Premier Parking Ventures - Ft. Lauderdale ?

[reck]

Hi All: I reserved a parking space with Premier Parking BEFORE I read the reviews, all my Cruise Critic friends told me to CANCEL and book with someone else. I emailed the company and they called me back the next morning. The customer service rep told me that they bought the business this year and did get off to a rocky start. They only had one van and there were delays. Because of the prompt response to my email, the assurance that they now had a second van, and I could not find any police reports on property damage at their address, I decided to use them. I did tell the rep I would write a Cruise Critic report of my experience so here it is.

 

We arrived at 1000 Hwy 84 only to discover it was their overflow lot (no signage) and did not have any representatives there........we were supposed to go to the 1800 Hwy 84 lot instead (no instructions on our paperwork). When I called the number, I was actually calling Tampa (their main office). Not off to a stellar start, I must say. However, from that point on, I can not complain. The gal from Tampa talked us through "the back way" 8 blocks to the main lot (we were followed by another car looking for 1000 Hwy 84). Once there, our vehicle was parked and it took 42 minutes from the time we arrived to arrive at the cruise terminal (12:30 pm). Upon returning home today, we left our ship at 9:30am, called the number on our sticker and the van picked us and 2 other couples up within 5 minutes. Our car was safe and sound where we left it. The staff was very pleasant and we will use them again. One note to the company would be to improve your signage and directions on the paperwork.

[Virginia495]

The lot is hard to find... off of a 1-lane service road with a "For Sale or Lease" sign in front of it. There is room for 1 or 2 cars to pull in before the road is blocked. When we dropped off our car we needed to immediately hand our keys to the "driver" who parked our car and returned the keys to us. Cars behind us were blocking the service road. The lot is a 15 minute drive from the Cruise Terminal under normal traffic conditions. It took 1-1/2 hours for the shuttle to appear. The shuttle was a van towing a small trailer for luggage. They put two of our bags in the trailer then told us there wasn't room for us in the van, removed the luggage and told us to take the next shuttle. We made it onto the 2nd suttle with our luggage. It took another half hour to get to the cruise terminal since the van stopped at other lots to pick up passengers (though there wasn't any room). One man got off in frustration before reaching the terminal. We did make it to the cruise terminal with our luggage. The return trip was worse. It took close to 2 hours and several calls to the 1-877 number to get the shuttle to show up at the cruise terminal. This included 2 calls from cruise terminal employees. Calls to the other numbers went to voice mail with no response of any sort. When we got back to the lot there was a line of cars waiting to get in. The one (1) person working there at the time was directing people to park their own cars. Crazy stuff with a gravel lot, no lines and at best inches between cars. I offered him my key so he could retrieve my car and was told to get it myself. The good news was that the car was still there. The bad news was that "someone" had backed into my rear bumper nearly tearing it off and leaving scrapes a foot high and two feet long on the passenger side. I don't have an estimate on replacing the bumper yet.

 

Will be driving to Ft. Lauderdale for a cruise out of Port Everglades in March. Came across this company's website offering parking for $5 a day. Much less than the $15 at the port. Has anyone ever used this company, and if so what was your experience?

 

Here is their website: http://premierparkingusa.com/our-services/port-everglades-cruise-parking.php

 

Thanks for your help.

[deepwater2007]

Good price HOWEVER they have no reliable shuttle service. Got off the Equinox early today then waiting an hour but theshuttle never arrived. Finally got a taxi to the lot on 84 near 95. WOULD RECOMMEND YOU FIND SOME A REALIABLE COMPANY SO YOU DON'T WAIT FOREVER FOR S SHUTTLE THAT NEVER ARRIVES

[KarenMF]

I used this company in February and I had the same horrible service that the posts describe. Arriving at the lot and getting to ship was not bad, except that no one told me to leave my keys! I was ON the van when someone mentioned they left their keys. We got the car attendant to come to the van and he took my keys.

 

It was the pick up at the pier that was non-existent! After waiting for over an hour and countless phone calls only to be hing up on, or never answered or told they would be right there no one ever picked us up! We did see one van with the logo go by, but in the wrong direction! Two other couples and my friend and I ended up taking a private van for $10/person back to the lot. The person parking the cars there was actually VERY nice and apologetic, but there was nothing she could do about the van drivers. Other people with the same issue arrived at the lot while we were there. My car was waiting and there was no damage to it.

 

I called the 800 number on Monday and the person who I spoke there was very nice and apologetic and she said that she would refund the $20 for the van ride and she offered 2 days free parking. She told me to email them with my information so that they could process the refund. It has been over two weeks now since I sent the email and I have not heard from them or received a refund. I wrote to them again, and I may call again on Monday, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

United Parking or Park N'Go are better services!

