NEWBIE - BOREALIS OCTOBER 22 CRUISE LIVERPOOL CARPARK

[naughtypumpkin]

Hello,

my husband and i are due to take our first cruise ever and are very excited but also a little apprehensive. We are departing from Liverpool and wondered if we should park in the Crowne plaza carpark right next door ( we aren't staying there) or use the shuttle service carpark, or even a taxi pick up as we only live 30 mins away. thank you

[tring]

2 hours ago, naughtypumpkin said:

Hello,

my husband and i are due to take our first cruise ever and are very excited but also a little apprehensive. We are departing from Liverpool and wondered if we should park in the Crowne plaza carpark right next door ( we aren't staying there) or use the shuttle service carpark, or even a taxi pick up as we only live 30 mins away. thank you

 

Taking a taxi will be far cheaper and less hasssle than parking.  We live a similar distance and we would always use a taxi, or if it was a very short cruise we would consider just going in via public transport.  We have a taxi to the port booked ahead, but leave a fair bit of extra time to make sure there are no problems. 

 

Apart from during covid times, we have been able to drop the main luggage off at the luggage drop, (usually fairly soon after midday), then go off with our hand luggage to somewhere for a stroll, perhaps having a drink or light lunch, returning at our arrival time.  You will be able to eat as soon as you get on the ship, though the hot food will have finished if you have a late embarkation time.  They will still be serving afternoon tea though, which includes fairly substantial rolls/sandwiches etc. as well as cakes - you will not go hungry on a cruise ship.  The ship has to be accepting luggage before the luggage can be taken from you though, so if you have been notified of a late embarkation, that will also be delayed.  Even with baggage though, you could pop into the Crown Plaza for a drink or two to spend kill some time in pleasant surroundings, whilst waiting for your embarkation time  - we often go there for a drink at the end of a day in the city, especially if it is a busy day, so bars/ cafes are crowded.  

 

 

For the return we find it easier to just ring a local taxi number after we disembark, as timings can vary, so not easy to estimate a pick.up time. 

 

Hope that helps, enjoy the cruise,

 

Barbara

 

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by tring

[naughtypumpkin]

Thank you so much that’s really helpful 

[twotravellersLondon]

19 hours ago, naughtypumpkin said:

Hello,

my husband and i are due to take our first cruise ever and are very excited but also a little apprehensive. We are departing from Liverpool and wondered if we should park in the Crowne plaza carpark right next door ( we aren't staying there) or use the shuttle service carpark, or even a taxi pick up as we only live 30 mins away. thank you

 

We have friends who live just as close to the Liverpool Terminal as you do and they always have a taxi to and from the ship.

 

It might be helpful to have a quick look at the topic "LIVERPOOL PARKING" that's currently lingering on about page 3 of this forum... posts #13 and #16 by JeanieC,Aston... who, like you, also lives about 30 minutes from the terminal... are especially interesting and "bang on" your original question.

 

You'll see why a taxi seems to be such a good idea.
 

[tring]

45 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

We have friends who live just as close to the Liverpool Terminal as you do and they always have a taxi to and from the ship.

 

It might be helpful to have a quick look at the topic "LIVERPOOL PARKING" that's currently lingering on about page 3 of this forum... posts #13 and #16 by JeanieC,Aston... who, like you, also lives about 30 minutes from the terminal... are especially interesting and "bang on" your original question.

 

You'll see why a taxi seems to be such a good idea.
 

 

That information is out of date, that car park was only used for a short time..  The car park at Liverpool had changed a number of times since the multi story previously used, (at the Albert Dock), burnt down about three years ago.  Earlier this year they were using the Q Parks underground one at the Liverpool One shopping centre and I think that is still the same, but not sure..  There has usually been a shuttle bus to the car parks as there is no parking adjacent to the terminal.

 

As I said the main reason to use a taxi if nearby is the cost and as the OP is on a ten night cruise that will be far cheaper.  I am sure the same will apply in Southampton for those near the city.

.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by tring

[twotravellersLondon]

21 hours ago, naughtypumpkin said:

Hello,

my husband and i are due to take our first cruise ever and are very excited but also a little apprehensive. We are departing from Liverpool and wondered if we should park in the Crowne plaza carpark right next door ( we aren't staying there) or use the shuttle service carpark, or even a taxi pick up as we only live 30 mins away. thank you

 

1 hour ago, twotravellersLondon said:

You'll see why a taxi seems to be such a good idea.

 

The posts referred to in the topic "LIVERPOOL PARKING" were made in September 2022 and perhaps give some insight into past experience of just what might go awry with FOCLs arrangements with third parties... possible pit-falls and the value of doing a bit of research.  Each post is clearly dated. It's very much a case of “caveat emptor” or “let the buyer beware"... hindsight can be a great advantage and a spur to do a bit of research.

 

In the true spirit of Cruise Critic... the main idea is that... those who introduce new threads should use what they read in replies as starting points for doing independent research and so then be able to judge for themselves what's best for them.

