Entertainment Tours (Academy) to NYC--Never again!!!

[Rileyz]

Just used Entertainment Tours (now Academy) from RI (TF Green) to NY cruise terminal. NEVER AGAIN!!!!! We barely made the ship on the Saturday the 25th. Driver made a 45 minute rest stop because we were "ahead of schedule". He never took into account unforeseen traffic! He then dropped off Carnival passengers first, their ship was leaving at 4:00 our ship 3:00. We just made muster for 2:30!!!! Driver coming back was better and he even told me that he doesn't stop going to NYC because it is too risky! Drive home took 4 hrs with a 20 minute stop, drive down took 6++ hrs. !!! Also, the wait to come back is a pain. You have to be off by 10 am and the bus doesn't pick up until 12-1 pm. ***As a side note, the cruise was GREAT!

 

We will either stay over in NYC as we have done in the past or take the Metro into NYC from New Haven.

[Kikimeister]

Thanks for your review, although I'm sorry the trip was so stressful for you!

 

You mentioned some of the exact worries I have about taking ENT from Baltimore to Bayonne.... Even more conflicted now.

[138east]

Baltimore to Bayonne should be fine. I've taken Ent tours several times from Boston to Bayonne. The bus leaves early enough to get you there even with traffic. What you have to check is the return departure time going back to Baltimore. If you're sailing out of Manhattan the return bus doesn't leave before 1 pm because you wait for the bus with incoming cruisers to arrive. They don't do that on the Boston run - the bus leaves around 10 am. I don't know what they do on the Baltimore run.

 

For cruising out of Manhattan there are regular bus and train options. But for cruising out of Bayonne you can pay $100+ for a round trip cab between Newark Penn Station and the port if you don't want to haul your luggage on Path and the light rail to Bayonne.

[jennmaybe]

I'm sorry for all the stress, but surely glad you made it.

 

It's little things like this that remind us why we always arrive to the port the day before. We don't want this kind of stress on departure day.:)

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your review and so sorry about the stress.

 

Keith

[1025cruise]

The one time I cruised out of New York, since I live in the Boston area, I considered multiple options to get to the port (day before, Amtrak, etc). In the end, since it was a Sunday morning we decided just to drive the day of and park at the pier.

[dolittle]

We used Ent. tours after a T.A.(one way) and even though people had trouble getting off the ship the bus was there and waiting . No problems .

[Rileyz]

We used Ent. tours after a T.A.(one way) and even though people had trouble getting off the ship the bus was there and waiting . No problems .

 

Coming home wasn't as big of an issue. We knew there was a wait involved so we expected that. I was just shocked on how late we got to the port. I'm not sure they (ET) took into account the Gem leaving early. I have never heard of anyone missing the ship after taking ET but it was way too stressful for me. I don't think I should be getting onboard after 2:00 when I leave RI at 7:45 am. I always stay over in NYC, but this time we decided to try the bus since we know people who have taken it.

 

ET is just not for the faint of heart! LOL