Hotels and transfer to port

[Snady1972]

We are a family of six and will be sailing out of port canaveral. Which is better staying near hotel and getting transfer to port from there or staying near the port and taking shuttle from there? There will be 3 kids (5,8,10) traveling with us. Are there better hotels than others? Has anyone had concerns about flying back into Canada when we arrive back to disembark? Travel tips ?

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

I'm a little confused by the wording in your question, but basically you have a couple options.

1. Stay near MCO. Take Transportation from there--rental van, towncar/limo service, hotel transfers, or return to MCO and take DCL transfers.

I would not take DCL transfers with 6 people-it is far cheaper to use a limo service. There are hotels in the airport area that offer round trip transportation with a one night stay as a package. My favorite is the Hyatt Place NW (this is NOT the airport hyatt). Look on their web site under "specials" to see prices and availability. Remember, this is round trip transportation if you wish; it is less costly than most other one way transportation. The only down side is that there is a single vehicle leaving at a specified time (10:30 in our case) while a towncar service would leave when you wanted it to. The least costly would be a one way car rental with drop off at the port area. If you use Budget car rental, the codes would be MCO and CC5. Look for discount coupon codes to save on rentals. You have more hotel choices in the MCO area and lower costs than in Cape Canaveral.

 

2. Stay near the port. In this case, you'll need transportation to the port hotel AND transportation to the cruise terminal. Again, a rental vehicle will accomplish both easily. Most hotels have shuttle service--some charge, some include it. My preferred hotels in the port area are the Residence Inn and the Country Inn and Suites.

 

3. Stay in the WDW area. Same transportation options apply. If staying at a WDW resort, Magical Express will get you TO the hotel at no charge. Hotels tend to cost more, don't include breakfast....but it's Disney. If you have time to enjoy Disney, this is great. If not, we stay at the airport area.

[STUR]

We just returned from a week on the Fantasy

Arrived day b/4 cruise (there where 7 of us)

Stayed at Embassy suites Orlando Airport the have free Shuttle from Airport to Hotel and include made to order breakfast in the morning We booked Mears Transportation to take all of us from hotel to ship and return us from ship to Airport on return

[Snady1972]

We just returned from a week on the Fantasy

 

Arrived day b/4 cruise (there where 7 of us)

 

Stayed at Embassy suites Orlando Airport the have free Shuttle from Airport to Hotel and include made to order breakfast in the morning We booked Mears Transportation to take all of us from hotel to ship and return us from ship to Airport on return

 

 

Do you mind me asking what rough price of transfer was?

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

Do you mind me asking what rough price of transfer was?

 

 

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It depends on the vehicle you choose. Happy Limo offers a 10 passenger van for $140 one way/$265. You choose your vehicle based on number of passengers/amount of luggage. I think they have added a $5 surcharge each way recently. Add about 20% for tip. (if round trip, tip 10% each direction as you won't have the same driver both ways). There are less costly companies, but this one is good. Mears, which above poster used is also good.

 

There are fancier vehicles that cost more.

[moki'smommy]

Do you mind me asking what rough price of transfer was?

 

 

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It depends on the vehicle you choose. Happy Limo offers a 10 passenger van for $140 one way/$265. You choose your vehicle based on number of passengers/amount of luggage. I think they have added a $5 surcharge each way recently. Add about 20% for tip. (if round trip, tip 10% each direction as you won't have the same driver both ways). There are less costly companies, but this one is good. Mears, which above poster used is also good.

 

There are fancier vehicles that cost more.

 

Hyatt Place NW, I checked a Friday nite in September. Cruise package gave me $169-$179 depending on bed choice for 2 adults and 2 kids. Not sure what the add on would be for 2more kids. This is a summer special rate.

[dexddd]

AVOID BUDGET! We've used them for four previous sailings and out trip this time was a wreck at Budget. It was bedlam at the agency and very unorganized, vans took forever, tons of people waiting. Our return back was better but we got there very early but car was quite dirty inside and one of their shuttles was broken with transmission problems so they used a van which held quite a few less people.

 

I'll be writing Budget Corp with pictures of the chaos.

[moki'smommy]

Wow, we've used Budget many times over lots of years....trouble twice, but once it was my fault. First, if you are picking up at MCO, be sure to sign up for Fastbreak in advance (loyalty program). THis allows you to bypass the line in MCO and go directly to the garage.

 

At Cape Canaveral, they normally run 2 shuttles and are closer to the port than most other agencies. This results in faster turn around between pick ups. The time there was an issue there, a person showed up with a print out from the internet but had never booked a car (and thought they had!) They tied up the manager for 30+ minutes insisting that this was a reservation while the manager insisted that every car they had was reserved. That left only one clerk working as fast as he could to serve the others.

