Grills or Fishlips for viewing ships departure

[hannahsnana]

We have a family cruise in July from Port Canaveral, sailing on Mariner on Monday, July 15, with 3 grandkids who have never sailed! We would like to excite them even more by letting them see the ships sailing out on Sunday. Which location would be best and what time to get there to insure the ships departure time? I think Harmony sails on Sunday at 4:00. Any advice appreciated.

[Capt_BJ]

the two places are just yards apart so from a 'view' standpoint not a huge difference, but Harm' parks east of both places and nearest is Grills (next door)

 

 

I prefer the food at Grills but you'll find that locals are pretty evenly split 50/50 on that ..... the places are more alike than different.  Check the menus

 

 

I'd get there by 3:15 for ship departures and note that on a Fri/Sat/Sunday these are popular destinations for the very reasons you're interested ..... 

Edited June 22, 2019 by Capt_BJ

[BonnieH]

I prefer Grills as well.  Love the bacon wrapped scallops with brown sugar carrots and wild rice!

 

You can also buy a day pass to Jetty Park (past Grills) and spend time at the beach.  There is also (if I remember correctly) a small snack shack there as well

[hannahsnana]

Thanks for the info! I will check the menus!

[pstone1]

14 minutes ago, hannahsnana said:

We have a family cruise in July from Port Canaveral, sailing on Mariner on Monday, July 15, with 3 grandkids who have never sailed! We would like to excite them even more by letting them see the ships sailing out on Sunday. Which location would be best and what time to get there to insure the ships departure time? I think Harmony sails on Sunday at 4:00. Any advice appreciated.

 

If you want to see the Harmony sail, you would want to be at Grills which is adjacent to the dock at Cruise Terminal 1 in Port Canaveral.  From Grills, you would also see the other cruise lines sail head east out of the Port.  Fishlips is farther west so you wouldn't  get as good a view of Harmony, but would still be able to see the other lines sail past.

 

I see in Capt. BJ's excellent photo above, the ship at CT1 is docked with the bow facing west.  In that case, you would get a great show watching the turnaround!  Lots of times, we see the ship docked at CT1 bow facing east, so in that case, the Harmony would simply pull away from the dock and sail east.

 

I definitely agree that you need to get where ever you decide early!  Have fun!

[BlueSkySailing]

I would go to Grills over FishLips any day of the week. I feel the food and atmosphere is much better. Grills is right next to Royal Caribbean terminal. You will have a very hard time seeing a Royal Ship at terminal 1 from FishLips. Grills is always busy. When I go I get there around 1:30pm with a 20 min. wait time on avg. I believe if you show them a hotel key, there is a discount. Have lunch and then drive to Jetty Park. Which is about mile down the road. there is a fee per car. But I feel this is the best place to watch Harmony or any ship sail by. This video is from Jetty Park- Happy Sailing!!!!

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by BlueSkySailing

[BND]

Don't go for the food at Grills.  We ate there in fall 2017.  It wasn't very good.  My chicken was rubbery so I sent it back for something else (can't remember) and it was less than memorable.  I'm allergic to shellfish so there is that.   Also, access to the deck is first come, first served and we didn't stand a chance.  I don't really get the draw.  There is much better food elsewhere and as someone said, go to Jetty Park to see the ships leave.

[sjb317]

Instead of going to one of the restaurants, I would do the day pass for Jetty Park.  It’s only $15 for non Florida residents and it allows for a much better view of the ships as they sail out of the channel.  If you go out on the fishing pier, the ships are so close, you feel like you could almost jump on.  Fish Lips has a small version of their restaurant on site, so you could get snacks/drinks and the grandkids would be able to run around as kids like to do😂.  My grandkids love to go to Jetty Park for a beach day to watch the ships leave.

 

A lot of locals like to go to the restaurants to see the ships leave (and Happy Hour😉) so the restaurants can be really busy during that time.  And it’s not the best view of Harmony leaving unless you like to see her backend sailing away😂.

 

Sherri🙂

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, sjb317 said:

Instead of going to one of the restaurants, I would do the day pass for Jetty Park.  ...

 

 

 

Good point, at least ALL the ships can be seen passing Jetty Point.

[John&LaLa]

Go to Grills and get the Lion Fish or the Rock Shrimp. Good times.

[blueridgemama]

Any ships that leave on Mondays?

[Clarea]

23 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

Any ships that leave on Mondays?

 

Mariner.

[blueridgemama]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Mariner.

 

Thanks. Around 4pm?? Would love to see a ship leave. Was thinking about Jetty Park.  Is the beach there a good spot and is it a nice beach?

