Driving Time from NJ to Manhattan Cruise Terminal on Weekday Morning

We are staying in Edgewater, NJ the night before our cruise leaves. Planning on taking the GW Bridge. We were thinking of leaving around 9am for our 11:30 check in time. We are parking at the pier, so if we are very early (wishful thinking!) we will just walk around. I heard that parking fills up quickly at the pier, so we don't want to leave too late. Would traffic be cleared up by 9 or would earlier be better? We don't want to get stuck in crazy rush hour traffic. Thanks!

We are staying in Edgewater, NJ the night before our cruise leaves. Planning on taking the GW ... Would traffic be cleared up by 9 or would earlier be better? We don't want to get stuck in crazy rush hour traffic. Thanks!

Looked like you are sailing this Thursday on Carnival ... NY's morning commute traffic won't ease up till 9:30 to 10 am on a good day.

Assumed that you are staying in a hotel on River Road along the busy waterfront in Edgewater - it's a one lane road each-way (mostly) leading uphill toward the local street entrance to the GWB, expect lots of traffic along but should be at the ramp for the toll plaza, on average ~ 15 minutes to cross the Hudson River & then down the West Side Hwy, if you leave the hotel around 9:45 am - listen/check real-time traffic for updates (Google Maps/Waze, etc.) drive time should be 30 minutes & you will be at MCT by 10:15 am, drive up to the top for the parking lot entrance.

There are plenty of parking, no need to worry about the lot filling up as there is additional parking at adjacent piers (90 and 92) that will be opened up if necessary.

Not sure what & where you plan to walk around, if you wanted to & get there early ... higher probability of catching the tails of "crazy rush hour traffic" as you said.

On the morning of your cruise good idea to listen to radio stations with traffic reports giving the back up times for the major crossings into NYC. Helps eliminate surprises.

Rush hour starts around 6 am, you might want to leave after 9:30, plenty of parking.

Thanks everyone! that really helps.

Just for your info, AM radio stations, News 880 and 1010 News have updated traffic every "8" and "11" minutes - covering any major tieups for bridges & tunnels, check that before you leave from the hotel - allow extra time if you learn of major tieups on the approaches to the GW.

Since you are from Eric County & very likely to have an EZ-Pass account, the approach from River Road up to the GWB will take you close to the toll plaza onto the lower level of the bridge, which is EZP only and has no truck/commercial traffic ... a time-saver if things are "bad" all around.

If you are staying down on River Road & closer to the Lincoln Tunnel (which as 2 out of 3 "tubes" open in the morning for in-bound traffic into NYC, 1 set dedicated to commuter buses/HOV use only) - if the traffic/GPS app are pointing in that direction, you can use it as the best alternate. With recent commerical & waterfront condo/residential growth, lots of folks on the road but many will be using the Hudson River ferries for the crossing, just deal with the traffic lights & heavy traffic to get you to the pier.

But, if the difference in time/ETA is within 5 to 10 minutes, I would stick with GWB approach as there is virtually no traffic lights and/or missing turns to worry about once you crossover into NY via upper Manhattan & turn/merge onto the West Side Hwy southbound direct to the pier. Do a virtual drive on a smartphone/iPad or tablet to see your 2 basic driving options.

Enjoy your cruise.

From the lower bridge the West Side Highway/Henry Hudson Parkway South is the very first exit from the left lane. From the upper bridge it is the very first exit from the right lane.

If your route plan changes, due to traffic/accident, and you use the Lincoln Tunnel rather than the GWB, drive up 10th avenue not 12th avenue. It will be easier from 55th avenue to turn left onto 12th avenue for the MCT entrance/parking than it would be from 12th (northbound) to 12th (southbound).