From Cape Liberty to Manhattan: How We Turned a Late Newark Flight Into One More Day in New York
One of the awkward parts of cruising from Cape Liberty is figuring out what to do on disembarkation day when you have a late flight out of Newark.
Our flight wasn’t until 7:59 p.m., which left us with a choice: head directly to Newark Liberty International Airport and spend most of the day sitting in a terminal, or figure out a way to squeeze one more adventure out of the trip.
We chose New York.
And after actually doing it, I can say that this is a very workable option if you have a late enough flight, don’t mind handling your luggage for part of the journey, and are comfortable using public transportation.
We probably could have stayed in Manhattan another couple of hours. But this was our first time trying it, so we erred on the side of caution.
But First, Two Days in New York Before the Cruise
This wasn’t our only time in New York on this trip.
We had deliberately arrived two days before our cruise, which happened to put us in the city for the 25th anniversary of September 11.
We had visited the 9/11 Museum on a previous trip, so we didn’t feel the need to repeat the museum this time. Instead, we experienced the anniversary through what was happening throughout Lower Manhattan.
And there was a lot happening.
Around the World Trade Center site were firefighters, police officers, first responders, families and visitors. Memorial wreaths and floral tributes appeared throughout the area. We saw uniformed groups gathering and moving through the streets, police motorcycles lined up along the curb, and the Port Authority Police bagpipers.
We also visited Engine 30, where firefighters, uniformed personnel and visitors had gathered around the firehouse. FDNY tents, American flags and people from seemingly everywhere filled the area.
It wasn’t something we had planned as a conventional tourist stop. We simply found ourselves experiencing the city as it commemorated an incredibly important anniversary.
St. Paul’s Chapel
Another memorable stop was St. Paul’s Chapel, directly across from the World Trade Center site.
The chapel was holding special events for the 25th anniversary.
We went inside and sat as bagpipes played within the chapel. Hearing them in that setting was one of those experiences that photographs can’t really reproduce. Outside, a children’s chorus sang as part of the commemorations.
Between the music, the first responders, the flowers and wreaths, and the people gathered throughout Lower Manhattan, September 11 wasn’t confined to a single ceremony. You felt the anniversary throughout the area.
Later, we visited the reflecting pools and saw the flowers and flags placed among the names.
And that evening, from Top of the Rock, we could see the Tribute in Light reaching into the night sky.
It was a fitting end to a day we won’t soon forget.
Then it was time for the other reason we’d come to the area.
We boarded our cruise from Cape Liberty and headed for Bermuda.
Fast Forward to Disembarkation Day
After the cruise, we were back at Cape Liberty with that 7:59 p.m. flight from Newark waiting for us.
Going directly to the airport would have meant spending most of the day there.
That didn’t sound particularly appealing.
So we decided to experiment.
Could we get off the ship, store our luggage in Newark, spend several hours in Manhattan, return for our bags and still comfortably make our evening flight?
The answer was yes.
Cape Liberty to Newark Penn Station
We disembarked at Cape Liberty at roughly 10:00 a.m.
Our first objective was Newark Penn Station.
Rather than drag our luggage around Manhattan all day, we arranged to leave it near the station. That turned Newark into our transportation hub for the day.
We could leave our luggage, travel into Manhattan carrying practically nothing, return to Newark later, collect everything and then continue to the airport.
That made the whole plan considerably easier.
Once the luggage was taken care of, we boarded the PATH train for Lower Manhattan.
Back at the World Trade Center
Arriving at the Oculus put us right back in the World Trade Center area we’d visited before the cruise.
The difference was that now we weren’t trying to see everything.
We’d already experienced the 25th-anniversary events, visited the memorial, been to St. Paul’s Chapel and had previously toured the museum.
That meant this could simply be a relaxed bonus day in New York.
The Oculus itself is worth spending a little time exploring. And if shopping is your thing, there’s plenty of it indoors.
The same is true across the way at Brookfield Place. Between the Oculus and Brookfield, you can easily incorporate some indoor shopping into the day, which also makes this itinerary more practical if the weather isn’t perfect.
From there we made our way toward the Hudson River.
Rockefeller Park and an Unexpected New York Moment
We eventually reached Rockefeller Park along the Hudson.
This turned into one of those unplanned travel moments that often becomes more memorable than something you scheduled months in advance.
There was a squirrel near one of the trees that had clearly become accustomed to people.
And people were fascinated by it.
We watched as visitors interacted with the squirrel, including one person offering it water from a bottle. It was completely ordinary New York and completely entertaining at the same time.
So we stayed for a while.
There was no schedule to keep, no attraction reservation and nowhere we absolutely needed to be.
We could just sit along the Hudson, watch the activity around us and enjoy being in New York for a few more hours.
Cappuccino Break
Eventually we decided coffee sounded good.
We walked about a block from the park to a nearby coffee shop and ordered a couple of cappuccinos.
Then we walked right back to the park.
That’s exactly the kind of afternoon we wanted.
After a cruise and several busy days of travel, there was something enjoyable about having no major objective beyond sitting by the river, drinking cappuccino and watching New York happen around us.
One Last Walk Around the 9/11 Memorial
At about 2:00 p.m., we started working our way back toward the reflecting pools.
