Manhattan Cruise Term - Parking Lot vs. Shuttle from airport vs. Hotel Stay&Sail

[Dgerth]

We have a cruise out of the MCT for ten days. We picked this cruise because we can drive to NYC. Too far away to take a bus or train economically though, so we will either be renting a car or driving our own. Either way we will need to park it -somewhere. The MCT lot is pricey so I've looked at surrounding lots but wonder if the price difference isn't worth the inconvenience.  Ideally we would LOVE to park a good way outside the city, maybe even west of Newark, and take public transport in. We've been to NYC before and are comfortable with navigating subway/trains.  Other than logistics of getting there and getting back after the cruise, the other concern is carrying our  bags around with us all day, especially if we want tl see any of the city. MCT doesn't have baggage storage areas. 

If we can't find a place to park our car west of the city and take the train/subway in, we have considered parking around an airport nearby and taking an airport shuttle to the port, or doing a hotel with stay and sail parking. So far the only ones I've seen with service to MCT though look like the hotel should be condemned, or the reviews are super scary, so I'm hesitant.  

Any locals or been-there-done-that people have a good suggestion on how we can accomplish this with our family of 4 (kids are teens, capable of getting around too).  Thank you!!

Edited October 26, 2023 by Dgerth

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, Dgerth said:

Too far away to take a bus or train economically though, so we will either be renting a car or driving our own.

What general area are you coming from? Generally if I can drive somewhere reasonably the train would also work and Amtrak, especially with their new tiered pricing, could actually come in less than the cost of parking and save a ton of hassle. Again, without knowing where you are coming from its hard to definitively say. 

 

1 hour ago, Dgerth said:

The MCT lot is pricey so I've looked at surrounding lots but wonder if the price difference isn't worth the inconvenience.

The MCT lot is actually quite reasonable for that part of Manhattan. The other big advantage at MCT parking, especially if you are bringing your car vs a rental, is that the car stays put the whole time you are away. Parking in a surrounding garage the car can be moved by them in very tight quarters multiple times per day and thats where dings and dents can happen. 

 

1 hour ago, Dgerth said:

Ideally we would LOVE to park a good way outside the city, maybe even west of Newark, and take public transport in. We've been to NYC before and are comfortable with navigating subway/trains.

Again, without knowing the direction your'e coming from it makes specific rec harder but if you were looking in New Jersey ideally you'd want to pick a spot that is along the NJ Transit line to make getting into NYC easy. I would be careful in what sort of lot you parked-- keep in mind your car will be unattended for 10 days. Even in nicer areas that can make it a target-- I wouldn't leave my car that long anywhere in Newark or adjacent. I would look at the long term lots at EWR if that area was where you wanted to be. 

 

A personal favorite in central NJ is the Hilton Short Hills. They do have a large enclosed parking garage-- I just have no idea if they would let you park there that long or what it would cost. Its attached to an office building so its possible you could just pay a nightly fee for it. 

 

1 hour ago, Dgerth said:

So far the only ones I've seen with service to MCT though look like the hotel should be condemned, or the reviews are super scary, so I'm hesitant. 

Trinity Reservations is recommended a lot here for stay and park packages. 

 

 

[Brighton Line]

Parking at MCT you can't beat the convenience. The lot is only open when ships are in port and you keep your keys. I know SIL scared us by setting her alarm off from her balcony.

 

As @princeton123211 says other Manhattan garages are allowed to move your car and are not that much cheaper (plus 18.375% tax). You can even have a porter take your bags up to the parking level at MCT instead of dragging them or circling around dropping bags and then driving a few avenues distance to park.

 

Can't drive too far east as you will get near Broadway Theaters and pay $45 an hour, not a day. 

[Dgerth]

Thanks for this! Good thoughts about the independent lots moving your car around. A $15 a day rate doesn't look so appealing if you have to figure in possible dent repairs. We are coming from central Ohio, and unfortunately the cost of both Greyhound bus or Amtrak is even more than many airline flights. I was shocked! 
But $459.95 to park at MCT for the cruise length, on top of gas and simply the stress of driving to Manhattan on a Monday morning also doesn't seem appealing.  I truly keep going back and forth on this. 

