ams cruiser

3 hours ago, George C said:

here is a great thread about nyc restaurants 

 

Perfect!  Sometimes it's hard to find these threads on the board.

3 hours ago, Zephyr173 said:

HI AMS,

 

I have been several times to Auberge St-Gabriel, mostly for business lunches or office functions (X-Mas parties) and have always enjoyed it.  The building is fantastic and the food is excellent, and reasonably priced for its quality.

 

As for a speakeasy in the basement, I'm not sure.  But.... There is one at the corner of St-Amable and Ste-Vincent.  That's about 90 seconds' walk from hotel St-Gabriel.  You will go down a flight of stairs, and then... through an antique (surprise) door.  The entrance is that black door that reads «Sortie» (exit) and the doorbell is on the right.  Pretty sure not many tourist guides have this.😎

 

By the way, on the same picture, you can see Café Olympico.  Best coffee house in Old Montreal, in a very nice hotel that has a fantastic terrace on the roof.  The entrance to that rooftop bar is also hard to find: it's on St-Amable, a few feet past the yellow planters you see on this screenshot.

 

Enjoy your stay in YUL and have a great sailing from YQB.

 

Patrick

Hi, Patrick,

Thank you so much for your recommendations and this helpful photo.  The Aurberge St-Gabriel is now a must in our limited time in Montreal!  No worries about the Speak Easy.  We're more early morning than late night folks, but I thought the description and the history of the building was fascinating.  

We'll definitely stop by the Cafe Olympic, and, hopefully, the rooftop bar as well.  All three places are now recorded in my Montreal spreadsheet, which is getting longer by the day, and seems to have mostly food recommendations!

I'm sure we will enjoy your beautiful city, and so looking forward to our Canadian tour!

With warmest regards,

Janet

20 minutes ago, George C said:

Either Lincoln center or south street seaport is fine, remember there are afternoon shows Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday  and hardly anything on Monday and very limited on Sunday night. We love Becco Italian on 46th between 8th and 9th for a meal before show ,  I would get a reservation, see restaurants thread for more ideas. 

Will do, thank you!

2 minutes ago, George C said:

Got there about noon, found Lincoln center to be shortest wait by far , Times Square the longest. Our hotel is between Times Square and Lincoln center, before Lincoln center opened I would go to south street seaport. Beautiful is a great show we saw it twice on broadway and recently in Dallas. First time we ever saw a play three times, I see Tootsie is on tkts that’s fun,  sometimes Come from away is there also, saw that last year also from tkts. 

I think "Come from Away" might not have shows on Monday, because it has been on TKTS before, so I'll check tomorrow.  Were you happy with the seats that you were able to get at TKTS?  Also, I don't know if you can tell me this, but I am thinking about dropping our bags at the hotel after we get off of the cruise, and then taking the subway to  Southstreet seaport at 11 a.m., or Lincoln Center at noon, followed by lunch somewhere.  Are there good places to have lunch near Southport, or is it better to go to Lincoln Center?

Thanks, again!

2 hours ago, martincath said:

I think both of these must have been missed by the locals - yes, Springhill Suites is outside the 'downtown core' fixed fare zone. But a limo would run quite a bit more than a cab unless roadworks/major traffic problems seriously racked up the fare. IIRC it's in the $63 limo fare zone, whereas a cab should be <$50 on the meter (the price for the fixed fare zone is meant to reflect a reasonable average fare to that area, and Springhill is not far beyond it so should only be a few bucks more). I'd post a link to the limo price maps, but I'm traveling with a teeny screen and it's very footery to embed links easily. Credit cards yes (Visa & MC anyway) so unless you were going to acquire CAD cash anyway, I would not bother just for cab fare. If you're cruising to smaller Canadian ports though it could be a very good idea, and sometimes you get a better rate if you buy more currency.

 

Dinner nearby - Toque! is a long-standing and excellent resto that's not much over a half mile away, but on the gourmet end of the scale so might not work if you're just looking for a simple 'refueling' meal after a long day. Keg steakhouse is super close, Canadian (though not at all Quebecois) and might suit for something filling and good value. I think there was also a very popular Creperie just along the road with a pun-based name like 'Crepe Suzette' (sorry, it's been close to 10 years since I stayed in this hotel!)

