Cape Liberty Cruise Port: where it is and how sailing day works

Cape Liberty Cruise Port is a single cruise terminal on Port Terminal Boulevard in Bayonne, New Jersey, reached from Route 440 through a guarded gate. Every sailing on this site leaves from it. What follows comes from Royal Caribbean's and Celebrity's own pages and from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site.

• Address for a driver or GPS. 4 Port Terminal Boulevard, Bayonne, NJ 07002-5038. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity print the same address.
• Terminal. One. Royal Caribbean's Cape Liberty guide says the port has just one terminal, so there is no terminal number to find.
• Cruise lines. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Silversea, the three lines on our schedule.
• Arrival. Inside the arrival time you choose at online check-in. Coming early does not get you on board sooner.
• Parking. A garage next to the terminal. On 4 November 2026 Royal Caribbean listed $35 a day and Celebrity $30. The Cape Liberty parking guide has the details.
• On foot. Not allowed. Celebrity says the Port Authority only lets guests arrive in a motor vehicle.

This site is independent. It is not the port, the Port Authority or a cruise line.

Where is Cape Liberty Cruise Port?

Cape Liberty Cruise Port is at 4 Port Terminal Boulevard, Bayonne, New Jersey 07002, on the peninsula that was once the Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity both put Bayonne seven miles south of Manhattan, and Royal Caribbean names Newark Liberty International as the closest airport.

Give a taxi, a ride app or your GPS the full address the lines print: 4 Port Terminal Boulevard, Bayonne, N.J. 07002-5038. You may see 14 Port Terminal Boulevard on other sites. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity both use 4, and we go by them.

The Port Authority, which owns the land, says Port Terminal Boulevard connects the east end of the peninsula to New Jersey Route 440. You turn off Route 440 at a traffic light, and Royal Caribbean says the turn is signed as the entrance to the "Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor" or the old "Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne". Past a guard gate, signs lead to the cruise terminal.

Bayonne is in New Jersey, although Royal Caribbean titles its sailings "from Cape Liberty (New York)". Our New York City to Cape Liberty guide covers the trip from Manhattan, Brooklyn and Jersey City, and the airport guide covers Newark, JFK and LaGuardia.

Who runs Cape Liberty Cruise Port, and which cruise lines sail from it?

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns Cape Liberty, and Royal Caribbean Group leases it and runs it through its terminal operating company, Cape Liberty Cruise Port. That is how the Port Authority described the arrangement in a property notice it issued on 6 November 2025.

The Port Authority's own releases give the background:

• The Port Authority bought the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal in June 2010, as part of a 131-acre piece of the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne.
• On 24 July 2013 its board approved a new terminal building paid for by Royal Caribbean, with a 36,000-square-foot check-in area, a 60,000-square-foot luggage area, a parking deck and berth improvements. The same agreement extended Royal Caribbean's operating rights at the terminal through 2043.

Three lines sail from Cape Liberty on our schedule:

Cruise line	Sailings on our schedule	Ships
Royal Caribbean	97	Odyssey of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas
Celebrity	16	Celebrity Silhouette, Celebrity Summit
Silversea	1	Silver Shadow

Celebrity's New Jersey page sells its sailings as cruises from Bayonne, and Silversea's voyage page gives the departure port as Bayonne, New Jersey. Your cruise documents are the final word on where you board.

How many terminals are there at Cape Liberty?

Cape Liberty has one cruise terminal, according to Royal Caribbean's guide to the port, with the parking garage next to it. There is no terminal number or second building to look for, whichever line you sail with.

Celebrity's New Jersey page says the terminal has free Wi-Fi. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity both warn that security and immigration checks can slow you down when you reach the pier, which is one more reason to arrive inside your check-in window and not at the end of it.

How do you drive to Cape Liberty Cruise Port?

Take the New Jersey Turnpike to Exit 14A (Bayonne), follow Route 440 South and turn left at the traffic light onto Port Terminal Boulevard. Royal Caribbean gives this route from Newark airport, the Turnpike, the Holland and Lincoln tunnels and the George Washington Bridge.

From Exit 14A, Royal Caribbean's directions run like this:

1. Pay the toll at the exit and carry straight on onto Route 440.
2. Follow the signs for Route 440 South.
3. Turn left at the traffic light onto Port Terminal Boulevard.
4. Drive straight on to the guard gate, go through it and follow the signs to the cruise terminal.

From Staten Island, Brooklyn or Long Island, Royal Caribbean sends you over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, west on I-278 and north on Route 440 over the Bayonne Bridge. Stay on Route 440 North for about 3 miles and turn right into the port. The Port Authority collects its bridge and tunnel tolls only from drivers entering New York, so the Bayonne Bridge charges nothing on the way to the ship.

The New York City guide has road distances and the tolls for the drive home.

What time should you arrive at Cape Liberty Cruise Port?

Arrive inside the arrival time you chose when you checked in online. Royal Caribbean says guests who come early cannot start boarding and late arrivals may wait for a later group, and Celebrity says arriving in your window avoids delays at the terminal.