 

Good luck in making a decision that's right for you... and we hope that you have an excellent holiday.

[tring]

19 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

 

The posts referred to in the topic "LIVERPOOL PARKING" were made in September 2022 and perhaps give some insight into past experience of just what might go awry with FOCLs arrangements with third parties... possible pit-falls and the value of doing a bit of research.  Each post is clearly dated. It's very much a case of “caveat emptor” or “let the buyer beware"... hindsight can be a great advantage and a spur to do a bit of research.

 

In the true spirit of Cruise Critic... the main idea is that... those who introduce new threads should use what they read in replies as starting points for doing independent research and so then be able to judge for themselves what's best for them.

 

Good luck in making a decision that's right for you... and we hope that you have an excellent holiday.

 

The parking referred to was by CPS, which of course are the main company used for the widely used complimentary parking for the Carnival brands in Southampton, as well as by many people wanting to arrange their parking at the docks in Southampton.

 

It was used for a short time after the covid embarkation procedures ceased to be done at the arena, no relevance to the current times, now cruising has returned to normal.

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by tring

[twotravellersLondon]

19 minutes ago, tring said:

 

The parking referred to was by CPS, which of course are the main company used for the widely used complimentary parking for the Carnival brands in Southampton, as well as by many people wanting to arrange their parking at the docks in Southampton.

 

It was used for a short time after the covid embarkation procedures ceased to be done at the arena, no relevance to the current times, now cruising has returned to normal.

 

 

 

 

It's still exactly the same company.

 

The location may have changed but FOCLs still only use CPS - Cruise and Passenger Services - in Liverpool and only the CPS contact number and website are advertised on the FOCLs website.

 

Best to do a bit of real research in our opinion.

Edited July 1, 2023 by twotravellersLondon

[tring]

54 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

It's still exactly the same company.

 

The location may have changed but FOCLs still only use CPS - Cruise and Passenger Services - in Liverpool and only the CPS contact number and website are advertised on the FOCLs website.

 

Best to do a bit of real research in our opinion.

 

If looking for a car park I completely agree about looking at various options.  It is neither easy nor cheap to park in Liverpool as it is a very large city, not like Southampton which is a much smaller city with a vary large dock area that is developed with lots of parking space used year round, as well as other slightly out of town parking facilities used by other parking companies.

 

In Liverpool, as well as CPS, there are some hotels which do park and stay deals and some people even park at the main airport car park which is cheaper than in the city centre, though that is a distance out with roads that can become very slow moving on the way, so the cost/ease of taking taxis to/from there need to be taken into account.  I have seen some people mention cheaper options which I would not recommend though, personally we would always stick to proper car parks.  It is all a case of what is better for the individual, taking the comparative costs and personal preference into account.  A lot of people from a distance choose to take the train and stay overnight in a hotel, but that partly depends on their amount of luggage and ease to get to a station from home.  Others will travel in on the day, but of course it is always worth getting there a good while before in case of travel difficulties as the terminal is right in the city centre.  We are only about 25 mins out, but  during covid, when arrivals had to be within a very narrow time scale and it was not easy to just pop into a bar/restaurant with luggage, we always chose to stay in a hotel near the arena (which was where we needed to go then for the preliminary checks/tests).  That not only extended our holiday by another night, but we could relax entirely before embarkation, knowing that even if we had vacated our room, we could still have our cases looked after at reception and could even pop along to the Arena to check that embarkation was on schedule - a couple of times it was going so well we were advised we could go earlier than our slot.  All personal choice though.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by tring

[naughtypumpkin]

Thank you to everyone for your very helpful comments 

[ace2542]

On 6/30/2023 at 5:25 PM, tring said:

Even with baggage though, you could pop into the Crown Plaza for a drink or two to spend kill some time in pleasant surroundings, whilst waiting for your embarkation time  - we often go there for a drink at the end of a day in the city, especially if it is a busy day, so bars/ cafes are crowded

They are also literally a stones throw from entrance to the Liverpool 1 shopping area and the imax cinema as well. Plenty of other things for them to do

[tring]

1 hour ago, ace2542 said:

They are also literally a stones throw from entrance to the Liverpool 1 shopping area and the imax cinema as well. Plenty of other things for them to do

 

Passengers need to report directly to the cruise Terminal now, which is next to the Crowne Plaza, but you are right in that there are other places to go, even near there if luggage cannot be given in for some reason, (perhaps a delayed embarkation).  If main luggage can be given in early, though, yes as you say lots of places are within a short distance, which are an easy stroll with just hand luggage.  

 

We often pop along to the cruise terminal before our cruises to make sure luggage can still be given in from about midday or so on most embarkation days.  The one proviso we have always been told is that the luggage can only accepted once the ship is taking it on board as they have no storage space in he terminal.  We have a cruise later in the year and will be in Liverpool over the next couple of weeks or so, hence may be able to combine that with an embarkation day and ask at the terminal if that is still the case and report back here.  We really like Liverpool departures as we do not need to just hang around the terminal if we need to wait, but can go off somewhere else.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by tring