Thoughts on traveling to NYC from MA for NCL Breakaway

We are considering an NCL cruise to Bermuda next spring. The Breakaway is appealing more to us than the Dawn. We live in central Massachusetts. Have any of you taken the NYC cruise instead of the Boston cruise? How do you handle getting to NYC before and after the cruise? Do you stay over in NYC? I'm completely clueless!! Both of us have only taken one cruise before... my cruise was out of Boston in 2003. So it's been a while!

Thanks in advance! :)

My best friend and I sailed out of the Manhattan terminal in February on the Gem. Drove from Michigan. Stayed at a hotel right by Times Square. We went a couple of days early because niether of us had ever been to New York. We had an amazing time. The morning of the cruise we took our car to the port, used a service that kept our car for the week, got on the ship and we were on our way from there. Had a blast. Would do it again in a heartbeat! Also, the weekend we were in NYC, the weather was in the high 40's, low 50's!! Best tourinng weather!

Also in Central Mass. here. I do not care to drive into Manhattan, so I usually will drive down to Hartford (park at Union Station $15/day), and take either Amtrak or Peter Pan. For any 2 week cruises (do not like leaving car more than 1 wk.) I do, I will take Peter Pan roundtrip from Worcester.

For my upcoming cruise on BA I am going into NYC the day before, and staying at Travel Inn. Skyline Hotel is another good choice near the pier.

We are North of Boston, but we usually drive to the Amtrak 128 Westwood station and take the train from there. There is plenty of parking and it's easy in and out from 128. Once we get to Penn it's a $20 cab ride to the port. We have also driven to the Port and it's not too bad of a ride since you don't have to go over the George Washington Bridge. We go very early in the am and never stay overnight beforehand.

We are considering an NCL cruise to Bermuda next spring. The Breakaway is appealing more to us than the Dawn. We live in central Massachusetts. Have any of you taken the NYC cruise instead of the Boston cruise? How do you handle getting to NYC before and after the cruise? Do you stay over in NYC? I'm completely clueless!! Both of us have only taken one cruise before... my cruise was out of Boston in 2003. So it's been a while!

 

Thanks in advance! :)

Great post we are also from Worcester area and thinking of doing this.

From north of Boston. We have drivin to the port. Very easy. We drove down the morning of the cruise. I do not like driving when I don't know where I am going so I was nervous in doing the drive. The easiest way is take 95 south towards the George Washington bridge and take the Henry Hudson parkway south exit. It is the last exit before you go over the bridge. From north of Boston I would take the pike to 84 thru Hartford and take 91 to 95 to the George Washington. The parkway runs right along the river. The port is a few miles down on the right. You can park right at the port but I forget the cost.

We drive from Ohio and stay overnight in NJ just on the west of the George Washington Bridge. In the morning it's a fast 15 minute drive right to the Pier.

We park right at the Pier. On disembarkation day we walk off, get in the car, and are out of the city by 8:30. It's worth the premium for parking.

we are thinking about a cruise on the Breakaway out of NY to the Bahamas.

I am also from Worcester.

We were thinking we would either take the Bus ( Peter Pan , or Greyhound ) or take the Train. we would stay in NY for one day before the cruise

We just got back from the Breakaway. I live near Worcester as well. We drove in and parked at the pier. It was about 3.5 hours and it was a pretty straightforward drive. Parking was $280 for the week. Have fun!!

How's the weather in Bermuda in the Spring?

We live in the Berkshires and we are heading down to do the Breakaway in 11 days....=)

We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield Park, NJ the night before. They have a sleep, park and cruise package where they will shuttle you to and from the port and you stay the night before. We paid $290, or $10 more than we would pay to park at the pier for the week.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

How's the weather in Bermuda in the Spring?

May will be pleasant, but the ocean will be cold. Its not like in the Bahamas where its hot and humid even in March.

Thanks,Sauer.

We are from RI and drove to NYC for the Oct. 2 sailing. Took just about 3 hours (including a couple of stops). Very easy to get to the terminal and park. Will definitely do it again!

We are considering an NCL cruise to Bermuda next spring. The Breakaway is appealing more to us than the Dawn. We live in central Massachusetts. Have any of you taken the NYC cruise instead of the Boston cruise? How do you handle getting to NYC before and after the cruise? Do you stay over in NYC? I'm completely clueless!! Both of us have only taken one cruise before... my cruise was out of Boston in 2003. So it's been a while!

