Taxi availability from Manhattan cruise terminal

[GetGlowing]

Hello all -- what's taxi availability like disembarking at Manhattan? Trying to decide between post-cruise taxi or a pre-booked a car service. 

I just sailed r/t Brooklyn and I feel like there were a lot of taxis waiting, but it was raining like crazy so we hustled off to the cruise line airport bus and didn't pay attention to much else. 

Thanks. 

[Noxequifans]

If you don'y mind walking over to 12th avenue (1 block), you may have luck as we did in getting a yellow taxi.

[njhorseman]

19 minutes ago, Noxequifans said:

If you don'y mind walking over to 12th avenue (1 block), you may have luck as we did in getting a yellow taxi.

Do you mean walking over to 11th Ave? As you well know the cruise terminal is on 12th Ave. and the taxi stand there is notoriously chaotic.

Edited October 23, 2023 by njhorseman

[Upgradefairy4u]

There were a TON of taxi's waiting right across from the pier.  You can pay a set price or let them run the meter.  We chose the meter since it was a Saturday morning and traffic was light (in NYC terms).  There were 4 of us with luggage and we had no issues.

 

[navybankerteacher]

If you are in a hurry you should cross 12th Ave, and just be aggressive in grabbing one of the fair number of cabs coming along .  If you are diffident, you will see a lot of them grabbed ahead of you.  Best bet is to be among the last leaving the ship when the rush has eased.

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Upgradefairy4u said:

There were a TON of taxi's waiting right across from the pier.  You can pay a set price or let them run the meter.  We chose the meter since it was a Saturday morning and traffic was light (in NYC terms).  There were 4 of us with luggage and we had no issues.

 

If you were in a legal NY City (yellow) taxi there would be no choice of a set price or the meter. The only set flat fare for a taxi trip from Manhattan is to JFK airport and it is mandatory that the fare is charged that way.  All other trips are on the meter, with no option for a flat fare.

 

Unfortunately there are taxi drivers who prey on tourists and if your driver offered you a flat fare or a metered fare they were doing their best to rip you off.

[Turtles06]

Get a porter in the baggage claim area inside the cruise terminal and let them know you’ll be needing a taxi. They will put your bags on a cart and once you pass through immigration will walk you across 12th Avenue and put you into a cab. Give them a nice tip. 😊

[Upgradefairy4u]

9 hours ago, njhorseman said:

If you were in a legal NY City (yellow) taxi there would be no choice of a set price or the meter. The only set flat fare for a taxi trip from Manhattan is to JFK airport and it is mandatory that the fare is charged that way.  All other trips are on the meter, with no option for a flat fare.

 

Unfortunately there are taxi drivers who prey on tourists and if your driver offered you a flat fare or a metered fare they were doing their best to rip you off.

This was an official yellow taxi.  I checked all the licenses before I even entered.  The driver automatically used the meter but I did ask out of curiosity.  He said he could use a set price, but it was to my benefit to use the meter.  Just letting you know my experience.  

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Upgradefairy4u said:

This was an official yellow taxi.  I checked all the licenses before I even entered.  The driver automatically used the meter but I did ask out of curiosity.  He said he could use a set price, but it was to my benefit to use the meter.  Just letting you know my experience.  

You're lucky that asking that question didn't lead to your being ripped off. 

 

The primary reason for my response to your post was to ensure that others who read it don't think it's legal for a taxi driver to offer that option . It's not and drivers who offer it are looking to take advantage of people and breaking the law. 

[Brighton Line]

That's the second person to post they got in a medallion cab and were offered a set price. 

Technically if and T&LC Encorcement Officer sees a cab with passengers without the "flag" dropped (lights on the roof show the condition of the meter) they can be ticketed unless the off duty light is on.

 

Flat fee and even the extra fees to airport or New Jersey are all entered on the meter. Trips to/from LGA should be Rate 01. 

 

Standard fare by mileage and time: The on-screen rate message should read: "Rate #01 – Standard City Rate."

The JFK Flat Rate Code: The on-screen rate message should read "Rate #2- JFK Airport."

For EWR and the extra $20: The on-screen rate message should read "Rate #3 - Newark Airport."

