CAPE LIBERTY 411 (and NYC too) Version 4!!

[CruisingChick]

Hi - we are sailing to Bermuda on the Summit at the end of May. We are thinking about arriving at the Cape Liberty terminal after lunch - maybe about 1:30 pm so we can go directly to our stateroom. (Sail-away is at 4 pm.)

 

Is there any disadvantage to arriving later rather than earlier? We'll just be coming from one of the airport hotels so not a long drive.

 

Also - we arrive back to Cape Liberty ~7 am on a Sunday and our flight does not depart from EWR until about 1:30 pm. Other than the ship excursion, is there any type of NYC tour that we could get, or will the livery drivers who are at the terminal provide a driving tour for an additional fee with a drop of at the airport?

 

Thanks so much - Kay

 

No disadvantages at all arriving at 1:30 pm. Check in lines should be short by then as most people arrive between 11:00 am and 12:30pm.

 

If your flight is at 1:30 pm, EWR suggess you be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time, which is 11:30 am. At that rate you would not even have much time to get across the bridges into NYC and back again. Just because the ship arrives at 7 am does not mean they will let you off at 7 am and also Customs on a Sunday is sparse at times. Usually only 3 agents. So the lines back up quickly.

 

I think if you want to do a ship excursion they require your flight be at 4 pm or later.

[CruisingChick]

Do you know if the Carnival Sunshine leaves from Cape Liberty or Manhattan? (I might be wrong in even thinking there are two ports in New York.) We will be doing the New England/Canada cruise in the fall and hope to spend two days in New York prior to the cruise.

 

We do not even know at this point which New York airport we should use or when in New York we should stay.

 

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

Carnival sails out of Manhattan. Right now only RCCL and Celebrity sail from Cape Liberty, although I think a Princess ship had to dock there once because of something going on in NYC.

[rafinmd]

Carnival sails out of Manhattan. Right now only RCCL and Celebrity sail from Cape Liberty, although I think a Princess ship had to dock there once because of something going on in NYC.

 

Princess sailed once. Normally RCI and Celebrity sail from Liberty, QM2 & Princess from Brooklyn, and everybody else from Manhatten. Unless the city is really busy Carnival would sail from Manhatten, and I think the first backup would be Brooklyn.

 

Roy

[mking8288]

... Carnival would sail from Manhatten, and I think the first backup would be ...

Depending on their exact sailing date in October ... the port of NY would be very busy with maritime traffic on the waterways. But, ships scheduled to come into the harbor all have a berth & terminal assigned/reserved. Unless there's unforeseen circumstances of a substantial nature, there should no musical piers shuffling things around.

 

Carnival Sunshine will be at MCT on the west side of Manhattan -could be 2 ships docked there and as many as 4 on a given day. Taxis & car services will be happy and the drivers happy with many runs. http://www.nycruise.com/schedule/

 

It's not easy to offer a general one-for-all answer on which airport to fly into & where to stay, hotel budget, preference & plans/places to see as a visitor/tourist all played a part in zooming in. Most folks prefer not to use public transportation, typically a combo of airport monorail train or limited stop bus services to/from LGA - to underground (subway) trains - then, short walk to hotel pulling luggage or quick taxi ride ... to the hotel and/or the pier, depending on which one.

 

As always, we advise against flying in "early" on the day of the cruise ... for a variety of reasons, too many things can go wrong (Murphy's Law)

 

For MCT sailings, airfares being identical, using JFK or LGA tend to be slightly less expensive - taxi/car service fares w. tolls & tipping @ EWR into Manhattan would be around $100 to $110 USD or higher once tipping are added for a 4 door sedan, higher rates for minivan that can fit 5 pax + luggage.

[MarKay525]

No disadvantages at all arriving at 1:30 pm. Check in lines should be short by then as most people arrive between 11:00 am and 12:30pm.

