Shields RV Park

N. L. left this review using the Directory software: Lots of room between sites now at the new campground. They do have free wi-fi and cable with water, sewer, and 50 amp hook-ups. However, you are going to really pay for it now. The cost went from $15 a day to $20 a day! That is a 25% increase! So I guess they are making the retirees pay for the new campground. Cleanliness really shouldn't be lumped in with Hospitality on the ratings because the place is very clean (duh, it's brand new) but the Hospitality from the host isn't that great. For instance, we pulled in and I went into the office and asked Veeda if they had a site, which of course I knew they did because I could see it from where we were parked at the office. I went in and asked if she had a spot for the night. She hesitated and looked at her board. Well, I also saw the board and the one opening on it so I said - I saw you had one spot open. She whipped her head around and glared at me while saying I KNOW WHAT SITES I HAVE OPEN. This surprised me so I said okay. Still hesitating she said well I've had someone call me three times about that site today alluding to the fact that she was sort of saving the spot for them and it would be a big favor for her to let me have it. (This is a no reservations campground.) So I mentioned the fact that they don't take reservations here and again I got the head whipping around and the glare! So I said, you don't do you? She then must have re-thought her reaction because she studied the board and the one site open and told me that she had told them if someone else got here before they did that she would have to give it to them. (Really?) So, she 'allowed' me to move in. She acted as if she was doing me a favor by letting us stay and not hold it for the one who had called. This isn't very friendly or professional if you ask me. But, we at least got the site for the night. So, the rating for Hospitality is a 1 - Terrible, even though Cleanliness is 5 - FANTASTIC. The Amenities/Facilities is only a 4 - Above Average because the laundry is a pay laundry. Location is 2 - Below Average because of where the campground is located, right next to a noisy highway and a train is also nearby. Nose level is high. Value is 2 - Below Average because we stayed at the Pelican Roost FamCamp at Mayport, FL and had all the same facilities WITH a free laundry and an OCEAN VIEW was only $17 a day! So this pricing is really, really messed up! Overall Experience has to be a 2 - Below Average because I have stayed at other FamCamps that were better.

Very nice new Campground..or more like a RV Park....in general we love it here! We'd really like to express our opinions to the Navy, but no ICE link here....The staff is friendly and well informed on area interests. And the resorts, casinos, and beach is very close. On the down side....There is NO overflow here....office staff stated that MWR won't let them use the space at the entrance to the park for this...Geez, it's an ideal place! And since this is a 1st come, 1st serve, campground, they have had to turn folks away....What's up with that?? The park is well designed, but has no community room for the usual book exchange and get togethers...So you'll find books, etc., in the office. The base itself is a "work in progress" with re-building projects everywhere, but getting around is pretty easy..... Will stop in the next time we come west...

A.H. left this review using the Directory software: - Very nice new park.

R.S. left this review using the Directory software: The new Shields Famcamp is now open. The Navy finally has a first class camp. Everything was new and spotless. All spaces have concrete pads and all drives are paved. The only thing missing was wifi and it is coming soon. The new commissary is open and well stocked. The new exchange will open soon. The entire Gulfport area is still recovering from Katrina. However, this park is close enough to I-10 for a great stop over and nice enough to make you want to stay longer.

As posted below me, the new park is open. It is so much better than the old park. Wifi should be up and running before the end of February. The washers/dyers are great, yes you have to pay. Still they only cost .75 cents. There is some street noise if you have a space in the back, but it's not that bad. This is a great place to stay for a week or two. I agree with the people below, there are a lot of homesteaders, but not sure if anyone has been turned away from this campground. Time will tell, because when word gets out, people are going to want to stay here.

We have spent the last three nights at Shields and like Skyking said, is very big-rig friendly. The entire park is level, large paved sites, mostly pull-thrus, and excellent hookups, including cable. No WiFi yet. There is some traffic noise from the roads outside the base; bushes or trees along the fence would help minimize that. Because the park is so new, it doesn't have any character yet. All landscaping is new and small, so no shade. Its okay now but I bet it will be very hot in the summer. The park is mostly full but there were a few empty spaces the entire time we were here. There are a lot of homesteaders - the retired Coastie next to us has been here for five years. But like the park manager said, the park has to be self-supporting, and the homesteaders contribute year round. She said the park has plenty of room in the summer. :-) The commissary and exchange are small but well-stocked. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. The park is about a mile from beautiful beaches, and about ten miles to the casinos in Biloxi. The only reason I gave a 4 for amenities/facilities is that I like a community room or gathering space for RVers. No one was sitting outside, too cold and no fire rings, and we never met fellow travelers.

