Walking to NYC Port (NCL)

[skatie]

We are staying at a hotel that, according to google, is a 15 minute walk to the pier.   I don't relish pulling our bags along the sidewalks to get there, but if its a nice day we might take that option vs Uber.   Has anyone walked into the NYC Manhatten (NCL Prima Departure) port - is it easy to navigate getting to the correct terminal?  Thanks

[njhorseman]

Prima will almost always sail from Pier 88 12th Ave. and 48th St, with the slight possibility of sailing from Pier 90, 12th Ave. and 50th St.

Just be careful when using Google Maps for directions because it may tell you to enter the cruise terminal at 55th St. and 12th Ave., which is actually the automobile entrance. You don't want to enter there when on foot. It does that because it uses the office address for the port even if you're walking when you input "Manhattan Cruise Terminal" as your destination.

If you tell us the name or address of your hotel we can provide the best directions.

Edited April 9, 2023 by njhorseman

[BklynBoy8]

50 minutes ago, skatie said:

We are staying at a hotel that, according to google, is a 15 minute walk to the pier.   I don't relish pulling our bags along the sidewalks to get there, but if its a nice day we might take that option vs Uber.   Has anyone walked into the NYC Manhatten (NCL Prima Departure) port - is it easy to navigate getting to the correct terminal?  Thanks

 

New to me...

 

Always saw passengers making it easy with mobile convenience to dock side

[skatie]

We are staying at Holiday Inn Express Midtown West 538 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036.  I suspect I'll win the discussion and take an Uber/Lyft, but would like to be armed with options like walking (if its safe to do so).  Our boarding time is 11am on Prima

[njhorseman]

45 minutes ago, skatie said:

We are staying at Holiday Inn Express Midtown West 538 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036.  I suspect I'll win the discussion and take an Uber/Lyft, but would like to be armed with options like walking (if its safe to do so).  Our boarding time is 11am on Prima

OK...you're much closer to the pier than you think because Google Maps directs you to the wrong entrance as I said earlier. No need to take Uber or a taxi. Just turn left (west) onto West 48th St. when you walk out the front door of the hotel, which is on West 48th St. between 10th and 11th Avenues. It's about 1000 ft. from the hotel to the corner of 12th Ave, and West 48th St. A 4-5 minute walk. There's a traffic light at 12th Ave. and West 48th St. and usually plenty of police presence on cruise day which makes it easy to cross 12th Ave. to enter the cruise terminal .

[Got2Cruise]

Use the crosswalk on 48 Th Street. Then follow the crowds to where the porter takes your bags. 

[shipgeeks]

Going back a few years, we have done exactly that, for Cunard cruises from Manhattan, from a couple of hotels in your area.  A cool way to start the cruise!  The only downside was pulling large luggage down and up the curbs along the way, but well worth it. Just be alert to traffic.

Edited April 9, 2023 by shipgeeks
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[GTJ]

8 hours ago, skatie said:

We are staying at Holiday Inn Express Midtown West 538 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036.  I suspect I'll win the discussion and take an Uber/Lyft, but would like to be armed with options like walking (if its safe to do so).

If a reasonable distance and the weather cooperates, walking is almost always a better option in NYC than being stuck in a motor vehicle. From a hotel at 538 West 48th Street (between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues), I could not imagine doing anything other than walking to the cruise port. Walking in NYC may be a bit more intense compared to other places, but watch where you're going and where others are going, pay more attention to actual traffic conditions, crossing when it is safe to do so than worrying about red and green traffic signals, and you should be able to walk safely throughout NYC.

[Sand and Seas]

We are planning to walk from our hotel too.  We will be staying at Ink 48 located at 653 11th Ave.

What would be the safest place to cross over to NCL's Manhattan terminal? 

[njhorseman]

44 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

We are planning to walk from our hotel too.  We will be staying at Ink 48 located at 653 11th Ave.

What would be the safest place to cross over to NCL's Manhattan terminal? 

West 48th St. and 12th Ave., same place as the OP.

Your walk is even shorter than the OP's. 

When you exit the hotel on 11th Ave. walk about 100 ft. north to West 48th St., Turn left onto West 48th and walk about 500 feet to the corner of West 48th St. and 12th Ave. and cross there.

[mjkacmom]

23 hours ago, skatie said:

We are staying at Holiday Inn Express Midtown West 538 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036.  I suspect I'll win the discussion and take an Uber/Lyft, but would like to be armed with options like walking (if its safe to do so).  Our boarding time is 11am on Prima

Your check in time is 11, boarding usually starts around 11:30 for the priority passengers, and then those who checked in at 9.

[dbrown84]

I plan on walking from Penn station.  I've been told it's about a 30 minute walk.  Does this sound about right?

[GTJ]

7 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

I plan on walking from Penn station. I've been told it's about a 30 minute walk. Does this sound about right?

