Stay in Manhattan (Wall street area) and ride the NY Ferry to the cruise port

Thanks to user "138East" for suggesting to stay inLower Manhattan and taking the NYC Ferry over to the Cruise Port in Brooklyn(Red Hook). This added a new "excursion" to our trip, so I decided todocument it for other travelers benefit.

We flew in to LGA a day early and used Lyft to get us to the Holiday InnExpress on Water Street. The Lyft ride during rush hour cost us about $45. Fromthe hotel, just two blocks away is Pier 11 where the NYC Ferry runs betweenlower Manhattan and several stops in Brooklyn (Including the cruise port stopin Red Hook) This is my trip report for this little excursion. It was easy todo and we liked it so much, we reversed the trip to get back to Manhattan whenthe cruise got back!

This is what one of the Ferry boats look like:

From Pier 11, you can see the Regal Princess across the East river

From our hotel, we walked a couple of blocks and crossed under the bridge to Pier 11

Tickets can be bought either in this building on the pier or at one of several kiosks on the pier

The Ticket Window inside

We took the 9:30am trip and got to the cruise port early. Too early as we stood around for over an hour. Next time, I would take the 10:25am trip

To get in line for the ferry, go around the building

The line forms to the left of the Astoria stop. i think we had 10 people in line this morning, not crowded at all!

Look for this sign

On the weekend, the boat will make three stops and then go to Red Hook. You will be right next to the Cruise port, like 150 feet away.

Map view

Here's one of the Ferry Boats coming in to the pier

Double Check it is the right boat/route!

The inside of a ferry. Very nice and clean

On the way, you can see some great views! here's the Brooklyn Bridge near the first stop. You can get up on top for a better view if you want.

Here's another view, this one from the end of Pier 11

This was taken from the ship, the Ferry stop is very close.

This was taken from the Ferry stop. Yep, it's not very far away!

I hope this little visual trip report helps someone when making plans for a future cruise.

One more thing, for dinner, we walked a few blocks from our hotel to the South Street Seaport area and had out choice of several restaraunts and a nice view of the East River from another pier.

What wonderful pictures and a great review! Thank you.

Great photos and writeup. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

Keith

Which hotel did you select please to be within a short walk to the pier

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The OP stayed at Holiday Inn Express Wall Street.

You should post this on the Cunard and Princess boards. For weekend sail dates the downtown Manhattan hotels can be very reasonable compared with staying somewhere in Queens or Brooklyn, especially if you're paying only $2.75/pp to get right to the Brooklyn cruise terminal. It's a walkable safe area with lots of attractions like the Statue of Liberty, 911 Memorial, Freedom Tower, free Staten Island Ferry, Wall Street, Fraunces Tavern, and Trinity Church among others. Subway service is great, so all the midtown attractions are easy to get to as well.

Was the walk easy with luggage?

My wife had 2 "checked" pieces of luggage (one was a large piece of luggage) and I had one piece. I decided to haul her two and I did not have any problems, she could have done it herself easily. I'd say, hauling bags around an airport is similar. You are crossing streets, so look for the handicap sloped areas so you don't drag a bag off a curb. I did see another couple hauling bags too.

Very informative review and nice photos!

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My wife had 2 "checked" pieces of luggage (one was a large piece of luggage) and I had one piece. I decided to haul her two and I did not have any problems, she could have done it herself easily. I'd say, hauling bags around an airport is similar. You are crossing streets, so look for the handicap sloped areas so you don't drag a bag off a curb. I did see another couple hauling bags too.

Thanks.

Most NY'ers refer to it as a ferry and not taxi.

Anyway, this is the South Brooklyn route and the stop at Governor's Island is weekends only ending on October 29th. They haven't posted when the stop will come back in spring of 2018, so its two stops non-weekend and come November.

Most NY'ers refer to it as a ferry and not taxi.

Anyway, this is the South Brooklyn route and the stop at Governor's Island is weekends only ending on October 29th. They haven't posted when the stop will come back in spring of 2018, so its two stops non-weekend and come November.

Just to be clear, the extra stop at Governor's Island goes away soon, meaning it arrives at Red Hook a bit sooner!

Just to be clear, the extra stop at Governor's Island goes away soon, meaning it arrives at Red Hook a bit sooner!

