Parking at the port and ants?

[TammyC]

I just read over on the transportation board that people have been known to return to a car full of ants when parking at the port. Just wondering what the odds are.. how many of you found these unwelcome guests?

 

[pppiglet]

eeeeeewwwwww! Can't stand ants. Can they really get in your car? yikes!

 

[lydmik]

We parked right in front of the terminal on the 8/7 Magic Cruise. I was worried about the ants also but did not have one in the van when I returned. Just make sure your car does not have any food inside.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Same here - made sure no food or crumbs were left behind and thankfully had no visitors in the car when we returned.

 

[webray]

parked at the port twice..never any problems with ants.

 

[disneyohdisney]

We had no problems either. I've heard two hints, though. One is to not park next to one of the tree islands, where the ants might live. Another is to take ant spray and soak the parking lot surface around your tires. But still, with no food in the car, the few explorer ants that check it out will have to report back they found nothing!

 

[TraSee]

Last March when we cruised, the parking guard told me to make certain that I didn't leave any food in the car because of the ants. Living in FL, they are a pain! (The ants not the parking guards! )
As tempting as it is to park in a shady area by a tree, I too would suggest parking as far away from the trees and soil as possible.

Enjoy your day

 

[mlj'smom]

Boy, I wish I had read about this before we went! We were on the Aug. 26 Wonder (between Charley & Frances ~ beautiful weather!). 3 days later, we got back into our van, which hubby parked under a tree, near a parking island. We noticed an ant, then a few more, 10 minutes away from port, we realized we were INFESTED, and they were biting us! We found a walgreens fast, got some ant spray, drove across the street to a gas station with a vac, and took EVERYTHING out of the car & sprayed & vacuumed. (There were thousands of ants, especially under the mats & in the crevices!) At this point, DH said he noticed a sign when parking not to leave any open containers of food, or you might return to a vehicle infested with ants. We found a bunch of crumbs, french fries, skittles, etc. Obviously enough to cause them to want in.

From now on, we'll know to park out in the open, spray the tires, and pick up or vac every last crumb!!!

 

[Chattyaholic]

We parked at the port for our second 7-night cruise, right near the front. We had a grocery sack of snacks (unopened) in the back. No ants. Maybe because it was January, I don't know.

 

[TiggerKing]

Learned this from hanging around the RV types. If you will take Borax and sprinkle it around the tires, it is a deterrent to the ants. A lot of RVers use this when camping in places where ants are prone to be.

 

[debm]

Yes, we've had ants too unfortunately. Our 1st cruise we didn't but we got them on our 4 night. We had the typical crumbs in car seats though and sure enough we had a trail of ants walking around the top of our chairs, etc. They weren't biting us though and we were able to kill most of them but just squashing them as we were going down the road. Last time on our 7 night we vacuumed the van before we arrived at the port. It worked! I may spray the tires next time though. Even though we didn't have a lot-- it was yucky!!

 

[dobelover]

The guard warned us about ants on our jan '04 eastern. We parked away from the trees and islands and did not have a problem.

 

[gshoemate]

Before our cruise on 9/9 I made sure to vacuum out the car. I also bought a 4 pack of ant traps that I was going to leave in the scattered inside. But we ended up leaving from Ft. Lauderdale so we didn't need them. Just as a safeguard, you might want to try the ant traps.

 

[ohiominnie]

4 cruises, never a problem with ants. But we clean the car out before going and we don't park by the trees. That seems to be the common denominator in ppl who get ants.

 

[house_of_princesses]

RVer's also put hot red pepper around the tires. Seems to keep critters at bay.

(Hello, there, OH Minnie!! )