WorldGallery

I am realizing I better start thinking about transportation to and from our hotel. We are a family of 7 arriving on a Wednesday at Newark. Our arrival time is 10:45 AM so we should be good in regards to beating the traffic. We will have about 3 large suitcases and 5 carryons. We are staying in midtown at the Affinia Dumont. Any suggestions? Should I book now?
Thanks.
PS Is the PATH train included in the 7 day unlimited metro card?

nyer

The PATH train is a different system, so no the NYC Metrocards are not valid for it.

NJ Transit trains from Newark to Penn Station in midtown Manhattan are about $15 per person (adult). There are escalators and maybe stairs involved in NYC. You'd still need to get across town (about half mile) to get to the Affinia Dumont

You could take two regular sized car service cars for about $60 each door to door. Call or contact the companies (Carmel, Dial 7 , and others) to see how much a van or minivan to fit all of you would compare in price.
SuperShuttle is usually a bad idea in the NYC area since they seem to follow the worst routes dropping people off, but if you were to reserve the entire van for your group, it might make sense.

Should you book now? When is your trip? Also, while 10:45 am isn't rush hour, traffic can be busy at any time entering NY. Do you have specific plans for that day that mean you have to be at your hotel by a certain time?

doug_stallings

You can use the metro card on the PATH but nt the unlimited card, just regular pay per ride.

You'll need to rent a minivan from one of the car services, either Dial 7 or Carmel. Otherwise you take the airport bus to the drop near Grand Central, but the car service is your best bet and may cost no more. I expect you'll pay $90 or $100. You definitely want a car service, and the Path will be of no use to you. Call to get a price quote and definitely make a reservation, then call to arrange the actual pick up when you have retrieved all your bags. A couple of days in advance is usually sufficient.

doug_stallings

By the way, there's no free transfer to the NYC subway from the Path when you are using a Metrocard.

WorldGallery

Thanks for the info.
We were wanting to use the Path train to get to Carlos bakery on one of our days in NYC. I tried to talk my kids out of it, telling them about the long lines and making sure they understand that they will not meet Buddy, but they really want to go (is morning best?). When I use Google Maps, the route shows the PATH train. I thought it was just a continuation of the subway. I am trying to get an understanding of the "whole" public transportation system since we plan to use it the whole trip.

We would like to fit in some things that day but dont have specific plans. We are going to see how tired we are. We are coming from New Orleans, which is a non-stop, 2 hour and 50 min. flight but we have leave very early in the morning. I am assuming we will be at the hotel and settled by 1:30 (flight arrives at 10:45AM)

Looks like we need to use a car service and get a van.
Thanks

Kealalani

I don't see a van holding 8 people, 3 large suitcases and 5 carryons.

nytraveler

You need to get in touch with Dial 7 and Carmel, describe how many there are (and do you need any car seats) and how much luggage then have. There are 10 passenger vans that might hold all of you plus the luggage - but you definitely need to reserve in advanace. Be aware that as well as the price quoted you will need to pay for the tunnel toll ($8) and a 20% tip (of fare but not toll) is expected.

lincasanova

Take a look at www.dial7.com and take a limo.. it will be memorable and is not as expensive as people think.

doug_stallings

If you can't get a van from Dial 7 or Carmel, you can from Super Shuttle. It costs $115 (not including tolls or tip). This is a bit more than I thought, and I suspect Dial 7 or Carmel will charge a similar price. Basically, you're talking $150 by the time everything is taken into account instead if $120 as I originally thought ... so it's quite a bit more what you'd pay on the Airtrain, unfortunately (the latter costs $12.50 per person each way). The Airport bus is similar in cost but drops you off a bit closer to your hotel (about 7 blocks north, a 10-minute walk).

Now I'm thinking that if you want to save a little money, you should go ahead and just take the train to Penn Station. You're going to be buying an unlimited Metrocard anyway, and you can do that at Penn Station on arrival, though you'd have to hop on a crowded city bus or walk about 15 to 20 minutes to the hotel. If the kids are up for walking, it's quite do-able and often faster than the bus, and it's probably faster than a van service. I do this all the time since I live near the Affinia Dumont. Otherwise, the bus stops at the corner near your hotel.

The advantage of the van is that it takes you right to the door of the hotel, and while I don't usually like SuperShuttle, you'll have fewer problems if you are getting an exclusive van for just your family. I'd still say go with Carmel or Dial 7 if you can ... just to avoid SuperShuttle. Either way, you'll have to reserve a van for the ride back to the airport if it's really early. Again, do that a few days in advance.

lincasanova

nytraveler..don't know why I didn't see your post.. wasn't paying attention, I guess.

HappyTrvlr

We have had excellent experiences using Carmel.

nytraveler

The trouble with the trains is the 5 kids. The OP hasn;t said how old they are.

If they're teens and reliable it's fine. But if they have all that luggage and several younger kids that have to held onto and shephereded around the train could be difficult.

bspielman

WG, trying to understand the New York area's "whole" public transportation system is difficult enough for residents here, let alone visitors from out of town.

Unlike most public transport systems, the subway was cobbled together years ago into a unified operation (more or less), now operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, from three different privately owned systems. (Some old-timers still refer to the BMT, IND and IRT, acronyms for the names of the companies that ran the former systems.)

