Port of Miami parking

[gremlinbangles]

Before you all tell me I know we are cutting it close and we are praying for all to go well. That being said we will be heading for POM which we have never left from. Our boarding pass says boarding 1:00 to 2:30. Praying for smooth driving no accidents and no delays we should hit the port about 2:00. Is there parking available for late arrivals such as us. Is it far from the parking area to the terminal?

I always think the worst, what if we get there and there are no spaces available..can someone reassure me.....

 

And yes we are trying to find away to build in some safe time unfortunately we haven't been able to yet?

[JohninDC]

Yes there is parking available that late - there is also traffic, road construction and other delays the could cause you to miss the ship. :eek:

 

It's your cruise - I hope you invested in good travel insurance. No way would I follow your plan to arrive that late.

[gremlinbangles]

I know I am worried about that and I just read a thread about the turnpike and sun pass and toll by plate that seems to further complicate the issue. 9 days to solve this....

[JohninDC]

I know I am worried about that and I just read a thread about the turnpike and sun pass and toll by plate that seems to further complicate the issue. 9 days to solve this....

 

The solution is to start driving earlier - much earlier! ;)

[gremlinbangles]

lol that would be the simple solutions. Problem we are having is hubby cannot get off until 12.....we are trying, we are trying.....

[fishywood]

Nothing complicated about electronic tolls. Since you are a Floridian....

If driving your own car, go to Publix or CVS and buy a Sunpass for $5 (which is credited back to your account when you activate it)

If driving a rental car, do the same...just remember to take the Sunpass out when you return it.

 

As for cutting it close on embarkation day: there will still be plenty of passengers in line checking in at 2:30. The notion that you will be denied entry into the terminal if you arrive 89 minutes before scheduled sailaway rather than 90 has exploded into urban legend status on these boards. Whatever time you arrive just drop of your bags and have your companion get in the check-in line while you park the car. Might not be super-close but during the summer season the garages will not be sold out. So stop stressing and enjoy your cruise!

Edited June 24, 2014 by fishywood

[gremlinbangles]

Thanks, fishywood..yes I realize we need to get sun pass and that seems simple enough. Previously we did port Canaveral and ft. Lauderdale and those r very doable. Yes we a tally use the turnpike but not usually further than jupiter. I think it's doable as long as the traffic behaves and they have a parking space for us. Excuse the typos I need a bigger phone

 

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[gremlinbangles]

P's never heard of toll by plate so that was new to me

 

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[Capt_BJ]

As you can see from this map there is basically a garage across the street from each terminal so space is seldom (never) an issue

http://www.miamidade.gov/portmiami/library/portmiami-map.pdf

 

If coming from points north by turnpike and heading to the port you should not get into any of the 'electronic only' toll situations in Miami. Get off the turnpike at the Dade/Broward line and get on 95 towards the port . . . no more tolls

 

The $5 back on the SunPass MINI was an intro when it came out and long ago expired IME, If it still exists they don't mention it on the SunPass web page. IF you decide to get a SunPass (which I recommend) splurge for the $20 one which will be good 'forever' and can be moved from car to car. I've had the same one thru 4 cars now ... the MINI glues to the windshield and is trashed when you pull it off (I had one and after trashing one, figured out the $20 version is better.)

 

Toll by Plate: in 'all electronic toll' locations in FL, if the system does not detect a SunPass transponder, it will take a picture of your lic' plate. Monthly the state sends you a bill getting your address from your registration. A small admin fee is added (a couple of dollars each month). Here's the 'rub' ... when a rental company gets this bill they have to track the renter to try and get their $ back .... SOME rental companies charge BIG for this "service".

 

Second RUB: don't expect this service in the parts of FL that are NOT all electronic ... there your lic plate photo IS still taken, but they use your address to send a fine. And yet another twist .... if you buy the $20 transponder, you can register it to multiple vehicles <it is OK to move it, remember I said that?> So now when you zip thru an electronic lane the system looks for a transponder and does not see one, it FIRST checks the list of all the registered plates in the SUNPASS file . . . if it finds one it just processes the toll as a SUNPASS transaction ... no foul, no admin charge and no fine.

 

Following me here? If you buy ONE SUNPASS $20 VERSION, you can register all your cars and toss the gizmo in a drawer. {btw The MINI does NOT allow you to register multiple vehicles.}

 

Am I sure? dd had an older version $20 transponder that used a battery, with a dead battery for over a year . . . all SUNPASS events happened normally . . . yes I'm SURE. You still need an actual device for airport parking and other 'special' SUNPASS functions but for basic tolls . . .

 

hope this helps without being TOO confusing . . .

Edited June 24, 2014 by Capt_BJ

[fishywood]

If coming from points north by turnpike and heading to the port you should not get into any of the 'electronic only' toll situations in Miami. Get off the turnpike at the Dade/Broward line and get on 95 towards the port . . . no more tolls

 

 

The Golden Glades Interchange toll plaza where the Turnpike merges into I-95 is now unmanned and electronic only. The Cypress Creek toll plaza in north Broward still takes cash but the lines for the cash lanes can be very long. With time being of the essence the best solution may be to just roll right through the Sunpass lanes at both and pay the toll-by-plate bill when it comes in the mail next month.

Edited June 24, 2014 by fishywood

[Capt_BJ]

if you pay the fine

 

you would have bought the SunPass $20 . . .

[gremlinbangles]

Wow some good info. However we just went to publix and got the mini sticker...If we had waited I would have gotten the transponder so we could switch it. Ah well our next cruise are from ft. Lauderdale n port Canaveral.

 

We were planning on taking the turnpike pike all the way because our maps program should 1 hour 47 minutes vs 2 hour 3 minutes with combing turnpike with 95

 

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