Arriving in Brooklyn

[buchanan101]

Hi - first time QM2 crossing only 2 months away, and I like to be organised...

 

Best way from Brooklyn Terminal to Times Square?

 

I understand that immigration is carried out on board during the crossing, so it shouldn't be anything like arriving at JFK? Is that correct?

 

Travelling Queens' (Queen's?) Grills - so priority disembarkation - what does that entail? Does it work booking a private transfer (have done from JFK before) or I guess that there will there be enough cabs waiting?  What sort of time would we be off?

 

Thanks

[exlondoner]

Only UK immigration is done peacefully on board, at Brooklyn you have to queue in the terminal. At present - or at any rate last month - you will disembark straight from your cabin. We were given a time of 8.00 for this (We then caught Covid, so nothing came of this.) Anyway QG is off first, so, if she's on time, you should be off about then. 

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by exlondoner
Misunderstood

[buchanan101]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

UK immigration is done peacefully on board. At present - or at any rate last month - you will disembark straight from your cabin. We were given a time of 8.00 for this (We then caught Covid, so nothing came of this.) Anyway QG is off first, so, if she's on time, you should be off about then. 

 

Where do you want to go in London? If near Waterloo, train might be good, if there isn't a strike.. if you want a car for London, I would,arrange it in advance. I'm not sure a Soton cabbie would take you.

Thanks - but arriving in Brooklyn, not Southampton. We thought given the choice a NY arrival would be a bit more glamourous than the oil refineries of the Solent - in any case we frequently go to the IoW so are very familiar with the Solent arrival!

 

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by buchanan101

[exlondoner]

Yes, I realised I had got the wrong end of the stick and have altered it now. Sorry, I'm a moron.

[buchanan101]

8 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, I realised I had got the wrong end of the stick and have altered it now. Sorry, I'm a moron.

No! It is fine - sort of mistake I'd make!!

 

So Brooklyn is like the fun at JFK, but at least hopefully it'll be like last time we went where on the plane I deliberately chose ports side seats right at the front of premium economy... once bitten by those immigration queues...

 

Thank you!

Edited August 12, 2022 by buchanan101

[buchanan101]

Looking to book a transfer... just wondering what time to say (obviously be in contact with driver on mobile). Or is it just easier to get a cab - private transfers to Manhattan are about £70?

[spirit rev]

When we arrived back to Brooklyn on July 8th this year, we booked a private car transfer through Cunard. It was one of the best decisions we made. We arranged it through the Grills concierge. You can choose a time to have the car available. We were through the disembarkation process about 30 minutes ahead of the time we selected. There was a car waiting for us at that time. Taxis were not plentiful that day nor the day we embarked on July 1.

[tv24]

We disembarked in Brooklyn on July 1 and also arranged a private car through Cunard for our drive to JFK.  Smart move on our part;  the car was waiting for us when we got through immigration.  There were just a few cabs outside the terminal

 

The immigration lines were very bad that day.  Not sure exactly why as there was no explanation.  But there appeared to be too few staff to handle the crowd.  So it was difficult to predict exactly when we would get through the queue and get in the car.

 

I recommend hiring a luggage porter.  That will get you through immigration faster.

[moses0]

6 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

Hi - first time QM2 crossing only 2 months away, and I like to be organised...

 

Best way from Brooklyn Terminal to Times Square?

 

I understand that immigration is carried out on board during the crossing, so it shouldn't be anything like arriving at JFK? Is that correct?

 

Travelling Queens' (Queen's?) Grills - so priority disembarkation - what does that entail? Does it work booking a private transfer (have done from JFK before) or I guess that there will there be enough cabs waiting?  What sort of time would we be off?

 

Thanks

Grab a porter to help with your luggage (if you have any) you will get through immigration quicker. As others have recommended book a private car through Cunard onboard at the tours desk. We just did this arrival 5th August. It was a zoo but we got through pretty smoothly. 

[techteach]

Private car is booked through Cunard, but we’re going to having luggage forward. Love the tip of grabbing a porter. How will the luggage forward work in this scenario?

