Carnival Manhatten Terminal ?'s- Help a Newbie Out!

[PAERRN20]

We were thinking of sailing Glory in 2011 out of NYC. We'll be driving from central Pennsylvania and have close to a 6hr drive. What will the traffic be like? (We don't do much city driving) And would be we crazy to leave PA the day of the cruise around 3 or 4 AM to avoid paying for a hotel? We are both graduate students on a tight budget. Thanks for any advice or tips!

[CRUIZIN SUZAN]

We were thinking of sailing Glory in 2011 out of NYC. We'll be driving from central Pennsylvania and have close to a 6hr drive. What will the traffic be like? (We don't do much city driving) And would be we crazy to leave PA the day of the cruise around 3 or 4 AM to avoid paying for a hotel? We are both graduate students on a tight budget. Thanks for any advice or tips!

 

You will need to provide a bit more info. What day of the week you sail for example. NYC is pretty driveable from Central PA- hotels in the City tend to be on the expensive side. Keep in mind that as of today, the parking rate at the pier is $30/day. Take that into consideration when making travel plans. Some folks find it more reasonable to do a hotel stay in the 'burbs (think Long Island NY and Jersey) that are on the rail line. Then you can sometimes leave your car at the hotel and take a train in for economy. Check out the website http://www.nycruise.com for current parking info. If you plan on driving, check out the websites for any of the NY TV affiliates of ABC, NBC, FOX, WPIX, CBS for traffic reports online before setting out. Unfortunately- major construction is a way of life between Central PA & NYC (especially I84 !)

 

The pier itself is along the Hudson River-so not too scary a drive into the heart of Manhattan. Just cross one of the bridges from NJ and drive along the river to the pier.

 

I am sure some veteran NYC cruisers will chime in, but provide a bit more info (like day of the week you sail) and you will hopefully get a better response.

 

Also, check out the Ports of Call threads for NYC specific info.

 

Happy Cruise planning.

 

Suzan

[imnance]

Before I would drive to the city, and pay 30.00 a day for parking, I'd drive to Allentown/Bethlehem to Transbridge bus terminal. 45.00 will get you a round trip ticket on a bus that will drop you at the pier and take you back to the terminal. Parking at Transbridge is free the first 3 days and 5.00 a day after.

[PAERRN20]

We would be driving in on a Sunday.

[PAERRN20]

Before I would drive to the city, and pay 30.00 a day for parking, I'd drive to Allentown/Bethlehem to Transbridge bus terminal. 45.00 will get you a round trip ticket on a bus that will drop you at the pier and take you back to the terminal. Parking at Transbridge is free the first 3 days and 5.00 a day after.

 

I looked into this and it seems the bus only runs to the Pier on Saturdays? Any more info on this?

[bones774]

We would be driving in on a Sunday.

 

The city is pretty much a ghost town on Sunday over by the piers, what about return date? Normally it's not that bad being in west side traffic. The tunnels could be a nightmare anytime during m-f rush hours.

[PAERRN20]

Return would be a Thursday morning.

[bones774]

Are you off of RT 80? You could go up the west side highway, it will probably be somewhat slow but not unbearable then shoot across GW bridge, once across the bridge it should be smooth sailing unless something happens on RT 80 which you are probably familiar with.

[Nunu]

Other than getting into the city through tunnel or bridge (which can be a big other than), driving in NYC isn't that bad. It's such a small area after all.

[nybumpkin]

There shouldn't be too many problems with driving in on a Sunday, other than slowdowns near the port entrance (especially if there's more than one ship in port). We sailed on Sunday last year, drove in across the George Washington around 11 in the morning, and the only delay was entering the pier.

[NGRidley]

DH and I just drove back today from a cruise from NYC.

We drove from Ontario Canada (about 7 hours away)

I absolutely HATE driving in busy traffic and can stress myself out over it.

 

It was surprisingly not too bad.

We got to the piers at about 11am on a Tuesday and traffic was busy....but not insane. We left just before 9am Today and there was even less traffic.

 

I had a GPS which was great, it made it easier to know which side of the busy roads to get too (because I hate changing lanes last second), or if I missed a turn :P.

I think without the GPS I may have freaked out

[PAERRN20]

Are you off of RT 80? You could go up the west side highway, it will probably be somewhat slow but not unbearable then shoot across GW bridge, once across the bridge it should be smooth sailing unless something happens on RT 80 which you are probably familiar with.

 

We will be doing all our driving on Interstate 80 until we get into the NJ/NY area

[nybumpkin]

If you're coming in on 80, just head for the GW bridge and when you're crossing the bridge stay to your right for the West Side Highway exit. (DON'T get on the Cross Bronx - never have I experienced such a miserable road, and there's no good time to drive on the Cross Bronx.:eek:) The West Side Highway goes right down the river to the cruise port - stay in the right lane and you'll be in the exit lane for the port. When parking at the port, go straight to the parking deck. There should be porters on the parking deck to take luggage. If you drop off luggage on one of the lower levels, you'll have to exit out to the street and circle around to re-enter the port and go to the parking area.

