Premier Parking Port Everglades -Review

[abs711]

We used Premier Parking last week for our Port Everglades cruise. It is on my short list of worst travel experiences EVER! There was nothing good about this lot. It is very hard to find, EXTREMELY disorganized, and did not have one polite person on property.

When I originally made my reservation everything seemed fine. I promptly received a confirmation outlining my needs. I did notice however, that it stated it wouldn't begin bringing people to the ship until 11:30am. We had planned to go earlier so I immediately e-mailed them to confirm this was the case. An associate called me right back saying they would take us earlier so not to worry.

Cruise morning we arrived around 10:15 hoping to be on an earlier shuttle. When we arrived it was crazy. At this point there were about 15 people in line waiting for shuttles to go to the ships. A few vans came to drop off people coming back from ships but wouldn't take anyone to the port. The folks coming off the vans were saying that they had been waiting hours to be picked up from the ship. One man said that he had waiting 2 hours for a picking up and had been back at the lot waiting to get his keys for nearly 30 minutes. The 1 lady at the lot trying to check everyone in kept telling him to wait. When we pulled in and asked what we should the lady told us to leave out car and the keys and empty our bags and get it in line. Which we did! About 30 minutes later she started yelling at everyone that they need to find a spot and park there own cars and to take there keys. We gladly did this, as we doubted the safety of our car at this point. So then we waited some more. After about an hour of waiting for shuttles in direct 85-90 degree sun it was starting to get ugly. There were about 40-50 people waiting at this point, it was extremely hot, and there were not any facilities. A lot of the people that were waiting were elderly and you could tell that the heat was getting to them. We kept asking what was going on and the lady working kept getting ruder and ruder. She kept telling us that shuttles were not her problem she wasn’t in charge. I asked who was she said her boss was in Miami. I informed her that in the now hour in half that we had been there he could have made the trip 3 times!

At this point I try to call their office number. I explain the situation to the lady on the phone who explains that another company runs the shuttles and it is not there problem. We went back and forth for about 15 minutes. Every question I asked her she had to put me on hold to ask someone. All I wanted was for the to refund either my $40.00 so that I can leave or refund me half so that I could take a taxi as some people were beginning to do. After the third or fourth “I am sorry, but there is nothing we can do” I asked her to put me through to someone who could do something”! She sent me to a voicemail! I left a message asking someone to call me back this past Saturday and that has not yet happened.

So after nearly an hour and forty-five minutes myself and another gentleman went outside of the gates and flagged down a van and begged him not to go into the lot as there was not place left for the vans to go in or out as the woman checking in cars had created such a jam there was not getting in or out! He did wait outside and we did load the van with 4 other couples. The driver of the van told us that this is how this lot always is and that he doesn’t know why people even use them!

Coming back was not much better. We waited about 30-45 minutes for a van to pick us up. We had to call three times to try and get a van to stop since 4 empty ones drove right passed us. Once we got on the van we learned we would be taking a trip to the airport first since they also had some of their clients on the van. While the driver was loading another family’s luggage another one of their drivers ran over the luggage and the two drivers starting arguing. It was insane! When we finally arrived at the lot it was the same situation that we had left to. Luckily it only took us about 20 minutes for my husband to get our car out. I am convinced it only took 20 minutes because I was telling everyone what happened to us and they started leaving.

So that is about it! I would highly recommend avoiding this company. I know they are all over the US and know that I personally will never use this company anywhere. If one lot is so poorly ran I couldn’t imagine the others being much better!

[FLAHAM]

Premier Parking does not own any parking lots. It is an "information service" that takes your reservation, retains a cut, forwards the remainder to the lot owner, and gives you directions to the lot. It disclaims all responsibilities to the customer. Port Everglades is very fortunate to have pleasant and efficient off-port lots, such as Park-N-Fly (and others).

[abs711]

FLHAM, so why to there employees wear Premier Parking bright yellow shirts? Why did the lot have Premier Parking name on there very small sign? And this is taken directly from my reservation "Premier Parking Ventures thanks you for your reservation at our Port Everglades 2281 SR84 location". So why would they refer to it as "our" if it is infact not???

I have reviewed my reservation and nowhere does it indicate that this is not there lot and that they take no responsibility for the service.

[gelo7]

Thanks, for the heads up.

[FLAHAM]

FLHAM, so why to there employees wear Premier Parking bright yellow shirts? Why did the lot have Premier Parking name on there very small sign? And this is taken directly from my reservation "Premier Parking Ventures thanks you for your reservation at our Port Everglades 2281 SR84 location". So why would they refer to it as "our" if it is infact not???

 

I have reviewed my reservation and nowhere does it indicate that this is not there lot and that they take no responsibility for the service.

 

From "About Us" on the Premier Cruise Parking Port Everglades web screen:

 

We don’t own or operate parking lots, we just make it easy for you to find what you’re looking for.

[El_aurens]

Wow, that's a horror story. What a way to start (and end) your vacation. No way I would want to go through that!

[dd's mom]

abbs711,

 

We just got home this afternoon from Ft Lauderdale. Everything you just described happened to us also ... yesterday. PREMIER PARKING is HORRIBLE! We plan to fill out their customer satisfaction survey tomorrow, and trust me, there is nothing we have that is good to say about our experience.

