Panorama parking arrangement

[PaddleAddict]

20 minutes ago, weezal said:

same traffic and route, unless you choose drop off at queen mary 

Gosh what a mess. Seems like drop off at Queen Mary would be a better plan. 

[Mike45LC]

Your typical Uber driver won't have any magic to avoid the gridlocked mess to enter the pier drop-off.  I think that the local hotel shuttle drivers have the back-way to get in and out without the big mess.  If so, I'll do a local hotel Park and Sail to use their shuttle.

 

[VentureMan_2000]

1 hour ago, Mike45LC said:

Your typical Uber driver won't have any magic to avoid the gridlocked mess to enter the pier drop-off.  I think that the local hotel shuttle drivers have the back-way to get in and out without the big mess.  If so, I'll do a local hotel Park and Sail to use their shuttle.

 

I call BS on this.

Our Uber driver delivering us to the port and our subsequent Uber driver (different guy) picking us up at the port totally knew the "Back-way".  It was seamless.

[SDPadreFan]

OK, so I have some GOOD NEWS, and perhaps some bad news for some people.

The GOOD NEWS - I found out about a company call RightWay Parking. They contract out excess capacity from hotels and parking garages at many airports and cruise terminals and then resell it. We have a 14 day (B2B) on Panorama scheduled in December. Carnival parking (offsite) with all it's attendant problems would have cost me $345 (15 days). My cost for parking at the Marriott Courtyard (3 miles away) came in at $209.12 (got a 5% special discount). Toss in about $32 for Uber (roundtrip) and I'm saving a cool $103 give or take. I also ran the numbers for our 6 day Firenze cruise in August but the savings was only about $24, so I'll probably just bite the bullet on that one and park with Carnival. I've already booked (and paid) the parking for December to guarantee our spot.

Now the BAD NEWS (for some). The Marriott Courtyard parking garage only has a 6'10" ceiling height. So on the RightWay website it says NO TRUCKS, VANS, or SUV's. For us, that means we just leave our Palisade at home and drive the sedan.

And finally - the Important Part - NO HOTEL STAY REQUIRED

[SDPadreFan]

Oh, and one more thing. When requesting an Uber to take you to the Carnival Terminal, request it to take you to the QUEEN MARY (not the Carnival Terminal). No Uber driver want to get caught up in the Carnival Terminal traffic jam. Queen Mary is just a short walk over to the terminal.

[SDPadreFan]

They do have another hotel a little further away at a slightly higher price that does not seem to have restrictions on vehicle height.

[PlayTheAces]

We just got off the Panorama and used the off site parking.  Here are my thoughts.  First, I was expecting the absolute worst and we actually had a pretty good experience.  We're Platinum so I had a 10:30 am check-in for embarkation.  I arrived at the port at 8:30 am.

 

I drove up and dumped the luggage.  They had porters waiting to receive it.  They gave me a parking permit and instructions to the off site parking at the convention center. It's about a ten minute drive, located off Ocean if you know Long Beach.  I placed the permit on the dash and the attendants saw it and directed me to the designated lot and a parking space.  Then we jumped on the shuttle bus and they drove us back to the port.  All in all it was a smooth operation and we were back to the port by 9:30 am or so.

 

Disembarkation was pretty easy as well.  Again, being Platinum we were off the ship by 9 am.  I checked the luggage the night before (getting too old to schlep it myself) and grabbed it in the terminal.  Facial recognition makes clearing customs a breeze for us. We proceeded to the bus parking area and got in a short line.  The driver loaded our luggage into the bus and drove us back to the off site parking.  I tossed everything into the car and we were on our way before 10 am.

 

It's certainly not as easy as parking in the terminal and I don't think I'll be booking anymore cruises on the Panorama because of being forced to park offsite.  However, it certainly wasn't as bad as I expected.  The day we left the convention center parling lots were deserted.  A week later when we returned they were packed with a considerable amount of traffic in the area so it depends on events taking place, though we were out of the lot fast so it's probably a non-consideration.  They charged me $20 a day and it should show up on my shipboard account charges in the next couple of days.  The terminal garage currently charges $23 per day.

 

So that's what we experienced on the June 8th cruise. I would recommend getting to the terminal early even if it means waiting a while to check in. Hope the info helps a bit.

