Newark or Jersey City Hotel

[Cyndi874]

I'm going to be sailing out of Cape Liberty on Saturday Oct 29th. We are flying in the day before (Friday, Oct 28th) and I'm trying to figure out where the best place to stay would be, as I'm not familiar with those areas. We would be taking public transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal. 

 

Which area is quickest and easiest to get from hotel to cruise terminal via a taxi or Uber? Or even hotel shuttle, if they provide that. Our cruise check in time is 10:30am. 

 

I'm leaning towards staying in Jersey City near the waterfront area but would love some recommendations, as I don't know the area at all.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, Cyndi874 said:

I'm going to be sailing out of Cape Liberty on Saturday Oct 29th. We are flying in the day before (Friday, Oct 28th) and I'm trying to figure out where the best place to stay would be, as I'm not familiar with those areas. We would be taking public transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal. 

 

Which area is quickest and easiest to get from hotel to cruise terminal via a taxi or Uber? Or even hotel shuttle, if they provide that. Our cruise check in time is 10:30am. 

 

I'm leaning towards staying in Jersey City near the waterfront area but would love some recommendations, as I don't know the area at all.

You might consider a hotel at Newark airport - Marriott has a couple of restaurants and free transport from airport terminal; so you would only have to cover transfer from hotel to port.  Probably Uber would be best to the port.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, Cyndi874 said:

I'm going to be sailing out of Cape Liberty on Saturday Oct 29th. We are flying in the day before (Friday, Oct 28th) and I'm trying to figure out where the best place to stay would be, as I'm not familiar with those areas. We would be taking public transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal. 

 

Which area is quickest and easiest to get from hotel to cruise terminal via a taxi or Uber? Or even hotel shuttle, if they provide that. Our cruise check in time is 10:30am. 

 

I'm leaning towards staying in Jersey City near the waterfront area but would love some recommendations, as I don't know the area at all.

Certainly staying in Jersey City near the waterfront is one possibility. It's a redeveloped area with some attractive hotels and (I'm told) a variety of restaurants. You will need to use Uber/Lyft or a taxi  both from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise port as there will be no hotel shuttles.

 

There is a cluster of 5 hotels on International Blvd. in Elizabeth, not far from the airport. These hotels should have complimentary shuttle service from the airport to the hotel...but check their websites to verify. From hotel to cruise port Uber/Lyft would be the best choice.  Of the five the three best are probably the Embassy Suites, Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott. Besides offering shuttle service from the airport these hotels also are adjacent to The Mills at Jersey Gardens outlet mall, which is a place to stretch your legs and shop if you want. In addition there are a couple of chain restaurants, Applebee's, IHOP and Chili's, which provide adequate food choices at fairly reasonable prices . There are also fast food outlets in the mall.

[GTJ]

10 hours ago, Cyndi874 said:

I'm going to be sailing out of Cape Liberty on Saturday Oct 29th. We are flying in the day before (Friday, Oct 28th) and I'm trying to figure out where the best place to stay would be, as I'm not familiar with those areas. We would be taking public transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal. 

 

Which area is quickest and easiest to get from hotel to cruise terminal via a taxi or Uber?

I am unclear about understanding your plan. First I read that you will be taking public transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal. Then I read about travel from hotel to cruise terminal via taxi/Uber.

 

As to public transportation, the Jersey City waterfront is one of the best areas to consider. The light rail line serves the entire waterfront, and it is a simple trip on a light rail train from Jersey City to Bayonne. On the Bayonne end the train does not go directly to the passenger terminal, so you will need a taxi or TNC for the last leg from the Bayonne station to the passenger terminal (or a long and a bit unpleasant walk). Almost as easy doing the same thing from a hotel in Hoboken. Downtown Newark is a bit longer, requiring a ride on the PATH train from downtown Newark to Jersey City, and then the light rail train from there. The airport hotels in Newark would be the least satisfying choice, as public transportation does not serve those hotels very well, and it would require multiple transfers to get to Bayonne.

 

By taxi or TNC any of the hotels would not be inconvenient. No significant travel time difference, about 20 to 30 minutes from anywhere (Jersey City, Hoboken, Newark, Elizabeth).

[meadowlander]

On 10/1/2022 at 11:15 AM, Cyndi874 said:

I''m leaning towards staying in Jersey City near the waterfront area but would love some recommendations, as I don't know the area at all.

Airport area hotels in Newark are isolated and have very limited dining choices, some only have food delivery. The hotels in Elizabeth NJ as suggested by horseman allow for stretching your legs and dining options. If you do go with a Newark airport area hotel check their dining options.

