florida air tours for helicopter tours

[luckyinpa]

usually we dont get off in florida but decided to look around for something close to the dock for a 1 to 9pm visit. the biplane looks a bit scary but i'd try the helicopter ride. it appears to be close to the port but i guess you dont know what dock you are at until you are arrive. just wondering how ez it is to get to the tour place if you dont get docked near them? im unfamiliar with the port

 

will be there march 8 on getaway

[luckyinpa]

i'm assuming would have to be a hurricane to miss that port?  thinking about doing a helicopter tour with florida air tours and they charge you if it's same day cancellation. im paranoid about excursions because missed 2 days at bermuda due to weather and just sailed around the island. but i realize thats probably a trickier port than in FL

[CruiserBruce]

The first question would be when are you going to be at Port Canaveral?

 

Edit: from your other post, I see you are there in March. Pretty far from hurricane season. I would book the flight.

[luckyinpa]

march 8 in FL

 

is there any particular terminal that NCL uses all the time. trying to figure out distance to the helicopter pad which is near the observation tower. but doesnt look like foot traffic can go across any of those bridges

[capriccio]

What port?

[luckyinpa]

canaveral

[Pyrate13]

NCL tends to use terminal 10 but I have seen them use others, mainly 5 or 6.

[Capt_BJ]

NCL tends to use terminal 10 but I have seen them use others, mainly 5 or 6.

all of which are on the 'north side' and true foot traffic across the draw bridge is not permitted (no sidewalks - security does enforce>

 

18 years in residence and 3 years on a cutter from PC and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen fog so bad that it impacted ship traffic. In fact the port is so easy in and out that the pilots will generally still move stuff where other ports might be closed (Tampa for example has state laws that restrict ship movements once the fog rolls in due to a bad history of BIG accidents) Not including hurricanes as mentioned. And I'd suspect that any weather that would impact ship movement would ground the helo anyway!  He's not gonna fly in for or heavy storm winds . . . 

 

About the only time I've heard of a port call being cancelled was when bad seas slowed the ship's transit and they fell so far behind schedule that the port was cancelled to try and stay on schedule for 'better' ports further along ..... VERY UNUSUAL.

[slidergirl]

Haven't heard from you in awhile, Cap!   

I don't know, but does the port temporarily close while a sub is in/outbound?  I know it's not frequent, but just curious from a homeland security perspective.  

 

It would be fun to be onboard your cruise ship and watch "Of Course I Still Love You" or "Just Read the Instructions" come into port!!  I do like that the 2 new ships are called "Bob" and "Doug."

 

[Capt_BJ]

I'd guess that when a sub is moving they don't let anything else OF SIZE move, but the port is so small and the sub pier so near the entrance that it isn't a significant event . . . have never really paid attention. The width of the channel pretty much means when anything of size is moving it is one way traffic anyway ..... when the cruise ship do a departure it is a parade ....

 

You can regularly catch SpaceX barges transiting in with their landed vehicles. Typically in the morning a few days after a landing. Their prime tow/tug is FINN FLAGOUT which when near the port will appear on AIS. You can look for it via MarineTraffic.com, which pops up as a window on the port webcam site .... I've even been lucky and caught the webcam when they were moving the rocket from boat to land and later when moving from vertical to horizontal to truck into space center.

 

[Capt_BJ]

90% probability you will be at a 'north side' terminal; NCL usually uses 10 . . . there are only two south terminals: T-1 was built by Royal and typically used only by them and affiliated lines. T-3 has been exclusively used by Carnival Mari Gras as far as I've seen in my watching . . . 

 

Cocoa Beach Helicopters lands in the port .... as does Florida air tous HELO as far as I can tell

the helo tour lands on the south side ....

 

you can not walk across the draw bridge between the sides; no sidewalk / foot path ....

 

But a taxi would be little .....

 

 

The biplane tours operate from Merritt Island  Airport (small planes only) ... about 6 miles as the crow flies

Edited February 20, 2022 by Capt_BJ

[Pyrate13]

Not that it changes anything Capt but I've seen Liberty at T-3 as well as MG.

[Knights on the Beach]

Correct, Liberty has also been using Terminal 3 since coming back to Port Canaveral.

 

We haven't flown with Florida Air Tours but two years ago, we went up with Cocoa Beach Helicopters for almost an hour (Hudson was our pilot).  It was amazing - we'll definitely do it again at some point.  It was well worth the money and I highly recommend them. 

[luckyinpa]

i think it's the same company, .look at graphics. also unsure what copter crashed in miami yesterday  but i guess cant let that dissuade us. and ill def have to take a taxi over. will be 1st time in one lol. 

 

which tour did you take? i was thinking this because the more expensive one says it has a cruise and i dont think i need a cruise off a cruise ship

 

Extended Tour – Space Coast – $169.99

Options for our Extended tours include fantastic sightseeing over the Kennedy Space Center, including a low pass over the Space Shuttle Runway, or an Extended Beach Tour.
 