 

If your flight is at 1:30 pm, EWR suggess you be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time, which is 11:30 am. At that rate you would not even have much time to get across the bridges into NYC and back again. Just because the ship arrives at 7 am does not mean they will let you off at 7 am and also Customs on a Sunday is sparse at times. Usually only 3 agents. So the lines back up quickly.

 

I think if you want to do a ship excursion they require your flight be at 4 pm or later.

 

Thank you CruisingChick. We will enjoy strolling directly onto the ship when we arrive! And for our return, we'll just plan our exit accordingly to arrive at the airport by 11:30 am. This will be the first test of our Global entry status - we'll see if it gets us through Customs any faster.

[Got2Cruise]

My only question would be what would you be doing at the airport hotel? You usually have to vacate the room by 11 anyhow.

[AZ cruise getaways]

We will be driving down from Western Massachusetts the morning of the cruise for the Anthem, so it will be a week day. What are the best directions, coming from the Springfield, MA area and will be headed to the Enterprise Rental Car on Kennedy Blvd. I've heard that the Tappan Zee bridge might be better, but none of the directions are giving it that way.

 

Thank you.

[EatDrinkCruz]

We will be driving down from Western Massachusetts the morning of the cruise for the Anthem, so it will be a week day. What are the best directions, coming from the Springfield, MA area and will be headed to the Enterprise Rental Car on Kennedy Blvd. I've heard that the Tappan Zee bridge might be better, but none of the directions are giving it that way.

 

Thank you.

 

Heck no, the Zee is way out of your way, If I were you I'd come down the night before, at least try to get south of the GW, anytime after 6am you could be screwed trying to get anywhere on time. heck down through Bridgeport sucks also, if you come down the morning of do it very early, like hit the GW between 4 and 5am and try to stay on the upper deck, stay in the far left lane for express and watch for NJTP I95 exit on right, it will be the first one so stay in the right lane.

 

On Wednesday it took me 2 hours at 6am to cross the GW to the Throgs Neck about 10 miles.

 

I'm a truck driver for the northeast and am on these roads everyday.

 

Tim

[138east]

There is a cars only option through NY which trucks cannot use. It has a $5.50 toll which is worth every penny. You want to try to hit the NY/CT line about 9 am. Coming from Springfield, Hartford rush hour is the real problem. Here are the basic directions from Boston.

 

Directions from Mass

 

If you come out the Mass Pike, you pick up I84 west in Auburn and I91 south in Hartford. You take exit 17 marked W Cross Parkway. This becomes the Merritt Parkway at Milford.

 

If you come down I95 there is a cutover to the Merritt at Milford CT exit 38. At Rye NY there is another cutover to the Hutchinson River Parkway South exit 21 immediately after exit 2 in CT (no exit 1). You This cutover is longer than the one at Milford and involves getting off onto I287 West and following the signs to the Merritt/Hutch. You get off onto a service road, go through a few lights and take the turn for the Hutch south.

 

The Merritt Pkwy becomes the Hutchinson River Pkwy at the NY/CT line. From the Hutch take exit 15 in New Rochelle to get on the Cross County Pkwy. Stay in the middle left lane, which will become the left lane when the road "scrunches". This leads onto the Saw Mill River Pkwy South which becomes the Henry Hudson Pkwy at the NYC line ($5.50 toll - if no EZPass they will bill you in the mail and you need to pay it!). The toll is worth every penny.

 

You take the George Washington Bridge exit and slide over to the middle left lane. Follow the NJ Turnpike signs. When you get on the turnpike, follow the first set of Lincoln Tunnel signs to get on the eastern spur of the turnpike, but don't get off at the actual tunnel exit. Continue on to exit 14-14A-14B-14C and follow the signs to exit 14A.

 

The are no trucks on this route from Meriden CT to the GW Bridge and you will avoid any traffic issues on the Cross Bronx Expressway or the intersection with I87.

[AZ cruise getaways]

Going in the night before is not an option at this point.

 

We were hoping to do the bus that Royal Caribbean used to offer, but then we found out that they didn't contract with them this year. We couldn't find other buses that would get us into the area on time. Amtrak almost seemed like a possibility but they won't take checked bags.