 

Double Tree Newark Penn Station in downtown would be a better choice than EWR area hotels. Double Tree has an airport shuttle. All shuttle service at EWR is at airtrain(monorail) station P4. The Ironbound section of Newark is noted for its restaurants.

 

Hotels in Jersey City, along the waterfront will provide spectacular views of lower Manhattan. None have shuttle service to EWR. The arrival time of your flight should be a factor as to staying overnight in Jersey City, along with the extra transportation costs. Razza, a Jersey City pizzeria was recently voted in the top 50 of the world by an Italian website, for what it is worth.

 

Hudson Bergen light rail from Jersey City provides transportation to 34th street in Bayonne. From there it is 2.5 miles to the terminal, walking is not advisable though I did see a couple doing that in September.

[Cyndi874]

On 10/1/2022 at 10:17 PM, GTJ said:

I am unclear about understanding your plan. First I read that you will be taking public transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal. Then I read about travel from hotel to cruise terminal via taxi/Uber.

 

 

 

Oh, sorry for the confusion- by public transportation, I meant Taxi or Uber/Lyft. I have not lived in cities with subway or rail systems so I didn't even consider that most people would assume that's what I was referring to.

 

We definitely won't be venturing through the subways or light rail systems on this trip, being unfamiliar with how subways work, my Mom on a cane/transport chair, plus dragging luggage. So we will be doing taxi or Uber only. 

 

Thank you for all the info!

[GTJ]

2 hours ago, Cyndi874 said:

 

Oh, sorry for the confusion- by public transportation, I meant Taxi or Uber/Lyft. I have not lived in cities with subway or rail systems so I didn't even consider that most people would assume that's what I was referring to.

That explains the confusion! There is a large and politically-influential industry trade association known as the American Public Transportation Association . . . it represents operators of buses, railroads, and the like, and is only incidentally interested in taxis (typically as a back-up for paratransit systems serving people with disabilities, or as a back-up for peak-only transit services as a "guaranteed ride home" during off-peak hours). Most people in cities view taxis as being distinct from public transportation, and that, too, is my general perspective. When you arrive at the airport in Newark, signs will distinguish public transportation from taxis.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, Cyndi874 said:

 

Oh, sorry for the confusion- by public transportation, I meant Taxi or Uber/Lyft. I have not lived in cities with subway or rail systems so I didn't even consider that most people would assume that's what I was referring to.

 

We definitely won't be venturing through the subways or light rail systems on this trip, being unfamiliar with how subways work, my Mom on a cane/transport chair, plus dragging luggage. So we will be doing taxi or Uber only. 

 

Thank you for all the info!

Actually, if you think about the real meanings of words, Uber and Lyft are elements of "public transportation".

 

Yes, they are privately owned - but they serve the public as surely as railroads, airlines, municipal bus lines, etc.  Is there any real difference between the service Greyhound and Metronorth provide between New Haven, CT and New York City (other than rail vs. road)?

[GTJ]

16 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Actually, if you think about the real meanings of words, Uber and Lyft are elements of "public transportation".

 

Yes, they are privately owned - but they serve the public as surely as railroads, airlines, municipal bus lines, etc.  Is there any real difference between the service Greyhound and Metronorth provide between New Haven, CT and New York City (other than rail vs. road)?

It is an argument that has at least some merit. There's really two attributes that are at issue. First, the attribute of service the public indiscriminately. Second, whether the service when operated continues to be open to the public to join, or if the service is operated exclusively at the control and direction of the individual who had engaged the service. As to the former attribute, taxis are generally operated in the public interest, serving the public indiscriminately. In that regard taxis clearly are common carriers, and so there is a shared characteristic with buses and trains. But as to the latter attribute, a taxi is no longer available for public use once it is engaged by a passenger, and the taxi becomes controlled by a private individual, operating according to that person's direction, and excluding the admission of others to the vehicle. The same could true for a bus (or even train), something that would referred to as a charter bus, but charter buses are usually excluded from the category of public transportation. So while there is an argument here, I don't think that taxis can legitimately be called public transportation.

