Question for you experts!!!

[mikechass]

I have been researching hotels/shuttle packages from Orlando for our upcoming March cruise.

I have found a site that has a deal for the four of us in the family (at least I feel its decent) that has a shuttle from the airport taking us to the Holiday Inn Express (Orlando Airport), staying two nights, then transferring us to the pier, picking us up from the pier two weeks later (we are on a b2b), and adding another night at the same hotel after we disembark the ship, then finally driving us to the airport the next morning to make our flights home.

The total is $660 with taxes and everything else.

Just wondered if anyone knew/thought it would be more affordable to try and do it all at on our own??

Its a LOT more when I look at the hotel sites online, even the cheaper places work out to a lot more. I have also looked at Expedia and Hotels.com etc... those aren't even available as it stands right now since it spring break.

We are Canadian so our dollar isn't great as it is. I almost feel like just arranging it all from one place and staying at the same hotel etc would just be better.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has used the site (goportcanaveral) and had anything they could offer me... be it good or bad..

Any hints are appreciated

Thanks everyone.

Chass

[Orlandorandall]

We used a service that was similar and it was HORRIBLE! I can't remember their name but we spent and hour or so waiting at the airport for the shuttle to arrive, then another two hours on the shuttle because we were the last stop of 5 in route to our hotel. Not to mention the driver left the bus in drive when he was letting off other people and I had to tell him we were rolling away, literally rolling. The hotel was fine. The ride to the port was OK. Again the ride back to the airport was long. We didn't stay at a hotel after disembarking we were scheduled to go straight to the airport. We waited for 1.5 hrs to even leave the cruise terminal. We had to just sit on the bus for that 1.5 hr waiting on other people so the bus was full. ETA just asked DH and it was goportcanaveral.

Edited January 7, 2017 by Orlandorandall

[Teagysmom]

I feel your pain as we too are Canadian. Maybe look into renting a car - especially since you are there for two days. We reserved thru Costco and are under 100$ for the round trip. We pick up at airport and drop off in Cape Canaveral and they shuttle us over. Then reverse process after cruise. I found the prices of hotels in the Cape Canaveral area ridiculous.

[toastybunt]

I asked the same question on our roll call. Everyone on there said the best company to go with was Cortrans. Maybe worth looking into!

 

 

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[coevan]

$660 sounds outrageous, we paid less than $45 for a rental. You can easily get rooms around $100. It would be very hard to get to $600

[Nic6318]

Hi Mikechass

 

So if I get you right, you are getting 3 nights hotel accommodations and transfers to and from the ship.

 

So what you want to do is compare this to booking yourself. 2 nights pre-cruise with a one way car rental from the airport to the port, then after cruise one way car rental to get you from Port Canaveral to the airport with a one night stay after the cruise.

 

Should be easy to check the total price using online booking sites. The car rental locations at the port will bring you to the ship on your departure and to the rental agency on your return.

 

My thought would be to question your reason for staying at the Orlando airport for the 2 days before cruise. If you do rent the car, staying in the Cape Canaveral area will get you much closer to the port with the option of doing things in that area (since you have a car). One thing that comes to mind is visiting the Kennedy Space Center, which would be a great way to spend a day (even if you have been before). On your return, again you would have a car so you could find something to occupy your day before checking in to the airport hotel you have chosen. It would be up to you if you want to return the car that day and take the hotel shuttle on your departure, or return the car just before your flight.

 

I would also suggest visiting the East coast departure ports threads on this site to get opinions about things you can do in the area and preferred hotels.

 

hope this helps

have a great cruise

[mikechass]

$660 sounds outrageous, we paid less than $45 for a rental. You can easily get rooms around $100. It would be very hard to get to $600

 

So a room at any Cocoa Beach hotel right now even on the discount sites that I can see are in the $250 range...

Hampton Inn, Quality Inn, Double Tree, are all above $250. There is a Holiday Inn Express but it is also $203 a night when we are going to be there. So just paying the price of the hotels, then rental of a car, figuring out where to go and how to return the vehicle etc I just thought it made sense. Do you have a way to get me some info on where I can find hotel for $100 a night * there are four of us and I won't stay somewhere without AC, wifi, a pool and I would love a breakfast included. Also where could I find a car rental for that cheap? Thanks for your help. I just can't seem to locate these kind of prices but sure would love to.

[mikechass]

Hi Mikechass

 

So if I get you right, you are getting 3 nights hotel accommodations and transfers to and from the ship.

 

So what you want to do is compare this to booking yourself. 2 nights pre-cruise with a one way car rental from the airport to the port, then after cruise one way car rental to get you from Port Canaveral to the airport with a one night stay after the cruise.

 

Should be easy to check the total price using online booking sites. The car rental locations at the port will bring you to the ship on your departure and to the rental agency on your return.

 

My thought would be to question your reason for staying at the Orlando airport for the 2 days before cruise. If you do rent the car, staying in the Cape Canaveral area will get you much closer to the port with the option of doing things in that area (since you have a car). One thing that comes to mind is visiting the Kennedy Space Center, which would be a great way to spend a day (even if you have been before). On your return, again you would have a car so you could find something to occupy your day before checking in to the airport hotel you have chosen. It would be up to you if you want to return the car that day and take the hotel shuttle on your departure, or return the car just before your flight.

 

I would also suggest visiting the East coast departure ports threads on this site to get opinions about things you can do in the area and preferred hotels.

 

hope this helps

have a great cruise

 

 

Thanks so much for this. Really appreciate the time you took to answer. You make some excellent points. I didn't really think about "exploring" on our extra day here's why.

We won't get into the city till 9 pm after a long 11 hour day of airports and flights. Our plan had been to grab some late dinner and hit the hay Thursday night, maybe sleep in on Friday, go swim, wander around and see some stuff. Shop for some essentials (shampoo, sunscreen, heavy things that are limited for our luggage with the flights) get some lunch and dinner and then get ready for the next days cruise. When we get off the ship we fly out at 7 am on the Sunday, since its international flights, we would have to be at the airport around 5 so I thought staying close to the airport would be easier.

 

Any suggestions on where we could stay that would be closer to some restaurants/shops/sight seeing type activities??

[JohninDC]

We prefer to stay in Orlando and make our way to the port the morning of our cruise - 1000's of hotels in every price range. Arriving that late I would choose an airport area hotel with free shuttle service, and then pick up a rental car the next day. A rental car gives you the flexibility to stay, dine, and shop where you want. Drop the car off in PC/Cocoa Beach the morning of your cruise and shuttle to the port.

 

Post cruise I would pick up another car and again stay where you want.

 

Cortrans and others will shuttle you from MCO to the port for about $20+ per person, so figure $80-100 each way for the 4 of you - can you find 3 nights of hotels in Orlando for less than $500? :confused: I suspect you can, depending upon what hotel/area you choose.

Edited January 7, 2017 by JohninDC