The East River ....

 

… separates Manhattan from Brooklyn.  There are many ways to cross it.  One Sunday morning we managed to do this five times.

We had decided to take one of New York’s excellent ferries from Lower Manhattan directly to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.  We had plenty of time to spare as boarding did not begin until 13:00 and the last boarding time was 16:00.

After taking a bus from New Jersey to the Port Authority bus terminal in mid-Manhattan we worked out which subway line we needed to take.  NYCs subway is complicated at the best of times and it’s even worse on Sunday mornings as that's when they do track maintenance.  Despite following signs and getting the opinions of several citizens of New York, we somehow ended up crossing the Williamsburg Bridge.  Lovely part of  Brooklyn … but a long way from the Cruise Terminal.  So we doubled back (another fare!) and made our way down Wall Street to the ferry terminal at the foot of Water Street.

By now, we had burned up a bit of time and were starting to have visions of the QM2 leaving without us so we thought we’d better skip lunch and get on the first available ferry.  A ferry employee pointed us to a ferry that was supposed to stop at Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and we took her word for it.  A mistake … we should have verified this with the on-board crew who, if nothing else, should at least know where they are going.

So we had a nice trip in the fog and rain down the East River on our way to Rockaway Beach which is nowhere near the Cruise Terminal!  Fortunately, it made a stop at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, aka Sunset Park in better weather,  where we disembarked and waited for another ferry to take us back (yet another fare)

By now, time was running a bit short but it still looked like we would be able to make our appointed boarding time for the QM2.  We hopped on the ferry and had a wonderful close-up view of the QM2 as it was moored at the Terminal.  The ferry continued right past it … and didn’t stop.  For some reason, it goes to Governor’s Island first and then back to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal!

So that’s three trips across the East River by ferry and two by subway.

Fortunately, it’s a short walk from the ferry dock to the QM2 terminal so we arrived in good time.  On boarding the QM2, there's  a sign saying "Leaving Brooklyn - Fuhggedaboutit"