Carnival Panorama Parking at Long Beach

[Ak4n3]

I have an upcoming cruise on July 27th, 2024 . Does anybody have any recent  information or feedback regarding the parking situation?  I'm thinking of taking the Uber however we are 8 in our party and we live close enough to not need a hotel. 

 

Any insight will be helpful.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I think Panorama is still using the parking at the terminal. Which by the way is a nightmare. Get there early. Getting into the parking area can take 45 minutes.

[Ak4n3]

Thank you for the information. I am getting anxious as we are now going in a slightly bigger group and logistics are becoming a concern.  Uber costs are too high compared to parking ourselves when I checked.  

[Are.we.there.yet?]

The Panorama is parking at the terminal again?  I thought they were still being directed off-site.

[Ak4n3]

Just got an email his morning:

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Yep!  We had your exact situation in May when we sailed on the Panorama.  We were a party of 8 and most of us live 30-40 miles from the port.  We pondered Uber but we figured it would still be cheaper to just take 2 cars.  Parking off-site was a pain in the ---.  I've heard getting an Uber on the back-end can also be challenging so that contributed to our decision.  If all of your travel mates are able bodied, (ours weren't) I heard you can walk to the Queen Mary to request your Uber to get better results.

 

I've been following along on this topic because we sail on the Firenze on July 30th so I'm also curious how the parking situation might impact us.  It was never good there, even with the smaller ships.  I've also heard that sometimes the Firenze and the Panorama are in Cabo together so if you're there as your last stop, I'll wave to you!  🙂

[Ak4n3]

This is the first time I’m organizing the extended family cruise.  I’m sure we are ok to walk from the Queen Mary but taking the uber is very expensive. Probably going to ask a friend to drop off half the party.  Or I make everybody pack light.  LOL. Wish us luck and enjoy your cruise as well.  
 

 

Edited July 21 by Ak4n3

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Pack light?  All 8 people?  Hahahaha!!!!!  🙂

 

I definitely wish you luck!  Have a great family cruise!!!!!

[moviegal]

Yeah, just sailed Panorama and the off-site parking was a MESS. We ended up flying in and taking an Uber. Make sure you ask to be dropped at the QUEEN MARY, it's so much faster. It's a short walk over to the cruise check-in terminal. I would not deal with the current parking situation there if you can avoid it.

[herm26]

Check out similar topic in Carnival thread for more info. I just posted a recent experience there.

[Ak4n3]

Just got back from my cruise July 27- Aug 3.  Pardon the typos as I want to get this out before I lose my thoughts.  
 

We arrived around 845am-ish for our 1130am arrival time.  There wasn’t much of a traffic at that time. We waited for less than 10 mins under the terminal sign.  There was only one lane for cars going thru the drop off area and that part is slow going.  After unloading my passengers and luggage I had to ask the porter where I can find the parking flyer so I can be allowed to park at the Convention center.We got at the convention center 915 but were not allowed to park until 10 am.  So we joined the line to get in while waiting for the first of the shuttles of departing passengers to arrive  and free up parking spots.  We got back to join our cruisemates back at the terminal.  At about 1030am, the traffic already reached the bridge and  four lanes of traffic combined to form a massive gridlock.  Shuttle buses have their dedicated entrance so they are not bothered by the traffic.

 

If you can be dropped off by the uber or a kind friend at the Queen Mary, that will be the quickest way to get on.

 

Returning is another story.  If you can, take the earliest departure possible for checked luggage.  i made a mistake of picking 930am checked luggage.  Our group was called at a bit after 10.  It took us until past 11 to get out of the ship, thru customs and on the shuttle.  Got on the road closer to 1130am.

 

so that was our experience. I hope this helps.

 

 

[Ak4n3]

On 7/22/2024 at 3:42 PM, Are.we.there.yet? said:

Pack light?  All 8 people?  Hahahaha!!!!!  🙂

 

I definitely wish you luck!  Have a great family cruise!!!!!

I don’t know how but we managed to fit 8 people and 3 large and 3 hand carry sized luggage in our Odyssey.  What sorcery is this! 😁

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Hi Ak4n3,

 

I am SERIOUSLY IMPRESSED with your sorcery!!!  We just got off of a 5 day sailing on the Firenze with 5 people and we had 4 large bags, a large garment bag, 4 carry-on suitcases and a backpack and arrived in a Surburban!  LOL!!!!

