Check in Times Cape Liberty

[zinman]

Does RC enforce check in times at Cape Liberty?  We are traveling with others who have an earlier check in time.  Wondering if they will let us check in at the same time.

[DaniDanielle]

We checked in with our family at the same time.  Some of them had later checkin.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, zinman said:

Does RC enforce check in times at Cape Liberty?

Not usually and yes you can tag along with someone with an earlier check in time.

[Ashland]

We just sailed out of Cape Liberty Oct 5th and no one was checking times...however even though we were in a suite and accessed the suite line everything was very disorganized !!!

[danv3]

Not enforced in October.  No one asked or checked.

[Max and Ruby]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

We just sailed out of Cape Liberty Oct 5th and no one was checking times...however even though we were in a suite and accessed the suite line everything was very disorganized !!!

I find it 1 of the most disorganized ports, but it is convenient to drive to.  We have only sailed twice from there since pandemic, but both times it wasn't smooth sailing.  We'll see next month if anything else happens.

[DaniDanielle]

We never had a problem with Cape Liberty before or after pandemic.  We arrive early which seems to make a difference.

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

We never had a problem with Cape Liberty before or after pandemic.  We arrive early which seems to make a difference.

 

We have not had issues at Cape Liberty either.  Usually a very quick, organized process.  

[KLMB]

Checked in early a month ago.  From luggage drop off to ship was 10 minutes tops. (around 11ish)

[crzndeb]

I sailed from Cape Liberty for the first time on the Jewel to Greenland. I even commented to them how organized I thought it was. Once you checked in, you then sat in long rows. When boarding started, row 1 went, followed by row 2, etc. 

[nelblu]

We had no issues in the past, until the October 20 Oasis sail as some geniuses decided to change the method of paying for parking.  Prior, as you entered the garage, the attendant gave you a parking ticket and you proceeded to park the car.  Payment was done on disembarkation.

On the October 20th cruise, the attendants at the entrance to the open garage had a small handheld machine and collected the parking fee via cc and gave you a receipt.  The machine accepting and issuing a payment receipt was quite slow and this slowed down the process as cars waiting to drop luggage and park was some 2 miles long. 

 

One thing that the new process did was reduce the number of passengers in the terminal going thru security. 

 

Disembarking was another nightmare.  We disembarked at about 8:30 and a long line snaked thru the MDR on the 5th deck.  Also, at the opposite end the line snaked near the theatre.  Don't know if everyone decided to get off at the same time but at certain stretches, we did not move for about 10 minutes.   What made it worse many passengers had large bags that they were disembarking with.  

Edited November 2, 2023 by nelblu

[Ashland]

Disembarking was very organized for those in a suite and Key holders.

 

We did self assist and those suite guests that chose this option met at 7:15 in the Schooner Bar and our concierge walked us all off....first off the ship.

 

Those with the Key they met in the same area lined up and the DL concierge walked them off after our group.

 

The only embarking plus at the terminal was a suite area zone #6 that prioritized our luggage onto the ship. This was a great option and hoping it's offered at other embarking ports.

[zinman]

Thanks all will hope for the organized approach there tomorrow 😀

[mets123]

On 11/2/2023 at 5:10 PM, Max and Ruby said:

I find it 1 of the most disorganized ports, but it is convenient to drive to.  We have only sailed twice from there since pandemic, but both times it wasn't smooth sailing.  We'll see next month if anything else happens.

It's the only port we leave from and haven't had any issues. And lately we've been doing 5-6 cruises a year.

[Max and Ruby]

3 hours ago, mets123 said:

It's the only port we leave from and haven't had any issues. And lately we've been doing 5-6 cruises a year.

Good to hear . Hope next month there are no Coast Guard inspections or some other tanker ship does not need to get out.

 

April 2023, we were notified a couple days before the  coast guard inspection . My scheduled 10:30 arrival time was moved by Royal to be 1pm! All those who signed up for the first time slot were moved to the last. But in the end the coast guard inspection was over earlier and I only found out that  I could arrive on time from my Facebook group that morning and not by Royal.

