Sept. 7, 2012 - Magic NYC - Canada

[AB6876]

Yay I got my cruise docs today. Now I just have to buy my train tickets into the city.. I saw somewhere that the walk from penn station is not that bad. My husband and I don't mind walking, but I am curious, is it a 30 minute walk or longer??? We will get a cab to the port if we need it, but I prefer walking. We only plan on two small bags.. Any info anyone has would be great!! Thanks..

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Yay I got my cruise docs today. Now I just have to buy my train tickets into the city.. I saw somewhere that the walk from penn station is not that bad. My husband and I don't mind walking, but I am curious, is it a 30 minute walk or longer??? We will get a cab to the port if we need it, but I prefer walking. We only plan on two small bags.. Any info anyone has would be great!! Thanks..

It's 20 city blocks from 34th St to 54th, which is not bad. BUT it's from 7th Avenue to 12th Avenue. The Avenues are the longest. You can easily grab a cab right outside of Penn Station. If you want to walk it, keep in mind that one Avenue is about two city blocks long. I'm not sure how long it would take overall.

 

[dthogue]

It's 20 city blocks from 34th St to 54th, which is not bad. BUT it's from 7th Avenue to 12th Avenue. The Avenues are the longest. You can easily grab a cab right outside of Penn Station. If you want to walk it, keep in mind that one Avenue is about two city blocks long. I'm not sure how long it would take overall.

Thank you for that info - my DH thinks we can walk, he's not a city person and doesn't want to ride in a taxi. I have trouble with my feet and I really don't want to start my trip off in pain, limping on board. We might take the subway to 42nd street, walk around a bit, then take a taxi to the port.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

I will tell you that traffic the past few weeks has been lighter than usual. However, once school starts, I'd expect it to pick up a bit.

You're so right. I forgot that we're going AFTER Labor Day not before. Oh well. DH John listens to audio books on his GPS and I'll just go to sleep....NAH.....I'll be too excited. We'll just have to brave the traffic over the GW bridge....unless we take a tunnel. Not sure which way John will want to drive. I leave it up to him since he's in the driver's seat.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Thank you for that info - my DH thinks we can walk, he's not a city person and doesn't want to ride in a taxi. I have trouble with my feet and I really don't want to start my trip off in pain, limping on board. We might take the subway to 42nd street, walk around a bit, then take a taxi to the port.

That sounds like a great plan. Don't forget you can take a bus too. A cross town bus at 42nd Street would be easy to catch. Then you could either walk up 12th Avenue the 12 blocks or grab a cab. Just another idea.

 

[Mom323]

Thanks for all the welcomes!

Just an FYI for all the Marylanders. Sounds like most people are happy not to fly but in case you are interested, Southwest is only $50 each way between BWI and Newark. Is anyone else planning on flying from BWI on the morning of the cruise?

We are traveling by Amtrak. The travel time will be about the same as flying when you figure in the wait at the airport beforehand. The DCL transfers will be $140 if we fly, the cab to and from the train station should be about $40.

 

[maggie_sam]

FYI
For those that have GTY for a Verandah, DCL has closed that category in their online booking for this cruise. I checked Expedia, and they are showing Verandah as sold out. Travelocity is saying call to book verandah category...DCL is still booking all other stateroom categories. Hopeful that it means we will get our stateroom assignment soon!

 

[AB6876]

It's 20 city blocks from 34th St to 54th, which is not bad. BUT it's from 7th Avenue to 12th Avenue. The Avenues are the longest. You can easily grab a cab right outside of Penn Station. If you want to walk it, keep in mind that one Avenue is about two city blocks long. I'm not sure how long it would take overall.

Thank you for the info..... We will play it by ear.. Maybe a cab if it is easy to get one there. I have walked from Penn Station to Times Square so I was curious about the port I have never been there.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Thank you for the info..... We will play it by ear.. Maybe a cab if it is easy to get one there. I have walked from Penn Station to Times Square so I was curious about the port I have never been there.

It's easy to get a cab outside of Penn Station. They are always lined up at the 7th Avenue exit. You should have no problems.

 

[Lauri]

Which ship did you sail? We are doing the Sapphire next June.

We were on the Coral northbound, and did interior Alaska on our own after. We liked Princess more than other cruise lines we have been on, except of course, for DCL.

Lauri

 

[Cindyrellablue]

You're so right. I forgot that we're going AFTER Labor Day not before. Oh well. DH John listens to audio books on his GPS and I'll just go to sleep....NAH.....I'll be too excited. We'll just have to brave the traffic over the GW bridge....unless we take a tunnel. Not sure which way John will want to drive. I leave it up to him since he's in the driver's seat.

