Cruising from NYC. Can I reserve parking head of time?

[Disney1fan2002]

I live in Virginia Beach. Driving will cost me 4 tanks of gas and tolls. (round trip, approx $200, about $180 rounded up). Parking at the terminal for the week (Sat-Sat) will be around $280-$300.

The math is easy. Flying is over $1000 for the 4 of us (husband will be coming in from MA). The train is almost $800 for the 4 of us. Greyhound is HELL, cheaper than driving and parking, but not worth it.

So, we drive and park. Is it 1st come 1st serve? I thought it was, but then looking at some sites that show pricing, they have buttons that say "book it"

 

[Pens Fan]

According to the website for the cruise terminal itself https://www.nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/parking/, there is no reserved parking. I'm guessing what you are seeing are other lots in the area, not the actual one at the terminal. I've never looked into those, so I don't know anything about them.

Just a different thought in case you are interested. When we drove to NYC the night before our cruise, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield Park, NJ. They have a terrific park and cruise package which includes transportation both to and from the port by private town car. It was a really nice hotel in what appeared to be a safe area. At least our car was still there when we returned! It's not the best idea if you are planning on doing some sightseeing in the city (though supposedly there is a bus stop nearby where you can catch a ride into NYC), but if you are just looking for a place to crash and a safe place to park your car, it's a great value.

Edited to add: If it makes you feel any better, the one and only time we cruised out of NYC you could see one of the parking areas from the ship. There were plenty of spots available both when we left NYC and when we returned.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

According to the website for the cruise terminal itself https://www.nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/parking/, there is no reserved parking. I'm guessing what you are seeing are other lots in the area, not the actual one at the terminal. I've never looked into those, so I don't know anything about them.

Just a different thought in case you are interested. When we drove to NYC the night before our cruise, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield Park, NJ. They have a terrific park and cruise package which includes transportation both to and from the port by private town car. It was a really nice hotel in what appeared to be a safe area. At least our car was still there when we returned! It's not the best idea if you are planning on doing some sightseeing in the city (though supposedly there is a bus stop nearby where you can catch a ride into NYC), but if you are just looking for a place to crash and a safe place to park your car, it's a great value.

Edited to add: If it makes you feel any better, the one and only time we cruised out of NYC you could see one of the parking areas from the ship. There were plenty of spots available both when we left NYC and when we returned.

Thanks! I was actually going to look for hotels that offered parking. Didn't have my hopes up that I would find much, I'll check it out.

 

[Pens Fan]

http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/...-ridgefield-park-LGARPGI/offers/100110245.htm

I saw on Cruise Critic several months ago that there is a Hampton Inn in Ridgefield Park that has now started offering a parking package as well. While I can't speak firsthand about that one, we loved the Hilton and would definitely stay there again for a NYC cruise. We actually had it booked for our October cruise, but NCL ended up changing it from a round trip cruise to a one way from Quebec City to NYC so we had to cancel.

 

[jiminy14]

We have sailed several times out of NYC and parked at the terminal. You can not reserve a spot and it cost us $40 per night to park. The lots do fill up and late comers may have to park on the road connecting the lots. On our first cruise we got to the lot around 9:30 AM and got one of the last three spots in the lot. On subsequent sailings, we learned to arrive after 10:00 AM when most of the previous cruisers had finished breakfast and left the ship. There were plenty of spots at that time and it stayed that way until mid afternoon.
A lot depends on how many ships are docked there. You could be competing with several other ships for those spots. Also keep in mind that you may not come back to the same pier that you left from so it's important to remember which lot you parked in.

 

[owensamo]

We parked with ParkRite at the Javits Center for our NYC cruise. We were able to reserve it in advance on their website. It was less expensive than parking at the port, and was only an 11 minute walk along the river to the port. They will drive you back to the port, but DH preferred the walk. It was not a problem to wait in the terminal on drop off - it wasn't open to passengers yet so we were just sitting and waiting anyway. When we disembarked, DH and DD walked down to get the car while I waited with DMIL and DFIL at the port with the luggage. It took maybe 20 minutes, and wasn't that big of a deal. The savings on parking was worth the minor inconvenience - more to spend on the ship!

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

We drove up from VA as well. I was stunned that there was traffic (significant) on the DC beltway at 4 AM. We still go to pier 88 (Manhattan) at 9:53 and were one of the first 10 to park. Also, the last few miles of the NJ Turnpike heading into the Holland tunnel was stop and go. Took as an hour and a half to go 10ish miles. To be fair, I was rather...psycho (DW would say) about planning for the drive. The ease of departure more than made up for the cost. 3.5 hours home; 5.5 hours up. Gotta love DC & NYC traffic.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks! I was actually going to look for hotels that offered parking. Didn't have my hopes up that I would find much, I'll check it out.

Just make sure that they are referring to (or offer) the shuttle to the port in NYC and not just Port Liberty in NJ. It sounds like the one mentioned does - but there could be some that offer “Park and Cruise” but only shuttle to Port Liberty.

 

[LeslieG]

We parked with ParkRite at the Javits Center for our NYC cruise. We were able to reserve it in advance on their website. It was less expensive than parking at the port, and was only an 11 minute walk along the river to the port. They will drive you back to the port, but DH preferred the walk. It was not a problem to wait in the terminal on drop off - it wasn't open to passengers yet so we were just sitting and waiting anyway. When we disembarked, DH and DD walked down to get the car while I waited with DMIL and DFIL at the port with the luggage. It took maybe 20 minutes, and wasn't that big of a deal. The savings on parking was worth the minor inconvenience - more to spend on the ship!

We will be arriving to the port early because of our early morning flight into NYC. Do you remember what time the port opened, and is there adequate seating outside to wait?

 

[owensamo]

We will be arriving to the port early because of our early morning flight into NYC. Do you remember what time the port opened, and is there adequate seating outside to wait?

I don't know what time they open for arrivals - we got there probably between 9 and 9:30 and we weren't the first arrivals - but there were obviously people still leaving. Since the arrivals and departures are all out of the same area, the building is open as soon as they start letting people leave, but I wouldn't imagine you can drop luggage off with the porters before 9 or 9:30 as they're busy with departures. The port website should have the information you're looking for, though - as I recall it was pretty detailed on that sort of info.

Once you do get into the port building, there's a bit of a holding area up some stairs before they open security, as well as a seating area downstairs near the restrooms for those who can't do stairs. Security is not immediately when you enter the building, and they didn't open security until closer to 11. To go through security, you needed the same info you would need at PC to get into the terminal itself - passports/ID and your confirmation info. Check-in was after security, then there were plenty of places to sit until they started boarding. They did have characters available for greeting. I don't recall when they started boarding, but I don't recall having to wait too long. We are Platinum, so were in the first boarding group.

 

[DMLAINI]

Does anyone know of any hotels in NJ that will allow you to leave your car with them & shuttle to the port if you stay with them the night prior to leaving for your cruise? We're driving from PA

 

[Pens Fan]

Does anyone know of any hotels in NJ that will allow you to leave your car with them & shuttle to the port if you stay with them the night prior to leaving for your cruise? We're driving from PA

https://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com...-ridgefield-park-LGARPGI/offers/100110245.htm