Cape Liberty, Bayonne, NJ

[Rainmn]

We are beginning to search for our next cruise. Recenty back from four nights on Enchantment.

Would greatly appreciate any insights on Cape Liberty (driving, parking, walk to ship, embarkation, etc.). We can drive there in four to five hours.

Thanks.

[rsinj]

We cruised from Bayonne because it is only 30 to 45 minutes driving for us. This was one of the reasons for choosing RCL - the itinerary didn't actually matter all that much - it was just so easy being so close to us.

 

That being said, the day of our cruise it was really hot out and though we reached the port quickly, the line of cars was unbelievable! Many were overheating idling for so long (I'd estimate 60 to 90 minutes) in the heat with the air conditioning running. The prior cruise returned a little late and so the terminal was jammed with people returning as well as those leaving on the next cruise. There were a couple of issues when we went, though they may have resolved those in the past couple years.

 

1. When you drive in, the parking lot is (was) before the dropoff/terminal. They direct you to dropoff the luggage and your party and then you have to drive around the loop again to get back to the parking lot! The lot is adjacent to (just before) the terminal, so you're better off just going straight into the lot, and then walk with your group and luggage - no more than 100 or 200 hundred feet at most.

 

2. The parking lot was out in the open and also adjacent to the Bayonne shipyard where they are always working on ships. It has been well documented about the paint overspray (because of the winds), and the week we were cruising, we were a victim of this. The shipyard and their insurance company took care of us as they did all others who contacted them, however, if you plan to leave your car (and the parking situation has not changed), you would be doing yourself a big favor if you invested in a cheap car cover and be sure it is strapped on well - and park closer to the terminal/away from the shipyard, and be sure other cars are around yours (shielding it) .

 

There are some hotels in the area which provide free shuttle transportation if you stay the night before your cruise, and they provide free parking during the cruise. The most talked about was the Best Western (in Elizabeth I believe), though the hotel reviews are pretty bad.

 

As far as embarkation and debarkation itself - no problems whatsoever. When we went, we were in a suite, so we had a separate area and we went straight through. After we had dealt with the parking issue, within about 20 minutes we were on-board.

 

If/when we sail with RCL again, we would most definitely cruise from Bayonne since it is so close to us.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Enjoy!

 

Howard

[AllieInMD]

I left from there for a 9 day in 2005 - and it was INSANE. And it wasn't just because I'm not used to NJ/NY kinda traffic - the family we were traveling with are originally from NY - and they couldn't believe it. Of course - that limo behind us laying on the horn because he thought *he* shouldn't have to wait with the little people didn't help...

 

All of us said we'd never sail from there again - this time we're heading out of Ft. Lauderdale.

 

We are beginning to search for our next cruise. Recenty back from four nights on Enchantment.

Would greatly appreciate any insights on Cape Liberty (driving, parking, walk to ship, embarkation, etc.). We can drive there in four to five hours.

Thanks.

[megr1125]

Hi.....we love cruising from Cape liberty.

 

1) the trafic is bad...it is one way in and out but it's workable.

 

2) do NOT stay at the best western. There is a country inn & suites in newark.elizabeth with a park n cruise, but you would have to call...the website won't let you book it.

 

cab from that area is 40-50 per LOAD and wasn't bad.

 

We stay at the Courtyard or Residence inn (next to the Country Inn) All 3 are on Glimcher Realty way off exit 13A.

 

3) to get to the ship after check in, you hop onto a bus for a short ride...(like 1/4 mile-no biggie!)...you go up the gangway on deck 1 or 2, and you are on the way! really easy!

 

i agree with howard 100% (hey howard, we are neighbors, and i work in princeton at the hospital!) i only wish RC would give us another ship!!

 

i haven't parked in the lot but there has been talk of overspray from the ship building there.......

 

www.cruiseliberty.com

 

looks just like the pix!

 

good luck!

[rsinj]

(hey howard, we are neighbors, and i work in princeton at the hospital!)

 

On Witherspoon? My wife works there as well.

 

Howard

[Rainmn]

Thank you for the helpful insights. Unfortunately, about what I expected.

[TWELVEOHONE]

I have sailed both RCI and celebrity out of Bayonne several times

 

I agree with RSINJ that when a ship comes in late the trafic is terrible. You have people picking up passengesr and luggage wnd people dropping off of passengers and luggage.

 

I have not had any trouble with the painting but have read this several time on this board

 

The pier/terminal is very convienent to the Nw Jersey turnpike, about 3- 5-minutes away. Last time parking was $16.00 per day but I have heard it went up to $17.00.

[morgan1312]

Rainmn, where are you coming from? We're in South Jersey about 2.5 hours from Bayonne, we've sailed from there a couple of times and never had the traffic problems described above, I think that is just the luck (or unluck) of the draw depending on when the prior cruise lets out. We also didn't experience the paint spray problems, our experiences have been great with that terminal.

 

We've also sailed out of Philadelphia which doesn't offer many choices and you spend 7-8 hours to get to open water and then same time coming back which cut our actual time in Bermuda shorter than we were used to. But it was very easy to get in and out of Philadelphia also.

