VOS out of Bayone

[oaky]

Hi:

We are booked on the May 16 cruise to Canada on VOS leaving out of Bayone. Does anyone have any experience with this port. We are traveling by bus (6 of us) and the driver says that if there is two levals the bus must stay on street level. Does anyone know if there is two levels in this terminal. Has anyone ever left from this terminal on any ship?

Also, the VOS leaves at 10 PM. We cant board until 6PM. I called RCI and asked when the ship is pulling into port. No one knows! My thought is if it pulls in at 8AM like most do, why such a late "on board". Any information concerning the above would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

[Smile0808]

I think youll be the first cruise out of that port on the VOS. That port was just built up for rccl vos and one other ship. Please share your experience when u return...Look back a page or 2. There are a few posts on bayonne port or something to that affect. They give some really good sites that might answer your questions.

[TWELVEOHONE]

THE PIER AT BAYONNE NJ on May 8 Empress of the Seas

 

There is only one level, street level. The bus will drop you off at teh terminal'

 

For those that live in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and south of New York, the location of the pier is tremendous. If you take the New Jersey turnpike you take exit 14A follow signs to route 440 south. The pier is less than 3 minutes from the turnpike exit. There are plenty of easy to see signs directing you to the cruise terminal. Of course the best part is that you do not have to go into or out of New York. For those living in New York and North of New York this new departure location may not be as advantages. But on the good side they are planning a ferry from New York to Bayonne. This will eliminate the hassle of going through the tunnels to get to NJ. If you are arriving by air, the Newark airport is less than 16 minutes to pier.

 

Before talking about the terminal in Bayonne I want to point out that this was the first sailing by RCCL from the pier. Workman were still doing some last minute construction and updating. The pier was used mostly for cargo and was the home for Ivaran cruises which was an upscale cargo ship that took passengers.

 

Once you get to the pier you drive about a mile to the end where there is plenty of parking. The cost is $12.00 a day. After parking you will have to take your luggage to the main terminal several hundred yards away. The terminal was where you went through security and checked in for you boarding passes. As you checked in you were given a card with a number that was used for boarding shuttle busses. Unfortunately, we had to carry our luggage with us onto the busses which took us to the ship, a few minutes away. Although there were plenty of busses with plenty of seats it was very cumbersome having luggage in the isles and on your laps. I brought this the attention of RCCL and suggested that after going through security, luggage should be taken to a truck and delivered to the cabins.

 

The second major concern was going onto the ship. There was high stair case that had to be negotiated up to deck 5 where you entered the ship. Many passengers, especially older ones or those with physical conditions would have considerable trouble going up the stairs. They were taken on through the crew’s entrance which was street level. RCCL told me that they were aware of this and are looking at possible solutions,

 

I saw an artist conception of what Bayonne is planning for the pier. After its completion it will be something to brag about. They will have stores, parks, and even a hotel. Like I stated at the beginning, there is lots to get done but until then the location is great for those not having to drive or fly into New York.

 

Twelveohone

[cruisinfanatic]

TWELVEOHONE

 

NJ is very convenient for upstaters. We'd much rather get off an exit of The NJT than have to go into NYC.

 

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[judyf]

I second that. I will take NYT to NJ rt 17 to NJT and then we are there. Much easier then going across a bridge in NYC and hitting the city traffic. Going there on 5/21.

 

Judy

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[karen_cpa]

Tom -

 

We are also on the May 16th sailing! Join our Roll Call thread. The boarding time for our cruise seems to be a constant issue. According to RCCL representatives, we can board as early as 1-2pm as the only cruise before us is a 2-day TA cruise that is disembarking between 8-10am that morning. The documents all indicate 6pm, but according to RCCL, that is for future cruises leaving from Bayonne. The accountant in me finds it highly unlikely that RCCL could process 3,000+ in 4 hours if we are set to depart at 10pm. Hubby and I plan on being at the pier between 1 and 2pm.

 

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[jhaasz]

oaky - 6 pm?????

 

What about dinner???

 

We are sailing on July 11th and will probably get the "true" 6:00 pm boarding time as the ship is not due to come in until noon.

 

8/27/2004 - Voyager of the Seas

 'til our 10th cruise!!

 

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[FinelyCruising]

Even in San Juan wher the departure time is 10-11 pm one can board the ship sooner than 5pm so I think it is realistic to assume you will be able to here as well.

 

The ship alternates with Canada and Carribean, and the return time for the Carriberan is 12 noon which may reveal why they say baording cannot start until 5pm for Canada.

 

But if you don;t already know, these cabin stewards are awesome, and the new beds and rooms are made practically while you are still in them!

 

Have fun!

[bobbie0253]

Except In San Juan, the cruise before is usually in at 8am, not 12:00 like in Bayonne. I think RCI needs to rethink the 9 night Voyagers port schedule. But on the other hand if you book a cruise with a 6pm boarding time, then you get what you paid for Not that I agree with that but....

 

Anyways, join our roll call for the May 16th cruise. We have a GREAT group of people chatting on the board

 

FYI we are planning on being at the pier at 12:00. If we have to sit around until 5pm then we will find a way to have fun

 

Bobbie

 

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[FinelyCruising]

Huh?

