# Pop the Question \ Suprise Trip for GF to NY



## djsim (7 Oct 2009)

Hey guys, 

Could really do with your input on my travel plans. I have finally decided to take a big step and ask my long term partner to marry me. (Going to ask her dad tonight, wish my luck My plan is to give the tickets as a Christmas present and travel some time in January. I have never being to the States so I am a complete novice and I really want to make this trip one to remember. Havent a huge budget, so I would like to get the best value as possible, without staying at budget accommodation if possible, if you know what I mean.

Plane Tickets - I intend to fly with Continental Airlines from Shannon as they seem to be the cheapest, plus, we can clear immigration at Shannon, coming in at €730 return for 2.

Hotel - I was told I can’t go wrong staying in the Manhattan area. Any recommendations?

Engagement Ring - I plan to pick out a ring with the misses over there. I will have approx $2K to spend on one. Any recommendations on jewellery shops over there, or should I wait until point 3?

Shopping - I was told again to take a day out from sight seeing and travel to one of the two outlets in New Jersey. New Jersey gardens and Woodbridge Center - only want to go to one, which is better? Could we pick up a nice ring here, instead of a shop in New York?

Sight Seeing - If you had "3 must things to do\see", what would they be. I have a list of four already 1) Statue of liberty 2) Empire State Building. 3) Ice hockey game 4) Broadway Show

Sorry for the long post, But I want to get this right. Any help \ advice you can offer would be most grateful.

J.


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## bobaloulou (7 Oct 2009)

HI there

I am heading to NYC next month to buy my engangement ring.
We are heading to the Diamond District, and the 2 places most recommended to us were Hanikens and Salvatores. 
An important thing is to do your research on the 4 c's of a diamond, so you are not heading into a shop totally green.
If you get in contact with any of these stores beforehand and let them know your budget they will have a selection of rings ready for you to view when you visit. 
Also if you are going for a few days, I will go ring shopping sooner rather then later, incase the ring has to be resized, or made up, just to ensure they will have time to do it before you head back home.

Accomadation wise, we are staying in the Standford Hotel, reasonable 2-3 star hotel centrally located in Manhattan. 

I can let you know how I got on in Nov, if you are still thining of heading that way in Nov

Oh and best of luck with the daddy.. hope all goes well!


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## djsim (7 Oct 2009)

Thanks bobaloulou, 

This is a good starting place. I will look into Hanikens & Salvatores. I have already done a limited research on the 4C's. 

Hope it all goes well for you in November.


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## AgathaC (7 Oct 2009)

First of all, congrats and I wish you both all the very best. I would recommend having a look on Tripadvisor.com-I find it very useful for researching holidays. It is possible to post up questions on the forum specific to the city you want to visit and I always find the answers useful. A friend of mine is going to New York in December and staying in the Crowne Plaza in/ near Times Square so have a look on Tripadvisor and it will give you an idea of what to expect as well as price etc.
New York New York so good they named it twice...have a brilliant time!


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## Hillsalt (7 Oct 2009)

+1 on Crowne Plaza, Times Square. For a few dollars less, try Milford Plaza which is well located too.

I also popped the question in NYC. I wanted to have an Irish flavour so I got down on my knee outside St Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue.

I then asked a passer by to take a photo of the moment with my camera. 

Ten years later and 2 kids later, all is well. I am in the kitchen on the net and she is in the sitting room watching TV. Kids are conked upstairs.  I wouldn't change a thing. Honestly.


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## shesells (7 Oct 2009)

Or you could put the proposal up in lights on Time Square!! Go into the Hershey Store and for something tiny like $5 you get your message to scroll across the front of the store for an hour. Not exclusively yours, if other people pay theirs alternates too but I know it can be very romantic.

I would go a little more upscale than a 2-3* - check out www.travelzoo.com for great special offers or be brave and go with www.hotwire.com (choose a 4* in Grand Central Area or Times Square)


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## djsim (8 Oct 2009)

Thanks people for all your help.