 

So now we're at a point of a rental car, but it is normally supposed to be a 3 hour trip, so we think that if we leave western Mass. between 6 and 7 AM, we should be all right. Just want to avoid traffic as much as possible.

 

Thank you for the tips and directions.

[Edgewater601]

We will be arriving back in Cape Liberty on the Summit on a Sunday in October. The scheduled arrival time is 7:00 a.m. I booked a noon flight out of EWR thinking I would have plenty of time to catch it. Based on an answer given to someone previously, I am second guessing that decision. Will I have enough time to get through Customs on a Sunday to make that departure out of EWR? I am assuming I will need to have a car service waiting?

 

Thank you,

Connie

[bayonnejoe]

We will be arriving back in Cape Liberty on the Summit on a Sunday in October. The scheduled arrival time is 7:00 a.m. I booked a noon flight out of EWR thinking I would have plenty of time to catch it. Based on an answer given to someone previously, I am second guessing that decision. Will I have enough time to get through Customs on a Sunday to make that departure out of EWR? I am assuming I will need to have a car service waiting?

 

Thank you,

Connie

Noon is O.K. on a Sunday. Taxi or one of the shared vans to EWR would be fine also.

[Edgewater601]

Noon is O.K. on a Sunday. Taxi or one of the shared vans to EWR would be fine also.

 

Thank you for the info. We have never disembarked from Cape Liberty before so are not familiar with the time constraints. I have another question about timing for the car service. One couple in our group will not be able to self disembark because they will not be able to handle their luggage. With everyone's experience, what is the earliest time we can disembark and be able to get our luggage on the pier with the 7:00 a.m. arrival time and what would you estimate would be a reasonable time to have the car service there for pickup in order to make that noon flight to EWR? Is Customs really that slow on a Sunday?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Connie

[Bronx12]

Good Morning,

 

I am wondering how others are getting to the cruise port ? We are a group of 4 adults, flying into Newark 3 days prior to the cruise, staying in Elizabeth at Residence Inn, and we are going to do some shopping at the Jersey Gardens outlets, and tour New York. Our hotel says a taxi is approximately $65 to the port, has anyone else found other means of reliable transportation? I have not called Royal Caribbean yet to inquire about transfers from the airport. The hotel offers a free shuttle to & from the airport, as well as the outlets :) I also posted this on our roll call.

 

What is the best way to get from our hotel to New York to do a tour? I have browsed, but, it is a very long read., lol.

[138east]

Good Morning,

 

I am wondering how others are getting to the cruise port ? We are a group of 4 adults, flying into Newark 3 days prior to the cruise, staying in Elizabeth at Residence Inn, and we are going to do some shopping at the Jersey Gardens outlets, and tour New York. Our hotel says a taxi is approximately $65 to the port, has anyone else found other means of reliable transportation? I have not called Royal Caribbean yet to inquire about transfers from the airport. The hotel offers a free shuttle to & from the airport, as well as the outlets :) I also posted this on our roll call.

 

What is the best way to get from our hotel to New York to do a tour? I have browsed, but, it is a very long read., lol.

 

What are your exact dates? How much luggage will your group have? What are you paying for the Residence Inn? For 4 people and luggage $65 might be too low an estimate to go to the port. Contact these folks for an estimate. They are a low budget choice with no web site and make reservations only 4-6 weeks out.

Independent driver - 888-816-0973

inde.drvr@gmail.com

 

What are your plans for New York? Are you going in one day or two days? To get to midtown Manhattan you would take the hotel shuttle back to the P4 Airtrain station at the airport, take the free Airtrain to the Newark Airport train station, and take NJ transit train to New York Penn Station for $26/pp round trip. If your group takes a taxi to Newark Penn Station for about $30, you will pay $11/pp rt to New York. If you are visiting the 911 memorial, you can get back to Newark Penn Station directly for $2.75 on PATH.

