Booking a hotel in NY

[ImperialLady]

Hi to all. We booked a cruise for this fall, New England and Canada on Princess. We have never been in that part of the USA. We are flying into LaGuardia a day early. We are trying to decide if we should buy Princess round trip transfers or just one way on departure day? So we are trying to figure out whether to get a hotel near the airport with complimentary shuttle service for the airport and back, Or get a hotel nearer the port? Still don't know the name of the port. Any recommendations/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  

[princeton123211]

10 minutes ago, ImperialLady said:

We have never been in that part of the USA. We are flying into LaGuardia a day early.

Are you planning to tour NYC, specifically Manhattan?

 

10 minutes ago, ImperialLady said:

We are trying to decide if we should buy Princess round trip transfers or just one way on departure day?

It will depend on what you end up doing in terms of a hotel-- if you stay in Manhattan it will be easier and less time consuming to just head to the pier on your own. If you stay near the airport then it might make sense. 

 

12 minutes ago, ImperialLady said:

So we are trying to figure out whether to get a hotel near the airport with complimentary shuttle service for the airport and back, Or get a hotel nearer the port?

Princess sails from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal which is neither near LaGuardia nor is it right by the main tourist sites in Manhattan. So you'll have to decide where you're going to stay. The three options being by the airport (LaGuardia is not a super great area to stay in and the airport hotels there are generally older and not the best), in Manhattan to tour (which will be more expensive but allow you to potentially walk to major sights/restaurants/bars etc), or by Brooklyn which offers sort of the middle here-- less expensive than Manhattan but a nicer general area than LaGuardia. Im speaking in generalities here-- can provide more detailed options based on feedback on what you actually want to do. 

 

15 minutes ago, ImperialLady said:

Still don't know the name of the port.

It's the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and its located in Red Hook. Not much to see or do right in Red Hook or immediately adjacent to the terminal. 

[ImperialLady]

1 hour ago, princeton123211 said:

Are you planning to tour NYC, specifically Manhattan?

 

It will depend on what you end up doing in terms of a hotel-- if you stay in Manhattan it will be easier and less time consuming to just head to the pier on your own. If you stay near the airport then it might make sense. 

 

Princess sails from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal which is neither near LaGuardia nor is it right by the main tourist sites in Manhattan. So you'll have to decide where you're going to stay. The three options being by the airport (LaGuardia is not a super great area to stay in and the airport hotels there are generally older and not the best), in Manhattan to tour (which will be more expensive but allow you to potentially walk to major sights/restaurants/bars etc), or by Brooklyn which offers sort of the middle here-- less expensive than Manhattan but a nicer general area than LaGuardia. Im speaking in generalities here-- can provide more detailed options based on feedback on what you actually want to do. 

 

It's the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and its located in Red Hook. Not much to see or do right in Red Hook or immediately adjacent to the terminal. 

I will talk with my son and DIL and see what they want to do....where they want to stay....thanks for the brief description of the areas...very helpful. My vote will be for Manhattan. Again thanks and I will get back with you when I talk to my son. 

[princeton123211]

2 hours ago, ImperialLady said:

My vote will be for Manhattan.

I would guess as would most if you haven't been. Touring Manhattan from a LaGuardia area hotel would just be a bunch of time sitting in a car back and forth and not really worth it. Getting to Manhattan from parts of Brooklyn is possible but again, will require time invested commuting back and forth. If you are going to tour Manhattan with one night, stay in midtown Manhattan and save the time and energy. 

 

If that's the case I would only plan on buying the Princess transfer one way to the airport when you arrive back (if you arrive back in NY which isn't clear). Otherwise Ubers/taxis/car service will be the best way to get into midtown Manhattan from LaGuardia (which is actually the closest/most convenient airport to Manhattan of the three major NYC airports) and then from Manhattan to the cruise terminal. 

[navybankerteacher]

If your port is Brooklyn you might want to stay in lower Manhattan - inexpensive hotels, Wall Street area. Interesting part of town, lots of good restaurants and very easy passenger ferry across to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.