Cabs will definitely be lining up for an arriving cruise ship; Uber comes on request, but I would imagine that some drivers will be deliberately hanging around nearby as cruise pax are a reliable source of fares.

Thank you so much for your advice! I thought I had read somewhere on this thread that a limo to Springhill Suites, because it is outside of the designated downtown area,  was not much more than a taxi, but we're perfectly happy taking a cab.  We will be in Montreal/Quebec City for almost a week, before boarding our cruise ship, so plan on bring some "starter" CAD$.  We're hoping to find a bank ATM near our hotel.  

Appreciate the suggestion about Toque!  The menu and reviews sound incredible!  It looks like a possibility for our second night, but I think we will walk down the street to Keg Steakhouse for our first night post-travel refueling. I think you are thinking about Creperie Suzette, which is another place on my list.  

Did you ever try The Aubergesaint-Gabrie, restaurant adjacent to the hotel?  It has excellent reviews, apparently in a building that once housed the oldest inn in North America.  In addition to the restaurant, there is a speakeasy in the basement on weekends!

Thank you for taking the time to post while traveling. ( I was afraid my post had gotten lost.)

7 hours ago, George C said:

The great thing about Lincoln center tkts location is you can buy tickets for tonight’s show and also next day matinee, so on Friday I bought Friday nights tickets and Saturday afternoon then on Saturday bought Saturday night and Sunday afternoon,  so just two trips and waited in line about 15 mins each trip. When buying at Times Square you can not buy next days tickets. If you are downtown location by south street seaport you also can buy next days tickets. You can get the tkts app for your phone which will give you complete list of plays offered. 

Just downloaded the TKTS app, and it indicates that tickets for "Ain't Too Proud" and "Beautiful" (two out of my three choices) are available today at 40% discount.  

Also, it indicates that their Seaport ticket office is open at 11 a.m., vs Lincoln Center which opens at noon.  I'm wondering if this might be a convenient option from our hotel, which is in Little Italy.

15 minutes is not a bad wait at all.  Do you remember what time you got in line?  

Thank you!

10 hours ago, Nitemare said:

Just a quick correction, the sales sites are either Ticketmaster or TelechargeOffers.  Playbill, Broadwaybox, and Theatermania list the discounts, but when you click to see the tickets you are forwarded to one of the two "T" sites.  The one with blue and yellow/orange dots in sort of a 3D angle view is Telecharge, the other one is Ticketmaster.

 

On Telecharge you can unclick the premium seats in the area where you chose number of seats and dates, and I think you want to keep the "Choose my own seats" option picked, instead of the "Website selects seats" option.

 

The Orange seats are discount.  The blue seats are not. 

Thank you so much for clarifying, what to me was a somewhat confusing process!  

1 hour ago, Nitemare said:

We haven't used TKTS in about 5 years.  We prefer to do our shopping from home and not stand in line at TKTS where you don't get to pick your ticket.

That being said, we just realized we don't have plans for this Saturday afternoon (Hadestown at night, Hamilton for Sunday matinee), so we might just end up at TKTS!

I didn't realize that you don't get to pick your seat at TKTS.  So you line up, and they just give you random tickets?  Hope you get good seats if you do end up there on Saturday!

On 8/25/2019 at 5:52 PM, lenquixote66 said:

We belong to a theater club.We get a group rate. 

Nice!

11 hours ago, George C said:

We buy almost all tickets at half price tkts locations and see about 4 plays every yearly trip , had great tickets to see beautiful twice. I like the new location by Lincoln center very small lines . Most tickets are 50 percent off. Of course you will not see Hamilton listed there but always find 4 shows we want to see. 

Wow!  You were able to get "Beautiful" tickets?  I read about the TKTS site by Lincoln center.  Do you remember what time you have to line up?  If you see 4 plays every year (lucky you!) does that involve going to TKTS every day?  I would love to get half-price tickets, but don't want to spend an inordinate amount of our limited time in NYC waiting in lines.

Thank you!

