Preferred Parking at Port Canaveral - Anyone tried it?

[squirk]

We do Preferred. Given the overall cost of the cruise, the extra $20 is literally a pittance, and it really is nice to clear customs and be at your car in less than 60 seconds.

Our van has remote start, so we get it cooling before we head down the escalators to Customs. By the time we clear and get to the car, it is all cooled off.

Which is the more secure lot?

I am sure there are cameras everywhere covering both the garage and the Preferred lot, so I am not sure if either is substantially more secure than the other. That having been said, Preferred is somewhat exposed; not much ability to conceal yourself or your illicit activities.

 

[ivybride]

We park in preferred all the time. They check your ID prior to parking in the lot so we just unload baggage, park the car and head into the security Xray area.

I believe the parking attendants start at 10:30, but cars line up outside and then are ready to drive in as soon as they begin. Tell the first team that you would like to park preferred, they will direct you straight ahead to the first guard. They will ask for your ID of all adults in the car and possibly your travel book (this has only happened once so far) Then they will direct you to the next person who will also check your ID and also the car to see who is in it and verify they are travelling with you on the reservation.

What time to people start lining up?

 

[Weedy]

What time to people start lining up?

Usually at Port Canaveral
The parking garage opens 9:30-9:45. You will wait outside until the terminal opens.
10:30 Terminal opens. When you arrive and check in you will be given a boarding number. Your boarding number is tied to your Port Arrival Time. You pick a PAT when your booking window opens. For first time cruisers it’s 75 days prior to your cruise.
They usually start boarding 11:15-11:30
Platinum and concierge board first.

 

[ScooterScott44]

We have contemplated the preferred lot but it doesn’t seem to bring enough benefit for the extra cost.

- preferred is an open lot, not a big factor but why park out in the weather and the Florida sun when (for less money) you don’t have to

- the walk into the terminal is really not that different

- the preferred lot does not get you into the terminal any faster - especially if you are early, you will still have to go line up with the others, probably even at level 3 in the garage (slight edge for the preferred lot if you are arriving to the port after 12:30 or 1 pm)

- slight edge to the preferred lot for disembarkation but I’m in no hurry post vacation so the few extra minutes aren’t that big of a deal

 

[ScooterScott44]

What time to people start lining up?

We by luck happened to be probably the first or second car into the garage at about 9:45. DW went right to the bridge to get in line as we unpacked our carry on. She was second in line and the family that was there said they had been sitting for at about an hour. So my guess is if you want to be first in line you need to be thereby 8:30.

 

[Quellman]

Which is the more secure lot?

I would suspect that both are patrolled just as well as the other.

 

[beaglefan]

I’ll add my vote that the extra $20 is worth it and the porter took our bags right to the car. The car isn’t hot by the time you disembark, so garage wouldn’t make a difference.

 

[Sytrace]

We have contemplated the preferred lot but it doesn’t seem to bring enough benefit for the extra cost.

- preferred is an open lot, not a big factor but why park out in the weather and the Florida sun when (for less money) you don’t have to

- the walk into the terminal is really not that different

- the preferred lot does not get you into the terminal any faster - especially if you are early, you will still have to go line up with the others, probably even at level 3 in the garage (slight edge for the preferred lot if you are arriving to the port after 12:30 or 1 pm)

- slight edge to the preferred lot for disembarkation but I’m in no hurry post vacation so the few extra minutes aren’t that big of a deal

1.We live in Florida and do not garage our car so no big deal in that respect, plus it is not hot at 9:00 AM on debarkation day so no big deal there either.
2. The extra 20.00 bucks gets us out of having to deal with the crowded garage and leaving it on debarkation day. Seems like there might be some traffic while others are loading their cars and merging traffic from upper decks to lower decks and exit. Preferred, you bypass that possible mess. (Not sure on that as we always park preferred)
3. The walk to the terminal is non existent as you drop off right next to the terminal and go around the corner to the lower level entrance. Sometimes you walk around the front of the building and go thru the security line where the buses unload and sometimes you don't. Just depends really on what the lines look like and where the CM directs you to go. We arrive at 10:30 to 10:45 and are platinum so the only line we wait in is going to be going thru security anyway.

 

[kkayluvsdis]

To the OP, I used it last time. When we arrived they had sent me through a gate instead of having me pull up to the front curb. They actually scanned our passports while we were in our car instead of having to wait in line where you drop luggage off in front of the parking garage. Then we actually pulled up right next to the terminal to drop off our luggage (there were porters there too). As I was pulling off I noticed this preferred lot so I went ahead and parked there. I could have gone ahead and parked in the garage but I would have had to go through the first little security gate again so just did it for simplicity.

This was almost our exact experience as well!

It was our first time driving to the port so we weren't sure what to expect. We had a bit of luggage reorganization to do as well and had no issues. We found a shaded spot in the preferred lot and then crossed the street where a porter was waiting to grab our bags. There also is a restroom conveniently located there that we used since we knew we'd be waiting in the security line for a bit.

When the cruise was over we were again super close and just jetted out with no issues. Easy process. Can't compare to the regular parking since it was our first time but we definitely had a good experience with preferred.

Have a great cruise!