Mobile - best time to arrive?

[G&TQ]

What is the best time to arrive at the Port of Mobile?

We are planning on driving from GA and any advice would be great!

[kitcatsz]

When we drive down from Atlanta, we try to get there close to 10:30 - 11am. We want to make sure we get a spot in the garage! We leave early enough to miss the Atlanta rush hour... and gain an hour in Alabama.

 

I don't mind waiting to board but the parking here is a sloooow process. They could take a lesson or two from the Port of Tampa!

[G&TQ]

Great!

 

So you leave Atl about 5ish? We are hoping to get a 2 hour jump by depositing the DS at his Grandma the night before and staying the night in LaGrange.

 

Thanks for the info!

[palaeologus]

Some folks parked at the terminal garage at 9:00 a.m. before the first sailing of this year and were not pleased at having to wait two hours in the cold before being allowed to board. The official embarkation time is 12:30 p.m. I believe, and 11:00 is just about the right timing for getting on board based upon my recent experience and my TA's advice (she is a cruise specialist based in Alabama).

[G&TQ]

Thanks! Do you remember if there were porters in the garage? I read somewhere that they were there and now can't find it.

 

Thanks again!

[palaeologus]

Yep, there were several porters in the drop-off zone.

[greenboi]

If you arrive too early, they will turn you away and not let you park. On our first Holiday cruise, we had over 50 people going and some got there around 9:00am and guards at the entrance wouldn't let them enter yet. I was thinking the first group was allowed to enter around 10:00 or 10:30am.

[ChelseaGirl]

We cruise in May. We're renting a vehicle; plan to drop everything & everybody off; one of us will take van to rental place & taxi back. How much trouble will that be? I just heard recently that there's a 2 hour 'traffic' wait. That's just to get into the terminal! Will they let me in to drop our bags off? We're not parking in the terminal. Their website offers no insight. I called them & you have to leave a message; still no return call. The embarkation line is for day of cruise only. We hoped to get there early enough to turn in the car; check in; and be on the ship somewhere between noon and 1:00. NOLA is a breeze and this is the first I've heard about chaos at the Mobile terminal. :confused:

[markntara]

If you arrive too early, they will turn you away and not let you park.

You are correct. The red arrows are pointing to security cars blocking the entrance.

[ChelseaGirl]

I'm not sure what 'too early' means. If we get there around between 10:30 and 11:00, we should be okay then, right? That's what we're counting on. You get to the terminal in NOLA around noon, and you've got to stand in line for an hour or two. But they let you start unloading by 10:30 or so. I don't mind waiting inside the terminal (although I'd rather not) but I don't want to be sitting in the car wasting precious overpiced gas for an hour or so.

[ajenali]

We cruise in May. We're renting a vehicle; plan to drop everything & everybody off; one of us will take van to rental place & taxi back. How much trouble will that be? I just heard recently that there's a 2 hour 'traffic' wait. That's just to get into the terminal! Will they let me in to drop our bags off? We're not parking in the terminal. Their website offers no insight. I called them & you have to leave a message; still no return call. The embarkation line is for day of cruise only. We hoped to get there early enough to turn in the car; check in; and be on the ship somewhere between noon and 1:00. NOLA is a breeze and this is the first I've heard about chaos at the Mobile terminal. :confused:

 

 

What is the website?

[ChelseaGirl]

http://www.shipmobile.com/

[momi2ashlynn]

anyone who has been resently who can answer this... we are from birmingham and plan on being there at 10:30 or 11 could get there earlier if they start letting you park earlier... leave next month so trying to get a game plan together on to weather go a day before and get a hotel and park and walk or take my chances...

[Nunu]

http://www.shipmobile.com/

 

Looking at that website where it is still welcoming the Fantasy to Mobile on the main page doesn't exactly give me that warm and fuzzy feeling about cruising from there...

[futaba951]

Looking at that website where it is still welcoming the Fantasy to Mobile on the main page doesn't exactly give me that warm and fuzzy feeling about cruising from there...

 

If you cruise from Mobile during the summer, I can promise you that you will feel warm and fuzzy until you hit the a/c. :)

[browneyes7]

anyone who has been resently who can answer this... we are from birmingham and plan on being there at 10:30 or 11 could get there earlier if they start letting you park earlier... leave next month so trying to get a game plan together on to weather go a day before and get a hotel and park and walk or take my chances...

 

There is a hotel several blocks away that will let you park your car in their garage for a small fee. I think the name of the hotel is the Admiral Sims Hotel. We didn't stay there, but they still let us park our car there. They then took us to the port in the hotel shuttle. It was very nice of them!:)