Any suggestions on how to get from Miami Airport to Port Canaveral Cruiseport in Orlando?

[curtsfan]

Hi everyone

looking for suggestions on how to get my daughter from Miami Airport to the Cruise Port in Orlando.  We are sailing in April & can get to Miami easier then Orlando & was hoping someone knew an easy way for her to get to the ship.  Any ideas would be helpful.  
 

[time4u2go]

Fly to Orlando airport, then use a shuttle service.

[Tapi]

There’s no such thing as easy. The Tri Rail and Brightline trains only go as far as West Palm Beach and there’s no other form of public transportation past that. It’s a 3-4 hour drive.
 

Can she rent a car and drop it off at a rental location near the port? Or alternately, fly into MCO or MLB which are much closer and have plenty of shuttle options? That’s what I would do. 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Tapi

[Newcruiser215]

We tried this last summer and our flight from Orlando to Miami got cancelled morning of and we had to Uber. 

[Marie51]

The drive between Miami and Port Canaveral will take about 3 hours. No easy way to do this unless she rents a car and drives herself. Then assuming she will need to get back to Miami rent another car and drive. May not be worth it depending on the cost of the rentals and the hassle of it.

[1025cruise]

3 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

We tried this last summer and our flight from Orlando to Miami got cancelled morning of and we had to Uber. 

That had to be an expensive Uber.

[chfenton]

Since Brightline is expected to open for customers tomorrow --you now also have the option of taking the train from Miami to MCO and getting the shuttle from there to the Pier in Port Canaveral.

Edited September 21, 2023 by chfenton
typo

[chfenton]

3 hours ago, Tapi said:

There’s no such thing as easy. The Tri Rail and Brightline trains only go as far as West Palm Beach and there’s no other form of public transportation past that. It’s a 3-4 hour drive.
 

Can she rent a car and drop it off at a rental location near the port? Or alternately, fly into MCO or MLB which are much closer and have plenty of shuttle options? That’s what I would do. 

Brightline opens to MCO tomorrow.

Edited September 21, 2023 by chfenton
typo

[Newcruiser215]

6 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

That had to be an expensive Uber.

$282.80. 5 Uber drivers cancelled once they found out where we needed to go. The one that finally agreed to take us spoke no English at all. He had to use a translator app to communicate with us. Nice guy. He saved our vacation. 

[Tapi]

5 minutes ago, chfenton said:

Brightline opens to MCO in December.

Very true. Thanks for the reminder. It will definitely provide a viable option to get to Port Canaveral. Not the most direct but definitely an opton! 

[chfenton]

Just now, Tapi said:

Very true. Thanks for the reminder. It will definitely provide a viable option to get to Port Canaveral. Not the most direct but definitely an opton! 

Agreed and I was mixing up dates--it actually starts tomorrow not December (i edited my posts).

[CruiseMrB]

14 minutes ago, chfenton said:

Brightline opens to MCO tomorrow.

It can work, but it'll take some effort. This is the conundrum of High(er) Speed Rail. It only works if you limit the number of stops. At the same time, you limit the number of stops, it can limit its usefulness in other ways.

 

I live 2 miles as the crow flies from those tracks in Melbourne Fl - about 40 minutes away from Port Canaveral. There has been quite a bit of debate of "Why don't we have a stop if we have to put up with the trains?". 

 

I completely understand what the goal of this HSR is, and willing to live without the stops, even if that means I can't really use it.

Edited September 21, 2023 by CruiseMrB

[time4u2go]

17 minutes ago, chfenton said:

Since Brightline is expected to open for customers tomorrow --you now also have the option of taking the train from Miami to MCO and getting the shuttle from there to the Pier in Port Canaveral.

Does Brightline go to the Miami airport (which is what the OP is asking about)?

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by time4u2go

[Tapi]

8 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Does Brightline go to the Miami airport?

Not per se, but they have a connecting shuttle from the station to the MIA airport. It’s another thing to consider when figuring out total “door to door” time after adding shuttles, wait time, actual train ride, another shuttle, etc. 

 

https://www.gobrightline.com/offers/fixed-route-shuttles#

 

We’ve done Brightline (and Tri Rail) on a shorter route (to go from FLL to the Port of Palm Beach), and by the time it was all done, it took 3-4 hours door to door when it should’ve been roughly an hour by car. Time consuming, but we got there! 
 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Tapi

[CruiseMrB]

10 minutes ago, Tapi said:

Not per se, but they have a connecting shuttle from the station to the MIA airport. It’s another thing to consider when figuring out total “door to door” time after adding shuttles, wait time, actual train ride, another shuttle, etc. 

