Charleston: Parking vs. "Faster to the Fun"?

[mandydean]

Hi everyone,

We've got our first Carnival cruise scheduled for 8/30 on the Carnival Fantasy in Charleston. I need information on the Charleston embarkation process that Carnival couldn't answer for me.

 

We'll be traveling with two small kids, and planned on driving the 3 hours to Charleston on the day-of. We were seriously considering the "Faster to the Fun" pass so we could get on the ship and skip the whole "waiting in lines with small wiggly children" part. :-) I was told that the pass will allow us to embark at 11:00 instead of the normal 12:30.

 

HOWEVER, according to the Charleston Port Authority website, the gate will not accept vehicles for parking except between 12:00 and 3:00 on sail days. This seemed to confuse the Carnival agent I spoke with, who just said "well... it's a parking garage, right? so it should just be open?". But it's my understanding that the parking is guarded by the port authority gate, and is limited in accessibility.

 

So I'd LOVE it if someone could clear me up on whether I can park at 11, and how. Will the Faster-pass get me into the gate sooner?

 

I'm also open to hearing suggestions on places in Charleston that offer the least expensive "Park and Cruise" type packages, in case we decided to go that route... Please help this newbie out! :-)

[saltwaterfixes]

Both times we've cruised from Charleston we took a cab to the pier and were on the ship among the first. Between 11:30 and noon with virtually no wait once we got on that damn shuttle and to the agents. Self-park people were always "behind" us and they really didn't open parking much before noon. Nightmare no matter how you look at it.

[cbhbutler]

its much easier if you shuttle in with a park and cruise package from a hotel... they handle your luggage and get u in line to get inside the terminal faster..(you may have to stand in the sun for a little while though so be prepared)..its almost just as cheap also and a plus is you get to spend the night in charleston... port parking is high and they wont open it up for incoming cars until the returning cruise passengers have emptied the lot and that can be around 12pm (depending on how many people lag around on the boat).. im booked again for september but we have friends going and they cant leave the night before so for us this time we will drive in and park at the port..i live about 1 1/2 hrs from the port but i would much rather drive to a hotel the night before and use a shuttle the morning of but it is what it is.. atleast we will be on the boat...

 

ps google charleston park and cruise and then call the hotels to check prices.. they are cheaper than posted online most the time

 

ETA: if you take a shuttle the morning of you will be some of the first to get on, noo need for fttf, combine the faster to the fun and the port parking charges, and you can pay for a night in charleston with the park and cruise

Edited August 12, 2014 by cbhbutler
ETA

[dainew]

In May we drove down because we live 3.5 hrs from Charleston ....stop and ate breakfast and got to the ports and parked around 11:20 and was on the ship by 11:40

[HectorAchilleus]

If you are parking at the port, save your money. We tried to get in at 10:30 both times and were turned away. When we came back at 11:15, we had to wait in a long car line before we could get in. Even though we are platinum, there were hundreds of people on before us. The Lido lunch area was so crowded we could not even get a seat together. The one time we went, we did Park & Cruise and got on very early.

[cjankowski]

FTF does not get you into parking any faster than a car without it. Everyone waits in line and parks in the same garage. We had it, plus husband is handicap, they did not seem to care much about any of it. Sit in your car until you go through security and into the line for shuttle with all other people.

 

Sorry to say that FTF does not help in this case.

[momof2cruzingurlz]

We just returned from the fantasy 7-29 sailing. We arrived at the port around 9:30 and could drop off luggage. A sticker was placed on windshield and were told to return at 11 for parking as they were not allowing parking until then. Returning at 11 we bypassed luggage drop off and parked. The line for parking was a slow process as they now take credit cards and debit in all the lines which holds the line up. Eveyone waits in the same line for the shuttle and to go thru security. Once passing security your FttF kicks in and you will go basically to the front of the line. We were on board, in our room, with all luggage by 11:30.

[NCTribeFan]

There's lots of info on sailing Fantasy in the All Things Fantasy thread.

 

Also lots of info in a big thread on the East Coast Departures board about Charleston and the intricacies of the port there.

 

There's simply no reason to arrive extra-early at the port. It's an old, small building (one level) and it has to be totally emptied of the departing pax and their luggage and converted over to scanners, check-in lines, seating, embarkation photos before they can even begin to allow people to board.

 

I've been there early and had to wait outside under the (small) tent for an hour. I've arrived slightly later and got straight on the shuttle and into the terminal.

 

Anyway, it's a subject that's been discussed several times (as expected). I've never parked at the port, but I know that if you arrive too early (again, they must clear out returning pax from the parking warehouses (across the street) before they can fill them with the arrivals), that you can't even park.

 

I always do a cruise parking package (usually at the Hampton Inn W Ashley). Again, the thread on the East Coast board has lots of hotel info. Charleston is a beautiful place and I love sailing from there. Very expensive in the historic area, but plenty of less-expensive places to stay on either the West Ashley or Mt Pleasant side.