How to Get to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal From Manhattan

Question

Accepted Answer

There's no subway to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, so from Manhattan take a taxi or car service to 72 Bowne Street in Red Hook, or ride the 2, 3, 4, 5, N or R to Borough Hall and change to the B61 bus on Atlantic Avenue at Court Street.

The short answer

Take a car. The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal sits at 72 Bowne Street in Red Hook, a corner of Brooklyn the subway never reached, and every transit route to it involves a transfer you'd rather not make while dragging a suitcase.

By taxi or car service

Give the driver 72 Bowne Street, Brooklyn 11231, not just "the cruise terminal", because Brooklyn has more than one pier and Red Hook streets confuse GPS. Cars drop you at the terminal building itself, which is where the porters and the bag drop are. For a sense of scale on fares, the terminal's own directions page puts a taxi from JFK at roughly $45 to $60, and you're starting a lot closer than JFK.

By subway and bus

If you're travelling light, take the 2, 3, 4, 5, N or R to Borough Hall, then pick up the B61 bus on Atlantic Avenue at Court Street. Get off near the terminal and walk four blocks south to the pier. It works, and it's cheap, but it's two vehicles and a walk, and cruise boarding windows don't move for you.

Starting from our block

We're at 17 John Street, and the practical bit is that you're already on the Brooklyn side of Lower Manhattan. Cars pick up on John Street, and the harbor crossing is short. If you want the transit route instead, the Fulton Street station is a block from our door and puts you on the 2, 3, 4 or 5 without a transfer before Borough Hall.

When to leave

Check your cruise line's boarding window and leave earlier than feels necessary. Red Hook has one main road in, and on an embarkation morning several thousand people are using it at once.