CAPE LIBERTY 411 - Version 3!

[checkard]

What is the easiest and most ecnomical way to get from the Amtrak station at the airport to the pier? We are looking at possibility of coming the day before sailing and staying at a hotel or taking the train the morning of the cruise. Train should arrive at the airport around 10:20 on cruise day but if we come the day before it would be later in the afternoon so we would need a shuttle to a hotel. It is a repo cruise so we would be flying back to Harrisburg and not Newark.

 

Just starting to look at options so I'm open to any suggestions to make this work.

[138east]

Connie and Perry,

 

If you come in the day of the cruise, you need to get off at Newark Penn Station and grab a cab to the port for about $50.

 

If you come in the day before the cruise, you need to get off at Newark International Airport Staton and take the free monorail (airtrain) to the P4 station where you can pick up the hotel shuttles. From the hotel you would book a car service to the port for about $50.

 

There is also a public transit option from Newark Penn Station to the port if you can roll your luggage. No steps - all ramps and elevators and level access to the transportation. You transfer to Path (usually the same platform) and go to Exchange Place for $2.50/pp. At Exchange Place you take the elevator to the street level and go about a half block to the light rail where you take the tram to 34th St in Bayonne for $2.10/pp. In Bayonne you call Bayonne taxi and take a cab into the port for $10-12. I am planning on doing this in Jan and will be posting about the experience.

Edited December 11, 2013 by 138east

[checkard]

Thanks Carol, I guess I could have asked this on the thread since you are on the same cruise but I thought it might help someone else out.

[138east]

Yes - much better on this thread to get info from the east coast travelers.

[Dstender]

Hi,

 

I will be flying into EWR Newark airport on 1-20-13 and embarking on the EOS the following morning. Due to our 8pm arrival time on the 20th. I'm looking for the cheapest, but safe, and clean accommodation for the evening of our arrival. It appears that some hotels in the area offer free shuttle service both from the airport and to the cruise port, that would be fantastic. I'm wondering if someone has a list of hotels that offer the free shuttles. Being that we are getting in fairly late and hope to be on the ship as early as possible we are looking for a cheap place to stay.

[138east]

We are on the same cruise. This was a wake up call for me. I had checked hotel prices and found something in my price range, but when I just checked, the room I was going to book had almost doubled!

 

A quick check of Kayak showed a sale on the Ramada Plaza, so I just booked a king room for $75.54 tax included! Thank you so much for this question. I am sailing on the EX tomorrow and was going to book when I got back.

 

This hotel has a hotel shuttle, but no Cruiseport shuttle. Quite frankly the hotels that offer a Cruiseport shuttle tend to be more expensive or are what we refer to as "fringe" hotels. The Staten Island hotels are nice, but if you're flying out of Newark, you have to pay extra to get directly back there.

 

My advice to you is to book this hotel immediately - the sale ends in 11 hours. There is no rail downside to doing this because it will allow you to cancel up until 7 pm on 1/19.

 

I would be interested in sharing a shuttle to the port. Please email me at cc138east at gmail. We should be able to get Independent Driver to take us for $45. I am also interested in arriving early at the port, which means leaving around 10am.

[megr1125]

y'all are gonna have your hands full due to people arriving for the superbowl...even 2 weeks ahead

 

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[138east]

Hi Meg! Ugh - the Super Bowl. I was annoyed with myself for not booking the Robert Treat at $80 + tax, but this should work out better. That was a great price for almost any area hotel with a shuttle, but $75 incl tax is much better. I'd rather roam around the airport at midnight than into downtown Newark anyway. I can still do my public transit thing if no one wants to share a shuttle.

[vermontvoyager]

Hi..

I am new to this board and sailing Explorer for the first time and was looking for any info on round trip RCI transfers from EWR to Cape Liberty.

Anyone know what time the earliest transfers are to and from the ship?

 

I ask because I got to get my flight booked and would like to book the flight where I am not hanging the airport and the pier for hours on end.

 

When I booked the cruise it was kind of vague with the time of 12:00pm to the ship and 2:00pm back from the ship. I would think 2:00pm is a little late to start transfers back to the airport.:confused:

 

Thanks for any help with this.:)

[138east]

Hi Bob,

 

You only need a transfer from the airport to the ship. You can walk off the ship and pick up a shared shuttle to EWR for $16 - no need for a ship transfer.