 

And, yes, technically, it is a Ferry ride over water, but you would need to take up the name "Taxi vs. Ferry" with the fine folks at https://www.nywatertaxi.com/

NY Water Taxi does not operate the ferry from the pier next to Brooklyn Cruise peir, they operate from Ikea which is several blocks south of the cruise pier.And NY Water Taxi does NOT charge $2.75. Their Ferry;s are YELLOW, East River Ferrys are White with Blue accents. I should know, take one every day.

You want Hornblower cruises that operates NYC Ferry, that's the name of the service. NYC Water Taxi is a different company, even lost the bid to operate the East River routes.

Here is the direct link to the schedule https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/south-brooklyn/

NY Water Taxi does not operate the ferry from the pier next to Brooklyn Cruise peir, they operate from Ikea which is several blocks south of the cruise pier.And NY Water Taxi does NOT charge $2.75. Their Ferry;s are YELLOW, East River Ferrys are White with Blue accents. I should know, take one every day.

 

You want Hornblower cruises that operates NYC Ferry, that's the name of the service. NYC Water Taxi is a different company, even lost the bid to operate the East River routes.

 

Here is the direct link to the schedule https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/south-brooklyn/

Sorry, I stand corrected. I got it wrong. It is the NYC Ferry and your link is correct. I'll try to get an admin to allow me to edit the top post for accuracy.

There is a large selection of hotels near Wall Street. If you wanted to stay closer to Battery Park you would still be close enough to get to the water taxi.

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Very well done! Thanks for this. And I'll second that South Street Seaport is a fun place with a lot of dining choices and things to do.

we are doing the april 7 Norwegian Gem out of Manhattan....which ferry should we take??? By the way, thanks for all the great tips!!

Need to go to Stone street close to battery park dozen or so pubs/bars also Frances tavern a block or two away , and if you want to splurge Delmonico's one of the best and oldest restaurants in NY is in the area had a fantastic meal there a few months ago

we are doing the April 7 Norwegian Gem out of Manhattan....which ferry should we take??? By the way, thanks for all the great tips!!

Well, you probably would not want to do the NYC Ferry from Pier 11. Here is a page with a picture of the routes, notice it seems to only follow East River area routes. This works great for a Manhattan stay and the Brooklyn cruise port at Red Hook. but not so much for the Manhattan port Click here for the route map

There is a large selection of hotels near Wall Street. If you wanted to stay closer to Battery Park you would still be close enough to get to the water taxi. Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The Ferry's out of Battery Park City Ferry Terminal are not NYC Ferry by Hornblower which are on the East River (East Side of Manhattan). Battery Park is on the Hudson River, same river NCL will cruise down on the West Side of Manhattan Island.

NY Waterway runs ferries mainly to New Jersey, rush hour they have service to Pier 11 on the East River for paid transfer to SeaStreak or NYC Ferry. You could go from Battery Park to NJ, then back to Manhattan Midtown and cab or walk to MCT but they charge a lot more than $2.75 that NYC Ferry does and you would need two fares.

On a side note the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal is the largest in the world of its type and the two anchor points are anchored 75 ft below the water in bedrock, same bedrock that allows the building of the Freedom Tower.

The Ferry's out of Battery Park City Ferry Terminal are not NYC Ferry by Hornblower which are on the East River (East Side of Manhattan). Battery Park is on the Hudson River, same river NCL will cruise down on the West Side of Manhattan Island.

 

 

 

NY Waterway runs ferries mainly to New Jersey, rush hour they have service to Pier 11 on the East River for paid transfer to SeaStreak or NYC Ferry. You could go from Battery Park to NJ, then back to Manhattan Midtown and cab or walk to MCT but they charge a lot more than $2.75 that NYC Ferry does and you would need two fares.

 

 

 

On a side note the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal is the largest in the world of its type and the two anchor points are anchored 75 ft below the water in bedrock, same bedrock that allows the building of the Freedom Tower.

Interesting info. However my pointing out about Battery Park is because my opinion is that area much more interesting and authentic than South Street Seaport. Take the ferry as above but for a few more blocks you have a plethora of options. And if you want to visit Statue of Liberty, go to Wall Street, Freedom Tower, 9/11 Memorial a Hotel near Battery Park is more convenient. Just throwing it out there so folks know. Maybe I like to walk so the distance doesn’t seem far. Uber or cab would be cheap enough if one didn’t want to walk it.

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