Port Canaveral Afternoon

[LostAgain]

My daughter and I just booked the March 6 Breakaway, which will be in Port Canaveral 1 to 9. We are trying to decide what to do. I think Kennedy Space Center closes at 6 so I can't figure how the ship excursion there works. What time do the stores at Cocoa Beach\Village close? We don't mind setting out on our own. In fact, we prefer it, but for KSC we thought we would do the excursion just for ease in transportation. We appreciate your guidance.

[dexddd]

My daughter and I just booked the March 6 Breakaway, which will be in Port Canaveral 1 to 9. We are trying to decide what to do. I think Kennedy Space Center closes at 6 so I can't figure how the ship excursion there works. What time do the stores at Cocoa Beach\Village close? We don't mind setting out on our own. In fact, we prefer it, but for KSC we thought we would do the excursion just for ease in transportation. We appreciate your guidance.

 

We've done KSC but on our own and you can make a whole day out of it (to get to see all the cool things) or you can do it for a few hours to get a real cursory overview of a few things. The main visitor center has plenty of things to see but from there a bus takes you around to the various outlying exhibits - some of which are very interesting. It is a shame that they moved the arrival back an hour this year as even getting in at noon was kind of late.

 

I'd have to look again, but I thought KSC used to close at 5 but for the NCL excursion they stayed open later like an extra hour and you got to see one of the two IMAX movies.

[LostAgain]

Thanks, DexDD. I called KSC and they currently close at six, but she said they change their hours seasonally. She thought they might be open an extra hour when we are there. That would give us five hours at KSC, which I am sure is not enough, but is something and is the latest that I'd really want to be there, anyway, before heading back to the ship. So I guess I will have to see as the time draws nearer.

[redbaron70]

I've been wondering this same thing and decided to take a chance and book the KSC excursion. We'll be there next week, so I'll report back when we return.

[garnet115]

 

I'd have to look again, but I thought KSC used to close at 5 but for the NCL excursion they stayed open later like an extra hour and you got to see one of the two IMAX movies.

 

This is how it worked when I did the NCL excursion in 2014. Also, don't know how often this happens, but we lucked out and had an astronaut come talk to the group after the IMAX movie ended. My dd was completely starstruck for the astronaut. For this alone, it was worth doing the ship excursion rather than going on our own.

[LostAgain]

Thanks for your help, garnett. And, RedBaron, have a wonderful trip. I look forward to hearing back from you when you have time on how this worked out for you.

[luvtheships]

I did ksc in 2011 on the jewel and don't recall the port times but for $70 approx round trip we had a local limo guy pick us up in a mini van ( family of 5) at the ship drive us there and then come back at prearranged time We bought our own tix and had a perfect day. The ship tour got there later than us and left earlier We did most everything there was to do at ksc.

 

Mikes VIP limo I believe it was but I found him by just googling port canaveral transport.

 

Very nice guy btw

Edited November 8, 2015 by luvtheships

[lisakoivu]

We did the ship excursion Christmas 2014 and the KSC stayed open an extra hour just for NCL excursions. There was lots of time to see most of it and it was well worth the money for that reason.

[MeHeartCruising]

Thanks, DexDD. I called KSC and they currently close at six, but she said they change their hours seasonally. She thought they might be open an extra hour when we are there. That would give us five hours at KSC, which I am sure is not enough, but is something and is the latest that I'd really want to be there, anyway, before heading back to the ship. So I guess I will have to see as the time draws nearer.

 

While more than 5 hours would be ideal, having only 5 will still be a worthwhile time to see most, if not all of the central area exhibits. I'm not sure you'll have enough time to take the bus trip out toward the launch pads, which would be a shame. However, even without the launchpad bus ride, I would still consider the KSC well worth visiting. Go for it. It's a fun day.

[redbaron70]

Here are my comments/thoughts on our trip to KSC last week.

 

We had approximately four hours at KSC -- we arrived at 2:00 and departed at 6:00 (closing time). We could have seen a lot more if we'd planned in advance, so I would definitely suggest checking out the KSC site and determining what is most important to you.

 

Some points to keep in mind:

 

If you want to do the bus tour, you need to do so fairly early -- I think it stops running around 3:30. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes for this, which is a lot of time when you only have four hours.

 

If you want to do the shuttle experience in Atlantis, be aware that it lasts about 25 minutes. We did not budget enough time for this and had to choose between that and the Imax movie, which is included in the excursion.

 

The tour directors tell you to arrive 15 minutes early for the Imax movie, and I have no idea why. We all sat there for 15 minutes waiting for the movie, when we could have spent that time checking out the exhibits. Also, the movie ends 15 minutes before departure, so everyone immediately headed for the buses, which was a waste of yet more time. In hindsight, we probably should have skipped the Imax movie and spent more time at the exhibits.

 

When they tell you the buses will leave at 6:00, they mean the last bus will depart at exactly 6:00. Plan on getting there before then.

 

We enjoyed KSC -- it was memorable and we learned a lot -- but the time limitation was definitely frustrating.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions!

[luvtheships]

We just had a taxi take us there and return to pick us up in 2011. Approx $75 round trip for 5. We set our own timeframe and had prearranged the taxi/Van service and he was waiting at the ship for us

 

We saw the Ncl group and thought they were not getting the full experience. We liked being on our own.

[Turtles06]

KSC is awesome, and well worth doing. We did it on our own last spring (got picked up by a car service around 12:30 or perhaps a little later), but you also have the NCL excursion (I have no personal experience with that).

 

The bus tour at KSC is a must do, imho; as part of that, you get to watch a simulated launch of Apollo 8 sitting in the re-created launch room (with the actual consoles). That was a goosebumps experience for me! Also, the display of Atlantis is amazing (even better than Discovery at the Air & Space Museum in DC), and the Atlantis shuttle launch simulation is a great way to end the day. And you can't believe the size of the Saturn V rocket until you get up close to it.

 

Because of time constraints, we opted not to watch an IMAX movie; those can be seen elsewhere, but Atlantis is only at KSC :)

 

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

[redbaron70]

Whether you hire a taxi/car service or take the excursion, the fact remains that you cannot disembark until 1:00 and KSC closes at 6:00. It's going to be a time crunch no matter what. I booked the excursion with the hopes that we would get that extra hour that has been discussed previously, but it didn't happen (for us, at least).

Edited November 18, 2015 by redbaron70

[AndyCapn]

My daughter and I just booked the March 6 Breakaway, which will be in Port Canaveral 1 to 9. We are trying to decide what to do. I think Kennedy Space Center closes at 6 so I can't figure how the ship excursion there works. What time do the stores at Cocoa Beach\Village close? We don't mind setting out on our own. In fact, we prefer it, but for KSC we thought we would do the excursion just for ease in transportation. We appreciate your guidance.

 

It appeared most of the stores in Cocoa Village closed at 5. The ship's excursion runs a shuttle from the ship to Ron Jon's on Cocoa Beach every half hour, and then another bus to Cocoa Village that runs every hour. The village is mostly antique, boutique and craft stores along with some bars and restaurants.

 

I don't think it's as "must see" as KSC, but it's also 1/6th the price, and there were certainly some good deals to be found both at Ron Jons and the Village.

[LostAgain]

Thank you, everyone, especially RedBaron for reporting back on your experiences. Will talk to my daughter this weekend so we can start deciding what to do. I appreciate everybody's help!