[TheOldBear]

24 minutes ago, techteach said:

Private car is booked through Cunard, but we’re going to having luggage forward. Love the tip of grabbing a porter. How will the luggage forward work in this scenario?

I think you still need to collect your luggage in the baggage hall, and do the arrival customs/immigration paperwork.

The difference with luggage forwarding is that the luggage is tagged or boxed inside the terminal, just on the other side of the customs folks.

[Gimpfacemctavish]

Don’t want to Hijack this thread, but could someone please tell me what happens at Brooklyn with immigration if you doing a round trip on QM2 back to Southampton. We also are doing a full day tour of NewYork booked through Cunard.

[TheOldBear]

3 hours ago, Gimpfacemctavish said:

Don’t want to Hijack this thread, but could someone please tell me what happens at Brooklyn with immigration if you doing a round trip on QM2 back to Southampton. We also are doing a full day tour of NewYork booked through Cunard.

At Brooklyn the ship needs to 'zero out' - have an interval will all passengers off the ship. In transit passengers need to go through immigration check [passport check] before ready to re-board.

There will likely be a designated line for tour groups so you will not need to wait for disembarking passengers.

[majortom10]

13 hours ago, Gimpfacemctavish said:

Don’t want to Hijack this thread, but could someone please tell me what happens at Brooklyn with immigration if you doing a round trip on QM2 back to Southampton. We also are doing a full day tour of NewYork booked through Cunard.

If you plan on getting off in New York my advice is get up early and get off withg those disembarking early as foot passengers. Then catch the NYC Ferry close to QM2 and head for Pier 11 (Wall St) and then Manhattan is available at your choice. On your return you dont join the queue for those embarking for the first time there is a separate queue for "in transit" passengers. If you decide to stay on the ship for the day unfortunately you have to go through the farcical operation of disembarking the ship and then going through security and customs and then have to wait to be allowed back on the ship. This for some strange reason is an Americanism and no logical reason and has never happened to me in any part of the world in over 25 yrs of cruising and is nonsensical.

[D&N]

At risk of going off topic; Does anyone know what the earliest time "in transit" passengers are allowed to re-board?

On 5th June we returned at approximately 2.30 pm and were able to go through security and re-board with minimum fuss. On a future trip we might prefer to return earlier.

 

Regarding immigration when disembarking; we left the ship about 8 am and made it clear to all staff that we were day trippers. We were ushered to a newly opened desk where our passports were examined, photos & fingerprints taken. No other documentation required. On our way within 5 minutes.

 

Those disembarking fully appeared to be in queues about 20 yards long and there were probably 8-10 desks in operation. Somewhat more civilised than our arrival at JFK on June 30th!

[techteach]

@D&N  Do tell me the JFK story please.

[D&N]

12 hours ago, techteach said:

@D&N  Do tell me the JFK story please.

According to my Google Timeline we only waited 1h10m, which is much less than some of the horror stories I've read. Although it felt much longer.

We were quite lucky as we joined a queue/line threading through about 8 rows of herding tapes. Several flights must have arrived behind us as we saw that had at least doubled when we were waiting in a desk queue. On reaching the head of the snaking line a member of staff directed folk to desks that had space in their short queue. Some groups seemed to take forever to get their photos and prints taken. I think there was one person ahead of us when that agent decided he was finished and told us to find another desk. Joined end of the shortest neighbouring queue, which moved at a reasonable pace.

When it came our turn they only wanted photos as we'd given prints at Red Hook a few weeks earlier.

 

The agent was most amused when she asked me to pose for my photo and I immediately broke into a huge smile. I explained that I'd been conditioned by two weeks of posing for photos on QM2 with photographers saying "happy, happy, happy" each time. Whatever happened to "Say Cheese"?

[BigMac1953]

If you are "in transit" you must tell the officers immediately and you will by-pass the main queues, and priobably be directed to the US/Canada lines.

On our last round trip from Soton, we cleared immigration in less then 15 minutes and that was around 9:30am.

We're doing it again next August.

[Solent Richard]

So much advice that I can only add to.