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Dgerth said:
But $459.95 to park at MCT for the cruise length, on top of gas and simply the stress of driving to Manhattan on a Monday morning also doesn't seem appealing.  I truly keep going back and forth on this. 

With four of you, that $459.95 parking cost you quote works out to just $114.48 each - if you fly, or take a train of bus each would pay whatever the fare is - so keep that in mind.

[meadowlander]

4 hours ago, Dgerth said:

We have a cruise out of the MCT for ten days. We picked this cruise because we can drive to NYC. Too far away to take a bus or train economically though, so we will either be renting a car or driving our own. Either way we will need to park it -somewhere. The MCT lot is pricey so I've looked at surrounding lots but wonder if the price difference isn't worth the inconvenience.  Ideally we would LOVE to park a good way outside the city, maybe even west of Newark, and take public transport in. We've been to NYC before and are comfortable with navigating subway/trains.  Other than logistics of getting there and getting back after the cruise, the other concern is carrying our  bags around with us all day, especially if we want tl see any of the city. MCT doesn't have baggage storage areas. 

NJ Transit has parking garages in Ramsey NJ on route 17, Hamilton Station & Metropark Station that allow extended parking. NJ Transit train from Ramsey to NY Penn Station would involve a transfer at Secaucus Junction, no transfer needed from Hamilton or Metropark.

 

NY Waterways has parking & ferry service from Port Imperial in Weehawken to West 39th street in NYC, lower daily rates than parking at MCT

 

Fairfield Inn in North Bergen NJ, Hampton Inn & Hilton Garden Inn both in Ridgefield Park NJ all have packages for MCT.

 

Trans Bridge bus has service from Leigh Valley PA airport to MCT. Parking is only $5 per day but adding 4 round trip tickets may be higher than parking at MCT.

Edited October 26, 2023 by meadowlander

[Dgerth]

3 hours ago, meadowlander said:

NJ Transit has parking garages in Ramsey NJ on route 17, Hamilton Station & Metropark Station that allow extended parking. NJ Transit train from Ramsey to NY Penn Station would involve a transfer at Secaucus Junction, no transfer needed from Hamilton or Metropark.

 

NY Waterways has parking & ferry service from Port Imperial in Weehawken to West 39th street in NYC, lower daily rates than parking at MCT

 

Fairfield Inn in North Bergen NJ, Hampton Inn & Hilton Garden Inn both in Ridgefield Park NJ all have packages for MCT.

 

Trans Bridge bus has service from Leigh Valley PA airport to MCT. Parking is only $5 per day but adding 4 round trip tickets may be higher than parking at MCT.

Thank you for this detailed info! I'll check it out. I appreciate your time. 

[Dgerth]

3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

With four of you, that $459.95 parking cost you quote works out to just $114.48 each - if you fly, or take a train of bus each would pay whatever the fare is - so keep that in mind.

Definitely a consideration!

[lx200gps]

15 hours ago, meadowlander said:

NJ Transit has parking garages in Ramsey NJ on route 17, Hamilton Station & Metropark Station that allow extended parking. NJ Transit train from Ramsey to NY Penn Station would involve a transfer at Secaucus Junction, no transfer needed from Hamilton or Metropark.

 

NY Waterways has parking & ferry service from Port Imperial in Weehawken to West 39th street in NYC, lower daily rates than parking at MCT

 

Fairfield Inn in North Bergen NJ, Hampton Inn & Hilton Garden Inn both in Ridgefield Park NJ all have packages for MCT.

 

Trans Bridge bus has service from Leigh Valley PA airport to MCT. Parking is only $5 per day but adding 4 round trip tickets may be higher than parking at MCT.

We did exactly this for our first ever trip out of the MCT last summer. Drove down and parked at the ferry terminal at Weehawken. The garage is co-located in the same building as two hotels, the Residence Inn and the Envue, both literally across a small street from the ferry terminal and FAR less expensive than the price of a comparable Manhattan hotel. Parking at the time was $22/day, about half of the rate at the MCT. Morning of the cruise, we took the 8 minute ferry across the Hudson, then walked the 13 minutes north up the pedestrian-only pathway to the ship.

