Port Canaveral- Terminal 5 Parking

[baldilocks]

Anyone used the Port Canaveral Terminal 5 parking lot? Is there a best time to arrive? How fast does it fill up? We are thinking about a 10:30 a.m. arrival time.

[villager70]

WE have used it 4 or 5 times in the last 12 months with no problem. WE  usually arrive around 1015 am.

[Joseph2018Baltic]

Never had an issue parking in any lot.  Arrive before your boarding time.

[Mum2Mercury]

Port Canaveral is easy to navigate. 

Yes to arriving just before your boarding time.  

One odd thing about Port Canveral:  you pay for parking when you enter the parking deck, not when you leave.  They have no attendants, so have your credit card ready.  

[ShillyShally]

5 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Port Canaveral is easy to navigate. 

Yes to arriving just before your boarding time.  

One odd thing about Port Canveral:  you pay for parking when you enter the parking deck, not when you leave.  They have no attendants, so have your credit card ready.  

Thanks!  Do you know if you enter at 10AM - does it presume/give you until 10AM on your exit day?  I'm assuming for a 6 night I'll need to pay for 7 days most likely though 6 - 24 hour stretches would be more accurate!

[Mum2Mercury]

I don't think the exact time you enter matters; after all, they charge you as you enter -- so how could they know exactly what time you'll leave?  Rather, if you're on a 6 night cruise, your car will be in the lot for a portion of 7 days.  They charge you for the 7 days.  

[molly361]

2 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Thanks!  Do you know if you enter at 10AM - does it presume/give you until 10AM on your exit day?  I'm assuming for a 6 night I'll need to pay for 7 days most likely though 6 - 24 hour stretches would be more accurate!

Doesn't matter what time you get there.  At PC they charge for both arrival and departure day.  They also do that at the offsite parking lots

[ShillyShally]

Just now, molly361 said:

Doesn't matter what time you get there.  At PC they charge for both arrival and departure day.  They also do that at the offsite parking lots

Perfect, that's what I figured and had pre-budgeted for!  11 days to go 🙂

[rolloman]

10 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

One odd thing about Port Canveral:  you pay for parking when you enter the parking deck, not when you leave.  They have no attendants, so have your credit card ready.  

Not true for every terminal. 

[OCSC Mike]

15 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

One odd thing about Port Canveral:  you pay for parking when you enter the parking deck, not when you leave.

 

This also leads to the accidental perk for B2B cruises... you only get charged for the 1st cruise since the system has no way of knowing you'll be there for more than one cruise (unless they've somehow fixed that in the past year).

Edited September 26, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[BND]

Last Nov we arrived around 1015 am and the T5 garage was full and as we were waiting in line to park, they started filling the small employee lot which filled up quickly.  We ended up parked on the outside of the fence around the small lot.  We were b2b and were concerned about that but the parking guy swore our car would be fine.  On turn around day we made sure our car was still there ( we could see it from the ship).  We had no receipt because the guys handheld ran out of paper and when he tried to reprint it, it wouldn't come up.   What had happened was we were the first cruise back after a TA (Jewel) and the arriving cars were at least twice what they expected so the lot filled up early.  They were putting cars wherever they could.  We're back in PC on Wonder at T1 in Jan and plan to arrive early even if it means sitting in our car for a bit.  Last time we were out of T1 on Harmony in Nov 2021 we had to park in overflow, right next to the terminal fortunately (before they filled that and went to the farther lot).   They need to add a couple more parking garages at PC as they have added some ships.  We always have our car with us.

[OCSC Mike]

31 minutes ago, BND said:

We're back in PC on Wonder at T1 in Jan and plan to arrive early even if it means sitting in our car for a bit.

 

Tons of garage parking if you get there on the early side 9:45-10am for my last 4 cruises out of T1 (Harmony, Indy x2, Wonder this past June).

 

We have a potentially crappy parking situation if we go on a last minute Allure cruise next month (it's on hold). Indy will still be there along with Wonder and all 3 ships are using T1. This is a weird 5-night cruise (1st one for Allure from PC) that leaves on a WED so everyone who parked for Wonder and Indy will be sitting there with no one disembarking to free up any spots. We also can't arrive early like we normally do.

 

It's a last minute cruise with a good price that we'd be squeezing in at a time my wife can't normally get away so it is what it is. I'm fine with a surface lot and if we get sent to a farther lot that requires a shuttle, so be it. I'm trying to go with the flow since it beats not getting an extra cruise. As long as I can park somewhere, I'll survive, but it's definitely not how I like to do things.

 

It's back to arriving early and parking in the garage for our previously booked Wonder cruises.

Edited September 26, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[Retired LEO]

30 minutes ago, BND said:

Last Nov we arrived around 1015 am and the T5 garage was full and as we were waiting in line to park, they started filling the small employee lot which filled up quickly.  We ended up parked on the outside of the fence around the small lot.  We were b2b and were concerned about that but the parking guy swore our car would be fine.  On turn around day we made sure our car was still there ( we could see it from the ship).  We had no receipt because the guys handheld ran out of paper and when he tried to reprint it, it wouldn't come up.   What had happened was we were the first cruise back after a TA (Jewel) and the arriving cars were at least twice what they expected so the lot filled up early.  They were putting cars wherever they could.  We're back in PC on Wonder at T1 in Jan and plan to arrive early even if it means sitting in our car for a bit.  Last time we were out of T1 on Harmony in Nov 2021 we had to park in overflow, right next to the terminal fortunately (before they filled that and went to the farther lot).   They need to add a couple more parking garages at PC as they have added some ships.  We always have our car with us.

