Valet Parking Port of Tampa for NCL Dawn

[love2shell]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone done the valet parking at the Port of Tampa? Was it a hassle or difficult? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Also, prepay vs pay when you arrive? If you pre-pay, are you guaranteed a parking spot?

 

Thanks in advance!

[emcelh]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone done the valet parking at the Port of Tampa? Was it a hassle or difficult? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Also, prepay vs pay when you arrive? If you pre-pay, are you guaranteed a parking spot?

 

Thanks in advance!

We used valet parking in Tampa last January and plan to again next year. We did prepay, not because we were concerned about availability, but just to have it done in advance.

 

It was very easy, we drove up to the terminal, the porters took our bags and we went inside with our carry ons. I believe the additional cost was equivalent to 1 days parking. Definitely worth it.

[Ginger Princess]

We used the valet parking in Tampa in December 2016 for the Jade. We did not prepay because we weren’t originally planning on using the valet. We pulled in, gave the porters our bags, and we went to a little stand on the side to pay. It was very easy.

[traveler1255]

Do you have to walk to the garage to pick up your car? If so, how far a walk is it?

[calmpets]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone done the valet parking at the Port of Tampa? Was it a hassle or difficult? Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Also, prepay vs pay when you arrive? If you pre-pay, are you guaranteed a parking spot?

 

Thanks in advance!

My father is on the Dawn now, and did the prepaid valet parking for the first time this trip. He usually self-parks, but thought it would be simpler to valet. It was a bit of a fiasco, although that may be due to problems NCL was having with terminal 2. They arrived at 10:45 and were told they couldn't park till 11am. They came back at 11am and were told that it would be another 45 minutes before the valet parking kiosk was open, so they drove over to Ybor City to kill some time. When they got back (around noonish) they were told the valet parking was sold out! They explained that they had prepaid, so they were allowed to get in the valet line, which was lengthy. Eventually they got situated, but it took way longer, and was way more difficult, than it should have been.

[emcelh]

Do you have to walk to the garage to pick up your car? If so, how far a walk is it?

No. They brought our car to us.

[emcelh]

My father is on the Dawn now, and did the prepaid valet parking for the first time this trip. He usually self-parks, but thought it would be simpler to valet. It was a bit of a fiasco, although that may be due to problems NCL was having with terminal 2. They arrived at 10:45 and were told they couldn't park till 11am. They came back at 11am and were told that it would be another 45 minutes before the valet parking kiosk was open, so they drove over to Ybor City to kill some time. When they got back (around noonish) they were told the valet parking was sold out! They explained that they had prepaid, so they were allowed to get in the valet line, which was lengthy. Eventually they got situated, but it took way longer, and was way more difficult, than it should have been.

That wasn't a good experience and shouldn't have happened. There must have been some extenuating circumstances.

 

I don't know what problems with the terminal you're referring to, but the Port of Tampa seems to have dropped the ball somewhere. Hopefully, what your father experienced was a one-time occurrence.

[calmpets]

That wasn't a good experience and shouldn't have happened. There must have been some extenuating circumstances.

 

I don't know what problems with the terminal you're referring to, but the Port of Tampa seems to have dropped the ball somewhere. Hopefully, what your father experienced was a one-time occurrence.

Agreed. Normally when we sail out of Tampa, we are in terminal 3, and the experience is pretty seamless. The week before they left I was reading here that there were major issues with embarkation at terminal 2, and I warned my family to expect delays. Unfortunately I can't find the thread, but the general complaint was huge lines to check in. Anyway, despite my family's attempt at an early arrival, they didn't actually manage to get onboard till 1:30.