Bayonne NJ Resident will help with FAQ

[megr1125]

Is Bayonne really the swamps?

 

Charlie Browns is good but very busy.

 

I think bayonne...(ANd the Meadowlands) USED to be swamps...

 

BTW i do NOT live up there, just spend lots of time there...the OP of this hasn't been back on this thread in MONTHS....carol (138east), greatam, myself and a couple others pretty much handle this!

 

the SWAMPS reference is...well.........if you google "somewhere in the swamps of jersey" you SHOULD find the answer! Has to do with my (rather limited:eek::p:D) taste in music!;)

 

BTW every time I go to charlie browns something goes wrong...GENERALLY it is dirty utensils or plates....hence, we skip it!

[megr1125]

I am getting married in Cranbury this month.

 

my invite musta gotten lost in the mail!;):D

 

kidding!

 

cranbury inn???? crowne plaza????? no i am not a stalker!!! just a weird sense of humor.

[njhorseman]

I am getting married in Cranbury this month.

 

 

Congratulations. My wife and I celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary yesterday, but I can still remember our wedding as if it had just taken place yesterday. (Not that we got married in Cranbury.)

[njhorseman]

the OP of this hasn't been back on this thread in MONTHS....carol (138east), greatam, myself and a couple others pretty much handle this!

 

Which brings up something I've been thinking about. With almost 700 posts on the thread, it is a bit unwieldy to say the least. I wonder if it would be better for Cruise Critic management to lock it so people would just post their questions on individual threads.

[megr1125]

Which brings up something I've been thinking about. With almost 700 posts on the thread, it is a bit unwieldy to say the least. I wonder if it would be better for Cruise Critic management to lock it so people would just post their questions on individual threads.

 

1st---happy anniversary.:D

 

2nd---people will read what they want, if they want..-or they may search ..if not, they'll just post anyway....(that makes no sense! oops! well, it makes sense in my clogged noggin!:eek:)

 

i see your point and it makes no difference to me, but as i am not the OP of this thread, i don't think it is my place to suggest it...

 

(and the All things Explorer thread on the RCCL board is much much bigger than this.......i kind of like having a central place for stuff like this, but whatever....)

[138east]

Well, we could just kill this thread by refusing to respond to it. It's dysfunctional because there is a lot of specific information that could be found easily by a search or a title without scrolling through endless pages of uninteresting information. At least one person has responded that they do not want to read 30+ pages of random information and I don't blame them. But folks keep adding on rather than starting a new thread with a specific question.

[GTJ]

Well, we could just kill this thread by refusing to respond to it. It's dysfunctional because there is a lot of specific information that could be found easily by a search or a title without scrolling through endless pages of uninteresting information. At least one person has responded that they do not want to read 30+ pages of random information and I don't blame them. But folks keep adding on rather than starting a new thread with a specific question.

 

I sailed on the Norwegian Spirit from New York, N.Y. on November 3, 2007. The "roll call" thread for this sailing is still active, with 307 pages containing 6,124 messages.

[travelteam]

is there bathrooms at the port while we wait to board?

[megr1125]

is there bathrooms at the port while we wait to board?

 

yes....but not in the section for priority boarding...they are around with the regular boarding area.

[travelteam]

thanks

[CruisingEasy]

I sailed on the Norwegian Spirit from New York, N.Y. on November 3, 2007. The "roll call" thread for this sailing is still active, with 307 pages containing 6,124 messages.

 

I was born in Flushing!!!

[twingles3]

I hear people have been having a long wait on line once they get to Cape Liberty port. Is there anyone who can give any tips about what time is the best to go and can you drive directly to the parking lot and carry your own luggage to the terminal without waiting in a long line of cars. I'm sailing on Saturday(hopefully not in a storm that's brewing).

 

Thanks!

[138east]

Unfortunately the way Cape Liberty is configured (or at least it was last February) you have to be in the line of cars to get to the parking. It occurred to me that you might be able to make a left turn on the exit road and go up a block and make a right into the parking, but I don't know if this is actually possible. We have gotten there around 11 am and never had any issues, but I'm sure the traffic congestion varies with each departure.

[CruisingEasy]

I hear people have been having a long wait on line once they get to Cape Liberty port. Is there anyone who can give any tips about what time is the best to go and can you drive directly to the parking lot and carry your own luggage to the terminal without waiting in a long line of cars. I'm sailing on Saturday(hopefully not in a storm that's brewing).

 

Thanks!

 

From when we were dropped off in the parking lot by my sister I think it took 15 minutes to get to the bus that took us to the ship. The bus ride took longer than checking in.

[138east]

The bus ride is short - it's the boarding and deboarding (or is that embarking and disembarking???) that takes all the time.

[megr1125]

traffic is a fact of life here in jersey.............just get into vacation mode, get yourself a cuppa joe and you'll be fine!:D

[CruisingEasy]

Traffic - one of the great things we owe to our "great" past governor Christine Todd Whitman.

[megr1125]

Traffic - one of the great things we owe to our "great" past governor Christine Todd Whitman.

 

ROTFLMAO

 

that is a riot!

[CruisingEasy]

I would have also said higher taxes and pollution but since she held a role as chief of the EPA it would not look so good.

[CaribbeanBound]

For what it's worth, a link provided early on to the RCL port website had a link with Taxi prices on it. It said the cost is $30 from Pier to Newark Airport. Is this not the current price?

 

Is there no better way? Has some company not bothered getting a large bus to move a large number of folks from the pier to the airport at a more reasonable cost?

 

Of course, I'm looking at this trip both ways: to and from the pier.

[greatam]

For what it's worth, a link provided early on to the RCL port website had a link with Taxi prices on it. It said the cost is $30 from Pier to Newark Airport. Is this not the current price?

