transportation from Port Canaveral to MCO post cruise

[nichb0]

We are on the 3/25/07 Mariner sailing out of Port Canaveral. We are flying to Orlando. We are going down a day early and renting a car to drive to Port Canaveral. I was going to rent a car when we got back to return to MCO, but I have seen a couple of posts saying it can take quite a while to get a shuttle to the car rental place and then to get the car.

 

So now I am having second thoughts about that idea so am wondering about shuttles from the port back to Orlando. I assume we could get a shuttle through RCCL and am wondering if anyone knows the cost of this. I know there are a lot of other shuttle companies and would appreciate anyone's experiences with any of those. Thanks in advance!

[NoVa Mimi]

Last summer we used Art's shuttle and were very pleased with the service. I know quite a few people from these boards have also used them, which is how I found out about them. They were right there waiting for us as we got off the ship and right away the led us to the van and we were off to Orlando. It could not have been smoother or quicker! I cannot remember how much we were charged but it was in line with all the other shuttles and the service was great.

[JanineM]

We live in the area, so I haven't used a shuttle service at the Port. However, I have put together events at work and we have used Art's Shuttle to carry clients back and forth to the theme parks. We were very happy with the service they provide. You could google them (Art's Shuttle in Cape Canaveral). Their web site includes their rates.

[powelweb]

we did 1 way car rentals to and from Port Canaveral for our 11/26 Mariner sailing without a hitch.

 

Specifically, we were off the ship by 8- 8:15 and in the budget shuttle heading for their agency site within minutes.

 

We were staying at Disney and arrived there shortly before 10am with no issues.

 

The budget office in cape canaveral is literally 2 minutes past the Port entrance and is very convenient with several gas stations nearby for filling the tank before returning the car. Depending on the size of your party, you may want to think about dropping your group off at the terminal yourself and then having one person return the car and take Budget's shuttle back to the Port again. We did this so that we could drop my DH and 3 yr old DD at the terminal with all our luggage, her car seat,etc. and then it was very easy for me to grab a shuttle back with only my carry-on (i.e. no waiting for space).

 

Also, FWIW, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Cape Canaveral for the Sat night before the cruise, which is even closer to the port.

 

Happy sailings Wendy

[cruzobsessed]

was just on the mariner last week (awesome cruise:D ) and all i can say is DON'T USE ORLANDO'S FINEST TRANSPORTATION!!!!!:mad:

they definitely need to change their name because they were HORRIBLE. there were 8 of us and although they got us with a van....there wasn't enough room for our luggage so we had to sit for almost an hour with luggage in our laps but that's not the worst of it......

when they picked us up (post cruise) they made a mistake and sent an suv which seats 6. DON'T ASK!! IT WASN'T PRETTY!! if we had gotten stopped by the police the driver would've been in serious trouble.

[lclocke718]

We used Art's shuttle both pre and post cruise with no problems...except that MCO is a very busy and popular airport and we had trouble finding a porter to transfuer the luggage to the van. We were very explicit with them about the # of people and the # of bags. Two of our cruisers were close to 90 y/o and they were handled with great care.

 

In spite of all the good care we are using the RCCL transportation this year...haven't booked yet, but probably in Feb....this will be our 4th RCCL cruise and second on the Mariner.

[lakemom]

i would say it depends on how many people you have in your party and ther ages(meaning are you paying for more than 2) we rented a car both ways with thrifty, we ahve 2 kids. i ended up in a wheelchair getting off the ship. the first caf had 24 miles on it and the 2nd we had to upgrade to a van and it onlt had a few hundred miles. for 2 a shulltle might be fine but we found it less expensive to get the car and we also stayed extra nights at a hotel in orlando for NY's eve and had a car both times for 24 hours. it worked ot great!

[lakemom]

i would say it depends on how many people you have in your party and ther ages(meaning are you paying for more than 2) we rented a car both ways with thrifty, we ahve 2 kids. i ended up in a wheelchair getting off the ship. the first caf had 24 miles on it and the 2nd we had to upgrade to a van and it onlt had a few hundred miles. for 2 a shulltle might be fine but we found it less expensive to get the car and we also stayed extra nights at a hotel in orlando for NY's eve and had a car both times for 24 hours. it worked ot great!

[elleluv]

I'm with Powelweb...

 

We used a car service for our first cruise out of Canaveral, but for our last 2 cruises out of Port Canaveral we used Budget and were very happy.

 

I really didn't think that it was any more time effecient to have the car service than what it was to rent a car.

 

It was about 45 min or so from the time we picked up our luggage at the port until the time we were in our rental. There was a very short wait for the Budget shuttle (the first time was about 5 min, the second time there was a shuttle waiting) and about a 5 min ride to the Budget office. Once we were there, there was a bit of a line to get the car, about 30 min... because everyone gets there at once... but it really wasn't bad.

[takeatrip]

One person could take a taxi straight to the car rental office then return with the rental car to pick up the rest of the family and luggage. That way you don't have to wait for the shuttle and you don't arrive at the rental desk the same time as everyone else.

[maxs mom]

If you make reservations with Art's Shuttle....they will be there waiting for you. All you have to do is jump in the van and go. If you rent a car ....then you have to shuttle to the rental place.....stand in line to get the car, load all your stuff in the car, drive to Orlando.....find the rental car place, and then haul all your luggage into their shuttle, and then get to the airport. To me ....that's a lot of trouble. It's still more trouble even if you drop your luggage at the airport and then take the car back to the rental place and shuttle back to the airport.

[nichb0]

Thanks to all for your responses.

 

Does RCCL have it's own shuttle that I can arrange on the ship for when we get back? Does anyone know the cost?

 

There are 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kids) and our flight out of Orlando is 1:46 PM so we shouldn't be too rushed.

[maxs mom]

Yes, RCI has a shuttle. I would not recommend that, though. You have to wait for the whole bus to fill up. You feel like a herd of cattle. It's much better to arrange something yourself...IMO.

[robg]

Thanks to all for your responses.

 

Does RCCL have it's own shuttle that I can arrange on the ship for when we get back? Does anyone know the cost?

 

There are 4 of us (2 adults, 2 kids) and our flight out of Orlando is 1:46 PM so we shouldn't be too rushed.

 

They do have a shuttle. I am doing the same thing, only on the Jan 14 sailing. It's costing us $44 each (Canadian) which is about $37 USD