HELP! Trip to the Miami Cruise Port

[digitalboi]

HI TMC! In 20 days we will be taking a cruise out of the Miami Cruise port. We live in Orlando so we will drive the MS down of course! My problem is, the parking lots at the cruise ports do not have any EV charging stations. A quick look at PlugShare show a lot of options around; my question is, Has anyone done this before? What is the best place to park for a week that won't cost me a small fortune and let me keep my MS plugged in and charged up for my drive home?
Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[kort677]

the one time I cruised out of miami I was certain to charge up prior to parking because as you noted there are no chargers at the garage and I couldn't even find a 110 outlet to use. the garage is most convenient for parking and for me remote parking wasn't an option, so just park the car with at least 200 miles and upon return you could stop at the plantation SpC for a top off.

 

[Shaz]

I too would like to hear peoples experiences as I will also be taking the same trip next year.

 

[digitalboi]

Thanks @kort677 for the suggestion. I am trying to avoid stopping twice if possible. Using trip planner I can make it there and back with only one 20 min stop in Fort Drum SC which is fine. If I can find a place to keep it plugged in while we are gone I don't have to worry about stopping at the Plantation SC at all. If not I'll have to stop there on the way into Miami to charge up before I let the car sit for a week (I'm only expected to arrive with 20% and I am afraid thats not enough of a buffer to leave it for a week.
I called around and every garage was either $25 or $35 a day just to park the car :-(

 

[jbcarioca]

I too would like to hear peoples experiences as I will also be taking the same trip next year.

By next year you'll almost certainly have Superchargers in Brickell, Wynwood, Aventura and Coral Gables. Thus you can charge locally before and after if you wish. In the meantime there are other solutions...

 

[kort677]

Thanks @kort677 for the suggestion. I am trying to avoid stopping twice if possible. Using trip planner I can make it there and back with only one 20 min stop in Fort Drum SC which is fine. If I can find a place to keep it plugged in while we are gone I don't have to worry about stopping at the Plantation SC at all. If not I'll have to stop there on the way into Miami to charge up before I let the car sit for a week (I'm only expected to arrive with 20% and I am afraid thats not enough of a buffer to leave it for a week.
I called around and every garage was either $25 or $35 a day just to park the car :-(

I believe that the costs to park at the cruise terminal was $15 per day however I couldn't find any outlets inside the garage. I would try to have at least a 50% charge when parking. enjoy.

 

[jbcarioca]

Thanks @kort677 for the suggestion. I am trying to avoid stopping twice if possible. Using trip planner I can make it there and back with only one 20 min stop in Fort Drum SC which is fine. If I can find a place to keep it plugged in while we are gone I don't have to worry about stopping at the Plantation SC at all. If not I'll have to stop there on the way into Miami to charge up before I let the car sit for a week (I'm only expected to arrive with 20% and I am afraid thats not enough of a buffer to leave it for a week.
I called around and every garage was either $25 or $35 a day just to park the car :-(

There are no places where you can leave it for a week plugged in that I know of. However, there is a Tesla HPWC and three J1772 at the Hampton Inn in Brickell where the parking is $3.00 per hour (I don't know daily rate). There are lots of decent places around there to pass a couple of hours while you collect your buffer.

The City of Coral Gables has J1772 in most city lots where 24 hour parking is $12, and level 2 charging is free. You cannot leave the car charging there but you can charge before and after. There are lots of local restaurants and shopping near any of the garages. An Uber to the port from there is, out of rush hour, $25 or so and about 20 minutes.

 

[digitalboi]

Thanks @jbcarioca & @kort677 for the info and advice! I figured I need 13% to drive back to the Plantation SC and 28% for degradation for the 6 days we will be gone... SO if I arrive to the port with 45% that would give me just enough to get back to the Plantation SC... 50% for some extra buffer. EVTripping is showing me only needing to charge for 17 min at the Plantation SC to arrive with 50% so it seems very do-able.
Only 13 days to go before we test this out, I will be sure to post and let you know how it all goes!

 

[Iluvpcs]

Resurrect question - thinking of a cruise in April and parking as well. Sounds like not even any 110v/12amp plugs to leave the car plugged in with eh?

 

[ggr]

Resurrect question - thinking of a cruise in April and parking as well. Sounds like not even any 110v/12amp plugs to leave the car plugged in with eh?

For the length of a typical cruise there's no need to leave it plugged in.

 

[digitalboi]

For the length of a typical cruise there's no need to leave it plugged in.

I wanted it plugged in to avoid the extra stop on the way home.
But @lluvpcs unless something has changed the only thing I found was paying an extraordinary amount to park at one of the hotels. In the end it wasn’t worth it, we parked in the port garage and stopped at the SC on the north end of the city. Let me know if you find any new info! We usually do a cruise every fall and go out of Miami or Canaveral.

 

[BerTX]

I was elated to find that ALL of the long-term cruise parking businesses ( four of them, I think) when sailing out of Galveston have at least HPWCs, some also have J1772s. The one we will be using in March has both of those, PLUS a large number of wall outlets (which is plenty for a 7 night cruise).

Too bad all of this foresight is concentrated in one cruise port! I suspect it is a result of competition improving service -- once one has something, they all have to do it.

 

[Snowstorm]

You should not loose much charge at all for 6 days, maybe 1-2% a day in Florida Apri if you have always connected on and likely only 0.5-1% a day if it is off (power save on of course). A 28% vampire budget seems overkill unless it is very cold. I would expect maybe 8-9% drain with always connected. Maybe only 3-4% if you turn always connected off and power save on. The key is to not use your app to check on the car or have any communication or logging tool that will keep it from going into deep sleep.

 

[rgedad]

ALL of the long-term cruise parking businesses ( four of them, I think) when sailing out of Galveston have at least HPWCs, some also have J1772s.

Yes - I have used the Port Parking facility at Galveston (Not the parking at the port). My Model X 100D is being delivered next week - so no experience - but I do several cruises a year and Galveston is just an ideal distance away for a nice pleasant drive from Dallas/Fort Worth. I just found out the Port Parking has has Tesla Wall Charger - with a 24 Foot Cable. Given the hail storms typically coming through in Texas - I always park indoor so I like the Port Parking. I live in Texas and given the distance to the nearest SC in Houston - I could probably make it back to the SC in Houston after the cruise, but it will be much more better to have margin - but again - I am a newbie.
we always get to the port a day early for a cruise. We have learned the hard way - and heard enough cruisers tales of late arrival - that stuff happens - and the ship is not gonna wait for you. The point of cruising is rest and relaxation - stressing out to get to the boat on time - is not an ideal way to start a cruise. So I was spending time trying to make sure I had a hotel in the area with a charge port so I could charge up before I parked it for the week or so. Now i can stay where we usually do -which does not have a charging port, and just let it charge up at the parking facility.

Nice to know all of the parking area have chargers, but I also really like to park indoors, and not all of the places have indoor parking.

Have one cruise planned out of San Diego - love to drive from Texas to San Diego - but the cruise is 28 days - and - well - gotta work to pay for the next cruise and 4 weeks is a long time to be out of the office.