[moonshine12]

Be extremely careful on who you choose for remote parking. YES , they are much cheaper than dockside parking but be prepared for gross dissappointment. We choose Premier parking ( THEIR web site showed favorable reviews ) Starting with their instructions as to where to find their remote parking were dismall, had a heck of a time finding the vacant lot they call a parking lot . This we found out was their "overflow" lot , and it was full beyond capacity, cars were double and triple parked .

Lot attendands were rude, not at all helpfull, had no idea when the shuttle would ever come by. It finally did after about half hour in the hot sun, no shade, no bench to sit down. Upon return to Ft. Lauderdale, we followed instructions and called the # that was given to us to request a shuttle. We were told it would be about half an hour. After waiting quite some time, an seen so many people also waiting for thesame shuttle ( more than one shuttle could handle ) we decided to take a cab to the remote lot. Fortunately i had elected to park myself in some tall weeds ( rather than hand over my keys to unknown parking lot attendants in some God forsaken vacant lot) because other people that had already arrived to the lot ( when or how I do not know ) apparently were having a heck of time retreativen their car. It looked like the attendant that was there and did not have the keys, but i could not say for sure. since I had my car keys i was able to leave. I would not use Premier parking again even if it was free.

[dopanate]

We used Park' N Go and had a very pleasant experience. In less than 15 minutes from the time we pulled into their lot, we were at the port terminal waiting to check in! Super friendly and helpful staff loaded and unloaded our luggage. The return trip at the end of the cruise was just as pleasant. As we walked to the shuttle pickup area, we saw the Park' N Go mini bus leaving and thought "Rats, now we'll have to wait." Well the wait was literally less than 2 minutes. Again, exceptional staff quickly loaded our luggage and transported us directly to our car. There were also nice cold bottles of water for everyone, a welcome treat after the debarkation lines. We booked online for $5.99 a day and highly recommend them for parking in Ft. Lauderdale.

[stellarcam]

Premier parking is horrible. The above posts say it all. We used a taxi to get back to our vehicle after the cruise. Just a very unpleasant experience. I wish i had read these posts instead of reading the reviews that premier obviously had to have posted to their website themselves.

[LPLRN]

We used Park' N Go and had a very pleasant experience. In less than 15 minutes from the time we pulled into their lot, we were at the port terminal waiting to check in! Super friendly and helpful staff loaded and unloaded our luggage. The return trip at the end of the cruise was just as pleasant. As we walked to the shuttle pickup area, we saw the Park' N Go mini bus leaving and thought "Rats, now we'll have to wait." Well the wait was literally less than 2 minutes. Again, exceptional staff quickly loaded our luggage and transported us directly to our car. There were also nice cold bottles of water for everyone, a welcome treat after the debarkation lines. We booked online for $5.99 a day and highly recommend them for parking in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

We used Park N Go last week, would highly recommend them. No wait, very professional. Will use again!!

[kate61880]

Do not use!! Lot was full and they wanted to take our keys and park the vehicle elsewhere, there was no way we were going to do that and now they will not refund our money. Stay away!

[2flacruisers]

We have used http://www.airportparkinginc.com several times in Ft. Lauderdale. In the past the company has had an agreement with the Renaisance (sp.) hotel on 17th Street, and they currently have the same agreement with Embassy Suites and Extended Stay Suites. We have never paid more than 49.00 for 5 days parking and the drivers each time have been courteous and timely. Both parking facilities are within 1/2 mile of the cruise port and we have never had any problems when we returned from the port. We will use them again upon our next cruise from Ft. Lauderdale.

[greatam]

The bad news was that "someone" had backed into my rear bumper nearly tearing it off and leaving scrapes a foot high and two feet long on the passenger side. I don't have an estimate on replacing the bumper yet.

 

I would be very interested in who you are going to give the estimate to for your repair and the outcome.

 

I don't believe Premier Parking (particularly the lot in NJ) is anyplace close to a legal operation. Premier Parking DOES NOT own the lots. Premier Parking DOES NOT OPERATE the lots. They are merely the reservation service. Read the fine print in their website.

 

I own a trucking company with an office in NYC. We pick up freight at the warehouse in NJ whose parking lot is used on the weekends for cruises. To the best of my knowledge, the lot is rented on the weekends by an independent operator who is running an illegal operation in regards to his shuttle. The van is plated in NY. The lot is in NJ. To run a COMMERCIAL passenger transportation enterprise across state lines (any state lines), you MUST have commercial insurance in the amount of $5,000,000 AND a DOT/FMCSA filing. I have looked all over and cannot find such a filing.

 

I REALLY, REALLY would like to know the outcome of your repair estimate. Please post. Thanks

[rcacace]

I'm glad I read the reports about Premier as I almost considered using them next time. I'll be using Park 'N Go which never seems to have any bad reports and is much closer.

[ready2cruzagain]

Thanks guys! I was getting ready to book Premier and I read the reviews on here and I am so glad I did. Will go with someone else.

