CAPE LIBERTY 411 - Version 3!

[138east]

I found this on their web site. It looks like the bathrooms separate.

 

http://www.countryinns.com/elizabeth-hotel-nj-07201/njnewark/rooms/floorplans/detail

 

If this doesn't suit, then look at Marriott Courtyard Elizabeth or Residence Inn.

[Elizanessie]

I found this on their web site. It looks like the bathrooms separate.

 

http://www.countryinns.com/elizabeth-hotel-nj-07201/njnewark/rooms/floorplans/detail

 

If this doesn't suit, then look at Marriott Courtyard Elizabeth or Residence Inn.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you...you are a star :D

[138east]

If you book a room, I would email the hotel and attach the picture to confirm that is is what you are going to get. When you want something specific at a hotel, it pays to draw their attention to it.

 

Here in the states, I often call the hotel directly the morning of checkin to make sure they block out a room for me. We once went to Disney World with two children and had a room booked for 4. Our flight was late arriving and we were the last people to check in. All that was left was a king with a one person couch sofa. Our youngest had to sleep on the couch cushions on the floor and there was no floor space left to walk around the room. I made a stink with the hotel manager and they comped us the room and breakfast, but we essentially camped out for a night.

[Lois R]

Hi Carol, did you see my last post? Just wanted to reassure you about

Celebrity:D. Just like many others prefer Royal, Princess, etc.....

I love Celebrity and hoping you will have a greaet cruise:)

[Elizanessie]

If you book a room, I would email the hotel and attach the picture to confirm that is is what you are going to get. When you want something specific at a hotel, it pays to draw their attention to it.

 

Here in the states, I often call the hotel directly the morning of checkin to make sure they block out a room for me. We once went to Disney World with two children and had a room booked for 4. Our flight was late arriving and we were the last people to check in. All that was left was a king with a one person couch sofa. Our youngest had to sleep on the couch cushions on the floor and there was no floor space left to walk around the room. I made a stink with the hotel manager and they comped us the room and breakfast, but we essentially camped out for a night.

 

Thank you for the advice :D I will email the hotel once I make the booking to confirm that we have the right set up for our needs.

 

Thanks again for all your help. :D

[larry the lobster]

I'm sure I have posted on here before but for some reason I can't find my information that I got from this thread. I am going on The Explorer of The Seas very soon and leaving out of Cape Liberty. I am staying at The Courtyard Newark Elizabeth on Gilmcher RealtyWay... whats the best way to get to Cape Liberty cruise port for 5 people??

What is the best restaurant to eat at near hotel? I do know there is a mall across the street from the hotel.

Thanks for any and all help!!

[MARIMART]

Hi all!

We are arriving on the Explorer of the sea Sept 29 at 8.00am what time should we tell the Shuttle to pick us up as we are staying on in NY...Thanks for the help

Marty:)

[138east]

I'm sure I have posted on here before but for some reason I can't find my information that I got from this thread. I am going on The Explorer of The Seas very soon and leaving out of Cape Liberty. I am staying at The Courtyard Newark Elizabeth on Gilmcher RealtyWay... whats the best way to get to Cape Liberty cruise port for 5 people??

What is the best restaurant to eat at near hotel? I do know there is a mall across the street from the hotel.

Thanks for any and all help!!

 

 

Independent driver - 888-816-0973

 

Well, it's all chain restaurants so it's hard to say which is the "best". You can walk to Ruby Tuesdays and IHOP from the hotel. The mall has a food court. Google the Jersey Gardens Mall to find out what they offer for food. The walk is a little further, but no worse than being in outer parking at a mall at Christmas. The Courtyard also has food service.

[larry the lobster]

Independent driver - 888-816-0973

 

Well, it's all chain restaurants so it's hard to say which is the "best". You can walk to Ruby Tuesdays and IHOP from the hotel. The mall has a food court. Google the Jersey Gardens Mall to find out what they offer for food. The walk is a little further, but no worse than being in outer parking at a mall at Christmas. The Courtyard also has food service.[/quote

 

OK thank you for information! Stupid question...is Independent driver a company or one person? How far in advance do I need to call them?

[138east]

It's a company - may be a loose affiliation of independently owned liveries which is common in that area (I.e. Bayonne Taxi and Secaucus Taxi). Their business cards are in at least some of the smaller airport Marriott properties and online at one of the park/sleeps. Call no more than 4-6 weeks ahead.

[bama4cruisin]

My husband and I are sailing on the Celebrity Summit in October. I have read in some posts that when we disembark we may not find a lot of taxis waiting. Will we have difficulty getting a taxi to LGA or should we pre-arrange a car service? What should we expect the cost to be for either from the port to LGA? We are flying in 3 days prior and will be staying in Chelsea before sailing. Thanks.

