Port Canaveral help

[Mriman59]

We will be going out of Port Canaveral on Harmony Dec 2019. We want to fly in the day before cruise. We are wondering if anyone has done this and if you know of hotel with shuttle from airport to hotel that they have used?  Any suggestions welcome! Thanks 

[Clarea]

 

Where do you want to stay, Orlando or the port area?

[Mriman59]

Either one. Trying to figure out which is easier. 

[JohninDC]

Welcome to the boards!

 

We prefer to stay in Orlando, where you will find 1000's of hotels in every price range.  If you are arriving late I would stay near the airport (lots of options, including a hotel inside the airport). 

 

We typically rent a car one-way (MCO-PC), drive to the port the morning of our cruise, drop off the car, and ride the car rental agency shuttle to the port - all of the car rental locations in PC/Cocoa Beach offer free port shuttles.  You may want to leave the driving to someone else - check out Cocoa Beach Shuttle and CorTrans and others, with one way shuttle fares starting at $20+ per person.  Post cruise, unless we have a late flight we typically use a shuttle service.

 

www.goportcanaveral.com has some package deals (hotel and transport) that may work for you, depending upon what time of the day your flight will arrive.

 

Good luck with your planning!

[Mriman59]

Thank you so much for your help. This is the first not we were looking for. Thank you again 

[SteerageJoe]

The good news is you can hardly go wrong with any decision!

 

Generally speaking, if you land before 2pm then I suggest you make your way to the Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach Area (1 hour) where you can choose between oceanfront and A1A hotels. Then you can go to the Port for happy hour around 4pm (pick one of several waterfront restaurants) and watch the cruise ships sail away.

 

If doing this, you have to decide between a one-way rental car, shuttle services (either shared or private) or rideshare (Uber, Lyft) to your hotel and the next morning to the ship.

 

Should you stay in Orlando, you get free shuttles to your airport hotel and then you choose between shuttle services (either shared or private) or rideshare (Uber, Lyft) the next morning to the ship (1 hour drive). You can either go back to the airport first, or go direct from hotel to port (my recommendation).

 

While in Orlando, you are just 20-40 minutes away from the most fun in the world and you do not need theme park tickets to join in! 

Edited December 6, 2018 by SteerageJoe

[Mriman59]

Thank you for the picture information. This makes planning easier. 

[Clarea]

3 hours ago, Mriman59 said:

Either one. Trying to figure out which is easier. 

 

We prefer to stay in the port area and get the ride to the port out of the way.  Sometimes that ride to the port can be delayed by an accident.  We do a one-way rental car, turn in the car the next day, and take the rental agency free shuttle to the port.

 

After the cruise we take a shuttle back to the airport.

[Mriman59]

Thank you. 

[slidergirl]

I'd go to the port area and get a hotel there.  There is a lot to do in Cape Canaveral/Merritt Island/Cocoa Beach for an evening!   Good restaurants and bars and lounges.   Hit up Cafe Surfinistas or Juice 'n Java or Darci's Bacon Blues for breakfast before heading to the Port.  

[Mriman59]

Thank you. 

[precious89904600]

• We are going in a day early and staying at Homewood Suites in Orlando which provides shuttle service from airport then next day getting shuttle service with Cortrans for $ 40.00 roundtrip 

[Mriman59]

Thank you