 

What are your priorities for the two days? Sightseeing or shopping? Here's a map of the overall rail system. http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf

 

I'm assuming that budget is a big consideration. Are you doing 1 room or 2? Residence Inn is expensive. If New York is a priority, then staying in downtown Newark could be a better option to keep costs down and reduce your transit time and stress. There is a local bus option to get from downtown Newark to Jersey Gardens Mall, but it takes at least 45 minutes. Transportation from downtown Newark to the port is about the same as from the airport to the port. Independent Driver can give you a quote.

 

Bottom line it's all about finding a balance between time, money, and stress.

[Bronx12]

What are your exact dates? How much luggage will your group have? What are you paying for the Residence Inn? For 4 people and luggage $65 might be too low an estimate to go to the port. Contact these folks for an estimate. They are a low budget choice with no web site and make reservations only 4-6 weeks out.

Independent driver - 888-816-0973

inde.drvr@gmail.com

 

What are your plans for New York? Are you going in one day or two days? To get to midtown Manhattan you would take the hotel shuttle back to the P4 Airtrain station at the airport, take the free Airtrain to the Newark Airport train station, and take NJ transit train to New York Penn Station for $26/pp round trip. If your group takes a taxi to Newark Penn Station for about $30, you will pay $11/pp rt to New York. If you are visiting the 911 memorial, you can get back to Newark Penn Station directly for $2.75 on PATH.

 

What are your priorities for the two days? Sightseeing or shopping? Here's a map of the overall rail system. http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf

 

I'm assuming that budget is a big consideration. Are you doing 1 room or 2? Residence Inn is expensive. If New York is a priority, then staying in downtown Newark could be a better option to keep costs down and reduce your transit time and stress. There is a local bus option to get from downtown Newark to Jersey Gardens Mall, but it takes at least 45 minutes. Transportation from downtown Newark to the port is about the same as from the airport to the port. Independent Driver can give you a quote.

 

Bottom line it's all about finding a balance between time, money, and stress.

 

WOW!!! You are well informed.

4 adults (2 are seniors)

4 pieces of luggage

2 rooms

great rate on hotel, $136 per night, booked several months ago

So, here is our plan:

Sept 28 fly to Newark from Halifax, NS, drop off luggage at hotel, shop at Jersey Gardens outlet.

Sept 29 take free shuttle from hotel to airport to possibly catch tour bus to go to New York, read that this was possible, yes or no?

Sept 30 repeat of previous day except, travel to New York independently, not on tour bus

Hoping to do the following: Macy's, 9/11 Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, possibly Rockefeller Center.

How reliable is the independent driver, I take it that he works for himself, do you know him personally?

Thanks for your help.

Rhonda

[Funbobby68]

Hey all just kind of a general question . We are on the infant stages of planning a cruise for fall 2017 sailing for New Jersey on RCL, will be coming in a day or two early before the cruise, and not sure what the best plan of attack would be either to stay in I'm guessing downtown Manhattan where all the action is and what I'm guessing where all the sites would be or stay near cruise terminal and go back and forth to the city , would be relying on transit for everything , so just not sure would be easier and offer more time to take in the sites before sailing . Would be our first time to the east coast

 

 

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[SMHCPA]

All checked into the ramada no problem -had a great day. Took ferry into NYC from Liberty state park $7 each way. Super easy.

 

 

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[138east]

WOW!!! You are well informed.

4 adults (2 are seniors)

4 pieces of luggage

2 rooms

great rate on hotel, $136 per night, booked several months ago

So, here is our plan:

Sept 28 fly to Newark from Halifax, NS, drop off luggage at hotel, shop at Jersey Gardens outlet.

Sept 29 take free shuttle from hotel to airport to possibly catch tour bus to go to New York, read that this was possible, yes or no?

Sept 30 repeat of previous day except, travel to New York independently, not on tour bus

Hoping to do the following: Macy's, 9/11 Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, possibly Rockefeller Center.

How reliable is the independent driver, I take it that he works for himself, do you know him personally?

Thanks for your help.

