Hal Transfer from airport to ships terminal

[COLLEYBERRY]

We have a Hal transfer from LaGaurdia to the Manhattan ships terminal Sept 1 .I am such a novice at this.....will the Hal rep be easy to find ???Will we have to wait for other flights (carrying other Hal transfer passengers)to arrive?? Will Hal transfer our luggage to the porters at the pier??? Tipping??

We arrive at 9:45 the morning of the cruise.....just finished reading Alaskabound ..ohh please let everything work out!!!!

Family obligations prevents us from flying in the day before.I hope :) Fate is kind and we board the Eurodam as planned.If not please tell me there is an airport in Newport R.I.:) Thanks for any input.

[jtl513]

We have a Hal transfer from LaGaurdia to the Manhattan ships terminal Sept 1 .I am such a novice at this.....will the Hal rep be easy to find ???Will we have to wait for other flights (carrying other Hal transfer passengers)to arrive?? Will Hal transfer our luggage to the porters at the pier??? Tipping??

I don't know specifically about LaGuardia, but usually HAL reps are easy to spot - they'll be wearing red jackets. Sometimes you have to drag your own baggage to the bus boarding stop, and sometimes they will take it right in the baggage claim area and bring it out on large carts. You will have to wait until the bus is full, or nearly so. You may be the last people filling the bus, and leave right away, or you may be among the first people on a bus, and have to wait a while. When you get to the pier the bus driver will unload the bags for each person to identify. You confirm they are tagged correctly and turn them over to a porter who will be right there. We tip $2 to $3 per bag depending on what I happen to have in my wallet! :)

[grannynurse]

We have never met a HAL rep at LaGuardia but have in Boston, Newark and Seattle. They are usually in the baggage claim areas and very visible on day of sailing. In Newark, our first HAL cruise, we had attached the HAL luggage tags before leaving home and the bus driver had taken our bags off the carousel without our knowing which caused a problem as we thought our luggage had not arrived with us. The HAL rep finally straightened it out BUT I never put the tags on again until leaving fthe hotel for the pier, AND we never flew in Day of Sailing again. As luck would have it there was a bomb scare at the NY cruise terminal and we were in traffic for 3 hours. Luckily we were on a HAL bus and the Rotterdam waited for us. In Seattle we had a wait for the bus to arrive, it wasn't the other pax arriving, the Grayline was late. No problem though as we were going to the HAL hotel.

You shouldn't have any problems getting the shuttle, but LGA is notorious for having planes circle and circle and circle. If your arrival is approx 10am there should be no hassle. The reps are aware of the airport conditions.

You'll love this itinerary; we've done it twice, once on Rotterdam in 2002 and once on Maasdam in 2005. It's a great trip and you've chosen a great time of year to go.

You may have to claim and handle your own luggage at the pier but there will be porters available to assist, go ahead and tip them if this is the case. If it's been arranged that the bus drops off the bags it's so much nicer, just remember to keep ahold of your carry-ons and take them aboard yourself.

BON Voyage!

GN

[COLLEYBERRY]

Thankyou jtl 513 and Grannynurse, your replies were very helpful. I feel a little better knowing what to expect . I so wish we were arriving the day before, who needs this stress!!

We are so looking forward to this cruise,thankyou for your good wishes,lets hope all goes well

[sail7seas]

Make it easy for the HAL rep to find YOU. If you carry a shoulder bag, put one of the HAL tags on the strap. The rep is sure to notice it. If you are traveling two people, you will get at least 4 tags. Chances are with the charges for luggage, the most bags you would check for a seven to ten or so day cruise would be three bags. Put the extra one on something you are carrying and the HAL rep will see it.

 

(S)he will be wearing a red blazer or vest, white shirt, usually navy pants/skirt and will be carrying a clipboard.

 

Don't worry. You will have no problem hooking up and having your luggage handled for you.

 

 

If another plane is due just about the same time as yours, they may combine guests from that flight with yours and put you all on the same bus.

 

In the event there are only two or four of you, they probably will put you in a paid by them taxi. :) You can hope. Actually, in the past when we used HAL's transportation, that happened for us several times. We now make our own way to the ships.

 

[sail7seas]

In the very small, tiny chance you have travel difficulties and arrive late, it is about 60-70 minutes from Boston's Logan Airport to Newport, R.I. DEPENDING upon time of day/traffic. I don't know how long from LaGuardia or Newark, N.J. airports.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Thankyou Sail7Seas .I am feeling better and better. Shoulder strap tag is an excellent idea. Thankyou all. You certainly have helped smooth the way .

Much appreciated .

 

Colleen

[COLLEYBERRY]

In the very small, tiny chance you have travel difficulties and arrive late, it is about 60-70 minutes from Boston's Logan Airport to Newport, R.I. DEPENDING upon time of day/traffic. I don't know how long from LaGuardia or Newark, N.J. airports.

