New York City Tour, any ideas?

[jocountry]

Hi,

 

My sister and I will be embarking in NY on Oct 6th, 04 ....it's a Wed. We should be off the ship by 9:30 and need to be at the airport (La Guardia) by 1:30..............that gives us 4 hrs to do a little tour.....ideally, have someone pick us up at the pier, and drop us at the airport. We want to see ground zero, and pay our respects, and anything else, just driving by would be ok.

 

If anyone has a website, or tel# ...any ideas would be very much appreciated.

 

thanks, and happy cruising everyone!

Joanne :)

[Northender]

Where are the dock located in NYC. ?

[fig414]

Try greylinenewyork.com and leave plenty of time to get to airport.

[Jane110]

Joanne,

 

I think that the easiest thing would for you to hire a car w/ driver for the 4 hours and have him pick you up at the pier and then drive you around the city to do some siteseeing and shopping, etc. That way, your luggage can be with you in the trunk and you don't have to think about it. Then the driver can drop you off at the airport.

 

Here are some car services that offer by the hour cars w/ drivers:

 

All State - 800-453-4099 hourly rate $35.

Tri State - 800-722-7122 $35.

Tel Aviv - 800-222-9888 $35.

Carmel - 800-9-CARMEL

 

Bear in mind that most of these car services are used by New Yorkers and the drivers are not tour guides. So they'll take you where you want to go, stop and wait for you, but they're not going to be good at suggesting itineraries and giving you information the way a tour guide would. This situation works best if you do some pre-planning and tell the driver where you want to go. Of course, they can suggest the order of the visits via traffic flow, etc.

 

Jane

[trish1c]

Where are the dock located in NYC. ?

On the west side in the 40s.

[jocountry]

Thanks for the numbers Jane, I will see if they work from Canada...sometimes those 800#s don't.

 

Fig, that url link didn't work for me.....but thanks anyway.....

 

I'm thinking, getting the cabbie to do a little side tour is probably our best bet..

 

thanks everyone!

Joanne :)

[Jane110]

Joanne,

 

Realize that a cabbie makes the most money everytime the initial click of the meter goes ca-ching. In other words, the more time you're in his cab, the less money per hour he makes. Hence, it's unlikely that a typical cab driver is going to want to give you a tour.

 

Try those 800# that I gave you. If they don't work from Canada, I'll be happy to give you the NYC local numbers.

 

Jane

[Linny13]

Joanne,

 

Ideally you want someone to pick you up at the pier, but please realize that New York traffic is very unpredictable at any time of the day or night! :( The west side is not an easy place to get out of especially if more than one ship is in port at the same time. It can be a nightmare. Sometimes just to get across town can take an hour, then you have a half hour drive to Laguardia (realistically), so...make sure you have enough time to get all the way downtown (to the World Trade Center site) and then back to midtown to go to Laguardia. I would try to use the car services above, but maybe just drive through Times Square and Broadway, and past the Empire State Building and perhaps Radio City and Rockefeller Center and off to the airport.

 

Good Luck!! and have a great time. I come from New York.

 

Linny

[Northender]

Hi, sorry, have been away. I agree with Linny13, decide exactly what you want to do as four hours in NY is not much time. Some people take 2 hours just to commute to work. If you have your heart set on the WTC site, that would be all I would suggest. Take a cab, let him go and see the area. If there is average traffic you have to plan for at least 40 minutes to the airport from there. There are plenty of cabs in that area. Keep in mind that NYC is always code orange and the airport security is very tight. You only mentioned being at the airport by 1:30 and not your flight time. Better to be a half hour early than 5 minutes late. NYC is a wonderful place to see and enjoy. Perhaps you could plan a trip just to the city sometime for a weekend. :)

[lauli]

Hi Joanne,

 

We are sailing on the Grand on 10/17 and would like to do the same thing when we disembark on the 24th. Our flight doesn't leave JFK until 6:30pm so we've got a lot of time to kill. I've been corresponding with May Durand at www.nyholidaylimo.com and she has been very helpful. You might try contacting them at 718-441-2420 (I didn't see an 800 number) to see what they can do for you. Good luck.

 

Laurie

[jocountry]

Thanks for the info Linny, thats very helpful! If you ever want to come to Toronto, I can give you a few helpful suggestions..k...lol

 

Laurie, I called and spoke to May Durand, and I think we are going to book with them....lol..... She is going to have a driver pick up my sister and I at the pier, hopefully at 09:30 and drop us at the airport at 1:30 and do a little city tour in between....we figure 2 hours for pu and drop off will give us 2 hrs to go to the World Trade Center and drive up Times Square and see what we can see.........I have no idea if its a good deal or not...lol......let's see if anyone can guess what they are going to charge for that....so I know if I am getting ripped off or not...haaahahhahaha.......!!!!!

 

thanks everyone,

Cheers!

Jo :)

[lauli]

Joanne,

 

I know how you feel about the cost for the tour and transfer to the airport! I've checked with several companies and am finding that most are charging about $60-$75 per hour, based on the size of the car, plus an additional amt for the transfer to the airport. There are four of us plus our luggage, so we need a bigger car.. so we'll be paying more. I really want to see New York and we don't have time before the cruise, so I'm thinking of foregoing any excursions during the cruise, and just spending the $$ to see NY and get to the airport. I do feel comfortable about NY Holiday Limo. They were about the only company that responded with a personal email; the others just sent a computer-generated response. All in all, I'm finding that NY can be a very pricy place to visit as far as hotel and transportation expenses!

 

Laurie

[Linny13]

Joanne,

 

No problem!!! and if I am ever up in Toronto I WILL look you up. Thanks and have a great cruise and time in NYC!

 

Linny

[jocountry]

Laurie,

 

We booked...yeaaaaaaah! We just decided, we wanted to know when we get off that ship, we don't have to worry about how we are getting to the airport, and risking a local cabbie to give us a deal on a quick tour....this way we will also have something to look forward to at the end of the cruise.(God forbid...don't even want to think about that yet...lol)

May was very nice, and we felt confident it was the best decision..so we are getting our 4hrs (including the drop off at the airport). for $200.00....but it's just 2 of us so we can fit in the sedan, I am sure it will be more for 4 of you....They all charge hourly then the drop at the airport....that alone is around $90.00....you are right about NY being expensive...lol....especially when I am converting it from Canadian dollars...argh! It will be worth it to see Ground Zero and pay our respects, that the main thing...the rest will be bonus ....

[fig414]

Jo

You definitley did not get ripped off. Good for you for asking the questions. Of course it is a ripoff, but that's the way it is in the Big Apple. Ground Zero is just a pit now and is not awe-inspiring now. It was once. It will be again soon. Enjoy the few parts of the City you will see in the very short time you'll be there.

[iamirish]

Joanne,

 

As someone that has taken a "limo" from the cruise ship terminal in NY to the airport - may I suggest that you carry, in your wallet, the phone number of the "car service" and your confirmation #. When you get off the ship, there will be many Limos and Town Cars - it will help you find your car and driver.

 

Tom