harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1576 Share Posted July 26 3 minutes ago, NHProud said: Back in the day when we made our annual visit to Manhattan , we took a cab for the astounding amount of ~$35 . It was amazing driving by Flushing Meadows ( big tennis fan ) , driving on the Van Wyck and across the Queensboro bridge to our go to hotel in midtown, the Sheraton at 51st & 7th. One of the payoffs of travel is being able to say I’ve been there. Van Wyck was mentioned numerous times on Seinfeld . I expect to see some familiar sights in Paris. It costs significantly more than $35 nowadays to ride into Manhattan from the airports: https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/passengers/taxi-fare.page It starts at $70 and then you get the cruise ship treatment (aka nickel and dime you to death). Once you add in all the line-by-line charges and then 20% tip, it's easily over $100... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1577 Share Posted July 26 (edited) Ellis Island in the distance. We will be going there after the Statue of Liberty visit. You can see there are other “Statue of Liberty Cruises” out in the harbor. But as noted above, these other boats cannot dock at Liberty Island. This is as close as they are allowed to be. Our ferry “wraps around” the island to dock on the far side away from Manhattan. As such, you can get a picture of the Statue and Manhattan skyline at the same time Edited July 26 by harryfat1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1578 Share Posted July 26 It was a short ferry ride to Liberty Island. By the time we docked, it was already 11:30 and many people were already done as you can see there’s a huge line of people trying to catch the ferry going back 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHProud Posted July 26 #1579 Share Posted July 26 8 minutes ago, harryfat1 said: It costs significantly more than $35 nowadays to ride into Manhattan from the airports: https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/passengers/taxi-fare.page It starts at $70 and then you get the cruise ship treatment (aka nickel and dime you to death). Once you add in all the line-by-line charges and then 20% tip, it's easily over $100... Point taken . You have a trip planned to Paris ? Oui ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1580 Share Posted July 26 Alrighty. We landed on Liberty Island. There’s a walking area on the perimeter of the island and that’s where we started the walk. But first thing first – time for a quick restroom break and as luck has it (or as they purposely designed it), they combined the restroom and gift shop in the same building. Time to visit the uncle in prison 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1581 Share Posted July 26 Just now, NHProud said: Point taken . You have a trip planned to Paris ? Oui ? That's in the feasibility study stage at the moment. It depends on the boys' school and my work schedule next summer as if we can do both London and Paris together for a 2-week land trip. Similar to the NYC trip except it will be 2 cities and dealing with going on the Eurostar train between the 2 cities as well as Euor Disneyland for 2 days. That's after I'm done here and done with the December Caribbean cruise planning... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1582 Share Posted July 26 With the perimeter walkway, you can see the Statue from 360 degrees but most of the people only want the front view for the pictures so you will find most of the people. Hard to find a spot to get a picture without someone next to you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1583 Share Posted July 26 Staten Island Ferry - Think I mentioned this is the free ferry in NYC. Runs every 30 minutes. You can ride that to see the statue if you don't have the time to dedicate at least half or 2/3 of a day to come to the island itself. And it's free so.... On the other side of the island, you can see the skyline of Manhattan. Today may not have been a good day to go up to the Observation Deck at One World as you can see from from away there may be some cloud covers which might distract your view. That’s the risk of booking your observation deck too early as if you do it too early, you might be going up on a rainy day. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1584 Share Posted July 26 OK, it’s 12:30 now. Time to go to the Pedestal. They are even more anal about security in security area as you get closer to Statue. NO backpacks are allowed at the Peddeala/Crown access. You MUST store your belongings in the lockers outside. To use it, you need to pay 25 cents to get a key to lock it away. They have change machines for the folks who don’t carry coins with them. Being 9.2 anal, I saw a YouTube video on the process and brought a few quarters in my backpack. Plan accordingly… Take a picture of the lockers so it’s easier to find on the ay back. They keys also have numbers on them in case you forgot to take a picture. Same prices for small or larger size lockers so we just stacked 4 backpacks into 2 lockers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1585 Share Posted July 26 The park rangers will scan your tickets again to make sure you have