14 hours ago, Nitemare said:

AMS:  when you go thru the discount site, it takes you to Ticketmaster or to Telecharge Offers.  THe Orange and Blue sounds like Telecharge to me.  One of those colors is discount seats, the other is full price.  There might be an option to the side to only see discount seats, but it's not hard to figure out which are the discount ones, those are the ones towards the backs and the sides.

 

If you "mouse over" any dot you will see the price for that seat.  This will work much better with a laptop or desktop than with an iPad or phone

I can't remember the specifics, but on one site (I think it was Theatermania), this discounted seats were quite clear.  I think it was on Playbill that I checked off "show only discounted seats" or something like that, and it looked like the seats were not discounted.  I did figure out the mousing over part to the see the price - what I couldn't always figure out is whether or not the seat was actually discounted. 

Thank you for this information!  It was a little confusing (I took a little break from it, but will have to go back and look at it again.)  

7 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

The play was good but not great.There was an understudy for the lead actor

Good to know.  I guess this is one of those things you just can't predict, despite the best laid plans.

4 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

You're welcome!

 

Different situation than you, but we were in NYC in April (saw Hamilton) and were planning on coming back in August. We walked up to the Lyric to check out tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The guy at the box office asked what we were looking for, and I said we'd love a sweet spot for pricing, and he looked in the system and offered up first row, balcony center, on the aisle. $88;/person/part. They were great seats. Left on our own, we probably would have gone for the $169/person/part tickets, or almost twice as much. It depends on what experience you want, but the theaters all have seats that are one row from premium, one seat left or right of premium, etc., that are a great value.

Wow, that's quite a difference!  I was amazed when I looked at the "Ain't Too Proud" seating chart, and saw tickets for $80 more, just one row ahead.  (Going to put "sweet spot" in my travel notes right now!)

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Here's a video, showing distance & walk time between the ferry & cruise terminal, about 7 to 8 minutes - there's another one showing the ride along the river from Lower Manhattan/Bklyn Bridge landing in DUMBO ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcY8KcbUgN4 

 

Subways are fine for evenings returning to the hotel to/from popular tourist stops and the CT/LI station stops on Grand or Canal Street, just do not use the Bowery & Delancy one for your hotel.  4 a.m. pickup/trip to JFK should be fine - might want to pickup some nice breakfast buns/snacks the night before from local Chinatown bakery or stores - pop in the microwave, grab coffee & then ride out.  

 

As for what's good nearby, across the street is Ferrara Pastries & Cafe, a classic since 1892 ... it was our late night hangout place in the younger days.  Eileen's Cheesecake at 17 Cleveland Place (Kenmare & Centre Street) is the place, not Junior's in Brooklyn (we do have a nice one near us, too far & only locals know of them - in N.E. Queens) - a short 5 minutes or 3 blocks walk. 

 

For lunch or dinner, do a scroll up/down Mulberry to checkout menus & specials, posted outside (between Canal & Broome Street) ... checkout Umbertos Clam House, since 1972 (moved from its original location on the corner) known for its seafood & red clam sauce ... and clams casinos.  

https://www.umbertosclamhouse.com/

A block away really in the Chinatown section, on the corner - Vincent's - another spot for us back in the 80's since ... 

https://www.originalvincents.nyc/

Like other places, they offer weekday lunch & dinner specials, posted outside - check them out & if see another place you like, go for it ... most of them are survivors of post 9/11 slums & drop in tourism, support them.  

 

Seriously, for Chinese dining, I recommend H.K. Flower Lounge in Burlingame, on your way home/out to the SFO ... for dim sum, if you are like them (LOL, or any place in that area along the San Bruo corridor.)  Richmond was our favorite area then but not sure if we would go there on our next trip, given ... Nothing to recommend as you can get those just as good in the Bay area, probably for less or same $$.  

 

Enjoy your visit, cruise & welcome to the Big Apple. 

 

The video is great, and really gives a good idea of the distance between cruise ship and ferry.  We should be fine, as long as it isn't raining, and I don't pick up too many souvenirs during our cruise!  