[mjkacmom]

Airports aren’t going to have shuttles to MCT. I can’t imagine what a $15 a night parking lot would be like, $45 is actually not a bad deal. We live 10 miles west of Manhattan and drive to the MCT, Uber is the same cost (7 of us), done it both ways and prefer to drive.

[Dgerth]

4 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

Airports aren’t going to have shuttles to MCT. I can’t imagine what a $15 a night parking lot would be like, $45 is actually not a bad deal. We live 10 miles west of Manhattan and drive to the MCT, Uber is the same cost (7 of us), done it both ways and prefer to drive.

$45 times 10 days though... An Uber for 7 costs you $450?

[Dgerth]

4 hours ago, lx200gps said:

We did exactly this for our first ever trip out of the MCT last summer. Drove down and parked at the ferry terminal at Weehawken. The garage is co-located in the same building as two hotels, the Residence Inn and the Envue, both literally across a small street from the ferry terminal and FAR less expensive than the price of a comparable Manhattan hotel. Parking at the time was $22/day, about half of the rate at the MCT. Morning of the cruise, we took the 8 minute ferry across the Hudson, then walked the 13 minutes north up the pedestrian-only pathway to the ship.

Thanks, this is very helpful. I am thinking parking in NJ and taking the ferry would be ideal. 

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, Dgerth said:

Thanks, this is very helpful. I am thinking parking in NJ and taking the ferry would be ideal. 

No problem. It's really worth looking in to.  Both hotels are modern and clean, and the ferry parking is part of the entire hotel/parking complex. You can get an idea of how close it is to the ferry terminal by looking at Google Street view. There's even a good restaurant in the lobby of the hotel with knockout views of the Manhattan skyline across the river.  IIRC there is also a big Sheraton also on the river not too far from the Weehawken ferry if the Residence Inn or Envue are booked out. Ferry was $9/pp each way and the walk was dead easy, flat and safe from cars as it's pedestrian only, also easily investigated by Google Earth/Street View.  I only wish I could figure out an easy way to use this when sailing from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal ;o)

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, Dgerth said:

$45 times 10 days though... An Uber for 7 costs you $450?

Ours was 7 days, actually 2 Ubers are cheaper that a 10 passenger van that we’ve done in the past. There’s no way to get 7 people into an Uber with luggage in a minivan, we drive our own so not 8, plus need to get very creative fitting the luggage in. Pricing it out the cost was very similar.

[katesmum]

We are cruising venezia March 2024 and staying at port imperial at the envue. We plan on parking at the hotel garage and taking the ferry over. Then we will walk up to the cruise terminal. The cost of parking is about half the price and we can enjoy a night on The Hudson River enjoying the beautiful view. My only concern is that the weather could be bad as it will be end of march and could make our walk a little harder. But for the savings and being from Canada we can deal with a little cold weather.

[lx200gps]

9 hours ago, katesmum said:

We are cruising venezia March 2024 and staying at port imperial at the envue. We plan on parking at the hotel garage and taking the ferry over. Then we will walk up to the cruise terminal. The cost of parking is about half the price and we can enjoy a night on The Hudson River enjoying the beautiful view. My only concern is that the weather could be bad as it will be end of march and could make our walk a little harder. But for the savings and being from Canada we can deal with a little cold weather.

Weather could be an issue when doing this for sure, especially in March. We were lucky when we did it last summer as the weather was perfect for our walk. The walk from the Envue to the Ferry terminal is very short, just a quick walk across  a very quiet street in front of the hotel. The ferry ride is easy and if you are taking it on a weekend, the ferry should be empty (ours was, around 8AM on a Saturday). As to the 15 minute walk up the Greenway to the ship, while it's perfectly flat and safe from cars, watch out for those maniac cyclists ;o)  We hedged our bets against possible rain by just bringing with us two huge green plastic garbage bags which nicely covered our rolling suitcases against raindrops, but never needed them.  Worst case, if the weather is really bad, you can always hail a taxi or an Uber from the ferry terminal at W 39th St., right over the Manhattan end of the Lincoln Tunnel. Have a great trip !

