While we were in Pennsylvania, Ben really wanted to show the kids New York City. The city had just recently opened back up from COVID travel restrictions. We were worried about traffic and parking in NYC, so we parked in New Jersey and took the ferry over. We woke up about 4:30 am for the almost 2 hour drive to the ferry station. We wanted to get on one of the first ferries and make the most of our day in New York.
We bought our ferry tickets online and had our route all planned out. (It was as $104 for all of us. It was $52 each way.) We were boarding at Port Imperial (NJ) and debarking at Pier 11/Wall Street (NY) to see the Statue of Liberty and Battery Park.
The ferry station had a screen showing what slip each stop’s ferry would be in. However, after not seeing the boat move or anyone going to our slip, I asked one of employees and discovered that Pier 11 was not running due to COVID. We took the ferry to the next closest stop to Brookfield Place. The ferry was pretty empty, as it was 7:30 am.
You have to be at the ferry slip on time, probably a little early to catch the ferry. They move fast! They dock, unload, reload, and they are off again. There is no waiting around.
The ferry was a little bouncy going through the river, but the boys managed to fall asleep on the half hour ride.
There is an app to buy and show your tickets, or you can buy at the ferry terminals. However, as we discovered, the app was not updated with locations being closed due to COVID.