Appreciate the specifics about the subway stations.  The last time we were in NYC was a little over ten years ago.  There was so many things that impressed us about the city, and one of them was the subway system.   Apparently, the Noble Den is right across the street from Ferrara's, and they have free pastries in the lobby in the morning, that apparently go quickly!  I have copied links to the restaurants/bakeries you've recommended in my travel spreadsheet, and look forward to trying some of them. We definitely want to patronize the local businesses.  We will never forget the courage of the people of NYC after 9-11. 

We had better do a lot of walking, because I can already tell that we are going to be eating well!

I will also make note of the H.K. Flower, although we rarely get to Burlingame.  Whenever we fly, which isn't very often, we try to use Oakland.  I grew up in the Bay Area, and the traffic has gotten more and more horrendous, especially in the past ten years or so.  We rarely venture into the City (what locals call S.F.!), with traffic and parking being what it is.  If we had a good subway system, it would be a different story.

You are a wealth of information, mking, and I thank you for your hospitality!

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I went to see the Temptations play this past week and I could not fit into the seat.I was in row S Orchestra .I am 6’5 and I sat with my feet extending into the aisle but that was still not comfortable.

That sounds awful!   Other than that, how was the play? 😊  My husband is only 5'10, but I remember, years ago, him leaving a theater mid-ballet in Covent Garden because he couldn't get comfortable and it was pretty warm inside.  (No worries, as he ended up finding a pub that was fit the bill!)

4 hours ago, markeb said:

 

That's the chance you take, unfortunately. The best tickets will sell first. I can't speak to the theater for Beautiful; the seats were mostly pretty good for Come From Away, but we were kind of to the side in the front of the mezzanine, so there were some fairly severe angles. I didn't really impact us, but be aware of that. 

 

The best seats are almost always going to be available early. For good price AND reasonable availability, track the show's web page or Telecharge and see how it's trending. If you're getting in town and going to a show that night, and don't have several nights, you probably will need to suck it up and pay the fees. If there's good availability and you have a day or two, then walk up to the box office and at least save all the handling fees. And the folks at the box office know what they're doing. They'll sell you a premium ticket if that's what you ask for, but if you ask for a sweet spot ticket (good mix of price and view), they'll know that as well. You'll have a harder time figuring that out online.

Wish we were going to be there more than 3 nights, so it looks like we'll be paying the fees.  Maybe buy two shows in advance (checking for discounts a couple of weeks in advance), and then, if time permits, look into the possibility of a matinee the third day.  I'll keep checking the websites, and thanks for the advice about the sweet spot!

17 hours ago, markeb said:

 

My suspicion is if you are looking at midweek, you can get good tickets to Come From Away 2-3 weeks out. It does appear on TKTS for 50% discounts (a sad statement on Broadway theater). It's crazy in a way as it's really that good, but good for you as the Disney remakes sell out early. Ditto to a large extent for Beautiful. Keep an eye out on tickets. If you're seeing reasonably good availability close to your arrival, then you can probably at a minimum walk up to the box office and save the Ticketmaster/Telecharge fees, and if you're seeing availability through Ticketmaster/Telecharge, and a history of sales on TKTS, you have a reasonable chance of getting them once you're in town through TKTS.

 

My problem with recommendations is of the three, I think "Come From Away" is the must see, but for whatever bizarre reason has been the most likely to be available through TKTS. Do not ask me to explain that!

I really appreciate your recommendations, and I am now leaning towards making "Come From Away" one of my must sees!  Just to clarify, are you saying that it might be possible to get decent "Beautiful" tickets at a discount 2-3 weeks out, or is it in the Disney category?  

In terms of TKTS tickets, are the theaters for these shows relatively small, as in not a bad seat in the house?  I've been to a couple of theaters in the San Francisco where some of the balcony seats were pretty far from the stage.

7 hours ago, 138east said:

The ferry dock is right next to the ship pier.  It’s just another option that gives you a 20 minute ride across the harbor to Pier 11 Wall Street with photo opportunities to finish off your cruise - in essence a $3/pp post cruise excursion.  It doesn’t have to be precisely scheduled with a car service.  You can just go with the flow disembarking at your leisure.

 

From Pier 11 you can just get a cab or Uber to your hotel in Little Italy, which is not that far away.

