Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Port of Charleston

bauerdogs

By bauerdogs,
in East Coast Departures

Recommended Posts

rebeljohn

rebeljohn

Posted
Posted
Can anyone tell me, if I park my car at the port, can I walk to some stores near by, or do I have to take a taxi?????? Thanks, Ron

 

You will be parking in a warehouse, and will not be able to park until 12 noon. We arrived early in Charleston, and just parked nearby until they started letting us drive up at 12..........

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mrtractor

mrtractor

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know which hotels in Charleston allow you to leave your car in their parking lot for the week if you stay with them either pre or post cruise? Someone said there was a website with that information.

 

Thanks in advance!!!

 

MrTractor<-----always hates to pay for parking....:mad:.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
canadiangirltoo

canadiangirltoo

Posted
Posted
Does anyone know which hotels in Charleston allow you to leave your car in their parking lot for the week if you stay with them either pre or post cruise? Someone said there was a website with that information.

 

Thanks in advance!!!

 

MrTractor<-----always hates to pay for parking....:mad:.....

 

 

Check out this thread, it has a lot of information:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=649604

 

We just came back from cruising out of Charleston and stayed at the Best Western King Charles Inn. This is a lovely hotel in the historic district, within walking distance of the port and I highly recommend it. They will allow you to leave your car there, but they charge $7.00 per day (as opposed to $15.00 at the cruise terminal).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
flashdog_1

flashdog_1

Posted
Posted

even board the ship, you can walk back out? I think I read that in Charleston you drop your bags in one place and then get on a bus to go to the ship.

 

I know you can get off the ship, but the question is about getting back to the place you caught the bus that takes you to the ship. In other words, does it also run in reverse order for you on boarding day, or only on disembarkation day? Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
flashdog_1

flashdog_1

Posted
Posted
YOu will just have to go back through security to get back on the ship.

 

Does NCL have those machines that read your room key with your photo visible to them? Every ship I've been on had them, but I've read on Cruise Critic that some do not. Sorry, I cannot remember if it's NCL. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
flashdog_1

flashdog_1

Posted
Posted
You will be parking in a warehouse, and will not be able to park until 12 noon. We arrived early in Charleston, and just parked nearby until they started letting us drive up at 12..........

 

Can taxis etc. release passengers (drop bags also?) before noon to start to board Majesty? I see in the quote above that you are not allowed to park until noon. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
flashdog_1

flashdog_1

Posted
Posted
The gates are not opened until noon, so no buses, vans, taxis cars, or pedestrians get in before noon unless they are there to pick up passengers debarking.

 

Seems that there ought to be a better way. Now that the time to be checked in is two hours prior to sail away, that leaves only 2 hours between the time they open the gates at noon and two p.m., 2 hours before sail away. Sounds like they will be asking for chaos and bad tempers!

 

Surely the security people know when all disembarking passengers have gotten off. When that happens, I don't know why they would not radio to the gate to tell them to start loading people on the buses going back to the ship (whereas all morning they've been going back emptyafter discharging disembarking passengers, if I understand this correctly).

 

Maybe it's just so the crew has a couple of hours with no passengers, or maybe the shifts change on the gate at noon. (I'm being sarcastic trying to understand why this one port of all the US ports has this rule).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mrtractor

mrtractor

Posted
Posted

Keep in mind, this is not the Port of Miami or Port Everglades. The Charleston port area is just too small to accomodate a lot more. They need the space and the time from when they get all the passengers off the ship until the new passengers show up to bring in the supplies and provisions for the next week.

 

It may seem that they are not very accomodating, but it's not that at all. They are just trying to manage all the logistics with the limited space they have. And the requirement of being on board by 2pm is a security requirement put on the cruise line and the port by Homeland Security. We just returned from a cruise out of there and didn't have any problems getting on or off the ship. The only hangup was the shuttle bus from the parking area to the pier. We stood outside the last security checkpoint waiting for the bus for a good 10 minutes waiting for a bus ride of about 100 yards. But checkin for Latitudes members was a breeze. Not so much for non-L passengers, but not horrible.

 

I'd like to see Charleston get a newer NCL ship, but I don't think they can handle one of the newer 3,000 passengers ships as a port of embarkation. And nobody it seems is building ships much smaller than that other than the ultra-luxury lines. And I can't afford those!!

 

Get to Charleston in the morning and walk around. Sightsee, get breakfast, enjoy the view from the seawall. Then around noon, work your way over there. Two hours is plenty of time to embark. Enjoy your cruise and don't sweat the little things!

 

MrTractor<-------would sail from Charleston again, no question..........

Link to comment
Share on other sites
flashdog_1

flashdog_1

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the info.

 

We'll be driving down the day before we sail, staying at the Marriott Downtown/Riverside, going to the Swamp Fox for dinner, and hopefully taking the hotel's shuttle to the pier the next morning, er lunch time:).

 

When you say the gates are not open, I assume that means you cannot even drop your luggage and walk back into town. So we'd be burdened with the suitcases before 12 if the shuttle gets there prior to that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
BlueHerons

BlueHerons

Posted
Posted
Check out this thread, it has a lot of information:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=649604

 

We just came back from cruising out of Charleston and stayed at the Best Western King Charles Inn. This is a lovely hotel in the historic district, within walking distance of the port and I highly recommend it. They will allow you to leave your car there, but they charge $7.00 per day (as opposed to $15.00 at the cruise terminal).

 

This is a great hotel and you can walk to the port from here. It is much much nicer than your average Best Western.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BarstoolDreamer

BarstoolDreamer

Posted
Posted

We did this cruise last year and throughly enjoyed ourselves! Many hotels in Charleston have special cruise deals that include 1 night in their hotel, free parking and a shuttle to the pier. This is really a good way to go, and we found that the cost of the room was just a few dollars more than parking at the pier.

 

I would recommend that the morning of your cruise that you stay at the hotel, relax and pick up last minute things. In most hotels the check out time is 11, so I would not rush that morning!

 

Charleston is a beautiful city, and not to be missed. Save going to the market though till the day you get back. Since you leave the boat early there is plenty of time to walk the market. Last year my daughter and I started the market while my husband, with the suitcases, took the shuttle back to the hotel, then met up with us at the market. (it was a win-win!!!) After the market be sure to drive to the battery and also see rainbow row!

 

Have a great time on your trip!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...