 

Then when we sailed summer 2022 on Oasis , and had 10:30 arrival, we got there at 10:10 and were told that we had to stop boarding because Oasis had to pull away from the port to allow the other ship to get out. So we sat for 2 hours in the holding room just waiting for Oasis to come back. No early notice that morning at all until after we arrived.

So perhaps Royal is to blame, not Cape Liberty Port, but let’s just say we want smooth sailing this time!

 

 

 

[meadowlander]

1 hour ago, Max and Ruby said:

Good to hear . Hope next month there are no Coast Guard inspections or some other tanker ship does not need to get out.

 

April 2023, we were notified a couple days before the  coast guard inspection . My scheduled 10:30 arrival time was moved by Royal to be 1pm! All those who signed up for the first time slot were moved to the last. But in the end the coast guard inspection was over earlier and I only found out that  I could arrive on time from my Facebook group that morning and not by Royal.

 

Then when we sailed summer 2022 on Oasis , and had 10:30 arrival, we got there at 10:10 and were told that we had to stop boarding because Oasis had to pull away from the port to allow the other ship to get out. So we sat for 2 hours in the holding room just waiting for Oasis to come back. No early notice that morning at all until after we arrived.

So perhaps Royal is to blame, not Cape Liberty Port, but let’s just say we want smooth sailing this time!

 

 

 

The examples you provided do not support your earlier claim that CL is "disorganized". The port had no role in either case you listed.

 

I too was kept outside of the terminal in September of this year because Oasis was delayed (presumably by another cargo ship in port). Once inside, as many others have stated, the process is efficient. 

 

We were kept waiting inside the terminal for a recent Jewel cruise because of scanning issues on the ship. Boarding was delayed more than an hour & once started it was halted and delayed another 15-30 minutes, still not the fault of any port employee inside the terminal.

 

Scheduled boarding times have not been checked, much less enforced, since at least December of 2022 at Cape Liberty. This past September, with delayed boarding, instructions were that only those with 10:30 & 11:00 times were to wait in line. No checking of passes were done & some with later times did wait in the 11:00 line(despite being told not to).

 

I find the process inside the terminal to be very quick & managed well.

 

 

 

 

[Scottdalfonso]

On 11/2/2023 at 5:10 PM, Max and Ruby said:

I find it 1 of the most disorganized ports, but it is convenient to drive to.  We have only sailed twice from there since pandemic, but both times it wasn't smooth sailing.  We'll see next month if anything else happens.

 

This is the first time I've seen anyone say this. It's usually hailed as one of the smoothest, easiest ports to sail from. We left on Oasis in Miami in February, then again on Oasis from Cape Liberty in October. The differences were huge- NJ was WAYYY easier to get into, parking, security....everything. We parked at Noon and were on the ship by 12:20...and that's only because the security lady had to re-take my wifes picture. And no "special" class or anything- just normal embarkation line and check ins. 

 

On 11/2/2023 at 7:11 PM, nelblu said:

We had no issues in the past, until the October 20 Oasis sail as some geniuses decided to change the method of paying for parking.  Prior, as you entered the garage, the attendant gave you a parking ticket and you proceeded to park the car.  Payment was done on disembarkation.

On the October 20th cruise, the attendants at the entrance to the open garage had a small handheld machine and collected the parking fee via cc and gave you a receipt.  The machine accepting and issuing a payment receipt was quite slow and this slowed down the process as cars waiting to drop luggage and park was some 2 miles long. 

.  

When we sailed first week of October, we parked in the lot right in front of the terminal- they gave me a receipt and told us to pay on the way out. We did not pay at the kiosk when we left the terminal on the last day, but let me tell you - easily could have pulled out without paying- they were so disorganized, I got in the car, started pulling toward the gate and he asked the car in front of me if they paid, they obviously said yes and he waved them out a side gate- we pulled up to the gate, paid the girl and left. But they never checked that guys ticket, nothing- he literally said "yes" and they said go ahead. 

[nelblu]

57 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

 

This is the first time I've seen anyone say this. It's usually hailed as one of the smoothest, easiest ports to sail from. We left on Oasis in Miami in February, then again on Oasis from Cape Liberty in October. The differences were huge- NJ was WAYYY easier to get into, parking, security....everything. We parked at Noon and were on the ship by 12:20...and that's only because the security lady had to re-take my wifes picture. And no "special" class or anything- just normal embarkation line and check ins. 

