R715 Canada and USA

[AileenB]

On browsing whatsinport website, I notice that Aurora will be berthed at Brooklyn not Manhattan. Has anyone got any advice on getting to Manhattan from there? Thanks.

[Happydays]

We just got a taxi. Our journey was from Brooklyn to Manhattan at the end of our cruise last year in September cost approx $45-50

[AileenB]

Thanks, Happydays. The above cruise is in NY for 2 days. If the only way to get to and fro to Manhattan is a taxi, then it will be a wee bit expensive! I wonder if there will be some sort of shuttle laid on. I can always hope!!

[Dancing Queen]

The last time we did this cruise Aileen we docked in Brooklyn and there was a shuttle, I remember this had to be paid for but sorry I can't remember how much it was or if we had to pre book it I think we probably did.

I do remember reading somewhere that is very easy to DIY on the train I will have a look and see if I can find the link for you.

[Mervyn and Trish]

It's not a long journey but is usually very slow which is why the taxi fare is pretty steep.

[Happydays]

When we were going Brooklyn to Manhattan at the end of a cruise (princess) the cost of a taxi was almost the same price as the shuttle but obviously with a taxi your taken directly to your hotel. It took about 30 minutes we stayed at the Fitzpatric Manhattan at the north on Lexington Avenue. There is a train but you have to change platforms and get a connection etc and we couldn't be bothered as we had our luggage. Your circumstances are different as I understand your stay shall be part of the cruise. Enjoy your stay.

[AileenB]

Many thanks everyone! Hopefully, the lovely people at P&O will arrange a shuttle. Will also look into trains in case.

[EileenB]

Hi
We are also on this cruise and were very disappointed to find that we will be docking in Brooklyn. We asked our TA if P&O would be providing shuttle buses to Manhattan, he came back with conflicting reports. However, he then said it was a reliable source that told him there WOULD be shuttle buses.
We were not satisfied with this reply so e-mailed Christopher Edgington to see if he could provide a definitive answer. We got an immediate response from him saying he would ask one of his team to investigate, two days later we received a telephone call from the P&O Customer Relations. The bad news is, that P&O will NOT be providing shuttle buses at this Port.
The options now appear to be expensive taxi fares to and from the ship or a very inconvenient public transport system. Hope P&O have a change of mind.
EileenB

[AileenB]

Thank you Eileen B for getting this information. This is disappointing news indeed!

[prefdavid]

I'm rather surprised at this information as if you download P&O's shuttle information .pdf, this very clearly states that a Shuttle IS available from Brooklyn but NOT from Manhattan.

[AileenB]

Thanks, Prefdavid. Will investigate further.

[prefdavid]

There's now a significant amount of discussion elsewhere about where Aurora is docking in New York and whether or not P&O will be providing a shuttle service if it's Brooklyn rather than Manhattan. Suggest it might be worth doing some checking and if the rumour that it's Brooklyn and there is no shuttle available, then perhaps we can all contact P&O to protest that's not the service we were expecting.

[AileenB]

Have just read some of the discussion. Some of the responses from P&O are laughable re shuttle provision at Brooklyn! Clearly they are unaware of their own pdf. To say that there has never been a shuttle from Brooklyn is an untruth. I agree with David that we should all contact P&O. (I wonder how many different reponses we'll get)

[AileenB]

Interesting photo now on FB P&O group!

[AileenB]

Ok. So there will be no free shuttle. They are trying to remove the information saying that they provide shuttles..... and apparently there's no need to tell passengers any of this before they get on board as as "this has been in place for the last 10 years" !!!! No idea what is meant by "this" or where "this" can be found!!!

[prefdavid]

Well it seems it's definitely Brooklyn and definitely no Shuttle service. Here's the responses received from P&O:-

First response:-
Thank you for your email dated 24th April addressed to Christopher Edgington, who has asked me to respond to you on his behalf.
A shuttle from this terminal was a service that in previous years, we have been able to offer and hence why the port sheet on our website had stated this. Whilst we look to offer a shuttle service where possible, unfortunately, we are not able to provide this service from Brooklyn terminal for our passengers on this cruise. This has been confirmed by our Port Operations team here at Carnival House and this information has now been removed from our website. I hope this helps to clarify the situation and I am sorry for any disappointment caused.
I trust that despite this, you will continue to look forward to your upcoming holiday and may you return with many happy memories.

I replied with:-

Thank you for your reply XXXXXXXX

In that case I would like to know what P&O plan to do to help their customers who were first expecting to dock in Manhattan and secondly, if docking in Brooklyn, were expecting the shuttle service that was clearly stated in your documentation as being provided.

To say you've now amended your documentation does not change the fact that this has been misrepresented until now and was present at the time this cruise was booked.

Second Response:-
Thank you for your email.