With more larger ships coming to Port Canaveral they're in the process of building 2 more parking garages. 

[BND]

4 minutes ago, Retired LEO said:

With more larger ships coming to Port Canaveral they're in the process of building 2 more parking garages. 

Where are they putting them and when do they plan to be open?  I knew it had been discussed for a while.  We weren't the only ones affected over the last couple of years..

[orville99]

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Port Canaveral is easy to navigate. 

Yes to arriving just before your boarding time.  

One odd thing about Port Canveral:  you pay for parking when you enter the parking deck, not when you leave.  They have no attendants, so have your credit card ready.  

When we sailed on Mariner out of T5 in June, they still had attendants at the entrance to the ramp with CC readers. They processed our payment and gave us a little slip of paper with the date and ship printed on it to put on our dashboard. It looked like they were still working on converting the kiosks at the top of the ramp to take payments. We are back on mariner in two weeks, so hopefully they have the conversion completed.

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

When we sailed on Mariner out of T5 in June, they still had attendants at the entrance to the ramp with CC readers. They processed our payment and gave us a little slip of paper with the date and ship printed on it to put on our dashboard. It looked like they were still working on converting the kiosks at the top of the ramp to take payments. We are back on mariner in two weeks, so hopefully they have the conversion completed.

We sailed on Mariner out of T5 about 3 weeks ago.  They still had attendants at the base of the ramps and slips of paper for the dash.

[orville99]

2 hours ago, BND said:

Where are they putting them and when do they plan to be open?  I knew it had been discussed for a while.  We weren't the only ones affected over the last couple of years..

If you are sailing out of T1 and are on the ship looking at the shore, it appears that they are prepping a large area just west of and across the street from the existing garage. It also looks like they will be expanding the existing garage to the east and into the surface lot in front of the existing entrance.

Edited September 26, 2023 by orville99

[Mum2Mercury]

23 hours ago, molly361 said:

Doesn't matter what time you get there.  At PC they charge for both arrival and departure day.  They also do that at the offsite parking lots

Yes, you worded that better than I did:  regardless of your arrival time, they're going to charge you for both arrival and departure day.  That irks me, but nothing to do about it -- if, like us, you choose to park at the port.  

23 hours ago, rolloman said:

Not true for every terminal. 

True for the terminal from which Independence sailed recently. 

23 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

This also leads to the accidental perk for B2B cruises... you only get charged for the 1st cruise since the system has no way of knowing you'll be there for more than one cruise (unless they've somehow fixed that in the past year).

Quit talking about it!  They'll close this small loophole.  

[orville99]

23 hours ago, rolloman said:

Not true for every terminal. 

It is true for the two terminals (T1 and T5) that RCL currently sails from. I believe from what I've read coming out of the Port Authority board meeting minutes that the goal is to convert all cruise terminal parking garages to pay as you enter.

Edited September 27, 2023 by orville99

[rolloman]

22 hours ago, Retired LEO said:

With more larger ships coming to Port Canaveral they're in the process of building 2 more parking garages. 

And a new Terminal.

[DonnaMW]

Does anyone know if there are a limit of days you can park at garage

i have a trans in fall. Then returning on a trans. Longer then 30 days

???thanks

[SilkySal]

8 minutes ago, DonnaMW said:

Does anyone know if there are a limit of days you can park at garage

i have a trans in fall. Then returning on a trans. Longer then 30 days

???thanks

I do not know for sure, so would call the garage to ask that question. I am guessing they would say no for that long of a time frame, so you could do long-term parking at the airport, then shuttle to your ship. I had asked to park our truck at the Tampa terminal when we fly to Vancouver to cruise to LA and through the Panama Canal to Tampa, and was told no, so we are making other parking arrangements for that trip. Good luck and happy cruising!

[cruisegirl1]

New(er) parking fees 

At T1 and T5 you pay when you enter. Your receipt has an exit code. If you paid for one week but are in the lot for longer, the exit code does not work. In order to leave, you must pay for the days   (plus one) past the initial parking fee.

 

ex-7 N B2B cruise, pay for 8 days when you enter and another 8  to exit.  

plan accordingly. 
m

 

[Starry Eyes]

3 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

New(er) parking fees 

At T1 and T5 you pay when you enter. Your receipt has an exit code. If you paid for one week but are in the lot for longer, the exit code does not work. In order to leave, you must pay for the days   (plus one) past the initial parking fee.

 

ex-7 N B2B cruise, pay for 8 days when you enter and another 8  to exit.  

plan accordingly. 
m

 

So, every time someone loses their receipt or has to dig the receipt out of their wallet or someone has to pay for additional days, cars may line up at the exit?

[paross4]

4 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

So, every time someone loses their receipt or has to dig the receipt out of their wallet or someone has to pay for additional days, cars may line up at the exit?

We were there in December. Nobody checked anything when you exited the T5 parking garage. They just raised the gate and waved. 

Edited January 21 by paross4
Typo