It’s officially winter break season, and Carnival cruisers who are looking to make the most of their time off will have an extra barrier to overcome if they are sailing out of Long Beach, California: The parking.

Due to limited parking at the cruise port, guests booked on two post-Christmas cruises may be redirected to additional parking at an offsite location, which can understandably cause added stress and delays on embarkation day.

The first impacted sailing is for Carnival Radiance, which will be setting off on a 3-night voyage to Ensenada, Mexico, On December 26, 2025.

Carnival Firenze’s December 27 departure will also be impacted. This cruise is also a 3-night sailing to Ensenada.

“The parking facility at the cruise terminal has very limited capacity. Please make plans to use alternate transportation that does not require parking,” Carnival Cruise Line wrote to soon-to-be-guests.

“If driving (and parking at the port) is your only option, please be prepared to be directed to park at an offsite location operated by the City of Long Beach (not the pier),” the cruise line continued.

Read Also: Full Guide on Long Beach Cruise Terminal Parking

The actual location of the offsite parking has not been publicly disclosed. For security reasons, the specific details will be communicated to guests upon arrival at the port.

What to Expect at the Cruise Port

Even if guests will ultimately end up in overflow parking, their journey will still start at the Long Beach Cruise Port.

Upon arrival at the terminal, guests will be able to drop off luggage and traveling companions. They will then be given written instructions and an entry card to access the offsite parking location.

When guests arrive at the secondary structure, they will be required to present their cruise boarding pass and to pay for parking in advance.

Off-site parking costs $20 per day, including embarkation and debarkation days. This is slightly less than the on-site parking, which currently runs at $23 per day.

After parking, guests will then be shuttled back to the main cruise port. The final shuttle will leave the parking facility 30 minutes prior to the final boarding time.

Despite the parking challenges, guests are still asked to arrive at their pre-selected Terminal Arrival Appointment times. Port staff may not be able to accommodate those who choose to arrive too early.

Why Does This Keep Happening?

This isn’t the first time that Carnival has had to make alternate arrangements for Long Beach-based cruises, and it likely won’t be the last.

The main reason behind this is that the Long Beach Cruise Terminal is relatively compact.

It only has one parking garage on-site for cruise ship passengers, and there are simply not enough spaces for everybody.

Let’s look at the numbers. The structure is five stories tall and has 1,450 parking spaces.

However, the three Carnival ships that homeport in Long Beach can welcome more than 11,000 guests at once, thousands of whom require parking.

Based on double occupancy, Carnival Firenze has room for 4,126 guests per sailing, Carnival Radiance can accommodate 2,984 guests, and Carnival Panorama welcomes up to 4,008 passengers.

The strain should lessen slightly when Carnival Firenze is redeployed to the East Coast in early 2027, but guests will still have to be patient for over a year.

Plans are also in the works to expand the garage to over 2,000 parking spaces, but it’s unclear when exactly this will happen.

Parking Trouble Returns for Carnival Cruises Out of Long Beach