 

https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/south-brooklyn/

 

Just reading, this, and it actually sounds like a really good option, especially with the go with the flow scenario.  My husband was just saying that he would like to take a ferry circle cruise at some point during our brief stay. Thank you!

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

Call Quick Ride & explain, it is best to ask them how best to call & get picked up from the pier ... if they have you slotted, the driver/vehicle should be no more than 10 to 15 minutes away, while you do a short & leisure walk out to the outdoor pickup area at the terminal.  Most of us here has not sailed out of Red Hook, but with 1 ship using the terminal - I cannot imagine bags taking too long, best to ask on the Princess forum & roll call about others' recent experience with delays.  

 

Or, as suggested by 138east/Carol - consider the inexpensive ferry ride to Wall Street pier/Lower Manhattan, then, do Uber/taxi or even see if Quick Ride is available as it's a 10 to 15 minutes ride to Little Italty/Chinatown ... the congestion surcharge will still apply/fare should run around $20 with tips. 

 

For your 7 am flight, traffic at 4 or 4:15 a.m. should be relatively light, about 45 minutes to 1 hour at most (on average) to JFK ... unless you have Pre-Check, TSA lines can still be long so plan a little extra time, as many long haul ones leave at 6 or 7 a.m. (it's our "home" airport & we always fly pre-dawn to try to get ahead.)  

 

Weekdays, Little Italy offers price fixed set lunch & dinner at good, reasonable prices, check them out on Mulberry Street, and the few on Baxter Street, just around the corner ... ohterwise, you'll see more Asian fusion & Chinese dining outside the hotel surroundings.  

 

Subways are fine for evening travel to go back to the hotel, you are near the Grand Street station on Chrystie Street or Canal St - Lafayette St, both served by multiple lines to get around town.  Forget the surface buses, way too slow ... ditto the HoHo buses with the (expensive) passes.  Comfortable walking shoes are best, and unlike "Cisco" it's nearly all flat, no hills.  

I honestly can't thank you enough for all of this helpful advice!   I will do a posting on the Princess boards to ask for specifics about Brooklyn terminal.   

We do have TSA pre-check, so would a 4 a.m. departure from our hotel be about right?

Really looking forward to eating in the city, especially Italian food. Do you have any particular favorite restaurants to recommend? It's pretty easy to get a good Chinese meal in our area, so not something we look for on vacation.

We will definitely have our comfortable walking shoes for the cobblestones of Quebec City, so we should be fine there.  So it's safe to take the subway after a late dinner or evening show?  (Honestly, I wouldn't do it on our BART system.)

Thanks, again, for helping to put my mind at ease in planning these last details.  

2 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I saw The Fantastiks In San Francisco.

Was that awhile ago?  My sister has season tickets and sees all of the big shows when they come to the city, but I haven't heard about The Fantastiks recently.  I think the last show I saw in the City was Lion King (several years ago).  But before that, I remember going to see all of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, growing up (I loved Yul Brenner in The King and I), and then Phantom, Les Mis, La Cage aux Folles.  But it has definitely been too long!

I'm one of the few who has not yet seen Hamilton...But I heard tickets are getting a little easier to come by in San Francisco.

33 minutes ago, markeb said:

I'm not sure what dates you're looking at. "Ain't Too Proud" appears to redirect to Telecharge, so full price tickets. Right now, Come From Away appears to have discount tickets through September 1st; I'd expect more in September.

 

Regarding the $169 vs $249 tickets, you've just found one of the frustrating Broadway pricing schemes. There is "probably" little or no difference between the $169 and $249 tickets. The $249 are probably "Premium" tickets. There are usually sweet spots in the theaters, such as one row into a price break. There may be a difference, but there probably isn't.

 

Regarding the shows:

 

Ain't Too Proud is pretty new and I haven't seen it. At least one member here has, and thought it was "good"; not a ringing endorsement.

 

Likewise haven't seen Beautiful, but it has been heavily recommended on this board and thread.