I have a fair idea of flights and hotels now. Now it is on to the most important bit, popping the question and ring


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## spursman (8 Oct 2009)

u can get nice night time cruises in new york. might be nice to pop the question on one of them with the city all lit up in the back ground


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## ilovepink (8 Oct 2009)

hello djsim. without a shadow of a doubt i can recommend Salvatores in the diamond district, they are undoubtably the BEST in new york and extremley helpful and reasonabe.. u will get a fantastic ring for that money.. i honestly cannot recommend them enough. dont be put off by the shop becos its actually like a little stall but definatly the BEST. AND U CAN BE POSITIVE WHEN U GET IT VALUED IT WILL BW ALMOST DOUBLE THE PRICE HERE... best of luck with the proposal. oh and u have to check out the W hotel on time square. its expensive but if u got it for one night only even for the night u propose it will be WELL WORTH IT


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## MaryBe (8 Oct 2009)

spursman said:


> u can get nice night time cruises in new york. might be nice to pop the question on one of them with the city all lit up in the back ground


 
I second that.  We did the glass boat dinner cruise and it was absolutely fabulous.  It would be my pick to ensure a YES to the question in hand.  We did all the other tourist attractions but the 'glass boat' beats them all hands down

Best of luck


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## snowy (8 Oct 2009)

Hillsalt said:


> +1 on Crowne Plaza, Times Square..



I love this hotel. Stayed there as a surprise for my birthday and it was great. Try for a high floor , we stayed in the floor below the penthouses and the view over Manhattan was out of this world 


best of luck


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## bobaloulou (9 Oct 2009)

Hi ilove pink

Did u go to a couple of diamond stores, I am torn between hannikens and salvatores, obviously i want to get the best value, bit dont want to spend a whole day doing different shops. I am so indecisive and out heads will be wrecked!!!


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## djsim (9 Oct 2009)

The "father in law" has given his approval so I guess I think its time to hit the credit union for a couple of boobJ

Thanks for all your help so far, I was looking at the Crowne Plaza and it look great, plus one of the few hotels in New York with a pool. Does anyone know if all the renovations are complete? A lot of unhappy reviewers on trip advisor as they were told the renovations were complete and in fact, they weren't.

Unfortunately, can’t do the night time cruise, checked website, season only starts in March, which is a pity, as that sounds lovely.

Thanks ilovepink regarding Salvatores. I must check that out with the other half. I suppose when she opens my card at Christmas, and see's the tickets, she will know 100% what I am about to do.

I nearly have the trip planned, what do ye guys think:

Continental to New York Fri - Stay around NY - Macys\Pop Question (Nice Location)\Ring Shopping
Sat - Empire State Building - Statue of Liberty Night - Madison Square Gardens for Ice Hockey game
Sun - Jersey Gardens for some shopping
Mon - Central Park - Home.

Anything else I can squeeze in that might be worth my while? I might stay and extra day.


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## truthseeker (9 Oct 2009)

djsim said:


> The "father in law" has given his approval so I guess I think its time to hit the credit union for a couple of boobJ
> 
> Thanks for all your help so far, I was looking at the Crowne Plaza and it look great, plus one of the few hotels in New York with a pool. Does anyone know if all the renovations are complete? A lot of unhappy reviewers on trip advisor as they were told the renovations were complete and in fact, they weren't.
> 
> ...


 
Congrats!!
Go to a Broadway show.
See Times Square.

NY is amazing, I only passed through and stayed a couple of nights but it seemed like everywhere I went there was something amazing to see!


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## NHG (9 Oct 2009)

Congrats, The Rockafella Centre would be amazing at Christmas I would imagine, I was there in March for the first time.  The view form the top is stunning.  A horse drawn carriage ride around central park would be another nice spot to pop the question.  The suggestion of Time Square is excellent, I loved time square and loved just watching the world go by...  We did a night trip to Brooklyn and the tour bus stops at an icecream store by the river and the view across to New York is beautiful, would make a nice backdrop to any photo's.  We stayed in the Wellington and it was an ideal location.

I just loved everything about NY.


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## g1g (9 Oct 2009)

Empire State is open late so you could pop question at top there on Friday night! Can't remember any nice restaurants off hand but might be nice to have somewhere reserved for Friday night if you are planning on having asked her by then.


