Parking in mobile

[maldenmusic]

What is the parking like at the Mobile terminal? I've heard it is not large enough to accommodate all the cars and sometimes you have to park elsewhere-any truth to this?:confused:

[Traveler353]

"What is the parking like at the Mobile terminal? I've heard it is not large enough to accommodate all the cars and sometimes you have to park elsewhere-any truth to this?"

 

I have heard that here also, but have never seen it myself. There has always been plenty of parking in the terminal in my experience. There is another offsite parking lot that is cheaper than parking in the terminal. Some go there by their own choice. It does not have security and cars have been broken into there.

[gapearl]

There was plenty of parking when I was there. We arrived around 11:30 am. There was plenty of traffic, but security guards were there directing traffic and we got in pretty fast. You pull into the terminal, the porters will take your bags (so have room tags already on them), and then you go park. It was $75 for 5 days and you must pay in advance. I've read that there is other parking options, but we were not aware of any.

[tdmullins]

I stayed at a hotel that dropped us off at the terminal and kept our car for the week. A lot of people on my cruise had to park at the convention center and be bussed over. Not sure of the circumstance, i should have asked them why. Maybe one of them will pop in here and let us know.

[MrsZee]

Complete honesty: It's awful. If you are one of the lucky ones to get into the terminal deck you will be just fine. But, I was one of the unlucky ones who got rerouted to the Civic Center, where we had to stand in a line outside in the rain with ALL our luggage (no, they didn't even send a porter truck over there to help us with luggage) to get on a bus (again, with all our luggage. We also had a toddler and a stroller. It was great....) and get bussed to the terminal. Where we AGAIN were responsible for getting our luggage off the bus and to the porters. No porters came up to the bus to offer to help. We had to drag it over to a line to drop it off. I get steamed again just thinking about it. But hey, we saved money in porter tips... You should also know that the civic center lot is 15 dollars cheaper, but I would rather pay the extra money for more ease in boarding.

 

My best advice to you is this: When you pull up to the line to get to the terminal and a cop comes up to your window and asks if you are going on the cruise and tells you to do a U-turn and get in "that line over there", tell them you are just dropping off your passengers and that you (the driver) aren't actually going. Then, drive on up to the terminal and park in the deck. Because half the cruise still does get to park in the lot, there are just not enough spaces. We actually got there at 11:30 so you would think we would get in the lot, but people still hadn't left and they were trying to be proactive with the parking situation.

[poobears]

We got there right when they opened (for new passengers) and had no issues. Got sent right up to park. Good luck.

[maldenmusic]

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know how early the terminal parking garage opens?

[LHP]

"What is the parking like at the Mobile terminal? I've heard it is not large enough to accommodate all the cars and sometimes you have to park elsewhere-any truth to this?"

 

I have heard that here also, but have never seen it myself. There has always been plenty of parking in the terminal in my experience. There is another offsite parking lot that is cheaper than parking in the terminal. Some go there by their own choice. It does not have security and cars have been broken into there.

 

Our experience last weekend (May 8th) was that they were rerouting cars to the Civic Center to keep it from backing up on the Interstates and the streets.

 

The Fantasy was an hour late getting in. We sat at the Renaissance Riverview and watched until we saw them letting cars go in. That was between 10:30 and 11AM.....

 

By the time we got in line...the traffic was backing up on the Interstate and the cops (sitting in their cars waving their arms out the window) were redirecting folks to the Civic Center.

 

We just followed them having no idea that they were not taking us to the terminal (lesson learned).

 

So it isn't so much that the port does not have the parking as it is the traffic jam that is causes on the public streets (and backing up into the Interstate) as cars sit in line.

 

2 hours later....we were in the terminal. Once we got in the terminal...it was a piece of cake....

[MrsZee]

Our experience last weekend (May 8th) was that they were rerouting cars to the Civic Center to keep it from backing up on the Interstates and the streets.

 

The Fantasy was an hour late getting in. We sat at the Renaissance Riverview and watched until we saw them letting cars go in. That was between 10:30 and 11AM.....

 

By the time we got in line...the traffic was backing up on the Interstate and the cops (sitting in their cars waving their arms out the window) were redirecting folks to the Civic Center.

 

We just followed them having no idea that they were not taking us to the terminal (lesson learned).

 

So it isn't so much that the port does not have the parking as it is the traffic jam that is causes on the public streets (and backing up into the Interstate) as cars sit in line.

 

2 hours later....we were in the terminal. Once we got in the terminal...it was a piece of cake....

 

Yeah, like I said, if you can tell them you are just dropping off then I think you can park in the terminal. I wouldn't tell this to everyone, but the percentage of people sailing out of Mobile that are on cruise critic is rather low, so you are the lucky ones that get that tip. Don't follow the cops! It's a mess! :)

[Mysticks1]

What is the parking like at the Mobile terminal? I've heard it is not large enough to accommodate all the cars and sometimes you have to park elsewhere-any truth to this?:confused:

 

There is alternate parking under the interstate - do not park there. There is normally adequate parking in the garage but as others have said the cars arriving via I-10 can back up onto the off ramp which causes the police to move those in line. If you arrive fairly early you shouldn't have a problem.

[MrsZee]

There is alternate parking under the interstate - do not park there. There is normally adequate parking in the garage but as others have said the cars arriving via I-10 can back up onto the off ramp which causes the police to move those in line. If you arrive fairly early you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Not true actually, we got there shortly after 11 and were still sent to the Civic center lot.

[Traveler353]

Not true actually, we got there shortly after 11 and were still sent to the Civic center lot.

 

 

Is true. "after 11", not early enough, try 10AM. Usually no problem at that time. I have 4 cruises out of Mobile in the last 3 years and get there between 10 and 10:30, drive right in to the terminal.

[Mysticks1]

Not true actually, we got there shortly after 11 and were still sent to the Civic center lot.

 

I don't consider 11:00 "early". We always arrive at ports by 10:00. If the ship is delayed coming in due to fog, etc. it can throw off the parking because those debarking have to clear the garage. Usually the ships are docked when I come to work (7:30) but sometimes they aren't in at that time.

[MrsZee]

Whether it is early or not, my advice will work. And just because you got straight into the Terminal, doesn't mean everyone does. Mobile has a serious problem, whether you agree or not. And I am not going to get to the terminal at 10am so I can sit around in the building for over an hour.