 

One trick on the return. If you are next in line but the shuttle doesn't have room for your family, it almost always has room for one person, no luggage. Have the driver ride the shuttle over. You can then use cell phones to keep in touch with the gang at port to determine whether they should take the next shuttle over or wait for the driver to pick them up back at the port.

[kentuckysailor]

You are so right about Budget at Cape Canaveral. Going to the ship was fine, but coming back was terrible. When we arrived at the pickup point there were so many in front of us, we knew we could not get on one bus. We waited and waited for the next bus, now two bus loads behind us. Hot as Hades, kids, no seats. Finally an Avis bus took a group to the office where this chaos was repeated. Fastcard did not accomplish anything. Maybe next time I will try Avis.

 

 

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[moki'smommy]

You are so right about Budget at Cape Canaveral. Going to the ship was fine, but coming back was terrible. When we arrived at the pickup point there were so many in front of us, we knew we could not get on one bus. We waited and waited for the next bus, now two bus loads behind us. Hot as Hades, kids, no seats. Finally an Avis bus took a group to the office where this chaos was repeated. Fastcard did not accomplish anything. Maybe next time I will try Avis.

 

 

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Fast break accomplishes nothing at Cape Canaveral. It is VERY useful at MCO.

[Shmoo here]

Wow' date=' we've used Budget many times over lots of years....trouble twice, but once it was my fault. First, if you are picking up at MCO, be sure to sign up for Fastbreak in advance (loyalty program). THis allows you to bypass the line in MCO and go directly to the garage.

 

At Cape Canaveral, they normally run 2 shuttles and are closer to the port than most other agencies. This results in faster turn around between pick ups. The time there was an issue there, a person showed up with a print out from the internet but had never booked a car (and thought they had!) They tied up the manager for 30+ minutes insisting that this was a reservation while the manager insisted that every car they had was reserved. That left only one clerk working as fast as he could to serve the others.

 

One trick on the return. If you are next in line but the shuttle doesn't have room for your family, it almost always has room for one person, no luggage. Have the driver ride the shuttle over. You can then use cell phones to keep in touch with the gang at port to determine whether they should take the next shuttle over or wait for the driver to pick them up back at the port.[/quote']

 

Would you say, generally, it better to get off as soon as possible in the morning when renting a car at Port Canaveral, or wait until closer to the end of debarkation? "Better" as in not as much of a madhouse at the car rental places.

[moki'smommy]

Would you say, generally, it better to get off as soon as possible in the morning when renting a car at Port Canaveral, or wait until closer to the end of debarkation? "Better" as in not as much of a madhouse at the car rental places.

 

First, be sure to look at what time the rental place opens. You don't want to be waiting for a van at 7:35 if the place doesn't open until 8:00. Honestly, if you have time, wait and get off the ship later. Let the rush die down...also people from the next cruise will have started to return cars. It's funny--we almost always get an upgrade on the way home as they have cars that need to be ferried back to MCO.

 

Yes, I've had to wait on occasion (not made it onto the first shuttle). Another thought, especially if you have kids, is for the driver to go over 30 minutes or so early to get the car. Let the family disembark a bit later. By the time the driver gets the car, you can communicate by cell and determine whether better to pick up family or whether they want to shuttle to car place. It is very easy to swing into the terminal area and pick them up.

 

OK, truth--driver with no luggage and almost always last on onto the shuttle = first one off and first one in line from that shuttle load! There may be one or many families on the shuttle...but being the first in line from that bunch is not a bad thing! You don't have to stand there while other people deal with their luggage and their families.

[Shmoo here]

First' date=' be sure to look at what time the rental place opens. You don't want to be waiting for a van at 7:35 if the place doesn't open until 8:00. Honestly, if you have time, wait and get off the ship later. Let the rush die down...also people from the next cruise will have started to return cars. It's funny--we almost always get an upgrade on the way home as they have cars that need to be ferried back to MCO.

 

Yes, I've had to wait on occasion (not made it onto the first shuttle). Another thought, especially if you have kids, is for the driver to go over 30 minutes or so early to get the car. Let the family disembark a bit later. By the time the driver gets the car, you can communicate by cell and determine whether better to pick up family or whether they want to shuttle to car place. It is very easy to swing into the terminal area and pick them up.

 

OK, truth--driver with no luggage and almost always last on onto the shuttle = first one off and first one in line from that shuttle load! There may be one or many families on the shuttle...but being the first in line from that bunch is not a bad thing! You don't have to stand there while other people deal with their luggage and their families.[/quote']

 

Well, it's just DH & me. One bag each. I'm thinking it's better to be at the end of the debarking rush than the beginning.

[moki'smommy]

Well, it's just DH & me. One bag each. I'm thinking it's better to be at the end of the debarking rush than the beginning.

 

I agree.