Cape Liberty Debarkation

[ReneeFLL]

How is the debarkation usually at a Cape Liberty? We will be on the Jewel. We had a 1:11 return flight, but now it’s been moved up to 11:14. Wondering if it usually takes very long for self assist and getting Uber/Lyft? I know things can always go wrong, but can’t decide if we want to reschedule the flight to 4:00 in the afternoon.

[CruisinBanka]

Cape Liberty debarkation is usually pretty fast. They use face recognition for customs and getting an Uber or Taxi is not a problem. If your ship is scheduled to arrive at 7:00am you should be all set. 

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

know things can always go wrong, but can’t decide if we want to reschedule the flight to 4:00 in the afternoon.

Leave it - that is very good timing for a flight - assuming you are talking about EWR.

[ReneeFLL]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

Leave it - that is very good timing for a flight - assuming you are talking about EWR.

Yes, it’s EWR. Thanks.

[Jerseygirl1416]

Liberty debarkation self assist was a total ***** show and we didn’t get off until 8:45 even though we were in line since 6:45ish. But even in that scenario you’d make an 11am flight at Newark. Oasis is much better debarking at Cape Liberty. Usually off by 7am so maybe Jewel will be better than Liberty.

[Another_Critic]

Hopefully my Liberty debarkation in September is quick, since I will probably be booking a 9:22 or 10:04 train from Newark Penn Station.

[MommaBear55]

We are generally in our car driving away from the port well before 8:30, and we are in no hurry to rush off, we generally have a high number. You should easily be able to make an 11 am flight. The only time I would think you should book later is if you are in a TA, as things take longer.

Edited July 27, 2023 by MommaBear55

[Husky1987]

We've actually easily made an 11:45 out of JFK from Cape Liberty.  As others have said, you should be fine.

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

How is the debarkation usually at a Cape Liberty? We will be on the Jewel. We had a 1:11 return flight, but now it’s been moved up to 11:14. Wondering if it usually takes very long for self assist and getting Uber/Lyft? I know things can always go wrong, but can’t decide if we want to reschedule the flight to 4:00 in the afternoon.

If confused by your time line... signature line about this? We get on Jewel on 9-14-23, is there a 4 night sailing starting on the 10th, will you be on for our Jewel cruise on the 14th also?

RC Jewel Of The Seas B2B 17 night Arctic Circle 09-10-2023

[broadwaybaby123]

You *should* be fine. I've debarked at Cape Liberty many times before and was usually off the ship by 9.

[meadowlander]

5 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Hopefully my Liberty debarkation in September is quick, since I will probably be booking a 9:22 or 10:04 train from Newark Penn Station.

I was on Liberty's first Bayonne cruise in May and self assist was held up for at least 30 minutes for whatever reason. Once inside the terminal it was the usual quick process of luggage retrieval & facial recognition. You should be good.

[Cherries Jubilee]

In my opinion the Uber/Lyft pickup is the iffy part of your plan. We were delayed getting off the ship the last time we sailed but even that delay was nothing like how long it took us to get a Uber/Lyft.

 

The app kept losing connection because there were so many of us out there and then the wait for a car was really long. It didn’t matter if we wanted an XL or were even willing to spring for a Luxury car. 
 

It was slow when we sailed Oasis in May and even slower when we sailed Anthem in January. In fact we eventually gave up in January and called a family member to pick us up because it was too cold. 
 

We also live incredibly close.

 

If you try it, definitely do self assist and get out of there as fast as you can so you can avoid the outdoor rush.

[ReneeFLL]

On 7/27/2023 at 2:13 PM, Another_Critic said:

Hopefully my Liberty debarkation in September is quick, since I will probably be booking a 9:22 or 10:04 train from Newark Penn Station.

Do you debark on the 14th?

 

On 7/27/2023 at 2:23 PM, MommaBear55 said:

We are generally in our car driving away from the port well before 8:30, and we are in no hurry to rush off, we generally have a high number. You should easily be able to make an 11 am flight. The only time I would think you should book later is if you are in a TA, as things take longer.

Yes it is a TA. Why would it take longer? Customs?

 

On 7/27/2023 at 2:56 PM, Jimbo said:

If confused by your time line... signature line about this? We get on Jewel on 9-14-23, is there a 4 night sailing starting on the 10th, will you be on for our Jewel cruise on the 14th also?

RC Jewel Of The Seas B2B 17 night Arctic Circle 09-10-2023

Thanks for catching that. We get off on the 14th. Fixed my info.

 

[Another_Critic]

27 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Do you debark on the 14th?

 

No, the 16th.

 

I would have jumped on the Jewel TA, but I just did the Voyager Arctic Crossing last September.

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Another_Critic

[ReneeFLL]

Sorry that I missed you are on Liberty. I was thinking it was the Jewel.

