eddiethekub

Himmm, seems like Southwest is the common denominator with all the lost luggage...or am I missing something.  We’ve Used luggage valet from FLL a few times with no problems.  We flew United.

On 10/23/2018 at 12:00 PM, Cruise Junky said:

It's very spotty that's for sure

You can also scan the seas

I have been on 3 cruises with Paul on Silhouette. He is friendly, engaging, and very visible around the ship. His cruise staff seems to be well organized and there were always activities on the many sea days on our trans Atlantic’s. And as others have said....he is an amazing singer.

!

Wow! Sounds like a true travel nightmare. For what its worth, "we are!" this last will be lost on many :).

 

Hank

"penn state"

Have your local hometown car service come pick you up.

Take a taxi

Google is helpful in scanning the seas for websites to assist you.

Reputable, by whose benchmark ? since there are no official or established criteria, unlike airline's rankings ... ditto, for reliable transportation to/from EWR. Not so easy nor simple to quantify reputation & reliability when it comes to ground travel, except for trains & buses on a scheduled basis. No official, universal standards in place to easily established, track and report reliability in terms of what ?? ... pickup time, or other metrics ?

 

Carmel & Dial 7 are well-established car services based in NYC but they are recognized in a much wider circle, serving the surrounding tri-state area, with a large fleet (hundreds) of assorted vehicles - recommended & use by members of Flyerstalk and Cruise Critic community, with very few - if any, negative feedback as a whole. They have "jobs" picking up/dropping off passengers going to and coming from area airports, including EWR and, ... AFAIK, have their own private off-site "holding" lots nearby for their fleet - servicing and refueling & dispatch on demand.

 

Posts above are the good faith recommendations put forth here by many of us, the consensus being that Dial7 and Carmel are trust-worthy & can be counted upon ... Feel free to ignore the advice & opinion given herein and do your own diligence & research, on Yelp or other social media, etc.

Have a great day & best wishes for safe travel.

Wow, I didn’t realize that I had sinned so greviously by asking for alternatives to the "expert advice" that is handed down from the "gurus" of this board. Shall I grovel at your feet and beg forgiveness?

Isn’t the purpose of any forum the free exchange of ideas and opinions? There seems to be a few folks with 5000, 10,000, 20,000+ posts who dispense the majority of information on this particular forum. For many who are not familiar with the New York metropolitan area, I’m sure your efforts are appreciated. Nevertheless that does not give you the right to stifle the exchange of ideas and opinions by others.

Oh, and BTW, I grew up in Jersey City, I still live in the NY/NJ area, and I am a very seasoned business and leisure traveler, so I don’t need your condescending attitude. I was merely asking if anyone on this forum had experience with a local Bayonne/JC limo service.

Have a nice day.

You're going from Cape Liberty to EWR post cruise? Typically we recommend Dial7 or Carmellimo.

Yes, I’ve seen that. But they are both NYC based. Surely someone has experience with a Jersey company.

Are you just going between the light rail station and the port? If so, you really don't have a lot of choices. It's a short trip (you can see the ship from the light rail area). Pretty much all the licensed livery cars in Bayonne are involved with the taxi dispatching from the port. If you're unhappy with the choice of cab companies, you're going to have to use Uber or Lyft.

 

I've had a wide variety of transportation to and from the light rail station. One time I really lucked out and I got a guy with a nice town car. Last time I used a shared Uber and got a side trip to see the shopping mall and the unlicensed storage facility lot parking, so that was worth it for me, but I think it would really annoy others.

Not concerned with the light rail station. I’m looking for reputable, reliable transportation to EWR.

You can get a quote from Dial7 and Carmellimo. They quote a base rate and you have to add tolls (most likely $15-17) plus an expected 18-20% on the base rate. My guess is the $120 range.

 

You can check out what PATH looks like when you get to NYC. The accessible entrance is on the west side of 6th Ave between 32nd and 33rd Sts. You press the button and the elevator comes to take you down to the concourse level. The ticket machines are right there. You take the train to Hoboken. In Hoboken you take the elevator up to the street. Go left into the train area and keep walking past all the commuter trains to the light rail area. Stop and enjoy the view of Manhattan. Buy light rail tickets and take the Bayonne light rail train to 34th St Bayonne. Call a cab.

 

The access to both PATH and the light rail is a level access with rolling luggage. Outbound to Hoboken and Bayonne is uncrowded after 9 am and you will get seats. You will probably have to wait for a taxi pickup at the 34th St Station.

 

There are plenty of YouTubes about PATH and the Hudson Bergen Light rail.