 

Come From Away is one of the most amazing, sad, but uplifting shows I've ever seen. It is a story we sort of all know, but told from a totally different perspective. Jenn Colella has been a hard working broadway artist with minimal success that became a star in this show. I'll almost call Come From Away the "quiet Hamilton"; it's that good. So, of your three, I'd absolutely see Come From Away, and I'd probably recommend Beautiful (which I need to see). You'll probably be able to get Come  From Away at a decent price, possibly even once you're in town if you're not too picky. I'm not sure about Beautiful, and Ain't Too Proud is too new to predict.

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but on all three sites, it had information about discounts for Beautiful and Come From Away.  When I did a mock order of tickets for all 3 shows via the discount sites, they all re-directed me to Telecharge to select seats from a seating plan, so I'm confused that this means they were full price, unless I wasn't following the right procedure.  There was some generic information about discounts available for the show, and then a link to click to buy tickets, which then opened up the Telecharge window.  One thing that was really confusing was that there was a discount code, which I think said would be applied.  I couldn't find a place to enter it, although maybe I needed to go past the part where you enter your mailing address?   I'm pretty sure that I was able to find discounted tickets for one of the shows (can't remember which one) when I looked on the Telecharge seating chart.  I would love to see all 3 shows (what's another few hundred $$ at the end of a long vacation?!), but I don't think any of them have shows on Monday, so it just leaves Tues. and Wed. of that week.  

I'm thinking I could, perhaps get tickets for "Come From Away" and" Beautiful" on Tues and maybe the matinee on Wed, since we have an early morning flight on Thurs. Do you think I could get decent seats at a discount if I wait a couple of weeks?  I don't know how far in advance they offer discounts on these seats.

And I am truly kicking myself for not making the effort to see "Ain't Too Proud" when it was in Berkeley, as it would have been easy to get reasonable tickets, not to mention very convenient. (I'm hoping that this experience will give me the incentive to start seeing shows in San Francisco again.  We have don't have a good subway system, and driving/parking can be a hassle, coming from across the Bay.)

I really appreciate your insight!

3 minutes ago, 138east said:

Can you manage your luggage?  If so, you could consider taking the MTA ferry at your leisure from the Red Hook pier to Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan and then doing Uber to your hotel.  All you need to do this is the ability to troll your luggage to the nearby ferry dock.  Details can be provided.

This sounds intriguing!  Is the ferry dock very far?  (We'll each have one suitcase on rollers, plus some kind of small backpack.)  What are the advantages of doing it this way?

39 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

You may want to ask about the latest possible disembarkation time on the Princess board.

Sounds like a good idea, if some Princess cruisers don't chime in here.  I called the Princess number, and the person who tried to help me put me on hold for several minutes.  Finally, he came back on the line, and told me I should just ask at the Passenger Services desk when I get on board.  🙄

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

OP,  looks like you are disembarking on Monday, the 14th. - Columbus Day and traffic should be "slightly" lighter after the morning rush hour, the HOV restrictions nearby on the Gowanus Expwy really doesn't apply to your Lower Manhattan/Chinatown in-bound ride with Quick Ride CS.  They are a small Chinatown-based car services and probably best to book them ahead & re-confirm, tell them you are coming off a cruise & will call them on the morning to give them a more precise time; and, to request a pickup when you are ready at Red Hook.  You should have a solid cellular signal from land towers at least 30+ minutes before docking, as the ship approach the VZ Bridge and that's at least another 90+ minutes before your leisure disembarkation ... to be among the last off, especially if you still need to clear CBP formalities (check with Princess) ***  Their fleet of vehicles & drivers typically service Brooklyn, Queens & Chinatown, including airports, just not a large scale one like Carmel or Dial 7.  (you should have Carmel & Dial 7's phone #, just in case ... has happened to us before using our local car service)

 

Chinatown/Little Italty (very little of remaining, really) is heavily congested 7 days a week, actually worst on weekends and no thanks to bike-friendly lanes that reduce local streets to one lane of thru traffic, and watch out for commercial & delivery traffic parked AWAY from the curb (you will see what I mean ...) - getting there will take a little extra time, expect to sit & idle in traffic for longer than usual.  If your JFK flight is early & has an early pickup time, all is fine - adjust it accordingly, hotel's front desk can probably advise you too.  

