had its start as the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal in the 1930s, when Mayor LaGuardia built long, modern finger piers out into the Hudson along Manhattan's west side. For much of the early twentieth century, a half dozen of the world's greatest passenger ships docked side by side from Piers 84 to 94-a stretch that became known as Luxury Liner Row-starting with the Normandie in 1935, followed by the Queen Mary the following year and the Queen Elizabeth after the outbreak of World War II. During the war, thousands of GI's embarked on the latter two ships for the European theater of war-16,683 at once when the Queen Mary departed from Pier 90 in July 1943.
Kings, queens and Hollywood royalty enjoyed luxurious post-war cruises, departing from the Terminal in great numbers. Despite the advent of affordable air travel in the 1950s, cruising enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the 1960s, with Bermuda as a popular destination. Following renovation of the piers in 1970, the Terminal has served the expanding cruise travel business, and continued its historical role of providing embarkation for all transatlantic crossings.
The Terminal was closed after the terror attack on September 11, and served for more than three months as an emergency management command center for city, state and federal agencies. In January 2002, the Queen Elizabeth 2 was the first cruise ship to return to the terminal, embarking from New York City on a 108-day world cruise.
Cape Liberty Cruise Port
The 430 acre site in Lower New York Harbor was created by private developers in the 1930s as a man-made peninsula off the eastern end of Bayonne, New Jersey. Initially developed for industrial use, the U.S. War Department and the Department of the Navy became interested in the site as World War II approached. There was a desperate need for an additional facility to support the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the overall war effort.
In December, 2003, the BLRA and Royal Caribbean International announced an agreement to establish a cruise port. Christened the Cape Liberty Cruise Port, the refurbished terminal would serve as the new seasonal homeport for Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas. Design and construction of the cruise port, including a passenger terminal, ship berths, Customs and INS facilities, visitor parking and bus and taxi areas, began in January 2004, and was completed, incredibly, in just eight weeks. The maiden sailing of the Voyager of the Seas was on May 14, 2004. The voyage marked the first time a passenger ship vessel had sailed from New Jersey in almost 40 years.
In 2004, Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas also sailed regularly from Bayonne. In its inaugural season, over 237,000 passengers safely traveled through Cape Liberty Cruise Port.
During 2005, ships included Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas, and Celebrity Cruises' Constellation and Zenith. Passenger volume for 2005 was over 300,000 - the second largest among Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coast ports.
Finally, on October 12, 2005, Cape Liberty successfully hosted its first conference and trade show – Port Industry Day – in the large passenger terminal building.
And while The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor has already become a world-class destination for filmmakers and vacationers alike, the future looks even more promising.
Brooklyn Red Hook Pier:
Brooklyn's historic waterfront served as the gateway for the nation's goods and people for more than 150 years. Pier 12, developed just prior to the Civil War, has almost exclusively served as a cargo pier for all types of goods, up until 2005 handled ships laden with New York City's road salt being transformed into its newest luxury cruise ship terminal.
Other Photos (Google Earth) of New York:
More Google Earth Ports to come
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