New grounds opened on 13 Jan 09 seem morning I left the old one. It is just inside the gate from the pass road entrance, you can see it and easy to find. Big spots for any size. Wifi was to be coming but in meantime they were going to let you use their pc's. Has cable also, rent is $315. Only problem I can see if HOMESTEADERS are allowed to stay forever it becomes very unfair for the rest of to get use of park. I mentioned this to head of MWR when had meeting at the old grounds before new one opened. Also sent email about it. Maybe if enough complaints are received the rules will be changed, think most think like me 90 days is enough at one time. Sure a nice location to spend some time at during the cold weather months.

Visited my daughter over the holidays and they have the new campground almost completed. Can see it from her house and its just inside the gate off US49 behind the housing office. It's on base but located between a cemetery and a apartment complex outside the fence line. From what I saw it looked like a wally world parking lot with a clubhouse and the shore-tie connections. I didn't count the spots. From there to the commissary/exchange it was about 1.5-2 miles. No diesel on base but plenty on US49. Keesler doesn't have diesel either. I'll get some pictures up in the next few days. Noise levels at that location consist of lots of emergency vehicles outside the fence due to the neighborhood. My ratings are based upon location, placed three's in the rest just to get past the submit criteria.

This was a tough review to do. The regular campground has been torn down and a new one is being built. The temporary campground is actually the old FEMA campground and it is quite hot and dusty. The base is very convenient for an overnight stay. The laundry room has quite a few washers and dryers and they are free. There is also free wifi with a decent signal (at least where we were located). Quite a few people appear to be living in the campground but they had plenty of space. I suspect that this a a function still of Katrina. We visited the beaches today and three years after Katrina the devastation is still clearly evident. We very much liked this campground for convenience and value. The new one is going to be awesome.

R.B. left this review using the Directory software: The old C/G was torn down to build housing for the troops, but they have a fairly nice temporary location near the perimeter of the base. It has both 30 and 50 Amp electric, good water pressure, and sewer. The Wifi is very good and no user id or p/w required. The managers have done agreat job with the C/G; they had managed the old one for over 6 years. We will come back and hopefully the brand new C/G will be great also.

The temporary campground is set up in close rows and folks we talked to were very satisfied with the utilities and location. Talked to the host and she was helpful in directing us around the base. When you come in the gate you will take the first right and and a short drive will take you right to the campground. Hard to tell what it will look like as it is no where near finished. Sewer and water are in and real close to each other. No electric posts yet and everything is still all dirt. There will not be a reservation policy at the new campground either as the host stated they had problems when they did give reservations. The BX and Commissary are adequate and this would be a place we will stay if the new campground is as nice as Keesler.

H.M. left this review using the Directory software: The temporary campground is comfortable and the staff very friendly. When the new campground is built, I'm sure it will be a five-star facility.

Temporary CG is better than a lot of CG'S. Kept clean and organized. The new campground should be open in late March or early April. They are working on it as I write this. New CG to have 68 FHU. It would be nice to have a base map or local info available. Also Shields wi-fi is very slow. Lousy local TV reception, however satalite is un-obstructed. Lots of long stayers, as there is not limit on lenght of stay. Good price which includes the free laundry. Lots of machines and all very new.