[x lindsay x]

I just went to look at pricing for a reservation for an 11 night sailing on Carnival in March. When I clicked the link to book at the MCT and selected my voyage I was shocked (in a good) way to see that it was only charging me $315 and not the $495 I was anticipating. Since I chose based on my voyage, I am guessing they might not have a ton of cars parked there at that time so are giving a slight discount, or maybe an early bird pricing structure? I was fully planning on taking a car service but for $315 I might not be able to beat that price. 

[mjkacmom]

46 minutes ago, x lindsay x said:

I just went to look at pricing for a reservation for an 11 night sailing on Carnival in March. When I clicked the link to book at the MCT and selected my voyage I was shocked (in a good) way to see that it was only charging me $315 and not the $495 I was anticipating. Since I chose based on my voyage, I am guessing they might not have a ton of cars parked there at that time so are giving a slight discount, or maybe an early bird pricing structure? I was fully planning on taking a car service but for $315 I might not be able to beat that price. 

I think they stop charging after a certain amount of days?

[Dgerth]

50 minutes ago, x lindsay x said:

I just went to look at pricing for a reservation for an 11 night sailing on Carnival in March. When I clicked the link to book at the MCT and selected my voyage I was shocked (in a good) way to see that it was only charging me $315 and not the $495 I was anticipating. Since I chose based on my voyage, I am guessing they might not have a ton of cars parked there at that time so are giving a slight discount, or maybe an early bird pricing structure? I was fully planning on taking a car service but for $315 I might not be able to beat that price. 

 

Yep that would be completely reasonable. It's still showing $450 for my week, and I just can't justify that. 

 

So after a lot of research and back and forth on it, just for others to see what we decided to to, if they are in a similar situation: We are renting two one-way car rentals. The Budget car rental is just about a half mile from the cruise port and at least it LOOKS like it's  reasonable walk from there. If the weather is bad, we will do a cab for the four of us.  The one way rentals weren't cheap, but it came out to about $250, no wear and tear (or worry about my car being left), and that includes all toll charges for both drives. We drop the car off in the morning we embark, and when we get back, we have a car we will pick up and drive home.  We have a hotel booked just south of the Newark airport for the night before. It was much more reasonable to stay there than in Manhattan.   I hope it works out well - I'll try to remember to follow up after our cruise with how it went! 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Dgerth

[Dgerth]

2 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

I think they stop charging after a certain amount of days?

They were charging $45 per day for each day of our cruise (10 days, so $450). 

[princeton123211]

46 minutes ago, Dgerth said:

We are renting two one-way car rentals.

Just make sure there are no one way drop fees-- sometimes these are not shown in the rental cost and can be significant. 

[Dgerth]

Yep definitely something to look for. I included that with my total cost, so it's already accounted for. I also added in unlimited tolls, because we are taking the PA turnpike which really adds up, and I know there are some in NYC too. 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

I think they stop charging after a certain amount of days?

That used to be the case but hasn't been for some time, and when they did limit the charge it maxed out at 10 nights, not 7.

 

I suspect that they are are erroneously displaying the 7 night parking charge for a group of cruises of more than 7 nights. Before and after they are showing the correct charges...so parking for an 11 night cruise at other times is $495. 

 

The other possibility is that they are maxing out the parking fee at 7 nights only during the winter to encourage people to park there at  a time of the year when people may be reluctant to park at an outdoor lot. I was snowed in a couple of times when parking there in the winter so I started taking a limo service to the pier rather than driving during the snowy months.

Edited November 8, 2023 by njhorseman

[mjkacmom]

7 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

That used to be the case but hasn't been for some time, and when they did limit the charge it maxed out at 10 nights, not 7.

 

I suspect that they are are erroneously displaying the 7 night parking charge for a group of cruises of more than 7 nights. Before and after they are showing the correct charges...so parking for an 11 night cruise at other times is $495. 

 

The other possibility is that they are maxing out the parking fee at 7 nights only during the winter to encourage people to park there at  a time of the year when people may be reluctant to park at an outdoor lot. I was snowed in a couple of times when parking there in the winter so I started taking a limo service to the pier rather than driving during the snowy months.

If it’s a discount, it’s new. 

[njhorseman]

32 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

If it’s a discount, it’s new. 

Yes...that's why my first thought was it's an error.