New York - Ellis Island

[Kindlychap]

I'd appreciate a word of advice from someone who is in a position to know.

 

It is possible that we might in future have a trip that stops for the day in New York. How feasible is it to get to Ellis Island, and then back in good time for "all aboard"?

 

Is the bridge to Ellis Island (from the near mainland) still there? Is it possible to drive up to it, and if so how long would it take in a taxi from either Pier 90 or Red Hook?

 

My wife very much wants to visit Ellis Island, but neither of us want to fly to New York just to do that.

 

Thanks for your help!

[smeyer418]

http://www.nps.gov/elis/pphtml/planyourvisit.html

 

 

take a cab to South Ferry and back.

[KathiB]

Yes, you can do it. You must take the Circle Line ferry (see info in previous post). It stops first at Liberty Island for the Statue of Liberty then goes on to Ellis Island. You probably will want at least 2 hours at Ellis Island. The first Ferry in the morning is at around 8:45am. You don't reserve a ferry so you must arrive at the ferry terminal at least an hour before your ferry time. Once on Ellis Island you can wander, take a tour or do some family research on their computers.

 

What is your boarding time? If you can get to the ferry by 10:00 am and can get to the ship by 4:00 or 5:00 you can probably do it. Local New Yorkers can give more details than I can as it has been 2 years since I have done this. We are going to NY next week and we plan to just go to the Statue of Liberty since we spent hours on Ellis Island when we were last there.

 

I hope you can work it out. It is a wonderful place to visit.

 

KathiB

[Kanukkacruise]

http://www.circlelinedowntown.com/statueFerryBatteryPark_schedule.html

(Above is the ferry schedule to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.)

Friendly Chap ... Will you be one the QE2? Is a tour offered by the cruise line?

[Kindlychap]

It doesn't appear that Cunard offer an option. If they did we could take it without worry, as they hold the ship for their own tours.

 

last time we had a stop in New York there was nothing bar a bus tour of Manhatten. Not really very inspiring as a choice of tours.

 

If Ellis Island were not possible, we'd stay on board......

[fdwt994]

There is no bridge to Ellis Island, you must take the ferry. For what it's worth, we've been three times and each time we waited approximately 1 hr just to get on the ferry, followed by a 10 minute or so ride to the island. If I remember correctly, you could take a ferry that first drops you off at Libety Island (Statue of Liberty) and then take a ferry from Liberty Island to Ellis Island.

 

Have fun, it's worth the visit!

[KathiB]

Kindlychap,

 

We just got back from our trip to NY which included a day at the Statue of Liberty. Depending on the time of year plan a whole day for this. We waited almost 2 hours to get on the ferry. It stops at Liberty Island first and then Ellis island so allow 30 minutes for that ride. You want at least 2 hours at Ellis island and then the ferry back takes about 20 minutes. So the whole thing would take 5-6 hours unless you get to the ferry terminal by 9:00am. You can do it but you must start early and make sure you can get to your ship by boarding time.

 

KathiB

[Grandma Jean]

Does anyone know how crowded it is in October at Ellis Island and the Statue

of Liberty. Should we buy advance tickets?

we will be there Oct 1, 2006

[smeyer418]

Does anyone know how crowded it is in October at Ellis Island and the Statue

of Liberty. Should we buy advance tickets?

we will be there Oct 1, 2006

 

If you can buy tickets in advance. The fall is very popular and the line for tickets starts to form at 7am...

[Grandma Jean]

To smeyer

 

Thank you for the info. We were planning on getting into Newark around

11 am, but possibly we should come the night before. We are traveling

by car from Pgh, PA so we are flexible on time. We want to see

the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on Sat. Sept 30 as we leave on the

Explorer of the Seas on Sunday, Oct. 1.

 

Thanks again

 

Jean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

\\

[momthecruisedirector]

We'll be in NYC (sailing on the Crown 7/2) following our cruise. I ordered our Statue of Liberty monument tickets two months ago. You print them out when you order them online. My understanding is they only have so many of these tours a day (not sure exactly how it works). Anyway, we'll be catching the 8:45 ferry and they suggest you get there at least an hour early, more then that if you are taking a later ferry. I'll be writing a review when we return so can let you know exactly how the whole thing worked. I know I feel better knowing I have my tickets already. Did the same thing, actually, for the Empire State Building.

[redlef]

You will have much longer waits on the weekend than during the week.

 

As everyone has told you, the earlier you get there, the better. When we visited two years ago, the security to get on the ferry was backed up - not only do they xray hand bags and inspect your shoes, they also had us removing our belts.

 

We got off at the Statue of Liberty, but didn't want to wait for the tour. We walked around outside and hopped onto the next Ferry to Ellis Island.

 

Ellis Island was really interesting. I've lived 30 miles from it my whole life and never realized what a gem of a museum it was. If you have any family that immigrated to the states, you can look them up in their records. Pretty cool.

 

Dave