Due to rebuilding, the directions are off so be sure to call and ask for directions, FYI, when following directions for this site when you make a right on Pass St. follow it untill it dead ends at a stop light (they are rebuilding the main gate there) so make a right onto 33rd St. and at first street make a left(if you go over the R.R. tracks you have gone too far) after makeing the left you will see the temp gate and if there are any barracades the guards will move them for you so you can easily get on base, after passing thru gate follow road till it splits and stay to the right and just follow the signs to the temp C.G. As you enter the temp gate look to your right and you will see the new C.G. being built which is suppose to open later this year (08). At the temp C.G. you will find MWR empolyees Leon Young and Veda Cherneski to be excellent at doing their jobs and being just very helpful. The bath house has one each of womens, mens restrooms/shower, 8 washers 12 dryers and all look to be in new condition and are FREE and CLEAN. Also 1 washer and 1 dryer are set aside for wahing/drying animal blankets, etc. Animals allowed on leash and please pick up after you dog, IF NOT you will be ASKED TO LEAVE, which is a rule I can live with for it helps everyone. The temp campground is gravel drive/parking with F.H.U. you can wash your M.H./Trailer at site plus a spot to wash your vehicle. Nice spots and close to the beach/casino's. Hope the new site is as great as it looks on the map they have posted......looks like it will be mostly pull thru's......will return and they do at this time allow extended stays.....enjoy.

The park has been displaced due to circumstances. The host said new housing was being built on the "old" site. They're in the process of building a new RV site with a projected completion of Summer '08. The campground is now located by the warehouses at the back of the base, and looks to have been a parking lot at one time (enclosed by a chain-link fence): all gravel, no trees. The best amenity: the laundry and shower facility is very nice & clean; there are several washers & dryers and they're FREE. I met several people who had stayed at the original campsite and said it was a beautiful place. Hopefully, the new site will be as nice as the "old" one.

Too bad its closing, what a big big mistake. That was one if not the best military site I have seen. Am beginning to think the NAVY does not take the cg business to serious. Last year visited the new one in Millington just north of Memphis. They were getting full rates with part of the grounds opened. A year before that they run one off base for half the price to stay and guess that got closed. Too bad. Shields was really great. Guess the one now being used is the old trailer park which was suppose to have been remodled 4 years ago. Am just about to the point where I think maybe the people who retired from a service (such as USAF, NAVY, etc) should have first priority if the service they were in was the service running the cg. In other words if you were retired UASF and on their base you would have priority over other branches of retired people. This would now get the NAVY retired people in gear to do more complaining about such things as this closing a great grounds and maybe also get the NAVY in gear with some of their other grounds.

The overflow campground is closed to new campers. The few that are there are slowly being moved to the main campground as space allows. (The manager holds two spaces open for short term occupants, such as us, but otherwise the campground is full.) Once all the folks are moved out of the overflow that campground will undergo a complete makeover to become the main park. At that time, approximately 3 months, this park will close and be bulldozed to become new base housing. This park is without a bet the best one of the four military campgrounds we have stayed during this trip. Concrete pads, full hookups with 50amp, free WiFi, large laundry. The camp host is friendly and available. Location is close to gate, Navy Exchange and commissary. It is a shame to close this park but hopefully the new one will be brought up to this scale.

Shields RV Park IS closing. The area will be used to build much needed military family housing. The 52 sites, however, are being replaced with what was a temporary 60-site FEMA emergency housing community. When we were there it was a gravel strip with all back in spaces and utilities behind the unit requiring extra long electric, water and sewer connections. A bath house is on the work-order list replacing some of the 20 FREE washers and dryers. Also on the list is 50 amp service as the FEMA trailers required only 30 amp service. There were two small gazebos and ONE picnic table for the entire campground. Cable TV was apparently provided to the FEMA trailers but has been disconnected and over-the-air service is very poor. However, there are NO trees to hamper satellite reception. The new campground, currently used as overflow, is among the shops and warehouses, adjacent to a railroad siding. They have a lot of work to do to make this an appealing campground, but there is good reason for optimism. This is one of the main Sea Bee (Naval Construction Battalion) facilities. We found it more than adequate with great potential. The last few remaining FEMA residents must be gone by the end of March and that is when the other campground is closing. Perhaps things will improve when the camp host moves to the new location, as we only saw him once, when we signed in. After he escorted us to our piece of gravel he returned to his concrete pad and grass and we only saw him when other second class campers were being escorted in.

Campground was full, so we stayed in overflow which is an old mobile home park on base. Were offered full hookup after a couple days, but stayed in overflow. Host was very friendly. Was told they plan to turn the old mobile home lots into hookup RV sites as well. Trains nearby were frequent and LOUD.