Too much to plan! Cruising out of Port Canaveral

[cruzn06]

I haven't been on a cruise since 2009 and I'm trying to put together a trip where my husband and I and 2 youngest kids (18 and 23) and possibly one friend fly to Orlando on a Thurs. morning, stay at Royal Pacific for 2-3 nights and go to Universal Fri & Sat, leave on Carnival Sunshine on Sat (cruise is booked for us plus my parents who will meet us there), visit Amber Cove and Grand Turk, arrive back at Port Canaveral Friday morning, stay on the beach someplace Fri & Sat nights, and then get back to the airport and fly home Sunday.

 

So, there is a lot of transportation to plan, and we need to find a place to stay on the beach with restaurants nearby, and figure out what to do at the ports, which are new to us. I hope January is not late to book shore excursions for July. In the past we've done a combination of those offered by Carnival and setting up private tours but I think I might feel safer now going with cruise sponsored day trips.

 

I have been watching over a month to get a deal at Universal and so far no luck. Nearly $500 a night for one room before taxes. Ugh!

 

I'll search the threads for help but if anyone has any advice about any of this I'd appreciate it! I hope the seemingly overwhelming number of details to figure out here get dealt with soon and then I can just enjoy the anticipation and figuring out what to pack.

 

Thanks!

[GTO-Girl]

Port Canaveral is very popular for one way car rentals. That way you would have transportation for everything you want to do.

 

Drop everyone off at the terminal on cruise day, turn the car in and take their free shuttle back to the port.

 

Do the same when you return...

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

[dd likes to cruise]

I don't know the Royal Pacific, but can't you look for a more reasonable priced hotel? I think you will need to rent a car to make it work well anyway, so you don't need to be super close, etc.

[Clarea]

Port Canaveral rental car locations:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52984511&postcount=5

[cruzn06]

I don't know the Royal Pacific, but can't you look for a more reasonable priced hotel? I think you will need to rent a car to make it work well anyway, so you don't need to be super close, etc.

We can all walk to the parks and Citywalk from there and staying at this hotel gives us better access to most of the attractions, which is a big perk when there in the summertime. It just seems a lot more expensive than when we were last there in 2015.

 

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[cruzn06]

Thanks, everyone!

[jamesr3939]

Paying extra to get the "Head of Line Pass/Fast Pass" or whatever they call it at Universal is well worth it. We stayed at the Royal Pacific in one of their "club" rooms. This included the fast pass along with a nice lounge area with breakfast and cocktails. We did a car service from there to the port. Then ship shuttle to MCO on return.

 

We had a lot of moving parts, also. DW and I came in from FLL, kids flew into MCO from CA; needed transport with little kids from MCO to hotel, then to hotel at Melbourne, and then all of us from hotel to port, then port to MCO. I used limos.com to shop prices and vehicles. Then I did separate reservations with the same provider for each leg. This worked out well as I had to change some parts, but not others. So I just called the car service directly and made the change. I think we ended up using ACE transport, but I found them on limos.com.

Edited January 6, 2018 by jamesr3939

[cruzn06]

Update on these plans:

Transportation from home to airport - to be booked later

Flights to & from are booked

Mears from MCO to Universal booked

Royal Pacific 3 nights booked - price is high but I'll continue to watch for any deals

2 day 2 park to park tickets purchased through AAA to pick up at will call

Dining reservations tbd

Transportation from Orlando to the port - my parents are driving from home to the cruise so may be able to drive us to the port

Cruise is booked, spoke with them this morning to clear up a couple loose ends

Shore excursions narrowed down and decisions need to be made

La Quinta Inn & Suites Cocoa Beach Oceanfront booked for 2 nights post-cruise

I think we'll rent a car after the cruise to use for the hotel days and to get back to Orlando

We have someone to drive us home from the airport

The friend who was maybe coming with is not going to so it makes the planning easier but is sad for my son!