Parking at NY Terminal

[LB_NJ]

If you want really cheap you can park at Metropark for about $6/day and take NJ Transit into Penn Station NY.  

 

FYI, during the week the parking lot fills up very early.

 

Personally, I will probably park at the pier for the convenience.

[Newleno]

1 minute ago, tomk3212 said:

If you know when you're going far enough in advance you can book a hotel in Manhattan & stay over the night before then taxi/Uber/Lyft it to the cruise terminal in the morning.  The further in advance you book the better the room rate; we've had 3-5 star hotel rooms in Manhattan for less than $150 before taxes.  Plus you get to see the Big Apple at its best; at night!  We find we can get those rates 30-45 days out on a week-end (Friday-Sunday) night. Weekday rates (Mon-Thurs) are going to be more expensive.  There IS an app called (I believe) "HotelTonight" where you can get last minute deals.

 

We get to NYC either via NJ Transit (when we lived in NJ) or now Amtrak (from MD) or bus.  I just cannot fathom spending $40/day just for parking my car plus tolls, gas, etc.  Plus now they're seriously discussing implementing congestion pricing for driving in Manhattan in certain areas.

or walk to the cruise terminal from penn station after getting off the megabus $5 one way or $10 round trip

[DZcreature]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

 

My neighbors tried that once. They only had one van running back with 9 people. Of course 7 people were off the ship and in the van at 8:30am while the two others did not get off the ship until 10:30. Needless to say all 7 were pretty pissed off having to wait two hours.

 

 

Are you sure they weren't staying at the Hampton Inn In Ridgefield? When we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn last May, they arranged transportation for each group through a car service. We were picked up in a Lincoln SUV that only held our party. It was nice to come in a day early, and not have to get up so early in the morning to drive in from Massachusetts day of. 

 

We have also parked at the pier, which is very convenient. If I lived closer, I would probably park at the pier.

[Laszlo]

1 minute ago, DZcreature said:

 

 

Are you sure they weren't staying at the Hampton Inn In Ridgefield? When we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn last May, they arranged transportation for each group through a car service. We were picked up in a Lincoln SUV that only held our party. It was nice to come in a day early, and not have to get up so early in the morning to drive in from Massachusetts day of. 

 

We have also parked at the pier, which is very convenient. If I lived closer, I would probably park at the pier.

Could be, however it was they will never do it again

[DuckTollerFans]

I did the Hilton Garden/Ridgefield last year and it was very convenient, and well organized for us. (2)

 

We're using it again - I booked it a couple months ago, then re-booked the other day because it went down a bit in price.

 

Total: one night, breakfast, ride to/from, safe parking = $320 with taxes.  So if parking at the pier is $280 (7x40), we're basically getting room, breakfast, 2 rides, tolls, someone else navigating for $40

 

 

 

[PelicanBill]

A couple things to consider and why we park at the pier.

 

1. If your car is a minivan or SUV most Manhattan parking calls it "oversize" and adds a big extra charge per day.  Make sure you know.

 

2. The convenience of having your car at the pier cannot be compared. We pick a self-assist early time and we are off the ship and on the road at 8:30.  No effort to find a pickup along crowded 12th avenue, no hour to get to a place in NJ to get it, no worry about luggage to and from the pier and kids in tow.

[tomk3212]

@Newleno: we take MegaBus from MD sometimes; it drops you in Manhattan around 27th Street near 8th or 9th Avenue, I think.

 

Penn Station (33rd & 7th) to the Cruise Ship Terminal (53rd & 12th Ave) via "Shank's Mares" (aka "on foot"...lol)?  That's a bit of a hike at our age (65+).  Taxi is $10-15 w/tip.

[Newleno]

22 minutes ago, tomk3212 said:

@Newleno: we take MegaBus from MD sometimes; it drops you in Manhattan around 27th Street near 8th or 9th Avenue, I think.

 

Penn Station (33rd & 7th) to the Cruise Ship Terminal (53rd & 12th Ave) via "Shank's Mares" (aka "on foot"...lol)?  That's a bit of a hike at our age (65+).  Taxi is $10-15 w/tip.

love it when people save money, just love it,  yeppers megabus, "Shanks Mares" or "Mack and Louie" luckily they still get us where we need to go!!

