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Cruising from New York

qm2overlookingny_01New York based writer and photographer, Richard Wagner, shares his first hand experience and knowledge of cruising from the Big City.

New York City is rapidly becoming America’s northern cruise ship capital. Two new cruise ship terminals have opened in the last few years and such major cruise lines as Cunard, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Holland America, Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Lines operate out of New York on a regular basis. Others, including Fred Olsen and P&O Cruises make cameo appearances. In 2007, some 1.3 million passengers embarked and/or disembarked in New York.

One of the reasons for this resurgence is that the major cruise lines are deploying their expanding fleets to American cities beyond the traditional Florida cruise ports. The idea being that more Americans will want to cruise if they do not have to travel so far to get to the ship.

However, in New York a curious thing has happened. People from the U.K. have recognized that by taking a cruise out of New York, they can combine their cruise with a holiday in one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations - one which more than one million people from the U.K. visited in 2007.  As a result, the cruise lines are finding that many of the passengers on cruises out of New York are from the U.K.   Indeed, on several voyages from New York to the Caribbean this winter, the majority of the passengers on the Queen Mary 2 were British. 

Similarly, Jorge Lynch, Hotel Director on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas, which operates year-round out of New York, reports that on one cruise this Spring, there were over 500 British passengers.  He notes that with the favorable exchange rates, a cruise out of New York can be “very productive” for British passengers because “New York is several times cheaper to shop in than is England.”

The number of ships using New York and their itineraries changes during the course of the year.  While ships like Explorer operate from New York all year, cruising activity picks up in April and continues at a high level into December.  The autumn is a particularly active period with ships that are normally based in Europe or the Caribbean arriving to do fall foliage cruises.

Many people flying into New York from the U.K. for a cruise choose to arrive a day or two before the cruise.  That way, they get to sightsee in New York as well as adjust to the time difference.  In addition, with the uncertainties of international flight schedules, one may well end up watching the ship sail as one circles over the City if one tries to fly in on the day of the cruise.

On top of this, the only cruise terminal that is close to an area airport is the Cape Liberty Cruise Port, which is very close to Newark International Airport (Liberty Airport).  John F. Kennedy International Airport is a considerable distance from all of the cruise ship terminals and traffic to and from the airport is notorious. Thus, it is better to arrive at least a day beforehand.

The best area to stay is Manhattan.  Hotels can be expensive, particularly in midtown, but nearly everything that a visitor would want to see is in Manhattan, much of it within walking distance or a short ride by subway or bus.  A number of small boutique hotels have opened in recent years.  However, prices vary depending upon trendiness, quality and location.

Contrary to the impression given by the movies and television, New York is relatively safe as major cities go.  Indeed, New York has a lower crime rate per inhabitant than Oslo, Copenhagen or Stockholm.  (Although it has the lowest murder rate of any city in the U.S., it is still above that of London).  The drop in the crime rate is primarily due to a major crackdown on crime that began in the 1990s with the result that formerly no-go high crime areas like Times Square have become family friendly-tourist centers.  At the same time, a flourishing economy resulted in more areas becoming gentrified.

There are no major hotels in close proximity to the cruise ship terminals.  In addition, there is no practical public transportation to the terminals for people carrying bags.  While some of the cruise lines offer coach transfers to the cruise terminals from certain hotels, most people go by automobile - taxi, limousine or private car.

Taxis in New York are metered and the fare increases with time and distance.  Thus, how much one will pay depends upon the driver’s knowledge of the area as well as traffic conditions.  Unlike London, taxi drivers in New York are not required to have a through knowledge of the City.  Moreover many are unfamiliar with the streets outside of Manhattan.  Consequently, it is a good idea to bring along a copy of the directions to the cruise terminal that appear on the cruise line website. To avoid such problems, many Americans use limousines or car services to get to the cruise terminals.  However, this can be an expensive alternative and the quality of the providers varies considerably.

There are three cruise terminals serving New York harbor. The oldest of these is the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, which is better known by its former name, the Passenger Ship Terminal.  Located on the West Side of Manhattan, the terminal is now undergoing a 100 million pound refurbishment.
All of the major lines use the Manhattan Terminal on occasion.  However, the lines using it on a regular basis are Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America Line.

On a summer weekend when there are multiple ships using the terminal (it can handle five sizeable cruise ships when all of the piers are operating), traffic can become quite congested and thus, one should leave extra time to get to the pier even if one is staying in Manhattan on such a day.  (The schedule for the piers appears at www.nycruise.com)

The facility itself consists of three finger piers that jut out into the Hudson River.  To the chagrin of many captains, ships have to make a right angle turn across a swift current to get in or out.  “I think we have all had a couple of grey hairs from those finger piers,” chuckles Captain Edward Perrin of Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess. However, for passengers, the trip up or down the river is a high point of the voyage as the spectacular Manhattan skyline unfolds and the ship passes the Statue of Liberty.

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal opened in 2005 in a waterfront industrial section of Brooklyn not far from the tip of lower Manhattan.  Indeed, a passenger can stand on the stern of a cruise ship berthed there and have a wonderful view of the towers of Wall Street and of the historic Brooklyn Bridge. 

A ship leaving the Brooklyn Terminal sails up Buttermilk Channel and joins the main shipping lane near the Statue of Liberty.  Consequently, passengers do not get the same view of the skyline that passengers traveling from the Manhattan terminal get.
The primary reason the cruise lines use the Brooklyn Terminal is that it was designed with large cruise ships in mind.  The berth (there is only one) has an apron so that supplies and baggage can be loaded efficiently with fork lifts.  The terminal building is large and designed so that thousands of passengers can embark and disembark efficiently.  There is also plenty of open area for parking, as well as for coaches, taxis and limousines.
Built in large part with funds from Carnival Corporation, the terminal is used on a regular basis by the Queen Mary 2 and by ships of Princess Cruises.

The third cruise terminal serving New York harbor is not in New York but rather in neighboring Bayonne, New Jersey.  The Cape Liberty Cruise Port opened in 2003 with help from Royal Caribbean.  Naturally, it is the New York area home of Royal Caribbean International and its sister companies Celebrity Cruises and Azamara.
Cape Liberty is built on a former Navy base that is in the process of being re-developed for residential and business use.  The present terminal building is a converted warehouse.  Unfortunately, it is not within walking distance of where the ships berth.  Therefore, shuttle buses take passengers between the terminal and the ship.  This is important to keep in mind when considering how much baggage to carry with you.
Despite having something of an “under-construction feel,” the Bayonne Terminal operates quite efficiently.  Indeed, Captain Herman Zini of Royal Caribbean notes that Cape Liberty “has the highest ratings in the whole Royal Caribbean itineraries for the embarkation process -  the proximity to the airport and the facilities and this is just the beginning.”

So, cruising from New York is on the upswing with an array of ships departing to a variety of locations and new facilities coming on line to accommodate them and their passengers.

Richard Wagner is a New York-based writer and photographer specializing in cruise ships.  His cruise ship profiles appear at www.beyondships.com