njhorseman

Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, two of the most commonly visited ports on Mexican Riviera cruises are rather urban. The atmosphere in these fairly large cities, and even in Cabo San Lucas is far different than it is in lesser populated places in the Caribbean like the US or British Virgin Islands or Sint Maarten.

Royal Caribbean and NCL each have a ship departing San Juan that day and they generally use the Pan American terminal for homeport operations, which means both berths there will be in use. As a result I would assume that your Princess cruise will depart from Old San Juan.

AFAIK there's no "Beaches Vallarta Bay"...the name is "Dreams Vallarta Bay". If you do some internet searches you'll find that both "Dreams" and "Secrets" are adjoining hotels on the same property, which is why the pictures of the hotels taken from the beach are identical. "Secrets" is the adults only side of the property and "Dreams" is the family friendly side. So if you want to avoid children, book the pass at "Secrets".

The original post in this thread answers most of your questions: It's about a 10 minute walk from the bus stop. No sidewalks in some places. There are no amenities other than porta potties. There may be someone renting chairs and selling snacks, but be forewarned that in the past that hasn't been true.

Metrocenter? No such station. There is Metfropark, but no...that's a long, long way from Cape Liberty. Don't do that. Take Amtrak to Newark Penn Station and then Uber to Cape Liberty.

There aren't any hotels in the immediate area of the cruise terminal that I could recommend. The New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is certainly a "safe hotel" and is about 2 miles from the cruise pier . It can be expensive depending on when you're staying. There are other, smaller hotels including boutique properties 2 miles or so from the cruise terminal. If you enter "Brooklyn Cruise Terminal" into Google Maps, click on "Nearby" and then click on "Hotels" you'll see a list of hotels as well as seeing their location on the map: https://www.google.com/maps/search/Hotels/@40.6807658,-74.0344406,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!2m7!3m6!1sHotels!2sBrooklyn+Cruise+Terminal,+210+Clinton+Wharf,+Brooklyn,+NY+11231!3s0x89c25be7a737eb13:0x1b9944a3402bc75b!4m2!1d-74.013841!2d40.6807677?authuser=0&entry=ttu

It's not that unlikely that your Carmel driver will be someone else's Uber driver on their next trip. Both companies rely on independent contractors who may driver for several services...Carmel...Uber...Lyft... If you dig down into the Carmel website looking for a description of the cars in their fleet they're called "our affiliated fleet".

I'd probably use 2 Uber XLs.

The only ships with the "true Haven experience" are the large ships...the ships built after the Gem, starting with the Epic. The smallest of these are Prima with a double occupancy passenger capacity of 3099 and Viva with a double occupancy capacity of 3195.

I've checked Uber prices a couple of times this afternoon and fare from JFK to Manhattan was running about $20 more than fare from EWR to Manhattan. I can't say how much was due to current traffic conditions as opposed to normal pricing, but I checked Carmel Limo for a date a couple of weeks in the future and their fare from JFK was $5 or $6 higher than their fare from EWR so I think the greater distance from JFK is definitely in play. The $70 taxi fare from JFK to Manhattan is just the base fare. There are a number of mandatory state and city surcharges that are tacked on, and when you add in a tip and possibly tolls a more realistic all in price is $90 or more.

Private "black car" limos, yes. Not Uber X. You have to go to LAX-it for Uber X. Uber Black can pick you at your terminal.

EWR is much closer to Manhattan than JFK. Depending on mode of transportation It can be quicker, faster and cheaper to get from EWR to Manhattan than from JFK to Manhattan, so the fact that EWR is in NJ and JFK is in New York isn't particularly meaningful.

Choose the flight based on cost and convenience of schedule. If they're about equal it hardly matters which airport you choose as multiple transportation options to Manhattan are available from either. Since you're coming in early to sightsee then by all means stay in Manhattan. First decide your priorities for sightseeing because if you're only staying for a night or two you may want to consider staying at a hotel not far from some of the attractions you want to visit. That having been said, it's very easy to get around in Manhattan via the subway system or by taxi or Uber. Don't be too concerned about travel to the cruise terminal on embarkation day either as it generally won't be all that expensive to get from your hotel to the cruise terminal by taxi or Uber.

Hotel rates vary widely based on date. Without knowing your specific dates it's impossible to make specific recommendations...but as a general rule because of your need to park a car you would probably be better off staying in NJ at a hotel in Weehawken or Jersey City that has easy access to Manhattan via ferry or PATH train.

Joy uses the new locks. It's too big for the old locks.

Per cruisetimetables.com Enchanted Princess and MSC Seascape are the only two ships making a port call in San Juan that day, so both should dock in Old San Juan.

The ferry's passengers board and disembark the boat via a relatively flat ramp at the front. There's no reason why someone using a walker can't do it...just provide him with a little guidance during the process, particularly when transitioning between the pier and the boat.

Taxi, Uber/Lyft, or car service such as Dial 7 or Carmel Limo. For a more upscale "black car" service blacklane.com. Yes, NCL docks at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

For a taxi, Uber, limo or car service standard tip in the US is 15-20% of the fare. For the "black car" services I've used 20% is standard. It should have nothing to do with baggage handling as with any black car service I've used the driver routinely loads and unloads the bags. For taxis and Ubers that may not always be true, in which case I would tip a bit less...15% rather than 20%. Some limo/black car services automatically add a 20% tip on, in which case you don't need to tip anything additional. You need to check if the fare you've been quoted includes the gratuity. Any tip for baggage handlers at the cruise port has nothing to do with the tip for your driver.

Correct, although as I dug a little deeper into the applicable law it appears that this may only apply to those convicted of sex offenses against children because of the reference to International Megan's Law and the Angel Watch Center. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/legal-matters/passports-and-international-megans-law.html#:~:text=We will print an identifier,pursuant to 22 USC 212b. Passports and International Megan's Law When applying for a passport, you must self-identify as a sex offender. We will print an identifier in your passport book. We cannot issue passport cards to covered sex offenders. The identifier is a statement printed inside the passport book which reads: “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 USC 212b. The law allows us to revoke passports issued to sex offenders that do not have the identifier. The Angel Watch Center (AWC) in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security certifies an individual is a covered sex offender.

Canada is the only foreign country with unlimited access to the US DOJ's NCIC database. All other countries have to request access to specific records. As a result from a practical perspective foreign countries other than Canada can't search US criminal records for information on cruise ship passengers. They wouldn't know which names to check and wouldn't have enough time between receipt of the manifest and the ship's arrival to do any meaningful checking. However there is an open and accessible US sex offender database, the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website at nsopw.gov, which complies registered sex offender public information from all jurisdictions in the US...the 50 states, DC, US territories and Native American tribes. Any person, business or country has access to this data. I believe at least some cruise lines check their passenger manifests against this site.

It's about 9 miles. FYI, the name of the area where the cruise pier is located is the Royal Naval Dockyard.

The OP has already made it clear that they have no intention of disembarking in San Diego. Read post numbers 3,4 and 5.

I hope it works better than NJ Transit's new fare payment system: https://www.nj.com/news/2024/07/we-tried-out-nj-transits-new-fare-payment-system-and-heres-what-we-found.html

https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-new-reservoir-drought-shipping-restrictions-cd037f15bc52c23e19b0b5a0f15330fc