Edited June 17 by PlayTheAces

[luvs to cruise]

Is the parking structure blocked off for the Panorama embarkation?  In other words can you see if there are any open spots in the structure, or do you automatically have to use the offsite lot. 

Thanks 

[Mike45LC]

15 hours ago, PlayTheAces said:

They gave me a parking permit and instructions to the off site parking at the convention center.

Oh, no, we didn't have any kind of "parking permit."  I was thinking of driving directly to the off-site parking structure and completely skipping the drive into the pier area.  That won't work if I need to pick up a permit!

 

Hotel "park and sail" sound better!

[PlayTheAces]

4 hours ago, luvs to cruise said:

Is the parking structure blocked off for the Panorama embarkation?  In other words can you see if there are any open spots in the structure, or do you automatically have to use the offsite lot. 

Thanks 

Yes, the parking structure is blocked off.  You drive up, unload your luggage and give it to the porters.  A security person then gave me a parking permit to display on the dash with directions to the off site parking. Then you drive on to the off site parking.  You can't access the parking structure.

[LaRue1975]

Wow, we sail on the Panorama again in August and knew nothing about this. We generally get to the terminal early to avoid the traffic jam so will stick with that and take our luggage on the bus with us when we return to the offsite garage. We didn’t do that after our 14 day Alaska cruise on the Miracle last year and it was a 90 minute chaotic ordeal. A friend of mine was on the Radiance 4 day the end of May and stayed the night before at the Queen Mary. When they checked out they were offered the option of leaving their car in the Queen Mary lot for $20 per day. It’s a quick easy walk next door to the terminal so this could be a good option too. They did the priority self debark and were on the road by 7:15 but the Radiance gets into port an hour or so earlier than the Panorama does. 

Edited June 18 by LaRue1975

[shuang6]

19 hours ago, PlayTheAces said:

We just got off the Panorama and used the off site parking.  Here are my thoughts.  First, I was expecting the absolute worst and we actually had a pretty good experience.  We're Platinum so I had a 10:30 am check-in for embarkation.  I arrived at the port at 8:30 am.

 

I drove up and dumped the luggage.  They had porters waiting to receive it.  They gave me a parking permit and instructions to the off site parking at the convention center. It's about a ten minute drive, located off Ocean if you know Long Beach.  I placed the permit on the dash and the attendants saw it and directed me to the designated lot and a parking space.  Then we jumped on the shuttle bus and they drove us back to the port.  All in all it was a smooth operation and we were back to the port by 9:30 am or so.

 

Disembarkation was pretty easy as well.  Again, being Platinum we were off the ship by 9 am.  I checked the luggage the night before (getting too old to schlep it myself) and grabbed it in the terminal.  Facial recognition makes clearing customs a breeze for us. We proceeded to the bus parking area and got in a short line.  The driver loaded our luggage into the bus and drove us back to the off site parking.  I tossed everything into the car and we were on our way before 10 am.

 

It's certainly not as easy as parking in the terminal and I don't think I'll be booking anymore cruises on the Panorama because of being forced to park offsite.  However, it certainly wasn't as bad as I expected.  The day we left the convention center parling lots were deserted.  A week later when we returned they were packed with a considerable amount of traffic in the area so it depends on events taking place, though we were out of the lot fast so it's probably a non-consideration.  They charged me $20 a day and it should show up on my shipboard account charges in the next couple of days.  The terminal garage currently charges $23 per day.

 

So that's what we experienced on the June 8th cruise. I would recommend getting to the terminal early even if it means waiting a while to check in. Hope the info helps a bit.

Since the charge the offsite parking fee to the shipboard account, can I use my OBC to pay for it?

[mkcurran]

1 hour ago, shuang6 said:

Since the charge the offsite parking fee to the shipboard account, can I use my OBC to pay for it?

Yes. That's where all if my OBC went, actually.

[PaddleAddict]

I’m almost afraid to ask but has Carnival resolved any of this parking train wreck yet?  We sail Panorama August 3.

[john91498]

1 hour ago, PaddleAddict said:

I’m almost afraid to ask but has Carnival resolved any of this parking train wreck yet?  We sail Panorama August 3.