[PAERRN20]

If you're coming in on 80, just head for the GW bridge and when you're crossing the bridge stay to your right for the West Side Highway exit. (DON'T get on the Cross Bronx - never have I experienced such a miserable road, and there's no good time to drive on the Cross Bronx.:eek:) The West Side Highway goes right down the river to the cruise port - stay in the right lane and you'll be in the exit lane for the port. When parking at the port, go straight to the parking deck. There should be porters on the parking deck to take luggage. If you drop off luggage on one of the lower levels, you'll have to exit out to the street and circle around to re-enter the port and go to the parking area.

 

Mapquest is telling me to take I-95 and Lincoln Tunnel to the port....but I am looking at the map and it appears as if I-80 runs into Rt 9. Does this sound correct to you? Thanks so much for helping me!

[jks336]

what we did was take amtrak into nyc. we cruised on a monday, so i hired carmel car service to take us to the port. 2 ppl w/3 bags 17.00 plus tip. we returned on sat so just jumped in a taxi (not much traffic to worry about) and paid 8 plus tip. for us, less hectic to pay for parking at the train station, the gas, tolls and agravation of city traffic. worked out price wise too.

[PAERRN20]

what we did was take amtrak into nyc. we cruised on a monday, so i hired carmel car service to take us to the port. 2 ppl w/3 bags 17.00 plus tip. we returned on sat so just jumped in a taxi (not much traffic to worry about) and paid 8 plus tip. for us, less hectic to pay for parking at the train station, the gas, tolls and agravation of city traffic. worked out price wise too.

 

May I ask which specific Amtrak station you parked at? Penn Station?

[bones774]

If you're coming in on 80, just head for the GW bridge and when you're crossing the bridge stay to your right for the West Side Highway exit. (DON'T get on the Cross Bronx - never have I experienced such a miserable road, and there's no good time to drive on the Cross Bronx.:eek:) The West Side Highway goes right down the river to the cruise port - stay in the right lane and you'll be in the exit lane for the port.

 

On the lower level of GW, I believe staying to right goes to CB xway and HRD, in any case follow signs for West side Highway. Mapquest tells you the quickest route strictly following posted roadway speeds, and though I-95 to Lincoln tunnel may be quickest by only minutes you can really get stuck in tunnel traffic and approach, try mapquest alternate route and note time and distance. USUALLY I prefer GW but that can get screwed up too. I try listening to radio but sometimes (most) those traffic reports are not accurate. I think heading North on West Side hwy to GW bridge at that time of day is pretty easy.

[LauraInNY2]

You should be fine. You'll come over the GW bridge and just head down the west side highway straight to the terminal. shoudn't hit too much traffic - especially after 9AM - coz you won't be on local streets. i believe parking at the pier is currently $30 a day but google the port info for full details. we're going on the Glory in 2 weeks but have sailed out of nyc 2 times in the past.

good luck & have fun

We were thinking of sailing Glory in 2011 out of NYC. We'll be driving from central Pennsylvania and have close to a 6hr drive. What will the traffic be like? (We don't do much city driving) And would be we crazy to leave PA the day of the cruise around 3 or 4 AM to avoid paying for a hotel? We are both graduate students on a tight budget. Thanks for any advice or tips!

[imnance]

I looked into this and it seems the bus only runs to the Pier on Saturdays? Any more info on this?

 

Did you actually call Transbridge? I was under the impression that it was daily. I could be wrong though.

[nybumpkin]

Mapquest is telling me to take I-95 and Lincoln Tunnel to the port....but I am looking at the map and it appears as if I-80 runs into Rt 9. Does this sound correct to you? Thanks so much for helping me!

Route 9 (actually I think it's 9W) ends at (or close to) Route 80, but you don't get on 9W. 80 ends at the bridge - the bridge itself is considered part of I95 - but it's a straight shot from 80 onto the bridge.

 

The Lincoln Tunnel route works, but you are backtracking a bit. You would be dropping south of the cruise piers and then coming back north again.

[jks336]

May I ask which specific Amtrak station you parked at? Penn Station?

 

we took the train out of albany/rensselaer station and parked there and took the train into the city.

[rsinj]

Agree with others suggesting Transbridge - why worry about driving/parking in the city?

 

If it doesn't go to the pier on your sail date or return date big deal - go to/from the Port Authority bus terminal. So it costs you $10 at most for a taxi.

 

Howard

[big_duck]

We took the 95 to 9 route over the bridge easy peasy. The 8 buck toll was a bit of a downer though (unavoidable).

[rsinj]

We took the 95 to 9 route over the bridge easy peasy. The 8 buck toll was a bit of a downer though (unavoidable).

 

If the $8 toll was a downer, what was the $200 to park for a week? Heart attack? Stroke?

 

Howard

[big_duck]

If the $8 toll was a downer, what was the $200 to park for a week? Heart attack? Stroke?

 

Howard

 

Anticipated. And a lot cheaper then flying! ;)