Jewel: Question about excursion at Canaveral.

[marialivia32]

My friend and I are cruising on 10-15 from NY to Bahamas and FL. The excursion to Canaveral is shown to be 8 hours. Does this mean we would have to stay there for the entire time? It seems apparent there wouldn't be a tender from the port to (for example) Universal Studios, and I'm assuming we would be transported by bus. It might be hard for us to be off the ship for that length of time. Suggestions will be most appreciated. ML

[DPurcell58]

Do you mean the time in port is 8 hrs?? If you take an excursion through the ship you really can't leave early, unless you would rent a car to come back or something, you have to come back on their bus. Is there a reason you can't be away from the ship for a long time?

[rsinj]

We just got off the Jewel this morning and our first stop was Port Canaveral. Arrival time was noon and the ship pulled out at 10PM. For the Space Center excursion, Kennedy Space Center buses were waiting at the pier and it looked like it was a very short ride - maybe 5 miles, you could see the space center from the pier.

 

We didn't do the excursion so have no idea what time it returned. But, it is possible that they have buses returning every half hour or hour (for example) after a certain time. In the absolute worst case, if you did want to return early, you could always take a taxi - again probably only 5 miles, definitely not more than 10.

 

 

Howard

[Baby Jayne]

Myself and Husband are on the same sailing as yourself, can't wait now!! We have booked the shuttle to Sea World and when we get there we will take a cab to the shopping Mall then catch a cab back to the bus... does anyone know how much a cab would be from Port to International Drive as we have paid $140 for the shuttle and can cancel if need be?

[marialivia32]

Thanks Baby Jayne -- Maybe we'll get to meet you and husband on the Jewel, which I hear is beautiful. The reason my friend and I don't want to be away from the ship for that long a time is that we are both "of a certain age" and have some physical limitations which are not "dangerous" but tiring. I was hoping that there would be shuttle busses that would go back and forth in the same manner as boat tenders, so that when we are finished (if we go to Universal Studios), we wouldn't have to wait until the very end. Maybe the Kennedy Center would be a better choice, but I'd rather go to Universal. Maybe I'll simply call the excursion office ans inquire there. Thanks so much for your reply! Happy cruising!:D

[Fishbait17]

Thanks Baby Jayne -- Maybe we'll get to meet you and husband on the Jewel, which I hear is beautiful. The reason my friend and I don't want to be away from the ship for that long a time is that we are both "of a certain age" and have some physical limitations which are not "dangerous" but tiring. I was hoping that there would be shuttle busses that would go back and forth in the same manner as boat tenders, so that when we are finished (if we go to Universal Studios), we wouldn't have to wait until the very end. Maybe the Kennedy Center would be a better choice, but I'd rather go to Universal. Maybe I'll simply call the excursion office ans inquire there. Thanks so much for your reply! Happy cruising!:D

 

Last December, we went from the Jewel on the ship's excursion to Universal Studios - transportation only. They basically sent all of us on a few buses, whether we had booked transportation only or the full trip with tickets, etc. The bus ride is about an hour each way. To return to the ship, they offered three or four buses, each coming 1/2 hour apart at the end of the day (I think it was 7, 7:30, 8, and 8:30 or something like that) for our 10pm departure. When a bus filled up, it left. There were not buses running continually all day, only those at the end of the day.

 

One of the nice things about Universal is the Citywalk area between the actual parks and the bus area. When we were there, the parks closed much earlier than our buses were scheduled, so we were able to spend some time eating, drinking, and relaxing at Citywalk. Lots of places to browse, sit, relax, etc. This might suit your needs. If not, you could arrange private transportation to/from the port, just remember it's a long drive. Check out the Ports of Call boards for ideas.

 

Robin

[Fishbait17]

Myself and Husband are on the same sailing as yourself, can't wait now!! We have booked the shuttle to Sea World and when we get there we will take a cab to the shopping Mall then catch a cab back to the bus... does anyone know how much a cab would be from Port to International Drive as we have paid $140 for the shuttle and can cancel if need be?

 

I looked it up on an Orlando taxi fare calculator online. It estimates taxi fare, including tip, at $161.44 each way, with no extra fees for any traffic delays included. There are also several private transportation services listed online that advertise rates from about $90-$110 each way.

 

Robin

[dexddd]

The trip to KSC is a bit longer than 5 minutes, maybe more like 20. I don't know how they arrange this exactly as when you get to KSC there are separate buses you get on inside the complex that take you to the outlying areas. From what I remember, the last buses inside the complex leave at like 3:30 - check the KSC website.

 

I've always thought for those ships that get in at noon it would be tough to take in enough of KSC, but maybe you'll get some more input from those who actually have gotten in at noon - when we did it we were on the Spirit and got in around 8 am.

[BradyClan]

Last April we did the Space Center from the Jewel.

 

The ride from the port to the center was about 20 minutes or so if I recall. On our cruise there were 4 buses that left the dock and went to the Space Center.

 

The one thing I would suggest is if you are going to do the bus tour to the out lying launch pads and building that you head to the tours as soon as you get into the park. They stop the buses going out on the tours around 2 pm. We missed the tours by 30 minutes because we choose to take in an IMAX film first. Had we known about the ending time we would have gone to a later film. But even though we missed the bus tour to the pads we still had plenty of things to see and do.

 

The Visitor center closed at 6pm. I believe buses start leaving at 5 pm and leave when the bus is filled. We left right around 6 pm with one bus still to be filled.

[camz]

We did the airboat excursion through NCL and it was a blast! Honestly, I didn't think much of it when it was first presented to me, however, I really had a fun time seeing all the gators. The excursion was very well done, lots of fun and not ultra expensive.