Port Canaveral 1 full day pre-cruise w/ age 16 boy. Advice?

[Funcouple]

Will will be in PC one full day pre-cruise with our 16 year old son.

 

- Considering NASA Space Center visit. Should we plan the entire day?

 

- We are out-doorsy types (not exactly NASA enthusiasts - still interested though), are there other considerations for our 1 full day in PC rather than NASA?

 

- Car Rental. We will travel from MCO-PC with a rental the night before our one full day in PC. Will we need the rental car in PC?

 

- Hotel. Need 3 options. Do not require 4* but would be nice. Just need clean/safe, close food proximity, & shuttle to the Pier. Figure $100 max overnight budget

 

- Dinner with teen. Nothing fancy. Interesting is good. Cuban is also good.

 

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[ducklite]

Will will be in PC one full day pre-cruise with our 16 year old son.

 

- NASA visit. Should we plan the entire day?

 

I would. There's a lot to see and do there. We've been twice and still haven't seen/done everything they have to offer.

 

- Car Rental. We will travel from MCO-PC with a rental. Will we need the rental in PC?

 

If you are going to KSC, yes. After that, it depends on the hotel you select.

[Oviedo32765]

First off, you will definitely need a car to get around in the Port Canaveral area. Florida has terrible public transportation, and everything is spread out.

 

This is good for a couple of hours:

Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum

6600 Tico Road, Titusville, FL

 

It's about 20 minutes from KSC.

 

A 16 year old might like to look around Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach.

 

Have you thought about touring the Daytona International Speedway? It is 1 hour 15 minutes north of Port Canaveral. There are track tours and a must see for all Nascar fans the Daytona 500 Experience.

[Capt_BJ]

KSC is a good choice and you'll easily spend a 'full' day, but that doesn't mean from dawn to mid-night. Check the KSC web site because there is the basic ticket, which includes a bus tour, and then there are option add-ons. For example there is a once a day tour into what I call the old side, Cape Canaveral AFB where you see some of the real old sites....very interesting.

 

Almost any teen is gona kill an hour or so in RonJon picking out the appropriate t-shirt, but otoh I see you are from Jersey so that may not be the case for you. {RJ is also in NJ ... I'm NOT Jersey bashing . . . .}

 

The Brevard Zoo now has a zip-line attraction - the 'adult' course can take 2 hour to complete. See brevardzoo.org for additional info.

 

You don't say what days are involved but if ships will be departing on your day b4, then early dinner at the port lets you watch the ships leave.

2011 schedule here: http://portcanaveralwebcam.com/docs/2011-Port-Canaveral-Cruise-Ship-Schedule.pdf

 

Any of the placed along Glen Cheek are fine, I prefer Grills

http://www.grillsseafood.com/

 

a nice view anytime and the menu is on the web page.

 

There is a 'higher end' go cart track in Melbourne near the FIT campus

http://www.andrettithrillpark.com/aChallenge.html

[Funcouple]

Almost any teen is gona kill an hour or so in RonJon picking out the appropriate t-shirt, but otoh I see you are from Jersey so that may not be the case for you. {RJ is also in NJ ... I'm NOT Jersey bashing . . . .}

 

LOL! No offense taken. Besides, nobody can bash NJ any worse than the [concept] of the TV show "Jersey Shore".

 

You don't say what days are involved but if ships will be departing on your day b4, then early dinner at the port lets you watch the ships leave.

2011 schedule here: http://portcanaveralwebcam.com/docs/2011-Port-Canaveral-Cruise-Ship-Schedule.pdf

 

Great link. We'd be departing on December 19. December 18th would be the day b4 at which time we could watch the ships leave during dinner..... Right?

 

Any of the placed along Glen Cheek are fine, I prefer Grills

http://www.grillsseafood.com/.

 

Is this one of the restaurants where you can watch the ships leave?

 

a nice view anytime and the menu is on the web page.

[ducklite]

Another restaurant where you can watch the ships leave is Rusty's. Great friend shrimp!

[Capt_BJ]

if you sail on 19 then yes you could watch ships depart on 18 and I have not looked at the schedules to see what that means

 

along Glen Cheek are Millikans, Rustys, Fish Lips and Grills. I happen to prefer Grills but all are similar. Millikan' may be a slice more expensive and Grills a slice more difficult to get a table at sailing time.....

[Funcouple]

You don't say what days are involved but if ships will be departing on your day b4, then early dinner at the port lets you watch the ships leave.

2011 schedule here: http://portcanaveralwebcam.com/docs/2011-Port-Canaveral-Cruise-Ship-Schedule.pdf

 

Any of the placed along Glen Cheek are fine, I prefer Grills

http://www.grillsseafood.com/

 

 

During the night b4 our our cruise we will stay at a local hotel AND would also like to go to Grills restaurant.

 

At this point we may have already turned in our car rental -- Is there decent taxi service from the area hotels to grills? OR are there any hotels along or near the Glen Cheek area?

[ducklite]

No hotels within walking distance of there. There are a couple of local cab companies but they might be a bit slow in responding, depending on how many want to use them.