Cunard to Leave Manhattan for Brooklyn

[cunarder]

Hi All,

 

What are everyones views about the change from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

 

I, for one, will miss the ride past the Manhattan skyline. Although a new facility should be far better than the current cruise facility.

 

Ed

 

PS. - Lets us not forget the lost souls of Titanic on this the 93rd Anniversary.

[2moose]

Go To Hoboken Terminal With Rcl No Traffic Hassles And No Tolls And You Still Get The Nyc Skyline

[Cunard Cruiser]

This is the worst news I heard all year!! Red Hook!! Cunard has a long rich history with the Hudson and NY Piers. Again, Princess (AKA Carnival) is throwing the Cunard history out of the porthole.:mad:

I have sailed on QE2 34 times and never weary of seeing the New York skyline even after September 11th. Another issue is for the “in-transit” guests and the crew. What is there to do in Red Hook? Manhattan was so convenient. There is nothing much in that part of Brooklyn except bad neighborhoods with abandoned buildings. It is so irnoc that the most expensive ship ever built is going to be docked at one of the worst parts of NY.

 

This news has discussed me. I would always leave me car at the terminal in NY when going on a cruise. Now I wouldn’t dare.

 

:mad:

[sailsalot]

This is the first I've heard of this change. When does it take affect?

[cruiserking]

The newly renovated Red Hook, Brooklyn piers are slated to be in operation by April of 2006.

 

It's a shame the city didn't get on the ball earlier in their efforts to renovate the deteriorating New York City Passenger Ship Terminal. It would be have been a much better idea had they planned to revamp the piers to coincide with the arrival of QM2 last year.

 

The city's failure to update these ancient piers was a definite missed opportunity. Certainly all of the fanfare and press that surrounded the QM2 would have helped to showcase the rebirth of the cruise ship industry in New York.

 

I'm sure the new piers in Brooklyn will be much more passenger friendly and state of the art. I wonder at such time that the NYCPST is refurbished if QM2 will return to the west side. She belongs here in Manhattan to berth in the hallowed waters that her great Cunard sisters did.

 

Below are some picture links to the Red Hook, Brooklyn piers prior to their $200 million facelift.

 

Pier 12 on the Brooklyn Waterfront

 

http://www.wirednewyork.com/cruises/brooklyn/red_hook_pier12.jpg

 

Pier 11 on the Brooklyn Watefront

 

http://www.wirednewyork.com/cruises/brooklyn/160imlay_pier11_red_hook.jpg

 

Brooklyn piers in their heyday (courtesy worldshipny)

 

http://www.worldshipny.com/bklynwalk9e.jpg

 

Map of Red Hook Brooklyn and waterfront

 

http://www.waterfrontmuseum.org/img/map5.jpg

 

Cruiserking

[guernseyguy]

Cruiserking,

 

Thanks for the information - very helpful. One thing I wonder at is Dean Brown, the Princess spokesman who says:

 

• "When you sail away from New York in the evening from Red Hook, you'll cruise around Governor's Island right to the most perfect view of the skyline and down past the Statue of Liberty. It's one of the most dramatic sailaways in the world."
  

Are they saying the QM2 will sail up Buttermilk Channel and past Lower Manhatten, rather than straight out to sea? Given he said

 

• "When you sail into New York, a lot of people are still in bed and miss the view,"
  

I wonder how much he knows about Trans Atlantic crossings......

 

Peter

[sailsalot]

Thanks, Cruiserking, for the info. We sail July 2005, so thankfully we don't have to worry about it.

[mtbny7]

I'm sure the people of Brooklyn would be AMUSED (not!) by your outrageous comments!

 

I have friends in that area and visit quite a bit... it is very nice and certainly NOT a bad neighborhood.

 

Michael

[Ken_W]

"When you sail into New York, a lot of people are still in bed and miss the view,"

 

I wonder how much he knows about Trans Atlantic crossings......

 

Not much, evidently. On the one hand, docking in Brooklyn is probably more practical and sensible than docking in Manhattan.

 

On the other, taking a ship across the Atlantic is neither practical nor sensible, which is exactly the point of making the voyage in the first place.

 

Crossing the Atlantic by sea is about time and space, sensation and movement, and even a bit of grace. It's about entering the Solent, dropping away from land and anticipating that moment six days later when you reach Ambrose Light in preparation for sailing up the Hudson.

 

As fine and as practical as the new piers surely will be, they are no substitution for the equally fine, undefinable yet impractical thrill of the Manhattan skyline at dawn.

[ocngypz]

For those pax who prenight in Manhattan... now it'll be a not so nice cab ride to the pier. For those coming in by air..... flying into Newark will be less of an option.

 

Have you ever driven around the highways in Brooklyn? NOT FUN!

 

However, the congestion on 12Ave in Manhattan is not to be believed when there are several ships in port.. along with the QM2.

 

Now that more ships will be sailing from NY.....it'll get even more nutz.

[highcbob]

Also this just off the wire:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=675780

 

 

Bob.

