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Fort Lauderdale: Port Everglades
The busiest departure port in South Florida, and one of the easiest to reach. Here is what the port itself publishes.
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| Port address | 1850 Eller Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 |
|---|---|
| Princess terminal | Cruise Terminal 2, 1801 SE 20th Street. The port says Terminal 2 "services Princess Cruises." |
| Terminals in total | Eight: 2, 4, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29 |
| Distance from FLL airport | 1.8 miles |
| Distance from Miami (MIA) | 27 miles |
| Parking, daily maximum | $20, or $25 for oversized vehicles |
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.
Read how excursion booking works first, including what happens if a tour runs late. Then compare independent tours on Shore Excursions Group and Viator.
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Search shore excursionsMore tours on ViatorParking 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 Most of them do not publish a rate on their own website; you only see it after you enter your dates.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 By The Ports | 100 Fronton Blvd, Dania Beach. Rate not published on their site. Shuttle included for up to four passengers, $10 round trip for each extra passenger. Shuttle runs 7:00am to 2:00pm, roughly every 15 to 30 minutes going out. Booking online is recommended but not required, and they publish a full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. |
|---|---|
| Gold Coast Cruise & Fly Parking | 312 SW 24th Street, Fort Lauderdale. Rate not published on their site. They state an air-conditioned shuttle takes you to your terminal and drops you at the curb. Frequency not published. Online booking, or 954-522-0665. |
| Park 'N Go Cruise (The Parking Spot) | 1101 Eller Drive, the closest of these to the port. Rate not published. The location page lists shuttle service to the terminal and uncovered valet parking, but does not confirm cruise-terminal routing or timings, so ask before you book. |
Park-and-cruise hotels
| Rodeway Inn & Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport / Cruise Port | 2440 W State Road 84. Their Park, Stay & Cruise package includes "up to 10 days of on-site complimentary parking" and a free shuttle that drops you in front of the terminal and collects you on return. Package price and shuttle times not published. |
|---|---|
| Holiday Inn Express Ft. Lauderdale Cruise-Airport | 1500 SE 17th Street Causeway. Publishes overnight self-parking at $10.00 per night and says park-and-cruise packages are available, without publishing the package price. Their complimentary shuttle to the airport runs 5:00am to 11:45pm; a cruise terminal shuttle is not published on that page. |
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.
| Tropical Airport Parking | Lists hotel lots in Dania Beach and on Griffin Road from $6.00 a day at SpringHill Suites, with a three-day minimum charge, up to $12.00 a day valet at the Marriott with a five-day minimum. Each listing shows fixed shuttle departures to Port Everglades at 10:30am, 12:30pm and 1:30pm. |
|---|---|
| Book2Park | Lists Park By The Ports at $8.99 a day, self-park, with a free shuttle running 7:00am to 2:00pm. Some listings show as unavailable. |
| SpotHero | Lists nearby garages and hotel valet with "starting at" prices from about $14.70 to $39.91. Their Port Everglades page does not mention a cruise shuttle at all, so check how you would get from the space to the terminal before booking. |
The night before is the cheapest insurance you can buy. A late flight or a traffic jam on embarkation morning can cost you the whole cruise, and the ship will not wait. Every hotel near this port is on the map just below, with live prices, so you can pick by how close it is to the ship.
Fort Lauderdale's airport and Port Everglades are close neighbours, which makes this one of the easiest ports to fly into the day before. Plenty of hotels between the two advertise a cruise shuttle.
- Hotels picked for how close they are to the port
- Ask the hotel about a cruise shuttle and its price before you book
- Ask whether you can leave your car for the week, and what that costs
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See every Fort Lauderdale hotel on the map🏨 Find your hotel
Hotels near Port Everglades
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Want to compare for yourself? The map below shows the hotels around the port with live prices from the big booking sites. Zoom in on the terminal, then tap a price to see the hotel.
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.
Where these facts come from
- Port Everglades, Cruise Terminal 2
- Port Everglades, parking rates
- Port Everglades, parking
- Port Everglades, disabled parking
- Port Everglades, arriving and departing
- Port Everglades, getting here
- Port Everglades, FAQs
- Princess Cruises, cruises from Fort Lauderdale
- Park By The Ports
- Park By The Ports, FAQ
- Gold Coast Cruise & Fly Parking
- The Parking Spot, Fort Lauderdale
- Rodeway Inn & Suites, park and cruise
- Holiday Inn Express Ft. Lauderdale Cruise-Airport
- Tropical Airport Parking, Port Everglades
- Book2Park, Port Everglades
- SpotHero, Port Everglades
Ports change their rules and their prices. Check the official pages above before you sail.
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Mobility & access at this port
From Sails Anyway, the accessible-cruising section of this site. Nothing here is medical advice — it is what the port and the cruise lines publish, so you know what to ask.
Still fly in the day before
Two miles is nothing, but a cancelled flight is a missed ship. Fort Lauderdale has plenty of hotels within ten minutes of the terminals, many with park-and-cruise packages that include your parking for the week. Arriving rested is worth more to a body with limits than the saving on one hotel night.
Parking at the port: whoever needs the shortest walk should never ride to the garage. Drop them at the door first, with the luggage, then park. Private lots work differently — you park first and ride a shuttle in.
Who parks free at Port Everglades — and one useful difference
Free parking applies to vehicles with a Florida Toll Exemption Permit, vehicles with special disability equipment, or a disabled veteran plate from any state — not only Florida, which is unusual and worth knowing if you're driving in.
