Hi-top conversion van/parking at NJ pier

[disgal]

Hi all.

 

We are sailing Aug. 4th for 9 nts out of Cape Liberty. There will be 2 families, 5 in ours and 4 in the other family. We will have 2 cars but our car is "the white beast"! :p We can't do a parking garage and I've been on the website and this board and can't find the answer......is the parking lot at the pier just a regular lot? a garage? lot and garage?

 

We have done a cruise out of Florida and stayed overnight in a hotel the night before, parked the car at the hotel, got the shuttle to the port. I would prefer this time to stay a little out from Bayonne, if possible, and just drive to the port and park there. We are about 4 1/2 hours to the port.

 

Nine nights is a long time and many hotels I see offer parking for 7 days so not sure I would have a problem there. But I would really like to just get into the van to go home after the cruise instead of waiting for the shuttle, cramming into that to the hotel and loading everything back in again to the van.

 

What do ya think?

[138east]

The parking at Cape Liberty is all open lot. You can see what it looks like on Google Earth.

 

You will probably be much happier parking at the port with 9 people. There are only three hotels that we recommend that offer a "free" shuttle to the port - 2 are together on Staten Island and one is at the airport. The airport hotel price only includes transportation for 2, so you would be paying extra there. For the other park/sleep airport hotels, you would have to arrange transportation to and from the port for 9 people. The absolute cheapest you could do that would be $10/pp + tip. If you are interested, post back for more details about these various options.

[reddawn]

The parking at Cape Liberty is all open lot. You can see what it looks like on Google Earth.

 

You will probably be much happier parking at the port with 9 people. There are only three hotels that we recommend that offer a "free" shuttle to the port - 2 are together on Staten Island and one is at the airport. The airport hotel price only includes transportation for 2, so you would be paying extra there. For the other park/sleep airport hotels, you would have to arrange transportation to and from the port for 9 people. The absolute cheapest you could do that would be $10/pp + tip. If you are interested, post back for more details about these various options.

 

 

can you tell me about parking at the pier if you know....have heard people pay in advance, how do I go about doing that? if not available, where do we pay and when?

thanks.

[njhorseman]

can you tell me about parking at the pier if you know....have heard people pay in advance, how do I go about doing that? if not available, where do we pay and when?

thanks.

 

You pay in advance, by cash or major credit card, when you enter the parking lot. The charge is $19 per day.

[138east]

Yes - you pay the parking for the entire cruise when you enter the parking lot. Where are you coming from? There are several areas that usually have good hotel offers on Priceline/Hotwire that are 30-40 minutes from the port in more suburban areas. I like to arrive at the port between 10 and 11 am - the traffic is usually lighter and the "paying to park" line shorter. You will be among the first folks to board - your whole group can have lunch and enjoy the ship all afternoon (For August bring bathing suits in your carryon luggage)

[disgal]

ok, I told my DH the daily parking price and now he thinks we should just drive in that morning. We are coming from the Corning,ny area which by mapquest directions is 4 1/2 hours. Let's see, that would mean we leave around 6am. Ugh!

 

do you think we can do this? What cheaper hotels (since just for our family we would want two rooms) about an hour or so outside?

[disgal]

ok, I told my DH the daily parking price and now he thinks we should just drive in that morning. We are coming from the Corning,ny area which by mapquest directions is 4 1/2 hours. Let's see, that would mean we leave around 6am. Ugh!

 

do you think we can do this? What cheaper hotels (since just for our family we would want two rooms) about an hour or so outside?

[138east]

You'll be coming in I80. Look at the Parsippany or Fairfield area. On Hotwire I'm seeing a 2 1/2* hotel in Fairfield, Wayne, Haskell that could be the Ramada, Holiday Inn Express, or La Quinta - August 3 - $53 each room for 1 adult/2 children (total 6 people) and includes breakfast. This area would leave you strategically placed to drive to the port.

 

You can always drive down the morning you sail, but that leaves you no wiggle room in case there are any problems. I drive down from outside Boston to sail the Explorer and I know I prefer to be in the NY metro area the day before.