[George C]

We always stay in midtown Manhattan, walking distance to broadway , great restaurants and clubs . Our favorite hotel is michealanglo, smallest room is 400 sq Ft .

[Nitemare]

Taxi or Uber is likely going to be much cheaper than the Princess transfers.  Especially if you have more than 2 passengers.  They will charge you $X * 4 for their bus, the Uber/cab costs the same for 1, 2, 3, or 4 people.

[markeb]

How long are you actually in New York? By day early do you mean one overnight? What time will you arrive at La Guardia? 

 

The notion of staying Downtown is good IF you're only going to be in the city briefly and your plans are to do things in the Downtown/Financial District area (Battery Park, 9/11 Memorial, Trinity Church, etc.). Maybe not so great if you've always wanted to see Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and Midtown attractions. And some of that depends on when you're getting to La Guardia, therefore when you're getting into Manhattan. If you've got a half day, you're going to want to pick an area that you want to see as you'll have limited time to visit more than one area, even in Manhattan. 

 

It's all a trade off, other than Uber will be per vehicle, not per person, as Nitemare said. Almost always going to be better, and way more flexible, than a Princess transfer

[ImperialLady]

Thank you to everyone...we only have one afternoon in NY. A dear friend contacted me to tell me her son volunteered to take us sight seeing. He has a van and my friend will be able to go with us. We are going to book a less expensive hotel near the airport with an airport shuttle to offset the cost of the Princess transfers. We know the Princess transfer is expensive but if any traffic problems should appear we know the ship will not leave without the transfer people. (had it happen) I wish we had more time in NY but both my husband and son were not able to take more time off. Again thank all of you so much.

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, ImperialLady said:

We know the Princess transfer is expensive but if any traffic problems should appear we know the ship will not leave without the transfer people. (had it happen)

I hear what you're saying but they really aren't necessary in NYC-- you can easily do the same thing via Uber for significantly less money. LGA to BCT is about 45 minutes with normal traffic-- as long as you gave yourself conservatively an hour, maybe a little more, you could save yourself a ton of money and have zero risk. 

 

3 hours ago, ImperialLady said:

A dear friend contacted me to tell me her son volunteered to take us sight seeing. He has a van and my friend will be able to go with us.

As well intentioned as this might be, also consider that most of the major Midtown sights are much better seen by walking. Traffic is a huge issue in the city core and seeing things from a van will not be the best way to go about it unless he was going to drop you off and pick you up places. 

[Nitemare]

On 4/7/2024 at 9:51 AM, ImperialLady said:

Thank you to everyone...we only have one afternoon in NY. A dear friend contacted me to tell me her son volunteered to take us sight seeing. He has a van and my friend will be able to go with us. We are going to book a less expensive hotel near the airport with an airport shuttle to offset the cost of the Princess transfers. We know the Princess transfer is expensive but if any traffic problems should appear we know the ship will not leave without the transfer people. (had it happen) I wish we had more time in NY but both my husband and son were not able to take more time off. Again thank all of you so much.

Aim to arrive 4-5 hours before sailing.  There aren't going to be any traffic problems that tie you up that long.  And if something like that DID happen, there will be a ton of people missing the ship, they won't leave.

[ImperialLady]

22 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

I hear what you're saying but they really aren't necessary in NYC-- you can easily do the same thing via Uber for significantly less money. LGA to BCT is about 45 minutes with normal traffic-- as long as you gave yourself conservatively an hour, maybe a little more, you could save yourself a ton of money and have zero risk. 

 

As well intentioned as this might be, also consider that most of the major Midtown sights are much better seen by walking. Traffic is a huge issue in the city core and seeing things from a van will not be the best way to go about it unless he was going to drop you off and pick you up places. 

Thank you...we will be doing a lot of walking with my friend and her son. Friend's son will be picking us up and taking us back to the hotel as well as both he and his Mom will be going with us to places we want to see.