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## KML (9 Oct 2009)

My brother in law arranged to go ice skating in central park two years ago and ,when the arrived he went to use the toilet to deteer his partner. He got a worker to arrange Santa who was already skating on the ice to come up during their skating with the box and got down on one knee.... Very romantic....
But Santa and ice rink may not be there in January,so maybe the horse and cart ride around central Park is a second option which a friend of mine was floored by,her partner after 2 days on the trip mentioned the horse ride and half way around asked could they stop and got down on one knee finally popping the question


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## missdaisy (9 Oct 2009)

Hi djsim, congrats on the forthcoming engagement! Your plan is great but one thing I would add is don't just set aside one afternoon for ring shopping, your girlfriend may want some time to mull over rings she has seen and go back again a second day. New York is great, definitely go see a show on Broadway if you can!


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## z104 (9 Oct 2009)

Go see a baseball game, Really enjoyed watching the yankees..
You could always try get the proposal on the big screen 
Best of luck..


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## Hillsalt (9 Oct 2009)

Niallers said:


> Go see a baseball game, Really enjoyed watching the yankees..
> You could always try get the proposal on the big screen
> Best of luck..



I went to an ice-hockey game in Madisson Square Garden. which was frantic albeit less rough than hurling. The missus was nay impressed though.


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## ilovepink (14 Oct 2009)

hi bobaloulou. i work in aerlingus and all my colleagues including myself have been to salvatores.... you simply cannot beat them. if u say u gor recommended by the aerlingus girls they will really look after you.. when hannigans started first there was competition but soon everybody saw we got much better value, service, and simply looked after and also ater sales is great for the cleaning etc... best of luck..


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## Phibbleberry (20 Oct 2009)

Congrats!

I know your head is probably spinning with all the advice (but see, thats how passionate people get about NYC -you and your soon-to-be-fiance, will be the same, come Feb!) but I just wanted to add my $0.02!

Met a couple over there in March, his plan was to do it in the Empire State, but he got up and it was PACKED, said that it just took away from it. He then planned to do the carraige ride in the Park...and he ended up fit-to-burst, doing it in the hotel room! He didn't say as much, but I got the impression that he hadn't _really _enjoyed the first couple of days, with nerves...

My main advice is to take it as it comes -enjoy it! If you rush around too much, you'll be too wrecked to enjoy it. Have a list of 'possibles' and just do them if it suits/whatever fits best with the weather etc.. - my favourite part of NYC is just wandering about, dipping in for a coffee or a beer or a bite to eat and then wandering about a bit again - its such an easy city to navigate and you don't have to 'do' everything, to get a sense of it.

Best of luck - oh and I'd avoid telling your FIL to-be that you're hitting the Credit Union for a couple of _*boob*_  

PB

P.S - Why not by a costume-jewellery ring in Topshop/Awear/Dorothy Perkins...somewhere cheap, to do the question popping bit!


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## poppy1 (21 Oct 2009)

you sound like you have most of the work done, well done

my now husband did the same a few yrs back.  
I 2nd what another poster said empire state is a bit busy.  my fella did it in central park (horse and trap!!!) in the freezing cold - before lunch!! very romantic....... central park has a lovely restaurant called the boat house so if you do pop the question make sure to check out that place for a stiff drink afterwards... 
or because you are going in jan you could go ice skating...
so many options but do it early on in the holiday.
we had a limited budget and got a lovely ring on 5th ave, didnt know about the diamond district at the time.

woodbury common is great for shopping - get the bus from port authority.
best of luck and enjoy the trip


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## Deas (21 Oct 2009)

djsim, for info, I note you are buying your diamond ring in New York.  Watch out for the attached.  Ring may appear as great value compared to Irish prices; however may not be in reality.

[broken link removed]

Otherwise, I hope all goes well for you and good luck.


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## liaconn (22 Oct 2009)

Empire State is packed during the day but it's open until about midnight. I went up at about 11.30pm and it was absolutely beautiful, not that many people around and the whole city lit up beneath you. (It was also very cold but that just added to the atmosphere.)


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## djsim (22 Oct 2009)

*Re: Pop the Question \ Suprise Trip for GF to NY - Update*

Hello All, 

First of, I would like to thank you all who have left comments, they have contributed to what I hope will be a great trip. 

