Cruises from New Jersey – often written “cruises from NJ” for those who can’t be bothered to type a few extra letters – are more precisely cruises from the Cape Liberty Cruise Port, which is located in Bayonne, New Jersey, just across the New York Harbor from Brooklyn. (For those unfamiliar with the geography of this sprawling metropolitan region of the country, Bayonne lines the Eastern side of the harbor.) New Jersey isn’t generally thought of as a cruise departure point – if vacationers think of cruises from the Northern East Coast of the U.S. at all, they generally think of cruises from New York City – but there are in fact a number of cruises that leave from Cape Liberty in New Jersey every year. These cruises from NJ are overwhelming offered by Royal Caribbean International, although Celebrity Cruises offers a few as well. If you are interested in (or just curious about) taking a cruise from New Jersey, keep reading, as all the basics of this port of departure are covered below.
Understandably, people tend to associate cruising with Florida. The state has several popular ports of departure, and all the major cruise lines offer cruises from one or more of these ports. This is largely because the Caribbean and its surrounding regions are such popular cruise destinations, and the Caribbean is easy to reach from Florida. As a consequence, many are under the impression that you need to travel to Florida to take a cruise. However, there are several other ports of departure, and one of them is located in New Jersey, from where you can cruise to a few destinations, including the Caribbean.
Why is this significant? First, it means that if you live on the East Coast of the U.S., you don’t necessarily need to fly down to Florida to catch your cruise. You can depart from a port much closer to home, which will likely decrease the total cost of your cruise vacation. There are of course scenarios in which it would be cheaper to travel to Florida for your cruise vacation – e.g., if you find a really cheap cruise leaving from Florida and you are able to book a cheap flight there – but it will very often be cheaper to simply leave from a place like New Jersey, and in any case it will be more convenient for a great number of people. Moreover, some would rather visit the New Jersey/New York area than Florida before taking a cruise, and this supplies an additional (or separate) reason to sail from New Jersey. Even if departing from New Jersey doesn’t save you money, perhaps you’ve been to Florida several times, but have never been to NYC. What better way to check out the city than by doing it, as if incidentally, in the course of taking a cruise?
This applies not only to cruises from New Jersey, but also to cruises from other ports on the northern part of the East Coast, most obviously the ports in New York City itself. It is here that the cruise line you want to travel with becomes relevant. Only cruises offered by Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises depart from New Jersey, and neither cruise line departs from the other ports in the New York Harbor. Essentially, this means that if you want to take a cruise from the New York Harbor, which exact port you depart from will depend only on what cruise line you want to travel with. If you depart from New Jersey in particular, it is likely because you are cruising with Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, not because you have a strong desire to leave from New Jersey and only New Jersey.
So, if you want to take a cruise from New Jersey, there are plenty of vacation options, although all of these options involve either Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. If you can’t find a cruise that is right for you with either cruise line, look at the other ports in the New York Harbor. A number of the major cruise lines leave from this part of the country. The basic point is that there are cruises from this region, which means you might not have to travel as far as you think to take a cruise vacation. And if you do end up taking a cruise from NJ, check out some of the things to see and do in Bayonne.