Bayonne Parking - Sticky Residue Still A Problem?

[Cruising89143]

Well, some good news for current cruisers.

 

We just returned to find our car paint/residue free. :)

 

We parked close to the terminal; just to the right of it. Not sure if location plays a role.

 

And BTW, I was very pleased getting out of there so quickly. :) :)

 

Pete, how different is the experience between Bayonne and the New York piers? Parking, traffic flow and crowds.

[MrPete]

Getting in was the same, as the traffic flow for both those coming in and out have to go past the load/unload area. NY gets bad if and when the West Side Highway starts backing up when the exits to the pier gets clogged up.

 

Bayonne, there is just a long one lane road from the entrance to the lots.

 

We made the mistake of getting there too early, as we didn't know how long the trip would take (it was a little under an hour). I would think had we been there an hour later, things would have flowed better. They appeared to be, from our vantage point on the ship, at that time.

 

But someone suggested parking the car first, which we did, and rolled our luggage to the porters. So all in all, it took 20 minutes of sitting. It's usually 5 at the NY piers. But the the horrors of NYC is the long lines inside.

 

We found the check in process in Bayonne extremely easy. They give you a number, and you sit in a waiting area waiting to be called. We were lucky to have that loneliest of numbers.

 

You then load a double bus, and are transported to the ship.

 

Getting off was extremely easy. They unload by color, and call your color, so your bags are carted over to the terminal, and then you are bussed back. I think we went from ship to car in 10 minutes, and the drive exit was painless.

 

Thumbs up!

[MrPete]

I was gonna include a pic from Google Earth, but I see the area wasn't even built then.

[beachbuddy]

Well, after reading all these posts........I think I'm going to call them too!

I knew we had something on the window driving home from the port because it was raining and the wipers were worthless. Tony pulled over a few times to try to clean the window. We can't get a pair of wipers to work good at all anymore. I'm going to tell him to try using the razor blade as suggested in this thread. We have a black Explorer so I can't say for sure that it's red paint.......but there is definitly something on the car............we can feel it with our hands.

 

Patty

[cpizzull]

Ken called back finally. I have to get an estimate, but you're right Dennis, he's throwing out numbers like $200. I know for a fact one of the posters here got them to pay over $1,000. Ken wants me to take a picture to basically prove it but that's going to be almost impossible.

 

Will keep you up to date.

[LauraS]

Here's an older news article about this very issue: Cape Liberty Cruisers get Paint Splash

 

It contains contact information that you should find useful, if you feel your vehicle was on the receiving end of the "overspray" from the dockyard.

 

Laura

[Mark]

What all of you folks should be made aware of is that this residue/paint problem on cars parked at the Bayonne Port is not a new problem. People have been experiencing this problem since the parking lot and the pier was open. The initial explanation was that the Shipyard was painting grey paint on a naval vessel on a windy day and that they would take measures to insure it did not happen again...at least a year ago. If people are still having this problem in Bayonne, the Shipyard is not telling the truth and you all should push this issue with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity since they decided to open the Bayonne Port. RCCL and X may not own the port but they ask their customers to use the facilities. Write to your representatives and to the mayor of Bayonne or to anyone esle you can think of...it is not right that this problem is still being encountered by passengers who park their cars in Bayonne!:mad:

[Camaro9840]

Hello everyone,

I have been monitoring this very closely and am now getting worried since I will be parking there next friday.

 

1 - When is the last reported case of this happening that anyone knows of?? Recent like the past couple weeks or are we talking months ago?

 

2 - Is it permently damaging cars or is fixable. My car color is a dark red or redwine color car. From what I hear this residue is a red color so it might not be visible on my car.

 

One of the biggest selling points for me on this upcomming cruise was that it would be 30min drive for me and we could pack / buy alot on the cruise and not have to worry about airplane tickets.

 

Now I am debating wether or not to take a cab which I really didn't want to do.

[Mark]

The color of residue will change and depends on which color they are spray painting on a ship...last year when they were working on a naval vessel there were many complaints of grey paint which will not look good on your red vehicle. Call them up and ask them what colors they are painting the week of your cruise and you will know what to expect when you return to Bayonne.

[MisterBill99]

I am just back from Explorer today and did not notice a problem on my car or a car parked near the road. I saw one car with a cover on it.

[beachbuddy]

We're one of the unlucky ones that got paint on our car as well........did the Explorer 9 nights on June 16th.

 

Ken did respond to my initial email and asked me to send photos. I thought he was crazy because I didn't think a photo would show anything since we have a black Explorer - we really can't see the paint on the car but can really feel it! The window is still a mess when it rains......wipers are ruined and even after trying to scrap the paint off the windows we still can't get it all off completely. So........we scraped some of it off the windows and put the scrappings on a white piece of paper........Voila........they certainly show up red on the paper so I snapped a photo and sent it to him. Then we took 2 pictures of the hood of the car (I really didn't think anything would show up in the photo), but Voila.........red and gray specs all over the car!!! I was amazed how it showed up in the photo!!! So I sent those photos to him as well. I didn't hear from him for a few days so I forwarded the emails again and also copied Ms. Gaskins at RCCL this time and I asked him if he could at least let me know that he received the photos. I received email from him saying that he received the photos and he asked if I could take the car to get an estimate to get the overspray removed and to let him know where we take it. So, my husband took the car on Monday to get an estimate and called Ken to ask what to do now. Ken told him to fax the estimate to him and to also make sure they put new blades on the windows so the windshield doesn't get ruined. He told my DH that he would call the bodyshop and let them know who to bill.