 

You forgot to mention that the lot behind the Ramada Inn in addition to being difficult to find ... is gravel/dirt and everyone's cars were coated with a heavy layer of dust when we returned. You have to pull your bags through gravel and dirt to get them to your car. We waited almost 2 hours at the port standing in a parking lot with my aunt and uncle in their late 70's ... out in the hot sun ... with no where to sit ...and we weren't even sure where to wait. There were no lines ... no signs ... no one seemingly in charge ... and no organization whatsoever. We too saw multiple vans drop off people, but then disappear. There were so many people waiting to be picked up ... and no way of knowing who had been waiting the longest. Lots of people were angry over the lack of organization. When I called the phone number we were given ... it went straight to voice mail. Never got a live person and never received a call back.

 

WE WILL NOT USE THIS COMPANY AGAIN ... EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE HAD GOOD EXPERIENCES WITH PREMIER PARKING IN ATLANTA, GA ON OUR WAY TO THE AIRPORT! We have serious reservations about leaving from Port Everglades again. :mad:

 

DD's Mom

[capriccio]

abbs711' date='

 

We have serious reservations about leaving from Port Everglades again. :mad:

 

DD's Mom[/quote']

 

 

That was a horrible experience but why would you have reservations about leaving from Port Everglades? That seems rather drastic given that there are many other parking options that get good reviews on this board. I certainly wouldn't rule out an entire port based on the experience you had with a discount parking outfit.

[mephistoles]

Oh no. Glad I read this post because we were considering using them for our August cruise.

[dd's mom]

That was a horrible experience but why would you have reservations about leaving from Port Everglades? That seems rather drastic given that there are many other parking options that get good reviews on this board. I certainly wouldn't rule out an entire port based on the experience you had with a discount parking outfit.

 

capriccio,

My reasoning for stating we have reservations about leaving from Port Everglades ever again is this:

 

After we left customs and went outside ... there was no rhyme or reason (from what we could tell) to know where to wait for which parking service. We were pretty much in a "herd of people" waiting for various busses and vans and the folks who just walked out of the building were just as likely to get in the next Premier van as those of us who had been standing outside for an hour and a half. There were probably 50-75 or more of us waiting on Premier ... some had been waiting much longer than others ... and various sized vans and small busses would pull up that would only hold 12-24 people.

 

There were no lines,... and no apparant "first come first serve" system in place. Simply no organization or fairness to the system.

[TBone2K]

I picked them because they were cheaper per day than another lot just down the street. To the other stories here I can add the following:

 

Take pictures of your car when you leave it. I suppose this applies to any lot, but in our particular case when we arrived, there was a guy waiting outside for the cops because the parking lot people were being difficult about helping to determine when the damage occured.

 

Our shuttle driver said they are difficult to deal with as well.

 

Don't do the valet park. On our trip from the ship back to the lot, they were having trouble finding people's keys. The valet-parked cars are sometimes double parked in front of regular spots, so people were waiting for them to get organized.

 

Someone else already said, but I will add, the parking lot is just an open plot of dirt. No shelter and no washrooms.

 

The "shuttles" are just 15 passenger vans with a trailer for the luggage. That wasn't as important to me, but many older passengers found the vans hard to get into and squeezing into the back seats was difficult.

[foflocruiser]

Port Everglades has their own parking.

I'm pretty sure they don't cater to the outside lots...

[FLAHAM]

Port Everglades has their own parking.

I'm pretty sure they don't cater to the outside lots...

 

Park N Fly and Park N Go are long established lots that have served me well on dozens of occasions over the past five years when flying out of FLL or cruising out of PE. I will be using Park N Fly again tomorrow when I leave for a trip.

[OCruisers]

We always just use the parking at the cruise terminal.

 

While it is more expensive, we like having our car right there with no waiting to be picked up when we return from a cruise.

 

LuLu

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[gold1953]

Thank you . I almost booked this!! Looked at google earth and it was recently just a dirty empy lot.:eek:

[mcship]

We always just use the parking at the cruise terminal.

 

While it is more expensive, we like having our car right there with no waiting to be picked up when we return from a cruise.

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

 

That is what we are doing for POE too. The hotel deals are just not up to snuff in Lauderdale like they are in other ports. Ended up just booking the Embassy Suites in Boca, for 80 bucks. That plus parking for 6 days will be 170. The cheapest hotel deal via the stay123 site was 100 for a hampton.

 

Hmmm, 70 bucks to avoid a shuttle, and have two rooms in the ES versus hampton, and a full breakfast. Yea, I will take that deal.

 

The Embassy in Lauderdale was not happening. Their "cruise" package was around 160, plus 2 shuttles to port, plus 4 shuttles back to hotel, plus 7/day to park. The shuttles plus parking alone are more than the cost of the port parking!

 

Too many of the hotel deals work for 2 people, like the ES in Lauderdale. Many of them provide shuttles to the port for 2 only, or breakfast for 2 only. That means you have to buy shuttle to port for kids, and buy shuttle back for everyone. At that point, you might as well just park!

 

So, we are saving a bunch staying in Boca, plus there is a church a few miles away with an 8am service on Sunday (we are leaving on a Sunday), so we can still go to church before heading out! Win - win!