Our visit here was just a morning. The ships tour went to Bellingrath Gardens and Home, although I skipped it in favor of a visit to a local L\laundromat. We docked behind the Convention center, right in the midst of the downtown area. A free shuttle hits the major downtown sites about every 15 minutes. Most Blount stops in Mobile spend the day there and a great option is the USS Arizona ...
We drove to & arrived at the port around 11:00AM, waited in long lines to enter garage and pay, where we were then instructed to unload luggage and park. No problem finding a spot, uneventful.Upon entering building we were herded into LONG lines and waited. Process time from garage to being at counter was approx 35 mins. Seemed as there was NOT enough personnel to handle the amount of cruisers. ...
The Mobile Port authorities are very strict and they wanted you to know they are not there to make friends....obvious!They herd you like cattle into lines as they yell out instructions. FYI, do not try to sneak vodka in water bottles, they will catch you and take it away! They shake each bottle and can tell if it really is water...just a warning. I watched cases of water (vodka) being confiscated ...
Parking was expensive and chaotic. Unloading was a joke. People pulled up and then blocked traffic as they packed their suitcases. No one seemed in charge, of directing tourists. Even though we arrived the earliest you could, getting through the cattle lines to board took 90 minutes. Disembarking the ship was easy, but picking up ones' suitcase and then going through cattle lanes again for customs ...
Much easier to get on and off than I ever thought! I can't say anything bad about this port at all. We did get there first which I am sure helped a lot!
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