Everything & Anything New York City

RedBern

RedBern wrote: »

Hi, I've searched this forum but can't find the posting I'm looking for....
Off to NY in December - and someone posted about a boat trip and dinner and entertainment which she said was once in a lifetime and had made the trip perfect. At the time I remember looking and thinking it was about £40 pp so for 'once in a lifetime' was good - (I may be mistaken about that bit;)) but I've had a search and can only find trips for about 150 dollars! Any help please?

anyone?? I can't find this anywhere...... so any suggestions?

thatsfabulous

screwedagain wrote: »

Hi there,

We used a fairfx card which worked well. Only time it didn't work was on the plane home trying to get duty free stuff

When getting cash look for the Chase ATMs located in the Duane Reade drugstores/supermarkets. They don't charge a 'local' fee so the only thing you'll pay is $2 to the card company for making a withdrawal. Also no charges on point of sale transactions.

Hello
Just got back a few days ago from my 4th trip to NY, had an amazing time as always. Trip report to come in a few days time.
Only ATM we found not to charge our Fairfx mastercard was also Chase- there is some in Grand Central Station if you near to GC.


KARIE-
Cheaper things to buy in the states are brands like OPI nail varnish, Clinique, MAC, Bobby Brown for make up. Clothes brands like Guess,Levi's, Abercrombie, DKNY, Juicy couture, Nike,Ralph Lauren, Tommy, UGG. Pretty much all american brands.
I have just come back and seen Bloomingdales now sells All Saints which is double the price of the UK. French connection is also cheaper here in UK and Hunter wellies too. Lots of ladies were wearing hunter wellies in NY, I priced them up and worked out cheaper here.

karie

great, i will stock up on clinique and abercrombie!! maybe some uggs but not sure i can justify swapping them for my cheapo £10 fake ones

thatsfabulous

Lol Check out Cenury21 downtown they had the cardi Uggs last week. My mum got a Kipling bag from there- also a brand cheaper in the states.
The items I looked at from the Clinique range were the toners and moisturizers they seem to work out the cheapest, my clinique foundation not so much. If you go onto the 'Sephora' USA website you can have a look at prices there to compare. Sephora are great and all over the city. Enjoy!!

mariebar1970

RedBern wrote: »

anyone?? I can't find this anywhere...... so any suggestions?

would this be the boat/ dinner cruise http://www.worldyacht.com/

duchy

I don't think shopping is an "age thing"I have friends in their fifties who shop til they drop in NYC and younger friends who can't be bothered with it.

NYC is like London -Whatever you go for you'll find it there -be it shopping, history, theatre,culture etc . I've never set foot in Maceys for example or century 21 - not because I hate shopping but because there are so many other things to do they've never made it to the top of the list whilst I'm there.

Oh well another good excuse to go back

claire80

Got back monday from our 1st visit to NYC and now im over the jetlag i thought id pop on here and share my experiences.

warning - long post

Weds

flew from heathrow to jfk on american airlines - tip book seats row 20 left right or middle or 41 middle , these all have the extra legroom ! i was impressed by aa actually though my last few flights have been eaasyjet and ryan air ! they were good with the amount of drinks and food services they did and the flight was smooth and on time.
arrived at JFK didnt take too long to do immigration and get bags , waited for a taxi for about 10-15 mins then went to our hotel (beacon hotel on broadway) went staright to bed - was around midnight nyc time at this point

the hotel was nice , decent sized room with 2 beds , small built in wardrobe , 32" tv ,little kitchenette, small bathroom but served its purpose, the hotel proved to be in a great location i would recommend it we paid £700 for 4 nights if anyone is interested. only faults with the hotel was the shower was too powerful and the phone was dusty - hardly cause for complaints.

Thursday

Grabbed a bagel for breakfast and purchased a subway metrocard , we were 2 blocks from subway station on 72nd street - 3 min walk and three trains stopped there so was so easy to get to everywhere and trains every minute or so.

subway to wall street had a walk around and took some piccys of the stock exchange etc.

then walked to the staten island ferry via battery park and the us customs house, had to wait about 20 mins for a ferry we must have just missed one
went on the ferry ride took pics of the SoL and the manhattan coastline , got off the ferry and then straight back on and back again!

we then walked to the world trade centre site had a look in century21 and a few other shops and grabbed a sandwich from a deli type place

we then had a look in some electrical shop (hubbys interest) and walked past city hall then onto the brooklyn bridge , we walked a small way down the bridge took some piccys then headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

after a rest we just had lunch nearby to the hotel - for anyone stopping at the beacon there are loads of places to eat nearby without going into the hustle and bustle

Friday

Big panckaes and syrup breakfast to start us off .
went to see the FlatIron building and popped into macys
then onto madison square gardens for a look and some piccys
had a drink on a rooftop terrace overlooking MSG and the general PO building.
then onto the empire state - i loved the empire state though there was a bit of a queue and i dint really think the $15 to go to the 102nd floor was worth it really but it was less crowded than the 86th at least , it is quite expensive but just one of them things i felt i had to do and didnt regret it , it was a clear cloudless day and the views were amazing.
back to the hotel for a little rest , then into a cab to times square - cabs from the beacon to times square were around $10.
dinner at planet hollywood then a look round m&m world , hershy store and a few other shops in times square.