[ILov2cruise]

ocngypz,

 

 

You have no clue. It's a 15 min cab ride over the Brooklyn bridge from Manhattan. What's not nice about the ride. Yes I have driven around Brooklyn, I lived there for 30 years. There is traffic, You will find traffic in all big cities (yes, Brooklyn is part of NYC). Why is flying into Newark not an option. Newark is 30-40 min to the new pier. I lived in Cobble Hill and we would fly from Newark all the time. Once again you have no clue what your talking about.

The piers in Manhattan wil be closed for repairs after the brooklyn pier opens. Some of these ships will go back to Manhattan.

[Chuck & Phyllis]

We travel down to Manhattan on one parkway 5 minutes from where we live and it takes less than a half hour to get to the pier. Sure wish they would stay where they are. Phyllis

[travelgals]

I'm with you Phyllis, I worked in Brooklyn Heights for 5 years and comuted from Manhattan. While it was a 12 minute car ride with no traffic, that happend maybe twice and only when comuting between midnight and 5AM. One hour was normal with many multi hour jams.

[PrettyLA]

What I think this is a matter of more than anything else is tradition. Manhattan has always been the place that people think of when New York is being spoken of. I do realize that Brooklyn, the Bronx, etc. are all a part of New York City, but believe it or not, Manhattan is always going to come to mind before any of the outer buroughs. What many people take a transatlantic crossing for is the experience of it. What it may have been like for the immigrants who traveled to America to start a new life and what they may have experienced when they first arrived in New York Harbor. Yes Brooklyn and Manhattan are both a part of New York City, and they both have their good points. But when it comes to a transatlantic crossing, people don't do it for simply transportation, they do it to experience what countless of those before us went through, and perhaps they want to relive those days, if only for a moment.

[pompey1]

Have already booked for june 27th 2006 and july 24th 2006, can anybody tell me how long it is in a taxi from the new port to west 57th street and would it have to go over the brooklyn bridge?

[guernseyguy]

Have already booked for june 27th 2006 and july 24th 2006, can anybody tell me how long it is in a taxi from the new port to west 57th street and would it have to go over the brooklyn bridge?

 

Depending on how long it will take to get a taxi, Google Maps suggests you will cover the near 10 miles in a little over 20 Minutes (???), depending on where on west 57th street it suggests you would take the Brooklyn Bridge, then FDR Drive, or Manhattan Bridge then 8th avenue. See here and enter your end address:

 

http://*****.com/dc5um

 

So convenient!

 

Peter

[guernseyguy]

Our old friend Google Maps suggests that the time taken from the Manhattan Piers to JFK is about 32 minutes for 18 miles, while the MUCH more convenient Brooklyn pier (only 14.7 miles) will be covered in - oooh- 3 minutes less....while Newark is 16 miles from the Manhattan piers it is 17 miles from Brooklyn. La Guardia is 10.5 miles from Manhattan, 12.5 from Brooklyn (both about 20 mins Google reckons). Now, I am sure there are New Yorkers who will disagree violently with Google's timing (you can always tell a New Yorker....you just can't tell them much;) )....but from this side of the pond it does not exactly look as though Brooklyn's supposed benefit of being "closer to LaGuardia and JFK Airport" unquote is actually worth that much (and in the case of La Guardia, factually incorrect.....)

 

Peter

[pompey1]

Not too bad then.

Cheers:)

[Rotterdam]

ahem.....GuernseyGuy......from one New Yorker......when you wake up from this Google induced dream .......

 

when the ships start sailing out of Brooklyn, passengers will be screaming to return to Manhattan. Parts of Brooklyn are beautiful - unfortunately where the new piers are being built is not one of them!

 

Hopefully when the Manhattan piers are rebuilt Cunard will return...but then again Carnivore is more apt to save the fuel coming up the Hudson.

 

RCCL & Celebrity also moved to Bayonne New Jersey from Manhattan - Bayonne is a freight dock area - can't get any more industrial than that. The sail out is not nearly as exciting.

 

I'll take Manhattan any day!

[cunarder]

Rotterdam,

 

I agree with you completely. My wife and I sailed out of Bayonne in July on the Enchantment of the Seas. Boy, what a disappointment! The view was absolutely hideous.

 

Ed

[pompey1]

Looking at the map would it not be easier to go under the battery tunnel?

[LocoLoco1]

Am I missing sumpthin?? Toss "guesstimates" of traveltime Brooklyn vs. Manhattan piers out the porthole. Or have my 45min. gridlock here..1/2 hour there been unique to me..?? Convenience to your ultimate destination and "the view" are what matters. Then there's which HOTEL to book prior to sailaway B'klyn..Hmmm

[atticus]

All this talk of the move to Brooklyn has me thinking....when we take the train up to New York from Philadelphia before the 7/3/06 Independence Day cruise would it make more sense to take it into Manhattan or Newark? And then cab it to the pier.

 

One of the earlier posters mentioned something about time from Newark to the new pier.

 

My first time sailing out of New York and we won't be going by the sights that make it so memorable. D*mn you, bigwigs! (accompanied by lots of fist shaking)

[rickydiamond]

from rickydiamond

 

Surely the Cunard people will ensure that we will all still see the magnificent N.Y. skyline.

 

I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THE NEW FACILITIES IN BROOKLYN BUILT, IN 2005/2006 WILL BE MUCH IMPROVED THAN THE OLD DILAPIDATED FACILITIES ON THE HUDSON.