 

https://www.gobrightline.com/offers/fixed-route-shuttles#

 

We’ve done Brightline (and Tri Rail) on a shorter route (to go from FLL to the Port of Palm Beach), and by the time it was all done, it took 3-4 hours door to door when it should’ve been roughly an hour by car. Time consuming, but we got there! 
 

 

 

Quick Calculation:

MIA Shuttle to Brightline - 30 minutes or less

Brightline to MCO - 3 hours, 40 minutes

MCO to Port Canaveral - 45 to 60 minutes, plus connection and waiting for shuttle. 

 

All told, allow 5 to 6 hours. Uber for MCO to PC could cut that down a bit.

 

Brightline is about $80 per person each way (kids cheaper), with options for upgrade service at $150 pp each way.

Edited September 21, 2023 by CruiseMrB

[orville99]

4 hours ago, curtsfan said:

We are sailing in April & can get to Miami easier then Orlando

Unless I’m missing something, this makes no sense if you are sailing out of Port Canaveral. While it may be easier to get flights into Miami, it is a 3-4 hour journey from there to Port Canaveral regardless of how you choose to do that. PC is a 45 minute shuttle ride from MCO.

 

BTW, there are only two scheduled Brightline trains that will get you from Miami to MCO in time to make the shuttle to PC before the ship leaves - 6:40 and 8:40 AM.

Edited September 21, 2023 by orville99

[curtsfan]

5 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Unless I’m missing something, this makes no sense if you are sailing out of Port Canaveral. While it may be easier to get flights into Miami, it is a 3-4 hour journey from there to Port Canaveral regardless of how you choose to do that. PC is a 45 minute shuttle ride from MCO.

Thanks!  

[curtsfan]

7 minutes ago, CruiseMrB said:

Quick Calculation:

MIA Shuttle to Brightline - 30 minutes or less

Brightline to MCO - 3 hours, 40 minutes

MCO to Port Canaveral - 45 to 60 minutes, plus connection and waiting for shuttle. 

 

All told, allow 5 to 6 hours. Uber for MCO to PC could cut that down a bit.

 

Brightline is about $80 per person each way (kids cheaper), with options for upgrade service at $150 pp each way.

Thanks.  I’ve looked into flights from Wedt palm to Orlando & there is nothing direct.  It’s crazy because they go from West Palm to another state before going yo Orlando,  But I’ll check Brightline at your suggest.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

43 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

$282.80.

that's cheap for MCO to/from MIA. You, however, may have been able to rent a car for $120+gas.

 

We paid Uber $150 from MCO to Port Canaveral and it's a much shorter distance.

[orville99]

33 minutes ago, curtsfan said:

Thanks.  I’ve looked into flights from Wedt palm to Orlando & there is nothing direct.  It’s crazy because they go from West Palm to another state before going yo Orlando,  But I’ll check Brightline at your suggest.  

Is your daughter in West Palm? That really complicates everything. It might make the most sense for her to Uber directly to the port from there.

[Newcruiser215]

54 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that's cheap for MCO to/from MIA. You, however, may have been able to rent a car for $120+gas.

 

We paid Uber $150 from MCO to Port Canaveral and it's a much shorter distance.

Wow. Our Uber from Disney to Port Canaveral was around $70, including tip. 

[curtsfan]

30 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Is your daughter in West Palm? That really complicates everything. It might make the most sense for her to Uber directly to the port from there.

Yes she is in west Palm, 

[orville99]

10 minutes ago, curtsfan said:

Yes she is in west Palm, 

If she takes Brightline, there are really only two trains on the schedule that would get her to MCO with enough slack to get her to PC via a shuttle in time to catch the ship (8;03 or 10:03). The 12:03 would be too tight for comfort. 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by orville99

[curtsfan]

5 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

We tried this last summer and our flight from Orlando to Miami got cancelled morning of and we had to Uber. 

Thanks for the heads up. 

[curtsfan]

1 hour ago, CruiseMrB said:

Quick Calculation:

MIA Shuttle to Brightline - 30 minutes or less

Brightline to MCO - 3 hours, 40 minutes

MCO to Port Canaveral - 45 to 60 minutes, plus connection and waiting for shuttle. 

 

All told, allow 5 to 6 hours. Uber for MCO to PC could cut that down a bit.

 

Brightline is about $80 per person each way (kids cheaper), with options for upgrade service at $150 pp each way.

Wow!   I’m thinking that she should come in the day before the cruise.  As for flights, that’s totally out.  She would be spending the same amount of time ina plane as a train & cost 2 times more.