Transportation from NYC to Cape Liberty

[marypaul32]

Hi

 

We need to get from Times Square to Cape Liberty on Sunday 1st March. We have booked 11.30 embarkation so need to be there at 9.30 i believe.

 

From this website it seems that Carmel Limos is a good bet. Can you advise as to how long the drive will be at that time of day and how far in advance I should book the car? 

 

Also is 11.30 a good time to embark for a 3pm sail time? Don't really be wanting arrive when everyone one else is.

 

Many thanks.

 

Mary

[princeton123211]

38 minutes ago, marypaul32 said:

We have booked 11.30 embarkation so need to be there at 9.30 i believe.

Unless you have a special arrangement with the cruise line, if you arrive at 9:30am you will be waiting a considerable amount of time to board as they will still be disembarking passengers from the previous cruise. They won't be accepting checked luggage either at that time either in all likelihood. Theres nothing really to do at Port Liberty (its in the middle of an industrial port) so getting there before you check in won't leave you with much. 

 

For a 3pm departure you would want to be getting there around 11:30 which would mean leaving midtown Manhattan around 10:45am. The advantage of this is leaving later you won't have any traffic-- the rush hour traffic dies down a little after 10am. You would see traffic if you left around 9 to get there by 9:30. 

45 minutes ago, marypaul32 said:

From this website it seems that Carmel Limos is a good bet. Can you advise as to how long the drive will be at that time of day and how far in advance I should book the car?

Carmel and Dial 7 both work and are essentially interchangeable in terms of price and quality. It will take you between 35 and 45 minutes at that time of day. It could take you over an hour if you left during the morning commute. You don't need to book the car more than a day or two in advance but you can book earlier for peace of mind. 

[marypaul32]

49 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Unless you have a special arrangement with the cruise line, if you arrive at 9:30am you will be waiting a considerable amount of time to board as they will still be disembarking passengers from the previous cruise. They won't be accepting checked luggage either at that time either in all likelihood. Theres nothing really to do at Port Liberty (its in the middle of an industrial port) so getting there before you check in won't leave you with much. 

 

For a 3pm departure you would want to be getting there around 11:30 which would mean leaving midtown Manhattan around 10:45am. The advantage of this is leaving later you won't have any traffic-- the rush hour traffic dies down a little after 10am. You would see traffic if you left around 9 to get there by 9:30. 

Carmel and Dial 7 both work and are essentially interchangeable in terms of price and quality. It will take you between 35 and 45 minutes at that time of day. It could take you over an hour if you left during the morning commute. You don't need to book the car more than a day or two in advance but you can book earlier for peace of mind. 

Hi

 

Thank you very much for this info.

 

I am a bit confused because the front of my booking page on RCI says 'please arrive no less than 2 hours before your scheduled boarding' and my set sail pass says arrival time of 11.30 to 12, which is the time I chose. So what time should i get there? 

 

thank you for the info on travelling times etc.

 

Mary

[mjkacmom]

The times they gave you are check in times, they try to stagger them to prevent everyone from arriving at once, but I don’t think they enforce them at cape liberty. Traffic varies, right now it would take 40 minutes. If you get there early, traffic getting into the port will be lighter, lines will be shorter, but you will have to wait until they start boarding around 11. If you go later, there will be more traffic getting into the port, lines will be longer, but your wait in the terminal will be shorter. Of course, if you wait until later, you won’t hit the traffic or the lines, but then you are not giving yourself wiggle room to make sure you are onboard 1 1/2 hours before sailing.

[princeton123211]

33 minutes ago, marypaul32 said:

I am a bit confused because the front of my booking page on RCI says 'please arrive no less than 2 hours before your scheduled boarding' and my set sail pass says arrival time of 11.30 to 12, which is the time I chose. So what time should i get there? 

They are just trying to stagger you a bit. I wouldn't leave midtown Manhattan until at least 10am as you will hit some traffic if you leave earlier than that. That will have you to the port around 10:30-40. I still think you'll end up waiting a bit but it wont be as bad as if you got there at 9:30 which is way too early. 

[marypaul32]

Many thanks for your helpful replies.

[138east]

4 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

They are just trying to stagger you a bit. I wouldn't leave midtown Manhattan until at least 10am as you will hit some traffic if you leave earlier than that. That will have you to the port around 10:30-40. I still think you'll end up waiting a bit but it wont be as bad as if you got there at 9:30 which is way too early. 

I totally agree with this.  Target time to arrive should be 10-10:30.  Anthem typically boards early by 11 am. I’m sailing next Monday and am aiming for a 10-10:30 arrival.

[cruiserking]

8 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

The times they gave you are check in times, they try to stagger them to prevent everyone from arriving at once, but I don’t think they enforce them at cape liberty. Traffic varies, right now it would take 40 minutes. If you get there early, traffic getting into the port will be lighter, lines will be shorter, but you will have to wait until they start boarding around 11. If you go later, there will be more traffic getting into the port, lines will be longer, but your wait in the terminal will be shorter. Of course, if you wait until later, you won’t hit the traffic or the lines, but then you are not giving yourself wiggle room to make sure you are onboard 1 1/2 hours before sailing.

We sail Anthem from Cape Liberty every February. I would strongly suggest arriving at the pier no later than 10:00 because the traffic into the cruise terminal bottle necks. If you get caught in that bottle neck you will end spending more time than it took you to get to the pier. 

 

As others have said, Royal Caribbean tries to stagger arrivals. If you arrive by 10:00 am, boarding starts anywhere from 10:30 am to 11:00 am. 

 

Traffic is light on a Sunday morning in New York. The drive from Times Square to Cape Liberty will take 20 to 30 minutes tops. 

 

Have a great cruise. 

 

Jonathan