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park and sail in Charleston


layteacher
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Just FYI for those looking...you're unlikely to find "park and cruise" type deals in the historic downtown Charleston peninsula area, which is where the passenger terminal is and where the "tourist" area is. Reason being that real estate is in short supply on the peninsula so parking is generally too limited for hotels to offer free parking during a cruise. You'll have more luck with the budget hotels across the Ashley River from downtown, in the West Ashley section of Charleston (Savannah Hwy area), or on the other side, across the Cooper River from downtown in the town of Mt. Pleasant. Hotels in those areas are more likely to offer park & cruise deals, and if they don't have their own shuttle, they are a short Uber/Lyft ride from the port downtown.

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  • 5 months later...

Anyone have any new experiences or hotels to share? I am considering the medical area downtown.

We are more interested in a place to park the car than in shuttle service. We are staying downtown Charleston after our cruise for a few nights, and it would be nice to be able to walk and pick up our car after getting settled in downtown. I found a couple of hotels with free parking that are about 1½ miles from our post-cruise hotel. The Holiday Inn Express has a park and cruise package, although I would rather stay at the Charleston Marriott. The Marriott has free parking; however, I cannot find a cruise package on their website. I am planning to contact them to ask, if I do not see anything in the next few months (our cruise is not until the end of 2019). I am researching until then to see if anyone has experience staying in this area.

 

Thanks, all!

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On 1/16/2019 at 8:37 AM, Mich3 said:

Anyone have any new experiences or hotels to share? I am considering the medical area downtown.

We are more interested in a place to park the car than in shuttle service. We are staying downtown Charleston after our cruise for a few nights, and it would be nice to be able to walk and pick up our car after getting settled in downtown. I found a couple of hotels with free parking that are about 1½ miles from our post-cruise hotel. The Holiday Inn Express has a park and cruise package, although I would rather stay at the Charleston Marriott. The Marriott has free parking; however, I cannot find a cruise package on their website. I am planning to contact them to ask, if I do not see anything in the next few months (our cruise is not until the end of 2019). I am researching until then to see if anyone has experience staying in this area.

 

Thanks, all!

Why not just part at the cruise terminal and then grab your car after the cruise and head to your hotel? Most hotels have an afternoon check in time, what do you plan on doing with your luggage after getting off the ship and before you can check into the hotel?

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On 1/17/2019 at 6:23 PM, TruckerDave said:

Why not just part at the cruise terminal and then grab your car after the cruise and head to your hotel? Most hotels have an afternoon check in time, what do you plan on doing with your luggage after getting off the ship and before you can check into the hotel?

I am asking about a hotel with parking during the cruise, because that is what we want to do - We are driving from MI and need a place to stay anyway; it would be foolish to book a room where I have to pay for parking or drive to the cruise port and then pay $80 to park while gone.

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We were pleased with the Best Western on Savannah Hwy.   Shuttle van free both ways.   Parking during the cruise is in a lot separate from hotel guests.   Front desk wants $150. cash deposit at check-in and pays it back at check-out.   This cruise terminal requires you to walk from parking lot with your carryons.   Hope for good weather !!

 

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On 1/16/2019 at 8:37 AM, Mich3 said:

Anyone have any new experiences or hotels to share? I am considering the medical area downtown.

We are more interested in a place to park the car than in shuttle service. We are staying downtown Charleston after our cruise for a few nights, and it would be nice to be able to walk and pick up our car after getting settled in downtown. I found a couple of hotels with free parking that are about 1½ miles from our post-cruise hotel. The Holiday Inn Express has a park and cruise package, although I would rather stay at the Charleston Marriott. The Marriott has free parking; however, I cannot find a cruise package on their website. I am planning to contact them to ask, if I do not see anything in the next few months (our cruise is not until the end of 2019). I am researching until then to see if anyone has experience staying in this area.

 

Thanks, all!

 

14 hours ago, Bearsthatsail said:

We were pleased with the Best Western on Savannah Hwy.   S

 

 

10 minutes ago, Mich3 said:

Thank you for the BW info, Bearsthatsail, although that is a bit farther out than we want to stay.

 

 

Alright, let me see if I understand correctly:

You are spending a few days post-cruise and already have a hotel lined up for that....I'm guessing at a hotel in the historic downtown area (?), since that's generally where tourists want to be.  But hotels in that area don't generally offer free parking/cruise packages so you are looking for somewhere to spend one night (?) pre-cruise and leave your car during the cruise.  For that, you want to be able to disembark and go to your post-cruise hotel, and then walk to your pre-cruise hotel to get your car and move it to your post-cruise hotel.  Is that your plan?

Since you want to be able to walk to get your car after settling in to post-cruise hotel, you don't want to stay in the Savannah highway area, and I'm guessing that means you don't want to stay in Mt. Pleasant either, since neither are considered walkable from downtown.  Just so you know, the medical area that you're considering is still going to be a couple of miles from the historic part of downtown.  If I've got your plans right, in the time it would take you to walk from the medical area to the historic area, you might as well stay in West Ashley (Savannah Hwy area) or Mt. Pleasant and just take an Uber to get your car post-cruise.

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Yes, Meg, that is correct. I think we are going to go with the medical area since it is only 1½ miles from our [historic] post-cruise hotel, which is not too far of a distance or time distraction for us (we walk 3 to 6 miles most days). I also saw that there is a free bus in the area with a stop by the Marriott (in case we really do not want to walk for some reason), and we have used this type of bus service in Savannah, New Orleans, and elsewhere. 

