Driving to New Jersey

[MamatoJack]

Hello - I'll be cruising on Oasis in May and thinking of driving from Ottawa (Canada). I am a bit nervous, normally when we travel I avoid driving whenever possible. But in this case it's about a 7 hour drive from what I understand. I can drive the day before and stay nearby (I have looked at Trinity I think it's called? it's the same price to stay at a nearby hotel for the night with parking for the entire cruise as it would be for just the parking) or drive the day of and leave really early. Is driving in that area difficult? I drive in Ottawa all the time, and we've done a couple trips to Toronto but I tend to just go through and stay on the outskirts. I am not sure if Bayonne area is comparable to Ottawa or Toronto, or much busier. 

 

I do currently have flights booked but my son doesn't like flying and while it would be a super short flight, there are also border issues to consider. Driving to the US we don't need a covid test (though we will any way for the cruise I suppose), being able to drive home also means we don't have to worry so much if we were to test positive before coming home (can't fly home but can drive across provided we have a solid plan in place from what I understand). Of course by May rules could be different. Then of course there are gas prices at the moment, no predicting how much driving there and back will cost. Being able to get off the ship and into the car to drive home might be nice over hanging out in an airport waiting for our flight as well. Seems a bit less hectic in theory. 

 

Any advice/suggestions? thank you. 

[mjkacmom]

I’d definitely drive in the day before, NJ, is a very congested state, especially closer to NYC you get. I think you need to be on the ship 2 hours before departure.

[lx200gps]

Talk about coincidence. Montrealers here, also sailing the Oasis out of Cape Liberty in May, and we'll be driving down as well.  We've driven down to Manhattan many times, though admittedly never to the area around Cape Liberty. It's a very easy drive down, mostly empty interstate highway, about 7 hours as you say, though in a push we have done Montreal to Times Square in 6 hours in the past. As has been pointed out, the whole New York/New Jersey area is very busy and is far more congested than Ottawa or Montreal ever is, rivaling the GTA. We are definitely planning to go down the day before mainly because it's our first time driving to a cruise and we are unfamiliar with the immediate area around the port. Fortunately, the sailing is a Sunday, so we would be driving down on a Saturday, which hopefully will help a bit with traffic.  Based on this experience, we'll then be better prepared to decide whether we would drive down the "day of" for future sailings.

 

I can't speak to the whole border testing issue (which hopefully will be fully gone by the time our trip rolls around, and I suspect it will). Apparently there have been changes to the rules in the last few days both for general travel and for cruising and based on other threads here on CC, they are VERY confusing, even contradictory. FWIW, right now it's still my understanding that if you present yourself at the Canadian border after your cruise, and you DON'T have a negative test result, or a positive test results older than (11?) days, you would still be technically subject to the $6000+/pp fine, though it's not guaranteed that you would actually have to pay it. Remember, the infraction is "trying to enter Canada without proper documentation". I don't believe that ridiculous penalty has gone away for people driving back though I would love to be proven wrong. Thankfully, RCCL has pushed back the final payment date for our trip to April 29, because we definitely will be cancelling at that time if testing is still in place.

[meadowlander]

If you are not booking with Trinity, there is no need to stay in the immediate port area Saturday night. If you are entering New Jersey via Pennsylvania look at hotels in Rockaway, Parsippany & Morristown, the latter two will have many dining options. You will be about 40 miles from Cape Liberty.

 

If you are driving the NY Thruway, upon entering NJ take 287 to the above cities or if you stay on route 17, I would advise staying in the Mahwah or Ramesy area, again about 40 miles from Cape Liberty.  Pre covid, route 17 on a Saturday is full of cars traveling to the malls in Paramus. By staying in Mahwah, you avoid the traffic in Paramus(if shopping has returned to pre covid standards). There will be no traffic on route 17 on Sunday. New Jersey Turnpike exit 14 A to Bayonne/Cape Liberty.

[wv4dmb]

Thinking of driving to Cape Liberty for July Cruise.  Coming from WV through PA to NJ.  Advice for parking and should we drive up night before?  Plan was to drive up super early the day of.

 

Thanks in Advance

[njhorseman]

44 minutes ago, wv4dmb said:

Thinking of driving to Cape Liberty for July Cruise.  Coming from WV through PA to NJ.  Advice for parking and should we drive up night before?  Plan was to drive up super early the day of.

 

Thanks in Advance

I would stop and spend the night anywhere on your route that's an hour or less from Cape Liberty. If you want to stay as close as possible to the port then I'd recommend staying at one of the hotels on International Blvd. in Elizabeth. There are two chain restaurants, IHOP and Ruby Tuesday that are close to the hotels where you can have dinner. The hotels are also adjacent to The Mills at Jersey Gardens if you want to spend some time shopping or just stretching your legs after your drive.

The hotels are Extended Stay America, Residence Inn by Marriott, Courtyard by Marriott, Embassy Suites and Country Inn and Suites.

I'd then drive  to the port...about a 20 to 25 minute drive from that cluster of hotels, and park at the port at a cost of $25 per day. There are no legitimate off site parking lots near the port. Some of the hotels may offer a package that allows you to park at the hotel and include transportation to and from the port. The problem with that is it will delay the start of your drive home because you'll have to possibly wait to be picked up and driven back to the hotel.

An alternate source of such packages in the area, though not necessarily at the hotels I've named is trinityreservations.com .

If you share your planned route with us someone may be able to name other towns where you can overnight if you're willing to stay a bit further from the port.

Edited March 12, 2022 by njhorseman

[meadowlander]

On 3/12/2022 at 1:48 PM, wv4dmb said:

Thinking of driving to Cape Liberty for July Cruise.  Coming from WV through PA to NJ.  Advice for parking and should we drive up night before?

The only recommended parking is at the cruise port.  There is a parking garage and an outside surface parking lot. You must first drive by the terminal building to get to either parking facility. You do not have to stop at the terminal to drop luggage but it is advisable. The garage is at most a 2 minute walk to the terminal. There are only 2 elevators, expect a line to use the elevators on disembarking. 

 

If parking in the garage bring the parking ticket with you onboard as you will pay for parking before going to your car on disembarkation. Do not remember if it is the same process if you are assigned to park in the lot. Announcement of parking rate increase to $30 per day was made in October 2021. To my knowledge(as of January 2022) it has not been implemented, I paid $25 per day in December.

 

Do not stay at any Newark area airport hotels except those listed by NJ Horseman.

You could look at hotels in Springfield NJ near I 76 which is on your route to Cape Liberty. Hotels in Jersey City along the waterfront will give spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline. Likely you would have to pay for parking at such hotels along with higher nightly rates.