Thanks to everyone who rated my Princess review. Really appricated.
Thanks to everyone who rated my Princess review. Really appricated.
Member since:30.09.2003
Reviews:46
Members who trust:26
Arriving at Newark’s Liberty Airport (as it’s now called), provides a great view of New York as the plane makes it final approach. Coming in from Birmingham (BHX) on the daily ContinentalAirlines Flight, we struggled to get all our paper work done on time (why they hand it out about 10 minutes before you land I don’t know, we were bored stiff for previous 7 hours – but I digress!)
The paperwork would have to be handed in on arrival to the immigration service and customs. Having left our passports in our carry on luggage (and not wanting to move the old ladies which
were between us and the aisle), we had to leave all the ‘Passport Number’ boxes blank.
When you get off the plane, you make your way into a large hall to hand in the first set of paperwork to the immigration officer. There were 100’s of blank forms lying around, but no pens. Looks like we’d be spending more time at the immigration desk than we thought, and asking to borrow the officer’s pen!
The US citizens, as you would expect, had their own channel, but as soon as they had cleared they let us other folk use their desks to get the queues down a little (which we thought was nice). After using the man’s pen we had our bits of paper stapled to our passport, and, while it wasn’t the warmest welcome to a country in the world, it was better than some previous experiences.
We went through to get our baggage and they seemed to be having a few problems with the carousels, as the electronic signs didn’t work and the announcements directed us to 3 different areas before we finally reached the correct one. You then get another luke warm welcome from man at customs (again we had to use his pen!), and then you are done. The airport has just installed new signage, and you simply follow the green signs to leave the building. There was a welcome (for me anyway) smoking area down by the pick up area and the arrivals process was completed relatively pain free.
Going home was another matter. We had arrived back at Newark on a Continental flight from Orlando, and had checked our luggage straight through to home and we had a 5 hour lay-over to kill. We had been delayed on the way over, and I had run out of nicotine gum and was getting stroppy. We were also hungry and thought we’d kill some time with a good meal.
First problem, for me was to either find a chemist which sold gum, or somewhere to smoke. Neither was forthcoming as the shopping experience in the Continental terminal can only be described as ‘sparse’. I asked someone, and the only area was the other side of security (about 10 feet the other side), this meant you had to go through the rigmarole of being security checked once you wanted to get back in. Having calmed my mood down, I came back through the security search area which was efficient and friendly. Having been through a number of US airports in the past few weeks, this was the least heavy-handed and pleasurable experience so far (you try flying through the Jet Blue Terminal at JFK when you have the cheek not have a US passport!).
We found somewhere to eat and the food was expensive, average and the staff had the same ‘can’t give a damn’ attitude you find in airports the world over. This was the only time we didn’t leave a tip!
After a lousy meal, we went to the duty free ‘shop’, though to call it a shop was generous; more like a large cupboard. The stuff wasn’t that cheap and the staff were even ruder than at the restaurant and managed to get through the entire transaction with little more than a grunt. You get your duty free bags when you board the air craft, so you can’t use them while still in the US.
We had the pleasure of using the toilet facilities – there were plenty of them around the place but they were all a little on the small side (with space for about 3 people to answer nature’s call at the same time), which meant standing in line or finding another one.
We found our gate (after a lot of walking) and got on the plane. We were supposed to be boarding by row numbers, but as all the other gates insisted on making their announcements at the same time, we hadn’t the foggiest of when we should be standing up.
We were glad to be going home. Newark Airport is like a little bit of England in New Jersey… rude staff, who don’t give a damn and expensive prices. Guess it breaks you into returning to the old green and pleasant land more gradually!
Good op - however, my experiences of Newark have been quite good. Although I must admit a few of the staff do seem to have no time for anyone. I can only put this down to the number of rude passengers they see on a daily basis however, that is still no excuse.
Quakerman 25.11.2003 17:01
I've transited through EWR twice, both times with Continental. The airline is OK, but their hub is as you describe it. I'm lucky. Being Canadian, we are treated like Americans for immigration purposes, and only have to fill out the customs form, and can use the US citizens' queues.
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Oct 16th, 2003
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