[meadowlander]

On 7/27/2023 at 1:38 PM, ReneeFLL said:

 Wondering if it usually takes very long for self assist and getting Uber/Lyft? 

After clearing customs exit the terminal to the left. Once outside go right to the Uber/Lyft zone. There will be hanging numbers (6 through 10) under the overhead awning for your driver to identify which zone you are in.

 

If you use taxi, it is in a different area...in a parking lot across from zone 10 which is near the glass doors of the parking garage.

[Sunshine3601]

We have had zero issues w/getting off ships in Cape Liberty.   Cruise out of that port several times a year.    We usually have a relaxing breakfast in MDR then walk off ship between 8:30 and 8:45 and hop in an Uber by 9 am after getting our luggage and doing facial recognition.   

You can order Uber while you are walking off the ship and that will speed up the process or pre-order/reserve your Uber for a specific time.

[martikus]

We made a 11am with no issue of oasis.  We did self walk off and didn’t even have a line at 6:45.  We were shocked.  Longest was about 30 min wait for Lyft - we didn’t pre book and got dropped a couple times by driver.  Was at airport still with oooodles of time to spare.  We had pre check but other line didn’t look terrible either.

[MommaBear55]

4 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

 

Yes it is a TA. Why would it take longer? Customs?

 

 

The Coast Guard may want to do an initial inspection before letting people off. Immigration also takes a lot longer, unless you are lucky enough to have US officials get on before you dock and do immigration before you actually arrive. 

[ReneeFLL]

Thanks everyone for the info.

[Rondo]

Anyone have an approximate cost of an Uber or a taxi to EWR?

[AlaskaGoer]

As someone who just got off the Oasis yesterday... 

 

Give yourself as much time as possible. 

 

We did self assist and got in line at 835a.

 

We didn't walk out of the Customs terminal until 9:55. The lines were crazy to get off, and one of the escalators broke creating a nightmare.

 

The ones who had their luggage taken and put in the terminal at pre determined times still had to wait in line like the rest of us. Overall it was a mess, so just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get off and get to the airport. 

[ecslady]

I also got off Oasis yesterday (Friday July 28), and did self assist. The ship was delayed docking due to marine traffic. I believe we were waiting for a container ship or barge before we were given the OK to dock. Thus, instead of docking at 6 AM as scheduled, we docked at 7 AM.  I waited until 7:40 AM to leave my cabin for self assist and they snaked us through lines. I was finally outside the terminal at 8:26 AM calling a friend who was waiting at the port to pick me up. It was a mess.  Those with luggage tags were delayed an hour or so also. 

 

I've encountered this before at Cape Liberty. However, I also have had it go very smoothly and on time debarkation.  It all depends. This past May on Celebrity it went fine, as did last December on Anthem.

[reallyitsmema]

10 minutes ago, AlaskaGoer said:

As someone who just got off the Oasis yesterday... 

 

Give yourself as much time as possible. 

 

We did self assist and got in line at 835a.

 

We didn't walk out of the Customs terminal until 9:55. The lines were crazy to get off, and one of the escalators broke creating a nightmare.

 

The ones who had their luggage taken and put in the terminal at pre determined times still had to wait in line like the rest of us. Overall it was a mess, so just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get off and get to the airport. 

 

Self assist for Oasis usually starts around 6:45am.  Was the ship delayed or did you just choose to get off later?  There were escalator problems on our May Oasis cruise too.  At boarding, no one had reversed the escalators, so they were running down instead of going up.  When we disembarked, one was off and the other stopped with people on it as we were about to get on it.  They had those people walk down and then blocked it off so no one could use it.  We walked down the stairs as my DH was able to carry both roll aboards down the stairs but many people had to get in the long elevator line.  No issues in the terminal though and we walked right up to customs and facial recognition and right out the door.

[AlaskaGoer]

4 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Self assist for Oasis usually starts around 6:45am.  Was the ship delayed or did you just choose to get off later?  There were escalator problems on our May Oasis cruise too.  At boarding, no one had reversed the escalators, so they were running down instead of going up.  When we disembarked, one was off and the other stopped with people on it as we were about to get on it.  They had those people walk down and then blocked it off so no one could use it.  We walked down the stairs as my DH was able to carry both roll aboards down the stairs but many people had to get in the long elevator line.  No issues in the terminal though and we walked right up to customs and facial recognition and right out the door.

 

We opted to hang out until as late as possible (we actually were kicked out of our room at 830 lol).  The ship docked later than it was supposed to, but people who had luggage pick up times (ie, in the terminal ) between 800 and 830 weren't getting them until almost an hour later.

 

Royal isn't necessarily at fault here, but as there are a lot of moving parts and I for one wouldn't want to be running for the terminal, I'd give myself as much time as possible.