 

We use uber and have them drop us off at the Queen Mary instead of the hell that is going to the drop off/pick up area. It's a short walk from the Queen Mary to the terminal. You'll be stuck for about 45 minutes to an hour if you try to go through the parking structure.

[PaddleAddict]

3 minutes ago, john91498 said:

 

We use uber and have them drop us off at the Queen Mary instead of the hell that is going to the drop off/pick up area. It's a short walk from the Queen Mary to the terminal. You'll be stuck for about 45 minutes to an hour if you try to go through the parking structure.

Thank you so much. We will do this too. We’ll have two little kids with us, so we’ll just have to pack wisely I guess. Carnival has really dropped the ball with this parking situation! 

[jsglow]

8 hours ago, PaddleAddict said:

Thank you so much. We will do this too. We’ll have two little kids with us, so we’ll just have to pack wisely I guess. Carnival has really dropped the ball with this parking situation! 

How so? They are running two Vista Class ships plus Radiance from that port. There simply aren't nearly enough spaces in the lot at the pier. They've been using the Convention Center for at least a couple years now for one of the ships; a much better answer than an unrestricted free for all. That one happens to be the ship you are taking.  Seems to me like they have the procedure down reasonably well. And this thread has provided a wealth of knowledge as to how one might 'self help' via private options like Sleep/Park, etc. I hope you enjoy your cruise.

[pc_load_letter]

9 hours ago, PaddleAddict said:

Thank you so much. We will do this too. We’ll have two little kids with us, so we’ll just have to pack wisely I guess. Carnival has really dropped the ball with this parking situation! 

 

Agreed. We will not sail Pano again as long as parking is directed offsite.

 

Pre-covid, Carnival was set to build another parking garage onsite but I guess that is on-hold indefinitely. Lots of wasted land there with that dilapidated shopping area and parking lots that look to be just construction material storage.

 

I would have thought the Port of Long Beach would have made something happen by now.

[Itried4498]

For those concerned about the parking situation, it’s really not that big of a deal.  Lots of theatrics in this thread.

 

Garage parking has been tight ever since they added a third ship in early 2014.  Remember, the garage has 1450 parking spaces and the three ships combined had between 3,000 and 3,500 cabins.  Remember, the majority of passengers traveling out of Long Beach drive (or are dropped off).  Long Beach voted to expand the parking garage by 650 spaces… but the three ships operating today have over 5,500 combined cabins.  
 

Status quo, you drop passengers and luggage off, drive to the convention center parking garage, and take a bus back to the terminal.  It’s more tricky on the return because your passengers and baggage travel back to the garage.  Yes, it’s slightly more time consuming and irritating… but it’s not that big of a deal.  The biggest annoyance is that people ignore their arrival time, creating gridlock at the drop off area.  It doesn’t help either that rather than efficiently moving people, potters hunt for the largest tips.  If you arrive after 12pm, there’s typically no backup.

 

BTW, if you arrive early, consider walking from the convention center to the terminal.  It’s about 2 miles but there’s sidewalks throughout and it’s a lovely stroll.

[herm26]

We arrived a week and a half ago for the Panorama around 1:15pm (with an 11:00am arrival time) and waited 40 minutes in a long line of cars just to get to the drop off area through the back of the garage, and this was after we drove through two hours of LA traffic just to get there.  Arriving later than noon, at least for our sail date, did nothing to alleviate the situation. I did think that this was a big deal. I was the second to last car to fit into the off-site convention center lot and had to wait to go back in the shuttle bus with the employees working the lot. I have no idea what they did with the other cars behind me that did not make it into the lot. After arriving back at the terminal there were huge lines of people waiting outside in the hot sun and people were trying to figure out which was the correct line to join. Because we had an earlier boarding time we found an employee who directed us to the shortest line which was still at least 20 minutes to get into the building. It was not a pleasant set of circumstances to get onto that ship. I really don't think very many people will have any interest in walking from the convention center lot to the terminal. A driver with a backpack or carry-on bag would probably take 45-60 minutes to walk that, and the day I was there it was quite warm with the hot sun overhead. Maybe a different time of year perhaps. If not parking at the terminal is an option, I would definitely do it. If I ever cruise there again we'll probably just rideshare all the way to the Queen Mary even though it would be much more expensive than parking there. Avoiding that drop-off and re-parking mess would be worth the cost.