either the Pedestal or Crown Access. General Admission ticket holders cannot access this area. So if you want to go up to the pedestal, book your tickets at least a week or two out for pedestal access. Highly unlikely you will get the tickets to Pedestal on the day of purchase. Another tip I saw from YouTube was if you are capable of walking up, stay on the left side as you walk up to the entrance. The right side is for elevators that only fit 4 people. So you can imagine, there’s always a long line to go up. As the sign says, 195 steps up. You decide if you are able to make the trek. They have signs along the way to tell you how much more you have to go as by step 150, you start to feel the knees getting tired but we made it to the top without any oxygen assistance. Are we there yet? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rncruiser Posted July 26 #1586 Share Posted July 26 16 minutes ago, harryfat1 said: That's in the feasibility study stage at the moment. It depends on the boys' school and my work schedule next summer as if we can do both London and Paris together for a 2-week land trip. Similar to the NYC trip except it will be 2 cities and dealing with going on the Eurostar train between the 2 cities as well as Euor Disneyland for 2 days. That's after I'm done here and done with the December Caribbean cruise planning... My husband and I did a 12 day London/Paris trip last past fall. We skipped Eurodisney. We traveled between the 2 cities on Eurostar, very easy. I don’t think I would have wanted to do it in the summer due to the heat but you have already survived walking around NYC in the heat, as well as Curaçao, so I guess you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rncruiser Posted July 26 #1587 Share Posted July 26 Adding to my comments on London/Paris. I don’t know what you paid for a hotel room in NYC but good luck finding one at a reasonable price in London or Paris, esp one that can accommodate 4 people and includes breakfast. Prices, esp in Paris, will be quite high in the summer. They were high when we went in October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badatz2 Posted July 26 #1588 Share Posted July 26 5 hours ago, harryfat1 said: It costs significantly more than $35 nowadays to ride into Manhattan from the airports: https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/passengers/taxi-fare.page It starts at $70 and then you get the cruise ship treatment (aka nickel and dime you to death). Once you add in all the line-by-line charges and then 20% tip, it's easily over $100... For the JFK ride,I think that the New York State congestion fee was never started or abolished. There is a whole thing there with complaints against the Governor about the millions of dollars in infrastructure going to waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1589 Share Posted July 26 15 hours ago, rncruiser said: My husband and I did a 12 day London/Paris trip last past fall. We skipped Eurodisney. We traveled between the 2 cities on Eurostar, very easy. I don’t think I would have wanted to do it in the summer due to the heat but you have already survived walking around NYC in the heat, as well as Curaçao, so I guess you will be fine. How was the Eurostar? I have read that many people prefer it over the plane ride. Did you go from London to Paris or the other way around? I have also seen videos on warnings of scammers once you get out from the Paris side trying to take you to your final destination. If we can make it, we will be in Paris around the end of June, similar to the NYC schedule. Per the weather forecast that I have seen, Paris should be in mid-70s or low 80s in the late June period so hopefully, it won't be too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1590 Share Posted July 26 15 hours ago, rncruiser said: Adding to my comments on London/Paris. I don’t know what you paid for a hotel room in NYC but good luck finding one at a reasonable price in London or Paris, esp one that can accommodate 4 people and includes breakfast. Prices, esp in Paris, will be quite high in the summer. They were high when we went in October. NYC hotel in Midtown in June is typically $350+/night plus tax. I have just done a very high-level glance at London prices but I haven't had much time to research what area I'd rather be. Still need to research the Carnival cruise coming up in December first. For London/Paris, I wouldn't mind being a little further out from the city center and just commuting via subway to the tourist destinations. For NYC, I wanted to be part of the city as I know what suburban life in the US is like as that's where we live but I have never been out in the suburbs/outer regions of Europe so I wouldn't be averse to trying that as well as we can take the subway into the city. I know for Paris, we will be on the other East side closer to Paris Disneyland. We looked at going there back in 2019 before decided going to Tokyo instead so I have a vague idea where things are in Paris. I'm thinking about Airbnb and VRBO rentals for Paris as we will be further out in the suburbs and take the train into Paris, which is supposed to be 30 minutes away. Just need to be close to public transit at places near Euro