Saturday
had a look in the time warner centre and columbus circle and grabbed some breakfast.
then a horse and cart ride round central park - again a cliche i know but something i wanted to do regardless.
then had a walk round apple store , fao schwarz tiffanys and a general stroll down 5th avenue (got a necklace from tiffanys for my birthday :j) couldnt afford anything else on 5th avenue lol but was nice to look.
then grand central station - i was impressed by that i have to say , and a look at the chrysler building .
then onto times sqaure and lunch at the hard rock cafe , few more shops then back for a rest again
after another well desrved rest we got a cab to rockerfella plaza looked at the skaters admired the scenery and went up the top of the rock for some nightime views , after that we were completley knackered so grabbed hotdogs etc and went to the hotel.

Sunday
as we were flying out on sunday we just took it easy so we walked to strawberry fields area of central park grabbing a shakeshack on the way and just had a few hours chilling in central park really.
from the beacon the dakota buildings/central park/history museum are all approx 10 mins walk.
we then got a dial7 car that we booked which was fab loads of leg room and arrived a few mins early and went off to jfk - i had booked the cab way to early but we needed to be at jfk for 7 and i was panicking about getting stuck in rush hour traffic and jfk security etc so we arrived at 5:30 , luckily with aa self check in you can dump your bags whenever you like so we got a bite to eat and hung around the airport - was boring but better than not making the flight i suppose.
flight to heathrow was bang on time and we actually made up 40 mins due to the wind so that was nice. and then that was it back home and back to reality.

we did so much in our 3 and a bit days , possibly too much esp as i am 5 and 1/2 month pregnant and supposed to take it easy but as we left the kids behind with grandma we couldnt stop longer.

would we go again - hubby says no , i probobly would though but i have seen albeit breifly everything i wanted to see so if i never get to go again its not the end of the world , however i could find plenty of stuff to occupy me for a 2nd trip

sorry if you all got bored reading this lol , if you havent had enough or just want to be nosey i have some pics here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38525&id=100000002073887&l=433fb3ebdf and here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38529&id=100000002073887

willstewart

Where are the Star Wars bits at? Toys r Us, FAO Swartz, Madam Tousards (sp?) etc?

Going to find the Flatiron building this time. Never seen it in all the times I've been to NYC.

duchy wrote: »

NYC is like London -Whatever you go for you'll find it there -be it shopping, history, theatre,culture etc . I've never set foot in Maceys for example or century 21 - not because I hate shopping but because there are so many other things to do they've never made it to the top of the list whilst I'm there.

Century 21 is a bit like TK Maxx in my opinion. Never found anything of real interest last time I was there, but then again, I'm male and most of it is dedicated to women's clothes and shoes.

Macys is nice to look around but just the same as House Of Fraser.
Do they still have the womens' toilets on the floor with the mens' clothing and the mens' right at the top in the womens' section?

tiff

Anyone help me put an itinerary together, we're off a week on Sunday! I am so rubbish at this. We have 5 nights, travelling with DH and kids aged 12 and 10.

We know we want to go to Ellis Island, the Tenement Museum, Top of the Rock, Times Square, 5th Ave, central park, ground zero museum. What are we missing/would you recommend with kids? We are staying in Greenwich Village. We would also like recommendations on where to eat out, I know there are loads of options!

Where do you get the subway metrocard, is it just in the subway?

claire80

willstewart wrote: »

Where are the Star Wars bits at? Toys r Us, FAO Swartz, Madam Tousards (sp?) etc?

Going to find the Flatiron building this time. Never seen it in all the times I've been to NYC.



Century 21 is a bit like TK Maxx in my opinion. Never found anything of real interest last time I was there, but then again, I'm male and most of it is dedicated to women's clothes and shoes.

Macys is nice to look around but just the same as House Of Fraser.
Do they still have the womens' toilets on the floor with the mens' clothing and the mens' right at the top in the womens' section?

it was in the lego section in fao swartz , didnt notice the toilets in macys but thats amusing if its like that !