Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Norfolk pre-cruise hotel?

1cruznmama

By 1cruznmama,
in East Coast Departures

Recommended Posts

1cruznmama

1cruznmama

Posted
Posted

We like to stay at Country Inn and Suites and I have located one on Joliff Road-Chesapeake. Is this a decent area? Is it too far from the pier? We will be driving in and don't necessarily have to stay near the pier.

 

Thanks for any info...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nauticaz24

nauticaz24

Posted
Posted

Hey there. I live in the area. Your hotel is about 20-30 minutes away depending on traffic and all of that. As far as area, it's ok. Its kind of out there as far as the area, you are not going to be close to stuff to do other than eating and shopping. A better area would be to book in the Greenbriar area of Chesapeake. Stay out of Norfolk if at all possible

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KroozFoolz

KroozFoolz

Posted
Posted

That area should be fine, so if you like Country Inns and Suites, book it. There is a mall not too far away with the usual restaurants - The Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Applebee's, etc - also a Super Walmart and Sam's and Food Lion, if you need to pick up any last minute essentials. You could also go by and see my mother for me. :D

Maquest puts the distance at 13 miles, the time less than 20 minutes to the port, though traffic through the tunnel has been known to change that, so allow some time for delays there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nauticaz24

nauticaz24

Posted
Posted

the entire Hampton Roads area (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth) is all near each other. You can drive anywhere in these areas in an hour or less unless the traffic is very bad. Virginia Beach, your best best would be to stay near the oceanfront. From there to the pier is probably no more than 30 mins, you just get on 264 and follow it the opposite direction. I would not stay in Hampton, Portsmouth, Newport News, Suffolk (the Country Inn you are referring to is almost in Suffolk), or Norfolk. So that leaves Va Beach and Chesapeake. Virgina Beach has a lot more to do, but Chesapeake is nicer and very convienent to everything. Staying in the Greenbriar section will have you minutes from a Highway on ramp that will take you to 264 and will be about 15 minutes from the pier. There is a mall in Greenbriar and tons of restaurants, stores, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tiyana4

tiyana4

Posted
Posted
We like to stay at Country Inn and Suites and I have located one on Joliff Road-Chesapeake. Is this a decent area? Is it too far from the pier? We will be driving in and don't necessarily have to stay near the pier.

 

Thanks for any info...

 

I can actually see the Pier from my office building. If there are any specifics you would like to know, I'd be happy to help.

 

Just out of curiousity, have you taken parking into consideration? The parking garages in downtown Norfolk run around $14 per day. Have you considered a Park-N-Fly hotel?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
1cruznmama

1cruznmama

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I can actually see the Pier from my office building. If there are any specifics you would like to know, I'd be happy to help.

 

Just out of curiousity, have you taken parking into consideration? The parking garages in downtown Norfolk run around $14 per day. Have you considered a Park-N-Fly hotel?

 

No because we are driving in instead of flying. I have a little one that's terrified of flying which is why we picked Norfolk. It's more driveable than New York.

 

Thanks for the help....:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WendyVF

WendyVF

Posted
Posted

Downtown Norfolk near the cruise terminal is absolutely beautiful and completely safe. There are tons of restaurants as well as shopping and museums. The Norfolk Cruise Terminal is part of the downtown waterfront and is connected to Nauticus (a museum). If you can do a park and fly there I would absolutely recommend it. Another nice area is Towne Center in Virginia Beach. There is a Westin and a Hilton Garden Inn. There is a lot of upscale shopping and restaurants in that area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
1cruznmama

1cruznmama

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for all the replies:)

 

I had considered the hotels close to the port but some of the reviews weren't too good. We are planing to visit the museum and the battleship before we board the cruise ship. We visited the USS Alabama in Mobile and really enjoyed it and we hope this is just as good.

 

thanks again

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Capt_BJ

Capt_BJ

Posted
Posted
Thanks for all the replies:)

 

I had considered the hotels close to the port but some of the reviews weren't too good. We are planing to visit the museum and the battleship before we board the cruise ship. We visited the USS Alabama in Mobile and really enjoyed it and we hope this is just as good.

 

thanks again

 

I worked on Main Street Norfolk, across the street from the Marriott thru May of last year. The Marriott is a perfectly fine motel and location. There is was a Shula's Steak House in the building. Sheraton was in the middle of a large refurbishment when I left. I recall a Clarion Suites on Granby that's wonderful and a fairly new Holiday Inn Express close to Mac' Mall that we routinely contracted blocks of room and held conferences in. If they now offer a cruise park it sounds good. The entire Granby Street area is busy at night and is a mile of small resturaunts. I liked Stirling's Steak House. And two blocks away is MacArthur Mall with a food court + Max and Erma's ( a very good Chili's type place), California Kitchen, and Kinkade's SteakHouse.

