Mobile Al departure- where to stay? What to see pre-cruise

[Toddcan]

My wife and I live in Canada, and have booked a quickie inexpensive cruise on the Holiday to satisfy our addiction until our next cruise. We found an excellent deal out of Mobile, and will be driving down. The ship sails on Monday, and we are planning on a leisurely drive from Canada on Sat and Sunday before the cruise

 

The question is.. do we stay overnight somewhere north of Mobile (cheaper than downtown mobile hotels), or do we book right near the port and spend Sunday evening downtown.

 

So.. a few questions for those in the know..

 

1. Is downtown Mobile a business center (ie, no nightlife), or will things be happening on a Sunday night? I'm more interested in a nice selection of restaurants, not so much bars.

 

2. Are there any hotels in the area that have any special "sleep and park" packages for the length of the cruise, so we dont have to park at the port?

 

3. How much is it to park at the port?

 

4. If anyone has been to Mobile, or in my situation, what would you do the second (third?) time around? Sleep close to the port, or stay outside of Mobile?

 

5. If you suggest we stay outside of Mobile, I'm fine with that. We will be driving into Mobile on the I-65. Also, we are planning on arriving at the port at around 11am, so we can even drive for a few hours if you suggest we stay somewhere outside of Mobile.

 

Any other advice on Mobile is much appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help

[clackey]

The question is.. do we stay overnight somewhere north of Mobile (cheaper than downtown mobile hotels), or do we book right near the port and spend Sunday evening downtown.

 

So.. a few questions for those in the know..

 

 

2. Are there any hotels in the area that have any special "sleep and park" packages for the length of the cruise, so we dont have to park at the port?

 

3. How much is it to park at the port?

 

4. If anyone has been to Mobile, or in my situation, what would you do the second (third?) time around? Sleep close to the port, or stay outside of Mobile?

 

5. If you suggest we stay outside of Mobile, I'm fine with that. We will be driving into Mobile on the I-65. Also, we are planning on arriving at the port at around 11am, so we can even drive for a few hours if you suggest we stay somewhere outside of Mobile.

 

Any other advice on Mobile is much appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help

We went out of Mobile last December so I've researched some of these things. There are alot of nice places to stay that are not very expensive on I-65 when you get into town. It is probably cheaper outside of town but Mobile has so many things to see and do that we had to stay near the cruise terminal. We stayed 2 nights at the Battleship Inn. The USS Alabama and a sub, the USS Drum are on display there. We spent 4 or 5 hours prowling through both ships and then looked at several fighter planes.

 

If you need a hotel with parking, the Ashbury Hotel and Suites has parking but no shuttle service to the terminal. The only place with parking and a shuttle that I have found is the Raddison Admiral Semmes.

 

Parking at the cruise terminal is $75.

 

The food in Mobile would be one reason to drive like an Indy driver and stay in town as long as you can. The food at the Battleship Inn was very good. Some of the best seafood and shrimp is at Ed's Seafood Shed or Felix's Fish Camp. All three places will make you want to slap your mama for not feeding you like this when you were growing up.;)

 

Grab a couple of brochures at whichever hotel that you choose. There are all kinds of things to see and do in Mobile.

[Toddcan]

Fantastic information! Thank you so much.

[clackey]

Fantastic information! Thank you so much.

De nada, amigo.

 

I see that you are from Niagara. Nice place. We spent a week with our daughter in Niagara Fall, N.Y. and had to go to Canada. I must say that the people were alot friendlier on the Canadian side.;) I thought that I would have to find a hillbilly interpretor in N.Y. They wouldn't talk to an Arkie.

[Mystkl1]

clackey is right on with the information.

 

A few things I would add as a native of Mobile:

 

The downtown area has a lot of history to offer. Try looking at www.mobilebay.org for links to all of the hotels that offer packages as well as other information

 

Mobile was actually founded in 1702 (compared to New Orleans in 1718) and we like to think that New Orleans has copied its style from us. Mardi Gras in the US was actually started in Mobile. New Orleans may have made it bigger, but we have been doing it longer and there is a long history of Mardi Gras tradition here. There is a wonderful Mardi Gras museum within walking distance of many downtown hotels.

 

There are also many parks in downtown Mobile and several churches that are absolutely beautiful.

 

Fort Conde is a reproduction on a 1720's French fort and serves as the welcome/visitors center. Admission is FREE. Here, you can also catch a trolley that is FREE called MODA that is an electric (Environmentally friendly) trolley that makes about 20 or so stops along a 20 minute route around downtown Mobile.

 

Whatever you decide to do, welcome to Mobile and hope you enjoy your cruise and stay with us.

[Mysticks1]

I also would recommend eating at Eds Seafood Shed. It is my favorite restaurant here as well. It is just East of downtown on the Bay. You just take either of the tunnels east to get there. If on I-10 take the first exit to get to the battleship and Ed's is about a mile or so past the ship on your right.

I didn't see when you will be visiting us but there is also Bellingrath Gardens to see if you like beautiful flowers and landscaping. You could also take a side trip to Gulf Shores and the beaches there.

[mzloolue]

There are several Civil War era forts in the area.

 

Ft Gaines is on Dauphin Island and we got a ride on the Ferry over to Ft Morgan across the bay.

 

Once you ride across on the ferry you are almost to Gulf Shores.

The beach there is great.

There is a state park lodge right on the beach in Gulf Shores with reasonable rates. The lodge is just so so, but the beach is fabulous.

 

And you are also almost to Pensacola.

 

I think we are going to tour the Battleship USS Alabama which is a museum and is right there in Mobile.