Fort Lauderdale: Port Everglades

Parking at the port

The port's own garages are the closest option, and the port publishes its rates: $4 for 0 to 1 hour, $8 for up to 5 hours, a $20 daily maximum, and a $25 daily maximum for oversized vehicles, meaning anything wider or taller than a standard space. Hours between the five-hour mark and the daily maximum vary by vehicle type, and that middle schedule is not published.

If you sail Princess from Terminal 2, your garage is the Heron Parking Garage: 1,818 spaces, a 7-foot clearance, and an air-conditioned bridge with moving sidewalks into Terminal 2 from the garage's 5th floor. The Palm Garage, 1,966 spaces, serves terminals 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29.

Two things to know before you drive down. The port does not take reservations or pre-payment: "The port does not accept reservations or pre-payment for parking." And you pay on site, with cash, credit or debit, at machines on the first floor of the garages.

Parking off the port

Private lots and park-and-cruise hotels sit a few miles away and run a shuttle to the terminal. Most of them do not publish a rate on their own website; you only see it after you enter your dates. We have printed a price only where the business publishes one itself.

Lots that run their own shuttle

Park-and-cruise hotels

Booking sites

These are marketplaces. They resell space at hotel and private lots, and the price you see belongs to the marketplace, not to the lot.

Getting there

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) is 1.8 miles away, and the port advises allowing 45 minutes to an hour for the transfer process. The published average taxi fare from FLL to the port is $18 to $21, with the port noting rates can change without notice. From Miami, allow 2 to 3 hours; from Palm Beach, 3 to 4. Princess describes the port as about 2 miles from FLL and reachable by rideshare, shuttle or Brightline rail.

Flying in the same day? The port asks for at least 45 minutes between your flight landing and your check-in time, just to claim luggage.

Arrival and boarding

The port's own instruction is blunt: "Follow cruise line's assigned check-in time. To alleviate delays, do not arrive prior to assigned time." Everyone 18 and over needs government-issued photo identification at the security checkpoint before entering the port, and your luggage needs the cruise line's tags attached before you hand it to a porter.

Coming home, the port says passengers typically get off the ship between 7 and 9am.

Accessibility

The port states that every terminal is air-conditioned, fully accessible, and has free Wi-Fi, restrooms and seating. Terminal 2 has two elevators and three escalators, and an air-conditioned elevated bridge with moving sidewalks connects it to the Heron Garage, entered from the garage's 5th floor or the elevators outside the terminal.

Parking fees are waived only in three published situations: a Florida Toll Exemption Permit, a vehicle modified with ramps, lifts or hand controls, or a Disabled Veteran licence plate from any state, on the car parked there at the time. The port states plainly that agents will not waive fees for any other reason. A standard disabled parking placard is not on that list.