[LakeWales]

Booked in April for a Nov cruise. Arrived and was told no room so we parked elsewhere for $100 more. Called for a refund immediately and cancelled future reservation. Still waiting for refunds in January! Have been parking at Gold Coast. Excellent service

[LakeWales]

I am so glad I read all of these posts! I was just getting ready to book them for 26 days of parking! Any recommendations on who to use?

 

Go with Gold Coast. Great service

[Carnival Cruisers]

This parking service is cheap. He has one van no office works out of a van. Just a sign in the street when you arrive at the address. Park your car close to the sign. He arrived after about 45 minutes, had about 20 people waiting. He just took nine people at a time, he owns one white van, a paper in the window saying premier parking. He took nine to the port and told us he would be right back to get us. He got back 45 minutes or longer, to get us . By that time he had about 50 people waitingfor service. People started leaving when they say his set-up. Everyone was upset how slow he, was and getting angry, he got angry back at the people . If you want to wait on a street in the sun, to take your turn to get to the port, your wait could be hours. Next time I would pay the $15 dollars at the port

I had the opportunity to experience this also....What a disaster !! after I dropped everyone off at the ship...I spent the next 20 mins trying to find the place. It turned out to be a dirt unpaved lot... they were parking cars with less than a foot between cars...i had a new Van and was freaking out. With no rhyme or reason to the process. I saw the 25 people waiting for the shuttle to the port ...but felt I was going to miss the ship. After fighting to get my keys back...they had already blocked my car in.....When I finally got it back...I heard then telling people to just leave their car in the street with the keys in it and they would get to it. !!! I drove back to the port ..parked next to the Ship..and payed the 15.00/day...WORTH IT !!! I called them when I got back...they did issue me a refund.:)

[TravlGrl]

You might try Park N Go when cruising out of Port Everglades. They are much cheaper than port pricing, are reputable with uniformed staff and nice shuttle vans, give you water when you return, and get good reviews here (not just from me ;)). Just a suggestion!

[Carnival Cruisers]

Thanx Tara....will do...going back in April on the"Freedom" CCL.

[LakeWales]

What a disaster they are. We couldn't get in last Nov and had another reservation for December. Took 2 months and many phone calls to get our money back. We found a wonderful place called Gold Coast. The shuttle picked us up within 10 minutes of our phone call both times.

[zortec]

If you care about the security of your vehicle and want peace of mind whilst away do not use Premier Parking. The facility is nothing more than an area of waste land where vehicles are parked extremely close together (high risk of door dents), the "staff" are downright rude.

It's no surprise that others are reporting items missing on their return. We booked Premier in the expectation of leaving our car with a professional organisation and were appalled at what we found on arrival at their lot. With only hours before departure we had no choice but to comply with their demand to leave the keys of our rental car even though a call to the rental company left us in no doubt that we were totally responsible for any damage. We were concerned about the security of the vehicle throughout our cruise and do not want others to have their vacation similarly spoiled. Please think very carefully before using Premier Parking.

 

February 2013

[HO HO]

I'd booked with Premier because they were so much cheaper than the terminal parking, and seemed to have locations in major cities.

 

After reading the reviews in a number of threads, I've cancelled my reservation and asked for a refund (gave them a great story about illness, cancellation of my trip, etc).

 

I've got a reservation with Park 'n Go now, right near the terminal, at just under $6 a day, with a very reputable company who I've used before when flying.

 

Premier won't get any positive reviews from me - even after I called the "headquarters" in Tampa and asked about the empty lot that I saw on Google, the lady assured me that was an old view -- apparently not, according to the many reviews!

 

A Premier scam is what it appears to be....kinda like neighborhood parking around a major stadium on game day...

[TravlGrl]

I'd booked with Premier because they were so much cheaper than the terminal parking, and seemed to have locations in major cities.

 

After reading the reviews in a number of threads, I've cancelled my reservation and asked for a refund (gave them a great story about illness, cancellation of my trip, etc).

 

I've got a reservation with Park 'n Go now, right near the terminal, at just under $6 a day, with a very reputable company who I've used before when flying.

 

Premier won't get any positive reviews from me - even after I called the "headquarters" in Tampa and asked about the empty lot that I saw on Google, the lady assured me that was an old view -- apparently not, according to the many reviews!

 

A Premier scam is what it appears to be....kinda like neighborhood parking around a major stadium on game day...

I see you're retired from the Navy. Park 'N Go also gives military and AAA discounts!

[HO HO]

Thank you, TrvlGrl......I pre-paid to get the best rate...might ask them when I drop the car off ....nothing ventured...

[TravlGrl]

Thank you, TrvlGrl......I pre-paid to get the best rate...might ask them when I drop the car off ....nothing ventured...

Good idea!

[MissRisa]

I'm so glad I came across this board. We were searching for a cheaper option to park our car for our 10/13 cruise and were thinking of Premiere because of the cheap rates. However, I think we'll go with ParknGo based on all your great reviews!