New York

New York City is served by three cruise ports:

The Manhattan Cruise Terminal

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal

Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal in NJ

The majority of ships use Manhattan’s West Side. Its passenger terminals are off West Side Highway, or 12th Avenue, covering several blocks in the West 50s. Midtown is roughly a 15-minute walk away, making this by far the most convenient cruise location.

Other vessels use the passenger terminal in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighbourhood, which has attractive NY skyline views. Taxis are the best option because little is walkable and terminal facilities are very limited. Consult the MTA website for public transport, and use a taxi after dark.

Information on parking in Brooklyn.

Royal Caribbean operates from Cape Liberty Cruise Port on the New Jersey shore of New York Harbor. Further details are available here.

View every New York-area airport and its available ground-transport links.

For the fastest, least expensive Cape Liberty transfer, use Newark airport; a taxi is about $30. Manhattan passengers can choose LaGuardia ($35) or JFK ($54), while Brooklyn passengers can use LaGuardia ($35) or JFK ($48).

Daily parking charges are $35 in Manhattan, $19 at Cape Liberty and $20 in Brooklyn.

Places to stay in the Big Apple.

Live webcam

Take along a printable map.

Enjoy 48 hours on a hop-on, hop-off double-decker tour covering the Downtown, Uptown and Brooklyn Loops, plus a Night/Holiday Lights Tour that is not hop-on, hop-off.

Keep shopping until you cannot carry any more.

Official U.S. money is the United States dollar, whose symbol is $. ATM’s are available throughout the country.

Major cards such as MasterCard and Visa see widespread use, even when only a few dollars are being spent; occasionally no other payment type is possible. Those arriving from abroad should note that displayed prices can seem misleadingly low because tips and taxes are seldom included.

Retail purchases in most states attract sales tax, usually 4-6% but ranging from 2.9% to nearly 10%. The amount is normally calculated and added when you pay rather than shown in the price, except for petrol and alcoholic beverages consumed on the premises in most states.

America has an established and expected tipping culture. Opinions still vary among Americans on suitable levels and eligible recipients, but the usual guidelines are:

• Full-service restaurants: 15-20%. Often the wait(ress) relies on this as their sole income. Leave cash or write the amount on the card slip. Very few venues include an automatic service charge; if they do, decide whether to add more after checking the bill.
• Hairdressers, taxi drivers and other personal services: 10-15%.
• Bartenders: tip $1 per low-priced drink or 15% of the overall bill.
• Bellhops: allow $1-2 per bag and at least $3-5 in total.
• Hotel doorman: $1 when assisting with each bag and $1 when hailing a cab.
• Tour guides: consider tour quality, group size and length; for half-day excursions or shorter, give $5-10 per person, rising to $10-20 per person on longer outings.
• Limousine and private-car drivers: 15-20%.
• Housekeeping staff in hotels: optionally leave $1-2 per day on an extended stay or no less than $5 for a very short stay.
• Food delivery, including pizza: $2-5, with larger orders potentially warranting more.

At federal level, the U.S. has no official language, but English is the clear norm for everyday communication and has been formally adopted by several states. Widely spoken Spanish is also official in New Mexico; Louisiana recognises French and Hawaii recognises Hawaiian. Neither comes close to English usage, and both statuses largely reflect history.

The emergency number is 911.

Many pharmacies and supermarkets in major cities such as Los Angeles and New York routinely operate 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Most department stores, shopping centers and other large retailers open from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Sunday schedules are often reduced, generally 11 a.m. or noon to 5 or 6 p.m. Businesses commonly remain open on holidays, apart from key occasions such as Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, when stores are generally closed.