Yes, about right. Give yourself a few extra minutes to get outside of Pennsylvania Station, and to navigate into the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, but half an hour is about right to head uptown on Ninth Avenue and then crosstown to the cruise terminal. To be safe, I might allocate 45 minutes. Walking in the most reliable means of transportation between the two points.

[ms sjsky]

On 4/23/2023 at 3:24 PM, dbrown84 said:

I plan on walking from Penn station.  I've been told it's about a 30 minute walk.  Does this sound about right?

If it isn't raining, we always walk to and from our cruises to Penn Station.  30 minutes is about right.

When you exit Penn Station, try to aim for the 8th and 33rd ave corner.  cross over 8th and turn right one block to 34th st. Turn left on 34th st. and stay on the left side of the street.  Take this all the way to the Hudson river where then you will turn right onto a nice walk and bike path along the river. (Make sure you stay on the designated walking path rather than the biking path).  Stay on this until you get to the cruise pier which is right past the Intrepid.  We usually have one rollling luggage bag each and a backpack and have no trouble doing this (and we're in our 60's!)  Good luck!

[dbrown84]

19 minutes ago, ms sjsky said:

If it isn't raining, we always walk to and from our cruises to Penn Station.  30 minutes is about right.

When you exit Penn Station, try to aim for the 8th and 33rd ave corner.  cross over 8th and turn right one block to 34th st. Turn left on 34th st. and stay on the left side of the street.  Take this all the way to the Hudson river where then you will turn right onto a nice walk and bike path along the river. (Make sure you stay on the designated walking path rather than the biking path).  Stay on this until you get to the cruise pier which is right past the Intrepid.  We usually have one rollling luggage bag each and a backpack and have no trouble doing this (and we're in our 60's!)  Good luck!

Awesome directions 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

Awesome directions 

Those directions appear to be for trains arriving in the "old" Penn Station.  If you're on Amtrak your train will arrive at the new Moynihan Train Hall, which is on the west side of 8th Ave across the street from Penn Station. As a result you should not cross 8th Avenue because that would take you in the wrong direction and you would have to recross 8th Ave to go back to the side of the street you were already on. Just walk north on 8th Ave after exiting Moynihan Train Hall and turn left onto 34th St.

[ms sjsky]

9 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Those directions appear to be for trains arriving in the "old" Penn Station.  If you're on Amtrak your train will arrive at the new Moynihan Train Hall, which is on the west side of 8th Ave across the street from Penn Station. As a result you should not cross 8th Avenue because that would take you in the wrong direction and you would have to recross 8th Ave to go back to the side of the street you were already on. Just walk north on 8th Ave after exiting Moynihan Train Hall and turn left onto 34th St.

Thanks for the clarification.  I always take NJ transit and know LIRR arrives in Penn Station. Didn't even know there was another Train Hall.

[GTJ]

9 hours ago, njhorseman said:

If you're on Amtrak your train will arrive at the new Moynihan Train Hall, which is on the west side of 8th Ave across the street from Penn Station. As a result you should not cross 8th Avenue because that would take you in the wrong direction and you would have to recross 8th Ave to go back to the side of the street you were already on. Just walk north on 8th Ave after exiting Moynihan Train Hall and turn left onto 34th St.

Or exit Moynihan Train Hall onto Ninth Avenue, and turn right, heading uptown. The exit onto Ninth Avenue is not as obvious as are the exits onto Eighth Avenue, but whichever exit is used simply turn to walk uptown (i.e., turn right when exiting onto Ninth Avenue, or turn left when exiting onto Eighth Avenue).

[GTJ]

4 minutes ago, ms sjsky said:

I always take NJ transit and know LIRR arrives in Penn Station. Didn't even know there was another Train Hall.

The railroad tracks and platforms are all the same, with two separate, but connected, buildings above the tracks and platforms. You can access either of the two buildings from those platforms, though the exact location where the trains are spotted, and with the signs and railroad personnel on the platforms, passengers may be herded into one building or the other. Thus, the LIRR and NJT trains are centered on the eastern end of the platforms, and focused on the "old" Pennsylvania Station building (between Seventh and Eighth Avenues), while the Amtrak trains are centered on the western end of the platforms, and centered on the new Moynihan Train Hall building (between Eighth and Ninth Avenues).

 

This arrangement has led Amtrak to treat Moynihan Train Hall as if it were truly a new station, yet because it continues to use the same tracks and platforms it is more a new station building than an entirely new station (it also continues to use the same NYP station code). Is Moynihan Train Hall separate from Pennsylvania Station, or is it simply an annex to Pennsylvania Station? I imagine that there are strong advocates on both sides of that argument, while many others simply get confused.

 

(This arrangement is distinct from the situation on the east side of Manhattan, where all the MNCR trains use tracks and platforms accessed exclusively by the "old" Grand Central Terminal, relatively close to the surface, while the LIRR trains use tracks and platforms accessed exclusively by the new Madison concourse, deep underground. Nor are the MNCR and LIRR tracks connected to each other.)