[Lois R]

My husband and I are sailing on the Celebrity Summit in October. I have read in some posts that when we disembark we may not find a lot of taxis waiting. Will we have difficulty getting a taxi to LGA or should we pre-arrange a car service? What should we expect the cost to be for either from the port to LGA? We are flying in 3 days prior and will be staying in Chelsea before sailing. Thanks.

 

I can't give you prices but not sure where you read about lack of taxis....

Last time I sailed from there? Plenty of taxis were available.:)

I am going again in August and will be happy to let you know how it

goes this time as well.:)

[bama4cruisin]

Thanks! I'll check back after your Bermuda trip. Enjoying your pictures on Flickr . . .

[njhorseman]

My husband and I are sailing on the Celebrity Summit in October. I have read in some posts that when we disembark we may not find a lot of taxis waiting. Will we have difficulty getting a taxi to LGA or should we pre-arrange a car service? What should we expect the cost to be for either from the port to LGA? We are flying in 3 days prior and will be staying in Chelsea before sailing. Thanks.

 

You do not want to take a taxi on an interstate (NJ to NY) trip like this. They can charge you whatever they want, and the drivers may not even be willing to make the trip. It's not a question of whether there are taxis at the port...it's a question of getting one to take you to LGA at a reasonable price. The taxis at the port primarily serve passengers who are going to EWR or other nearby locations in NJ.

 

You should make advance reservations with a car service, where you will have a pre-established fare quote and assurance that a reserved vehicle will be there.

 

Here are two of the largest car services the NY area. They take passengers between Cape Liberty and the NY airports all the time. Call them (phone #'s on the web sites) to get an exact quote(probably about $75-100 plus tolls and tip) and reserve a car.

 

Dial 7 http://www.dial7.com

 

Carmel http://www.carmellimo.com

 

By the way...also don't try to take a taxi from your pre-cruise hotel in NY to Cape Liberty. They don't have to agree to do it and can squeeze as much money out of you as they think they can get a way with. Book a car service, as I've advised above. Taxis are perfectly OK for getting from LGA (assuming you're flying into that airport) to your hotel in Manhattan. Car service is also an option for that trip.

Edited June 29, 2013 by njhorseman

[138east]

Actually, the taxis don't quite work that way at Cape Liberty. You can't "hail" a cab there. There is a taxi dispatcher. You go to him and tell him where you want to go and he will quote you a price and will call out to the hovering livery vehicles to have one pull up for you. The dispatcher organizes the shared shuttles to the local area,the airport, hotels and train station. He also gets rides for folks to Manhattan, LGA, and JFK.

 

If you want to know the price, I'd try calling Bayonne Taxi, which I think is I charge of the whole operation.

[njhorseman]

I didn't say anything about hailing a taxi. There are dispatchers at the airport too, and I stand by my advice of using a car service rather than a taxi for interstate trips originating there too. The local Bayonne taxis are going to charge more because they have no choice but to return to NJ empty. The large car services are running vehicles back and forth all the time and can charge less because they usually don't have to "deadhead" their vehicles for any great distance. The car that takes you from Cape Liberty to LGA probably just took a passenger to EWR, then took you to LGA and will pick up someone at LGA to go somewhere else.

Edited June 29, 2013 by njhorseman

[spearmint]

megr1125, 138 east, clarea, cruisifever and others who helped me...my most ardent thanks. Bill

 

From the excellent advice I received on this (and a couple of other threads) the following is what we did for our trip on Explorer of the Seas, June 13, 2013

(1) After booking on line and following up by phone, we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites, 100 Glimcher Realty Way, Elizabeth, N.J. We took the Air Train from #4 from the airport terminal to the pick-up point for hotel shuttles. The shuttle from the hotel runs every half hour on the quarter hour from the airport. It was a little late, but no big deal.The hotel was fine, but it was more or less full. We were unable to get a quite early check in (about 8:30 a.m.), but the hotel put our luggage in a locked room near the front desk. You will see why we needed to get rid of our cases....(By teh way, I love the NJ law which allows one to buy a beer etc. directly from the reception desk!) Both that morning and the next, we had breakfast at the hotel; it was quite crowded both days, but the breakfast was OK as it met our needs for the time of day.