Rhonda

 

Your plan is perfectly doable. There is a tour company that will pick up at the airport - http://www.newyorktoursnyc.com

 

Doing Macy's, going to the top of the Empire State, going out to the Statue of Liberty, seeing the 911 Memorial, and going to Rockefeller Center is ambitious to accomplish in one day. What are your priorities there?

 

Independent Driver is the name of the company. It's not just one driver. I think it's a group of independently owned livery vehicles. I have dealt with the "owner" once and he was very accommodating. Others have given good feedback about their experiences as well. Other choices would be to get quotes from Dial7 and Carmellimo.

[138east]

Hey all just kind of a general question . We are on the infant stages of planning a cruise for fall 2017 sailing for New Jersey on RCL, will be coming in a day or two early before the cruise, and not sure what the best plan of attack would be either to stay in I'm guessing downtown Manhattan where all the action is and what I'm guessing where all the sites would be or stay near cruise terminal and go back and forth to the city , would be relying on transit for everything , so just not sure would be easier and offer more time to take in the sites before sailing . Would be our first time to the east coast

 

 

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What exact dates are you looking at? Fall is high season in NYC and hotel rooms can be very expensive, particularly on weekdays.

 

What is your hotel budget? That will determine what hotel options may be available for you. The reality is that there are no hotels near the cruise terminal. If you fly into Newark Airport, you can keep your expenses down by staying in downtown Newark or Jersey City and taking the train or PATH into New York for the day. If you stay in NJ, then taking accessible public transit and local cab to the port is an option. If you stay in Manhattan, then both LaGuardia or JFK are airport options, but you will incur some significant transportation costs to get to and from the port. You need to figure it all out before you make an airport decision.

[Funbobby68]

Date would be 8th of September sailing , would definitely fly in a day or two before , seams to me I have a lot of research to do in the future for this one . Honestly I'm not big on dropping 300 buck a night on a hotel , for just a place to sleep and shower , we tend to be on the go and spend no time in the hotel room , just needs to be a clean hotel not a dive ,was hoping for about maybe 150 a night , but sounds like that might be unrealistic in the city

 

 

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[138east]

Date would be 8th of September sailing , would definitely fly in a day or two before , seams to me I have a lot of research to do in the future for this one . Honestly I'm not big on dropping 300 buck a night on a hotel , for just a place to sleep and shower , we tend to be on the go and spend no time in the hotel room , just needs to be a clean hotel not a dive ,was hoping for about maybe 150 a night , but sounds like that might be unrealistic in the city

 

 

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$150/night is going to be unrealistic on weekday nights in Manhattan.

 

Look at the Robert Treat in downtown Newark. $130 for a queen, which would be about $150 with tax. Less $$$ if you do advance purchase. Newark Airport shuttle, Newark Penn Station shuttle, and free breakfast. $2.75 via PATH to downtown Manhattan. $5.50 via NJ Transit to New York Penn Station.

[Funbobby68]

It think we would want to take on as many sites as possible, is there much to do in New Jersey? , is the transit system very confusing. I'm somewhat directionally challenged LOL

 

 

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[138east]

It think we would want to take on as many sites as possible, is there much to do in New Jersey? , is the transit system very confusing. I'm somewhat directionally challenged LOL

 

 

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Not much to do in NJ.

 

PATH - http://www.panynj.gov/path/maps-schedules.html

NJ Transit - http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf

NY subway - http://web.mta.info/nyct/maps/subwaymap.pdf

NY bus - http://web.mta.info/nyct/maps/manbus.pdf

 

Whether you stay in NY or NJ, you are going to have to deal with public transit, so you have homework to do. You need to know what you want to see and come up with a realistic plan. Lots of folks on this board are willing to help.

 

Today's tip - Do not ever plan to take a cab between NY and NJ. You need to book a car service or take public transit.

[Funbobby68]

Well at least we have a lot of time to plan , thanks for the tip of the day , going to have to research what we want to see and plan transit from there

Thanks all for the help so far . I'm sure will have many more questions upcoming

 

 

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