[Laszlo]

50 minutes ago, tomk3212 said:

@Newleno: we take MegaBus from MD sometimes; it drops you in Manhattan around 27th Street near 8th or 9th Avenue, I think.

 

Penn Station (33rd & 7th) to the Cruise Ship Terminal (53rd & 12th Ave) via "Shank's Mares" (aka "on foot"...lol)?  That's a bit of a hike at our age (65+).  Taxi is $10-15 w/tip.

I'm surprised about Megabus. Last time I checked you were allowed one carry on sized suitcase per pax and that was it.

[Newleno]

8 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

I'm surprised about Megabus. Last time I checked you were allowed one carry on sized suitcase per pax and that was it.

Yeah well a roller board like you bring on an airplane and we bring a tote which attaches to the rollerboard, you take the tote off and bring it on board the bus, the rollerboard goes in bus cargo.  The new rollerboards are so easy they only take one finger to tilt and then you are on your way.  We have taken a 31 day cruise with these bags,  "its all about saving Benjamins"

[Laszlo]

3 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Yeah well a roller board like you bring on an airplane and we bring a tote which attaches to the rollerboard, you take the tote off and bring it on board the bus, the rollerboard goes in bus cargo.  The new rollerboards are so easy they only take one finger to tilt and then you are on your way.  We have taken a 31 day cruise with these bags,  "its all about saving Benjamins"

Ok, So you are bringing two pieces of luggage. What I'm saying is Megabus states one..... "Customers are advised that megabus will accept up to ONE (1) piece of luggage per passenger on the bus per reservation"  That is why we have never even bothered to try it

[Newleno]

9 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Ok, So you are bringing two pieces of luggage. What I'm saying is Megabus states one..... "Customers are advised that megabus will accept up to ONE (1) piece of luggage per passenger on the bus per reservation"  That is why we have never even bothered to try it

yeah i dont know if this is interpretation or semantics,  a tote is like a backpack you can bring with you on board, a piece of luggage goes in cargo, we have done this about 7 times since ncl started having half way good deals out of nyc.

 

ps i also just checked the mega site, In addition to the one piece of luggage  -  "Passengers can also take onboard one (1) small carry-on bag that will fit in the overhead storage compartments or under the seat."

Edited April 17, 2019 by Newleno

[Laszlo]

5 minutes ago, Newleno said:

yeah i dont know if this is interpretation or semantics,  a tote is like a backpack you can bring with you on board, a piece of luggage goes in cargo, we have done this about 7 times since ncl started having half way good deals out of nyc.

 

ps i also just checked the mega site, In addition to the one piece of luggage  -  "Passengers can also take onboard one (1) small carry-on bag that will fit in the overhead storage compartments or under the seat."

Thanks for the info

[phillyguy31]

Ok I may get beat up for this but there is no way on God's green Earth that my DW and I can do a cruise with a carry on. We normally each have 1 large suitcase each and share a carry on for immediate need once we get on board. Looking at the luggage area after the cruise I can safely say that I am not alone.

Also with anything other than a carry on NJ Transit, Amtrak or walking to the pier is just not worth the hassle.  IMHO

[Newleno]

11 minutes ago, phillyguy31 said:

Ok I may get beat up for this but there is no way on God's green Earth that my DW and I can do a cruise with a carry on. We normally each have 1 large suitcase each and share a carry on for immediate need once we get on board. Looking at the luggage area after the cruise I can safely say that I am not alone.

Also with anything other than a carry on NJ Transit, Amtrak or walking to the pier is just not worth the hassle.  IMHO

nope no beating up we are all different, quite the contrary i usually (or should i say always) get beat up for being  frugal.  When someone mentioned the ridgefield hilton deal I looked into it, for me the numbers just dont work for others seems like a good alternative, I could never afford to park at the pier but great for those who can, yes very convenient.

[Laszlo]

24 minutes ago, phillyguy31 said:

Ok I may get beat up for this but there is no way on God's green Earth that my DW and I can do a cruise with a carry on. We normally each have 1 large suitcase each and share a carry on for immediate need once we get on board. Looking at the luggage area after the cruise I can safely say that I am not alone.