 

Historically, hackneys had long been a part of the urban scene, and it was only in the late 1820s that some hackney operators evolved into omnibus operators, carrying multiple passengers along a route devised by the omnibus operator. Government initially regulated omnibuses as hackneys, and it would a few decades for a separate regulatory scheme to be developed and omnibuses being viewed as a separate type of transportation.So there is clearly a common history. Eventually, buses, and street railways following their initial introduction in the mid 1850s, became known as mass transportation, or mass transit, recognizing their distinction from hackneys in their capability to transporting many people--the masses--in a single vehicle. Sometime in the more recent past, I would say starting in the 1970s, the term "public transportation" began replacing "mass transportation" (and it was in the 1980s that the industry trad group then known as the American Transit Association became the American Public Transportation Association) in recognition of the changing environment--especially the introduction of paratransit and other alternative means of transportation--in which it was not the transportation of the masses that defined the industry as it was the transportation of the public in shared-ride vehicles. Even more recently there has been a disturbing trend in which government regulations are defining public transportation as transportation owned and operated by the public sector (or contracted to be operated by the public sector), excluding privately owned and operated transportation, that is open to the public, from the definition of public transportation. (This re-definition is usually to provide some competitive advantage to government-operated transportation systems, or to impose stricter regulation on privately-operated transportation systems.) I think that this re-definition is wrong-headed. In my view, and I think the view of most other transportation professionals, "public transportation" is shared-ride transportation that is open and available to the general public indiscriminately, regardless if publicly-owned or privately-owned. Shared-ride services generally offered to and from airports (e.g., SuperShuttle) are legitimately public transportation (even though some airport authorities classify them as taxi services rather than bus services). Taxis are generally excluded from the definition of public transportation because they are not shared-ride (they are exclusive to the person who has engaged the taxi) . . . though in a few instances taxis have operated as shared ride (such as the TLC taxi-share operation on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, or UberPool), in which case they legitimately are public transportation. Finally, I note that the term "public transportation" is defined by federal law (for the purpose of its funding of public transportation systems by the Federal Transit Administration): "The term “public transportation”—(A) means regular, continuing shared-ride surface transportation services that are open to the general public or open to a segment of the general public defined by age, disability, or low income; and (B) does not include—(i) intercity passenger rail transportation provided by the entity described in chapter 243 (or a successor to such entity); (ii) intercity bus service; (iii) charter bus service; (iv) school bus service; (v) sightseeing service; (vi) courtesy shuttle service for patrons of one or more specific establishments; or (vii) intra-terminal or intra-facility shuttle services." 49 U.S.C. § 5302(a)(15). This is a reasonable general definition (though I disagree with the exclusions of sub-pargraphs (i) and (ii)--which I believe were included in the definition only to exclude their eligibility for federal grant funding--and public transportation does include such services, as well as the transportation provided by airlines and cruise vessels).

[teacherman]

When we did this, we stayed at the Westin hotel in Jersey City Newport.   Several good restaurants within a short walk.  We took UBER from airport to hotel, hotel to ship, and ship to hotel.  We plan to do the same thing for the Anthem cruise in March.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tin can]

On 10/2/2022 at 10:29 PM, meadowlander said:

Razza, a Jersey City pizzeria was recently voted in the top 50 of the world by an Italian website, for what it is worth.

 

 

Thanks for the tip,  looks about a 10 min walk from our hotel on the Waterfront when we stay post cruse in April so will check it out.

[meadowlander]

On 10/10/2022 at 4:48 AM, Tin can said:

 

Thanks for the tip,  looks about a 10 min walk from our hotel on the Waterfront when we stay post cruse in April so will check it out.

You're welcome. Hope it is as good as rated. 

[njhorseman]

On 10/10/2022 at 4:48 AM, Tin can said:

 

Thanks for the tip,  looks about a 10 min walk from our hotel on the Waterfront when we stay post cruse in April so will check it out.

FYI Razza's dining room is open Tuesday through Saturday by reservation only on the RESY app, although you can also get takeout. They only have takeout on Sunday.

Reservations open 7 days before at 12 noon.

$25 per person cancellation fee for cancellation made within 8 hours of rservation time.

[cruislovin]

On 10/1/2022 at 2:14 PM, njhorseman said:

Besides offering shuttle service from the airport these hotels also are adjacent to The Mills at Jersey Gardens outlet mall, which is a place to stretch your legs and shop if you want. In addition there are a couple of chain restaurants, Applebee's, IHOP and Chili's, which provide adequate food choices at fairly reasonable prices . There are also fast food outlets in the mall.

Can you walk to The Mills at Jersey Gardens from any of the hotels?

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, cruislovin said:

Can you walk to The Mills at Jersey Gardens from any of the hotels?

Yes. You can walk through the mall's parking lot.

[GTJ]

16 hours ago, cruislovin said:

Can you walk to The Mills at Jersey Gardens from any of the hotels?

It is a short distance and easy stroll. Check the aerial view from Google maps here: https://goo.gl/maps/B5kWxVJTJPJi5YXj7