The port of Cape Liberty is located in Bayonne, New Jersey in a very industrial location. The embarkation process was very quick and easy and the workers friendly. There is an absolutely beautiful monument to 9/11 that was given to the United States from Russia called the Tear Drop Memorial. It depicts the twin towers with a "tear drop" in the middle with all the names of those who died inscribed at the base. This monument is located right next to the cruise terminal. I would highly recommend visiting this monument before or after any cruise that sails from/to Cape Liberty.

We have been to Bermuda on multiple occasions and still enjoy visiting this port. If you do your homework in advance, you do not have to do a ship excursion as the public bus and ferry transportation are excellent and we've found the bus drivers to be very helpful. If you think you want to make multiple stops and visit multiple locations, an all day pass is the best bet.

For $20 per person, round trip, we took the water taxi to Klein Island Beach where we snorkeled. The water taxi tickets are sold right there at the port. For the scuba or snorkel lovers, this is the place to go.

We did not take a ship excursion but took a 3 hour tour from one of the tour operators at the pier. For $25 pp he gave us a city tour, took us to the Curacao Liquor Distillery, the Hato Caves ($9 pp extra but well worth it), took us to see some flamingos. We were supposed to spend the rest of the time at a beach but it started raining with lots of lightening so we opted to go back to the ship. The tour was in a van with about 6 other people, not a big bus that takes forever to load and unload. Despite the weather, it was a decent tour. That afternoon the rain let up for a while and we walked into the town (short walk) and crossed the moving bridge and visited the colorful town.

We took the public bus to the far north end of the island to Arashi Beach to snorkel. $5 pp round trip The snorkeling could have been better but the beach and water was absolutely beautiful. We then took a walk to the very end of the island and got some amazing photos.

Normally when we visit Grand Cayman we take the public transportation ($5 pp round trip) to one of the beaches near 5 Mile Beach to snorkel. This cruise, it was threatening rain so we decided to stay in town and shop/look around. I still gave it 5 stars because GC is one of our favorite cruise destinations.

We took a taxi from the pier ($12 per taxi each way) to Chankanaab Marine Park ($21 pp admission) and spent the day there snorkeling and just relaxing.

I consider Costa Maya a "fake" port because it was built by the cruise line(s) so that the passengers can shop at cruise-owned shops. If only the cruise line(s) could construct a beach there it would be awesome as the water is gorgeous. I do realize there is a little fishing village down the road where you can buy cheap beer and get massages, but we have been there many times and it just doesn't get any better. Sorry.

Not impressed at all. We did not dock until 1:00. By the time you're shuttled into town, it's 2:00 and you're met with the most aggressive sales people we've ever seen. It was dark by 6:00. Any highlights of that area are an hour or more away (each way) in Merida or some Mayan Ruins, so we opted to just walk along the beach at Progreso and look in a few shops. The water that day was all churned up and a brownish-green color with lots of seaweed on the shore.