This time we decided to walk completely around both pools.
During our earlier visit, we hadn’t really noticed how the names were arranged in meaningful groupings. Once we realized that, we slowed down and started reading.
We found the sections recognizing members of the FDNY and NYPD and took our time going around both pools.
We also had one particular name we wanted to find.
Alicia Nicole Titus.
Alicia was a flight attendant aboard United Airlines Flight 175 and had graduated from a high school in our area.
Standing at the memorial and finding the name of someone with a connection to home made an enormous memorial suddenly feel much more personal.
It was a meaningful way to finish our time in Lower Manhattan.
3:00 p.m.: Time to Head Back
At approximately 3:00 p.m., we entered the Oculus and boarded the PATH train back toward Newark.
The ride took about 30 minutes.
We retrieved our luggage and walked back to Newark Penn Station.
Now came the second part of our experiment: getting from downtown Newark to Newark Liberty International Airport using the train.
We went to the ticket kiosks and purchased tickets for the train to Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Station.
The airport rail station is only one train stop from Newark Penn Station.
Our tickets were $12.49 each.
At approximately 3:40 p.m., we left Newark Penn Station.
4:10 p.m.: At Newark Airport
By roughly 4:10 p.m., we were at the airport.
From the airport rail station, we used the airport transportation connection and then took the shuttle bus to Terminal A.
That meant we’d gone from sitting beside the Hudson River in Manhattan during the afternoon to being at Newark Airport a little more than an hour later.
And we still had almost four hours before our flight.
Security? No Problem
One of the biggest variables in our plan had been airport security.
That turned out to be a nonissue.
There was essentially no wait.
We breezed through security and suddenly realized just how much cushion we’d built into our schedule.
Rather than rushing toward the gate, we stopped at a Terminal A restaurant for dinner and a beer.
By 5:45 p.m., dinner was finished and we were sitting in the airport’s form-fitting wooden loungers just up from our gate.
My wife went and picked up coffee for us along with a small bag of croissants to take on the flight.
At that point, there wasn’t much left to do except relax and wait for boarding.
Could We Have Stayed in Manhattan Longer?
Absolutely.
Looking back at the timeline, we could probably have extended our Manhattan visit by a couple of hours and still been fine that particular day.
But I wouldn’t change what we did.
This was our first attempt at turning Cape Liberty disembarkation day into a Manhattan sightseeing day before an evening flight. There were several variables we couldn’t know beforehand: PATH timing, train timing, the airport connection and, most importantly, security.
So we deliberately erred on the side of caution.
Now that we’ve done it once, we’d be more comfortable adjusting the schedule on a future trip.
But I would much rather spend an extra hour relaxing at the airport with dinner, a beer and coffee than spend the final hours of a great vacation watching the clock and wondering if we’re going to make our flight.
Was It Worth It?
Definitely.
Instead of spending most of the day sitting at Newark Airport, we got several additional hours in New York.
We rode into Lower Manhattan, walked through the World Trade Center area, explored along the Hudson, relaxed in Rockefeller Park, watched an unusually sociable New York squirrel, walked to get cappuccinos, returned to the park, and then spent time walking completely around both reflecting pools before finding Alicia Titus’s name.
And because we’d come to New York two days before the cruise, the afternoon also became a quiet bookend to the trip.
Before the cruise, we’d experienced Lower Manhattan during the 25th anniversary of September 11: Engine 30, firefighters and police officers throughout the area, bagpipes at St. Paul’s Chapel, a children’s chorus outside, memorial wreaths, the reflecting pools and finally the Tribute in Light viewed from Top of the Rock.
After the cruise, we returned to many of those same streets when they were quieter.
Two very different experiences of the same place, separated by a cruise to Bermuda.
Our Timeline
For anyone considering doing something similar, our day looked roughly like this:
~10:00 a.m. — Disembarked at Cape Liberty
Late morning — Newark Penn Station, dropped off luggage and took PATH into Manhattan
Midday — World Trade Center/Oculus area and Hudson River waterfront
~12:40 p.m. — Rockefeller Park
Early afternoon — Cappuccinos nearby, then back to the park
~2:00 p.m. — Returned to the 9/11 Memorial and circled both reflecting pools
~3:00 p.m. — Boarded PATH at the Oculus for Newark
~3:30 p.m. — Back in Newark and retrieved luggage
3:40 p.m. — Departed Newark Penn Station for the airport
4:10 p.m. — Arrived at Newark Airport
After 4:10 p.m. — Shuttle to Terminal A and through security with essentially no wait
Before 5:45 p.m. — Dinner and a beer
5:45 p.m. — Relaxing near our gate with coffee and croissants for later
7:59 p.m. — Scheduled flight home
The biggest lesson from the experiment was simple: a late flight after a Cape Liberty cruise doesn’t necessarily mean an entire day at the airport.
With some planning, luggage storage and a willingness to use PATH and the train, those otherwise wasted hours can become one more day of the vacation.
And sometimes the unscheduled hours, sitting beside the Hudson with a cappuccino and nowhere you particularly need to be, turn out to be some of the best ones.
For more trip insights, behind-the-scenes travel stories and adventures that inspire the Uncharted Horizons series, visit KJBAlan.com/blog.
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