 

Are you D or D+?

 

Post back or email me - I have to run a quick errand because I am sailing tomorrow!!

[vermontvoyager]

Hi Bob,

 

You only need a transfer from the airport to the ship. You can walk off the ship and pick up a shared shuttle to EWR for $16 - no need for a ship transfer.

 

Are you D or D+?

 

Post back or email me - I have to run a quick errand because I am sailing tomorrow!!

 

Thanks for the info Carol.:)

 

I am D+...I hope you have a great time on EX and safe travels.

Edited December 11, 2013 by vermontvoyager

[138east]

Thanks Bob. I am also on your cruise.

 

D+ is always assigned the earliest disembarkation time after the self disembarkers - usually no later than 8:30. That means you can usually be off the ship and through customs by 9-9:15 am. At that time you can just walk out of the terminal and tell the dispatcher you want to go to the airport and he will send you out in a shuttle. Any flight scheduled after 11 am should be fine.

 

Outbound to the airport should be no more than 20-30 minutes.

 

What is your plan B in case of snow on 1/21?

[vermontvoyager]

Thanks Bob. I am also on your cruise.

 

D+ is always assigned the earliest disembarkation time after the self disembarkers - usually no later than 8:30. That means you can usually be off the ship and through customs by 9-9:15 am. At that time you can just walk out of the terminal and tell the dispatcher you want to go to the airport and he will send you out in a shuttle. Any flight scheduled after 11 am should be fine.

 

Outbound to the airport should be no more than 20-30 minutes.

 

What is your plan B in case of snow on 1/21?

 

Plan B? LOL.

No plan B for now. I am an hour away by flight, so I am hoping there is no issues. :)

I always get trip insurance also. So I'm hoping for no delays.

 

 

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[radioman]

Are there taxi available at the port at 8am (Friday Jan 31) in the morning to go to Newark airport? I have a early flight back to Detroit. Thanks

[njhorseman]

Are there taxi available at the port at 8am (Friday Jan 31) in the morning to go to Newark airport? I have a early flight back to Detroit. Thanks

 

Cruise ship arrival morning is when the local taxi drivers make their money. There should be plenty of taxis and there are also shared ride vans that will take you to EWR.

 

Hopefully you've allowed enough time for the trip to the airport (typically about 30 minutes, but it can be significantly longer in a traffic jam) and processing through TSA security at EWR, where the lines can be long and slow-moving.

[allentownahoy]

Thanks Bob. I am also on your cruise.

 

D+ is always assigned the earliest disembarkation time after the self disembarkers - usually no later than 8:30. That means you can usually be off the ship and through customs by 9-9:15 am. At that time you can just walk out of the terminal and tell the dispatcher you want to go to the airport and he will send you out in a shuttle. Any flight scheduled after 11 am should be fine.

 

Outbound to the airport should be no more than 20-30 minutes.

 

What is your plan B in case of snow on 1/21?

 

Based on my experiences in November and today the earliest time tagged departure has been 9;30 and in November it was later than that even for D+. If anything the system has deteriorated and is even more of a mess now than last year.

Ruth

[CobaltBlueCT]

Hi Meg! Ugh - the Super Bowl. I was annoyed with myself for not booking the Robert Treat at $80 + tax, but this should work out better. That was a great price for almost any area hotel with a shuttle, but $75 incl tax is much better. I'd rather roam around the airport at midnight than into downtown Newark anyway. I can still do my public transit thing if no one wants to share a shuttle.

 

Hi Carol: Walt and I just booked the Ramada Plaza as our Plan B for the 1/21 cruise. We'll have a car service drop us at the Ramada if snow is in the forecast for Tuesday. If we end up executing Plan B, would certainly like to share a shuttle with you. Understand, however, that you're probably looking for firmer commitment, so not sure how to handle. If we can't work it out, we'll take a cab. Only need this one way, as the car service will pick us up at the pier for return. How much for one way cab to pier = do you know? Would front desk order cab for us at the time? Pam

[138east]

Hi Carol: Walt and I just booked the Ramada Plaza as our Plan B for the 1/21 cruise. We'll have a car service drop us at the Ramada if snow is in the forecast for Tuesday. If we end up executing Plan B, would certainly like to share a shuttle with you. Understand, however, that you're probably looking for firmer commitment, so not sure how to handle. If we can't work it out, we'll take a cab. Only need this one way, as the car service will pick us up at the pier for return. How much for one way cab to pier = do you know? Would front desk order cab for us at the time? Pam

 

Hi Pam!

