Stanthefireman

Do I have to book a snorkeling excursion to get to the sunken ship or whatever RCI has sunk? Or is it accessible through snorkel beach? I have read that I have to bring a flotation vest if I use my own equipment.

138east...... Hi, Carol! We are going to St Martin and St Thomas in March. Have you found any exceptional excursions that you can send me a link to? When are you leaving terra firma next?

Six months in between cruises? I'm disappointed with you, Carol!

Yes, and you're the one who said an illegal u-turn....

 

Do as you wish....but I prefer to not p!$$ of the NYPD......

 

You have obviously already decided that you'll do this....have at it.....

Wow! Such hostility to a simple question....... No, not a u-turn, just a left turn. No, I have not decided to try it next time , either. No, I don't use "professional courtesy" or any kind of placard or sticker to get preferential treatment. I just thought that with the popularity of this post , someone, sometime "MAY" have tried it! No, I don't arrive at 10:30 either. 5 minutes, 20 minutes...... I must be doing something wrong. Only 3 cruises out of Bayonne and one pre-wedding tour boarding. My son's pre-wedding boarding took an exceptionally long time to get around that circle...... So that's why I asked that simple question......

Driving the wrong direction would get you killed, or get you a ticket..you CANNOT do this..there is too much traffic.......not sure why you'd want to create a hazard.....rather silly if you ask me.....:eek::rolleyes:

No, this road has no traffic on it.

Are you familiar with the road I am talking about?

Someone else posted that it will save 5 minutes.......... It has already taken us an hour to go that half mile or so around the parking area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.66444,-74.077934,3a,37.5y,9.34h,87.82t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4MsFVHKOiS14uYYiuDXdIg!2e0!6m1!1e1

Hopefully the link I posted will clarify exactly what I'm talking about..... there is a lane there for "Authorized Vehicles only".

Has anyone made the left turn onto 12th (?) (illegally) to bypass the dropoff point and go directly into the parking area? If you have a small amount of luggage and can handle wheeling it a short distance, it is possible to save a lot of time. (Depending upon how vigilant they are about people driving 100 yards or so the wrong way)

Hi Carol: We are doing the Breakaway in October. First time we are doing NCCL....we always do RCCL and love them.

PLEASE, ANY TIPS for the breakaway.

We took the trio package where we eat one night in the Italian, French and Steakhouse. We don't want to make reservations on a night that has Lobster. Do you know which night they have lobster?

Do u eat in the same dining room every night?

Do they have a formal night?

What is the dress code at night?

Sorry for all these questions.

Did you like the Breakaway?

Thanks. Iris

Like someone else posted.....these questions should be on NCL pages.....

I parked at Alliance garage on 43rd st..... $19 / day

1st night was lobster at O'Sheehan's (we didn't know previously) We had tickets to Cirque Sunday(1st night saves you $10 per ticket which they automatically reimburse if you made reservations online)

You MUST do the ropes course! I recommend renting the GoPro helmet mounted camera for $20, You can make a 1/2 hr video. We also bought a picture of my wife while she was standing on The Plank" ($20) There's a cord to pull to take the picture, if you stand on the sensor, it will be the camera directly over the plank, otherwise, another camera 15 feet forward of the plank will flash when you pull on the cord.

Hey, Carol! That is good news! We stayed at the Ramada in Oct b4 our cruise to Bermuda (my son's wedding cruise!) We used your suggestion of Independent Driver for that cruise and one previous cruise. ID is still a good service although they do cram you and your luggage into their vans. I'm sure you are sailing again somewhere soon. We just came back from the Breakaway's 2-09 sailing. If you go on NCL at all, try the Breakaway's rope course. It was Fantastic to "walk the plank"!!!!

What's up with the new R.C. cruise terminal? Any thing happening at the port yet? Anyone know for sure when work will start?

Nothing yet. Our Captain said it should be done by 2015.

Carol, thanx for asking.

"Big Wedding" went very well! We had shirts printed up that said "Royal Wedding". My biggest complaint about this cruise is that after being assured by wedding coordinator, another woman named Sandy, (who was onboard staff that we met with 2 months prior to cruise, onboard) 5 different travel agents, (we've all done this SOOO many times)...... that our dinner seating arrangements were scattered around several decks in the main dining room! Maitre d' wasn't much help. We ended up at 3 tables, still scattered but on the same deck. He kept telling me, there would be no problem at late seating. I kept telling him, Bride and groom want early seating. We ALL had confirmed Early seating! 20 of us. We were told to contact cruise line no more than two weeks out to verify, which we did, and we still ended up scattered.

Other than that, most things went well and first time cruisers had a great time! (Well, some had some seasickness, but it didn't ruin their trip.)

Oh, and you're right about the time it takes for Independent Driver to drive around that area, as well as waiting in traffic, construction, etc. All drivers, not just ID......We held them up for some time with a luggage problem as well as Royal's free for all leaving the ship.

I know that $12/pp seems a lot, but it still competitive for that particular trip. Time is money and even though it is only 10 miles from the port to the airport, there can be a lot of wait time for the drivers to get in and out of the port. The shuttles back to the airport are $16/pp to the airport and $17/pp to the hotels.

