Pony Player

This is a tough call. The best way to get from Montreal to Baltimore is down I-87 towards NYC then I-95 to Baltimore. Google Maps says that is an 8.5 hour trip. The problem with this route is that it puts NYC at about the 5 hour mark, so you will have to decide whether you want to stop for the night before or after you pass NYC (staying in or around NYC is not recommended, for a variety of reasons ), if you are dead set on a beach, then you could probably make the Northern Jersey Shore. Were I in your position, I think that I'd stop short of NYC, as I'd prefer that part of the trip to be the first " challenge " of the day, not the last.

I had some concern, as I've seen every episode of "Jacked", but the Ramada lot is about as safe as you can get for self parking. The lot is gated and you need to get your ticket validated at the front desk in order to get out. The lot is in front of the hotel, so people going in or out might notice suspicious person in the lot. You can park anywhere in the lot you want, there isn't a designated Long Term Parking area, so a potential thief wouldn't know if the owner of a given car would turn up in an hour or a week. Obviously there are no guarantees, but the way the Ramada is set up is,about as safe as is pracitble.

Pony Player, this isn't the type cabin we are talking about. 8504 is at the front of the ship (Cat G ) but we are referring to the 2 corner front cabins (Cat F) that are 302 sq ft.

Oops. . . My bad, however some of the comments I made rrgarding 8504 are still valid for 8510, I'll bet they get the "bow thruster wake up call" as well.

• ONE dining room open for breakfast! Come on. You need TWO open. Didn’t make it there because both mornings we stopped down at 9am and since they stopped seating at 9:30 some RC guy told those of us beyond a certain point in the line that we needed to go elsewhere.

When I was on Anthem (the cruise right after yours) Cafe 270 and the Solariium Bistro served breakfast

• Soft-serve ice cream machines were not available (likely due to noro from prior cruise I was told)

When I started the cruise, there was a RCI staffer handing out ice cream from the machine. By the end of the cruise they were allowing passengers to fill their own. Sometime during my cruise they definitely relaxed the Noro protocols, it was obvious elsewhere, too.

I'll second the Ramada/Trinity Reservations package. Here's a review I just wrote:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2331468

How about "Team Alpha Super Awesome Cool Dynamite Wolf Squadron"?[YOUTUBE]GyobvtzCtLE[/YOUTUBE]

You could have a group picture taken with Shrek or Puss

Just off of the Anthem's 3/7 12-night cruise. Since Cape Liberty parking would have been $200+ and we wanted to spend a few days in NYC beforehand (the cruise left on a Monday), we were looking for a more affordable option. Some folks on this very board pointed me to Trinity Reservations who have a deal with the Ramada Plaza Newark: 1 night's hotel and 28 days of parking for just under $200. I booked that and then made a separate booking for Friday and Saturday nights.

When we checked in, I explained our 2 reservations and was told to check with the Front Desk on Sunday to change the room to the other reservation. We had dinner in the restaurant attached to the hotel (which BTW is a separate operation, you can't charge your meal to your room -- not a big deal, as I just put it on my credit card, but it was a little odd), which was your basic Sports Bar/Pub grub sort of place. Not great, but it was the only choice that didn't involve driving, and we'd had enough driving in Northern NJ for that day

Interestingly the restaurant had a breakfast menu, but all 3 days we were there, it was closed in the AM and there was a breakfast buffet in one of the hotel ballrooms. The Buffet was pretty lame, and pricey at $12.95 each, on Monday we got fruit, cereal and milk from the hotel snack bar and made a DIY continental breakfast.

The hotel room was your basic mid range hotel room, enough space for us (and a substantial cache of luggage), and it even had a fridge in which we kept various beverages (including the 2 bottles of champagne we brought on board). One warning, this hotel does a lot of bus tours (presumably groups flying in or out of EWR), so several times we walked into a lobby full of people milling around while the tour leader was getting keys and or bills settled.

A word here about parking. The lot is gated, you take a ticket on the way in and pay at the front desk to validate your ticket on the way out. This made me a little more comfortable leaving my car near where they shot the reality series "Jacked" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1280619/) for 2 weeks. I'm not sure but I think Parking is included with the room. I know I had more days of "Free" parking than I was going to use, but when I asked to validate my ticket I was never asked for a room number or name, and when we came back in on Sunday night, before leaving for the cruise, the only thing the front desk person did was initial and date my ticket (which we then validated when we returned after the cruise). The hotel has a decent amount of function space (there were parties on both Friday and Saturday nights), so they probably get some revenue from attendees.

On Saturday and Sunday we drove about 10 minutes to Journal Sq, parked in a garage not far from the station and hopped the PATH to Manhattan. Key PATH fact., the Journal SQ to Midtown PATH trains only run 6am - 11pm on weekdays. Nights and weekends the trains go from Journal Sq to Hoboken, then reverse direction to go to Manhattan. This is a slower trip, so if you are thinking about changing to the NYC Subway, you are probably better off going to the World Trade Center and picking up the subway there, even if your ultimate destination is north of 33rd st.

Monday there was some confusion about our pickup time, but a few calls to Trinity and discussion with the Ramada's Front desk and we got a ride to the port. The return trip was much better, we got off the ship, called Trinity, who said to call the Ramada, the Ramada said their shuttle was waiting in the pickup area and we rode back with 2 other couples.

