Cape Liberty: Cruise Gateway to Manhattan
By Todd De Haven
August 22, 2008

Here are some tips for extending your cruise vacation with a visit to New York City -- at New Jersey prices.

New Jersey's Cape Liberty Cruise Port, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, is increasingly popular for those embarking on year-round Royal Caribbean cruises on Explorer of the Seas to the Caribbean, Bermuda and New England. Additionally, RCI's Celebrity Cruises offers departures from Cape Liberty during September and October to New England, and a late fall repositioning cruise to Florida via the Caribbean.

Admittedly, New York City's cruise terminal in Manhattan offers more convenient access to those wishing to take in the Big Apple's famous landmarks.

Nevertheless, embarking at Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey has definite advantages, especially if it's a cruiser's first visit to the metropolitan New York area and he wants to combine the cruise with a land vacation that doesn't turn into a budget buster.

Staying at one of several decent hotels near Newark Airport or Hoboken puts one conveniently near the New Jersey PATH trains that whisk passengers through a tunnel into Manhattan. There is also frequent New Jersey Transit rail service from the Newark Airport station into midtown New York City's Penn Station. And those New Jersey hotels are far less expensive than often less attractive lodgings just across the Hudson in Manhattan.

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PATH trains from New Jersey to Manhattan can be boarded in Newark, Jersey City or Hoboken. Depending on the train selected, you can go to the World Trade Center station or to the midtown area. PATH train information, including stops, fares and a map of the system, can be accessed at Train Schedules.

Anyone who has spent any time in the New York City area will tell you that the only way most tourists should see Manhattan is by using public transportation. Cabs are expensive, although the convenience can sometimes be worth it. Taxicab rates, governed by the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, can be found at Taxi Cab Rates.

Of course a visit to New York City wouldn't be complete without a ride on the New York City subway system. Subways today are far cleaner, more comfortable (they're all air-conditioned) and much safer than they have ever been. If you'd rather travel on the surface of the streets instead of below them, the city has a far-flung bus network as well. NYC bus and subway fares are $2.00 (excluding express buses, the fare for which is $5.00). For information, including routes and maps, go to: Bus Routes and Maps.

New York has plenty of famous attractions, but there are also some not so famous sights that are worth a visit.

Those who have sailed from either Bayonne (Cape Liberty) or New York City often marvel at their brief passage through upper New York Bay a highlight. Yet most have never experienced what has been referred to as "the world's best and shortest cruise:" the five-mile, 25-minute cruise across New York Harbor on the Staten Island Ferry. There can't be a better bargain than the Staten Island Ferry, simply because it is free!