 

Cab to the pier should be $50-60.

 

My specific plans are still up in the air since I just got home yesterday. As Ruth mentioned, disembarkation has become a real mess. D+ was scheduled at 9:30 and we didn't get called until almost 10:30. Ship was docked before 8 am. The scuttlebutt was that the delay was due to the sequestration.

 

Please email me at cc138east at gmail so we are more closely in touch.

[Guest maddycat]

Hi Pam!

 

Cab to the pier should be $50-60.

 

My specific plans are still up in the air since I just got home yesterday. As Ruth mentioned, disembarkation has become a real mess. D+ was scheduled at 9:30 and we didn't get called until almost 10:30. Ship was docked before 8 am. The scuttlebutt was that the delay was due to the sequestration.

 

Please email me at cc138east at gmail so we are more closely in touch.

 

We were on the Nov.3rd sailing of the Explorer. We had the same mess at disembarkation. It took forever. The Explorer crew blamed it on the sequester/customs. However, once in the terminal we saw that every customs line was manned and moving quickly. We think that RCI cut back on the number of buses that they have running between the ship and the terminal and that is what caused the delays.

 

We live only 45 minutes north of Cape Liberty. In the past we have been home by 10:30 am. In Nov. we didn't get home until a little after noon.

Edited December 23, 2013 by maddycat

[allentownahoy]

RCCL Explorer staff always blames Customs and customs is always fine. The problem is with the Explorer staff. If it was customs then Celebrity Summit would experience the same problem and it never does.

Ruth

[Newbcruiser1]

Definitely wasn't customs yesterday. They were only loading one bus at a time even though others are waiting behind it, so there was a huge line for the bus, but no customs lines once we finally got there.

[Got2Cruise]

It may have been immigration and not customs that was causing the hold up. I have been delayed at several USA ports including nyc, usvi and Puerto Rico. In the case of usvi we were only visiting not disembarking.

 

Anywho, it is always wise to figure in a delay when making transfer plans

[njhorseman]

It may have been immigration and not customs that was causing the hold up. I have been delayed at several USA ports including nyc, usvi and Puerto Rico. In the case of usvi we were only visiting not disembarking.

 

Anywho, it is always wise to figure in a delay when making transfer plans

 

Immigration and customs are done by the same people who are employed by the same agency...U.S. Customs and Border Protection. At most ports, including Cape Liberty, you hand in your customs declaration to the same person who checks both that and your passport ("immigration"). Many people commonly call the process "going through customs" even though it is really both processes.

 

You were checked in the US Virgin Islands for immigration status only because it was your first US port of entry after certain visiting foreign countries. You didn't go through a customs check because it wasn't your final disembarkation port.

[Got2Cruise]

Immigration and customs are done by the same people who are employed by the same agency...U.S. Customs and Border Protection. At most ports, including Cape Liberty, you hand in your customs declaration to the same person who checks both that and your passport ("immigration"). Many people commonly call the process "going through customs" even though it is really both processes.

 

You were checked in the US Virgin Islands for immigration status only because it was your first US port of entry after certain visiting foreign countries. You didn't go through a customs check because it wasn't your final disembarkation port.

 

All I know is that on those particular sailings it took several hours to get off the darn ship. Brides who had beach weddings planned were standing there in tears wedding gowns in hand. In Puerto Rico pax were waiting in the hot sun for hours to get on because there was no room in the waiting room. Also pax with foreign passports were scrutinized that is why the ship could not be cleared. Customs/immigration a call it what you want but nobody can leave until the ship is cleared.

[checkard]

What is the closest Amtrak station to the port? And what would be the approximate travel time and cost of cab to the port from that station?