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

 

Thanks. Around 4pm?? Would love to see a ship leave. Was thinking about Jetty Park.  Is the beach there a good spot and is it a nice beach?

 

The best spot for the view would be the pier extension that goes way out into the water. 

 

I've not seen a Mariner Cruise Compass in a while, but 4pm or earlier should be fine.

[mac_tlc]

35 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

Any ships that leave on Mondays?

Monday’s are some of the busiest for ship departures with the large number of ships doing 3-day/4-day itineraries. 

 

Here is is a link to the port schedule through August. 

http://crew-center.com/port-canaveral-florida-cruise-port-schedule-may-august-2019

 

 

mac_tlc

[blueridgemama]

Thanks guys. Looks like it will be a parade of ships, 4 are scheduled to leave at 4pm.

We are taking a last minute mini trip to Coco Beach/Cape Canaveral to watch a rocket launch that is scheduled for 11:30pm

Hoping for a clear night😊

[sjb317]

27 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

 

Thanks. Around 4pm?? Would love to see a ship leave. Was thinking about Jetty Park.  Is the beach there a good spot and is it a nice beach?

It’s a very nice beach, clean sand and gentle waves usually. Restrooms are available and you can rent chairs / umbrellas. The only bad thing is no shade.

 

Sherri🙂

[Capt_BJ]

if coming for a launch

 

be advised that the port authority has been charging 'admission and parking fees' for all the parking in the port when there's a launch ... this is rather new and has not been well received (especially since they don't give refunds or rainchecks if the launch is scrubbed). Not for ALL launches, but when they see the opportunity for bigger crowds . . .

 

Have not seen any discussion about this for the 'heavy' launch this Monday, but it was a 'heavy' when they pulled this the first time . . . 

[Capt_BJ]

PC schedule thru Sept   https://www.portcanaveral.com/PortCanaveral/media/Cruise-Assets/FY2019/Copy-of-Master-Cruise-Schedule19.pdf

 

note, if multiple ships are listed at 'same time' the pilots will decide who goes first .... seldom will two be moving in close proximity at the same time . . . in technical terms only one per 'turning basin'

[sjb317]

1 hour ago, blueridgemama said:

Thanks guys. Looks like it will be a parade of ships, 4 are scheduled to leave at 4pm.

We are taking a last minute mini trip to Coco Beach/Cape Canaveral to watch a rocket launch that is scheduled for 11:30pm

Hoping for a clear night😊

Just thought about this: if you are coming down for a launch, the whole port area will be a mess and Jetty Park especially will be bad. People will start camping out there this weekend and parking will fill up quickly.   It could be very crowded.

 

Sherri🙂

[blueridgemama]

1 hour ago, Capt_BJ said:

if coming for a launch

 

be advised that the port authority has been charging 'admission and parking fees' for all the parking in the port when there's a launch ... this is rather new and has not been well received (especially since they don't give refunds or rainchecks if the launch is scrubbed). Not for ALL launches, but when they see the opportunity for bigger crowds . . .

 

Have not seen any discussion about this for the 'heavy' launch this Monday, but it was a 'heavy' when they pulled this the first time . . . 

 

We 're actually staying at The Radisson for 2 nights so shouldn't be a problem but thanks for the information. We've reserved a launch viewing river cruise that leaves at 10:30pm so hopefully will get a great view of the launch from the water.

[blueridgemama]

4 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

Just thought about this: if you are coming down for a launch, the whole port area will be a mess and Jetty Park especially will be bad. People will start camping out there this weekend and parking will fill up quickly.   It could be very crowded.

 

Sherri🙂

 

The launch is at night (11:30pm) Would it be better and less crowded to  watch the ships leave from Cocoa Beach then?

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

Thanks guys. Looks like it will be a parade of ships, 4 are scheduled to leave at 4pm.

We are taking a last minute mini trip to Coco Beach/Cape Canaveral to watch a rocket launch that is scheduled for 11:30pm

Hoping for a clear night😊

 

Not just a launch,  the first night time F9 Heavy. It should be packed. 

 

FWIW, great free view from boat ramp

[sjb317]

55 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

 

The launch is at night (11:30pm) Would it be better and less crowded to  watch the ships leave from Cocoa Beach then?

The whole area gets crowded😂.  The problem will be finding a place to park.  It may help that it’s so late and on aMonday night.

 

Sherri🙂

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

 

The launch is at night (11:30pm) Would it be better and less crowded to  watch the ships leave from Cocoa Beach then?

 

There is a Park on Washington St in Cape Canaveral. That's a great location if Jetty Park is a zoo