Disneyland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1591 Share Posted July 26 10 hours ago, Badatz2 said: For the JFK ride,I think that the New York State congestion fee was never started or abolished. There is a whole thing there with complaints against the Governor about the millions of dollars in infrastructure going to waste. So just making sure I understand what fee you are referring to, are you talking about the $2.50/$2.75 additional fee tacked onto the base taxi fare? Are you saying they never collected this fee? This fee is just on the books they were supposed to collect but was never implemented? Not sure I understand the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rncruiser Posted July 26 #1592 Share Posted July 26 Harry, In London we stayed at the Doubletree in the West End. It was a short walk to the British Museum and to a major underground station. It was about a 20 minute walk to Chinatown and the theater district. Most of the rest of London was just a short tube ride away. We took the Eurostar from Paris to London. We could have taken the tube to the Eurostar station but didn’t feel like dealing with our large pieces of luggage on the escalators and stairs. When we got to Paris there is a taxi stand outside of the station. I’m sure you could take the Metro to your destination as well. In Paris we stayed at a lovely boutique hotel in the Fifth Arrondisment, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the Pantheon. It was quite pricey, about $700/ night, and that was one of the cheaper options for the first week of October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1593 Share Posted July 26 14 minutes ago, rncruiser said: Harry, In London we stayed at the Doubletree in the West End. It was a short walk to the British Museum and to a major underground station. It was about a 20 minute walk to Chinatown and the theater district. Most of the rest of London was just a short tube ride away. We took the Eurostar from Paris to London. We could have taken the tube to the Eurostar station but didn’t feel like dealing with our large pieces of luggage on the escalators and stairs. When we got to Paris there is a taxi stand outside of the station. I’m sure you could take the Metro to your destination as well. In Paris we stayed at a lovely boutique hotel in the Fifth Arrondisment, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the Pantheon. It was quite pricey, about $700/ night, and that was one of the cheaper options for the first week of October. Thanks for the info. I will check out these regions after we have the dates set for next year. For Paris, here's one sample place near Paris Disneyland I just dropped in the potential dates and got many results for next year as it's still very early in the process: Plus tax and fees, it's like $260 USD/night. Supposed to be within 10 minute's walk to shopping and public transit. There are many more of these. Will need to spend weeks researching the area next year trying to get a lay of the land as to what's out there but I prefer to be here than in central Paris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1594 Share Posted July 26 Onward with the trip report: We made it to the top and time to head out to the tiny openings at the 4 sides Here is the view as you walk out Looking up Looking at the central plaza. Over at the other end is the museum. We would go there after we are done with the pedestal 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1595 Share Posted July 26 The walkway area at the pedestal isn't very wide so that's part of the reason they limit the number of pedestal tickets sold daily With the pending storm, it was very windy up above as you can see the wind blowing my wife’s blouse. Another view of the MSC ship docked in Brooyln Traffic jams don’t just occur in Manhattan. You have many ships lining up to see the Statue out in the harbor: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1596 Share Posted July 26 All done with the upper part of the pedestal, it's time to go to the middle part. The stairs were one way up and a different way down. The Statue technically sits on top of the fort so you can walk out and see a different view from there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rncruiser Posted July 26 #1597 Share Posted July 26 Just a word of warning, Harry, make sure that wherever you choose to stay that it is air conditioned. It is not a given in Europe. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1598 Share Posted July 26 At the base of the statue inside the fort, there's a small museum area They have a description on the various parts of the statue and what issues face each section Back to where we originally started at the pedestal entrance. Time to move on 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1599 Share Posted July 26 Then it’s time to get our backpacks and walk around the general area. Across from the Statue is the museum and the Platform area for more photo ops 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 26 Author #1600 Share Posted July 26 This is the original torch. The one she is holding now is a replica. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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