Premier Parking my experience 8/2015

I decided to use premier parking after reading recent favorable reviews on this site. I also read many unfavorable reviews from years past, which gave me concern. With 3 cruises from Bayonne within the next 16 months, all at least 9 nights, I saw an opportunity to save money by using premier.

I was able to easily spot their sandwich board signs directing one to their lot. The signs are not big but visible, if you knew to look for them.

My first concern was upon arrival at their lot. It is within the property/parking lot of Delta storage. There was no entrance gate to the premier lot. There was 2 attendants sitting in lawn chairs placed close to port a potties. I did not notice any security gate surrounding the premier lot. I wont call it a parking lot because there were no painted parking lines in the lot. Drivers created their own space. I was directed into the nearest "spot" to the entrance/exit as it had just been vacated. It did appear that there were potholes in the lot.

I was given a parking ticket to leave on my dashboard. I had no wait for the shuttle to the port as it pulled up behind me, dropping off passengers from the previous cruise, and I was at port liberty within 10 minutes. Was told to be at gate 15 for the shuttle ride back to premier, at the end of the cruise.

This morning, I was at gate 15 by 7:45 am. There were 11 people ahead of me waiting and another 4 or 5 went past me to join their family which was at the front of the line. I knew I would not be on the first shuttle back to the lot. On the ride to the port I asked if premier had only 1 van and was told no, they had more. I found out at gate 15 today that premier has 3 shuttle vans. The vans they use have no identifying marks indicating they are premier vans.

Prior to my arrival at gate 15, 1 member of the large family group had called premier to let them know we had gotten off the ship before 8 am and were waiting for the shuttle. The wait continued and the line grew. A second call was made, indicating that the line was getting larger and the wait was getting longer.

After 30 minutes or so, others called. Not one of those callers reached a live person, all calls to premiers toll free number went directly to voice mail.

The original caller made a third call (all successful). She was using a local NJ number not the toll free. She indicated the line was more than 50 deep and that the wait had been going on for more than 45 minutes. Many other shuttle vans cruised by, some multiple times, but premier had yet to show.

Early on, I contemplated taking a taxi back to the premier lot rather than continue to wait. I was not the only one with this idea. One who did inquire was told that taxis could not take any of us to the premier lot. So we endured the wait.

On the 3rd successful call, premier indicated that 3 vans were on the way and would be their within 10 minutes. After that time period passed, I called premier using the local number but by now they had those calls going to voice mail too!

After just over a 60 minute wait, the unidentifiable vehicles of premier showed. 2 vans and a suv, not the 3 vans as indicated. Now, the courtesy of waiting in line was discarded and it was a dash to get on one of these vehicles.

The large family at the front of line was not able to get all of their members onboard. A sister was left behind, the driver indicated to her family, as an option, that one of them could drive back to pick her up!

The driver indicated that the shuttle vans were delayed due to traffic and whatever else but it was offered more as an excuse than a reason. I asked if the lots were locked during the time period the vehicles were parked at premiers lot. Yes they were, I was told. The driver even pointed to the gates as we approached the Delta storage property. The fence/gates belong to Delta and they are locked each night but they are also open during the day so their customers can get to the storage facility and thus anyone had access to the area where the cruisers cars were parked.

I was glad I saved some money by using premier. I am glad that I used this opportunity as a trial for future cruises and saving more money. After all I experienced today, I wont ever use premier again. I don't want to stand in line for more than an hour next January along with 50+ people, in adverse weather conditions, for the chance to scramble onto a premier vehicle after it finally shows at the port to transport their paying customers back to their lot.

I don't want my calls to go straight to voice mail. I don't want to be lied to as to when their vehicles will show and why it took them so long to show.

Others have had recent positive experience with premier, I WISH I had such an experience.

I decided to use premier parking after reading recent favorable reviews on this site. I also read many unfavorable reviews from years past, which gave me concern. With 3 cruises from Bayonne within the next 16 months, all at least 9 nights, I saw an opportunity to save money by using premier.

