The Cape Liberty Cruise Port is one of three trans-Atlantic passenger terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located in Bayonne, New Jersey at the north side of the 2 mi (3.2 km) long pier of the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, a former military ocean terminal, and began operations in 2004.[2]
Cape Liberty Cruise Port | |
|---|---|
 Freedom of the Seas docked at the terminal | |
| General information | |
| Location | Piers 11 and 12 14 Port Terminal Boulevard, Bayonne, New Jersey 07002 United States |
| Coordinates | 40°39′53″N 74°04′29″W / 40.6646°N 74.07462°W |
| Owned by | Port Authority of New York and New Jersey |
| Operated by | Royal Caribbean Group Metro Cruise Services |
| Connections |  34th Street station (1.9 mi (3.1 km) to the west; access via cruise shuttles, taxis, and limousines) |
| Construction | |
| Structure type | Pier |
| Parking | Yes |
| Accessible | Yes |
| Other information | |
| Website | cruiseliberty |
| History | |
| Opened | May 2004[1] |
History
editThe Cape Liberty Cruise Port is located on a 430-acre (170 ha) site that had been originally developed for industrial uses in the 1930s and then taken over by the U.S. government during World War II as the Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne. After conversion of a portion of the site for use as a passenger terminal with full customs and immigration facilities, in May 2004, the Voyager of the Seas became the first ship to depart from the site, the first time in almost four decades that a passenger ship had departed from a port in the state.[3] The Voyager of the Seas was one of two ships to have her base of operations shifted to Bayonne from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal on the Hudson River waterfront of Manhattan's West Side.[4]
Operators
editRoyal Caribbean is one of the port's primary tenants. In May 2006 Freedom of the Seas – then the world's largest cruise ship – was christened in a broadcast carried live on the NBC's The Today Show.[5] Celebrity Cruises bases Celebrity Summit out of Cape Liberty from May to October.
Before the cruise terminal opened in 2004, no cruise ships had been based out of the New Jersey Hudson Waterfront since the Hamburg-America Line left its Hoboken, New Jersey dock several decades previously.[6]
Oasis of the Seas was originally supposed to begin to sail out of Cape Liberty in May 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it ended up beginning to sail out in September 2021 for the 2022–24 seasons.[7][8]
Ferry service
editThe city of Bayonne has rented land from PANYNJ and is negotiating with SeaStreak to establish ferry service to Manhattan, with a terminal adjacent to the cruise port.[9] Service was expected to begin in September 2020.[10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Cape Liberty Cruise Port". Cape Liberty Cruise Port. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
- ^ Cape Liberty. New York Cruise Guide. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
- ^ History, Cape Liberty Cruise Port. Accessed November 12, 2019. "The 430 acre site in Lower New York Harbor was created by private developers in the 1930s as a man-made peninsula off the eastern end of Bayonne, New Jersey. Initially developed for industrial use, the U.S. War Department and the Department of the Navy became interested in the site as World War II approached.... The maiden sailing of the Voyager of the Seas was on May 14, 2004. The voyage marked the first time a passenger ship vessel had sailed from New Jersey in almost 40 years."
- ^ "For 2 Ships: Goodbye, New York. Hello, Bayonne.", The New York Times, January 4, 2004. Accessed November 12, 2019. "Royal Caribbean Cruises announced just before the holidays that beginning in May two of its vessels, the 3,114-passenger Voyager of the Seas, one of the world's largest cruise ships, and the 2,020-passenger Nordic Empress, will dock in New Jersey rather than New York. The new port of call will be the former Bayonne Military Ocean Terminal. Nordic Empress had previously used the passenger ship terminal on Manhattan's West Side."
- ^ New York Cruise – Cape Liberty. Cruise Critic. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
- ^ "Army Put In Charge of Piers in Hoboken". The New York Times. 20 April 1917. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
- ^ Israel, Daniel (2021-09-09). "Royal Caribbean cruises set sail from Cape Liberty again". Hudson Reporter. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
- ^ Pompilio, Natalie (12 December 2018). "Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas to Cruise From New York in 2020". www.cruisecritic.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
- ^ McDonald, Corey W. (10 October 2018). "Bayonne makes its choice for ferry operator". The Jersey Journal.
- ^ Higgs, Larry (13 February 2020). "A new commuter ferry to NYC on track to set sail in September". NJ.com.