 

This year we're driving the 6 hours down to Norfolk because the cruises out of Bayonne are alot more expensive, the 4 of us are saving over $1500.00 on a 9 night cruise to the Caribbean just be driving to Norfolk. We don't really care what ports we see, or what RCCL ship we're on, just go for the relaxing cruising experience, so comparing the 9 nighter from Bayonne to the 9 nighter from Norfolk, price was really the only difference.

 

I know there are also ships out of Baltimore but we haven't sailed from there yet.

[yogimax]

 

The shipyard and their insurance company took care of us

 

Just curious - How did they take care of you?

[Spender Nui]

Just curious - How did they take care of you?

 

 

Me too.

[Spender Nui]

Just curious - How did they take care of you?

 

 

Me too.

[MrsCorL]

my husband and i did a "dry run" 2 fridays ago for our cruise this friday....there was traffic, but nothing out of the ordinary.....the gps and the map i also printed said, it would take 1 hr and 58 min....it was actually 5 minutes more....nothing big....

[bubbadog]

yes i second that,(country inn& suites), this is a great place to stay has a ruby tuesday next door,and the mall is across the street:)));)

[aqhacruiser]

We've sailed out of Cape Liberty numerous times and only hit heavy traffic once and that was due to a ship delay from a storm on 12/2/07. We usually arrive about 1-1:30 pm and board right away. If there is a delay with the ship or you arrive too early as people are trying to get out of port and rides are coming in to pick them up, you will hit traffic.

[stormy63]

Our family just got back from a 9 day cruise on the Explorer out of Bayonne. I had also concerned about traffic issues and warned my family we might need a lot of patience for embarking and disembarking! However, it went really well. Embarking was literally a piece of cake. We drove from Buffalo and arrived at the port at about 12:00. We were directed to an open parking spot right away, no waiting, no traffic jam and were on the ship within 45 minutes of arriving (parking, luggage drop off, security, sea pass cards, pics and waiting for the shuttle bus). I think that embarking is only a problem when the previous cruise hasn't yet finished their disembarking. I would advise arriving a little later to make sure that you don't get caught up in people trying to leave the port. I think that's what made it go so well for us.

 

Parking was easy, very close to the tent where you drop off your luggage and we had no problems with our car. It was safe and in good shape when we got back.

 

Disembarking was a little more stressful. Our cruise had over 3,600 passengers on it, so it took a lot longer for everyone to get off the ship. Porters were hard to find. There was a traffic jam to get everyone picked up and after my husband walked over and picked up our car, it took him about 30 minutes to go around the circle, waiting in traffic, to find a parking spot so that we could load the luggage. But still....not really that bad at all considering the number of people trying to get out all at once combined with early arrivals.

 

We'd cruise out of Bayonne again in a heartbeat. It was actually the best embarking process we had experienced on the three cruises we've taken. Disembarking was acceptable with a little patience.

[nancy315]

If you don't get there early, there is usually not a problem. When you have to be the first on the ship, yes, the trafic can be bad because the prior cruise hasn't finished disembarkation, leaving a full parking lot until they all get off and out. It is chaotic when peopel are trying to get off the ship and people are trying to get on. (I also don't get the need to be on the ship early anyway since you can't go to your cabin before 1 PM on RCL).

 

Plan on arriving at around 1:00 PM and you probably won't have any problems with traffic or parking.

 

There are pictures of the parking lot in these pics:

 

http://travel.webshots.com/album/561630920SCVXTK

[gerif]

The parking lot has been moved to the other side of the terminal so you first drop off your luggage with the porters and then go to the parking lot - much easier. It is also now away from where they refurbish the ships, so no chance of paint overspray.

 

As someone already pointed out, if you insist on being there early before the prior cruise has emptied out, you will hit a lot more traffic.

[Rainmn]

Morgan 1312 - We would be coming from southern Delaware. As a former New Yorker, I know the Bayonne area. Some of the recent info is more promising. We would not arrive early, leaving DE the morning of departure and having a drive of a bit over 4 hours. Thanks again.

[Spender Nui]

The parking lot has been moved to the other side of the terminal so you first drop off your luggage with the porters and then go to the parking lot - much easier. It is also now away from where they refurbish the ships, so no chance of paint overspray.

 

As someone already pointed out, if you insist on being there early before the prior cruise has emptied out, you will hit a lot more traffic.

 

 

Is the parking lot in a different location than it was last September?

[zach&camsmom]

I do not know where the parking lot was last September, but we just sailed out on the 11th and you dropped off your luggage then you could just drive right into the long term parking lot. You did not have to make a loop around like others have said.

[Sugar*Magnolia]

Long term pkg is now a larger area after the luggage drop off Tent. There is absolutly no over-spray concern any longer. There is security directing vehicles to drop off, short term pkg, pick up etc. They form different lines for drop off and pick up (if in fact there are early arriving pax that want to be the first ones on board, lol, which there always are). If a ship does arrive late you just need to have some tolerance is all, no big deal. Parking was $15 per day in December 2007. We've sailed 4x from Bayonne, it is a pleasureeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

 

(To the Poster from P'ton, we're almost neighbors too)