 

The battleship, unfortunately is not like visiting the Alabama...cuz it is/was still on the roles of US reserve ships, you could not go inside....only walk the decks. Don't know if that changed yet. If you have the time, across the street from the mall is the MacArthur Center...aka museum. Lot's of displays.....

 

My only "don't go" is 'Waterside" .... it looks good from the outside but don't. Or just go into Jillian's (a resturaunt and arcade type place) but leave directly. This is a BIG young-adult hangout at night and in my opinion NOT family friendly....at night. I did take my kids there during the day on Saturday and regularly ate lunch there myself. But Fri Sat nite ... no way! You can safely walk the park/waterfront behind Waterside at night, on the river, but inside is PARTYTIME so I stay out.....

 

Secret hint....there is a Portsmouth {} Norfolk ferry that makes three stops one of which is behind Waterside. I think it is a dollar cash (I had a card) ... cheap harbor tour!!!!!! Ride it all the away around to your starting point....about 30 minutes.

 

Factiod - BAE Shipyards / Norfolk Ship Repair is where Disney has had their drydocks done for both ships. I watched them out my office window.

 

******************

The Jollif Motel you reference was still under construction when I moved. (I lived about a mile away) But the references to Greenbriar cite the advantage of Greenbriar Mall as proximate, and easy entrance to 464. The Jollif motel is at Chesapeake Square Mall, adjacent to a ramp for 664 and about a mile from the 664/264 interchange ... The primary difference is the resturaunts available near each mall.

 

****************

Last two Norfolk hints: stay downtown and eat at either....

 

if you want to walk to, Hell's Kitchen, http://home.hamptonroads.com/dining/detail.cfm?id=1039

 

or if you don't mind getting back in the car you can have a Norfolk fav' and a cone off the machine that made the ORIGINAL ice cream cone

http://www.doumars.com/

 

{I offer those cuz you have kids with...I'd go to Sterling's!!!!! Better than Shula's!!!!!!}

 

Have fun and enjoy Norfolk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
morgan1312

morgan1312

Posted
Posted
I can actually see the Pier from my office building. If there are any specifics you would like to know, I'd be happy to help.

 

Just out of curiousity, have you taken parking into consideration? The parking garages in downtown Norfolk run around $14 per day. Have you considered a Park-N-Fly hotel?

 

Can you tell me some hotels in the area that offer park-N-fly? We've used this service in Philly and find it a pretty good deal, pay for the hotel for 1 night and leave your car there for the week with a shuttle to take you to and from the airport. Do they do the same for the cruise terminal down there?

 

Thanks,

Janet

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Janet524

Janet524

Posted
Posted

While we're "local" (Williamsburg), we decided to go to Norfolk the day before our cruise in May 2007 and take in the Chrysler Museum and have lunch at Todd Jurik restaurant (I think I spelled that wrong). We stayed at the Radisson and did the "park & sail" package. If I'm remembering correctly the cost was under $100. It included one night's lodging, dinner, breakfast the morning of the cruise, parking and shuttle service to and from the pier. The hotel was just fine, the area was fine - only a couple blocks to MacArthur mall and a few blocks to the Chrysler Museum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lvtotrvl1

lvtotrvl1

Posted
Posted

I would also recommend staying in Norfolk..The Marriott is nice and perfect as far as location to everything. The Courtyard by Marriott would be another. So much to see and do in that area. My 2nd choice would be Va Beach..(but I'm a little partial, since that's where I live). You can take a walk down the boardwalk or beach, and there are plenty of restaurants and shops located right there. It will be about 30 min to the port but it is a straight ride right down 264....Have fun!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
WiseSky

WiseSky

Posted
Posted

The cruise terminal has it's own parking lot on Monticello Ave and I think it's $10 a day for parking. It's fenced and we have aprked there on several cruises and had no problem. There are buses that take you to the ship from there. Enjoy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
flycess

flycess

Posted
Posted

Well, I just booked this cruise for my husband and myself and our (adult) daughter. We have a Jr. Suite for DH and myself and daughter has an inside. We have never sailed with RCCL before. Any suggestions for us "newbies"?

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
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • 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...