 

I was able to easily spot their sandwich board signs directing one to their lot. The signs are not big but visible, if you knew to look for them.

 

My first concern was upon arrival at their lot. It is within the property/parking lot of Delta storage. There was no entrance gate to the premier lot. There was 2 attendants sitting in lawn chairs placed close to port a potties. I did not notice any security gate surrounding the premier lot. I wont call it a parking lot because there were no painted parking lines in the lot. Drivers created their own space. I was directed into the nearest "spot" to the entrance/exit as it had just been vacated. It did appear that there were potholes in the lot.

 

I was given a parking ticket to leave on my dashboard. I had no wait for the shuttle to the port as it pulled up behind me, dropping off passengers from the previous cruise, and I was at port liberty within 10 minutes. Was told to be at gate 15 for the shuttle ride back to premier, at the end of the cruise.

 

This morning, I was at gate 15 by 7:45 am. There were 11 people ahead of me waiting and another 4 or 5 went past me to join their family which was at the front of the line. I knew I would not be on the first shuttle back to the lot. On the ride to the port I asked if premier had only 1 van and was told no, they had more. I found out at gate 15 today that premier has 3 shuttle vans. The vans they use have no identifying marks indicating they are premier vans.

 

Prior to my arrival at gate 15, 1 member of the large family group had called premier to let them know we had gotten off the ship before 8 am and were waiting for the shuttle. The wait continued and the line grew. A second call was made, indicating that the line was getting larger and the wait was getting longer.

 

After 30 minutes or so, others called. Not one of those callers reached a live person, all calls to premiers toll free number went directly to voice mail.

 

The original caller made a third call (all successful). She was using a local NJ number not the toll free. She indicated the line was more than 50 deep and that the wait had been going on for more than 45 minutes. Many other shuttle vans cruised by, some multiple times, but premier had yet to show.

 

Early on, I contemplated taking a taxi back to the premier lot rather than continue to wait. I was not the only one with this idea. One who did inquire was told that taxis could not take any of us to the premier lot. So we endured the wait.

 

On the 3rd successful call, premier indicated that 3 vans were on the way and would be their within 10 minutes. After that time period passed, I called premier using the local number but by now they had those calls going to voice mail too!

 

After just over a 60 minute wait, the unidentifiable vehicles of premier showed. 2 vans and a suv, not the 3 vans as indicated. Now, the courtesy of waiting in line was discarded and it was a dash to get on one of these vehicles.

The large family at the front of line was not able to get all of their members onboard. A sister was left behind, the driver indicated to her family, as an option, that one of them could drive back to pick her up!

 

The driver indicated that the shuttle vans were delayed due to traffic and whatever else but it was offered more as an excuse than a reason. I asked if the lots were locked during the time period the vehicles were parked at premiers lot. Yes they were, I was told. The driver even pointed to the gates as we approached the Delta storage property. The fence/gates belong to Delta and they are locked each night but they are also open during the day so their customers can get to the storage facility and thus anyone had access to the area where the cruisers cars were parked.

 

I was glad I saved some money by using premier. I am glad that I used this opportunity as a trial for future cruises and saving more money. After all I experienced today, I wont ever use premier again. I don't want to stand in line for more than an hour next January along with 50+ people, in adverse weather conditions, for the chance to scramble onto a premier vehicle after it finally shows at the port to transport their paying customers back to their lot.

I don't want my calls to go straight to voice mail. I don't want to be lied to as to when their vehicles will show and why it took them so long to show.

 

Others have had recent positive experience with premier, I WISH I had such an experience.

Wow! What a horrible experience for you and 50+ cruisers, but thank you for taking the time to write a detailed report.

Many of the regular posters on this forum have never recommended Premier Parking or whatever other alias it operates under. For some background read post 37 by Greatam in http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1579572&page=2

I found it interesting that no one could engage a taxi from the dispatcher to be transported to this parking area.

