Two terminals on a transit line, one off it
Piers 88 and 90 in Manhattan and Pier 12 in Brooklyn both sit a bus ride or a short walk from the subway. Cape Liberty, across the harbor in Bayonne, is the odd one out — the trains stop about two miles short, and every desk near it is in New Jersey.
Start with the fare, since that’s the number a rental car has to beat before it earns a place in the plan.
A subway or local bus ride is $3 a person on OMNY, per the MTA — half that for seniors and riders with a qualifying disability.
That’s a fare, not a rate, so it doesn’t grow with the number of days you spend in the city before you sail.
Tap the same card all week and the MTA’s weekly cap kicks in — by our arithmetic the 12th ride in seven days costs $2 and every ride after it is free.
So the city terminals lean hard against a car, and Bayonne leans only slightly.
What tips it is what you plan to do on land.
Answer five rows and get a verdict
The pier, the plans, the flight, the group and the hotel. Nothing is stored, so change an answer and watch the verdict move.
How each pier works on foot, by bus, by boat and by rail
If the quiz said skip it, this is the kit for each terminal.
A subway and a walk
The A, B, C, D and 1 trains stop at Columbus Circle, and the M57 and M31 buses run close to the terminal, per Cruise NYC. Two of you ride for $6. From the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the terminal’s own page puts a yellow cab at about $8 to $10, an undated estimate.
A bus or a boat
The B61 runs from Atlantic Avenue at Court Street to Pioneer and Van Brunt Streets; the F train to Smith–9th Streets connects with the B77. NYC Ferry’s South Brooklyn route stops at Red Hook’s Atlantic Basin for $4 a ride — $8 for two, with Wall Street’s Pier 11 on the same route.
Two trains, then a cab
PATH ($3.25 a ride since May 4, 2026, as reported) and then the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail ($2.65, or $1.25 reduced, after New Jersey Transit’s July 1 change) reach Bayonne’s 34th Street station. Royal Caribbean puts the taxi from there at about two miles. Two of you spend $11.80 on the rail before the cab.
Driving in? You park before the bags come out
A rental is a car you have to park before you can board.
This is the rule that catches drivers at the two city terminals.
At Manhattan and Brooklyn the driver parks first, then brings the luggage up to the second level — Cruise NYC says you can’t drop bags at the curb and then go park without leaving the terminal.
Plan on the whole party walking up from the garage with the bags.
Neither terminal has luggage lockers. Your bags stay with you until the ship takes them.
Both terminals have a taxi stand and a holding lot for pre-arranged cars — a cab drops you at the door, and your own car doesn’t.
Cape Liberty is built the other way round, with a garage on site. Its rates and quirks are on the night-before page.
Five plans, priced by car and without one
Every figure below is one you can trace up the page or to a source at the bottom.
| Plan | By rental car | Without one |
|---|---|---|
| A Midtown hotel to Piers 88 and 90, two people | A rental you then have to park or return | $6 by subway or bus, or a short cab. No car. |
| Downtown Brooklyn to Red Hook, two people | A rental you then have to park or return | $6 on the B61, or $8 by ferry from Manhattan. No car. |
| Newark to Cape Liberty, two people | $66 for a one-day rental from Newark | UberX at about $25 to $35 in a 2024 article we couldn’t confirm. Probably the ride. |
| A Hudson Valley day for two (Bear Mountain and Storm King) | $162 from a city desk, or $160 from New Jersey | Coach USA’s Storm King package or Metro-North toward Beacon; we couldn’t read either fare. The car, for both stops. |
| Two nights in Midtown first | $234 with a $55-a-night hotel garage | The subway, with the weekly cap if you ride 12 times. No car. |
Our $50-a-day base rate is an assumption; city desks carry New York City’s taxes and New Jersey desks the state’s, as the hub sets out; airports add an assumed 11% fee. The Hudson day counts a 130-mile loop (our estimate), $10 at Bear Mountain, $25 a person at Storm King on a weekday, one crossing back into New York and one day of Enterprise’s toll program. Fares from the MTA, NYC Ferry, New Jersey Transit and, for PATH, a news report. Illustrative
Only the Hudson Valley day makes a clear case for the car — about $81 a person, everything in, by our arithmetic. The other four plans don’t get there.
Even at Cape Liberty the car wins only if it’s already doing something else that day.
A transfer on its own is a ride, not a rental.
The day that makes the rental worth it
Most of the reasons to rent a car for a New York cruise are outside New York City.
West Point, Bear Mountain, Storm King and Woodbury Common sit an hour or more north of the piers — and most of them have no train to the door.
Here the car is the transport, not the extra.
The Hudson Valley page has the opening days, the gate rules and a cost model for a Storm King day.
Book the days the car works, or let us plan it
If the car only earns one day, rent one day, not the week.
Collect it the morning you need it and return it before the ship — the garage rate is a cost you can usually avoid.
- Pick-up: a New York City desk
- Return near your pier, during its hours
- Taxes and fees itemised before you pay
- Cancel free up to 48 hrs before pickup
New York cruise, car or no car
Do I need a car for a cruise from New York?
Usually not. The Manhattan and Brooklyn terminals are a subway, bus or ferry ride away at $3 to $4 a person, and neither lets you drop bags before you park. A car makes sense for a Hudson Valley day or a Cape Liberty sailing out of Newark.
Can you take the subway to the Manhattan cruise terminal?
Yes. The A, B, C, D and 1 trains stop at Columbus Circle, and the M57 and M31 buses run near Piers 88 and 90, per Cruise NYC. A ride is $3 on OMNY, $1.50 reduced fare.
How do you get to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal by public transportation?
Take the B61 from Atlantic Avenue at Court Street to Pioneer and Van Brunt Streets, or the F to Smith–9th Streets and the B77. NYC Ferry’s South Brooklyn route stops at Red Hook’s Atlantic Basin for $4 a ride.
Can you take PATH and the light rail to Cape Liberty?
Most of the way. PATH ($3.25, as reported) and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail ($2.65 after July 1, 2026) reach Bayonne’s 34th Street station; from there Royal Caribbean puts the taxi at about two miles.
Can you drop off luggage at the New York cruise terminal before parking?
Not at Manhattan or Brooklyn. Cruise NYC says the driver parks first, then brings the bags to the second level, and neither terminal has luggage lockers. A taxi or car service can drop you at the door.
More on renting around a New York cruise
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