 

Wolfcathorse - keep checking out your roll call. I was faced with this cost issue several years ago from a park/sleep at the Fairfield. I'm a solo traveler and i didn't want to pay the going rate for a private car. I talked it up on the roll call and got a group of seven together to go to and from the port. I met a bunch of people and we had a lot of fun. This is what cruisers do. It's the first and last excursion of the cruise. I'm doing a TA to Galveston in a few weeks and one of the first things I did was sign up for a shared shuttle from the port to Houston airport.

 

Stan - was this the big wedding? How did it go?

Carol, thanx for asking.

"Big Wedding" went very well! We had shirts printed up that said "Royal Wedding". My biggest complaint about this cruise is that after being assured by wedding coordinator, another woman named Sandy, (who was onboard staff that we met with 2 months prior to cruise, onboard) 5 different travel agents, (we've all done this SOOO many times)...... that our dinner seating arrangements were scattered around several decks in the main dining room! Maitre d' wasn't much help. We ended up at 3 tables, still scattered but on the same deck. He kept telling me, there would be no problem at late seating. I kept telling him, Bride and groom want early seating. We ALL had confirmed Early seating! 20 of us. We were told to contact cruise line no more than two weeks out to verify, which we did, and we still ended up scattered.

Other than that, most things went well and first time cruisers had a great time! (Well, some had some seasickness, but it didn't ruin their trip.)

LOL I wish he could charge $12 for just my DH and me next April! :) $45 for the 2 of us...we're not part of a large group.

There were 4 other people that were taken back to their hotels post cruise. I don't know if they were together, but they were going to a hotel with "Gardens" in its name.

Thanks for the update.

 

That's $132 for 11 people. You would need three cabs which would be at least $150. Let us know what you decide to do.

Hey, Carol! We just came back from Bermuda on the Explorer's Oct 6th sailing. We used Independent Driver with 18 people going both to and from the pier from the Newark airport Ramada. Some snafus with baggage made for some dificulties but Abdul was able to accommodate us. He is charging $12 /person now. I should have negotiated for a better rate because $108 plus tip for a 10 mile ride times 2 , well actually times 4 seems a little high. The problems were caused by my own group and the Explorer staff. (They announced that numbers 1 thru 29 could all leave at the same time!) But it was a GREAT Cruise, regardless.

I have to search out my own deals. What ship is your friend on for Oct 6.? Did they book an inside cabin?

 

I always book an inside unless the balcony prices out close to the inside. I think the OV is a waste, but that's just me. On the EX all the OV's are down on decks 2 and 3, whereas there are a ton of insides on decks 6-10. I'm never in my cabin unless I need to be there to change or sleep.

Carol, I am so glad to have met you! You really are a font of knowledge regarding Bayonne and cruising in general. We're on the Explorer on Oct 6th. We're working a couple of angles so that our friend doesn't have to cancel her 1st cruise. I'm staying at the Ramada near the airport, but now I'm considering the other hotels that you and others are mentioning. I will have a car so parking costs are a consideration. The Ramada will be $5 a day since I worked out a group deal with them. (My son is getting married on the ship before we set sail) We're going aboard the Explorer next Thurs to finalize some details relative to the wedding. Thank you for passing on what you have learned from your cruising experience!

Hi Stan,

 

Yes, I have an exciting cruising season. Fantastic solo deals on the TA's and Med cruise and enthusiastic CC groups. Thanks to great prices, FF miles, and Hotwire, these are going to be wonderful trips.

 

Hopefully back on the EX next year for her final repositioning cruise and then on to the Quantum in Jan 2015 in a solo balcony cabin.

Carol, re: solo deals..... do they offer them to you since you cruise so often? We have a problem in that someone cancelled on a good friend (1st time cruiser). So now she can't afford the whole cabin herself. I don't know which TA she booked with, but would Royal work with her for a decent price? Either that or..... what are you doing the week of Oct 6th?

What a great first question on the new thread! I did the public transit thing last Nov - Larchmont NY to Grand Central by train, Grand Central to Path at 33rd St by subway, Path to Hoboken, Hoboken to Bayonne by light rail and cab to the port. The easiest part of the trip was definitely the Path, light rail, and cab and I would recommend it to anyone who can manage their luggage.

 

Inbound I woud take Airtrain and NJTransit directly to New York Penn Station which is at 32nd St between 7th & 8th Aves. You can walk to the hotel, but a cab woud be inexpensive for a few blocks. You would save only about $2/pp by taking Path and you would have to change trains at both Newark and Journal Square plus make all the local stops.

 

Outbound you should try to find the Herald Square Building at 1350 Broadway at 35th St. There is supposed to be a handicapped entrance there into the big subway concourse under Herald Square where you can walk the 3 blocks underground to Path. This would be particularly good if the weather is bad. You take Path to Hoboken where there are elevators to get up to the station level. You just walk towards the trains and go around to the left to the light rail station. Buy a ticket, validate it, and get on the Bayonne train to 34th St. Call Bayonne Taxi at 201-339-5000 and tell them you want to be picked up at the light rail station to go to the port. They will tell you where they will meet you - possibly back on Ave E where there is a bench to wait. The fare should be $10 plus tip.

 

So for about $45 you can get the two of you from Newark Airport to your NY hotel and then from NY to Cape Liberty. I think that's a great deal. If you want the full NY experience, you will not be happy staying on Staten Island.

 

If you do this, please post back about getting into Path in midtown. There are many entrances into that concourse. I know you can get into Path from the street at 32nd & 6th, but I think it is stairs only.

Wow, Carol! 4 cruises to look forward to! I so Envy you!