I had been hoping to find additional info about the medical area or experiences from anyone who has stayed at any of the hotels there. If no one has done this, I guess I will be providing new info after our cruise! 

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On 1/23/2019 at 8:06 AM, Mich3 said:

I had been hoping to find additional info about the medical area or experiences from anyone who has stayed at any of the hotels there. If no one has done this, I guess I will be providing new info after our cruise! 

 

What sort of info about that area are you looking for?  As you apparently already know, it's not the area where the history and tourist attractions are.  No real shopping in that area, and limited food options.   One exception being Hominy Grill.  I haven't been in years because parking near it is always a challenge, but assuming nothing has changed and you can get a table, they do a good breakfast or lunch weekdays, and brunch on weekends.

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Nothing specific. A tad curious though about if there is a reason people do not stay in this area more frequently pre-cruise. Seems like it makes more sense than the Mt. Pleasant or Ashley areas I have seen packages for. I was also surprised not to see a cruise package for the Marriott since I read they have a shuttle. As I said earlier, I am planning to call them and ask if I do not see anything show up in the next couple of months. Just checking to see if I could find out anything before then. 

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14 hours ago, Mich3 said:

Nothing specific. A tad curious though about if there is a reason people do not stay in this area more frequently pre-cruise. Seems like it makes more sense than the Mt. Pleasant or Ashley areas I have seen packages for. I was also surprised not to see a cruise package for the Marriott since I read they have a shuttle. As I said earlier, I am planning to call them and ask if I do not see anything show up in the next couple of months. Just checking to see if I could find out anything before then. 

 

I think the main reason cruiser travelers don't stay in that area is because cruise it isn't the historic district.  Like other tourists to Charleston, cruisers  often want to see the touristy part of the city pre- or post-cruise and the medical area doesn't cut it for folks who want to be able to walk to a multitude of restaurants and tourist sites.

As with historic district hotels, real estate anywhere on the downtown peninsula is limited and pricey.  Hotels downtown generally can't afford to have a lot of parking taken up by folks who are off on a cruise for a week, so you don't generally find park-and-cruise packages there, as you do at some properties in W. Ashley and Mt. Pleasant.  The Marriott cruise shuttle is probably geared toward cruisers who fly to Charleston and don't have a car with them. 

As for otherwise staying in the medical area vs. W. Ashley or Mt. P:  W. Ashley is generally cheapest, so for folks whose main concerned is the lowest price that's what they choose.  Of course, the trade-off is that they end up further from downtown, along Savannah Highway with strip shopping centers, car dealers, pawn shops and what all else.  Mt. Pleasant is actually pretty convenient to downtown Charleston if one stays in the multitude of hotels located right at the base of the Mt. P side of the Ravenel bridge...it's a quick easy car/Uber ride to the port, (closer tha W. Ash hotels) and Mt. Pleasant has its own attractions for pre- and post-cruise, including Boone Hall Plantation, Patriots Point, the Shem Creek waterfront area and its restaurants, other notable restaurants around town, and beach access via Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms.  🙂

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On 1/25/2019 at 7:26 AM, waterbug123 said:

 

I think the main reason cruiser travelers don't stay in that area is because cruise it isn't the historic district.  Like other tourists to Charleston, cruisers  often want to see the touristy part of the city pre- or post-cruise and the medical area doesn't cut it for folks who want to be able to walk to a multitude of restaurants and tourist sites.

As with historic district hotels, real estate anywhere on the downtown peninsula is limited and pricey.  Hotels downtown generally can't afford to have a lot of parking taken up by folks who are off on a cruise for a week, so you don't generally find park-and-cruise packages there, as you do at some properties in W. Ashley and Mt. Pleasant.  The Marriott cruise shuttle is probably geared toward cruisers who fly to Charleston and don't have a car with them. 

As for otherwise staying in the medical area vs. W. Ashley or Mt. P:  W. Ashley is generally cheapest, so for folks whose main concerned is the lowest price that's what they choose.  Of course, the trade-off is that they end up further from downtown, along Savannah Highway with strip shopping centers, car dealers, pawn shops and what all else.  Mt. Pleasant is actually pretty convenient to downtown Charleston if one stays in the multitude of hotels located right at the base of the Mt. P side of the Ravenel bridge...it's a quick easy car/Uber ride to the port, (closer tha W. Ash hotels) and Mt. Pleasant has its own attractions for pre- and post-cruise, including Boone Hall Plantation, Patriots Point, the Shem Creek waterfront area and its restaurants, other notable restaurants around town, and beach access via Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms.  🙂

 

I live in WA...so that is one redeeming quality about it. 😬

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On 1/26/2019 at 9:13 AM, TruckerDave said:

 

I live in WA...so that is one redeeming quality about it. 😬

 

Ha ha, yes there's that.  😉

West Ashley certainly has some really nice neighborhoods, but the Savannah Hwy "auto mile" , near most of the hotels, isn't one of them, LOL, as I'm sure you'd agree.

As a side note for anyone considering staying in WA vs. MtP or downtown for pre- or post- cruise visits, WA does offer better  access to several  historical plantation homes and gardens than the other areas do, including  Middleton Place, Magnolia Gardens, and Drayton Hall.  There is beach access on Folly Beach, via James Island, and the Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Angel Oak Park and several other sites. are much closer to this area than to downtown or Mt. P.   

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