big Apple as possible. Would we be able to get a "flavor" of the St. Paddy's party prior to boarding the Gem? We are staying in Comfort Inn West so have good proximity to the boat. I assume the hotel would hold our luggage while we joined in on some early Irish merriment.

Any thoughts or suggestions? (doable? recommended establishments?)

[trish1c]

The hotel will hold your luggage. Just don't over indulge or you may miss the ship. Assume traffic will be a nightmare & plan accordingly.

[Brighton Line]

The Parade, on a Saturday this year is always 11a to 5p runs up 5th Ave (that's the opposite direction the street is one way downtown) from 44th Street to 79th Street.

 

It would help with the address of your hotel as I can't find a Comfort Inn West, there is a Comfort Inn MIDTOWN West at 548 West 48th Street in Hell's Kitchen. It is a bit of a walk form 11th Ave to 5th Ave but doable for some NY'ers.

 

There is a crosstown bus on on 50th street, the M50 and would return on 49th Street.

 

You could also take the subway E train at West 50th (Lower Level of this station) two stops to 5th Ave, actually I've done that in the past, taken the E from work to 5th Ave, see a little of the parade and come back to work on my lunch "hour".

 

Just keep in mind the time you have to be on the ship 90 to 120 minutes before the advertised sailing time, check with y our cruise line.

[Got2Cruise]

There are tons of authentic Irish pubs in Hell’s Kitchen. No need to walk all the way up to fifth avenue. Just do a pub crawl around the neighborhood. Hell’s Kitchen is where the Irish gang the Westies originated.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[iatag]

Thanks for the replies. To clarify, we will be staying here:

Comfort Inn Midtown West

548 West 48th Street,

[George C]

You could walk to parade from that location

[Noxequifans]

Nothing like seeing the parade in person. Walk over and watch your time.

[geegee1]

Getting to the pier that day might be a little trickier than usual. In the past Pier 90, which is next to the piers for the cruise, has hosted a private St. Patrick's Day party. And this year with it being on a Saturday, it will be more crowded than usual.

[iatag]

Thanks all. Seems the consensus is we will have plenty of time to get a feel of the St. Patty's day excitement before boarding the Gem. Another unplanned perk of our sailing date which we hadn't considered at booking time.

Still quite a ways off but I'm already getting caught up in the excitement of the cruise and my first introduction to NY city.