Cruising Out of New York City

Luxury Ships Sail from Brooklyn and Manhattan Cruise Terminals

Sep 2, 2008

Transatlantic, Caribbean and Canada / New England cruises are offered out of New York cruise terminals.

Sailing out of New York is a great option for the millions of New York City area residents. It’s also ideal for people wanting to see Manhattan before taking a cruise.

New York City’s two cruise ship ports are located in the west side of Manhattan and Red Hook, Brooklyn. Major cruise lines including Norwegian, Princess, Holland America and Cunard offer itineraries from New York’s terminals.

The fourth busiest cruise terminal in the United States, the Manhattan cruise terminal has been accommodating ship passengers since the 1930s. The terminal was an emergency command centre for state and federal agencies for several months following the September 11 terrorist attack.

The Manhattan cruise terminal is the primary home port for Transatlantic crossings to and from Europe. Other itineraries include Bermuda, Canada and the Caribbean.

Norwegian Cruise Lines has three ships regularly visiting the Manhattan port. The Norwegian Spirit offers a two-day New York trip or a 6-day Canada / New England route. Ports of call in the Canada / New England run include Halifax, Saint John, Boston and Martha’s Vineyard. The Norwegian Dawn offers 1-week cruises to Bermuda from May to October. The Norwegian Gem offers 7-day trips to the Bahamas, Florida and the Caribbean.

Holland America has two ships: the Eurodam and the Rotterdam sailing out of Manhattan. The Eurodam offers 10-day Canada/New England cruises visiting Boston, Bar Harbour, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Quebec City and Saguenay Fjords. The Rotterdam offers longer Transtlantic itineraries making stops in the east coast of Canada plus England, Ireland and France.

Located opposite Governors Island in Red Hook, the Brooklyn cruise terminal is a 180,000 square foot terminal with a 500 car parking area plus taxi and bus drop off areas.

The Caribbean Princess calls the Brooklyn port home from May to October. This luxury 113,000 tonnes Princess ship visits the Caribbean from May to August. Ports of call include Bermuda, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and Grand Turk. In the fall from September – November, the ship heads north to see the fall foliage in Canada and New England. Ports of call include Boston, Halifax, Saint John, Bar Harbour and Newport.

The Queen Mary 2 also docks in the Brooklyn cruise terminal offering Transatlantic voyages to England. The journey from Brooklyn to Southhampton, England takes six days and runs from April to November.

How to Get There

From Long Island: take the Queens-Midtown tunnel, go west on 34th Street to 12th Avenue. Continue north to the cruise terminal.

From Midtown Manhattan: take 55th street and cross 12th Avenue to enter the terminal.

By Subway: the closest subway trains to the cruise terminal are trains A, B, C, D, or 1 at Columbus Circle.

From the John F. Kennedy Airport: take the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I278-E) to Exit 26 Hamilton Avenue. Turn left on Van Brunt Street, after two blocks make a right at Bowne Street.

From Manhattan and from the LaGuardia Airport: take the westbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I278-E) to Exit 26 Hamilton Avenue. Stay to the left and make a U-turn at the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and Clinton Street/9th Street. Turn left on Van Brunt Street, after two blocks make a right at Bowne Street.

By subway: take the F train to Smith/9th Street station. Then, take the B77 bus to Conover Street and Dikeman Street. Walk six blocks to the terminal entrance.

The copyright of the article Cruising Out of New York City in Cruise Lines & Routes is owned by Sharon Cheung. Permission to republish Cruising Out of New York City in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.