 

That was Monday - today my DH called the body shop and they said they have not heard from Ken. So, DH tried calling Ken twice - both times he was told he was outside somewhere. DH told the receptionist or secretary (woman) that he wanted Ken to call him. Late this afternoon the woman called my husband and told him that she spoke to Ken and he told her to call and relay the message. She said Ken felt the estimate was to high and that it should only cost around $200!!! Our estimate was less than $600 and we actually thought that was a good price.......it's a 2 day job to remove this stuff and then the car has to be all buffed and waxed again!! I have no idea where he's getting the number $200 from!!!

 

So, my husband told the woman that he expects a call from Ken and if he doesn't hear from him he's going to start making some other phone calls!!

 

So.........the saga continues. Ken seemed to be a very reasonable man in his emails and in his first conversation with my husband, but now I'm not to sure about that!!

 

Guess we'll wait and see if DH hears from him tomorrow!! This is really aggravating!! As convenient as the Bayonne Port is to us, we won't sail out of there again! They need to do something about this problem!

 

Beachbuddy

[njcruisebunny]

Any one else on a recent cruise receive the overspray?

 

We're leaving in a few weeks and still can't decide what to do about leaving a car there or using a car service. We have an SUV and hate to buy a cover for it.

[jnnifer01]

We had the same problem last year on our new car. Now that I have contact info, I will give them a call. I never knew who to talk to about it. :confused:

[maurick]

Has any one used a car cover parkiong at this pier lately? Did it stay on? thanks.

[cruisinslms]

I did! We used a string to tie the two grommets together under the car. The security guard saw us putting the cover on the car and came over to investigate. My DH, who laughed when I said we should get a cover, said to the guy that my wife read there was a chance to get paint on the car in the lot. The security guard vigorously shook his head yes, and said not so much in the lot we were in, but in some of the others. He also asked how we were anchoring the cover to the car and we showed him the string. The car was fine for the whole week and only had some water in the cover from the rain. Hope this helps!

[JerseyGirlMamma]

Any one else on a recent cruise receive the overspray?

 

We're leaving in a few weeks and still can't decide what to do about leaving a car there or using a car service. We have an SUV and hate to buy a cover for it.

 

We just got back yesterday and did not have any problems with overspray.

 

I debated about whether or not to park and the gamble paid off. Good luck.

[njcruisebunny]

Any special area that you parked that might be more protected?

[JerseyGirlMamma]

Any special area that you parked that might be more protected?

 

None of the areas seem protected, it is all very open space. As you approach the luggage drop off area we turned left and parked there on the rocks. We were very close to the builiding. We were also in the parking area that was closest to the ship that is in dry dock.

[sea-cruise]

You could contact CEO of Celebrity & Royal Caribbean Lines, Mr. Richard Fain, c/o Royal Carribean, Caribbean Way, Miami, FL. Snail mail that is certified would be a better method of informing him. I think that this matter should be brought to his direct attention and perhaps it will be solved. We too will be parking at Bayonne in October. :(

[seadays4me]

Has any one used a car cover parkiong at this pier lately? Did it stay on? thanks.

 

Used a car cover during 8/20 Bermuda Cruise. Bought it at Costco for $30 and it came with a lock. Easy to put on and it was still on when we returned. Other family members who parked did not have a problem with any overspray from the nearby dry dock. A US navy vessel was in the dry dock and looks like it will need a paint job, happily it wasn't done that week.

 

Ron

[sea-cruise]

I see that we're from the same town...small world!! :p Happy cruising!!

[Mark]

Why sould you as a RCCL Customer have to go out and purchase a car cover to park at the Bayonne pier? If there is still a problem a year later...as there seems to be....RCCL, the Port of Bayonne and or the parking lot company should issue a car cover to everyone parking there for FREE! We as consumers should demand this from those folks who are still getting away with damaging cars a year after the problem was brought to their attention by consumers / passengers!:cool:

[sea-cruise]

Mark, You are absolutely right!!! I hadn't thought of it, but it makes sense!

[DPurcell58]

Parked there for the 8/25 sailing and had no problems (unlike last year). We also parked on the rocks to the left of luggage dropoff.

[Wine-O]

Just found this thread and thought I would post the following:

 

From the "What-It's-Worth Department," I was detailing my car this past weekend getting ready for the winter driving season, and I noticed when I got up close and personal with the car that there were white paint specks all over the car. Could not see them from a distance (couple of feet or so) because they blended in with the metallic paint. There's only one place that I could think of where the car was parked that this could have happened.

 

Come to find out, after I called Celebrity, there is a drydock nearby the port, and I got it from the paint overspray/wind. They gave me the name & number of the individual who will take care of having the car detailed.

 

So, if this happened to you, and you were parked for the 7 October cruise out of Bayonne on Zenith, call Celebrity customer service. I was very happy how easily this situation got resolved.

 

Cheers,