Waiting for driver at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal

[cruisechick19]

Can anyone tell me if there are any places to sit at the terminal while waiting for our daughter to pick us up after we disembark from Carnival Sunshine. She will be coming from Philly so I don't know ( with traffic ) how long it will take her to arrive.

[mking8288]

Welcome to CC and your 1st. post.

 

Are you calling your daughter on arrival back in NY or disembarkation, or as your ship sail close into NY's Lower Bay before getting her to drive up from Philly to meet & pick you up at the pier ?

 

There are a limited # of chairs inside the pier terminal building upstairs - level 2 or embarkation/check-in - before security, to sit & wait, if they aren't taken by others. There are bathrooms nearby although I wouldn't want to leave the luggages unattended if you are traveling alone, unless you have a trusted friend to help you watch.

 

You will disembark or leave the ship, go thru CBP downstairs at street level and be directed to walk straight ahead toward 12th Avenue. There are escalators & huge elevators that you can take up to level 2 - seating area is right around there.

 

You can wait there for getting picked up, however, port security might - might - not allow private cars to drive up to level 2 unless there are passengers checking in for the ships (especially if it is a busy day at the port) and tell everyone to go meet across 12th Avenue. If that's the case, you will need to go back downstairs and take a short walk across - traffic light is at W. 48th Street - and wait on the other side of the wide avenue.

 

If both of you have cellphone and can stay in touch, it will make this easier - just be careful with her driving & talking and use handsfree device to minimize distracted driving.

 

There is also the option of using a porter on arrival to help you with luggage and they have an exclusive & express lane to quickly get thru CBP - and, outside to "street" pickup area in as little as 15 minutes, well worth the extra cash "tipping" for this service - if both of you can coordinate the timing & you don't have to go find a place to sit, etc. etc.

[ERNLYN]

mking,

You have assisted me in the past regarding hotels in Queens and Manhattan.

I have long wanted to try "celery" soda. Is that soft drink a popular beverage in NY?

If so is it available all over the Queens/Manhattan area?

[PelicanBill]

Cruisechick,

I remember from last year they definitely wanted people being picked up at street level along 12th Ave or the adjacent cross streets.

 

Your daughter should really be there earlier than you get off the ship so she can figure out what to do and find a place to sit and wait. All the pick up cars were assembled along 12th or the cross streets.

 

Be aware that if she is allowed to enter the pier area she has no choice but to go up to the drop off area for the next cruise, and there's no place to sit there. And that entrance is opposite 55th st. The pier, where you will come out, is opposite 48th street. She should study the blocks around there to learn which are one-way away from 12th ave and which ones are one-way toward 12th ave. She should be prepared to go around these blocks and look for a spot to wait.

[lauren0309]

When I go on my cruise in 2 weeks, I will have my son pick us up at the Fed Ex building across the street from the ships. He might have to drive around the block a few times if we're not there but was told its easy, just cross in the crosswalk to the other side.

[mking8288]

... I have long wanted to try "celery" soda. Is that soft drink a popular beverage in NY? If so is it available all over the Queens/Manhattan area?

Always happy to get a hello, discover any hotel treasure in our area lately ?? There are new ones going up in Long Island City, just several stops from Times Square ... and further out in downtown Flushing/Queens - the Hyatt Park opened about a year ago has been highly rated, with a nice rooftop terrace/bar with excellent view of Manhattan's skyline, too far for many travelers but a 20 minutes ride via LIRR to NY Penn Station.

 

Anyway, haven't drank the celery soda but the company also made root beer soda & we like those. Availability varied but the larger deli, 7-11's and stores stocked for variety of items seemed to carry them in the area mentioned. Cruising out of our home port soon - how's Carnival lately, getting tired of NCL so ready to branch out ... and cash in some stockholder's OBC at the same time ;) :p

 

Cruisechick, Bill is right about seeing whether your daughter can start her trip up from Philadelphia early - she can track your ship's ETA on sites like MarineTraffic, and, find a parking spot or area to pull over & wait for you. Ship will have cellular signal by the time it's approachign the VZ Bridge off Staten Island & Brooklyn, and that's typically 90 minutes to 2 hours or more - before the "priority" group of passengers can walk off the ship & get quickly out of border control/custom. If your ship is early & timing is good, DD can possibly proceed to level 2 & just stopped quicky curbside, load your luggage & drive off with you. Otherwise, across 12th Avenue is the way to meet & get picked up - but, really no place to sit outdoors - timing & coordination are your strategy.

[ERNLYN]

Anyway, haven't drank the celery soda but the company also made root beer soda & we like those. Availability varied but the larger deli, 7-11's and stores stocked for variety of items seemed to carry them in the area mentioned. Cruising out of our home port soon - how's Carnival lately, getting tired of NCL so ready to branch out ... and cash in some stockholder's OBC at the same time ;) :p

 

mking, know what you mean we enjoy the OBC's as well as the stockholders OBC. As you can see we heavily favor CCL. In the last couple years they have cut some perks, and the food offerings have been down graded some, but for the price the value still a good deal. We are most likely in the near future give NCL and or RCCL another try. As promised I will post a review of the Fairfield/Marriott off Astoria.

[njhorseman]

mking,

You have assisted me in the past regarding hotels in Queens and Manhattan.

I have long wanted to try "celery" soda. Is that soft drink a popular beverage in NY?

If so is it available all over the Queens/Manhattan area?

 

I've been drinking Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray my entire life. When it morphed from Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Tonic to Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda and went from a beverage that was primarily sold in kosher delis and in neighborhoods with a large Jewish population to something you could buy almost anywhere I'm certain they also toned down the taste. It used to have a pronounced savory bite that was reduced to a more muted level and harder to detect in today's version. A few years ago they also stopped producing the sugar free diet version.

 

If you can (and I can't in the area where I live), buy it in glass bottles rather than cans. Its taste, and in my opinion the taste of most sodas, is far better in glass than aluminum.

 

By the way, Dr. Brown's sugar free diet cream and black cherry sodas are quite good.

[ERNLYN]

I've been drinking Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray my entire life. When it morphed from Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Tonic to Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda and went from a beverage that was primarily sold in kosher delis and in neighborhoods with a large Jewish population to something you could buy almost anywhere I'm certain they also toned down the taste. It used to have a pronounced savory bite that was reduced to a more muted level and harder to detect in today's version. A few years ago they also stopped producing the sugar free diet version.

 

If you can (and I can't in the area where I live), buy it in glass bottles rather than cans. Its taste, and in my opinion the taste of most sodas, is far better in glass than aluminum.

 

By the way, Dr. Brown's sugar free diet cream and black cherry sodas are quite good.

 

Thx njhorseman I will look for the glass bottle if no success, then will opt for the can...