[njhorseman]

44 minutes ago, ms sjsky said:

Thanks for the clarification.  I always take NJ transit and know LIRR arrives in Penn Station. Didn't even know there was another Train Hall.

Moynihan Train Hall opened in 2021. The main LIRR concourse is also now located there.

Between 1am and 5am all trains including Amtrak and LIRR use the old Penn Station.

[njhorseman]

27 minutes ago, GTJ said:

Thus, the LIRR and NJT trains are centered on the eastern end of the platforms, and focused on the "old" Pennsylvania Station building (between Seventh and Eighth Avenues)

According to the information I've seen, and admittedly I haven't actually used the LIRR since Moynihan opened, the main LIRR concourse and track access is now also in Moynihan rather than Penn Station.

[GTJ]

7 hours ago, njhorseman said:

According to the information I've seen, and admittedly I haven't actually used the LIRR since Moynihan opened, the main LIRR concourse and track access is now also in Moynihan rather than Penn Station.

Sort of, though not entirely the situation. It had long been that the LIRR concourse was two levels below the street, parallel to 33rd Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue, with the main ticket office near the Seventh Avenue end, and ticket machines scattered throughout. Several years ago a perpendicular west end concourse opened west of Eighth Avenue, nothing elaborate, somewhat hidden, and a bit less crowded than the other concourses used for track access. Most recently, that west end concourse has been incorporated into the new Moynihan Train Hall, and the LIRR does now have a strong presence in the new train hall. Yet the old LIRR concourse remains in service, now having been greatly improved with higher ceilings and direct escalators from Seventh Avenue into that LIRR concourse. Moreover, more jobs are closer to the Seventh Avenue end than the new Moynihan Train Hall, so the commuter focus will remain at Seventh Avenue.

 

In a way, it is somewhat similar to what was done at Jamaica station. The traditional focus there was on the main station building north of the tracks, adjacent to Archer Avenue. When AirTrain was brought in, a new station building was constructed south of the tracks, adjacent to 94th Avenue. There was much with the new building, including provision for airline check-in desks (including baggage checking), and a migration of LIRR facilities. But railroad passengers remained focused on the older building, north of the tracks, and the new building is much less used than was initially anticipated (portions being roped off). For similar reasons of commuter convenience, I suspect that the LIRR presence in the Moynihan Train Hall will also diminish.

 

For the same reason, New Jersey Transit, too, remains focused on Seventh Avenue, and it does not even have a presence at the Moynihan Train Hall (despite much greater integration of NJT and Amtrak service, and only minimal integration of LIRR and Amtrak service).

 

I also note one further piece of useful advice for Amtrak passengers, posted on one website: "if you are arriving by train and wish to quickly and directly transfer to the subway, do not take the Moynihan Train Hall exits. The Moynihan Concourse is at street level, and you will have to go back downstairs to access the subway." Instead, Amtrak passengers should walk forward (eastward) along the platform to the older exit concourse escalators and elevators, and depart through the Pennsylvania Station building.

 

Because the facilities were initially constructed over one hundred years ago, and there are three separate railroads involved, the layout of the facilities is not entirely obvious, and there are few comprehensive floorplans available (most are schematic at best, with few details). There are also various "shortcuts" and other practices used that may not be well advertised. (Several years the then-president of Amtrak, David Gunn, remarked in an informal talk to a New York Law School audience that, "While out-of-towners will line up at the escalators in the main Amtrak departures concourse, for their tickets to be inspected before descending to the train platforms, you're all New Yorkers who know it is much faster and convenient to directly access the train platforms from the exit concourse without ticket inspection"!) At times it can be challenging for New Yorkers to understand Pennsylvania Station, and so much more difficult to describe the details of intricacies of these facilities to visitors. If only there were detailed and comprehensive floor plans available.

[latebloomer56]

On 4/9/2023 at 9:54 AM, skatie said:

We are staying at a hotel that, according to google, is a 15 minute walk to the pier.   I don't relish pulling our bags along the sidewalks to get there, but if its a nice day we might take that option vs Uber.   Has anyone walked into the NYC Manhatten (NCL Prima Departure) port - is it easy to navigate getting to the correct terminal?  Thanks

Thank you for posting this question. I have emailed our TA to look at a room the day prior to our cruise. Not sure which terminal Carnival Venezia will sail from but don't think k it will be much difference.

[skatie]

Its a very quick and easy walk from the Holiday Inn express to Pier 88.  We just pulled our roller bags and once we crossed the street the luggage handlers were right there and then we took elevator up to check in.  

[Ellis1138]

On 5/10/2023 at 1:33 PM, skatie said:

Its a very quick and easy walk from the Holiday Inn express to Pier 88.  We just pulled our roller bags and once we crossed the street the luggage handlers were right there and then we took elevator up to check in.  

Was crossing 12th avenue hard, with all the traffic?