Jacksonville Plaza or Best Western?

[Blk Cherry Mojito]

Hello all, need some advise.

 

We booked a 5 day out of Jaxport yesterday leaving on March 19th. We drive to Jacksonville and usually park at the terminal but this time, to save money, I thought we would look into a park and cruise deal. I THINK I have narrowed it down to the Best Western ($113) or Jacksonville Plaza ($72.96)

 

Both have gotten mixed reviews on several different web sites (some even saying the hotel never took them to the terminal) and the manager of Jacksonville Plaza has posted some pretty bizarre responses to a few of the complaints.

 

Has anyone stayed at either using a park and cruise deal? Any advise/opinions from anyone that has even used a park and cruise package would be appreciated.

[NCarolinaCruiser]

Can't give any help here, but I'm curious too. I'm leaning toward the Jacksonville Plaza. Can't beat the price and it's only for 1 night!

[KroozFoolz]

We have reservations at the Jacksonville Plaza for a park and cruise package in May. We have used park and cruise packages in Jacksonville twice before (Clarion and Microtel - both were fine; I just decided to go cheaper this time :p) as well as in Baltimore (Hampton Inn), Fort Lauderdale (Hampton Inn), Tampa (Quality Inn), and New Orleans (Drury Inn- no shuttle; had to use taxi). The plus side is saving some money; the down side is the waiting time, not as much to the port before the cruise (though you might not get your first choice for shuttle time) as post cruise from the port back to the hotel to start the trip home. You definitely can make a faster getaway if you are parked at the port. You have to decide which is more important to you that day - time or money.

 

A recent Fascination cruiser has a review (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1369653&highlight=fascination) on the main Carnival board. They stayed at Jacksonville Plaza using a park and cruise package and they (as well as the car) lived to tell about it. I first learned of the hotel from a cruise critic member (who does not cruise on Carnival but on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean) who often stays there and leaves her car there when she flies out of Jax to get to her cruiseport. I checked reviews on tripadvisor before we booked a couple months ago; I will have to go back and check out the bizarre remarks from the manager. :eek:

[Blk Cherry Mojito]

I checked reviews on tripadvisor before we booked a couple months ago; I will have to go back and check out the bizarre remarks from the manager. :eek:

 

It was on tripadvisor, the tone and overall response was weird but sorta funny:

 

"When a hotel room is treated like a dumpster, it attracts dumpster pests."

 

"We have yet to find any record of a complaint about insect activity in our hotel. We have made several attempts to contact the reviewer to no avail. It doesn’t seem possible that a guest wouldn’t have so much as mentioned such an issue to one of our staff members. The reviewer posted a review on this website under the pretense of helping out other travelers. If they are unwilling to let the property better understand and investigate the situation in hope of a resolution that would save another traveler grief; the post was made in vain."

 

"We are sorry this reviewer did not give us a proper chance to meet their lodging expectations. The guest was checked into a Queen sized room as requested in the reservation. If the room had been reserved for two queen beds it would have been a larger room. Furthermore being dirty and feeling dirty are clearly two different things. Either there was dirt present or there wasn't. The color of the sheets does not dictate whether or not they were clean. Green is the most predominant color in living nature and is not synonymous with filth. The comforter that the reviewer wouldn't touch is less than a year old and in excellent condition. The hotel does not allow pets which makes it difficult to smell like urine of any sort. Describing something as "smelled like" is very subjective and is at best a vague description that wouldn't have more that one person in agreement."

 

"It's unfortunate that this guest had an unsatisfying experience at our hotel. Had they made us aware of their situation the problem would have been remedied. They were given this opportunity when they received a courtesy call back from the Front Desk. We strive diligently to make all of our guests feel comfortable and to maintain the cleanliness of our property. The irony of this guest's comments is that we have consistently received good comments on this website, and the property that the guest decided to stay at has consistently received negative reviews. They moved from a hotel with a 4.5 previous guest rating to a hotel with a 2.5 rating. Clearly their experience with us was wholly uncommon."

 

 

We just bid with William Shatner on the Crowne Plaza and got it for $60. We will park at the terminal. My DH will cruise happier knowing the car is at the terminal. :D