Parking at PC or offsite?

[hcompton]

We are flying in the night before cruise and driving a rental car to Port Canaveral. It's looks like parking at the Port Canaveral parking lot is around $64 for a 3 night/4 day cruise. There's offsite parking lots that shuttle you over to the Port for what looks like half the price. Is the convenience of parking at the Port worth it or save the money, park offsite & have the shuttle drop off at Terminal?

 

[openwater]

Ship-side parking gives you shade for your car in very hot Florida sun and no waiting on shuttle buses especially after your cruise when the family is tired and a bit grumpy!

This convenience cost more ($16 per day – always include your departure day) but you can get a 40% discount (pay only $9.60 a day but you cannot pre-pay) if you stay at one of over 20 partner hotels.

Nowadays there are really cheap off-sites ($10 per person per cruise) as well as the well-known parking lots. etc. Generally the less you pay the longer the wait times for shuttles and the further away the lots are. And while the more expensive lots try to group ships with shuttles, the cheaper lots will mix passengers and drop/pick all the ships - if your ship is last then you are along for an unnecessary ride (watch your luggage at every stop!)

But for such a short cruise I'd opt for ship-side parking unless you are really trying to save every dollar.

More info and photos of the off-sites here
http://cruiseportcanaveral.us/parking/

 

[Quellman]

I prefer parking at the port. I tip the porters there when I arrive to take my luggage and then I park my car. I don't ever have to be a Sherpa and lug anything around. I don't have to make my wife carry anything more, and I can enjoy the time with my son at the Disney terminal and not a gravel parking lot. At the end of the cruise, I can even get a porter to take all my stuff to my car, conveniently in the shade of the parking deck, or conveniently covered from the occasional rain storm in the area. To me it is worth the cost. To others it is not. Just figure out if you can put that money to better use if you decide to park offsite.

It isn't clear where you are staying the night before. @openwater is correct about the 40% promotion, and some hotels even offer a park and ride option where they will shuttle you to the port.

 

[tz2989]

I have always done off-site parking and have never had any issues. We usually leave immediately after parking and we've never waited more that 5-10 mins to get picked up from the ship. Granted we always get to the port around 1130 and carry our stuff on/off so we never hit a big crowd.

 

[phinz]

For me the extra few dollars I save parking elsewhere are not worth the time, headaches and effort needed to get to our car. Put me in the "Park At The Port Or Not At All" club.

 

[Otimon]

We have always parked at the port. Convenience and security are well worth the cost.

My last cruise a month ago I parked at the terminal as usual. I inadvertently left my driver's side window open a bit. Forgot to close it after going through the parking toll area.

Came back after the cruise to find a note on the front windshield asking me to contact the Port Canaveral Authority if I found anything missing. The date and time security saw my car and the phone # to contact them was on it. Fortunately there was nothing of value in the car to take but it was gratifying to know security had noticed my mistake.

Chalk up another one for parking at the port!

 

[hcompton]

Thanks for all the responses! I love convenience, just making sure the extra money is justifiable!

 

[hcompton]

Also, thanks for the heads up about staying at a partner hotel. We are staying the night before in Cocoa Beach and had no idea we were already booked at a partner hotel and will get the 40% discount. Definitely will park ship side.

 

[mmouse37]

I also prefer to park at the port. This august, since we are staying at WDW both before and after our cruise, I am actually keeping our rental car for our whole stay instead of returning it before the cruise. I figure we are staying at a Partner Hotel so will get the 40% off voucher and will be travelling with 2 car seats and I plan on leaving them in the rental car while we are on the cruise so we don't have to keep them in the cabins taking up space. We have parked at PC before with no issues and you can't beat the convenience!!!

I have never stayed with a voucher before so what is the process? Show the voucher when we pull in to park at the park and pay then? Are there manned booths...can't remember how we paid last time.

MJ