 

Thanks in advance! :)

I know this is an NCL site, but I do have to wonder why someone who lives in Massachusetts who wants to cruise to Bermuda would want to drive to New York to sail on the Breakaway to the Dockyard tourist trap when they have the option of sailing from Boston on HAL's Veendam. You would have better food and service, you would moor in downtown Hamilton rather than remote Dockyard, and probably pay a slightly lower price.

I know this is an NCL site, but I do have to wonder why someone who lives in Massachusetts who wants to cruise to Bermuda would want to drive to New York to sail on the Breakaway to the Dockyard tourist trap when they have the option of sailing from Boston on HAL's Veendam. You would have better food and service, you would moor in downtown Hamilton rather than remote Dockyard, and probably pay a slightly lower price.

We are going on the Breakaway in May and I priced out HAL's Veendam for around the same time frame also for 7 days in a balcony. The price for the Breakaway which includes the drink package and 3 specialty restaurants is 2,934 and the Veendam was 4,228. It will cost us appx $150 to go by train & cab to NY so hard to justify HAL over NCL.

We did a 9 night N.Y. from N.W. Mass.

Got a one way one day rent a car , in and out of the city for less than parking fee's. :cool:

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Take the Amtrak regional train from the most convenient stop. Cant beat it for getting into NYC.

I'd probably stick with the Dawn myself.

was on the Breakaway on 9/18

no issues driving from the NH/MA near Portsmouth...to NY

We live in Central Massachusetts and have traveled to NYC for our cruise by bus, car, pre night stay and the day of.

I would probably not do the bus thing again. Too many stops along way to pick up more passengers, plus our bus got a flat tire one year which took forever to get fixed. Thankfully it was on our way home after the cruise.

The pre night stay is nice and makes for a relaxing morning but if you want to save some money driving in the morning of is fine as well. The drive is super easy. We left at 7am and made it to the pier by 10:30 and that was with a couple of quick stops.

We love the Breakaway and will be sailing on her again next summer! The NYC views at sail away are spectacular!!

Check out my cruise video link below. I have several Breakaway videos as well as the Dawn out of Boston to Bermuda. Happy Sailing!! :)

We live in Shrewsbury, MA and have driven down to the port on day of cruise several times. It's about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive with one bathroom stop. We always park at the port, it makes it very quick and easy to get to the boarding area.

I know this is an NCL site, but I do have to wonder why someone who lives in Massachusetts who wants to cruise to Bermuda would want to drive to New York to sail on the Breakaway to the Dockyard tourist trap when they have the option of sailing from Boston on HAL's Veendam. You would have better food and service, you would moor in downtown Hamilton rather than remote Dockyard, and probably pay a slightly lower price.

The service and food has been better on NCL as of late as far as I am concerned (3-star on HAL and platinum on NCL) at least on the midsize ships. Time will tell if DW and I enjoy (or prefer) HAL again as we have a few cruises booked with them next year. It has been 2 years since we sailed on them.

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We have driven from the Portsmouth area of NH to NYC for a cruise. It was an easy ride. We did it the day prior and then stayed in a park and cruise type hotel. I will probably never travel more than 200 miles on the same day to get to a cruise terminal, too stressful.

Another cruise we took the bus out of Portsmouth to Boston, then hopped a train to the NYC. Night or two prior mind you. Took bus home morning cruise ends, at that point I could care less if something happens to slow us down.

We will be cruising out of the NYC in a little over a week, and we will Bus to Boston again and then train the rest of way two days prior. Bus home day cruise ends.

NYC is a different type of place to me. Like a mega Boston on steroids, it is a fun place and we make it a part of our vacation.

The service and food has been better on NCL as of late as far as I am concerned (3-star on HAL and platinum on NCL) at least on the midsize ships. Time will tell if DW and I enjoy (or prefer) HAL again as we have a few cruises booked with them next year. It has been 2 years since we sailed on them.

 

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I have sailed HAL, loved it. We did the Zuiderdaam to the Panama canal. That said... I would love to sail on the Veendam to Hamilton for a three night stay downtown. The Lanai stateroom that I would book is as expensive as the Haven Spa suite on the Breakaway. So no comparison in service. And I will say HALs MDR dinning room food does not compare to the many specialty restaurants like La Bistro, Cagneys and even La Cucina (I get the Osso Bucco every visit). I cannot really compare HALs MDR to NCL due to the fact, in 4 cruises I have dinned NCL MDR once. And that time was pork chop night, the waiter brought me a plate stacked with 8 thin pork chops (he saw how much I liked them, so he brought out the plate). I was in heaven. I was a glutinous pig that evening.

So for now, for the money and treatment you get as a Haven Guest I choose NCL.

Jon