Tour Distance: Approx. 50 Miles
Flight Duration: 30-35 Minutes
Price: One Passenger: $339.98
Price: Two or Three Passengers: $169.99 each

 

https://www.cocoabeachhelicopters.com/helicopter-tour/index

 

http://www.floridaairtours.com/our-aircraft/

 

location is exactly the same (bottom of page)

https://www.cocoabeachhelicopters.com/about/our-location/index

[navybankerteacher]

On 2/19/2022 at 2:18 PM, Capt_BJ said:

 

...

 

About the only time I've heard of a port call being cancelled was when bad seas slowed the ship's transit and they fell so far behind schedule that the port was cancelled to try and stay on schedule for 'better' ports further along ..... VERY UNUSUAL.

I've had port calls cancelled several times while on cruises - and not because...  "bad seas slowed the shjp's transit" ...or because of " ' better' ports further along"  - but, in the words of the captains,  to avoid risks involved in entering or leaving ports in heavy weather - or to sail away from an area likely to be otherwise impacted by heavy weather.

[Capt_BJ]

I was speaking of a Canaveral port call ..... I can't remember a Canav call canx'd due to weather short of a tropical storm or hurricane.

 

Cayman was routinely cancelled because the seas were too ruff in the anchorage ..... particularly in the winter when wind and seas out of the west made the anchorage bouncy!

 

***************

and I now notice the two helo tour web sites have the same phone number . . .

 

if I was gonna book the helo I'd verify the length of the flight ..... a 12 to 14 minute flight is $70 at regular prices. I once 'won' a base flight in a raffle .... the cheap flight @ $20 is 3 to 5 minutes . . .

[luckyinpa]

i see exploration tower across from the copter landing pad and then i see other restaurants. think cabs are just milling around the area for tourists?

[Knights on the Beach]

On 2/20/2022 at 8:40 PM, luckyinpa said:

i think it's the same company, .look at graphics. also unsure what copter crashed in miami yesterday  but i guess cant let that dissuade us. and ill def have to take a taxi over. will be 1st time in one lol. 

 

which tour did you take? i was thinking this because the more expensive one says it has a cruise and i dont think i need a cruise off a cruise ship

 

Extended Tour – Space Coast – $169.99

Options for our Extended tours include fantastic sightseeing over the Kennedy Space Center, including a low pass over the Space Shuttle Runway, or an Extended Beach Tour.
 
Tour Distance: Approx. 50 Miles
Flight Duration: 30-35 Minutes
Price: One Passenger: $339.98
Price: Two or Three Passengers: $169.99 each

 

https://www.cocoabeachhelicopters.com/helicopter-tour/index

 

http://www.floridaairtours.com/our-aircraft/

 

location is exactly the same (bottom of page)

https://www.cocoabeachhelicopters.com/about/our-location/index

 

Yep, you're right, they must be the same company.  We did the See It All tour.  Where it says "cruise over the waves" and "cruise along Cocoa Beach", they would have done better to replace cruise with soar.  It's all flying, no cruising.  😊

 

50 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

i see exploration tower across from the copter landing pad and then i see other restaurants. think cabs are just milling around the area for tourists?

 

I wouldn't be surprised.  We only live a couple miles from the port and we use Uber and Lyft when we cruise out of Port Canaveral.

[luckyinpa]

This grand experience has the best of all our tours, including a cruise along Cocoa Beach & Port Canaveral, a St. Johns River Eco-Tour, and tops it off with our famous “Space Shuttle runway pass” at the Kennedy Space Center. You really will “See-it-All” with this tour!

 

yea that def seems like some kind of boat ride is included. which i didnt understand. did you feel the 60 bucks extra for the longest tour was worth the 60? looks like extra 15 min of flight

[Knights on the Beach]

We did feel like it was well worth the money.  It was my first time in a helicopter and I got to sit in the front seat next to the pilot.  My husband had been in helicopters for work so he sat in the back.  To be honest, I was nervous.  My husband took me out for brunch first and after a couple Bloody Marys, he surprised me by driving straight to the helicopter pad.  I had no idea we were going until that moment. And when we were inside talking about which tour to do, we decided to take the longest one because that might be my one and only time in a helicopter, may as well do it right.  I didn't even know if I'd enjoy it!  But it was truly an amazing experience and I'd be happy to do the same tour again.  We'd planned to do a helicopter tour in Maui in April 2020 but thanks to Covid, that trip was cancelled.

[Knights on the Beach]

Space Shuttle runway pass:  (They have to call for clearance first, they can't always do it.)

 

 

[Knights on the Beach]

River eco-tour:

Edited February 24, 2022 by cruisemom2

[luckyinpa]

ty for pics. i'm gonna show my gf and we can decide about the extra. but we now have much better info

[Knights on the Beach]

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

[luckyinpa]

ok we are down to the nitty gritty, i looked at the satellite map and see right next to the NCL port there's an uber waiting area. ive never done uber/taxi etc. are they sitting in that lot waiting for you to use your phone to request them? also thankfully we dont need to be 1st off the ship since we have a later reservation but i cannot imagine finding your uber if everyone got off at once.

 

2nd issue. i see the helipad is next to the observation tower and some restaurants so i'm assuming taxi or uber would be available to take us back. i know it's not a long ride and they wont make a lotta money.