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Something like 1/3 of hotel capacity is off the market housing migrants and new hotels are being put directly to use as shelters as it is more profitable for the owners, this is the main driver of the crazy rates I believe !
Makes the UK small boat crisis look like a (Boston) tea party if these stats are correct.
Someone’s already mentioned Wholefoods, it’s where we eat on every US trip now. Hot breakfast buffet, hot dinner buffet, salad bars all at around $12/lb
Ace tip, thank you. That’ll be a darn sight healthier than heavily processed US fast food.
I have to ask, is the OP winding us up?🔝
Not everyone spends a fortune on QM2 transatlantic crossings so the question is certainly relevant for anyone not splurging. Some cabins are good value for such a lavish experience: £1600 per person looking just now.
I’ve found prices as low as £549 per person if sharing an inside cabin, although that’s for an Eastbound crossing. That’s for the basic fare, it costs a couple of hundred more per person to upgrade to a booking that allows you to select your cabin, your sitting time for dinner and usually includes some on-board spending money too so it’s worthwhile if you’re planning to enjoy a few drinks during the week or plan to avail yourself of any of the paid-for services, like the ship tour, visiting the spa, or even just drinking posh coffee now and then.
Good to know @Londonsteve. Our first trip will be a retirement trip in a little over a year so we’ve gone all in with Queen’s Grill. Where do you hunt for bargains like the one you mention?
I use vacationstogo and cruise compete. Always cheaper than booking direct.
Sometimes offers are restricted to, say, US residents. Never wanted to risk “staying” at the kid’s address, just in case!
Where do you hunt for bargains like the one you mention?
It’s on the Cunard site! Note that this is for a relatively late booking, for Oct, Nov and Dec departures, former two are Eastbound and Dec is Westbound but arrives a few days before Christmas meaning it would be hard to get back in time for Xmas. Prices are between 549 and 649 p/p for inside cabins. The same prices for popular sailings next summer, especially those with a specialist theme appear to go up to £1600 p/p.
PS – if you buy 100 shares in CCL, you will get a $100 on board credit. They are currently trading at under £11 a share. If you cruise with CCL companies on a regular basis, they are worth considering.
Bike hire is inexpensive and there’s an amazing amount of bike lanes in Manhatttan. One time I rented from Central Park, rode all around there, across and down the west side trail past the Intrepid, cut across to Wall Street, rode across the Brooklyn Bridge, (don’t do that on a Saturday, it’s rammed) back across the Manhattan Bridge, and down to the Staten Island Ferry. Took the bike across on the ferry, then back to Battery park and dropped the bike off there. Was a really memorable day.
Agree with just wandering too. Cable car across to Roosevelt island for the price of a subway ride is fun if you’ve done everything else.
Just to add, if it’s a wet day, the NY Transit Museum in Brooklyn is worth a visit and wasn’t expensive. Think like most museums you need to book in advance. My kids still remember their visit, which was many years ago. We’ve also been to Coney Island and Brighton Beach – just the cost of a subway ticket. They were interesting but that was pre Covid. Also you could take the LIRR from Penn Station to Long Island and go for a wander there. If you want to walk along another beach you could take the ferry to Fire Island, but depends when you’ll be in NYC.
Coney Island in December was a bracing walk.
You mentioned the historic aspect of travelling to NYC by sea. If you didn’t do it on your first visit, you might enjoy a visit to the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island, where you will be able to contrast and compare your voyage on QM2 with those of the poor huddled masses who crossed in rather different conditions, not knowing whether or not they would leave Ellis Island and finally set foot on Manhattan.
If you are reasonably fit, then just walking around NYC is cheap and fulfilling. Plus 1 for the High Line, Central Park and wherever else takes your fancy. I neglected the park for years as there was so much else to see and do, but I loved the terraces and the iconic Angel statue, the boating lake made famous by Ella long before Carrie and Mr Big fell in it, and of course the nearby Dakota Building. On my last trip, which was my last trip, I walked from Central Park across to Riverside Drive and down to the Intrepid. For a Liza Minelli fan like me, I was humming “Ring Them Bells” much of the way.
I loved the Intrepid museum. As well as Concorde, there is a submarine and the Space Shuttle prototype, Enterprise.
Definitely try and get a daytime flight back. It really helps with the jetlag, and gives you time to enjoy the J class service instead of sleeping through it.
Accommodation? I’ve stayed in different hotels every time I have been, so I wouldn’t recommend a particular one as it all depends on availability when you will be visiting.
Thank you all for your continued contributions. They make for very interesting reading. Despite being somewhat hesitant about the idea of ending up in NYC, I’m now really looking forward to it. It’s clear that there’s plenty to do that doesn’t involve parting with vast sums of money. I guess the same could be said about any city if you look hard enough but NYC has that reputation and eating out is expensive, even the hot dog sellers on Times Square will charge an arm and a leg, I’m sure (not that’s I’d buy one!). Keeping the food bill down will probably be the hardest aspect of the visit, assuming I manage to find sensibly priced accommodation.
Some metro lines are better than the others and some Brooklyn neighborhoods are so too.
I’d stay in Williamsburg, which has the L line and the Ferry, and is close to the city for an Uber ride – if needed.
I also find the City tired and overrated, but still love Brooklyn.
I’m more optimistic about the weed smell, it is a slow transition for normalisation in a country that initiated the “war on drugs”. It’ll take time.
Here’s some of my top free/cheapish tips for NYC:
1. Walk around the City. There’s always something going on. Pick old historic neighbourhoods like Chinatown, the lower east side, Greenwich Village etc. The High Line is a particular highlight, especially early in the morning as you can watch the City wake up and it’s fairly quiet on the walkway.
2. The museums. Can add up so select a few. The Met as outlined above has some fantastic free tours, and the roof top bar does have the best views of Central Park and Midtown. The Tenement museum and the Immigration museum (included for free with the boat ticket to Liberty Island) are outstanding.
3. NYC has an excellent ‘foodhall’ culture where you can get high quality food with an endless choice of cuisine for a reasonable price – just search for ‘foodhall’ on the map and they’ll come up
4. For food, remember portion sizes tend to be massive. We’d share a breakfast bagel given they were full to the brim. Stick to local neighbourhood bakeries/sandwiches etc., as they tend to be more reasonably priced. Food is really expensive in NYC (remember to add +20% tip to the cost) and hard to give advice here as it depends on accommodation (e.g. free breakfast included, or AirBnB where you can make your lunches etc.). It’s something you’ll have to think about if keeping costs low.
5. For fantastic views of Manhattan, getting the PATH to Hoboken and walking along the promenade there gives you an amazing view of Manhattan with some nice parks and walkways
6. Central Park (and other parks in Queens/Brooklyn) are free to to walk and explore. There’s a park called ‘Little Island’ near the pier where you’ll dock – it’s a nice place to walk around, as is Pier 55 there. Again, a free rootop with amazing views.
In terms of accommodation, we stayed in Hoboken – across the river in NJ. It’s a fairly residential place and has a nice atmosphere with plenty of bars, restaurants, coffee shops etc. If you want the NYC experience without the bussiness and touristy nature of the City, it’s a good place to stay.
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