njhorseman

Try Trinity Reservations, which has hotels in New Jersey with sleep/park/cruise packages that include a shuttle to and from Cape Liberty.

Count the number of nights on your cruise itinerary. That's what you'll pay.

We're in our 70"s and sometimes we think we're too young for Oceania. We've only taken longer cruises on O and I think the demographic might be at least somewhat younger on shorter itineraries. I wouldn't even recommend Oceania to our son and DIL who are in their 40's...and who are well-travelled and highly educated, much less to someone in their 20's.

Sorry. I misunderstood.

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OK...that's a lane closure on I 78 westbound after leaving Cape Liberty, not going into Cape Liberty, and I see a way around it in an adjacent lane.

Those aren't "shoestring" fries, they're just ordinary fries. "Shoestring fries" are much thinner and so are crisp all the way through. These are "shoestring fries":

Now you've gone and spoiled the surprise for the Panama Canal newbs. 😁 Your pictures are so much nicer than the ones I've taken on our transits.

The ultimate consumer of any product or service pays for everything. There's no such thing as "At NCL's expense". It's a simple economic and business fact of life. If NCL raises employee salaries the money comes from the passengers.

It's not deceptive, it's stated quite clearly in paragraph 3.(c) on page 2 of the Guest Ticket Contract you agreed to abide by: https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/NCL_Guest_Ticket Contract_US_EN_02_2023.pdf "(c) Service Charges: Certain members of Carrier’s crew are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that are funded in part by the service charge paid by each Guest. The charge, which is automatically added to your onboard account and subject to adjustment at your discretion, acknowledges and rewards service provided in all departments and job categories. A portion of the service charge collected is used for fleet-wide crew welfare programs." It's also clearly stated in the FAQs on ncl.com on this page: https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-is-onboard-service-charge It's your obligation to read and understand a contract you've agreed to. Since virtually every cruise line with the exception of some smaller luxury lines does the same as NCL...meaning millions of US cruise passengers every year are assessed on board service charges or gratuities in addition to their fare do you not understand that if the practice were deceptive the attorney general's office in one or more states would have long ago pursued deceptive business practice cases against some or all those cruise lines?

Yes, that's exactly what I said about the eggs. When you go to a restaurant is that the case? Very, very rarely. The point is that there are other common situations that are handled in a similar fashion to cruises. My point is that you are the one who's going to pay for it regardless of how it's done so it really shouldn't matter to you. In fact the service charge/tipping scenario really favors you in the event of grossly unsatisfactory service. You can lower or even altogether eliminate a service charge or tip, while if you paid the salary as a part of the fare you are stuck with it.

Don't go to Snorkel Park, which as already noted is a manmade beach at the Royal Naval Dockyard. Hop on a minibus ($7 per person each way) and go to Horseshoe Bay, which is consistently rated as one of the world's best beaches. Or you can take a taxi to Horseshoe Bay for about $35 for 1 to 4 passengers.

I just looked at Google Maps and I didn't see that. Can you be more specific as to where? Which road? Perhaps it was a just a temporary closure due to an accident or fire.

Regardless of the way it's done...service charges, gratuities, salary or a combination of any of the three, you, the passenger is the person paying it. It just becomes a matter of whether it's invisibly loaded into the fare as salary would be, or transacted separately. When you buy a dozen eggs in your local supermarket the price you pay includes the salaries of every person who earned a wage in the process of getting the eggs to market, from the person who gathered them to the cashier who took your money, and everyone in between. The cruise industry isn't the only business where employees may be compensated by any combination salary, gratuities and service charges. Look at the restaurant industry in the US. In most cases the wait staff earns very little in salary with most earnings coming from tips, service charges or both. In New Jersey tipped workers currently only have to be paid a minimum salary of $5.26 per hour despite the current minimum wage being $14.13 per hour. As long as the total of the $5.26 plus any percentage of billed service charges plus any tips equals or exceeds $14.13 the employer is required to pay nothing additional . If the $14.13 minimum isn't met then the employer has to make up the shortfall. Most every waiter and waitress we know...and we eat in restaurants very frequently...are quite satisfied with this arrangement because they know that if they provide good service they make a lot more money than they would if they were paid a straight salary. Regardless, if they were paid a straight salary the restaurant prices would have to be increased to cover that salary so you'd be paying more for your meal. The bottom line is that you, the ultimate consumer of the product or service, pays for everything regardless of how the wages are diced or sliced into salary, service charge or gratuity.

