Is Bayonne really that bad?

[Uconnfan]

I've read several reviews that embarking out of Bayonne is painful. Long lines, unorganized staff, ect. I know we are in for a wait no matter what given the amount of people that have to be processed. My only other cruise experience was NCL Dawn out of NY and Empress of the Seas out of NY as well. Very curious to see how Bayonne/Cape Liberty works out. Please let me know if you have previous cruise experience out of Bayonne. Also, we are driving to the port. The website says arrive 2-4 hours prior to boarding. What if you are there earlier?

[138east]

I've been cruising out of Bayonne for several years and watching the threads. The only times embarkation has been out of control is when the previous ship is late arriving, which is not a normal occurrence. Late arrival is also not a totally unexpected event - each time the ship was going to arrive late, there have been postings on CC well in advance. For the Jan 14 cruise RCL emailed people the day before about the late arrival, so it's important to check in to see if anything unusual is going on.

 

We've sailed out of Bayonne 3 times and never had a problem. We arrive between 10:30 and 11 am. Sometimes there is a line of cars, sometimes not. I travel with my 91 year old mother, so I am particularly sensitive to any potential delays. Each time we have checked in smoothly and waited 30 minutes to an hour + for boarding. No big deal. We bring books and a mind set to wait. I find it much easier and far preferable to flying.

 

However, I do have a Plan B in case the ship is late. Knowing the chaos that would cause, I would not even attempt to arrive at Bayonne until 3 hours after the ship docks. For the Jan 14 sailing where the ship arrived after 3 pm, I would not even have attempted to get to Bayonne before 6 pm. I feel badly for those folks who waited 5+ hours, but I do not ever plan to be one of them.

[Uconnfan]

Thanks

[geegee1]

Embarkation was not a problem for us last year, disembarkation was a mess. Arrivals and departures take the same 1 lane road to limited parking spots and no one there to really guide the cars. For the time being for us it's NY or bust. We'll leave Bayonne until they figure it out.

[megr1125]

been out of bayonne 5 times, about to do 2 more....sure there can be lines, but it isn't bad and beats flying (just remember that it can be cold!)

[linkerbink]

Somewhere on a post (which I can no longer seem to find!) someone gave detailed directions to the port. We will be coming from PA on Rt. 78...can someone who knows the exact directions give them again here? I understand you should not rely on your GPS as it tells you to turn too late or something like that.

 

Thanks in advance!

[138east]

You stay on I78. When it intersects with the NJ Turnpike, it becomes I78 and the NJ turnpike extension towards the Holland Tunnel. You go one exit to exit 14A Bayonne and get off. Coming out of the toll booths you go straight ahead up a slight ramp, which curves around to route 440. Bear right until you see the traffic light at route 440 where you are going to make a LEFT. On 440 stay LEFT and make the next LEFT at the 1st traffic light onto Port Terminal Blvd.

[linkerbink]

You stay on I78. When it intersects with the NJ Turnpike, it becomes I78 and the NJ turnpike extension towards the Holland Tunnel. You go one exit to exit 14A Bayonne and get off. Coming out of the toll booths you go straight ahead up a slight ramp, which curves around to route 440. Bear right until you see the traffic light at route 440 where you are going to make a LEFT. On 440 stay LEFT and make the next LEFT at the 1st traffic light onto Port Terminal Blvd.

 

Thanks...I knew I could count on someone here! I'm going to print this out right away.

[Dall]

You stay on I78. When it intersects with the NJ Turnpike, it becomes I78 and the NJ turnpike extension towards the Holland Tunnel. You go one exit to exit 14A Bayonne and get off. Coming out of the toll booths you go straight ahead up a slight ramp, which curves around to route 440. Bear right until you see the traffic light at route 440 where you are going to make a LEFT. On 440 stay LEFT and make the next LEFT at the 1st traffic light onto Port Terminal Blvd.

3 years in a row our GPS said turn right after the toll, and as soon as we turn it says those words "recalculating". We finally realized this time (to late to correct our error) to do as Carol says and go straight up the ramp.:o Now that we know hopefully there will be a 4th time and we'll get it right.:D

[138east]

Yes - Apparently the GPS doesn't handle Exit 14A very well and the mapquest directions are confusing. They say something about going up the E 53rd St "ramp", but there is no sign at the exit except for the actual E 53rd St., which is not correct as Dall and I can tell you from experience. The exit is very wide with lots of little easy to miss little signs posted in different places.

 

As it turns out, it is very simple - just go straight ahead onto an upwards ramp and follow it around bearing right as I described before. At the light at route 440, you go left, stay left, and make a left at the next traffic light onto Port Terminal Blvd. The first time we didn't realize we were looking for Port Terminal Blvd - the expectation was that the sign would say Cape Liberty, but that would have made it too easy. We missed the turn and had to go way down 440 before we could turn around and come back. Silly us. We could see the ship the whole time, but we couldn't get there.

[pacouple19440]

Very helpful to know and learn about all this as a first time cruiser from Bayonne...I was going to rely on GPS but it sounds like its not a good idea to do that. Thanks everyone...Will be on Explorer of the Seas on 5-n Bermuda 4/24/2010

[Uconnfan]

Very helpful to know and learn about all this as a first time cruiser from Bayonne...I was going to rely on GPS but it sounds like its not a good idea to do that. Thanks everyone...

