Getting around NYC with 2 year old before cruise

[GaTechCruiser]

My mom, DD and I will be on the Triumph the week of Labor Day. We are flying into NYC on Sunday - the day before the cruise. Any suggestions as to how to get around NYC with a toddler? Not sure what to do with a car seat when we are getting around the city. She is too small for a booster seat. Have never taken public transportation there - is that the best thing for us to do. What about getting from the airport to the hotel - should we take a shuttle, or just go with a taxi? No worried about car seat from airport to hotel, more so about getting around the city. Parents do this all the time - how do they do it while worrying about safety?

[sbhdmh]

We found the very best thing for getting around NYC at that age was a Kelty backpack stroller. The child is in an almost standing position so you can use it at restaurants that don't have highchairs. You can push it through the streets and throw it on your back when you get on the subway. We bought it for a Caribbean cruise but used it all the time when visiting my parents in NYC. New York parents have access to every gadget you can imagine but they were stopping us all the time to ask about this and where we got it. A lot of them had the Kelty backpack but this is different - you cannot just add the wheels to the existing backpack. It was great for anywhere that had a lot of stairs or uneven walkways. Boy were we sad when DD outgrew it...

[crusinmama06]

I was on the Triumph out of NYC with my girls this past June. But I also took them to NYC last December to see the sites. :) My youngest was 4 at the time.

 

NYC is the easiest city in the world to get around. We walked almost everywhere until we wanted to go down from Rockefeller Center to the ferry that took us over to the statue of liberty - THEN, we just hopped on the subway. It was really easy. We are from a VERY small town and were worried that the subway would be a scary thing - it was pretty easy. I looked at the maps before we left and knew which line would take us where. And it was during the daytime, so no issues with the subway.

 

ALSO, another thing to look into which always seemed like a great options for a family - the double decker bus tours! It's a hop on/hop off ticket with stops all over the city in most tourist attractions. There are two different companies, here is one...

http://www.newyorksightseeing.com/

 

You could do a 24 hour hop on/hip off ticket. And there are stops everywhere.

[GaTechCruiser]

Thank you as always for the great advice!!!

I will have to do some research this week to see exactly where we are staying in relationship to the hotel.

I really want to go and see the Statue of Liberty, so will look into the subway to get there.

Thanks for the recommendation on the double decker bus - will look into that as well.

[crusinmama06]

The subway "stop" for the Statue of Liberty that we used was the "World Trade Center" stop. I didn't notice a closer one. The World Trade Center subway stop is just a couple of blocks to Liberty Park and the ferry. So we got to see the WTC, then the NY Stock Exchange, then the huge metal artwork that used to stand in front of the WTC (that was so sad) and then the tickets to get the ferry to the Statue of Liberty was just beyond that.

[nybumpkin]

The subway "stop" for the Statue of Liberty that we used was the "World Trade Center" stop. I didn't notice a closer one. The World Trade Center subway stop is just a couple of blocks to Liberty Park and the ferry. So we got to see the WTC, then the NY Stock Exchange, then the huge metal artwork that used to stand in front of the WTC (that was so sad) and then the tickets to get the ferry to the Statue of Liberty was just beyond that.

Once you get to the end of the island, the stops are all fairly close. The WTC stop is the closest on the "E" (Eighth Avenue) line, while the South Ferry is the closest on the "1" (Seventh Avenue) line and the Bowling Green stop is closest on the "4" and "5" (Lexington Avenue) line. The Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue lines both run out of Penn Station. The subway map is online at http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm.

[A&Emom]

I have a 6yo & a 2yo and do not drive. You'll do fine using public transportation, and a relatively inexpensive umbrella stroller. You will see very few people walking around with a carseat even if they do take a taxi with their small children.

[dreaminofsun]

I just found this http://www.lillygold.com/

Looks like it would make getting around and car seat issues a lot easier.