 

Admitedly, we over packed and we also brought a case of soda in one of the carry-on bags for our DD.  The rest of us had the drink package but she just wanted soda so we brought it on.

 

I hope you had a great family trip.  We really enjoyed the Firenze.

 

Tina  🙂

[ArmchairQB]

On 8/4/2024 at 12:00 AM, Ak4n3 said:

Just got back from my cruise July 27- Aug 3.  Pardon the typos as I want to get this out before I lose my thoughts.  
 

We arrived around 845am-ish for our 1130am arrival time.  There wasn’t much of a traffic at that time. We waited for less than 10 mins under the terminal sign.  There was only one lane for cars going thru the drop off area and that part is slow going.  After unloading my passengers and luggage I had to ask the porter where I can find the parking flyer so I can be allowed to park at the Convention center.We got at the convention center 915 but were not allowed to park until 10 am.  So we joined the line to get in while waiting for the first of the shuttles of departing passengers to arrive  and free up parking spots.  We got back to join our cruisemates back at the terminal.  At about 1030am, the traffic already reached the bridge and  four lanes of traffic combined to form a massive gridlock.  Shuttle buses have their dedicated entrance so they are not bothered by the traffic.

 

If you can be dropped off by the uber or a kind friend at the Queen Mary, that will be the quickest way to get on.

 

Returning is another story.  If you can, take the earliest departure possible for checked luggage.  i made a mistake of picking 930am checked luggage.  Our group was called at a bit after 10.  It took us until past 11 to get out of the ship, thru customs and on the shuttle.  Got on the road closer to 1130am.

 

so that was our experience. I hope this helps.

 

 

We were on this same cruise.  Had an 11:30 checkin time.  We were at Disneyland and took an Uber from Anaheim at 10:30 with The Queen Mary as our destination.  The drive was uneventful until we reached the first sign for The Queen Mary. (it is up the road from the 2 terminal signs).  From there it took an hour to get to the Queen Mary gates.  Several people were walking with their luggage.

 

Unfortunately our Uber driver spoke no English.  He entered the "queue" in the right most lane and I could not convince him to get left until we were very close to the gate and by then we were caught in the traffic trying to merge right to get into the Panorama port entrance.

 

Once inside the Queen Mary gate we were dropped off at an intersection of where the Panorama port traffic enters the Queen Mary parking lot to exit.  The laneway down to the picnic tables was blocked and so we had a fair walk to the ship.  We saw 10 or 15 sets of persons waiting to be picked up by Ubers and based on that I booked the Carnival shuttle for our trip back to LAX.

 

Once we made the right turn at the picnic tables the lines for checkin were very close.  We walked to the 11:00-11:30 line and walked right in.  Checked in, walked right through security and boarded right away.  Probably no more than 15 minutes from the point of entering the building until we were on the ship.

 

I echo getting off early.  We had group 22 (estimated disembarkation at 10:00-10:20) and were called to leave the ship at about 10:15 with what felt like 50% of the pax.  The lines snaked around the atrium and around the elevator back to the staircases and down the cabin hallway.  Lots of separated families and high tension.  When we got to the hall, finding our luggage wasn't easy as it wasn't where it was supposed to be as tagged. (it was close but not in the exact area). Took an hour from getting into line until we walked out of the building.

 

Carnival shuttle was not easy to find as it wasn't signed.  All of the parking shuttle buses were signed.  Just find a person in an orange vest or with an iPad.  They will direct you to the correct bay #.  Once on board we waited 20 minutes for the bus to fill and we were on our way.

 

Just a note on the shuttle to LAX.....  When you book online there are 2 times: 9AM and 9:30AM.  When I purchased at the service desk on the ship I asked about the last bus and was told it is when the last passenger has left the ship.  So don't worry about missing the 2 buses as they actually run continuously.

 

BTW, don't eat at LAX.  $20 for a premade sandwich.  Ridiculous, even for an airport!

Edited August 11 by ArmchairQB