Edited October 24, 2023 by Brighton Line

[Noxequifans]

16 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Do you mean walking over to 11th Ave? As you well know the cruise terminal is on 12th Ave. and the taxi stand there is notoriously chaotic.

I stand corrected .... I should know better as I live not far away. 

[Ellis1138]

I walked across 12th to the taxi stand, which was very chaotic. But I noticed a young couple next to me and asked if they were also going to Penn Station. They were, and we split the cab. It seemed to be a Yellow Cab and all that was offered was metered. It was about $18 from the MCT to Penn.

[navybankerteacher]

12 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said:

I walked across 12th to the taxi stand, which was very chaotic. But I noticed a young couple next to me and asked if they were also going to Penn Station. They were, and we split the cab. It seemed to be a Yellow Cab and all that was offered was metered. It was about $18 from the MCT to Penn.

A common-sense approach.

[DaisyGoldberg]

Very timely as I was flirting with the idea of not doing the usual car service next month and just grabbing a taxi, because the hassle of finding our driver last time was considerable.

 

But I'm going over to NJ, which I assume could be an issue (or lead to a ripoff of some sort?)  

[njhorseman]

31 minutes ago, DaisyGoldberg said:

Very timely as I was flirting with the idea of not doing the usual car service next month and just grabbing a taxi, because the hassle of finding our driver last time was considerable.

 

But I'm going over to NJ, which I assume could be an issue (or lead to a ripoff of some sort?)  

 Where in NJ are you headed? EWR is the only place in NJ that you should even consider taking a NY City taxi to and in fact it's the only place in NJ that a NY City taxi is required to take you to. Fare to EWR is regulated and is the standard metered fare plus a $20 surcharge plus round trip tolls plus tip. The meter will read "Rate #3 - Newark Airport".

If you're going anywhere but EWR not only is a taxi driver not required to take you, but if you find a driver willing to do the trip the fare is unregulated and as agreed upon by the passenger and driver. Basically you may be charged an outrageously high fare if you agree to it...so yes, you could be ripped off.

 

As chaotic as the situation at the the cruise terminal can be when being picked up by a car service, other than when we drive and park at the pier we always use our preferred car service.

Edited October 26, 2023 by njhorseman

[DaisyGoldberg]

Thank you - precisely the information I was looking for!  Will book the car service and find them when the time comes!

 

 

[Lois R]

On 10/26/2023 at 5:36 PM, njhorseman said:

 Where in NJ are you headed? EWR is the only place in NJ that you should even consider taking a NY City taxi to and in fact it's the only place in NJ that a NY City taxi is required to take you to. Fare to EWR is regulated and is the standard metered fare plus a $20 surcharge plus round trip tolls plus tip. The meter will read "Rate #3 - Newark Airport".

If you're going anywhere but EWR not only is a taxi driver not required to take you, but if you find a driver willing to do the trip the fare is unregulated and as agreed upon by the passenger and driver. Basically you may be charged an outrageously high fare if you agree to it...so yes, you could be ripped off.

 

As chaotic as the situation at the the cruise terminal can be when being picked up by a car service, other than when we drive and park at the pier we always use our preferred car service.

Which is your preferred car service?

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

Which is your preferred car service?

For trips between our Central New Jersey home and the NY area airports and cruise terminals we normally use a car service based in Central New Jersey, Concorde Worldwide.

 

This is a somewhat higher end service, and I wouldn't recommend them for trips within NY City such as between the cruise terminal and one of the airports because their prices would be much higher than a NY City-based service. I would lean toward Carmel Limo or Dial 7 for those types of trips, or Uber.

[Ellis1138]

On 10/27/2023 at 12:33 PM, DaisyGoldberg said:

Thank you - precisely the information I was looking for!  Will book the car service and find them when the time comes!

 

 

If you don't have too much luggage, you could do what I did and go to Penn Station and catch the NJ Transit trains. 

 

I had a backpack, crossbody bag, cpap bag, fanny pack and a 25" spinner and was able to maneuver them through Penn and onto the Northeast Corridor. But I don't know where in NJ you're going. 

[George C]

We prefer going with either Uber or lyft