Along with the subways, there are three different commuter railroads (The Long Island Railroad, Metro-North and NJTransit) serving the tri-state area from Manhattan, each with several lines to different terminuses on their respective systems. Originally private railroads, they are all now operated by state transit agencies and are not integrated with the subways, although a traveler can transfer to and from them at certain places in the subway system, namely Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal.

The PATH system (Port Authority Trans-Hudson), also originally a privately-owned railroad (the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad), though more like a subway in design, is now operated by the PA, as its name implies. As has been noted above, it isn't really integrated with the NYC subway, either, although some common fare arrangements have been implemented in the last few years. It has two lines to New Jersey from Manhattan, one from the World Trade Center site and the other running essentially down Sixth Avenue from 33rd Street.

I haven't even mentioned buses, also not integrated with the subway. That's for another post.

Suffice to say, with all the different public agencies operating these services, one would think more integration would be possible. "Turf wars" have prevented that for all these many years, however.

mclaurie

There are a couple of different websites for getting directions from point to point and there's often more than 1 way to travel. Maps.google.com is a great tool. All you need do is type the trip (ie Newark airport newark nj to Affinia Dumont NYC) and you'll get a driving map that shows you the distance and estimated time to drive. If you click on the train icon at the top, it gives you public transport directions. I'll repeat, there are usually several ways to do the same trip and each website may show a slightly different option. You may sometimes need to confirm the correct location for 1 or both of your points and this can be confusing for someone not familiar with the area or not sure.
http://tripplanner.mta.info/_start.aspx
is another site for directions.

In the case of your trip from Newark airport to the hotel, google maps gives something like 6 different traveling options. Given the number of people you have and especially if there are kids, I'd strongly urge you to find a car service that will give you door to door service like dial7.com or allstatelimo.com

The PATH trains are like a subway but not the same as the NYC subway system have several different stops in Manhattan and those stops also have subway stations so you can transfer.
Here's a PATH map http://newyorkcity2005.web.infoseek....s/path-map.jpg
You'll notice there are some stations in common with the NYC subway system but they're all in Manhattan. To get to Carlos Bakery, you can walk or take a crosstown bus to the 33 st. PATH station and take the PATH to Hoboken. The bakery is a short walk from the PATH station and not very complicated.

Google maps also has a 'search nearby' feature that lets you search for anything from a restaurant to a dry cleaner, subway station, etc. by clicking search nearby and typing in the box you get whatever you want.

Kealalani

my above comment was regarding a suggestion of a mini van. I see now that there are plenty of 14 passenger vans available that would fit everyone and luggage.

really enjoying the rally to find a solution here for OP

WorldGallery

Wow!! This is great! I am going to start checking out the private van options. My kids are ages 10 - 16 but I can't see us walking down the street or going into a station with our luggage, especially since this is their 1st time to NYC. I am sure it will be overwhelming to some degree.

I had heard of the App for Hop Stop so I think I will download and use it on our iphone. I am hoping to be able to put in all of the addresses beforehand and then be ready each day to go. Are there any other Apps that are better than Hop Stop and does the phone work once you go underground to the subway?

Thanks everyone!
Also, what about taking the ferry over to Hoboken? I can't really find out exactly where to catch it but do see on Google Maps that there is a ferry pier very close to Carlos bakery on the NJ side.

mclaurie

Some info on apps for the iphone. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic..._New_York.html
Don't depend on service for the phone while you're underground.

Using the PATH train to Carlos is easier from your hotel. The PATH train station is near Macy's at Herald Square. You can either walk there from your hotel or take the M16 bus heading west that stops almost in front of your hotel.

Nywaterway.com is the company that does the ferries between NYC and NJ. Frankly I'm not sure from where you'd need to get on to go to Hoboken but they can help at NYwaterway. I though you'd have to get on at Pier 11 at Wall st. but that may not be so.
http://www.nywaterway.com/FerryRoutesSchedules.aspx

There's a free bus that travels around the city if you're using the ferry. What I'm not sure of is whether the bus schedule will work for you.

nytraveler

While the ferries may seem like a goo idea they are much more expensive the PATH - I think in the region of $20 round trip - for your group it could be $140. I would stick with the subway. If you want a water view consider the free Staten Island ferry. It runs every 5 min during the day - 20 in the evening and a RT takes about 1.25 hours. It will give you good view of the Statue of Liberty, nice views of the harbor (huge) and fantastic views of the city skyline on the way back.

doug_stallings

Phones don't work in the subway (either in the trains or in virtually all stations). In a few cases, the signal can leak down into the station, but rarely. I can sometimes get service by the Shuttle train in the Times Square station and in some of the other stations when I stand in exactly the right place, but real cell service hasn't been installed underground yet, as in Washington, DC.

Hopstop is good, and I don't know of another that gives better directions.

The ferry doesn't run often on the weekends, and it costs about $6 to $10 per person each way ... not the most economical way. But there's a handy Path Station at 33rd Street (near Penn Station ... a reasonable walk from your hotel). I do that for Hoboken, but I don't know how to get to the bakery you want to visit.

bspielman

Carlos Bakery is at 95 Washington Street in Hoboken, just a few blocks from the NJTransit Hoboken terminal, which is also the end of the PATH Hoboken line.