[hess2201]

I too am on the 16th sailing.

 

The late boarding time has to do with the ship ariving back from the 9 day. I personally dont think we will have this broblem this sunday,because the ship will be on a cruise to "nowhere" but those on the later cruises will have to deal with late boarding.

i am hoping to arrive around noon.

 

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[paminohio]

Hess and Tom: Have you checked out the VOS 5/16 roll call thread? VOS 5/16 A bunch of us are going to try to meet up at the Schooner bar around 2:00ish on Monday. Hope you can join us!

 

The cc'ers on the roll call thread are a great group of people and we've been chatting and getting to know each other pretty well these past few weeks. I feel like I already know a bunch of people that I'll be cruising with.

 

Pam

 

until Voyager

[TWELVEOHONE]

Cruisinfanatic and judyF

 

I was thinking about people going through New York Manhattan. the tunnels have to be the worse with traffic.

 

I have some artist perceptions of what the pier will look like.

 

I petrsonnaly beleive this pier will be a winner for RCCL. Apparently Bayonne has allocated a lot of money to fix the pier and area up.

[kathy7558]

We're sailing on the VOS out of Bayonne on June 13th and just got our cruise docs yesterday. They also say 6:00p.m. boarding, but offer two NYC harbor tours leaving the pier at 3:00p.m. The docs say we can check in early, purchase the tour, and leave all our luggage. It says we'll get our onboard card and all at check-in. I'm hoping this means when we get back from the tour, we just go on board with no waiting.

 

Kathy

 

Fantasy August 2000

Fascination May 2001

Enchantment of the Seas December 2002

Voyager of the Seas June 2004

[bobbie0253]

Originally posted by FinelyCruising:

Even in San Juan wher the departure time is 10-11 pm one can board the ship sooner than 5pm so I think it is realistic to assume you will be able to here as well.

 

The ship alternates with Canada and Carribean, and the return time for the Carriberan is 12 noon which may reveal why they say baording cannot start until 5pm for Canada.

 

 

 

I was just stating that the ships in San Juan arrove at the port MUCH earlier and that is why you may be allowed to board earlier.

 

The Voyager will be arriving at the port at 12:00PM so while it may be possible to board early in San Juan with the same official boarding time, it may not be possible in Bayonne.

 

The only way to get a real idea of an accurate boarding time is to listen to what people have to say when they have done this specific cruise.

[jsargent34]

There was a post a few weeks back on this arrival time/boarding time issue....

 

I think the 12:00 arrival time is merely a safety net for the ship. Mathematically speaking, if Voyager averages a speed of 2 knots SLOWER than she usually cruises at she will make the distance between Freeport and Bayonne much quicker and actually arrive at 8:00am.

 

Although there most likely will not be any 10:30-11:00 boardings, I see 12:30-1:00 happening ONCE the ship has done its first few cruises.

 

Lastly, I also noticed that someone posted a little bit of "anger" in the published schedule of this cruise... I can't agree with you more. Anyone going on the Canada trip should be emailing/writing/calling RCI (with the faint hope that they'll listen) to complain about the itinerary. If we are to compare the 10:00pm departure time to AOS, all comparisons are thrown out when you look at the fact that you can board AOS at 11:00! IF (and I don't believe we'll board later than 3:00pm) the ship doesn't go to a "normal" boarding time, it is clearly an argument worth making. Let's agree to agree that RCI failed with their 9 day intinerary (it's awful) considering on a 9 day cruise, VOS is not doing ANY ports that are different or unique... They should adjust that itinerary to GUARANTEE the ship make it back in time for normal boarding...

 

JMHO

 

Until Voyager of the Seas

 

 

 

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(Hey they're cruises too!!!)

[hess2201]

i AGREE!!!

 

The day you board is always counted as day one. Thus, if you cant board till 6pm, that means to me that its really a 4 1/2 day cruise at best.

 

Oceanic 1988

Oceanic 1992

Sea Princess 2000

Summit 2001

Galaxy 8 of 2002

Horizon 2 of 2003

Grand Princess 5 of 2003

Horizon 6 of 2003

Horizon 9 of 2003

Zuiderdam 1 of 2004 !!

Voyager OTS 5 of 2004

[jsargent34]

unfortunately the bozo's at RCI don't agree with us on the 4 - 4.5 - 5 day argument...

 

as far as they're concerned as long as you board by 11:59:59 you got your 1st day....

 

Until Voyager of the Seas

 

 

 

Mariner of the Seas 1/2004

Explorer of the Seas 5/2003

Voyager of the Seas 4/2001

USS Kauffman (FFG-59) 92-94

USS Connole (FF-1056) 90-92

(Hey they're cruises too!!!)

[FinelyCruising]

bobbie - got it.

 

If the board only at 5 or 6 then I guess it's just dinner buffet in the Windjammer.

 

I just don't see how they plan to load that many passengers in such a short amount of time.

 

It will be intersting to see if they do these cruises the same way again next year. Sounds like we decided to be the testers.