Tom’s New York City Port Guide

[Janman]

Tom Sheridan, a dedicated cruise traveler, over the past 10 years has produced over 70 free, downloadable guides to ports around the world. Here is one he published a few years ago about NYC.  For others search - www.tomsportguides.com 

https://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/newyork-01-30-2015.pdf

[njhorseman]

I saw one glaring error without even reading the document carefully . I doubt the author has ever been to the cruise terminal if he made these errors. On page 11 it states :

DO NOT DRIVE INTO THE GARAGE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY A $ 35 DROP OFF FEE!!!!

and:

To avoid the drop-off fee, drop your friends off with their luggage on West 12th Avenue near West 52nd Street. Pedestrians can walk with their luggage

This is 100% wrong. First, it's not a garage, parking lots are on the roofs of the piers.

 

Second by all means you can drive into the cruise terminal and drop someone off without paying . You just drive up to the drop off level, which is one level above the street, as opposed to the parking lot level, which is two levels above the street.

 

Third, even if you decide not to drive into the terminal and want to drop someone off on 12th Ave. you don't automatically want drop them off at 12th and West 52nd St. That's only the entrance for Pier 92, which is actually rarely used. Almost all cruises depart from Piers 88 or 90. If the ship is berthed at Pier 88 you should drop the passenger off at 12th Ave, and West 48th St. If the ship is at Pier 90, drop them at 12th Ave. and West 50th St.

 

Come to think of it I think a link to this port guide has been posted here before, and various errors were noted then. While there's a lot of good information there is erroneous information, which is compounded by the age of the document, now almost four years old. While it's well-intentioned you should be skeptical about the port guide's contents.

 

Note: The part on taxi fares is really bad. Quotes the "taxi fare finder" site which is chock full of errors, including quoting a metered taxi fare between JFK and Manhattan. Sorry, but charging a metered fare between JFK and Manhattan has been illegal for years. Talks about "few nominal surcharges" from EWR to the cruise terminals. Sorry, but NY City taxis can't even pick up passengers at EWR. They can take you from NY City to EWR, but the surcharge is anything but "nominal"...it's $17.50.

 

Please be careful if you use this guide. Ask here instead. We have lots of of posters who can give you accurate  information based on years of firsthand experience from both having lived in the area and from cruising from the area.

 

Edited December 6, 2018 by njhorseman

[138east]

43 minutes ago, Janman said:

Tom Sheridan, a dedicated cruise traveler, over the past 10 years has produced over 70 free, downloadable guides to ports around the world. Here is one he published a few years ago about NYC.  For others search - www.tomsportguides.com 

https://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/newyork-01-30-2015.pdf

As you point out this guide was published several years ago (Jan 2015).  However it's a great start to understanding the complexities of planning a cruise from the New York area.

 

Over time however some of the details have changed.  Prices have gone up , Cape Liberty no longer has shuttle buses, and there is now MTA ferry service from the Brooklyn Terminal to Wall St Pier 11 to name a few examples.  Tom is very explicit about reminding users to verify all the information he has provided.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, 138east said:

As you point out this guide was published several years ago (Jan 2015).  However it's a great start to understanding the complexities of planning a cruise from the New York area.

 

Over time however some of the details have changed.  Prices have gone up , Cape Liberty no longer has shuttle buses, and there is now MTA ferry service from the Brooklyn Terminal to Wall St Pier 11 to name a few examples.  Tom is very explicit about reminding users to verify all the information he has provided.

The information that is merely outdated is the least of the guide's problems. It's the stuff that's been wrong from Day 1 that's the bigger issue.

I have a faint recollection that when one of his guides that had some accuracy issues (and I don't remember if it was this one or another) was discussed on Cruise Critic in the past, when someone contacted him suggesting corrections they either got a nasty reply back, or no reply at all...and of course the misinformation was not corrected. 

[138east]

38 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

The information that is merely outdated is the least of the guide's problems. It's the stuff that's been wrong from Day 1 that's the bigger issue.

I have a faint recollection that when one of his guides that had some accuracy issues (and I don't remember if it was this one or another) was discussed on Cruise Critic in the past, when someone contacted him suggesting corrections they either got a nasty reply back, or no reply at all...and of course the misinformation was not corrected. 

I think I was involved in that discussion.  I seem to remember being criticized when I made corrections for Bayonne.

 

Anyway "caveat emptor" for this guide.  A lot of things have changed in 4 years - the advent of Uber/Lyft is a prime example.  The New York metro area is very dynamic.  I feel really sorry for the folks who make plane reservations for "cheap" flights before they even consider the cost and convenience of getting to their hotel or cruise terminal from the selected airport.