Booking An Excursion To Get Off The Ship Early

[hp_slash]

I'll be sailing to Florida & the Bahamas with NCL in September, and plan to take a private catamaran tour when we're in Port Canaveral. The ship's itinerary says it docks at 12:00 and the tour is at 2:00. Ideally, I'd like to be able to get off the ship, get to the Payless car rental location (either by their shuttle or a taxi from the dock, whichever is faster) and drive to the catamaran tour, which Google Maps says is 8 miles (or roughly 15 minutes) away. Would I be able to make this happen in 2 hours?

 

And that, of course, is bargaining that I can get off the ship right away! NCL offers a shuttle bus to Cocoa Beach for $12 per adult which leaves the dock at 1PM. I assume that cruisers booking this excursion get priority when leaving the ship. Would it be a good idea to purchase shuttle bus tickets through NCL to leave the ship right away--but then not take the shuttle at all? $12 each doesn't seem to steep for me to eat the cost of the shuttle bus. I'd love the more experienced Port Canaveral cruisers to give their opinions on the matter!

[skrufy]

Does the cruise shuttle take you to the excursion starting point?

[hp_slash]

Does the cruise shuttle take you to the excursion starting point?

 

Unfortunately no...the shuttle bus only goes to the Cocoa Beach Surf Co., which is 4 miles away from where I'd have to pick up the catamaran tour. I have to reach that either by taxi or rental car. I'd much rather prefer to rent a car for the day so I can drive around and shop after the excursion.