I live in Fort Lee (the bridge is in my town) and school starts the day before this cruise. I can see the bridge traffic from my living room...yeah, I'm the person my friends call for traffic updates...and the first week of school can be unpredictable.

Also, please take into consideration when planning your drive that major construction is being done on the Cross Bronx that has the bridge backed up more than usual.

We are seriously considering the Lincoln Tunnel.

 

[dthogue]

day by day we're getting closer

I got out DH's dinner clothing last night and I packed my FE exchange gifts. Startng to put other things together - trying to pack light

 

[DL1957]

Fellow cruisers. I can't seem to find the link to the most current FE. DH and I are almost finished and I am in charge of labeling them. I can only link to the one that shows 45 adults. Would someone please help me. Thank you! Sue

 

[Mom323]

Fellow cruisers. I can't seem to find the link to the most current FE. DH and I are almost finished and I am in charge of labeling them. I can only link to the one that shows 45 adults. Would someone please help me. Thank you! Sue

As requested, here is the FE list based off of the entries via the previously posted webform:

Excel Version
PDF Version

It looks like a total of 43 Adults and 12 Children across 22 staterooms!

The webform will remain live to grab any folks that want to add their name, however the consensus on the thread was to have a "cutoff" by the 1st (today). We always have a few extra FE gifts, or create something in case a last minute participant wants to join in.

Webform Link

Many questions have either come up here, or via private message about how to read the spreadsheet.

The original intention was to have participants fill out a webform, which automatically updated a spreadsheet. Since a few cruisers wanted to either see the list prior to the 1st (today) or wanted to update their previously entered information, it was opened for viewing via a different link. Some cruisers started entering information directly into the spreadsheet, rather than via the webform. Which is fine, however the webform was changed due to feedback received, and the existing cells could not be modified or it would break the links in the data table back to the webform.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion. Feel free to shoot me an email with any questions! eoppie AT gmail DOT com

This might be it. Hope it helps.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Just wondering if this has been updated? Would love to get a full list of all of us.

Thanks,
Linda

 

[dthogue]

This might be it. Hope it helps.

those links are not the updated version - try this

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgIj_cWvlVITdHU1ZXFrcExYT3IxRk9TRGE3MmpqSEE#gid=0

Not sure if it will work - there have been additions to the list since those links were posted.

This whole thing has been very confusing

 

[gometros]

Thank you for that info - my DH thinks we can walk, he's not a city person and doesn't want to ride in a taxi. I have trouble with my feet and I really don't want to start my trip off in pain, limping on board. We might take the subway to 42nd street, walk around a bit, then take a taxi to the port.

Ella gave you pretty good answers, but I also want to chime in that walk is a one and a half mile walk. While doable under normal conditions, I would not recommend it when walking with luggage in tow. Now if you are talking about going to Times Square, that you can actually do, since it's right up 7th Avenue. And then I walk grab a cab to the pier.

I live in Fort Lee (the bridge is in my town) and school starts the day before this cruise. I can see the bridge traffic from my living room...yeah, I'm the person my friends call for traffic updates...and the first week of school can be unpredictable.

Also, please take into consideration when planning your drive that major construction is being done on the Cross Bronx that has the bridge backed up more than usual.

We are seriously considering the Lincoln Tunnel.

I used to work at a Mack-Cali building right on the Ft. Lee side of the bridge. It was always cool looking out the window at the bridge traffic.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

I live in Fort Lee (the bridge is in my town) and school starts the day before this cruise. I can see the bridge traffic from my living room...yeah, I'm the person my friends call for traffic updates...and the first week of school can be unpredictable.

Also, please take into consideration when planning your drive that major construction is being done on the Cross Bronx that has the bridge backed up more than usual.

We are seriously considering the Lincoln Tunnel.

Thanks for the heads up. I know where Fort Lee is. I used to have a friend that lived there and I would go there often. I won't be taking the GW bridge then.

Isn't the Lincoln Tunnel having some major reconstruction done on it too. I think it will be ongoing for a while. Maybe we'll have to take the Holland Tunnel?

 

[EllaEnchanted]

day by day we're getting closer

I got out DH's dinner clothing last night and I packed my FE exchange gifts. Startng to put other things together - trying to pack light

YAY!!!! How exciting....it won't be long now!!!

 

[gometros]

Thanks for the heads up. I know where Fort Lee is. I used to have a friend that lived there and I would go there often. I won't be taking the GW bridge then.

Isn't the Lincoln Tunnel having some major reconstruction done on it too. I think it will be ongoing for a while. Maybe we'll have to take the Holland Tunnel?

The Lincoln Tunnel construction is only at night, 10:30pm to 5:00am. It has not been affecting morning traffic.