Cruising from NY and parking at the pier

[serene56]

Thats our plan-    but since we can not prepay or reserve whats the chance of them running out of space?    If that happens where will we go?> 

[chocolate melting cake]

We've parked there several times, though not recently. There has always been plenty of space--the last set of cruisers have vacated their spaces. It is expensive, last time we paid $40 per day. I've read that there are a couple of nearby pay parking areas cheaper, but then you have the hassle of either dropping someone off with your baggage (and it is a madhouse of loading, unloading) or dragging the luggage along slightly iffy streets, or getting a cab/uber. The great part of pier parking is it's so close and easy to access, here are pictures taken from our balcony on our last NYC cruise. I think I could have hopped to my car carrying my bags!

[shof515]

the port has 3 piers of rooftop parking and they have an overflow parking garage nearby

[Nitemare]

Lots of threads here confirming the "never run out of spaces" reply.  No need to worry

[princeton123211]

6 hours ago, chocolate melting cake said:

I've read that there are a couple of nearby pay parking areas cheaper, but then you have the hassle of either dropping someone off with your baggage (and it is a madhouse of loading, unloading) or dragging the luggage along slightly iffy streets, or getting a cab/uber.

The other downside to a lot of garages in Midtown Manhattan is that they are valet only-- which means that over the course of a week or two cruise your car will be moved several times which increases the chance of a bump or a scratch. With the port parking spots on top of the piers you park your car and it (and the ones around it) don't move the whole time. 

[Got2Cruise]

As an emergency backup, download the app Spot Hero. It will find you another garage within walking distance. 

[Nitemare]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:15 PM, princeton123211 said:

The other downside to a lot of garages in Midtown Manhattan is that they are valet only-- which means that over the course of a week or two cruise your car will be moved several times which increases the chance of a bump or a scratch. With the port parking spots on top of the piers you park your car and it (and the ones around it) don't move the whole time. 

I've parked in NYC garages at least 100 times (5+ trips/year from Boston for over 20 years) and never had a scratch, a dent, or any other experience worse than once or twice having to wait 15+ minutes for my car to be delivered.  Always a valet garage, probably used about 20 or 25 different ones.  

 

They are professionals and they are responsible for dents and scratches and you don't keep your job long if you are costing them money

[princeton123211]

40 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

I've parked in NYC garages at least 100 times (5+ trips/year from Boston for over 20 years) and never had a scratch, a dent, or any other experience worse than once or twice having to wait 15+ minutes for my car to be delivered.  Always a valet garage, probably used about 20 or 25 different ones.  

 

They are professionals and they are responsible for dents and scratches and you don't keep your job long if you are costing them money

You've had an exceptional experience and frankly I've had some pretty good luck over the thousands of times I've parked in a garage in NYC (commuted into the city by car nearly everyday for years) but unfortunately that's not the reality of it all the time. Obviously some garages are better than others. 

 

You need to read the fine print on your ticket-- very rarely in NYC are they legally responsible for dents, scratches, or damage and will often times make the claim that they were there already. Try making a claim sometime-- its excruciating and designed to make you give up. 

 

My point with my post though is that at a valet garage, and particularly at the discount garages that offer cruise parking nearby, your car will be moved countless times over the course of a week and every time it moves the more chance of something happening to it. Your car won't be moved at the MCT parking. 

[ngrund]

On 4/14/2023 at 10:07 AM, serene56 said:

Thats our plan-    but since we can not prepay or reserve whats the chance of them running out of space?    If that happens where will we go?> 

you can make a reservation:

 

https://nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/parking/

 

[njhorseman]

58 minutes ago, ngrund said:

you can make a reservation:

 

https://nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/parking/

 

Wow...that's brand new. The ability to make a reservation was never available in the past. Thanks for the heads up. There's a $4.95 service charge but that's a small price to pay for a reservation.

[serene56]

10 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Wow...that's brand new. The ability to make a reservation was never available in the past. Thanks for the heads up. There's a $4.95 service charge but that's a small price to pay for a reservation.

  Read the small print at the end.   You prepay.  Still means first come first serve.  

[ngrund]

17 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Wow...that's brand new. The ability to make a reservation was never available in the past. Thanks for the heads up. There's a $4.95 service charge but that's a small price to pay for a reservation.

Thanks for confirming that the option is new and I'm not going nuts-I was pretty sure I didn't see that when I looked a couple of months ago

[njhorseman]

11 minutes ago, serene56 said:

  Read the small print at the end.   You prepay.  Still means first come first serve.  

 The process is stated to be a reservation:

"Make a reservation to park at Manhattan Cruise Terminal."

 

I don't see the "fine print" you're talking about. When you make this prepaid reservation you have a legitimate expectation that there will be a sufficient number of parking spaces held aside for those who have made a reservation.. 

[serene56]

That site was updated this past week because it was under the area of make a reservation       It stated although prepaid it’s first come first serve.   This is no longer stated now 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, serene56 said:

That site was updated this past week because it was under the area of make a reservation       It stated although prepaid it’s first come first serve.   This is no longer stated now 

And obviously that was an error which was subsequently corrected.  Why would one bother to add prepayment if it would not be to reserve a spot? They just carried over "first come first served" wording from the previous version of the page not realizing it made the prepayment option meaningless.

[serene56]

I am guessing because this is very new as it was not there before April it’s a learning experience.    You could not pre pay to park at the terminal.    I’m just glad it’s an option 

[mjkacmom]

Not only have I never had an issue getting parking at the MCT, even during fleet week when pier 88 wasn’t available to park at, I’ve never seen it reported here about parking not being available, in decades. I wonder if reserved parking is refundable?

[njhorseman]

38 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Not only have I never had an issue getting parking at the MCT, even during fleet week when pier 88 wasn’t available to park at, I’ve never seen it reported here about parking not being available, in decades. I wonder if reserved parking is refundable?

If you go to the actual booking form at the bottom you'll see "Anytime Cancellation: Cancel this booking for free up until the start time."

Start time on embarkation day appears to be 8am. I suspect the $4.95 booking fee is nonrefundable, but I'm not sure.

[ngrund]

Reservation made-

 

we'll see how it goes tomorrow -:)

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, ngrund said:

Reservation made-

 

we'll see how it goes tomorrow -:)

There is no need to make reservations.

[ngrund]

12 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

There is no need to make reservations.

yes, but this way it counts as an internet purchase and I'll get more cash back on my credit card 🙂

[Turtles06]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:24 AM, ngrund said:

you can make a reservation:

 

https://nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/parking/

 

 

On 4/29/2023 at 10:27 AM, njhorseman said:

Wow...that's brand new. The ability to make a reservation was never available in the past. Thanks for the heads up. There's a $4.95 service charge but that's a small price to pay for a reservation.

Yes, thanks for that info! Totally new development! 

[NoobCroozer]

On 4/29/2023 at 9:24 AM, ngrund said:

you can make a reservation:

 

https://nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/parking/

 

Wow.....thanks for this. Didnt know this existed. Leaving Sunday for Bermuda.

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, NoobCroozer said:

Wow.....thanks for this. Didnt know this existed. Leaving Sunday for Bermuda.

And I guarantee you will get a spot without paying extra for a reservation.

[Birdnutty]

On 5/6/2023 at 12:28 PM, ngrund said:

Reservation made-

 

we'll see how it goes tomorrow -:)

I realise this is an older thread, but I'm hoping this poster is still active.

 

 Ngrund, how did it go?   I'm looking to do this myself.  It'll save me over $100 if I have a reservation.    I'm curious as to the start time... are they rigid about when you get there?  Or is the start time a general idea about the EARLIEST you can enter?