Pre-cruise hotel/transfers advice needed

[shoesonfire]

We are on Summit to Bermuda in June. Flying from TX into EWR on embarkation day would require very early morning flight departure. We are considering arriving day early and wonder if it is convenient and/or economical to use Celebrity's pre tour hotel/transfers or book our own hotel and transportation to the ship. Would appreciate any advice from folks who have been there and/or done that. Thank you.

[Sheal]

Hi,

 

I am sure it would be convenient to use Celebrity's services but it would probably be more economical to do it on your own.

 

I would suggest looking at the East coast destination board. This is a great board that will give you suggestions on where to stay and how to get to the port of Bayonne.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=415 Check out the Cape Liberty 411, Meg has put together a very comprehensive listing.

 

Sheal

[kyriecat]

My parents looked into cruise transportation/hotel from IAH to EWR a couple years ago for a cruise from Cape Liberty. It was going to cost them about $250 pp more to use the cruiseline. It was just one night for them so they got a hotel near the airport that offered a free shuttle to pick them up. They used a cab to get to the port in the morning. I don't remember which hotel they used, but it cost them about $150 w/taxes and another $50 for the cab to the port. They picked a cheaper hotel than the cruiseline uses, but they only needed a place to sleep.

 

If you have a roll call for your cruise, you might find someone else staying at the same hotel so you can share a cab to cut down on costs.

 

It's convenient to have the cruiseline make the arrangments, but they make you pay for their services!

[Hapytocruise]

Suggest you absolutely arrive one night before and make your own hotel and transportation arrangements. The money you save doing it yourself will be significant even if you treat yourself to a Limo

[ariawoman]

Definitely plan your own - definitely come in 1 day before the sailing - you don't want to risk anything happening flight wise.

 

As for where - there are tons of hotels in the newark area. Checking the east coast departure board is a great start.

 

Someone mentioned a cab to the port cost 50, that seems steep to me, as I take a cab from Iselin NJ to EWR for 40.00, so i'd price cabs around a little bit.

[shoesonfire]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions which helped us decide to arrive a day early. We really appreciated the info about the east coast port departure board which led to finding a hotel in Staten Island that offers shuttle service from EWR airport to hotel and shuttle to pier the next day. All included with the room. These forums are really great and so helpful.