BICT car park question.

[JohnGc]

Going to book on line at Wilsons car park at Brisbane International Cruise Terminal for my 8 night cruise. Could any of our cruisers that have used it, please let me know if it is advisable to book well in advance. Looking at parking in the premier part hopefully under cover. Did you book an extra day just in case of any delays ?

 

Cheers John.

[Ozwoody]

8 hours ago, JohnGc said:

Going to book on line at Wilsons car park at Brisbane International Cruise Terminal for my 8 night cruise. Could any of our cruisers that have used it, please let me know if it is advisable to book well in advance. Looking at parking in the premier part hopefully under cover. Did you book an extra day just in case of any delays ?

 

Cheers John.

Hi JohnGc

 

We haven't booked any extra days, but we have booked Premier for the 5th Nov 8 nights, would think that is well in advance. 🤣

Does that help?

The Wilson site is a little challenging to use, IMHO, so I would recommend you book early.

Regards

John

[debmm]

I used the P 1 car park last week with no issues. Booked online about 1 week ahead. Tap the card you pay with to get in and out. There was someone at the entrance/exit gate to assist if you had any problems. 
I will probably park there again in November and will book a few weeks ahead. We came up from the Gold Coast so the convenience was great. Other options of getting to the terminal were time consuming and costly in comparison.
We walked off with our luggage and were on our way out of the car park about 7am.  P1 is a very short walk to the terminal. 
You can change or cancel your booking up to 1 hour before the start of your booked entry time. 
 

Cheers

Deb

Edited September 15, 2022 by debmm

[Aus Traveller]

We have used the BICT parking for two cruises so far and found it to be excellent. We booked a few weeks ahead, but that wouldn't be necessary. On both occasions there were only around a dozen cars in an area that could hold close to 200 cars. I did check out the number on line months ago and seem to recall it was 192.

 

A small number of the spaces in P1 do not have any cover. You don't book a specific space, but choose the best one available at the time. On both occasions we were able to park under one of the shade sails and quite close to the terminal. When we returned from our last cruise it was raining fairly heavily so we were very glad our car was as close to the terminal as was reasonably possible.

 

As debmm said, there was someone at the entry boom gate who helped check us in.

 

Parking at the BICT is the cheapest option at the moment. We like it because once we are in the car with our luggage, we almost feel like we are home.

 

I certainly wouldn't book an extra day, just in case. In the unlikely event that you were delayed by a full day, I'm sure Wilsons would either let you pay for an extra day or not charge you for it. After all, the delay would be caused by circumstances beyond your control.

[JohnGc]

Thank you all, sounds the way to go. I was a bit bothered because as you know the Quantum takes a lot of passengers and I wondered if the car park could handle it. It will be nice to disembark and just walk to our car for a short journey home. I appreciate your replies. Might sound a bit negative but I also thought if we were unlucky enough to end up with Covid at least they will let you drive home if you have your vehicle there.

 

Cheers John.

[arxcards]

9 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

Thank you all, sounds the way to go. I was a bit bothered because as you know the Quantum takes a lot of passengers and I wondered if the car park could handle it. It will be nice to disembark and just walk to our car for a short journey home. I appreciate your replies. Might sound a bit negative but I also thought if we were unlucky enough to end up with Covid at least they will let you drive home if you have your vehicle there.

 

Cheers John.

Parking has been easy so far with only one ship operating at a time out of the terminal. When it gets to the stage over summer and you have Quantum, Luminosa, Coral & Encounter all based out of the terminal, it will definitely be worth booking ahead to make sure.

[Aus Traveller]

10 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

Thank you all, sounds the way to go. I was a bit bothered because as you know the Quantum takes a lot of passengers and I wondered if the car park could handle it. It will be nice to disembark and just walk to our car for a short journey home. I appreciate your replies. Might sound a bit negative but I also thought if we were unlucky enough to end up with Covid at least they will let you drive home if you have your vehicle there.

 

Cheers John.

There are three sections to the carpark - two of them open air. Combined there would be several hundred parking spaces. On our two cruises (end June and end August) the vast majority of people were either lined up for taxis or seemed to be going on a shuttle bus. Before our June cruise, I was concerned that we might not be able to get an undercover space. I need not have worried. When we arrived there were only literally four or five vehicles in the vast P1 area. As cruising picks up pace and with the size of Quantum, there won't be so many spare spaces, but I am sure you will find a good spot. This would be more likely if you arrive at the start of the embarkation time or a little bit earlier. At that time, the disembarking passengers will have already left.

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

Parking has been easy so far with only one ship operating at a time out of the terminal. When it gets to the stage over summer and you have Quantum, Luminosa, Coral & Encounter all based out of the terminal, it will definitely be worth booking ahead to make sure.

That is so. When there are a few ships operating out of the terminal, the cars from passengers on the cruises currently under way will still be there.

[JohnGc]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

That is so. When there are a few ships operating out of the terminal, the cars from passengers on the cruises currently under way will still be there.

 @arxcards  as well. They are good points. My cruise on the Quantum is in January so could be very busy. I think I will be booking well in advance.  Thanks for the advice .👍

[Hogbay]

Yep depending on your car you are leaving under the solar panels or open air not suitable  for me .

[Aus Traveller]

10 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Yep depending on your car you are leaving under the solar panels or open air not suitable  for me .

My husband is mainly concerned about the possibility of a hail storm while the car is left for a week or so. He was OK with parking under the solar panel awning. It would give reasonable protection from hail. We don't care if a bit of wind-driven rain hits the car or if there is some sunlight on it.

[JohnGc]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

My husband is mainly concerned about the possibility of a hail storm while the car is left for a week or so. He was OK with parking under the solar panel awning. It would give reasonable protection from hail. We don't care if a bit of wind-driven rain hits the car or if there is some sunlight on it.