 

*** We're on a Canada/NE cruise not too long ago, already cleared CBP at our Bar Harbor stop in Maine, yet - had to repeat again (show our passports) when we disembark in NY, after stopping at Portland & Newport along the way.  Luckily, we're not in a hurry, home being less than an hour away once we got out of the terminal & picked up.  

Thank you so much for the comprehensive information!  Just to clarify, after Quick Ride knows our approximate disembarkation time, should I wait to call them again after we are already off of the ship?  I'm hoping if we can go through Customs at Bar Harbor (we're also stopping in Boston), there won't be much of a delay at Brooklyn.  Is there much of a wait for luggage when you disembark in Brooklyn?  (Our last cruise ended in Seattle, which had a special arrangement with cruise lines. We didn't even see our bags until we picked them up at our home airport.)

I definitely plan to call them to schedule transportation on both ends of our stay in NYC.  We are leaving on a Thursday from JFK, but I purposely scheduled a 7 a.m. flight, trying to avoid the worst of the commute traffic in both NYC and San Francisco when we land. Our friends who use Quick Ride regularly said that, even though the scheduling process seems very casual, their drivers have always shown up not time.  It sounds like a good idea to bring numbers for Carmel or Dial 7, just in case, unless you think a taxi or Uber/Lyft would be better back up?

As far as the traffic around our hotel, we're hoping that by taking the subway and walking, we can avoid the worst of it.  The last time we were in Manhattan several years ago (chaperoning our son's high school jazz band who were playing in the Essentially Ellington competition), one of the adults in our group made the mistake of buying a ticket for some kind of 2-day HOHO ticket.  She said that they sat in so much traffic, that after a few blocks, she hopped off and never got back on!  (But that was near Times Square, as I recall.)

The only time we are planning on taking a taxi or Uber/Lyft would be in the evenings, possibly after seeing a show.  Hopefully, the traffic will let up later in the evening?

Thanks so much, again!

On 8/22/2019 at 6:07 AM, Got2Cruise said:

The most important thing to know when you order tickets on line is don’t order from a ticket broker that is going to add on enormous fees. Sometimes when you google a show one of these come up first because they paid for the spot. You want the “official webpage”  of the show. That page will describe the show and have a link to purchase tickets. Either Telecharge or Ticketmaster. You can chose your seats this way. If you call the box office usually has the attitude of take them or go away. lol. Which is fine if you’re not choosy. 

 

For discount tickets look at Broadwaybox.com Playbill.com Theatermania.com. These will give you a discount code which you will then follow to the Telecharge or Ticketmaster site. 

I just looked up tickets on these websites (thank you for the recommendations) and am a little confused by the orange color coding.  Does that mean discounted or just available?  I went through the steps for discounted seats, and unchecked regular seats.  Some of the orange seats were clearly at a discount (theater mania), but some of the other orange seats (broadwayabox and playbill) seemed to be regular price.  For some reason, the latter two sites don't include an explanation for what the orange means.

We haven't gone to the theater in years, although I have loved musicals for decades. Some of my fondest memories growing up revolve around going to the theater in San Francisco, but have only been to a couple of Broadway plays several years ago. Right now, I am looking into "Ain't Too Proud" (I grew up listening to the Temptations and heard the show was fabulous when it played in Berkeley, before it went to Broaday).  I also love Carol King.

We hope to see something uplifting, and have heard great things about "Come From Away".  It looks like discount tickets on this and "Beautiful" aren't yet available for the mid-October dates we are looking for post-cruise. 

On the other hand, I can get "Ain't Too Proud" tickets for mid-October.  I found a pair of aisle tickets (non-discounted) for $169 each (before $15 in fees) right behind seats listed for $249, which I can't figure out.

So I am thinking about buying thinking these tickets now for a Tuesday night, and then waiting to see what discounts are available for "Beautiful" and/or "Come From Away" on the Monday night before.  Right now, there are discounted seats available until 9/3 and 9/1, respectively, with some decent seats available, even at this late date.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations about these three shows (I think we can swing 2 shows, based on time and budget!), and the timing involved in buying tickets.

Thank you so much!  I have read through this entire thread, and have learned a lot.