VOS from Bayonne - when can I board??

[bermuda05]

Hello, this is my first RCCL cruise and we are going to Bermuda leaving from Bayonne, NJ. They say that the boarding starts at 2:30pm - is that REALLY the earliest you can check in?? The ticket says not to come early but my in-laws say to get there at 12 and we'll get on without a line - but I don't want to sit around the terminal for 2 hours!! Thoughts? Thank you!

[Kathy130]

We just did the 9 night Western Caribbean on the Voyager leaving from Bayonne, and were at the terminal at 10:45. After being checked in, we sat for a while, and boarded the shuttle bus to the ship. I was in the stateroom at exactly 1pm. I have rebooked Eastern Caribbean route next year, and intend to do the same time frame.

[shazzz]

i was with Kathy130...go early!!!!!!!!!

[digital_curator]

If it's anything like Miami, go early.

 

My docs said boarding at 2 pm.

 

I got to the pier at 11:45 and was on the ship at 12:15. Our room was ready when we boarded.

 

By 2 I had toured the ship, had lunch, made spa appointments, checked to see if our table in the dining room was o.k. and sat down to enjoy my first foo-foo drink:D

 

We also had our luggage by 3, when we returned to our room.

 

Cheers,

[PDAA]

YES - go early! we got there at around 11:30 for the VOS to Bermuda a couple of weeks ago, went thru the check in with no lines and did wait in the terminal until 1:15 or 1:30 until they started boarding and we were in the 1st group, but, I would much rather sit comfortably in the terminal than stand in line. Also, Cape Liberty is one lane in and out, I would imagine latecomers get stuck waiting in the traffic line.

[bermuda05]

Thank you all - I think we'll leave our place at ~10:30 aiming to arrive by 11:30. Wish me luck!

[Pablo's Cruise]

I would leave even earlier--we did VOS Bermuda in June, got stuck in a little traffic inside the terminal, but was still on board by 2. We left Freehold NJ @1030.

[CruiserErin]

We were on the August 12th Voyager, and we got to the terminal around 11:30. We went right through the line to check in with no problems. We then sat in the terminal until around 12:20, and were on the ship at 12:30. The only problem is nothing on the ship is open until 1:00, including cabins and the Windjammer. They would not let us into our cabin until exactly 1:00 (not even a minute early). The bonus to arriving early, is that we had all of our luggage by about 1:15. So we had the whole day to relax and enjoy the ship.

[melissaga]

We sailed on VOS 8/21 (just home today. :().

 

We did NOT have a positive experience getting to the port early. We pulled into port a bit after 11 am. We sat in the long, long line cars until we finally reached the parking and luggage drop off areas close to 1pm. It took us that long to traverse the maybe one half mile from the entry off the highway to to the drop-off points! At that point, my dh dropped off dd and I and the luggage and then had to go around and get back to the parking lot. If we had to do it again, we'd just go to the parking lot and take our own luggage over from there.

 

There was definitely still a huge long line of cars at noon. I remember looking over at the line of cars again around 2pm as well. Fortunately, by then I had already had lunch in Windjammers and had already checked out our suite. :)

 

When I asked at check-in (we had actually done the on-line check-in, so once the big family group in front of us went through, it was extremely quick), I was told that there were problems with disembarkation that morning. There were large numbers of people still waiting to be picked up, etc when we dropped off our luggage. It was so crowded that it did take quite some time (almost as long as it took for my husband to go around that traffic again and park the car) to get a porter's attention. At first, I was regretting having gone so early.. but that all changed once we were aboard!

[Robinob]

i was with Kathy130...go early!!!!!!!!!

 

 

So were we....1:00 in the cabin.

[dizzy205]

Question for the Bermuda sailing--what time do you set sail? I was looking around the website and I think I saw a late sail time. Somewhere in the 10pm area..is that right?? If that is the case, what time would they start embarkation? I will know more when I get my documents. But for now if anyone has the answer, that would be great! This is my first sailing out of Bayonne, I hope it is a better experience than NY. I so dislike that pier.

I am so looking forward to the Freedom in Miami. It is always a pleasant experience in Miami.

[Princess_Sunflower]

We sailed on the VOS to Bermuda on 8/21. We left Bayonne at 5:00 pm

 

We arrived at the terminal at 12:00 and had to wait about an hour in line to reach the luggage drop off area. Once we got into the terminal it took less than a half hour to check in, get our pictures taken and arrive in our cabin. I heard computer problems caused an hour and a half delay in getting the passengers off the ship from the previous cruise so hopefully this was an isolated incidence. I read on another thread that people were seen at the dock being left behind. Did anyone else hear that?

[dizzy205]

Princess_Sunflower:

How was the trip? Is the voyager still in good shape? It has been a few years since we sailed on her. The last cruise we were on was in may on the CCL Legend. It left us wanting more, I so missed the layout of rccl, I forgot that carnival was so different. We had a good time on the legend, really it was great, but we will be sticking with rccl from now on.

[familycruzer]

I am staying at the Best Western, Newark. My question is ....

 

I need to be out of my hotel by 10:00 and they give me transportation to the port. Can I arrive at the terminal that early and just sit and wait or do I need to hang out at the hotel for a bit of time?