Red Hook Question

[HeelMD]

How long will it take to get from Red Hook piers to LaGuardia airport and what type of transportation would you recommend?

[smeyer418]

How long will it take to get from Red Hook piers to LaGuardia airport and what type of transportation would you recommend?

 

It can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic. Either a cab or a car service. Personsally I would pay the extra for the pre-arranged car service. The other way is by Cunard bus transfer---which is more and much slower, the benefit is they make the arrangements.

[HeelMD]

Any recommendations for the car service?

[smeyer418]

Please do a search many are named. Any of the majors are ok as are most of the local ones. Promenade, Arecibo are both good.

[CCotton5]

HeelMD, I was pondering that same question myself. Through a friend, I found Carmel Car & Limo Service. They are out of Brooklyn and were very friendly on the phone. We too are arriving in Red Hook and need a ride to LaGuardia. When I booked the car service, they stated that the driver will call my cell phone an hour before our pick up. You make arrangements with the driver and then he/she picks you up in front of the terminal. He/she will have a sign in the window with YOUR last name on it. You can visit them online at http://www.carmellimo.com. Phone number is 212-666-6666 or 1-800-9-Carmel.

 

From Red Hook to LGA the cost for a full size, 4 door sedan is $43.00 plus tolls and tip. For a luxury sedan, the cost is $50.00 plus tolls and tip. Be sure to print from their site a $3.00 off coupon. The limo company said Red Hook is at pier 12.

 

When are you going on the QM2?

 

Have a great trip!!

 

Christy

[smeyer418]

From Red Hook to LGA or vice versa...there are no tolls...

[tartegnin]

Without traffice, it's about 20 minutes to LGA, but better to count on 40, just in case. The direction to the airport is generally away from the flow of traffic into Manhattan in the morning.

 

As you know, there are a number of options available for transfers to LGA. You can use the ship's transfer by bus, which is not only expensive for what you get, but also not efficient, as you will have to wait until sufficient numbers for that bus have exited the terminal. This can take time, since the non-US immigration line on our July crossing was very long. You can also book a limo from Cunard, which is also ridiculously expensive, but has the advantage that it should be waiting for you when you arrive. You can also take a car service or taxi from the open ranks immediately after exiting. This is a good option, as the there is a fixed fee (I don't exactly recall, but maybe $30 for the taxi and $40 for the car). NY Taxis have pretty roomy trunks so should be ok for luggage, but the limos are town cars and even roomier. This is the option we used recently, and it was great. The big caveat here is that there were a big line of both when we docked, and plenty available when we came through immigration, but in the middle, there was a bit of a line waiting for them. So, it partly depends on when you plan to exit the ship (or when you're allowed), and how much time pressure you need to get to the airport. The best option, I think, to ensure you have a car, is to pre-order a service. There are no special permits needed to enter the area (contrary to some suggestions on this board earlier), and there is a special pick up point for ordered cars - turn left immediately after exiting the terminal and walk a couple of hundred yards to a white tented area on the side walk. Tell the car service that to keep the right when entering the terminal area, and to look for the white tented area just as they turn to the terminal building.

 

As stated, there are no tolls for LGA, but don't forget a 15-20% tip (depending on how helpful the driver was)!

[HeelMD]

Thanks for the advice. I am on the Le Havre-Southampton-New York cruise arriving in NY on July 2, 2007. Our flight is not until 2:20 pm...any advice on what to do until then? What is the latest we can disembark?

[tartegnin]

Our flight was at 3ish, so we also had a lot of time to kill. You can stay on board until about 10:30 or so. They try to get you to meet in a certain part of the ship from pretty early on depending on your deck and status, but I don't think it's a problem to be generally around on deck, for example, as long as you're not in the way of the crew, who have an incredibly short time to turn around the ship. It all feels a bit weird, frankly, being on during this transition, and while we originally planned to hang out a bit we ended getting off at about 10. There are a load of announcements every few minutes, so it's all a bit disrupted. I do think if you took a bottle of water or bring a thermos of coffee way up top, you might be less interrupted. The problem isn't getting off later than your designated slot, it's getting off earlier, so I don't see any issue with staying on if you want to (despite the impression you get to the contrary).

 

I don't know what airline you're flying - what to do at the airport largely depends on this. There is a central building with a Tod English restaurant (!) so you could check in, get rid of luggage and head there for lunch. We stayed in our terminal, in the end, since we could use the lounge (due to frequent flyer status). We were in US Air terminal, which has a food court (avoid the restaurant at all costs!), a decent book store, a Brooks Brothers and couple of other shops to pass the time. Frankly, by the time we got through customs at Red Hook, limo, check in, security etc., we didn't end up with that much time to kill before the flight.