Mobile cruise terminal: where the Alabama Cruise Terminal is and how to get in

Every cruise on our schedule leaves from one building, the Alabama Cruise Terminal on Water Street in downtown Mobile. The City of Mobile runs it as one of its departments. The terminal's own site, shipmobile.com, publishes the parking, directions and security rules we quote below, though not a sailing calendar.

• Terminal. The Alabama Cruise Terminal. The city and Carnival's help pages call it the Mobile Alabama Cruise Terminal.
• Address. 201 S. Water Street, Mobile, AL 36602. The terminal's phone number is 251-338-7447.
• Operator. The City of Mobile. Premium Parking runs the parking deck as the terminal's contractor.
• Getting there. I-10 Exit 26A, Canal Street, then right onto Water Street for two blocks.
• Drop-off and parking. Both happen in the attached 500-space deck, entered from Eslava Street. See Mobile cruise parking.
• Ships. Carnival Spirit until 29 March 2027, then Carnival Valor from 15 May 2027.

This site is independent. It is not the City of Mobile, the terminal or Carnival.

Where is the Mobile cruise terminal?

The Mobile cruise terminal is the Alabama Cruise Terminal at 201 S. Water Street, Mobile, AL 36602, in downtown Mobile. The City of Mobile, which runs it, says the terminal is half a mile from I-10 and 6 miles from the junction of I-65 and I-10, and close to downtown hotels, restaurants and attractions.

The building goes by more than one name. The city's department page and Carnival's help pages call it the Mobile Alabama Cruise Terminal. The terminal's own site uses that name in its page titles and signs off as the Alabama Cruise Terminal, which is the name we use. Carnival's Mobile port page shortens it to the Mobile Cruise Terminal. All of them mean the same place.

The city describes a two-story, 66,000 square foot terminal with an attached 500-space parking deck. The deck has six covered lanes for pickup and drop-off and a pedestrian tower with four elevators, an escalator and a stairwell. In April 2025 the city installed a new $4.8 million gangway, which it said would make boarding faster and safer.

Which cruise line sails from the Mobile cruise terminal?

Carnival. All 59 sailings on our schedule are Carnival departures from the Alabama Cruise Terminal. Carnival Spirit sails from Mobile until 29 March 2027, and Carnival Valor begins year-round sailings on 15 May 2027, as Carnival announced in October 2025. Nothing on our schedule leaves between those two dates.

Ship	Sailings on our schedule	First departure	Last departure
Carnival Spirit	17	14 November 2026	29 March 2027
Carnival Valor	42	15 May 2027	15 April 2028

Carnival Spirit's last departure is not a round trip. It is a 16-night Panama Canal voyage that reaches Seattle on 14 April 2027, according to Carnival's itinerary page, so you travel home from Seattle. The documents guide explains why it needs a passport.

Your Carnival boarding pass is the final word on where and when to report. The Carnival guide covers what Carnival sells from Mobile.

How do you drive to the Mobile cruise terminal?

Take I-10 to Exit 26A, Canal Street, turn right at the end of the ramp onto Water Street and go two blocks. The garage and terminal are on the right, with signs to baggage drop-off and parking. Those are the terminal's own directions, and its routes from I-65 and both directions of I-10 all end at that exit.

• From I-65 South. Stay on I-65 to I-10, then take I-10 East toward downtown and leave at Exit 26A.
• Heading east on I-10. Take Exit 26A, Canal Street, as you come into downtown.
• Heading west on I-10. Cross the Mobile Bayway and go through the George Wallace Tunnel, then take Exit 25A, Texas Street. Follow the signs back onto I-10 East, keep right and take Exit 26A.
• The I-165 option from I-65 South. At Exit 9 take I-165 South toward Prichard and downtown Mobile for 5.2 miles. Carry straight on to North Water Street and then South Water Street. Make a U-turn after Monroe Street as the signs direct, then turn right onto Eslava Street into the terminal.

The directions page carries no date, so check the route on a live map on the day. The driving guide covers the trip into Mobile.

Where do you drop off passengers at the Mobile cruise terminal?

Inside the terminal's attached parking deck, which you enter from Eslava Street. The city says the deck has six covered pickup and drop-off lanes. The terminal says the line to enter is at 22 Eslava Street, a police officer or parking attendant directs you in, and a stevedore unloads and tags your bags and sends them to the ship.

Say your goodbyes while the bags come out. The terminal works under Homeland Security rules and has no area where someone who is not sailing can park, wait and wave goodbye. A driver who is only dropping you off cannot park in the garage to wait, and staff will ask them to leave.

Taxis and rideshares can drop off and pick up at the terminal. The terminal's tariff charges their companies a monthly access fee for it, collected by Premium Parking. Carnival does not sell airport transfers for Mobile sailings, its help page says, so you arrange your own ride from the airport. See Mobile airport to the cruise terminal.

Where do you park at the Mobile cruise terminal?

In the terminal's own 500-space deck, attached to the building. A regular-sized vehicle cost $23 a day when we checked the terminal's parking page on 4 November 2026. You pay online ahead through Premium Parking, or at the terminal by text, app or kiosk. Your license plate is your proof of payment, and you must pay before you board.

When the deck is full, the terminal sends drivers to an overflow lot and shuttles them back. The parking guide covers rates for RVs and buses, the overflow lot, accessible spaces and free parking for disabled veterans.

What time should you arrive at the Mobile cruise terminal?

At the arrival appointment you choose during Carnival's online check-in. Carnival says everyone in your stateroom should be at the terminal at that time, and that arriving promptly within it shortens your wait in line. The terminal says its gates open for embarkation at 10 a.m. and that you cannot get into your cabin until 1:30 p.m.