The two lines set their check-in rules a little differently:

	Royal Caribbean	Celebrity
Online check-in	In the Royal App until 8 am on sailing day, or on the website up to 48 hours before sailing. The line encourages finishing at least 3 days ahead.	Opens 45 days before the cruise. Online until 3 days before, in the Celebrity app until the morning of sailing.
Your arrival time	The time slot you pick at check-in, shown on your mobile boarding pass	The window you pick at check-in, shown on your Xpress Pass
If you did not check in ahead	Finish at the pier at least 2 hours before the published sailing time	Finish at the pier 2 hours before the published sailing time
Last call	Checked in at least 90 minutes before the scheduled sailing time, or you do not sail	At the pier and checked in at least 60 minutes before the published sailing time, for U.S. departures

Royal Caribbean words its deadline two ways. Its check-in page says 90 minutes before the scheduled sailing time, and its arrival page says on board 90 minutes before port operations close. Plan for whichever comes first.

The itineraries on our schedule show Royal Caribbean's round trips and Celebrity Silhouette's Bermuda trips leaving Bayonne at 3 pm, Celebrity Summit and the one-way voyages at 4 pm, and Silver Shadow at 7 pm. With a 3 pm departure, Royal Caribbean's rule means being checked in by 1:30 pm. Go by the time printed on your own documents.

Flying in on sailing day leaves little room for a delay. Royal Caribbean says many guests find it easiest to arrive the day before and stay in a hotel, and our hotels guide covers where.

Can you take a taxi, Uber or Lyft to Cape Liberty?

Yes. Celebrity says taxis, Uber and Lyft drivers and private car services can all enter the restricted area of the port and drive you to the terminal. A vehicle is the only way in, because the Port Authority does not allow guests to arrive at the port on foot.

That rule matters if you come by train or bus. Public transport stops outside the port, and Celebrity says walking in from the drop-off point is not an option. Royal Caribbean names 34th Street station on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail as the stop to use and tells you to take a Bayonne taxi from there. By OpenStreetMap routing the station is about 2.7 miles by road from the terminal.

A driver dropping you off follows the same route as everyone else: Port Terminal Boulevard, the guard gate, then the signs. Neither line's page describes a separate pickup area for the trip home. When you order a ride app after the cruise, check where the app puts the pickup pin before you confirm.

What happens to your luggage at Cape Liberty?

You hand your checked bags over at the terminal and next see them in your cabin, often some hours after you board. Royal Caribbean says that on embarkation day luggage may arrive after the ship sails, and Celebrity says properly tagged bags should reach your stateroom within a few hours of sailing.

• Tags. Royal Caribbean's eDocs include a bag tag with your ship, sailing date, stateroom and deck number, and the line has generic tags at the pier on boarding day. Celebrity's tags are in your Guest Account, and it also has tags at the pier.
• Carry-on. Royal Caribbean suggests packing a small carry-on with your travel documents for the first day. Keep anything you need before your checked bags turn up in it as well.
• Documents. What to show at check-in is in our cruise documents guide.

What happens on disembarkation morning at Cape Liberty?

The ships on our schedule are due back at Cape Liberty at 6 am (Oasis of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas) or 7 am (Independence of the Seas and both Celebrity ships). You then leave at a time set by your luggage tag, and Celebrity says disembarkation usually runs from about 8 am to 10 am and rarely starts before 7 am.

On Royal Caribbean, the color of your luggage tag sets your departure time, and you wait in an assigned lounge, arriving 15 minutes before your time. Everyone has to be off before the next cruise's guests can board. There are two ways to leave:

• Self-Assist. For guests who can carry all their own bags and want to be off early. Bags stay in your stateroom overnight, no luggage tags are needed, and Royal Caribbean cannot give wheelchair assistance on this option.
• Regular departure. You tag your bags and leave them outside your stateroom door the night before, by the time the ship gives you, and collect them in the terminal.

Celebrity works the same way. Most guests leave color-tagged bags outside the door the night before, and guests who keep their own luggage can choose self disembarkation, which usually lets them leave as soon as it begins. Celebrity also says to leave plenty of time between your disembarkation time and a flight, because immigration can cause delays.

If you are driving into New York afterwards, the Port Authority's tunnels and bridges charge tolls in that direction. The New York City guide has the amounts.

Is Cape Liberty Cruise Port accessible for wheelchair users?

Royal Caribbean gives pier help to guests with disabilities, with staff pushing wheelchairs on and off the ship over the gangways and boarding bridges. Its staff are not allowed to lift guests, and at busy times there may be a wait. Ask for the help through your cruise line before you sail.

• Royal Caribbean. Its pier assistance FAQ points guests to the line's Access Department for arrangements.
• Self-Assist. Royal Caribbean cannot give wheelchair help to guests who choose Self-Assist departure, so pick regular departure if you need it.
• Celebrity. Requests go through Celebrity's accessible cruising pages.
• Getting to the door. Since you can only arrive by vehicle, a car, taxi or ride app can take you right to the terminal.

What is near Cape Liberty Cruise Port?

Little that a visitor would walk to. The rest of the peninsula is Port Authority marine terminal land, and the places Royal Caribbean's own Cape Liberty guide suggests for a day before or after a cruise are a short drive north in Jersey City:

• Liberty State Park. A park of 1,200 acres, with ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island leaving from near the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal. The park also has the Empty Sky memorial for 9/11. The old rail terminal is about 7 miles from Cape Liberty by road.
• Liberty Science Center. About 5.7 miles from the port by road.
• Manhattan. Reached by PATH train from Jersey City or Hoboken. See the New York City guide.

Liberty State Park has its own station on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the same line that serves Bayonne's 34th Street station, according to NJ Transit's timetable.

For a night before the cruise, our hotels near Cape Liberty guide compares places to stay. To pick a sailing first, start with every departure from Bayonne or the first-time cruiser FAQ.