Getting to Manhattan Cruise Terminal

[ilovefh]

I need some advice as it looks like our original plans have changed.....

We're cruising out of NY from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. We'd like to get to Manhattan or in the vicinity (about 30 mins out would be the max) the night before as this is a once in a lifetime cruise and we CANNOT miss it.

We're coming from NH and we've thrown around some ideas. We can't leave Central NH until 3:30 pm.

Our first thought was to drive to Concord NH and take the bus to Boston and then the bus to NY, but we won't make the last bus to NY so here are the options we are considering....

Bus to Boston then train to NY. Get a cab to a hotel, sleep and a cab to the port in the morning.

Drive to NY, park near hotel, and then drive to port in the morning and park there.

Drive to somewhere within 30 mins of NY, stay the night, and drive in the morning and park at the port. One of the options for this is to drive to the Super 8 in North Bergen NJ and stay there ($98/night) then drive in the morning of. It's only 2.2 miles from the port.

Does anyone know how long it would take us to go from the Super 8 to the terminal in morning traffic? The address is 2800 Columbia Avenue, 495 East & Lincoln Tunnel Rd, North Bergen, NJ 07047

Any other options that I am not thinking of?

 

[mjkacmom]

I don't think you want to stay there. . Go to cruise critic.com east coast departure boards - they will hook you up. Give them the dates if your sailing and budget, and I'm sure they will give you a few good options. We just drive and park at the pier ($40 a day but very easy), but we are 10 miles away.

 

[Lorelei Lee]

Drive to somewhere within 30 mins of NY, stay the night, and drive in the morning and park at the port. One of the options for this is to drive to the Super 8 in North Bergen NJ and stay there ($98/night) then drive in the morning of. It's only 2.2 miles from the port.

Does anyone know how long it would take us to go from the Super 8 to the terminal in morning traffic? The address is 2800 Columbia Avenue, 495 East & Lincoln Tunnel Rd, North Bergen, NJ 07047



I did a Google map search of your motel with directions to the cruise terminal. It's actually a 4.7 mile drive. It says the drive should take you all of 12 minutes.

Don't believe it.

Lincoln Tunnel traffic can get very backed up in the morning, especially on weekdays. Normal, weekday rush hour traffic usually causes 20-30 minute delays at the tunnel.

If you choose that option, leave yourselves a lot of extra time in the morning.

 

[ilovefh]

I don't think you want to stay there. . Go to cruise critic.com east coast departure boards - they will hook you up. Give them the dates if your sailing and budget, and I'm sure they will give you a few good options. We just drive and park at the pier ($40 a day but very easy), but we are 10 miles away.

Thank you for the great advice! I don't know why I didn't think to go there!

 

[Imzadi]

An alternate is to find a hotel close to the Path trains, like near Hoboken. There are minimal delays on Path trains as they ride on train tracks underground.

 

[Imzadi]

Here is a 60 minute traffic delay that I just snipped off the news just a few minutes ago. While it's a train delay, instead of a road delay, these kinds of delays are NORMAL here. And there is no special weather event or 'out of the norm' traffic problem as far as I know.

Believe me, when I say, you'd rather be stuck on the Manhattan side early than on the NJ side in a delay.

 

[TinkerBelled]

What about driving down to Connecticut, parking at one of the overnight stations (New Haven, Stamford, etc.), and then taking the Metro-North train into New York? It's cheaper than Amtrak and faster than the bus. (Or, you can take the Amtrak from New Haven or Stamford, if you'd prefer, with the backup of M-N in case there are delays.)

 

[Imzadi]

I think the train websites now give up-to-the-minute updates on whether trains are on schedule or how much of a delay there is.