A placard on its own pays the regular rate. Parking office: 954-468-3680. Rate $20 daily maximum.
What a Florida Toll Exemption Permit actually is
It's an orange sticker from FDOT, for drivers with a severe and permanent upper-limb impairment who hold a valid licence and drive a vehicle with accessibility modifications. Most placard holders won't qualify — which is why a placard alone doesn't get you free parking.
Which garage serves your terminal
- Heron Garage — about 1,800 spaces, serving Cruise Terminals 2 and 4. Follow the orange signs with the flying heron.
- Palm Garage — about 1,960 spaces, serving Cruise Terminals 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29. Follow the green signs with the palm frond.
- Surface lots A, B and C cover the rest. Terminal 18 has no garage of its own — it's served by Lot C alongside it and Lot B nearby.
- Follow the colour, not the words. On a busy morning it's far easier than reading every sign while driving.
Know your terminal number before you leave the hotel. It's on your cruise documents, and it decides which entrance you use.
The port publishes this and most people never see it
Port Everglades states it has ample disabled parking with unimpeded access to crosswalks and elevators, and it keeps a dedicated page of disabled parking details. If the walk from the car is your limiting factor, read that page before you choose a garage — and ask at the booth when you arrive.
Parking at the port, and what it really costs
- $20 a day for a standard vehicle, $25 for oversized, charged for the day you arrive and the day you collect the car.
- No reservations and no pre-payment. You take a ticket on entry and pay at a machine before you collect the car — there are no cashiers at the exits.
- Garages are at or within easy walking distance of the terminals, so most people need no shuttle at all. That's the reason to pay the port's rate.
- Oversized vehicles over 24 feet need the port's parking management team in advance, not a decision made at the gate.
Where to park: port-run and private, together
The port takes no reservations. Private lots do, and booking ahead gets the better rate and a guaranteed space. The trade is a shuttle ride each way — which for some bodies is the whole question.
| Where | Who runs it | Roughly | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Everglades garages & lots | Port-run | $20/day ($25 oversized) | Heron and Palm garages sit at or beside the terminals, so most people need no shuttle. No reservations or pre-payment; take a ticket and pay before you collect the car. |
| Rightway Parking | Private | from about $7/day | Compares several private lots and park-and-cruise hotels in one place, with a guaranteed space. |
| On Air Parking | Private | from about $5/day | A lot in Dania roughly 4 miles out, with a free shuttle and free cancellation. Cheapest published rate we found. |
| Park-and-cruise hotels | Private | varies | A hotel night plus parking for the week, often with a terminal shuttle. Price the room and the parking together before deciding. |
Ask one question before you book any of them
"Is the shuttle wheelchair accessible, and does it have a lift?" Only some are. If a high step into a van is a problem for you, that question matters more than the daily rate — and the lot at 11am on sailing morning is the wrong place to find out.
Getting there from the airport
- Fort Lauderdale (FLL) is under two miles away — a short ride, but allow 45 minutes to an hour for the whole transfer process as the port advises.
- Miami (MIA) is about 27 miles south. Cheaper flights sometimes land there, but I-95 at rush hour can add an hour.
- Palm Beach (PBI) is about 50 miles north.
- The port doesn't run its own airport shuttle, so it's a cruise line transfer, a private transfer or a rideshare — book an accessible vehicle in advance if you need one.
Coming home, which is its own problem
Disembarkation happens early, after a week of doing more than usual. Priority debarkation goes to guests needing wheelchair assistance, so put your name down the evening before and read the instructions that night rather than in the morning. Pay for your parking at the machine before you walk to the car, not after.
Questions to ask before you drive
- Do you waive parking for my vehicle or plate, and what documents do I bring?
- Where are the accessible spaces, and how close are they to the terminal or the elevator?
- Can I drop my passenger and bags at the terminal first?
- For off-site lots: does the shuttle have a wheelchair lift, and can it take my scooter?
- What's the height limit if I drive a lifted van?
Wheelchair help at the terminal — ask ahead
Royal Caribbean: crew push wheelchairs on and off the ship at embarkation and disembarkation. Request it on the Guest Special Needs Form at least 30 days before you sail.
Celebrity: tick "wheelchair assistance at the pier" on the special needs form, at least 30 days ahead.
Princess: has an Accessibility Lane at check-in, and assigns crew when you request wheelchair help.
Check with your cruise line
- Ask which terminal your ship uses on your date, and which garage or lot serves it.
- Ask how to request pier and wheelchair assistance, and by when — 30 days is the usual deadline.
- Ask whether there's an accessibility lane at check-in and whether your companions can use it with you.
- Ask about the distance from the drop-off point to check-in at your terminal. It varies more than you'd expect between terminals.
Rules and rates change — call before you drive
This is a starting point, not legal advice. Parking rates, free-parking rules and terminal assignments change without notice. Call the port's parking office before you set off, and check with your own cruise line.
Prices change without notice
Every rate here is a guide, not a quote. Parking prices, shuttle hours and terminal assignments change without notice, and private lots price by season and sailing length — one local lot has been reported jumping from about $10 to $15 a day over the holidays. Confirm current rates directly with the port or the lot before you travel.
Accessibility details last checked 22 September 2026. How we check this →
If stairs, gangways and tenders are a problem, there is a whole section of this site for you. Sails Anyway covers accessible and limited-mobility cruising properly instead of squeezing it into a paragraph: what each pier actually asks of you, which tender ports are a problem and why, the special-needs forms and the deadlines that catch people out, and how to choose a cabin you can move around in.
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