Driving and Parking at the Port

[Nikkimouse44]

All checked in. We have a PAT of 12:45. Two rooms are group 15, one room is group 16. I’m planning for us all to go together in group 16.

We have two cars and eight people driving in and parking. What time do we need to be at the parking facility to drop luggage and get a parking spot? Do we walk to the terminal or is there a shuttle? Terminal 10 I believe for the Wish.

We’ll be coming from either POOLER, GA or JACKSONVILLE, FL - depending where we stop for the night.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

I'm assuming you're cruising out of Port Canaveral. There's always parking available. I've seen the top level of the parking garage empty as we sail away. Drop off is super quick, but the back up to get to the drop off can be considerable. The parking garage is (literally) across the street from the terminal.

By 1245, if they've not called open boarding (everyone go aboard as they will) it would be shortly thereafter, so the arrival time isn't super critical.

We drive down from VA for the FL cruises, so am very familiar with the drive. We usually stop in St. Augustine which gives us ~1.5 hour drive to Port C, or we stop in Melbourne for the Fort Lauderdale cruises. That's a 2-3 hour drive depending on Miami traffic.

 

[Nikkimouse44]

I'm assuming you're cruising out of Port Canaveral. There's always parking available. I've seen the top level of the parking garage empty as we sail away. Drop off is super quick, but the back up to get to the drop off can be considerable. The parking garage is (literally) across the street from the terminal.

By 1245, if they've not called open boarding (everyone go aboard as they will) it would be shortly thereafter, so the arrival time isn't super critical.

We drive down from VA for the FL cruises, so am very familiar with the drive. We usually stop in St. Augustine which gives us ~1.5 hour drive to Port C, or we stop in Melbourne for the Fort Lauderdale cruises. That's a 2-3 hour drive depending on Miami traffic.

We’re driving from VA too! We always drive to WDW, but this is the first time doing a cruise. Wee port C, and leaving by noon Thursday and hoping to make it to Jax but we might have to stop in pooler. Then finish the drive to the port in the morning. I just want to make sure we can drop our bags off without waiting in a huge car line.

What time do you recommend we get to port C knowing we have to drop bags and park and corral 2 kids and 4 grandparents all to the terminal?

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Pooler to Port Canaveral would be a haul; recommend pushing to JAX or further if you can. We did it once when the kids still cruised with us & it wasn't fun. My wife wanted to eat in Savannah that night. Now we go to Savannah as a separate trip.

If you're using 1245 as your target time, I'd try for 1230 knowing that the backup might make you later. You can get there earlier, but you may not be able to get in the terminal.

They have 'lanes' outside the terminal (in the shade, thank goodness), based on PAT. We're Pearl, so we've not had late entry in a while, so I'm not super sure if they still queue up for the later PATs. Anyway, you get in your PAT-based lane and around the PAT, they let you in the terminal. The line to check in and get through security can be absolutely crazy, but once you wend through that, most likely you'll be able to walk right on the ship (which is where the boarding group comes into play). We've been BG2 for a while, and they call us around 1115-1145 (depending on the situation), and they seem to move people through fairly quickly. Extrapolate: BG15 would be an hour-ish later.