On the Carnival itinerary pages we read on 4 November 2026, Mobile cruises leave at 3:30 p.m., except the 14-night and 16-night voyages, which leave at 4:30 p.m. Round trips are due back in Mobile at 8:00 a.m. Check the page for your own sailing. Carnival's check-in rules also matter:

• Online check-in closes at midnight Eastern time the night before you sail, which is 11 p.m. in Mobile.
• Porters take checked bags only until 2 hours before the published departure time. After that you carry your own bags aboard.
• You must be on board by the final boarding time printed on your boarding pass, or you will not sail.
• Bookings made within 24 hours of sailing go through a secondary security screening.

Carnival's embarkation-day article, last updated in August 2019, also says to allow extra time for an unfamiliar city and for traffic.

What happens at check-in and security in Mobile?

Walk to the glass doors on the north side of the garage, at the far end from where you drove in, and take the elevator or stairs down to the first-floor lobby. Staff at the door check your documents, then send you to screening and check-in, where Carnival asks for your boarding pass, photo ID and citizenship documents.

The terminal operates under Department of Homeland Security guidelines, with oversight by the U.S. Coast Guard, and keeps the details of its security private. It warns that guns and ammunition are prohibited and will be seized. Carnival screens all luggage and keeps its own list of banned items, which includes:

• Weapons of every kind, including replica firearms, stun guns, tear gas sprays and Mace
• Illegal drugs, marijuana and CBD products, even where a state allows them
• Clothes irons, garment steamers, candles and incense
• Liquor and beer. Each guest 21 or older may bring one sealed 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne in carry-on luggage, and each guest may carry up to 12 sealed cans or cartons of non-alcoholic drinks, none over 12 ounces.

Carnival says it throws away confiscated items without compensation, and it asks you to leave luggage unlocked for screening. The full list is on its prohibited items page.

What should you bring to the Mobile cruise terminal?

Your boarding pass, photo ID and citizenship documents, in your hand rather than in a checked bag. The terminal's parking instructions say to keep your documents with you at all times. Carnival's embarkation-day article lists a boarding pass, printed or on your phone, photo ID, a passport with any visas or other citizenship documents, and a completed health questionnaire.

The terminal's security page calls Mobile's sailings closed loop and asks U.S. citizens for an original or certified copy of a birth certificate, plus a government-issued photo ID from age 16, with a passport recommended. Two sailings need more than that: Carnival Spirit's one-way voyage to Seattle and Carnival Valor's voyage to Colombia and Panama. The documents guide covers both, and the first-time cruiser FAQ covers the rest of the day.

How much luggage can you take on a cruise from Mobile?

Carnival suggests no more than two bags per person on cruises of 6 days or longer, and one bag on 3 to 5 day cruises. The shortest cruise on our schedule is 6 nights. Each checked or carry-on bag should weigh no more than 50 pounds and, lying flat, measure no more than 16 inches high by 24 inches wide.

Carnival's other luggage rules:

• Attach Carnival's luggage tags before you reach the terminal. They come with your electronic documents once online check-in is done, and porters can give you extra tags.
• Curbside porters are not Carnival employees and are customarily tipped $1 a bag, according to Carnival's help page when we read it on 4 November 2026.
• Large coolers are banned. A personal cooler no bigger than 12 by 12 by 12 inches, for drinks or medicine, can go in your carry-on.
• Hulken rolling totes, wagon-style bags and similar totes are not allowed on board.
• Keep medicine, valuables and documents in your carry-on, because checked bags reach your cabin later.

What help is there for wheelchair users at the Mobile cruise terminal?

Carnival offers wheelchair assistance at embarkation and debarkation. You ask a Carnival representative once you reach the terminal, and the help runs as far as the ship's lobby. It is first come, first served, with no curbside help and a 325-pound limit. To request it before you sail, Carnival has a Wheelchair Assistance Form.

The building helps too. The city says a pedestrian tower with four elevators and an escalator links the parking deck to the terminal, and the terminal's FAQ says every level of the garage has handicap parking. Disabled veterans park free.

• Carnival's preferred rental company, Scootaround, delivers wheelchairs and scooters on board in all of Carnival's U.S. home ports.
• For help getting off, Carnival puts the meeting point in the Debarkation Flyer delivered to your cabin near the end of the cruise.
• A scooter must fold or collapse to fit through a standard cabin door unless you book a fully accessible cabin, and Carnival may measure it at check-in.

What happens when you get off the ship in Mobile?

The ship is due back at 8:00 a.m. on every Mobile round trip we read on Carnival's site. You collect your bags, unless you chose to carry them off yourself, and clear customs. The terminal asks you to check that you have every piece of your luggage and that each one is yours.

If your car went to the off-site lot, the terminal says a shuttle takes you and your bags back to it. If someone is picking you up, the terminal suggests calling them and having them arrive once you have cleared customs, since drivers cannot park in the garage and wait. It names no separate waiting lot.

Left something behind? Call the terminal on 251-338-7447 for anything left in the building, or Carnival on 1-800-929-6400 for anything left on board. The terminal says luggage left there with a name and phone number on the tag is shipped back after a Carnival representative contacts you.

What is near the Mobile cruise terminal?

Downtown Mobile. The city says the terminal is close to numerous hotels, restaurants and attractions, and Carnival's Mobile page says a walkable downtown of mostly locally owned restaurants, bars, breweries, cafés, galleries and shops starts a few blocks from the terminal. Carnival also points to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, minutes away, for kayak, canoe and sightseeing tours before you sail.

Inside the terminal there is a selfie station with a mural by local artist Ginger Woechan. If you are staying in Mobile the night before, see the hotels guide.