Safe Cruise Parking-Miami

[BlueHerons]

There has to be somewhere to park that is safe other then the the $20 a day at the port or you would think that these other lots would be out of business by.

 

Because Miami has so many other problems going on, the police don't care that these places are ripping off tourists.

 

I've preached until I'm blue in the face that there is NO safe parking outside the Port of Miami but some fool always comes along and insists I'm wrong.

 

Miami is a very corrupt city and someone is always trying to scam you. The parking business scams the tourists so no one cares.

 

No one.

[wejustcruise]

Thanks for all the info people we have made up our mind to just park at the port. All of you all are great for help.

[jackdiamond]

Because Miami has so many other problems going on, the police don't care that these places are ripping off tourists.

 

I've preached until I'm blue in the face that there is NO safe parking outside the Port of Miami but some fool always comes along and insists I'm wrong.

 

Miami is a very corrupt city and someone is always trying to scam you. The parking business scams the tourists so no one cares.

 

No one.

How long have you resided in Ft. Lauderdale?

[fyrmnjim]

We just used Safe cruise parking for our trip last week on the Pearl. We brought our 31 ft RV. The lot has moved permanently to NW 8th St. it was ridiculously easy to find off of 95. The lot is fenced and we parked the RV along the side under the EL. Plenty of room, normal spacing, it is paved, and you keep your keys. We waited about a 30 miin wait to get to the port. less than 10 to get back. We were on 95 by 8:30. No problems whatsoever.

[jackdiamond]

It has been a while since we were in the Miami area; hence, I cannot offer any personal experiences. However, I have met one person who often travels there on business; and, he opines that if you visit the rentless or various work areas you are safer if you are armed.

[kdawg954]

Because Miami has so many other problems going on, the police don't care that these places are ripping off tourists.

 

I've preached until I'm blue in the face that there is NO safe parking outside the Port of Miami but some fool always comes along and insists I'm wrong.

 

Miami is a very corrupt city and someone is always trying to scam you. The parking business scams the tourists so no one cares.

 

No one.

 

You definitely have it in for Miami lol

 

But I can't disagree that it is a very corrupt city, it definitely is . . . but the 2 times I did outside parking I had no issues at all. It was MUCH smoother than the Radisson Port Parking in Port Canaveral that gets good ratings on here.

 

Police can't monitor every business practice in Miami. There is bad business going on in every major city in America. We are lucky enough to be able to visit websites and get reviews/opinions on places and hopefully make good decisions on our own to avoid these type of places.

 

You can't dismiss EVERY offsite parking option in Miami if you have not experienced them all. That isn't fair to the ones who are trying to run legit operations.

[jackdiamond]

kdawg954, your post is very informative; and, is apparently based upon your own personal experiences. I eschew believing posts which are dogmatic and not supported by a reasonable factual foundation.

[mafig]

I believe BlueHerons is trying to help and warn people.

 

I always take the advice of a local. As a local I'm sure she reads many incidents in the local paper as well as on the local news.

 

I give her credit. Sometimes I wonder why she bothers, though.

[kdawg954]

I believe BlueHerons is trying to help and warn people.

 

I always take the advice of a local. As a local I'm sure she reads many incidents in the local paper as well as on the local news.

 

I give her credit. Sometimes I wonder why she bothers, though.

 

I am also a local and watch Channel 7 news every morning. . . of course there are instances of crime in Miami, Southbeach, downtown Miami . . . sometimes near the port. Yes there have been documented instances of "offsite" port parking issues.

 

I've read about the same issues a time or two at offsite parking in Port Everglades and at Port Canaveral as well. People want value. There is a reason why the ports charge $15 to $20 . . . highly rated offsite places charge $8 to $10 . . . yet people are still looking for that $4.95 a day coupon so they can save money on parking and create topics on relatively unknown parking spots to justify their deal.

 

Millions of cruisers, cruise out of these ports every year and a good share of them use offsite parking for their parking needs. Every year there are less than a handful of "major" incidents. Sure you have places with slow shuttles, misplaced keys, uncovered gravel parking lots, etc. and these places have respective reviews to reflect their good & bad service.

 

However when a cruiser uses an offsite parking option in Miami . . . not once, but twice, and both times report it as a "positive experience" and the reason he even tried it is because of the "positve experiences" of other cruisers . . . that has got to hold some weight instead of completely dismissing "any option" w/o trying them.

 

I'll be the first one to tell you . . . if you can swing the $20 per day, park at the port when cruising out of Miami . . . or any other port for that matter. But Premier Cruise Parking on NE 2nd Ave in the 5 level parking garage was solid twice for me . . . 60% less than parking at the port and my car was in the same condition as I left it and I was able to keep my keys. Shuttle was a 15 minute process going and coming back and the vans had good A/C.

 

It's all good to warn people of the several poorly reviewed offsite parking options near the port of Miami, and share the incidents of these parking lots to give them a heads up of the chances they could be taking when parking offsite but you have to somewhat respect the positive experiences at offsite parking spots as well. It almost feels like instead of warning people, it comes off as scaring people and I don't think it needs to be stated in such a manner.

 

Use your head when choosing to park offsite. If I'm in a newer car and I just came in from a long road trip, I'd want to park at the port for convenience sake and just have my car under a garage away from the heat/rain pounding it could take while away on a cruise. If your a local like me and park your car outside in the heat/rain every day, drive in it everyday and its not a big deal, if I can save $75 over the course of the week to use as OBC on my cruise just to park offsite and shuttle, I want to know all the experiences to make my decision . . . good and bad.

[neptuno]

We drive and park off site @ POM and Port Everglades sometimes upto four times a year. So far so good. We have been well served by premiercruisepark@bellsouth.net repeatedly. I have recommended them numerous times on this forum. They own ramps at both ports, and are not the middleman like Global who charges extra to sell their parking. The location in Miami is 1415 NE 2nd Ave. Book direct with the owner.

[gelo7]

Port of Miami.

[neptuno]

Port of Miami.

 

POM safe? That is an oxymoron! Even the expensive $20/day ramp has a police log as thick as a phone book. Just don't bring your Mercedes.

[BlueHerons]

You definitely have it in for Miami lol

 

But I can't disagree that it is a very corrupt city, it definitely is . . . but the 2 times I did outside parking I had no issues at all. It was MUCH smoother than the Radisson Port Parking in Port Canaveral that gets good ratings on here.

 

Police can't monitor every business practice in Miami. There is bad business going on in every major city in America. We are lucky enough to be able to visit websites and get reviews/opinions on places and hopefully make good decisions on our own to avoid these type of places.

 

You can't dismiss EVERY offsite parking option in Miami if you have not experienced them all. That isn't fair to the ones who are trying to run legit operations.

Kdawg, my sister married into a very prominent political family in Miami. The stories my father in law has told would turn your skin inside out. I completely feel comfortable painting all these parking people with the same scam brush. FWIW, she and my BIL are both doctors in Miami, they've seen it all!

 

 

 

I believe BlueHerons is trying to help and warn people.

 

I always take the advice of a local. As a local I'm sure she reads many incidents in the local paper as well as on the local news.

 

I give her credit. Sometimes I wonder why she bothers, though.

 

Thank you for the kind words mafig. I've pretty much given up on trying to warn people about off site parking.

[mafig]

You're welcome.

 

Last week I was on Trip Advisor and looked at some posts regarding parking in Miami. There was a local there, someone who lived and worked in Miami .... gave the same advice as you. And as you, they were having to defend their "motives" and had to deal with the "I parked there once last year and had no problems."

[kdawg954]

Kdawg, my sister married into a very prominent political family in Miami. The stories my father in law has told would turn your skin inside out. I completely feel comfortable painting all these parking people with the same scam brush. FWIW, she and my BIL are both doctors in Miami, they've seen it all!

.

 

I've seen plenty in Miami as well, I have close family and friends in Miami Gardens, Miami Lakes, Doral, Kendall and Hialeah. I used to be in the downtown/south beach areas once a week. I know the city very well and I personally don't care for it that much. It's cool for a club night or sports event/concert or a family outing, but I'm glad to drive back up to Broward when I'm finished.

 

The language barriers, bad drivers / roads suck . . . just not a fan of the area.

 

That being said, I have to give honest opinions of off site parking experiences that I've had and both were positive. Ultimately the idea of having to spend $20 to park a day for an entire week doesn't sit well with "everybody". Some people are on a shoestring budget to make their family vacation happen and saving $60 here or $100 here helps along the way.

 

Not sure of your financial state, but with your family having "political ties" and your Sister and BIL are both doctors, I could imagine the extra money to park at the port isn't going to hurt them like it would hurt someone who may not have it like that.

 

Off topic, I mean why anybody would stay at the Quality Inn on Broward Blvd / I-95 before a cruise out of Port Everglades is beyond me . . . but people do it every week because their rates are much cheaper than the Embassy Suites/Gallery One type hotels, they shuttle you to the airport and to the cruiseport for free and include breakfast/internet. I mean on top of the rooms being crappy, the area behind the hotel is one of the worst in Broward County . . .yet people continue to book this hotel because it fits their budget. Trust me, I'd roll the dice on parking offsite at Port of Miami any day rather than staying in that area over night.

 

Spirit Airlines is awful. Small seats, bad customer service, more delays than average, extra charges all over . . . but if you can save money with them, people are going to book.

 

Cheap car rental agencies that have terrible cars/service out of FLL all over the place, people still use them because they saved money.

 

If there is a way to get something accomplished at a lesser price, people have shown they are willing to "roll the dice" to save $$$. It's just the way it is.

 

Which is the reason why I "can't" discount "every" offsite parking spot in Miami, especially ones that I've personally tried and found the service to be satisfactory.

 

People should understand the "cause for concern", do their research and make a conscious decision based on that and their own personal circumstances.

[fyrmnjim]

Well, all I can go by is what I personally experienced last month. After reading both this forum and Trip Adviser, I decided to give Safe Cruise parking a try. I had zero issues and no one else who was there both before and after the cruise had any issues either. In fact, one of the attendants checked to make sure all my windows and vents were closed in our RV so it wouldn't get wet inside during a pop up storm.

I know opinions vary, but I saved $90 over what the port parking was ($110/$200) and was on I95 heading home before 9am. If we ever drive to Miami for a cruise again, I will park here.

[busyone]

I recommend parking at the port. Two years ago we used a company that is still in operation and worried about our car for the entire cruise because the lot was in such a bad section of the city. Then we had to wait over an hour for the return shuttle when we returned after our cruise. A year ago we used the port parking--expensive but much more satisfactory. This year we tried a different shuttle company that someone told me was very good. They take reservations so they knew exactly how many they need to plan for so we expected adequate transportation to the port. We were so surprised. They only had two vans transporting passengers. We got to the garage to park at 12:10 and were in line behind at least 50 other passengers. We were still waiting in line at 1:15for a shuttle to take us to the ship. We saw passengers behind us in line walk down to the street from the fifth level of the garage and call a cab because they were afraid they would miss their ship! We finally reached our ship about 1:30. Remember, we were not the last ones in line. If I have to sail from Miami again, I will just use the port parking. The money we saved at the shuttle lot was not enough to offset the stress related to the shuttle.

[fendbass]

because I refuse to cruise from that dump (are you reading this NCL?). We have gone out of there twice in about 7 years, both times, paid the outrageous fee for the Port Parking, becaue, like everyone else, I researched the off-site parking

 

There are just so many other choices in Florida (I live in the Tampa Bay area). Ft Lauderdale is an easy 1-day drive, stay overnight, and leave the car at Park and Go. Port Canaveral can be done in about 3 hours, parked last time at Raddison Cruiseport Parking, and, of course, Tampa, where I can take Super Shuttle

 

Folks, the only way that you can make your voice heard is with your wallets. If the cruise lines start sailing out of Miami with a large number of empty cabins, maybe something will be done about this

 

Yeah, like that's going to happen

[gck1249]

Just got dropped off at the pier by Safe parking, and it was a breeze. We pulled in checked in and on our way. We had to wait about 10 min for them to load up the van with people and bags. We were given a sticker for our return trip. I didn't get a receipt from them only from pay pal but it was a non issue, they had my name and info at check in. The area might not look the greatest but they have a huge gate so it felt secure. As long as the return next week goes as well I would have no issues using them again. Now on to the getaway and some fun!!

[hobie33]

No way in hell would I EVER leave a vehicle in a lot under the Dolphin Expressway. No. Way.

 

Miami is an insane, crooked, crime ridden city with about a quarter of the population being illegal aliens with a corrupt police force. I am not exaggerating.

 

Been in Miami for 40 years, great place, were are you from, la la land?

[EddyT]

We just used Safe Cruise Parking in Miami for 10 day cruise (3/16-3/26/15) on the Norwegian Pearl. See the handful of bad reviews and just wanted to say we had a Excellent Parking experience. Preregistered online and we paid $100; would have been $200 at the port. Remember they park 100 of cars a week so always will have a handful of problems just like you would if you parked at the port...

 

We arrived at the Safe Cruise Parking lot at 10:45am on 3/16. Don't drive thru best part of town to get there but area is secured by 8-10 ft. chain wired fence in paved, open lot. Greeted by attendant who removed our luggage from our car and rolled it over to & placed it on shuttle. I checked in with gentleman at desk who gave me yellow 'smile' sticker to catch shuttle back to parking lot at end of cruise while attendant took our keys to park the car. Came back over and handed keys back to me; I did make sure to see where the car was parked. Waited in Air Conditioned Shuttle about 10 minutes to see if others would arrive for shuttle and then were taken to port. Dropped off at port at NCL Gate within 10 minutes and was instructed to put yellow 'smile' sticker on shirt when departing ship at end of cruise and go to Area B to be picked up.

 

Did do self assist when leaving ship and we were off by 8:45am. Came off ship and Safe Cruise Parking had 2 gentleman with yellow Safe Cruise Parking collared shirts waiting in Area B. They saw my sticker and directed us to van and we were on our way within 5 minutes back to parking lot. We arrived in parking lot within 10 minutes and in car and on our way out of Miami by 9:15am. As i said no complaints; had same experiences when parking offsite in Port Canaveral & Ft. Lauderdale, too...

 

Cruise was also nice :-)...

[ready2cruzagain]

Has anyone used Safe Cruise Parking lately? Oh and please, if you have not used them I am not looking for a guess.

Edited May 11, 2015 by ready2cruzagain

[tlw440]

Has anyone used Safe Cruise Parking lately? Oh and please, if you have not used them I am not looking for a guess.

 

I would like to know too. Anyone

[menahelet]

I've used Premier Cruise Parking Port of Miami

1400 Biscayne Center 1415 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL, 33132. It is an indoor garage - locked at night and during the hot days in Florida most delightful to come back to a cool car.:)

[AVAD]

This thread is older. Any reports of off site parking out of Miami this year?

I have read all the warnings, etc and know about Miami, so don't need that. We are taking a 12 day cruise and know thousands of people park at the off site lots every week with no issues.

Considering Premier or Safecruise parking and would like recommendations.

Thanks.