 

Bayonne City Yellow Cab

201-339-5000

 

Archie’s Cab & Van Service

201-858-8800

 

Campbell Taxi

201-339-8300

The yelp reviews on all three of these companies are TERRIBLE . Is there a reputable taxi / limo company in the area?

RCCL and X are separate companies, with little operational overlap. I would expect absolutely no coordination between Harmony and Edge.

Anyone know if the balcony dividers on deck 7 aft cabins can be opened?

Sailing into NJ on Silhouette you will not be docking in Manhattan but in Bayonne. Therefore you will not be passing the Statue of Liberty unless the Captain makes a deviation to go around it. It should be visable on the Starboard side, but in Nov. might be too dark when docking to see it. EM

Not true Essiesmom. On transatlantic crossings where NYC is port of call, they dock at the piers on Manhattan's West Side. Bayonne is used for the start and end of cruises.

I'm curious which sailings you have been able to get a FV for 2?? I'm trying to book some cabins for a family cruise. I've got a couple with 2 good sized teenagers and tried to get a FV for them. Celebrity will only reserve if there are 5 in the cabin. It's been rather annoying.

Not pressed.....folded neatly

I'm assuming it also depends on who you get at Guest Relations. We used the service last year and our flight was 10 minutes before the min time. When we asked, he said, sure no problem.

If it were me and I got a negative response, I'd wait until that person took a break, and ask another.

We did a B2B where Civitavecchia (Rome) was the mid point. Italian authorities do not require you to exit the ship, so we stayed on board. On disembark day, we went to one of the lounges, turned in our old key cards and received our new cards. Painless!!! Unfortunately, as far as I know, US authorities require everyone to exit the ship, wait until they deem the ship cleared, then allow you to reboard.

In our case, we were fortunate that we kept the same stateroom. Our steward was great, he knew we were staying and did some of his "deep" cleaning the prior day, and on turn around day he made sure to tidy up our cabin while we were at breakfast. So we always had access to our cabin and spent a relaxing day on a quiet ship.....at least until the new passengers arrived.

Used Smiths on 5 Nov. Prompt pick up, clean vehicle, friendly driver who knew where he was going. What more could you ask for?

Yes, LGA makes the most sense......it is "on the way" to Boston, so to speak. Upon your return, you can drop at LGA and easily get a taxi to your Manhattan hotel.

I just talked to Captains Club and they said the cutoff for Ft. Lauderdale flights is any reservation after 11:30 am. Where did you see or read the 2pm time?

 

 

Thank you,

JoAnne

I think the time is dependent on which port you are coming into. We came into Port Everglades on our last cruise and yes, FLL flights had to be after 11:30. I think that MIA flights had a later time. So if you arrive in Port of Miami, then the airport times would be reversed.

For what it's worth, our flight departed FLL at 11:20. When I inquired at Guest Services, they said "close enough"......and all worked seamlessly.

You mention you are spending a number of days in Iceland and Hamburg prior to your sailing. You will need some dressy clothes for the sailing. Instead of carting them throughout your trip, might I suggest you consider White Star Luggage service. Your luggage is picked up a couple of weeks before the cruise and delivered to your stateroom on embarkation day.

Enjoy and congratulations on your wedding.

There is no direct public transportation between N. Jersey and the passenger ship terminal in Brooklyn. An alternative is to hire a car service for both trips but that will negate much of your savings. Another alternative is to get a shuttle/taxi/uber from the hotel you are considering to a NJTransit station, take a train to NY Penn Station, then get a cab to the cruise terminal. Be warned that not all cab drivers are thrilled about driving from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and I've heard that many don't know where the cruise terminal is located! Reverse the process when you return. If you're not from the area, this can be a daunting process. I live in the area and I would never do this....but that's me.

Sadly SargassoPirate is not exaggerating. On Silhouette last Feb I saw many chairs with a book and a towel....never saw a person use the chair. And they used a ship's library book and towel, so no personal items were in jeopardy.

Here's a vote FOR Celebrity insurance. Two years ago, DW was diagnosed with a detached retina on the 3rd day of a 14 day cruise. We disembarked in Athens, saw a Greek doc arranged by the Celebrity MD who confirmed diagnosis, and chose to fly back to US for treatment. Celebrity insurance covered all costs including unused cruise days as well as the ridiculous same day walk-up airfare from Athens to NYC.

Yes our overseas medical treatment and costs were minimized since we had the time to get home, but travel costs were significant.

So don't discount Celebrity insurance ........ it worked for us.