Key Aspects:
- Carnival has warned guests on two upcoming cruises of a shortage of parking at the Long Beach Cruise Terminal.
- Guests booked on Carnival Radiance on May 28 and Carnival Firenze on May 29 are affected.
- While some offsite parking and shuttles will be available, guests are encouraged to find alternative transportation.
Southern Californians are no strangers to traffic and difficult parking, but if Carnival cruisers thought they’d get a respite heading into their Mexican cruise vacation, they were sadly mistaken.
Carnival Cruise Line has notified guests booked on two upcoming sailings of a shortage of parking at the Port of Long Beach, and are encouraged to plan accordingly.
“Dear Carnival Guest,” the notice reads. “The parking facility at the cruise terminal has very limited capacity. Please make plans to use alternate transportation that does not require parking.”
The first cruise impacted by this lack of parking is the May 28, 2026 sailing aboard Carnival Radiance. The 101,509 gross ton vessel will sail a 5-day, Mexican Riviera cruise, stopping in Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada before returning to Long Beach.
One day later, on May 29, the 135,156 gross ton, Vista-class Carnival Firenze is set to sail a 3-Day weekend Baja Mexico cruise stopping in Ensenada.
Situated next to the iconic Queen Mary ocean liner, the Long Beach Cruise Terminal is solely owned and operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Despite this, the small onsite parking structure can still fill up quickly.
The parking structure is five stories tall, with 1,450 parking spaces. That may sound like a lot, until you consider the ships’ passenger counts.
Carnival Radiance can carry up to 2,984 guests, and Carnival Firenze can carry up to 4,126. Even if only half of the passengers on these cruises decide to park a car, that’s already at nearly double the structure’s capacity.
This is far from a new issue at the Port of Long Beach and the cruise line. Most recently, Cruise Hive reported on nearly the same situation arising in December of 2025.
While Carnival seems to have a handle on these parking issues for the time being, as cruise ships continue to get bigger, and the industry continues to expand, one can only wonder how long it will be until a major change is needed at the Long Beach Cruise Terminal.
Overflow and Parking Alternatives
In the notice, Carnival urged guests to seek out alternative means of transportation.
While Los Angeles County isn’t known for having the most reliable public transport, the Passport transit line does run regularly through the day and stops at the Queen Mary, right next to the terminal.
Alternatively, guests can book a driver through any popular ride-share service, such as Uber or Lyft, with thousands of estimated drivers working in the region.
Should you go this route, though, it’s important to be vigilant, as ride-share scams have become more common in the area in recent years.
However, in the case that driving and parking can’t be avoided, Carnival has managed to secure a small amount of overflow parking at an offsite facility.
“If driving is your only option, please be prepared to be directed to park at an offsite location operated by the City of Long Beach,” Carnival wrote in the notice to guests. “Full details will be communicated at the cruise terminal.”
In that case, guests will need to drop their luggage off at the terminal, receive written instructions to the offsite parking, have their boarding pass checked at the offsite facility, and then return to the terminal aboard a complimentary shuttle.
It hardly sounds like an easygoing embarkation experience.