Hailstones are my worry as well. Portside parking has good undercover parking at a higher cost than  BICT, that does not bother me but I was trying to avoid being crammed on the shuttle bus for 15/20 min to the terminal.

[Aus Traveller]

21 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

Hailstones are my worry as well. Portside parking has good undercover parking at a higher cost than  BICT, that does not bother me but I was trying to avoid being crammed on the shuttle bus for 15/20 min to the terminal.

We liked the convenience of having our car parked close to the terminal. We didn't have to join the queue for the shuttle bus to Portside Parking.

[JohnGc]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

We liked the convenience of having our car parked close to the terminal. We didn't have to join the queue for the shuttle bus to Portside Parking.

Yes that is a big plus.Was there any traffic hold ups on embarkation getting out of the car park and the one road from the terminal ?

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, JohnGc said:

Yes that is a big plus.Was there any traffic hold ups on embarkation getting out of the car park and the one road from the terminal ?

Absolutely no traffic holdup. Because no traffic was coming i from side roads, the traffic flowed very well in just a steady stream.

 

The issue of waiting for the shuttle bus concerned me. With 15-20 minutes drive to  Portside Parking's facility, then time to load and unload, there would be a turn-around time for each bus of maybe 50 minutes or so. They would hire a few mini-buses, but there would still be quite a wait.

[JohnGc]

7 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Absolutely no traffic holdup. Because no traffic was coming i from side roads, the traffic flowed very well in just a steady stream.

 

The issue of waiting for the shuttle bus concerned me. With 15-20 minutes drive to  Portside Parking's facility, then time to load and unload, there would be a turn-around time for each bus of maybe 50 minutes or so. They would hire a few mini-buses, but there would still be quite a wait.

Thank you very much for the information . The decision has been made I will be parking at the terminal. Thats that ticked off my list.😄 👍

Edited September 17, 2022 by JohnGc

[OzKiwiJJ]

47 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

Hailstones are my worry as well. Portside parking has good undercover parking at a higher cost than  BICT, that does not bother me but I was trying to avoid being crammed on the shuttle bus for 15/20 min to the terminal.

We found the shuttle buses were OK when we parked at Portside in June. We just wore our masks. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

18 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Absolutely no traffic holdup. Because no traffic was coming i from side roads, the traffic flowed very well in just a steady stream.

 

The issue of waiting for the shuttle bus concerned me. With 15-20 minutes drive to  Portside Parking's facility, then time to load and unload, there would be a turn-around time for each bus of maybe 50 minutes or so. They would hire a few mini-buses, but there would still be quite a wait.

No wait at all either way. We got the last two seats on the bus going to the terminal and there was another waiting ready. 

 

After disembarkation there were two shuttles already at the terminal and no delays. 

 

Very efficient!

[JohnGc]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We found the shuttle buses were OK when we parked at Portside in June. We just wore our masks. 

Thanks for that. We have used them before the Covid and my wife's health issues when we cruised from Fishermans Island. I must admit they were very good. I  am just concerned about the closeness in the shuttle bus. We have to be extra careful. We have decided to go on the cruises and as Covid looks like it is here to stay, take as much care as we reasonably can on board, using the stairs etc. It's a pain but the alternative is to miss out on our love of cruising. 

[Aus Traveller]

18 minutes ago, JohnGc said:

Thanks for that. We have used them before the Covid and my wife's health issues when we cruised from Fishermans Island. I must admit they were very good. I  am just concerned about the closeness in the shuttle bus. We have to be extra careful. We have decided to go on the cruises and as Covid looks like it is here to stay, take as much care as we reasonably can on board, using the stairs etc. It's a pain but the alternative is to miss out on our love of cruising. 

On the Coral I found that usually I had the lift to myself. The ship wasn't full (although it will probably have more passengers as time goes by), and the lifts are so fast, you get to your destination quickly. This also reduces the number of people in the lift.

[JohnGc]

2 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

On the Coral I found that usually I had the lift to myself. The ship wasn't full (although it will probably have more passengers as time goes by), and the lifts are so fast, you get to your destination quickly. This also reduces the number of people in the lift.

Thats nice to know.Hopefully the Quantum will be the same. I did find when we went on the Ovation there was more than enough lifts and they were fast as well. Hopefully once onboard we will fill comfortable enough and find we were overly concerned. Thats the plan any way 😁

[joejoe 59]

3 hours ago, JohnGc said:

Thank you very much for the information . The decision has been made I will be parking at the terminal. Thats that ticked off my list.😄 👍

I put the Wilson's app on my phone, it's very easy to use.

[JohnGc]

38 minutes ago, joejoe 59 said:

I put the Wilson's app on my phone, it's very easy to use.

Good idea thanks. 😊👍

[newbris]

I got the impression from the Wilson booking website that you have to book the number of different part or full days you will be in a carpark, rather than elapsed time.

 

ie if you booked for entry at 2pm Sat and departed the next day at 1pm that would count as 2 days parking, not 1. Even though you only parked for 23 hours. Can anyone confirm this?

[Aus Traveller]

4 minutes ago, newbris said:

I got the impression from the Wilson booking website that you have to book the number of different part or full days you will be in a carpark, rather than elapsed time.

 

ie if you booked for entry at 2pm Sat and departed the next day at 1pm that would count as 2 days parking, not 1. Even though you only parked for 23 hours. Can anyone confirm this?

Presumably you are booking for a cruise. For parking, the companies usually charge for 8 days for a 7-night cruise because you are there on part of day 1 and part of day 7. This doesn't seem fair but that's how it is. 🙂