ZackWillis80

We prefer cash account so we have control over exactly what we pay for. On these forums it was mentioned that rccl used to add extra charges for mini fridge that hasnt been used after the cruise. We are also canadian, and my credit card company charges currency conversion fee for all usd transactions.

Sorry if I missed it but is the shuttle included in the price?

Yes, for up to 2 people per room. Extra will need to pay 20$ one way, or 40$ round trip.

This is what it says on their website

Enjoy your cruise by leaving the logistics to us! With our Park, Ride, & Cruise Package, you’ll enjoy these great perks:

• Complimentary Parking at our hotel for the entire duration of your cruise.
  
• Complimentary Round-trip Shuttle Services to Cape Liberty Cruise Port for two (2) people.
  
• Complimentary Airport Shuttle for Newark International Airport. Contact our hotel for reservations.
  
• Complimentary Breakfast Buffet at our hotel that includes cook-to-order options.
  
• Complimentary Evening Reception at our hotel that includes alcoholic drinks for those of age.
  
• Late checkout until 2 pm – based on availability.
  

Our all-suites hotel offers a home feel, in a contemporary environment. All suites have a separate living area with a comfortable sofa bed. We also have a year-round heated indoor pool with whirlpool and an on-site fitness center.

ZackWillis - How did you book Embassy? Directly with them or through another site? My situation is similar to yours except I'll have 5 or 7 ppl (depending on whether my parents join us or not). We are driving from Toronto and going on the Jan 28 cruise!

Yes I called them directly. You need to specify the package "PARK RIDE AND CRUISE". For some reason, when I tried booking online on their website, out dates wouldn't work with the package. The agent on the phone was able to set it for us. Also, booking sites such as Expedia won't show the cruise package.

Reviving this thread. Just booked Embassy Suites @ Elisabeth NJ for 480 USD, including 2 rooms for 1 night, parking during cruise, breakfast, transport to port and taxes. Seems to me a decent deal.

Trinity quoted me 230 USD for 1 room 1 night I believe for Ramada, but doesn't include breakfast.

Anyways, Embassy seems to be a decent place to stay, plus we like the location. Anyone know if the parking is secure enough?

Travel agent may give you a better price, or some perks like drink package or speciality diners in case they match the price of rccl. However, for any inquiries, you have to go through your TA. Rccl won't even try to help. And I heard the TAs are not getting better results with their customer service. So basically you just call the TA and they call rccl.

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You have all 4 oasis class ships sailing from FL, plus all the other ships and cruise lines. Where we live in Canada we have none, zero, nada, not a single one!

It's funny because I used to envy people from FL to have all those wonderful ships to choose from. I guess it's all about perspective. :ship:

Why don't you give RCI a call? I'm sure they have all the right information for you. ;)

Hey guys thanks for the answers. We're currently booked on the starboard side, and I wonder if it's worth it to switch side. Since we're heading down to the South, we'll have sunrise in the beginning and sunset for the return, which I think fits us more... Decisions decisions...:confused:

Quick question, on which side Anthem is docked at Cape Liberty Cruise port @ NJ? Or more explicitly, which side has a view of the Statue of Liberty? Thanks.

Just so you know, Kids sail free promo won't charge the cruise fare from them, but you'll still have to pay port fees and taxes. So even prices for 1st and 2nd don't change, the overall price will still go up.

Is the bucket included in the drink package?

In the gift there's a small bottle of Johnnie Walker red and 4 cans of coke for 50. Oh well, that's better than nothing...

Is it possible to purchase a bottle of liquor to drink in the cabin? We would like to have our bottle of scotch while we relax on the balcony, without having to go to the bar every 15 mins. Thanks.

I may have found something that would work for you even if you have to buy the last couple of seats out if you want a private excursion. It's a smaller boat that does snorkeling excursions from the Simpson Bay Area. The afternoon tour starts at 2 and I would think that it's 3 hours but you would need to confirm that. It goes to Creole Rock and the snorkeling is quite good there and the scenery is beautiful along the way as well. It's $45 pp so for the price I think that this would be a good place to start. If you bought all the seats perhaps you wouldn't even need to stop to snorkel if you didn't want to. I'm not sure how old your kids are but the snorkeling is in deep water and it can get rough out there. These are all things you would need to consider and discuss with the company before booking. To me it looks like 8 people would be all that boat could hold for a snorkel trip so even at $45 pp you are under $400. I have used Aquamania many times over the years for excursions around St. Maarten and to other islands from there for day trips so I feel comfortable referring them to use.

 

Location wise it's a good choice for you. I would think the taxi would cost about $8 pp each way and that will give you different views of the island than the area you would be visiting by boat. It's also on the near end of Simpson Bay which alleviates any concern about bridge openings slowing down your transit times in the taxi. I think it's worth a look.

 

Here is their website. Look for the information on the Sand Dollar.

 

www.stmaarten-activities.com/

I have a 5 yo and a 8 yo, and neither are good swimmers. For us is more sightseeing than snorkeling. If we do the tour with other people, I guess we can simply chill on the boat while other do their thing. :) The price is definitely reasonable. I'll see if my parents want to come with us, as they are more like ipad/lounger kind of people. If they come, I'll definitely consider booking the whole boat for us. Hey thank for the recommendation!

Given OP's later port arrival and sailing times, this makes sense - most of the 20,000 passengers will be heading back to the port between 2:00 and 4:00 PM - so he could just schedule things a bit later, and head back at 5:00 PM.

