Where to stay at Port Canaveral

[luv2ruise]

WE are looking to stay in Port Canaveral or surrounding area the night before we cruise. We are looking for accommodations and free parking as well as tips to get to the port in the morning ( ie: shuttle vs taxi ) Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[DonnaK]

We always stay at the Residence Inn by Marriot. It's all-suites, very clean, relatively new, very friendly staff, full breakfast, and about two blocks south of the port. They arrange a shuttle to the port. (We usually rent a car, so we use the rental agency's shuttle)

 

The Country Inn and Suites is one block closer to the port, and it is a few months newer. I've never stayed there myself, but it gets outstanding reviews too.

 

The Radisson at the Port is a few blocks further south (but still very close)- it's an older place that gets mixed reviews on Trip Advisor.

[Diffuser87]

In Port/Cape Canaveral you have the usually places closest like Radisson at the Port, Residence Inn, and County Inn & Suites. There are also places in Cocoa Beach that offer free shuttles to the hotel. I would say pick a hotel chain that you prefer and call to see what their cruise package options they offer. Hope this helps! If not I would post in the Florida Departures board for better answers.

[metairiegal]

We have stayed at the Radisson and the Country Inn & Suites. Both were nice - no complaints and location-wise they are very close together. We slightly prefer Country Inn & Suites, seemed newer, we asked for and received a top floor with view of port, and they offer free breakfast. (At the Radisson we walked across the street for breakfast at McDonalds.) I don't have info on the shuttles as we drove and parked ourselves at the port. That is my one splurge. I don't want to have to wait in any line when the cruise is over, I like getting directly into the car.

 

In either case, be sure to check out the Manatee Park which is located down a side street right next to the Radisson!

[momof4_tn]

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites. We received a suite which was very nice. They allowed us to park our car there while we were gone on our cruise and provided free shuttle service to and from the pier.

We were dropped off right where you check your bags with the porters and they were sitting there waiting for us when we returned. Shuttle driver and his wife were very friendly and helpful.

 

They had a small breakfast at the hotel, and the room was nice. We also ordered some food from one of the local places that delivered. I wish I remembered which one it was, but the food was amazing. We got the menus from the front desk. We got in late and didn't want to try to find somewhere to eat.

 

It was a win/win. Free parking, voucher for free shuttle, and free breakfast and we had to spend the night somewhere.

[CruiseLover15]

There is a 48 hour sale (don't know when it started). 20% off at Country Inn

[NCEMT]

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites twice, and both times were very nice, we were able to keep our car there. The shuttle drivers are husband and wife, very friendly and nice. breakfast buffet was pretty good, just wanted a little something before getting on the cruise. Someone just told me the parking at the port is now $20.00 a day? The hotel for the night with taxes was 118.and change and we parked for a week.

[awboater]

I have stayed at the Country Inn and the Hampton Inn in Cocoa Beach twice. Both have cruise and park packages for a nominal fee. But I recommend you reserve the cruise and park package when you make your hotel reservation.

 

The Hampton Inn is nice as you can spend time at the beach the evening before, but either works.

 

The Country Inn did have an issue with adequate parking but they recently expanded their parking lot.

[metairiegal]

There is a 48 hour sale (don't know when it started). 20% off at Country Inn

 

Nope, not going on now.

[AmativeDame]

WE are looking to stay in Port Canaveral or surrounding area the night before we cruise. We are looking for accommodations and free parking as well as tips to get to the port in the morning ( ie: shuttle vs taxi ) Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I can tell you to not stay at the Comfort Inn @ Cocoa Beach. It had been recommended to me over the Country Inn, and shuttle wise it ended up being a huge mistake. The rooms itself were nice, it is of course a bit further away from port but it was close to the beach and their customer service was lovely.

 

Their shuttle left a lot to be desired when it came to getting back. It ended up taking me two hours to get back to the hotel to get the car even though shuttles were suposed to arrive every half hour. One of the vans refused to fill to capacity (or really, 2/3rds capacity) so we had to wait for the next shuttle which was another 45 minutes. Once he arrived we had to wait again because the owner of the shuttle service did not want to send another driver back for the two other people remaining with vouchers.

 

Meanwhile... I saw the Country Inn do 6 trips, the Radisson do 4 and the Park and Cruise do about 10. So if you want good shuttle service I think the winner by far is the Country Inn.

[KellyJean]

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites in January and really enjoyed our stay. I had originally booked a king bed room. When we checked in, I asked about rooms with a view of the port. They told me that we would have to switch to a room with queen beds. We agreed but to our surprise they upgraded us to a 1 bedroom suite (ask for queen bed rooms on the 4th floor). We were able to watch the ships leave that afternoon as well as watch the Monarch come into port the next morning. The rooms was very clean and there was plenty of room. The breakfast served in the morning had a lot of variety (hot and cold items, fresh baked waffles, pastries, cereals, etc.)

 

We signed up for their shuttle when we checked in. The next morning, we did get "bumped" on the shuttle time but we didn't mind as we were on vacation. We had a great rate of $109 WITH the cruise parking package so I looked at it that we were still paying that $60 for parking as if we would have parked at the port and our hotel room was only $49. :D

 

We have already booked the Country Inn & Suites for our pre-cruise night stay next October.:D

[SevenSeas1492]

Stayed at Country Inn this past September. Highly recommend it. The free breakfast was a buffet and very good, and we called one day prior to our stay and signed up for a shuttle time. There were two other ships besides ours going out of Port Canaveral that day, so the lobby was full of people needing the shuttle. They were very organized in getting the people to the ship, and we have no complaints about our stay. One other thing I forgot was that our flight was very early, and our room was not ready when we arrived. They offered to lock our luggage up for us while we took the bus down to Cocoa Beach for the afternoon (and we accepted). You can get tons of info on hotels on the Florida Departures board.

[cruiser1956]

We stayed at the Radisson Resort at the Port, and were dissappointed. The first room we were assigned to, was right by the pool, and the band. It was extremely noisy, so we asked to be moved. We were moved to a room in the part of the hotel that had not been renovated. They advertise having air number beds, our air number bed kept going to the number zero. At least on my side. When we woke up in the morning, my side had no air left. It was an interesting way to start our vacation. The restaurant was just OK. The breakfast buffet was slightly disorganized. First one waffle machine quit, so the line at the second one grew extremely long. After a few minutes, the second one quit. Of course there was enough other food to satisify us, but there is nothing better than a fresh waffle on a Sunday morning. Especially for the price that was charged.

I would suggest looking elsewhere. :o

[lindslea]

Any suggestions on a hotel that is not necessarily near the port? I am traveling with 3 older children and a rental car. We don't need a shuttle or parking for the week. Maybe something on the beach?

[SSmith]

We stayed at Residence Inn (2 nights) and Country inn (1 night). Both hotels were quite good. Residence and Country Inn offer free parking and free shuttle to the port.