 

(2) We splurged greatly (for us, two retired teachers) on our tour of NYC. We are not that mobile, and will probably never get back to N.Y.... so, it became a birthday present for Rosemarie, and treat for the two of us all in one. One of you mentioned the website for the boutique tourer..."Our Town New York" and we checked it out. I sent an email and was called the next day with information. After thinking it over, I decided to take this company. There was a driver in a Mercedes SUV who picked us up at the hotel and took us for a tour of the City. Wow. I left it up to John to take us wherever he felt one would see an overall introduction to New York and he was simply great. We did this at 10:00 a.m. on the day we arrived in Newark and toured until about 4:00 p.m. when we just had to stop due to fatigue. (We had been up to get our flight at 2:30 a.m. the previous night.) Even though I had indicated initially that we did not need to see the 9/11 memorial because we were doing a post cruise excursion from RCCL, John did take us down to the area and I did get some photos of Tower One. That was fortuitous for us as it turned out. I highly recommend this company without any reservations whatsoever.

 

(3) Upon return to the hotel, we got registered, got a much needed couple of beers from the front desk, freshened up and went to dinner at "Ruby Tuesday's" next door. It was OK; typical fare of the chain restaurants.

 

(4) I had also pre-booked "Independent Driver" for !0:00 a.m. He was a bit late, but again, no problem; we met another couple waiting for the same van, so knew that we were not waiting in vain. I did call more than once, as I do not use a cell phone, and they do not send confirmation numbers; just wanted to be sure they still had my name. Total for two was just as you had told me....$45 (sans tip). We were dropped off at the tent/terminal in pouring rain and our driver got all our luggage for us, so none of us got wet. He said he could arrange to pick us up after the cruise to take us to the airport, but as far as I knew, he wasn't needed. Remember our plans for the post cruise excursion... Both couples were very pleased with the man, and we each tipped him a ten...I echo the advise of the masters on this thread and recommend Independent Driver highly.

 

(5) On board, we eventually went to shore excursions to book our post cruise event. Now, well before all other plans were finalized at home, we had found the excursion on the cruiseline website under general excursions, even though there was nothing under the title of excursions from Cape Liberty; and I had spoken to a rep from shore excursions at RCCL when I enquired about what would be done with our luggage once we left the ship to board the harbour tour ferry. No problem and I was told what would happen. Great. The harbour tour dropped us off at Battery Park and we would walk to the 9/11 memorial where we would spend an hour. Hence, I informed our NYC tour company that we did not have to spend time there.

 

BUT. On board we were informed that, although Celebrity offered this tour, RCCL had cancelled it some time previously. So. No close up of the memorial, and no ride to the airport. We had no choice but to take the RCCL bus from the ship to the airport for $54 for the two of us...at 9:30 a.m. for an 8:00 p.m. flight. (We had lots of time. That was why we wanted the post-cruise excursion with the airport drop off.) And the kicker (chuckling now...) for once we were happy to be last off the ship, but we were told we would be one of the first off.:rolleyes: It was a looong day. Still, the RCCL shuttle took the stress off from us trying to get to the airport via a much more expensive route..

 

I was not stressed in the least about being in a huge urban area, like I was when I first started requesting information from CruiseCritic folks. So this is, again, a big thanks to such great helpers.

 

As a "pay it forward" (rather than a 'pay back') I provided details which I hope, will add to what is on this thread and answer questions that someone else my have about preparing to get to the cruise ships in the area.

 

Bill

[Lois R]

Hi Bill, wow...thanks for the detailed review of your pre-cruise visit!:)

[spearmint]

Hi Bill, wow...thanks for the detailed review of your pre-cruise visit!:)

 

Hello, Lois! Not a problem.:D Hope it helps someone.

[saddlebrooke]

Relatively new to this thread. Is there a shuttle from the port Cape Liberty to the EWR airport? If so, are reservations needed and what is the cost?

I have read that taxis are abundant and charge about $45.00 per couple for the trip to the EWR airport?

Thanks for your help.

Terry and Judy (Saddlebrooke)

[138east]

Shuttle to EWR is $16/pp. No reservations. They just fill the shuttles up as folks get off the ship and send them off. When you come through customs,you make a left and go to the dispatcher at the end of the tent. He will put you on a shared shuttle or will get you a private taxi/car. $45 sounds a little low - I'm thinking at least $50 for a private car.

[PattyG12]

I'm planning to sail on the Explorer and will be taking the Train from DC. I think last time my tickets were for the Newark station but it put us pretty far from a cab (on the other side of the airport). Is there a better stop to train to for the port?

[njhorseman]

I'm planning to sail on the Explorer and will be taking the Train from DC. I think last time my tickets were for the Newark station but it put us pretty far from a cab (on the other side of the airport). Is there a better stop to train to for the port?

 

Use Newark Penn Station (as opposed to Newark Liberty International Airport).

[Stanthefireman]

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!

[138east]

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.