Hey that's exactly what I'm planning right now! :D

I found a boat for charter at 1400$ for 5 hours. The price includes the crew, meal and open bar. I can see it to be totally worth it if Iwas with some of my college buddies, if you see what I mean... :cool: But with 2 elders, 2 small kids and older versions of me and my wife, it just doesn’t seem right.

I think a half day private tour would be just the right thing for us. Thanks Karysa for the tip of afternoon excursions, I never thought of it. This way we can have lunch on the ship, tour and come back at around 5 right after the “back to ship” rush hour.

Thanks everyone, and blissfulgirl you’re very welcome! :D

Where do you find out what other ships are in a port when you are?

 

 

Brandy & Rod

Sent from my iPhone

Google cruise time table. :)

Unfortunately, our ship is the last to dock(!!). We'll be arriving at 10h30 and departing at 19h00. Even if we would be the first ones out of the ship, we'll still be late! At least, we'll avoid the "morning rush hour". ;)

I think the excursion is the way to go, to secure some "guaranteed" activity. I think the best would be to have a boat waiting for us not far from the pier. I guess the traffic is much better on the water than on land.

Does anyone know if that kind of tour exists? Like, private-water-transport-between-cruise-port-and-wherever-we-want-to-go-with-snack-and-drinks-and-brings-us-back-safely? It's like a taxi that follows us all day, but on water. :D

Hi,

We will be cruising to St. Maarten next January and I just learned that there will be 6 ships docking that day, including some of the biggest ones: Allure, Anthem (ours), Breakaway, Regal Princess, Eurodam and Silver Wind.

On our last cruise, we were the only ship (Oasis), and everything was very smooth. I would like to know what should we expect this time. Is there going to be a long line for taxi, water taxi, getting a lounge chair or public restroom? How about the traffic? We're planning to go to the french side of the island on taxi, is it going to take forever getting there? Should we book an excursion instead to secure our transport? Would really appreciate people sharing their experience!

It's just a matter of planning accordingly and trying not to waste the day jammed in traffic. :) Thanks.

I know exactly how you feel. We cruised for the first time last year and it was on Oasis. We loved the fact that it did provide lots of things to do, especially with kids (we have a 5 and 8 yo). We never tried any other categories of ships, but like you we feel nothing could match what we experienced on the Oasis.

All in all, it got us addicted to cruising (after only once), and next January we'll be on Anthem for 12 nights. I feel like it really takes more than 7 nights to experience everything those ships have to offer. Anthem was a great choice as it is still very large,has plenty of activities, and its home port doesn't require us to fly, which saves us some $$$.

I'm also looking at Freedom class ships, that I think could be similar in terms of stuff to do.

300 is for 2 rooms but 1 night, sorry I forgot to specify that, so you were probably right with 600 for 2 rooms 2 nights. :o

 

I booked the room right before my parents decided to visit NYC, that is why.

 

I checked trinityreservation. Never heard of it, but they seem specialized in cruise/hotel/park deals. If I do a search now there are Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn that show up. Prices seem interesting: I'm seeing 236.00 for Crowne Plaza and 300 for Holiday Inn. You say they'll have more options in 2 weeks?

This was me posting with my old account.

Actually 300 is for 2 rooms :)

The time of the shuttle is good for us. Airport hotels are fine, as long as it is safe. :)

Hey 138east thanks for the reply!

Our cruise is Jan 7th to 19th, which I thought would be 13 days parking if departure and arrival count as 2 days. My mistake...

The quote I have for Courtyard Elizabeth is at around 300 USD (my price is in CAD) everything included. For that price I have 2 rooms with 2 queen beds, breakfast included but self park is 20 USD per car. Both rooms are cancellable.

As for Ramada are you talking about Ramada Jersey City or Ramada Plaza Newark Liberty (close to the airport)?

One thing I forgot to mention is that we would like to be at the cruise port at around 10h30-11h. If we take the shuttle, does it follow a fixed time table or we have to make reservation for the time we want?

Z.

Hi,

We’re a family of 6 (my parents, my wife and 2 kids 5 and 8) driving from Canada to embark on Anthem of the Seas at Cape Liberty port on January 7th for a 12 nights cruise. We will be driving 2 cars. We’re most likely to arrive 1 or 2 days prior the embarkation, depending on the weather conditions (it’s winter after all). Also, my parents wish to take the opportunity to visit the big apple. I’m trying to book them on a 1-day organized tour (they don’t want to be driving around in Manhattan). So if that works out, we’ll be arriving on the 5th. My plan is to get my parents in a cab to and from the rendezvous point of the tour. My family and I will mostly likely stay at the hotel or do some last minute shopping.

Anyhow, my questions is about hotel and parking. If we park at the pier, that’s going to be 20 X 13 days X 2 cars = 520 USD. I read that some hotels providing parking for a fixed rate, or a daily rate lower than 20.However, that means we need to either grab 2-3 cabs or a shuttle to travel between hotel and the pier. I have no idea show much it’ll cost. Also, having our cars at the pier seems easier on the disembarkation day since we can simply take our luggage and go, while hotel parking option would have us make an extra detour by the hotel.

I really wish to explore the hotel parking idea, to see if it’ll save us enough money so it is worth the hassle. Do you have any suggestion regarding the hotels selection with parking? We would like to limi tour price range to below 200 USD/night, somewhere that is safe, and not too far from shopping options. Having breakfast included would be nice. BTW currently I have 2 rooms booked at Courtyard Newark Elizabeth. They are very close to a shopping mall, but I don’t believe they offer any parking possibilities.

Thanks a lot for any advice.

Z