Also with anything other than a carry on NJ Transit, Amtrak or walking to the pier is just not worth the hassle.  IMHO

 

My wife and I did one cruise out of Miami were we each had a carry on and a small backpack. That worked our OK. When we leave out of NYC (drive to port) We each have a carry on, a backpack along with at least one sometimes two checked suitcases. When we have two one has all our snorkeling gear, snorkeling backpacks and lightweight beach chairs....yes we take our carry over the should beach chairs to Bermuda. That way we can walk to the more isolated beaches and have something comfortable to sit on. I also bring with me on a cruise a laptop and 2-3-4 cameras and all the associated crap that goes along with them. Maybe as we get older and if we are still cruising we won't bring all the other crap with us, but until then when we leave out to NYC we bring dam near everything 🤣

Edited April 17, 2019 by Laszlo

[marynjohn]

Last time, we ubered.  Going in was great about $90 to get to pier from Staten island.  Our ship was VERY late coming back, when we finally knew we were getting off, the Uber wait was an hour 45 mins.  My wife flagged a car that had an Uber sign but wasnt doing Uber then and we paid like $250 to get home.  It was a ten day cruise, so yes we saved a little money, but standing in the rain with thousands of people all needing a can was an experience I don't ever want to have again.  We've parked at the pier and we'll do it from now on.

[DuckTollerFans]

3 hours ago, PelicanBill said:

A couple things to consider and why we park at the pier.

 

1. If your car is a minivan or SUV most Manhattan parking calls it "oversize" and adds a big extra charge per day.  Make sure you know.

 

2. The convenience of having your car at the pier cannot be compared. We pick a self-assist early time and we are off the ship and on the road at 8:30.  No effort to find a pickup along crowded 12th avenue, no hour to get to a place in NJ to get it, no worry about luggage to and from the pier and kids in tow.

PelicanBill -- agreed but like you, we are coming from Rochester, so a hotel will be involved *somewhere* and for the difference of $40 to do the NJ thing (which was a 20 min ride), it was pretty simple.  We are not heading out before dawn for the trip.  

How do you do the trip? I'm open to suggestions that keep the trip in the same price range.

[Mandy412]

37 minutes ago, marynjohn said:

Last time, we ubered.  Going in was great about $90 to get to pier from Staten island.  Our ship was VERY late coming back, when we finally knew we were getting off, the Uber wait was an hour 45 mins.  My wife flagged a car that had an Uber sign but wasnt doing Uber then and we paid like $250 to get home.  It was a ten day cruise, so yes we saved a little money, but standing in the rain with thousands of people all needing a can was an experience I don't ever want to have again.  We've parked at the pier and we'll do it from now on.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the points of view that I didn’t consider. This is my first cruise where I’m not flying. 

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, Mandy412 said:

 

Thanks to everyone for all the points of view that I didn’t consider. This is my first cruise where I’m not flying. 

 

1 hour ago, Mandy412 said:

 

Thanks to everyone for all the points of view that I didn’t consider. This is my first cruise where I’m not flying. 

Us too.   I am also pricing out a car service as we are out East in Long Island.  So far it is just a little bit more for a private ride than parking at the pier.

[PelicanBill]

15 hours ago, DuckTollerFans said:

PelicanBill -- agreed but like you, we are coming from Rochester, so a hotel will be involved *somewhere* and for the difference of $40 to do the NJ thing (which was a 20 min ride), it was pretty simple.  We are not heading out before dawn for the trip.  

How do you do the trip? I'm open to suggestions that keep the trip in the same price range.

Ah yes... so we get a hotel in New Jersey typically but about an hour away from the port so we get a good price.  Then we have breakfast and drive to the port. Timing is perfect.  I like to drive I-90 and I-87 so for our next trip out of Bayonne I chose a hotel along NJ-17 in Mahwah.  We've also stayed in West Nyack for driving into Manhattan.

 

And then we are at the port to get started right away for our long drive home!

Edited April 18, 2019 by PelicanBill