Just to give ye guys an update. I have booked the flights and hotel anyway. No turning back nowJ. I booked the Hilton Gardens as it looks nice and is 12th on the trip advisor list out of 400 odd hotels, so that cant be all bad.

I have also booked an ice-hockey game, cant wait for that one. My other half will like that also. I have also pre-booked the Empire and Liberty trips. If I get all those done I will be doing well. Although, I will have to try and get to see the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. That looks excellent, anyone every being?

May I pick your heads again for a little more information, thanksJ (last time, cross my heart)



I have got the online approval from the Visa Waiver for both of us. This, with our passports, is all that I need, right? (I have a chip passport and my GF has amachine readable one?)
Can you recommend any nice restaurants to go to for the special nite? I was going to book the “view” restaurant, but the food reviews are not good. Might just call in for a drink.
The other half will want to go and see one of the “big” outlets. I know they are 100’s of threads debating Jersey Gardens V Woodbury Common. If you had to go to one, which would it be? As I am only there 4 days, I was thinking the Jersey Gardens would be better as you can do that in a half day, as not to waste a whole day shopping?
Thanks again for all your help,
J


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## poppy1 (28 Oct 2009)

hey cant answer many of your questions as twas a while ago when we went.
restaurant - we went to little italy after he popped the question and found some lovely restaurants - the food is also nice the cheesecake factory.

they say woodbury is better than JG but i have only been to woodbury - check it out online and you'll get a full list of all shops - that might help you make  your decision

was in the intredpid twice - only as a kid and the 2nd on the last trip to ny a few yrs back, loved it both times, although 2nd time round it had all the stuff relating to 9/11 so that was a bit depressing but worth a trip
have a ball


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## g1g (28 Oct 2009)

Went to intrepid. Was good but other half loved it! Worth a trip alright if you've done all the other touristy things. Can't help with a restaurant but found woodbury common great.


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## lyonsie (10 Nov 2009)

We are going over in 2 weeks, for a nice break.   Are also going to look at diamonds!!!!  Have bought in India, and here, and would like to compare with New York.   Heard there is good value to be had there.   I have trawled the sites and am going to call to (http://www.diamondideals.com/) and have a look.   You can see their prices on-line, put some that you might be interested in a 'shopping bag' and make an appointement to visit.
Will let you know how we get on...   Staying in the Elysee Hotel, hope that lives up to its recommendations on Tripadvisor.   Also going to go to one of the top restaurants they recommend.


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## spursman (11 Nov 2009)

make sure that if you buy a diamond in new york that its not silicon sealed. this could seep out when you are washing the dishes. it will be written on very very very small print, do not buy a ring like this. new york is full of them


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## Deas (11 Nov 2009)

Clarity enhanced is the term they use for this - very misleading


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## foxylady (11 Nov 2009)

*Re: Pop the Question \ Suprise Trip for GF to NY - Update*



djsim said:


> Hello All,
> 
> First of, I would like to thank you all who have left comments, they have contributed to what I hope will be a great trip.
> 
> ...


 

The Intrepid Air & Space museum is great but doesnt open on monday, just in case u decided to go that day. you could do a lot of sightseeing one day, statute of liberty & ellis island in morning , empire state at night .

Jersey gardens for shopping, is nearer and cheaper to get to also - $10 return as opposed to $42 to Woodbury Common. You would be surprised at what you can do in 4 days. First time myself and oh went was for 4 days and we did the most we ever did on any of our visits.

Dont know of any fancy restaurants to recommend as we always went to cheap and cheerful places, why not go for the carriage ride idea for the proposal.


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## callybags (11 Nov 2009)

[broken link removed]

You could try here for a restaurant.

It's expensive but has the best steaks I've ever tasted.

It's a classy place and a lot more than just another "steakhouse"


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## djsim (12 Nov 2009)

thanks callybags (and everybody else)

Place looks very nice. Soooo much choice


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## Kine (17 Nov 2009)

+1 to the Intrepid. Impressive just for the sheer scale and history behind the carrier!

Best of luck with your proposal, mine is due any day now....


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## djsim (19 Nov 2009)

Cheers Kine, hope it works out for you.

I am a bit if a geek when it comes to technology so the intrepid is going to be my highlight of the trip, after the engagement of course


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