 

Is there no better way? Has some company not bothered getting a large bus to move a large number of folks from the pier to the airport at a more reasonable cost?

 

Of course, I'm looking at this trip both ways: to and from the pier.

 

To answer your question about why no one has gotten a bus. I am in the international logistics/transportation business. It is VERY expensive to do business in NY/NJ. And carrying passengers is considerably more expensive than carrying cargo. Just the cost of insurance for a commercial passenger vehicle is ASTRONOMICAL. Then you have to deal with special permits to get into/out of the port, airport permits to drop off passengers, this fee, that fee. IF there was a way to do it at a more reasonable cost for pax (less than what is currently charged), it would have been done already. Just not a feasible idea.

 

$40-45 is the going price for a taxi to the airport from the pier. With 2 or 3 people in a vehicle, you would be hard pressed to get anything much cheaper, even on a large bus. NO ONE could make any money and stay in business at $10-15 per passenger and that is what it would take to get the price below taxi fares. Don't forget, this bus would only produce revenue on certain days (cruise days), but the fixed operational costs go on every day of the year.

[megr1125]

Sometimes, when you're at the pier and want a cab to EWR, they put you in a mini bus....the charge is less, but really it is a PITA.

[ladysail2]

Is there a Super Shuttle service available from the Port in Manhattan to EWR?

 

Also, what's the difference between the NJ Transit trains and the PATH, except for the route.

I'm staying at the BW and will be taking either service into NYC each day. I know that the NJ Transit goes to Penn Station NY, and the PATH goes to lower Manhattan....is that the only difference between the two?

There is a significant difference in cost per ride.....one is $4, and the other is $1.75

 

While on the topic....I would like to take transit from Penn Station Newark, to Hoboken....is it a NJ Transit train? Is it easy to figure things out at the train station? I will be buying a Metrocard for NYC, and a 10-trip ticket for PATH.

 

I have done alot of research into transportation availability for my stay, but the web sites don't answer ALL possible questions....:D

 

If anyone can enlighten me to some of these questions, I would be most grateful!!!! Thank you, in advance!

[megr1125]

Super shutttle here is not the best option.......

 

(and from what i can gather, they pretty much start at the airports....you'd have to check/call.email them http://www.supershuttle.com)

 

PATH trains are similar to subways I guess is the best way to describe them....faster, shorter and cheaper..ALSO it is run by the Port Authority of NY and NJ (PATH is Port Authority trans-hudson...not that you wanted to know that!:p_

 

www.panynj.com

 

NJ Transit trains have many more routes, take a little longer (well, that's relative) and cost more...as they are (usually) more comfy.

 

www.njtransit.com

 

the PATH is the least traveler friendly...NJ Transit isn't bad but if you are going during rush hour (about 7 AM -10 AM and 3-7 Pm give or take, forget about having a seat and much room for your stuff. there are shelves over the seats, but they are not very wide, not much clearance to the top of the car either..)

 

Are you locked into the Best Western??? ANd which one??? (BWs here can be not so good....)

 

PATH also goes to 33rd street a couple blocks from New York Penn. (there is a Penn station in NEWARK too! OOPs, sorry...you know that! I am going back to your post as i type!:o)

 

From NWK Penn to Hoboken I would take PATH but you must switch trains 2 or 3 times...however,it is easy and many people do this! (I just did the same thing a few weeks ago in search of a bakery in hoboken-which i found ! YUM!) I think you go to Journal Square then to Newport then to hoboken...it's pretty easy once you see it on a map...however it MAY depend on time of day......

 

http://www.panynj.com/path/schedule.html

 

as for getting from NYC to EWR you could do a private car service, although NYC cabs must (IIRC) take you to the airport, i THINK that it is fairly expensive as they can't pick up a return fare in NJ......thus it can be 75-100 bucks......

 

that's a start

[ladysail2]

You have cleared up a few things for me...thank you!

 

By the route map of the blue line for the PATH leading to Hoboken, it doesn't look like there are any changes..so I'm glad you told me about that. Where in heck do people from outside the area go to find that stuff out?? I'm glad you told me. I am also in quest of a bakery in Hoboken and it's on Washington St at 1st....same one you went to? It looks like it's quite close to the train terminal...another thing I can't find out. I can't find an address for the train station on 22nd street to do a Mapquest request for walking directions.

 

I am staying at the Robert Treat BW in Newark on Park Place...right near the Penn Station Newark. Friends had stayed at the Hilton, and said that the BW wasn't too far away. I believe that the BW has a shuttle from the station. They do from the airport. I don't plan on being out after dark on my own anyway....never am. I wanted to stay right in NYC, but at the time I was looking...could not find a decent rate......now I've found out that some folks are using Priceline and getting good deals....too late for me.

 

This will be an adventure....but learning the route system is just a bit frustrating....not for the obvious...but for the little less travelled routes, like into Hoboken...LOL

 

I am not travelling with luggage, this is just for my own self getting into and out of NYC during the day.

I'm glad you told me that it can be crowded and at what hours. I don't mind crowded....do it here in Ottawa on buses....

 

I will take a look at your links...I need to know where to transfer from Newark to Hoboken....I have the Newark to World Trade Centre exit down pat....and have lots of experience on NYC buses and subway, so that's not a problem. I've stayed twice in NYC, but never stayed outside...this is a new experience.

 

Re: SuperShuttle....you're saying that one doesn't exist? Okay, a bunch of us were hoping to somehow transfer from the cruiseport in Manhattan to EWR. I'll go back and ask her what she was thinking about...perhaps she hasn't looked into it yet and just assumes that there is one!

 

Thank you so much for your answers so far....I hope we can keep this going until I am confident about the Newark to Hoboken run!!

 

I'll go take a look at your links....thank you very much again!!! :D