In summary this is a very good deal, especially if your cruise is a week or longer, and you want to spend the night before you cruise near the cruiseport. I'd do it again were I cruising out of Cape Liberty. What I wouldn't do is stay the weekend before. The hotel is perfectly fine, but the location is such that you are going to have to drive (or take a cab) to do anything, and driving in Northern NJ isn't for the faint hearted. Were I making a similar trip, I think I'd find a hotel with better access to Manhattan, stay there for the weekend and drive to the Ramada after dinner.

I was in Anthem cabin 8504 on the 3/7 cruise, similar to Sparklynails but on the other side of the ship, and I don't have much to add to what has been already said (even down to wanting another armchair!) Our dinner mates (who were self confessed "Balcony Snobs") liked the room as well (we did our own mini cabin crawl).

Some of those rooms have a pillar but 8504 isn't one of them.

I was concerned with the motion as the bed in that room is at right angles to the direction of the ship, but that was no problem. If you are more sensitive to rolling (side to side motion) than pitching (up and down) it could be a problem.

My only problem with the room was the when the bow thrusters are fired off, you definitely hear them. Most times this isn't a problem, but our arrivals in Labadee and Grand Cayman generated 7:00AM "wake up calls".

The other point worth mentioning is that the majority of restaurants are in the rear of the ship, so it is a long walk to dinner.

Holy crap! Really? I just booked a cruise out of Ft Lauderdale for Presidents week 2017. I knew it was going to be expensive but that's crazy. It looks like we may be driving. :rolleyes:

Check out the Auto train. Drive to DC, spend night on train, wake up just north of Orlando.

Looks like things are in a constant state flux around the port proper, check out this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2278939

That's excellent!

 

I can't wait to hear the stories about Mar 4. I will probably have one of my own. I have the popcorn ready.

We were almost going to drive from Boston Monday AM to catch the Anthem on the 4th. Now I'm glad that we decided to tack a "New York City Weekend" on the front of the cruise, now we get to sit back and let the Ramada shuttle driver worry about getting us to the port and back.

I've got one on the Anthem's 3/7 cruise, I'll report back.

I was wondering what my photography options were on my upcoming cruise (Anthem, May 3) , but mycriisephotos.com didn't list it. A quick check of other RCCL Ships shows that there aren't any listings for any cruise that leaves after March 1st.

Anyone know anything about what's up in the photography department?

You are probably OK, it is just that the "Penalty for Failure" is rather expensive.

Another advantage of hiring a car service is the driver is more likely to be clued into any traffic problems, and will know if for example, the Beltway is backed up.

Will you be attending the "Graduation"? If not I'd say get the car for 11:45, load your luggage and have the driver wait for your husband (it might cost you a little, but again, compared to the "Penalty for Failure" it won't be much).

3 words "Homeland Security Theatre"

It's a closed loop cruise. Had they gone to Port Canaveral and ended the cruise, it would have been an issue, but they're returning to the same place they sailed from.

That trip effectively became a "cruise to nowhere"

Don't rent a car, get a car service. You are cutting it close as it is, since you will have to drive through or around both DC and Baltimore, which can be tricky even on a Saturday afternoon. I can't recommend a service, but someone here may be able to. Or you can ask your hotel to arrange one.

Sorry, I'm having a hard time coming up with a firm answer to your question. I would not want be cocksure and bite off more than I could chew otherwise. Perhaps another poster will blow in soon to offer a hand. Hope your wait is not in vein.

I think your answer really sucked, you shouldn't blow people off like that!

Questions

 

If I purchase the band, will I still be able to use my card?

 

My band will not get me on and off the ship?

Correct on both counts

We board on the 7th which is our anniversary. Maybe we'll drive our steward crazy and sleep in a different bed every night. :D

Or you could have "Afternoon Deelights" inone room and spend the night in different one.

Interestingly, the Trinityreservations.com form has a place to put "starting date for parking ( if different from arrival date)", so I put my starting date down as two days before my arrival date and we will see what happens when I get there.

You were right Carol, I called and they said parking was $15.25 (or maybe 15.75, their end was kind of noisy). Didn't talk about the Trinity reservation because I haven't made it yet ( waiting for the credit card bill to cut so the charge will be on until next months bill)

Does anyone know how much parking at the Ramada EWR costs? My current plan is to book the park and cruise through Trinity Reservations, but since we're leaving on a Monday, we are planning a NYC weekend before we go. Current plan is to drive to the Ramada on Friday, check in for 2 days (plus the one via Trinity) and on Saturday and Sunday, drive to Journal Square park in the garage there and snag the PATH to go into the city. Anyone want to shoot holes in this plan?

That's probably why they're now charging for them. They were giving them to everyone, and the majority probably weren't even using them.

 

What I think they should've done is just made them available for free at Guest Services, but you have to go pick it up, so there would be less waste. But if they can make a buck...

Or Charge for them, but give you a $5 OBC

Yes. Our plan is to arrive in Miami Saturday for a Sunday cruise. Driving is not an option, but thank you!

Actually driving is an option (sort of). Look into the Amtrak Auto Train. Drive to DC (Lorton, VA), put your car on the train, spend the night and wake up in Orlando (Sanford FL), and drive on to Miami.

Not sure if it is a viable alternative in your case, but it is worth a mention.