Long Island New York (Sag Harbor, Port Jefferson)

Long Island (USA's New York State) constitutes a large portion of the New York City/NYC Metro in both land area (1400 mi2/3630 km2) and population (around 8,07 million, density 5860 per mi2/2262 per km2). By population, Long Island NY is ranked the USA's most populous and the world's 18th-most populous (following Hainan China).

Among the cruise ship destinations, Long Island NY's namesakes are Long Island Bahamas (Clarence Town) and Long Island India (Andaman Islands), as well as Arctic Russia's De Long Islands (New Siberian Islands).

Starting at New York Harbor, Long Island extends 118 mi/190 km eastward into the Atlantic Ocean. The island's max with (north-south) is 23 mi/37 km. It is divided into four counties (Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk) and most of NYC's residents (58,4%) live in Brooklyn/Kings and Queens.

As cruise destinations/ports, Long Island's Sag Harbor and Port Jefferson were introduced in 2023 and included in the regular schedule of ACL-American Cruise Lines. ACL is currently the largest (by fleet) USA-flagged and American-crewed cruise shipping company. Along with the first ACL ship visits to Long Island NYC, in 2023 ACL also inaugurated as new destinations San Francisco, and Florida's ports Key West, St Petersburg, Key Biscayne and Fort Myers Beach/Estero Island.

The next photo shows Sag Harbor Marina.

ACL's other cruise port on Long Island is Port Jefferson (a village part of Suffolk County's Brookhaven Town/population around 8,000).

Port Jefferson NY's economy is tourism-based. The Port is the terminus of the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company (1883-founded) which operates regularly scheduled daily crossings between Bridgeport (Connecticut) and Port Jefferson (Long Island, New York). Other ferries with regularly scheduled crossings include Long Island Cross Sound Ferry (between Orient Point NY and New London CT) as well as the NYC Ferry.

In 2017, NYC Ferry inaugurated the commute ferry service linking Manhattan with Long Island (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx) operated with a fleet of 19 newbuild boats.

• On May 1st were launched the East River route (North Brooklyn to Midtown and NYC's Financial District) and the Rockaway route (Lower Manhattan to Sunset Park and The Rockaways).
• On June 1st was launched the South Brooklyn route (8 terminals/between Corlears Hook and Bay Ridge) linking Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Red Hook, Brooklyn Bridge Park.
• On August 29th was launched the Astoria route (between Western Queens and Roosevelt Island) linking Wall Street/Pier 11, East 34th Street, LIC/Long Island City Queens, Roosevelt Island Manhattan, and Astoria Queens.

Long Island was included in the East Coast USA itineraries developed for ACL's new Coastal Cats (109-passenger catamarans), the first two of which (American Eagle and American Glory) debuted in 2023 (August and October, respectively).

The next table shows ACL's 7-night/8-day "Yankee Seaports" itinerary (northbound and southbound) between New York and Massachusetts.

Prices in 2023 varied between US$5000-7600 per person with double occupancy, depending on departure date/season.

ACL's "New York" cruising experience features a complimentary local guide-led tour of Sag Harbor (including Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum Tour) and travel to Port Jefferson (New York Harbor Cruise, Mather House Museum, Port Jefferson Brewing Company Tour). The evening New York Harbor Cruise is for viewing NYC's skyline from the ship's bow observation deck.

Sag Harbor is famous for having the USA's first commercial port, Long Island's first newspaper, and New York's first volunteer fire company.

Port Jefferson developed shipbuilding in the 1800s. The village is popular for its historic buildings and homes owned by local shipbuilders and sailors. ACL's tour of Port Jefferson includes a visit to The Village Center (former shipyard).

On Long Island are two of NYC Metro's three largest airports (JFK Airport and LaGuardia Airport) as well as Long Island MacArthur Airport (fka Islip Airport). Brooklyn and Queens and connected to mainland NYC via 9 bridges and 13 tunnels (carrying roads and railways). LIRR/Long Island Rail Road (connecting Manhattan with Suffolk's eastern tip) runs 24/7 and is currently ranked North America's busiest commuter rail line by daily traffic (350,000+ passengers/70+ million annually).

A total of 10 roads link Long Island with the mainland - Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (with Staten Island), Queensboro Bridge (with Manhattan), Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Triborough Bridge (with Manhattan and Bronx/via Wards Island), Throgs Neck Bridge (with Bronx), Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, and Queens Midtown Tunnel.

Long Island is also connected to NYC via the New York City Subway, as well as via multiple bus lines (MTA Regional Bus Operations/RBO, Nassau Inter-County Express/NICE, Suffolk County Transit); ferries (NYC Ferry plus smaller companies) and several highways - Montauk Highway (NY27A), Sunrise Highway (NY27), Long Island Expressway (I495), Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I278), Van Wyck Expressway (I678), Newbridge Road (NY106), Cedar Swamp Road (NY107), Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (NY135) in addition to several parkways and numerous county roads.