FYI, coming from the south you would arrive at EWR first, with Newark Penn Station a couple of minutes further along. Nonetheless you still should take the train to Newark Penn...and it will actually cost about $8 less than going to EWR because you won't be paying the AirTrain surcharge.

Right...thanks.

Actually, although I also prefer to use "disembarking", "debarking" is quite acceptable English...you can look it up . 😉

Yes, there's a PVSA exemption in place for Puerto Rico, but that is to eliminate the need for a ship to make a call at a distant foreign port in order to carry passengers between Puerto Rico and another US port. A cruise between Puerto Rico and another US port still doesn't permit passengers to travel with just a birth certificate and a photo ID, as only closed loop cruises qualify for that exception to the passport requirement. The cruise could be taken with a passport card .

Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan has offered complimentary luggage storage to cruise passengers for many years.

A has already been noted you can buy CFAR coverage, and you do not have to prove a reason for cancelling beyond "I decided not to go".

Your understanding is correct. Two things of importance on a CFAR policy: (1) On the policies I've seen you only are paid 75% of the amount you're out. (2) You have to cancel no later than 48 hours, or two calendar days depending on the policy language, prior to your scheduled trip, so you can't make the go/no go decision at the absolute last minute.

Brutal? LGA itself is not brutal at all...it recently underwent a massive renovation so the airport itself is not the outdated nightmare it once was. What might be brutal is the cost of ground transportation from LGA to Cape Liberty. You shouldn't try to take a NY City taxi because they don't have to go to Cape Liberty and even if a taxi driver agreed to make the trip they may charge an outrageous fare. You should take a rideshare service, Uber or Lyft, or a car service such as Carmel Limo or Dial 7. As I'm writing this Uber is estimating a cost of about $110 for UberX . Of course rideshare service prices vary in accordance with demand. Carmel Limo current estimate is $75 plus tolls and tip.

$80? In your first post you said $40 . The service charge is $20 per person per day, so $40 per day total for two passengers. $80 per day if you have four passengers in the room. Reread my original reply to your post. The service charge is NOT just to fund the pay of stateroom attendants, it also for dining room staff and some other behind-the-scenes support staff. No you are not already totally paying gratuities for complimentary restaurant staff with just your base cruise fare, the service charge funds that. You're only paying for specialty restaurant staff gratuities with your fare if you happen to have a specialty dining package. Whether you tip in addition to paying the service charge is your choice. I'm not interested in discussing that.

Totally false. The $20 per person per day service charge not only is for compensating cabin attendants, but also complimentary restaurant staff and behind - the - scenes personnel: https://www.ncl.com/faq#!#what-is-onboard-service-charge What is the onboard service charge? Why is there a service charge? The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports.

Yes, NCL uses the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. There are literally hundreds of hotels in Manhattan so you need to decide on an approximate budget. Prices can vary a great deal by season and day of the week. Along with hundreds of hotels there are many, many places you can go. What are your interests? Museums, Broadway theater, historical sites, architecture, restaurants ? it would be a good idea to do some reading first to get an idea of what might interest you. You can fly into any of the airports...LGA, JFK, EWR . Check first for airfare and scheduling. I'd look at LGA first for the ease of getting to Manhattan, but any of the three could be the best choice for you. There are numerous forms of transportation from the airports to Manhattan: Taxi, Uber/Lyft, car service. There are mass transit options that vary depending on the airport although I'm always reluctant to recommend mass transit if you're burdened with a lot of luggage. From your hotel in Manhattan to the cruise terminal taxi or rideshare service (Uber/Lyft) .