The document you are referring to is a guide as does not confirm that shuttle services will be provided at the ports of call mentioned on all occasions. We do state in both our brochures and Cruise Personaliser that information regarding shuttle services will be confirmed once you are on board. We do not guarantee that we will be able to provide these services at all ports of call and unfortunately we are restricted by Brooklyn port authorities from offering this service.

I regret your disappointment however passengers will need to make their own travel arrangements should they wish to travel to Manhattan.

[AileenB]

Pretty much the same response as from my email to P&O. They just don't seem to understand that all passengers need this information now, especially given the limited travel options for independent visits to Manhattan. They said they would pass on my suggestion that they do so "for consideration..." (See my earlier post on the Cruising to New York.... thread)

[Dancing Queen]

You could try going further up the ladder from Christopher Edgington and email the Chairman David Dingle.

This is an old email address from when he was CEO but as far as I know it is still currrent.

david.dingle@carnivalukgroup.com

[david63]

They just don't seem to understand that all passengers need this information now, especially given the limited travel options for independent visits to Manhattan.

If, heaven forbid, I was a cynical person I would say that some/part/all (delete as appropriate) of the reason for no shuttle is to "encourage" passengers to use the excursions.

[Tapstep2]

Agree entirely. And, if they wait until passengers are on board before announcing the changes, they will have little opportunity to make their own arrangements and therefore be far more likely to book the excursions.

[Dancing Queen]

I wouldn't say you are being cynical at all David btw I don't remember posting your quote although I agree with it 100% ( but I won't the credit )

From what I'm reading elsewhere it appears it is the Port Authority at Brooklyn who won't sanction the use of shuttles but I would have thought there was a very simple solution to that .. advertise it as a tour 'Manhattan on your Own' and charge a nominal amount which I'm sure the majority of passengers wouldn't object to.

There will be many people doing this cruise who won't belong to a forum or FB and will just assume they will be transported into Manhattan in fact many probably won't even be aware that Brooklyn is across the river.

[prefdavid]

I wouldn't say you are being cynical at all David btw I don't remember posting your quote although I agree with it 100% ( but I won't the credit )

From what I'm reading elsewhere it appears it is the Port Authority at Brooklyn who won't sanction the use of shuttles but I would have thought there was a very simple solution to that .. advertise it as a tour 'Manhattan on your Own' and charge a nominal amount which I'm sure the majority of passengers wouldn't object to.

There will be many people doing this cruise who won't belong to a forum or FB and will just assume they will be transported into Manhattan in fact many probably won't even be aware that Brooklyn is across the river.

Totally agree with what you've written Jo and very disappointed with P&O's response on this particular subject. I think I'm probably going to try one further attempt to convey my feeling of being let down by P&O to Mr. Edgington but this is certainly making us reconsider the couple of cruises in late 2018 we were considering booking with P&O.

[Missey]

Well this port was a bit of a disaster regarding getting into Manhattan and the main attractions of New York. The hourly ferry which arrived to take us to Dumbo Park held only 145 passengers and we were it`s third stop, so, as you can imagine it was already half full. After waiting another hour we decided to catch a local bus and was told a ticket could be obtained from a shop about a 5 to 10 minute walk from he ship, however, the shop was closed for the day but locals informed us that we could access the bus if we had 11 quarters in change (no paper money or other currency would be accepted). Well, as it was our first port of call in the USA and not knowing about how the bus service operated, we ended up walking to Dumbo park which was about 2-3 miles, which was exhausting. Not one taxi, or that particular bus passed us by and we learnt afterwards that taxi`s don`t like to go into Brooklyn because there is no return fares to be had and excessive road works in the city, were preventing the bus keeping to it`s time table, they simply took it off.
I only think we were lucky we were able to do that walk and that the weather was fine, but we heard that many disabled passengers just stayed around the dock area which was just one big dumping ground and feel P&O should be ashamed of their actions concerning this port of call. They gave passengers who had paid their fares up front, no prior warning that they were going to dock in Brooklyn and being a regular on this itinerary, like most passengers, was expecting to dock in Manhattan. If P&O are going to use this port in future, I will not be booking this itinerary and if I want to do it again, will probably book another cruise line even if it means flying to the USA.

[Manoverboard]

Have to ask ... didn't P&O offer their passengers a ' New York on your own ' type tour ?

[Happydays]

As I said before we used a taxi going from Brooklyn into Manhattan. There were plenty at the terminal when we were there. We were told that the port authority don't allow a bus shuttle via the cruise ships. Don't know if that's true or just rumour.
A lot of the alternative cruise lines use Brooklyn as their port in NY. We were on Princess Cruises and weren't told which port until nearer the departure date, although I did look up "What's in Port" to try plan ahead. I do think you have to do some back ground checking yourself for any cruise