Charleston-Current cost for parking?

[I Luv Crusin]

I was wondering if the cost for parking is still $15.00 a night and if they now take credit/debit cards? In Carnival's info it said cash, checks, travelers checks....

[I Luv Crusin]

A few more questions:

 

What time should we plan on getting to the pier? I read that they don't even let you park until they're ready to board passengers. What do you do? Sit in your car in a line??

 

When we get back can we leave the car at the pier and walk around or do we have to move it from the parking lot and find someplace else to park??

[chihuaha]

Yes, it's still $15/day. Parking is inside huge warehouses so it is secure and out of the weather. According to the Port website ( http://www.scspa.com/cruises/default.asp) they now take credit cards.

 

And yes, the SOP is you "run the gauntlet" on embarkation day. You enter the Port Compound on the north side now (new route to minimize the number of cars waiting in line on City streets). Near the head of the queue you show documents and ID, then further on pay to park (different line if you are being dropped off and not parking), then drop off bags with the porters, and finally drive across the street to the parking area, and get on a shuttle back to the terminal. (For security reasons you cannot walk back to the terminal after parking, you have to ride the shuttle).

 

Depending on the time you arrive, and how many fellow cruisers happen to show up at the same time, you will be waiting in a line for "a while", but once they start processing cars it goes pretty quick; takes more time to describe than to DO, unless there is a hangup. (One trip it was pouring rain so they let cars pull under the tents to hand off bags to porters. Things moved slower so it was close to an hour between getting in line and parking the car, but that I think that was unusually long.)

 

Best time to arrive is a crap shoot. If you are very early, you will wait in line for some time for sure, but get processed quickly once they start. If you arrive late, say 1-2 hours before "all aboard" time, there will be little or no wait, but you miss a little time on board. Take your pick, or do as we do, just show up when you can and relax, because once you are in line, you are already on vacation! The ship will be right in front of you, it's not going anywhere without you, and they have plenty of adult beverages waiting to go around.

 

You might be able to leave the car in the warehouse for an hour or two after disembarking, but I suspect they ticket any still there by afternoon when the next group starts parking. If your plan is to tour Charleston before leaving town, I'd suggest moving to one of the inexpensive public lots nearby.

 

Have a great cruise and enjoy Charleston!

 

J & M

[cruiseox]

and in case you have a handicapped placard or tag, parking is free

[WendyVF]

We parked at the terminal in July and they did take credit cards. Some posters mentioned a longer line for credit cards so I had cash also. We we got to the stop to pay, there was no line so we went with the credit card.

We left our downtown hotel at 11 and thought the timing was perfect. You have to drive down near the aquarium to enter and then they direct you back up through the various stations to pay, drop off luggage and such. There was only a car or two in front of us at each stop so we breezed right through. Once we got to the terminal we walked right on through and barely had enough time to fill out the health forms before we were ready to check in. We were onboard with our first drink in hand by noon!