I do so love the "very small,tiny chance" part of your reply. I think we should have a tenetive plan B just in case, heaven forbid, we need it. I will look into flights etc. So I won't feel so desperate if things start to fall apart. Thank goodnes I won't be needing any Cheerios LOLThankyou again

[cf_chuck]

I'm a big fan of back up plans. Newport doesn't have an airport, but Providence does. The good thing about flying into the Boston - NY corridor is that there are a lot of car and limo companies for hire. It's about 3 1/2 hours from LGA to Newport by car depending on traffic. I'm not sure what the costs would be, but driving from LGA to Newport will be about as quick as any fly / drive option (to either Boston or Providence) and the hassles will be less with all the baggage handling considerations.

 

Given your stated arrival time, there is a good chance that this is the first flight for the day of the aircraft which works in your favor. I'd suggest, just in case, to put together a list of alternative flights leaving Ont that day. If there is an equipment problem with your flight, you'll be prepared and there is still an excellent chance of meeting the cruise in NY. You have a good window on cruise day. I could get carried away with what ifs, from here, so rather than go there, I wish you a great cruise.

[cf_chuck]

You confirm they are tagged correctly and turn them over to a porter who will be right there. We tip $2 to $3 per bag depending on what I happen to have in my wallet! :)

 

In my experience, the bus drivers and the porters for the ship have their hands out for tips even when HAL arranges the bus transfer.

[Stevesan]

In the very small, tiny chance you have travel difficulties and arrive late, it is about 60-70 minutes from Boston's Logan Airport to Newport, R.I. DEPENDING upon time of day/traffic. I don't know how long from LaGuardia or Newark, N.J. airports.

 

It's less than 200 miles. A pleasant 3 1/2 hour drive up I-95.

 

 

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=New+York+City&1s=NY&2c=Newport&2s=RI&2y=US&2l=41.490002&2g=-71.313301&2v=CITY

[jtl513]

It's less than 200 miles. A pleasant 3 1/2 hour drive up I-95.

Well ... pleasant after you get up to about New Rochelle maybe!! :D

[gg3]

Just a word for those wondering about doing a pre-cruise pkg. with HAL and how luggage is handled. We fly into our airport....usually Vancouver.....pick up our luggage, using those carts, spot (easily) a helpful, and yes, they are very helpful, HAL rep. They take us to the shuttle where our luggage is loaded onto the shuttle bus, and as you drive to your HAL hotel, the driver usually gives you an interesting talk about the area, etc. Then, as he arrives at your hotel, he takes your bags off the shuttle, you walk into the hotel lobby as the bellhops (gosh, there must be a more current name for them.....but y'all know what I mean ) take your luggage and you check in. After you have arrived in your room, your luggage comes up. The morning of the cruise, you put your luggage inside your room beside the door, with your ship tags on them(HAL picks them up and takes them directly to the ship) & you go down to the lobby and meet your HAL rep, then you leave for a really good tour of Vancouver on a HAL shuttle. We have always had very knowledgeable drivers who take you to lots of places and give you time to walk around in some of these areas. We always stop at Stanley park for ice cream and a chance to look at amazing scenery throughout the park. Your last stop is Canada Place, where a HAL rep meets your bus, takes you all in tow and right into the check in lines. Within minutes you are boarding your glorious ship and your luggage waits for you in your cabin. How sweet it is !!! HAL truly does have this process down very well and it is amazing the priority you get when you do use HAL for transfers and pre cruise hotels. ;) Of course.....you do pay for it,:D , but we like the peace and sanity that it brings to us after doing all the last minute details one has to do at home to get ready to leave. gg

[COLLEYBERRY]

Once again CCers to the rescue!

gg3 ,the precruise pkg sounds like Heaven .Our first cruise was out of Vancouver and we did arrived a day early .I agree a much saner way to begin a voyage. Life just got in the way this time.

We thought we had our ducks in a row,8:00am flight out of Toronto arriving 9:45am. Ccers' in the know have already assured me Manhattan will be "quiet" Labor Day morning ,so hopefully traffic won't be an issue getting to the ship(this is assuming we have actually landed in NewYork)

cfChuck and Stevanson, thankyou ,a car service sounds like a great plan, besides I will need the 3 1/2 hours of "weeping time" in the back seat.

One of the highlights of this cruise for us is sailing out of New York harbour and seeing your lovely Lady Liberty. If we just" miss the boat" you might see two frantic Canadians in a row boat yelling " Wait! Wait!"

Thank you all for your help,we'll have our" back up plan" in place and hopefully never need it.

Luckily my DH is a pretty levelheaded guy,we'll just think of it as part of the adventure.

Lesson learned, NEVER,I REPEAT,NEVER FLY IN THE DAY OF THE CRUISE....

[COLLEYBERRY]

Thankyou Stevesan ( spelling clearly not my forte) Hope I catch ships better than I spell .Thanks again.