 

Mee too. You never know with those GPS's. I was actually thinking of taking a road trip to Bayonne to get a feel for the drive. It's only about 1.5 hours away from us. H

[ntengwall]

Can someone tell me what the directions would be if we are coming from Maryland--up 95 North? Thanks!

[138east]

You come up I95 to Delaware where you cross the bridge and pick up the NJ Turnpike which you follow until Exit 14 where you follow the signs to Exit 14A Bayonne. After exit 8 the turnpike divides and you can get into the cars only section. You get off at exit 14A and go straight ahead up onto a ramp which curves around. Bear right until you get to the traffic light at Route 440. Make a LEFT, stay LEFT, and make a LEFT at the first traffic light which is Port Terminal Blvd.

[Bowie MeMe]

I have only had one experience with Bayonne a TA from Barcelona to NJ. It is the latest ship docking I have ever been on. It was the absolute worst in ground transportation. It may be the ugliest port I have been in. It was not the cruise line's fault (President Bush was at the UN) but it was the worst embarkation/disembarkation of any I have ever been on. Part of the problem is so few facilities -- nothing on land and can walk no where and the airport/rail station is so near but so far. I would not choose Bayonne again.

[LynneL]

Went to Bayonne once. The line of cars getting in was terrible & slow moving. What was more aggrevating is that there seems to be a former spaces or some now unused area to the right of this long line that could just use having some sign posts removed & repaving & a whole new lane could be made for easier flow of traffic. One other thing was you had to pass up the parking lot entrance, drive maybe 60' more & drop off your luggage then circle around & get back into that line again to wait where you just were to pull into the cruise parking area! We asked to go right into the parking & said we'd wheel our luggage to the porters, as we didn't have much, & were told no. Poor system in my book...unless it has changed.

 

Once inside we found it very organized, lots of check-in people & a relatively short wait to get onto the bus to take you over to the ship.

[138east]

The line of cars can be terrible and slow moving. Sometimes you get there and it's fine and other times it's not. However, you currently do not have to get back into the line to park after you drop off. After the drop off, you curve left and make the next left between the buildings to go to the parking entrance, where you pay as you enter. IMO for folks who are willing to roll their luggage, they could improve it tremendously by allowing you to make a left at the beginning of the big circle and then a right into the parking. This would take a lot of cars out of the drop off line.

[allentownahoy]

I use a rolling walker and was wondering how that is handled with regard to the port bus that takes you to the ship. Will there be space for it on the bus as I do not want to check it.

[Shore Cruiser]

My DH and I will be embarking on Celebrity Summit from Cape Liberty in May for 7 days in Bermuda. Got a few questions:

 

1) Any one have directions for us from South Jersey? Probably going north on the Garden State Parkway. Doesn't make sense for us to go Northwest to pick up the NJ Turnpike.

 

2) Also, I too have a rolling walker and have difficulty standing in line for a while. Is Cape Liberty good at handling handicapped travelers? We've had some good, some bad experiences with embarkation.

 

3) We've booked an Inside cabin, will there be room to store my walker out of the way?

 

Thanks everyone. We were in Bermuda last year and are really looking forward to going back!

[mamapan]

Embarkation was not a problem for us last year, disembarkation was a mess.

 

Agreed - after we stopped on the NJ turnpike for lunch, we got there around 1pm and it was maybe a total of 60-90 minutes before we were on board so I don't know what all the fuss is about. Like someone else said, you wait in line for 2 hours for a crummy 2 MINUTE ride at the Mouse's amusement park - so what if you wait that same time to go away for 9 DAYS?! Big whoop.

 

Our disembarkation was a mess and we were off the ship at least an hour later than we should have been but that seems to be par for the course with RCL. Additionally, they misplaced one of our bags (apparently somebody doesn't know the difference between purple and lavender tags). After 6 cruises with them, I don't think we've ever disembarked on schedule but now that we live in CT and drive to the port, it doesn't matter for us.

[phillychick]

Question for all you experts on Bayonne.. Are there any hotels near the port you would recommend for a 1 night stay prior to the cruise? Any that allow you to leave you car?

 

Thanks,

 

Barbara from Philly

[krydstogt]

Question for all you experts on Bayonne.. Are there any hotels near the port you would recommend for a 1 night stay prior to the cruise? Any that allow you to leave you car?

 

Thanks,

 

Barbara from Philly

 

Looking for the same thing. There are some "Fly&Park hotels', but a bit pricey for 2 weeks parking.

Eva

[greatam]

Looking for the same thing. There are some "Fly&Park hotels', but a bit pricey for 2 weeks parking.

Eva

 

Comfort Suites and Country Inn in Elizabeth both have stay/park/cruise packages. You have to call to get the TRUE price, as the parking/cruise transfers are additional. And pay attention to whether you get a shuttle, a car service or a voucher for a taxi.

[greatam]

Comfort Suites and Country Inn in Elizabeth both have stay/park/cruise packages. You have to call to get the TRUE price, as the parking/cruise transfers are additional. And pay attention to whether you get a shuttle, a car service or a voucher for a taxi.

 

Forget the Comfort Suites. My mistake. Comfort Suites is on Tonnele Ave in North Bergen. NOT someplace you REALLY want to stay.

[mandm2]

mamapan: We are on the 4/10/10 EOS Bermuda cruise. We we are driving down early in the morning of 4/10/10. Since you drive to Bayonne from CT, could you send me directions (in case my GPS doesn't cooperate?). We'll be driving 95South into NJ. Thanks (in advance!)

-Marie & Simon Mitchell (Warwick, RI)