Long Beach Parking Garage-Never Again!

[JohnS43]

Disembarked from my first Carnival cruise today at Long Beach. Everything on the cruise was fine, and the entire debarkation process took less than ten minutes. However, once I got to my car, the "FUN" ended. I got in my car, parked on the third level, at 9:35 AM. I did not get out of the garage until 10:45! Over an HOUR waiting in line, with my engine running. There is absolutely no excuse for this. They had one (of only two) exit lanes open. And even with two lanes open, it STILL would've been slow.

 

Unless I find out they have improved this situation, I won't be using that parking garage (and therefore Carnival, unless I find alternate transportation) again. I think I should let Carnival know about my dissatisfaction; I'm sure they'd have more clout with the the people who are in charge of the terminal and its parking contracts.

[SadieN]

Think about it.....

 

Most who cruise the short cruises are locals who drive to port, parking in the structure.

The work around is to park in the lots just outside the structure. You pay at the left hand booth as you leave the port area.

 

For any cruise longer than 3 days we take public transportation to port.

[nsw104]

Can you tell me if there are other parking options to the $17/day? garage? What public transit runs to Long Beach cruise terminal? Thanks.

[SadieN]

Not much else available at the port.

 

Hotel Maya has a corporate code that includes one night & 7 days of parking. There are several threads on this board with the code.

 

Public transportation is a bit of a pain in LA. These are commuter lines and not conducive to luggage larger than carryon size.

 

We take Metrolink to Union Station then we take Metrorail's Red or Purple line to the Blue line (7th street Transfer Station) to Long Beach. In Long Beach we catch the free Passport bus. This route goes thru the parts of town where all of LA riots have started. Cost from Union Station is $3 + $1 reloadable Tap Card. Expect it to take 1.5-2 hours from Union Station to port. Parking at Union Station is $6/day.

 

We are going this way on Monday.

 

metro.net

http://www.lbtransit.com/services/passport.aspx

Edited May 18, 2014 by SadieN

[Rosefloater]

Not much else available at the port.

 

Hotel Maya has a corporate code that includes one night & 7 days of parking. There are several threads on this board with the code.

 

Public transportation is a bit of a pain in LA. These are commuter lines and not conducive to luggage larger than carryon size.

 

We take Metrolink to Union Station then we take Metrorail's Red or Purple line to the Blue line (7th street Transfer Station) to Long Beach. In Long Beach we catch the free Passport bus. This route goes thru the parts of town where all of LA riots have started. Cost from Union Station is $3 + $1 reloadable Tap Card. Expect it to take 1.5-2 hours from Union Station to port. Parking at Union Station is $6/day.

 

We are going this way on Monday.

 

metro.net

http://www.lbtransit.com/services/passport.aspx

 

FYI - For the foreseeable future due to construction, the stop for the Passport bus near the Transit Center (Blue line end terminal) is not on Pine, but around the corner on the South side of Ocean (across the street from Wells Fargo).

[Splinter]

Have run into something similar at the San Pedro pier parking, even though there is no garage. Normally we took a shuttle or had a friend drive us to/from the port, but the couple of times we parked there it took us FOREVER to get out of the gate, with long delays and insufficient staff manning the gates.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your post.

 

Keith

[ronrythm]

@ OP: Which exit were you at and how many lines were open at the other exit to the garage?

Thanks

Ron

[Need-a-vacation]

So for those of you more experienced with Long Beach -- is this problem better if you get off asap? Or if you wait until as late as possible?

 

I sent this post to my hubby and he was like "what am I supposed to do with this???" :p I don't know -- just not be surprised and make sure we have plenty of gas!!! On that vein -- we're going to be driving in from the Magic Mountain area probably on the 405 to 710. Any recommendations on the least painful, most idiot-proof place to top off close to port?

 

Also, are the spots in the garage big enough for a full-size, extended cab pickup, or should we just park in the surface lot? I know in San Diego we ran into hotels, etc where the spots were tiny, tiny, tiny.

[xbatt8]

On that vein -- we're going to be driving in from the Magic Mountain area probably on the 405 to 710. Any recommendations on the least painful, most idiot-proof place to top off close to port?

 

Also, are the spots in the garage big enough for a full-size, extended cab pickup, or should we just park in the surface lot? I know in San Diego we ran into hotels, etc where the spots were tiny, tiny, tiny.

 

I have a 3/4 ton extended cab truck and I just make sure that I find a space where you can pull straight in and out (end of an aisle or some of the corners). They seem wide enough and deep enough for the truck as long as you stay away from the spots marked with a C.

 

Of course, parking outside does eliminate most of your concerns.

 

When we drive in from Bakersfield (which is often), I drive up the 5 to the 10 east, then about 2 miles later I pick up the 710 south. This way I miss the I-5 interchange just past the 10 that goes down to 2 lanes. The 710 is sometimes pretty busy until after the I-5 off ramp, but after that it is usually clear and smooth sailing. I have never been very fond of the 405. Too many bad areas (101, Mulholland hills, Wilshire area, airport) that I find are often crowded. That said, the 405 does have a lot more carpool lanes than they used to have.

 

Bob

[YubaSutter]

Can you tell me if there are other parking options to the $17/day? garage? What public transit runs to Long Beach cruise terminal? Thanks.

 

We have another parking option for Long Beach. We leave our vehicle at our old next door neighbor's house and he drives us to the port. We usually buy him lunch before sail away to catch up on old times. Less than 10 minutes to port.

[Sonoran_cruiser]

My cruise got back to Long Beach on April 24th. I did walkoff with my luggage. I was suppose to be in group 3, but they called my group to disembark around 8am. Very few people were off the ship, and by the time I got to the garage pay station there was only 1 car in front of me. So, in my case, getting off ship early was the smart choice.

[sagsgirl]

We have used the parking garage in Long Beach numerous times. We have never had more than a five minute wait to leave the garage. However, we get there early and park on the first floor. We disembark in the middle of the process, not early and not late. I think the key is parking on the first floor. On longer than five day cruises we stay at one of the local hotels that have "Park and Sail" packages. This allows us to stay one night and then have free parking. The hotels we stay at have a free shuttle to and from the pier. (We've done this in San Diego, also.).

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[rudechuck]

We have another parking option for Long Beach. We leave our vehicle at our old next door neighbor's house and he drives us to the port. We usually buy him lunch before sail away to catch up on old times. Less than 10 minutes to port.

 

Great idea. May I please have his address and phone number? Thanks. ;)

Edited June 11, 2014 by rudechuck
PUNC-TU-A-TION

[Need-a-vacation]

We parked in the surface lot and he actually found a spot sorta under a tree on the first couple rows. Very easy getting out, but I think we were one of the first 50 people off the ship!!

 

I will say the sign for the 710 is VERY confusing when leaving the port. After the pay booth, there's a little sign on the far right side of the road that says 710 and has an arrow pointing to what looks like the far right lane. So hubby gets in that lane. Fortunately there was almost no traffic because it wasn't very far before the overhead signs indicated that he needed to be to the far left. :rolleyes: