Port of Long Beach - Parking

[Dolina]

We sailed on the Splendor in February 2019.  We were not allowed to park at the dock when we arrived around 10:30 am (priority boarding) and were sent to downtown Long Beach parking as others indicated. THERE WAS NO SHUTTLE!  Others were being picked up by Uber; however, husband and I are older (70's) and are not familiar with the Uber process.  Had it not been for a kind younger couple from Utah who offered us a ride in their Uber we would still be standing outside of the parking area in a bad area of Long Beach.  Expressed concerns to the Carnival Guests Services who offered no solution whatsoever.  Will never cruise out of there again.

[Rosefloater]

7 hours ago, Dolina said:

We sailed on the Splendor in February 2019.  We were not allowed to park at the dock when we arrived around 10:30 am (priority boarding) and were sent to downtown Long Beach parking as others indicated. THERE WAS NO SHUTTLE!  Others were being picked up by Uber; however, husband and I are older (70's) and are not familiar with the Uber process.  Had it not been for a kind younger couple from Utah who offered us a ride in their Uber we would still be standing outside of the parking area in a bad area of Long Beach.  Expressed concerns to the Carnival Guests Services who offered no solution whatsoever.  Will never cruise out of there again.

That's why we get there after noon.

[Hooked Already]

Just wondering if any of the parking issues have calmed down lately?  I have sailed many times out of Long Beach usually arriving between 9:30 to 10:00. But I have not sailed from there since 4th of July week 2018, on the Splendor.

 

I will also be leaving out of Long Beach on this upcoming June 29 2019 departure on the Splendor and I am  getting worried about the Parking situation after reading this.

[SadieN]

Rosefloater parked in the offsite lot back in February.  The shuttle worked for them.  

[Dolina]

We were told by the Uber driver, who lived locally, that they had stopped the shuttles in the area of the parking lots due to road improvement/construction in the area.  The parking attendant told us when we arrived that he had not seen a shuttle all day.  We waited about 1 1/2 hours before the sweet young couple let us share their ride.  No idea if it has improved since.  Carnival seemed to be clueless and I don't think they really viewed it as their problem.  Hope you have better experience.

[cbcruiser]

We just booked Panorama for next April.  We have cruised out of Long Beach several times using the Parking garage and never had a problem arriving early before 11:00 AM.  Has the situation changed?  Does anyone know when they expect the garage expansion or if its being built as we speak?  Panorama is supposed to arrive this November so you would think work would be going on expansion.

[Rosefloater]

On 5/30/2019 at 4:13 PM, cbcruiser said:

We just booked Panorama for next April.  We have cruised out of Long Beach several times using the Parking garage and never had a problem arriving early before 11:00 AM.  Has the situation changed?  Does anyone know when they expect the garage expansion or if its being built as we speak?  Panorama is supposed to arrive this November so you would think work would be going on expansion.

We were on the Inspiration a few weeks ago. Ask the agents at the port and they have no idea what is happening with parking or if they are going to put in more elevators in the dome for when the Panorama arrives. We plan on waiting to book the Panorama until Carnival and the port figures out the parking situation.

[katstoy]

On 4/23/2019 at 7:31 PM, Hooked Already said:

Just wondering if any of the parking issues have calmed down lately?  I have sailed many times out of Long Beach usually arriving between 9:30 to 10:00. But I have not sailed from there since 4th of July week 2018, on the Splendor.

 

I will also be leaving out of Long Beach on this upcoming June 29 2019 departure on the Splendor and I am  getting worried about the Parking situation after reading this.

 

Hope you are getting excited for your upcoming cruise!!!  There's another thread on this board regarding Long Beach from a person who works at the carnival terminal.  I asked about parking for the Saturday departures and here is part of their response:

 

"The terminal opens 10:30 AM daily, and now they have began opening it at 10 AM on Saturdays due to the volumes of people coming in. But I would not plan on coming to the parking structure before 10 AM since people are still coming back from their cruise, driving away/being picked up. Sometimes when I have been dropped off at the terminal, it is total chaos over there between nine and ten on Saturdays."

 

So when you get back from your cruise can you report back as to how the parking situation went?  Thanks and have a great trip!!

 

[Hooked Already]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 5:05 PM, katstoy said:

 

Hope you are getting excited for your upcoming cruise!!!  There's another thread on this board regarding Long Beach from a person who works at the carnival terminal.  I asked about parking for the Saturday departures and here is part of their response:

 

"The terminal opens 10:30 AM daily, and now they have began opening it at 10 AM on Saturdays due to the volumes of people coming in. But I would not plan on coming to the parking structure before 10 AM since people are still coming back from their cruise, driving away/being picked up. Sometimes when I have been dropped off at the terminal, it is total chaos over there between nine and ten on Saturdays."

 

So when you get back from your cruise can you report back as to how the parking situation went?  Thanks and have a great trip!!

 

Sorry it took me so long to respond after the trip. Reality, such as work set in. Darn. But as for the week of our cruise, Starting on June 29 2019, the majority of the parking structure was off limits.

Apparently someone was holding a large scale event at the Queen Mary and reserved the majority of the available space for that night.

We had to go into down town Long Beach to public parking structure A. Free bus service was provided and the cost of parking was $54.00 cheaper. However the 45 min wait after debarkation to return to the structure was frustrating.

 

As always the cruise itself was great.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Hooked Already
missed words

[katstoy]

On 7/19/2019 at 4:16 PM, Hooked Already said:

Sorry it took me so long to respond after the trip. Reality, such as work set in. Darn. But as for the week of our cruise, Starting on June 29 2019, the majority of the parking structure was off limits.

Apparently someone was holding a large scale event at the Queen Mary and reserved the majority of the available space for that night.

We had to go into down town Long Beach to public parking structure A. Free bus service was provided and the cost of parking was $54.00 cheaper. However the 45 min wait after debarkation to return to the structure was frustrating.

 

As always the cruise itself was great.

 

Well the parking situation sucked, but glad you had a great trip!  I'm surprised that Carnival will let the QM do that with the parking structure, especially on a cruise departure day. 

 

Did you happen to notice any construction in or near the current parking structure?  Panorama is about for months away and I'm wondering how they're going to handle about 2000 more passengers and perhaps several hundred more cars! 

[Hooked Already]

 Well the situation on parking has not improved. I Know someone that left on the splendor on Saturday July 27 and they were not allowed to park at the parking structure. The structure had once again been rented for the weekend. No notice was sent out.

 

The worst part is that my friend waited in line for the curb side drop off for is wife and luggage, then went to park. It was at this point that he was notified that he could not park and the structure was closed. His wife was stuck waiting for 1.5 hours for him to get to the Public parking structure, wait for the bus and return to the terminal. 

If this Continues I feel that Carnival and the City of Long Beach will once again lose a brand new ship like happened when the Splendor first came out although for different reasons.

Some of these reasons To Include Economy at the time, Swine Flu Outbreak, Passengers robbed during ship sponsored excursion and Damaging a Coral reef in the hawiian islands And Sailing the same exact cruises 90% of the time due to logistics.  Several of these reasons are in no fact due to Carnival.

 

How ever as history shows Carnival will not be able to continuously sell the new Panorama if the local population can not even depend on being able to park on embarkation day. 

[katstoy]

15 hours ago, Hooked Already said:

 Well the situation on parking has not improved. I Know someone that left on the splendor on Saturday July 27 and they were not allowed to park at the parking structure. The structure had once again been rented for the weekend. No notice was sent out.

 

I wonder what agreements the QM has with Carnival?  Must be good as I can't see Carnival giving up over $40,000 in parking revenue!  (That assumes about 300 cars parking for the week at $140 per car, which is a lot more then letting cars park for one or two nights over the weekend.)  Did a little internet digging and found out that the QM had a Snoop Dog concert on the 27th.  Hope there is no such event for my November Miracle trip.  

 

If they don't fix this then there will be a big issue with the Panorama.  How big was the offsite garage that you parked in?  Makes me almost want to book a room at the QM the night before the cruise and park with the Inspiration cruisers on Friday!

[cathyz]

We always arrive the day before the cruise and stay next door at Hotel Maya and use their park and sail package.  They hold our car and shuttle us over and back.  Easy but not cheap.

[sanmarcosman]

On 7/31/2019 at 10:48 AM, katstoy said:

 

I wonder what agreements the QM has with Carnival?  Must be good as I can't see Carnival giving up over $40,000 in parking revenue!  (That assumes about 300 cars parking for the week at $140 per car, which is a lot more then letting cars park for one or two nights over the weekend.)  Did a little internet digging and found out that the QM had a Snoop Dog concert on the 27th.  Hope there is no such event for my November Miracle trip.  