 

When we sailed first week of October, we parked in the lot right in front of the terminal- they gave me a receipt and told us to pay on the way out. We did not pay at the kiosk when we left the terminal on the last day, but let me tell you - easily could have pulled out without paying- they were so disorganized, I got in the car, started pulling toward the gate and he asked the car in front of me if they paid, they obviously said yes and he waved them out a side gate- we pulled up to the gate, paid the girl and left. But they never checked that guys ticket, nothing- he literally said "yes" and they said go ahead. 

Surprisingly as they usually are strict and look at the receipt(s).  My son misplaced his receipt and thank goodness he was able to bring it up the charge on his bank account via his phone.  

[az4ship]

Board at Cape Liberty on Oct 30 and it highly disorganized. No checking of times for check in.  The big snag was security Checkpoint prior to checkin.  At one point it totally stopped for about 30 minutes.  The problem is people trying to bring in stuff that is not allowed like fruit, small liquor bottles, etc.  Once you got past this it was ok bit still disorganized 

[Scottdalfonso]

5 minutes ago, az4ship said:

Board at Cape Liberty on Oct 30 and it highly disorganized. No checking of times for check in.  The big snag was security Checkpoint prior to checkin.  At one point it totally stopped for about 30 minutes.  The problem is people trying to bring in stuff that is not allowed like fruit, small liquor bottles, etc.  Once you got past this it was ok bit still disorganized 

I heard this specific boarding was bad because they had delays getting the previous passengers off and the coast guard was doing inspections.  Again, when we went on Oct 1, the lines never stopped from outside, into the building and onto the ship. We were stopped for a total of about 4-5 minutes and that was at the desk for check in, where the lady was SUPER nice and funny. 

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, az4ship said:

Board at Cape Liberty on Oct 30 and it highly disorganized.

 

53 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

I heard this specific boarding was bad because they had delays getting the previous passengers off and the coast guard was doing inspections.  

I was on the previous sailing (TA) and it was indeed a very slow disembarkation.  No facial recognition, very large amount of non-US citizens, thus finger printing for many.  Long lines for boarding when many were still getting off.  Mass congestion outside the terminal with pick up and drop off.

[mkmaj]

5 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

 

This is the first time I've seen anyone say this. It's usually hailed as one of the smoothest, easiest ports to sail from. We left on Oasis in Miami in February, then again on Oasis from Cape Liberty in October. The differences were huge- NJ was WAYYY easier to get into, parking, security....everything. We parked at Noon and were on the ship by 12:20...and that's only because the security lady had to re-take my wifes picture. And no "special" class or anything- just normal embarkation line and check ins. 

 

When we sailed first week of October, we parked in the lot right in front of the terminal- they gave me a receipt and told us to pay on the way out. We did not pay at the kiosk when we left the terminal on the last day, but let me tell you - easily could have pulled out without paying- they were so disorganized, I got in the car, started pulling toward the gate and he asked the car in front of me if they paid, they obviously said yes and he waved them out a side gate- we pulled up to the gate, paid the girl and left. But they never checked that guys ticket, nothing- he literally said "yes" and they said go ahead. 

Quick question as we will be arriving around 12 as well. How much of that wait/walk time was outside? Trying to decide how heavy of coats we want to lug around!

[Scottdalfonso]

You're only outside from the car to the terminal. We walked right into the building. Unless you're gonna freeze for a few minutes, I wouldn't bother with heavy coats 

9 minutes ago, mkmaj said:

Quick question as we will be arriving around 12 as well. How much of that wait/walk time was outside? Trying to decide how heavy of coats we want to lug around!

 

[mkmaj]

1 minute ago, Scottdalfonso said:

You're only outside from the car to the terminal. We walked right into the building. Unless you're gonna freeze for a few minutes, I wouldn't bother with heavy coats 

 

Perfect, thank you!!

[BBlake43]

Was on Oasis in September and was waiting outside for a 12pm check in time and they told everyone to go and check in no matter what time you were scheduled