A First Look Inside the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal at Red Hook

By Theodore W. Scull

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is scheduled to open for business with the arrival of the Cunard liner Queen Mary 2 on the morning of Saturday, April 15th 2006. Thereafter the Queen Mary 2 and Princess Cruises’ Crown Princess and Star Princess will become regular users along with additional occasional callers such as the Queen Elizabeth 2. Click onto the Link to 2006 Schedules on our Home Page for all announced Brooklyn arrivals and departures.

Your website editor had a chance to inspect the construction site on March 1st and here is a very preliminary look at what passengers and visitors might experience.

Once in Red Hook, the cruise terminal is approached from Bowne Street at its intersection with Van Brunt Street. See http://www.nycruiseterminal.com for detailed driving instructions, a sketchy map and parking facilities. Also have a look at http://www.brooklyncruiseguide.com but be advised that the cruise terminal will look nothing like what is depicted, as this rendition was posted when the terminal site was proposed at a finger pier closer to Atlantic Avenue.

For the closest public transportation, the B61 bus operates at 10-15 minute intervals from downtown Brooklyn (connecting from numerous subway lines) along Columbia then Van Brunt Streets. If taking the bus, a closer pedestrian entrance can be accessed six short blocks south of Bowne Street via Pioneer Street at its intersection with Van Brunt.

The cruise terminal’s approach road skirts the edge of the Red Hook Container Terminal where American Stevedoring Inc. has a contract that is due to expire in April 2007. The road then turns to parallel the Pier 11 shed that borders Atlantic Basin. At the south end of the shed, the road veers right to the front (south side) of the cruise terminal, a rebuilt 1958 Pier 12 shed, newly painted white with blue trim, where the ships will berth.

The drop off point is here and while to the south, open short-term and long term parking for up to 594 cars is available for visitors and passengers. The multiple daily parking rate is $18. In addition, there is a staging area for 20 buses and separate waiting lines for taxis and black cars.

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Approaching terminal with embarkation structure in white and glass fronted passenger entrance right of center.

Passengers drop off luggage to the left side of the shed and then enter at the center under a gull-wing canopy through a large glass opening into a semi-circular entrance hall with an information desk and a view into the check-in facilities. Walking just to the right, passengers pass through security into the check-in hall that seats about 800. At first, there will just be rest room facilities and vending machines for snacks and drinks.

VIP passengers have separate check-in counters on the waiting room’s west side. Passengers will then embark via an escalator or steps up to the boarding level.

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Looking north to embarkation structure left and passenger entrance center. QM2 bow will end 200+ feet beyond end of pier at left.

Arriving passengers will use the same disembarkation facility and once at ground level they will walk parallel to the pier and ship to the baggage hall near the north end of the 705-foot shed. After passing through customs, they will walk south along a separate passage to the exit which is adjacent to the entrance.

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Access road for ship suppliers with shed entrance at far end of the pier and Atlantic Basin and Downtown Brooklyn seen in background.

Ship chandlers access the shed and the ship via a roadway that runs between the shed and the Atlantic Basin to the extreme north end and then left inside for unloading. Arriving cruise ships will turn 180 degrees before reversing alongside the berth, with the stern facing north and positioned just at the entrance to Atlantic Basin now devoid of any cargo handling or laid up ships. Before the start of construction, the former Staten Island ferry Verrazzano was moved from here to a disused finger pier to the north.

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For the Queen Mary 2, its 1131-foot length will extend south beyond the end of 900-foot Pier 12, and its bow mooring lines will come ashore to newly positioned bollards opposite the open parking facility. A fence and a few yards will separate onlookers from the bow of the ship where it extends beyond embarkation tower and the shed.

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Passenger entrance left and passenger exit (small windows) to right. Gull-wing canopy to be added. One of 20 bus bays in foreground.

From the highest decks aboard the cruise ships, passengers will be able to have a clear view south into the Upper Bay and Staten Island, west across the narrow Buttermilk Channel to Governors Island, north to the Lower Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge, Red Hook Container Terminal, Brooklyn Heights, downtown Brooklyn and east and southeast to the adjacent neighborhood of Red Hook and parts of South Brooklyn. Those standing at the very bow may just be able to see the Statue of Liberty which will come into full view immediately upon departure. In April, a visitors’ guide to the immediate neighborhood will appear on this site featuring Red Hook’s history, places to explore and the best vantage points for viewing Upper New York Bay, Erie Basin and the ships, both from land and passing ferries.

red hook map

Shaded area labeled Pier 12 is the cruise terminal's location with new road access marked in pencil alongside Atlantic Basin.