 

The last occasion my wife and I disembarked at Brooklyn having sailed across in Queens Grill ...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/01/02/queen-mary-2-remastered-trans-atlantic/

 

...we were staying in New York for a couple of days. As has been stated, you will be called first for immigration and that means you can be well ahead of the pack.

 

Having cleared immigration, we had an allocated time of 08.15,  we collected our luggage and proceeded outside to the 'Fixed Price' Black Cab stand...

 

 

Hey ho, we were checking in to our Manhattan hotel at 09.05

 

If per chance that doesn't suit you then, as mentioned earlier, you can always check out my review of the Brooklyn-New York Ferry Service...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/09/25/new-york-brooklyn-transfers-update/

 

...though you'll still need to get up to Times Square.

 

[rafinmd]

With Luggage Forward you will still pick up your bag in the usual place and take it through customs and the representative will be right at the terminal exit.  I did it on July 8.

 

Roy

[buchanan101]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:46 PM, Gimpfacemctavish said:

Don’t want to Hijack this thread, but could someone please tell me what happens at Brooklyn with immigration if you doing a round trip on QM2 back to Southampton. We also are doing a full day tour of NewYork booked through Cunard.

It seems such a shame that the ship leaves the same day it arrives; made it unattractive for us...all that way and just a few hours in NY - I guess they've done the trade offs - it won't be earning much money if it sits there for 2 or 3 days. Wonder if they ever pop up to Boston for an overnight there and back to NY for people wanting a few days in NY and a cruise both ways... (Good move to do the tour through Cunard - means the ship has to wait for you...!)

 

Which crossing are you on?

[buchanan101]

On 8/14/2022 at 12:06 AM, techteach said:

@D&N  Do tell me the JFK story please.

Possibly the same story that all UK passengers have had one time or another at Terminal 7??

 

Last time was very quick as chose the seats carefully on the plane, moved quickly and were first through. I think it's quicker now because there are egates?

[buchanan101]

On 8/15/2022 at 8:07 AM, Solent Richard said:

So much advice that I can only add to.

 

The last occasion my wife and I disembarked at Brooklyn having sailed across in Queens Grill ...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/01/02/queen-mary-2-remastered-trans-atlantic/

 

...we were staying in New York for a couple of days. As has been stated, you will be called first for immigration and that means you can be well ahead of the pack.

 

Having cleared immigration, we had an allocated time of 08.15,  we collected our luggage and proceeded outside to the 'Fixed Price' Black Cab stand...

 

 

Hey ho, we were checking in to our Manhattan hotel at 09.05

 

If per chance that doesn't suit you then, as mentioned earlier, you can always check out my review of the Brooklyn-New York Ferry Service...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/09/25/new-york-brooklyn-transfers-update/

 

...though you'll still need to get up to Times Square.

 

Thanks! Those 5 year old prices aren't going to be  a lot less now I'd guess than booking a transfer (found some for about £70 to Times Square), but we will be Queens Grill and it may well beat trying to find your driver

[Solent Richard]

2 minutes ago, buchanan101 said:

Thanks! Those 5 year old prices aren't going to be  a lot less now I'd guess than booking a transfer (found some for about £70 to Times Square), but we will be Queens Grill and it may well beat trying to find your driver

They were lined up waiting on a first come first served booking.

 

It was the sheer speed of getting over to Manhattan that impressed me rather than the very acceptable price. 

 

Of course, for those who really watch the pennies and have good mobility there is always the Brooklyn / Manhattan Metro....

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/06/24/one-way-to-do-new-york-brooklyn-to-central-park-via-the-highline-walk/

[buchanan101]

1 minute ago, Solent Richard said:

They were lined up waiting on a first come first served booking.

 

It was the sheer speed of getting over to Manhattan that impressed me rather than the very acceptable price. 

 

Of course, for those who really watch the pennies and have good mobility there is always the Brooklyn / Manhattan Metro....

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/06/24/one-way-to-do-new-york-brooklyn-to-central-park-via-the-highline-walk/

Thanks - just looked at the first link to your blog - impressive that there was no one else on the ship when you took the photos!

 

The terminal is very close to Manhattan, especially compared with JFK. I think after splashing out for Queens Grill e can afford a cab 😉