 

If they don't fix this then there will be a big issue with the Panorama.  How big was the offsite garage that you parked in?  Makes me almost want to book a room at the QM the night before the cruise and park with the Inspiration cruisers on Friday!

You have made some false assumptions. The Dome and the parking garage are owned by the Port Authority. The Port has a long term lease with the QM Hotel for the garage. The QM Hotel in turn sub-leases the garage to Carnival. It's part of the contracted lease that the QM Hotel has garage space priority as needed to accommodate their hotel guests.

 

I realize this reply is to an old post but am sharing for those who may be interested.  

[katstoy]

23 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

The Dome and the parking garage are owned by the Port Authority. The Port has a long term lease with the QM Hotel for the garage. The QM Hotel in turn sub-leases the garage to Carnival. It's part of the contracted lease that the QM Hotel has garage space priority as needed to accommodate their hotel guests.

 

 

Well now this makes a whole lot more sense!  Thanks for the clarification.  Too bad Carnival is upping the passenger count on the Panorama with no fix to the parking situation in site.  But it's good for the local hotels with the park and cruise options.   For only $40 more than the cost of parking in the dome structure booked one (one night hotel and one week parking) for my 2020 Panorama cruise as it's the same weekend as the Gran Prix and who knows what the parking  and traffic will be like for that Saturday! 

[sanmarcosman]

18 minutes ago, katstoy said:

 

Well now this makes a whole lot more sense!  Thanks for the clarification.  Too bad Carnival is upping the passenger count on the Panorama with no fix to the parking situation in site.  But it's good for the local hotels with the park and cruise options.   For only $40 more than the cost of parking in the dome structure booked one (one night hotel and one week parking) for my 2020 Panorama cruise as it's the same weekend as the Gran Prix and who knows what the parking  and traffic will be like for that Saturday! 

We stayed at the Maya last year and left the car there for the week, rate was $199. In February 2020 same cruise package and same room is $354 for the one night. No thank you, we're driving from San Diego. 

The Grand Prix course usually encircles some of the major parking lots !!!

[QABri]

For anyone interested in updates on the parking structure expansion, you can dig through the files here and find out more info. Basically it was delayed once already because of comments during the public comment period. Hopefully it went through without issues this time. http://www.longbeach.gov/lbds/planning/environmental/reports/  Look for the one titled "Long Beach Cruise Terminal Improvement Projects".

[katstoy]

14 minutes ago, QABri said:

For anyone interested in updates on the parking structure expansion, you can dig through the files here and find out more info. Basically it was delayed once already because of comments during the public comment period. Hopefully it went through without issues this time. http://www.longbeach.gov/lbds/planning/environmental/reports/  Look for the one titled "Long Beach Cruise Terminal Improvement Projects".

 

Interesting.  Thanks for posting this.  You'd think they'd have this all approved farther in advance so that it could all be completed before the new ship arrives.  Sounds like there's way more to do to accommodate the Panorama than just adding to the parking garage.  Hopefully she fits!!  Looks like it's going to be a cluster-F until all the construction is completed!  Ship sails in about six weeks from now - EEK!

[QABri]

3 minutes ago, katstoy said:

 

Interesting.  Thanks for posting this.  You'd think they'd have this all approved farther in advance so that it could all be completed before the new ship arrives.  Sounds like there's way more to do to accommodate the Panorama than just adding to the parking garage.  Hopefully she fits!!  Looks like it's going to be a cluster-F until all the construction is completed!  Ship sails in about six weeks from now - EEK!

Yeah, things definitely aren't where they should be considering the ship is on her way!

[douggw]

This is what I received from the City of Long Beach when I asked about the elusive Lot A I've read about on here:

The only parking structure we have overnight parking for, which would allow overnight parking for a whole week, is Lot A (50 E. 6th St. Long Beach, CA 90802). With a monthly pass, per the parking agreement by the City, vehicles need to be moved every 72 hours. For the Carnival cruises, there is an exception made for Lot A so customers can pull a parking ticket as they enter the lot and pay the daily amount ($12.00) per day once they are ready to leave.

[douggw]

I got an email back from Long Beach City saying they only let you park at the Convention Center and/or the City Lot A for the 3 and 4 days cruises now....and NOT for the Panorama 7 day.  I wonder how they control it?