Transportation from Port Canaveral to MCO

[ArmchairQB]

We are a family of 4 sailing on the Mardi Gras out of CT3 in August.  We are flying in a day early and are renting a car at MCO, which we will drop at Port Canaveral when we embark.  I gather that renting a car at Port Canaveral is inconvenient, so we just need transportation back to MCO.  Our flight is at 4PM and we don't plan to rush off the ship. (we will walk our luggage off). It looks like 4 ships are in port when we disembark.

 

I think our best options are Go Port, Cortran's or Cruise Control.  Any idea which of the 3 would be best for us?  Thanks.

[SteerageJoe]

You have many more options than the ones you listed, so the question is:  what do you plan to do when you arrive early at MCO? You can sit and wait at the terminals or perhaps try for a dayroom at the Hyatt.

 

I would rent a car and explore a bit. Avoid Budget but Avis, National, Enterprise, or Alamo will be efficient and easy. With 4 people, the cost of a shared van or bus is almost the same as a rental car or private van. At the very least, ask about a private van instead of shared (such as GoPort).

 

 

[ArmchairQB]

Thanks SteerageJoe.  I had thought we would depart PC around 10:30 and just hang around the airport.  Domestic flight, so there would be about 3 Hrs to explore.  I did look into day passes but they seem fairly pricey for a few hours.

 

When you say ask about a private van, did you have any suggestions? Thanks.

[SteerageJoe]

I seem to remember the Mardi Gras wants folks off by 9 am but it can be stretched to 9:30 am before the Captain announces a final demand!

 

There is nothing to do or see at Terminal 3 but you can walk over to the Holiday Inn Club - the issue is your luggage.

 

The normal shared shuttle option will be challenging for you because they will be waiting with other riders and you have to be off the ship on their schedule, not yours. The cheapest will cost about $80 for 4 - Airport Canaveral.

 

BUT - there will be folks with signs for shared hop-on airport shuttles - 888 transportation is one - for $30 a person last time I saw them. They totally pack every van, however. You can ask them if they have a private van and the costs.

 

Unless you require car seats or have tons of luggage, UberXL or Lyft will be a great option at $105 or so - if not less.

 

You can also call one of several transport companies for a private ride quote.

Beach Line

Cocoa Beach Shuttle

Cocoa Beach Express

Airport Canaveral

Port to Port Shuttles

Cruise Control

Orlando Port Shuttles

 

[ArmchairQB]

Thanks.  I was wondering how long we could stretch out being on the ship given we are in no hurray.  Thanks for that detail.  Hanging around the airport is seeming less and less appealing.  Thanks.

[Sand and Seas]

3 hours ago, ArmchairQB said:

Thanks.  I was wondering how long we could stretch out being on the ship given we are in no hurray.  Thanks for that detail.  Hanging around the airport is seeming less and less appealing.  Thanks.

We can highly recommend Cruise Control.  Small shuttles of 10 or so seats, but our shuttle went to MCO with just four.  We started getting texts from Cruise Control dispatch as soon as we docked.  Then our driver texted us to let us know he was two minutes out....and  there he was😊

 

Also, I would recommend you allow extra time for MCO depending on the day of week.  Remember that in addition to cruises there will be many families flying home from the theme parks.  We disembarked and flew home on a very busy Saturday.  For some reason, I thought Saturday would be lighter at the airport than Sunday but boy was I surprised.

 

 We got to MCO with plenty of time after a nice 45 minute drive in decent traffic, but then found it to be an absolute circus at the airport.  (We did hear some others had bad traffic returning to MCO.)  The kiosks were not printing out our luggage tags. We (and MANY others) got in one long line to drop luggage, then got sent downstairs to a lower level to get tags and drop our luggage.  

 

After that, we went searching for the TSA pre-check line.  Signs were confusing- just had an arrow that pointed left for TSA Pre-check.  It just didn't show how FAR left and how many un-marked lines we would need to bypass to get to the actual line.  Again many of us were sent to wrong lines.  Eventually made it to an actual TSA pre-check line and felt so sorry for those that were not pre-check.   Once you make it through security, you will probably need to board the tram to get to your gate. 

 

All of this takes time so for us, I was glad we had an early on-time shuttle trip.  Many at MCO that day did not make it through security and to their gate in time for their flights😕

[ArmchairQB]

Thank you S&S.  Good advice.

[GTO-Girl]

Here a list of some other recommended shuttles….

 

 

[Sand and Seas]

3 hours ago, ArmchairQB said:

Thank you S&S.  Good advice.

I should have added, our disembarkation at Port Canaveral was just a week ago. 

Had a great two days pre-cruise at Cocoa Beach and returned our rental car at the Port (Enterprise) day of embarkation.  Rental return about 9:15am went smoothly.  Loved the cruise & Port Canaveral!   

 

Hope you have a great cruise & no transportation problems!

[Elaine5715]

You can store luggage at MCO and grab an Uber to Disney Springs.  That is my method

[xcell]

20 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

I should have added, our disembarkation at Port Canaveral was just a week ago. 

Had a great two days pre-cruise at Cocoa Beach and returned our rental car at the Port (Enterprise) day of embarkation.  Rental return about 9:15am went smoothly.  Loved the cruise & Port Canaveral!   

 

Hope you have a great cruise & no transportation problems!

Do the rental car companies have (free) shuttles to the port? and back to the rental companies...

[Sand and Seas]

22 minutes ago, xcell said:

Do the rental car companies have (free) shuttles to the port? and back to the rental companies...

Yes, there is a free shuttle to/from port shared by Enterprise, National & Alamo.   Three car rental companies share the same large air conditioned building right at the port.   When you are driving your rental car to return it there, look for the white Exploration Tower and turn towards it.    

 

The car rental building has lots of seating and nice restrooms.  You turn in your car and wait for a shuttle driver to come in and announce a shuttle to your ship.   There were three cars in port the day we dropped off our car.  Very easy😎

[xcell]

11 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yes, there is a free shuttle to/from port shared by Enterprise, National & Alamo.   Three car rental companies share the same large air conditioned building right at the port.   When you are driving your rental car to return it there, look for the white Exploration Tower and turn towards it.    

 

The car rental building has lots of seating and nice restrooms.  You turn in your car and wait for a shuttle driver to come in and announce a shuttle to your ship.   There were three cars in port the day we dropped off our car.  Very easy😎

Thanks...

 

Do you have experience renting a car after the ship docks?  Should I wait for the shuttle or just uber there to make sure I can get a rental car to get back to the airport...

[Sand and Seas]

8 hours ago, xcell said:

Thanks...

 

Do you have experience renting a car after the ship docks?  Should I wait for the shuttle or just uber there to make sure I can get a rental car to get back to the airport...

Sorry, we just rented at Enterprise at the airport and dropped off at the port two days later.   We then used CruiseControl shuttle to return to airport ($25 per person).

 

I would suggest you check the port schedule to see what time other ships are docking that day.  It might give you an idea of how busy the rentals will be.     The day we disembarked there were four ships in port but docking times were staggered.  We did see the Rental Car shuttle as we were disembarking.  I think they come by pretty regularly.  Just google Port Canaveral ship schedules.