Your comments about the no name vans support greatam's contention that they could be just rented for the day. To me it sounds like they could be borrowed vans as well - basically you're taking a lift from a stranger from a storage warehouse lot in Bayonne, NJ where you are abandoning your car while on a cruise. I've lived in that general area in the past and I think that's a fair way to describe what's going on. However, it's ultimately a personal choice, but folks should know what they are choosing. Caveat emptor.

Carol,

I did read that post that you linked to, as you have numerous times in the past, and I had reservations but based on more recent positive posts I decided to give premier a chance.

I strongly suspect that the vans are rented for the day, I also noticed they did not have a DOT # on them as other shuttle vans did. Just a hunch on my part but I felt that the suv sent to pick us up was an employees personal vehicle, most likely it was not but I did get that impression.

For future sailings, I will be parking at Port Liberty.

Here's my experience from last week, posted in the other thread:

So.. I finally parked at Premier Parking for my cruise last Sunday. I had found a way to get a $10 off coupon from Parkwhiz so I was able to pay just $59.93 for 7 nights, which is obviously less than half of what it costs to park at the pier. We got there around 11 and there were a dozen or so people waiting for the van. It appeared that most were with a large group. We weren't happy about having to wait on such a long line (which got much worse before we got on a van), and it seemed longer than it actually was (and we didn't get onto the first van to arrive), but we were on a van in 20 minutes. Similarly, when we got off the ship at around 8am there were people waiting for the van. We also didn't make it onto the first van but they had a Jeep with room for 4 people and we managed to get onto that along with two guys who had left the rest of their parties and luggage at the pier and were going to drive back to get them. Once again, about a 20 minute wait. It's really about the timing.. if we had gotten there earlier, we might have gotten right onto a van.

So.. would I use them again? Yes, since I live close enough to the pier that the 20 minute wait + shuttle time isn't a very big deal to me. Sadly, since their parking is outside, I will not chance using them for my January cruise, especially since the indoor garage at the pier should be open by then.

I found it interesting that no one could engage a taxi from the dispatcher to be transported to this parking area.

I'm sure it was because they were on line for an airport (or longer) fare and didn't want to take someone on a $5 ride and then have to get back on line for another fare. At the airports in NYC, I believe that's illegal.

It's too bad that the OP had to wait so long. We were on line at 8am and had to wait 20 minutes (not sure whether to say "only", but clearly it wasn't bad in comparison to the OP).

I'm sure it was because they were on line for an airport (or longer) fare and didn't want to take someone on a $5 ride and then have to get back on line for another fare. At the airports in NYC, I believe that's illegal.

 

It's too bad that the OP had to wait so long. We were on line at 8am and had to wait 20 minutes (not sure whether to say "only", but clearly it wasn't bad in comparison to the OP).

Bayonne Taxi supposedly runs the taxi dispatching. The time I went I had no problem getting a ride to the light rail. The other folks that shared the ride were going to Stop and Shop. I'm wondering if folks had asked to go to Stop and Shop (could you walk from there?) whether they would have made transportation available.

I'm a budget traveler and I usually take public transit or the cruise bus to Cape Liberty. I've lived in that area in the past and there's no way I would willingly ditch my car in a storage facility lot and hitch a ride to the port with a stranger who has rented a van for the day and is not licensed or insured to carry paying customers. To each his own.

I'm a budget traveler and I usually take public transit or the cruise bus to Cape Liberty. I've lived in that area in the past and there's no way I would willingly ditch my car in a storage facility lot and hitch a ride to the port with a stranger who has rented a van for the day and is not licensed or insured to carry paying customers. To each his own.

You make it sound so unappealing :).

BTW you could also say you need to go to Walmart, I think that's over there. or Staples. The crew must take taxis, unless there is a crew bus that takes them around.

Just say you are going to Five Guys Burgers & Fries. It's right across the street from the entrance to the parking lot. An easy walk to your car.

Jimbo:)

Just say you are going to Five Guys Burgers & Fries. It's right across the street from the entrance to the parking lot. An easy walk to your car.

At 8 in the morning?

At 8 in the morning?

I want to be first in line! :D

Jimbo:)