Port of Canaveral - Flight & Hotel ???'s

[gooselover]

We will be sailing on Mariner on September 30. I know alot of you do not book thru RCL. I have a few questions that I hope you can help with.

 

1. Where do you book your flights from? Expedia? Priceline? Other?

2. Is Tampa cheaper than Orlando, or do you fly into Orlando?

3. What hotel? Does it provide shuttle to the pier?

4. What car rental if flying in the day before?

 

Thanks a bunch everyone!

[Micki Dee]

We will be sailing on Mariner on September 30. I know alot of you do not book thru RCL. I have a few questions that I hope you can help with.

 

1. Where do you book your flights from? Expedia? Priceline? Other?

I usually book all of my airfare directly with the airlines. I've always found the best rates that way, usually using either NWA or Spirit out of Detroit.

2. Is Tampa cheaper than Orlando, or do you fly into Orlando?

Good Question. I don't know if Tampa's cheaper. I've always flown into Orlando.

3. What hotel? Does it provide shuttle to the pier?

The Raddison at the Port is a beautiful hotel with a free shuttle to the port. I believe it's one of the closest hotels to the port.

4. What car rental if flying in the day before?

Budget has an office at the Airport and you can drop it off right near the Raddison.

 

Thanks a bunch everyone!

 

Hopefully someone can answer your question about flying into Tampa.

 

Have a great cruise!.

[JanineM]

If you do a search on this site for Port Canaveral hotels and rental cars, you'll get lots of good leads. We live in the area, so can't give you any recommendations.

 

I always check travelocity, expedia and orbitz - plus all of the airline web sites when booking flights. Southwest and Jet Blue don't show up on those sites, so if your home city has those options, you will want to check their web sites directly.

 

If you're willing to drive, you can fly in to:

Melbourne (about 25 minutes south)

Daytona Beach (about 1 hour north)

Orlando (45 minutes west)

Sanford (45 minutes west)

Tampa (about 2 hours west)

Fort Lauderdale (3 hours south)

Miami (3.5 hours south)

Jacksonville (2 hours north)

 

Depending on when you are flying, and where your flight originates, you'll likely get different fares. The Orlando airport is probably going to be your best bet. It's well serviced, and is a really quick trip. Melbourne is the "local" airport, but only Delta flies there.

 

There's lots to do in this part of the world, so you're not likely to be bored if you're in a day early and stay a day later. Since you're sailing during hurricane season, be sure to get insurance. You'll want coverage in case a storm blows through in advance of your cruise and the airport you are using is impacted.

[ken_nyc]

We will be sailing on Mariner on September 30. I know alot of you do not book thru RCL. I have a few questions that I hope you can help with.

 

1. Where do you book your flights from? Expedia? Priceline? Other?

I always check the airline's website and book through their site, they are pretty much the same as the above named websites by a few dollars or so.

 

2. Is Tampa cheaper than Orlando, or do you fly into Orlando?

As Micki Dee said I do not know either.

 

3. What hotel? Does it provide shuttle to the pier?

We always stayed at the Radisson and had a great time. Love their pool.

 

4. What car rental if flying in the day before?

We have always rented from AVIS each time because they were always the cheapest. If you belong to COSTCO, BJ's, AAA, AARP, etc. check through one of their sites. I usually get the best deal from either COSTCO or AARP. AVIS has a shuttle also that will take you to and from the port. You can drop off your bags and cruising partners at the pier and return the car yourself and not have to drag your luggage with you. AVIS is very close but not close enough to walk.

 

Thanks a bunch everyone!

 

Hope this posting helps you and I hope you have the best experience on your cruise!!

[weechloe]

We've stayed at the Residence Inn in Port Canaveral. There's a lovely breakfast included and a shuttle to the cruise ship. You can see the ships in the distance from the hotel. We landed in Orlando and rented a car for $54 and it was great.

[TiffanyT]

We will be sailing on Mariner on September 30. I know alot of you do not book thru RCL. I have a few questions that I hope you can help with.

 

1. Where do you book your flights from? Expedia? Priceline? Other?

Try www.mobissimo.com we found a couple of good deals there, but have actually ended up booking through www.airtran.com All of the travel sites, Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, CheapTickets, etc charge a small fee on top of the taxes and other fees that are normally charged.

 

2. Is Tampa cheaper than Orlando, or do you fly into Orlando?

We're flying into Orlando, it seems to be cheaper and a little shorter drive.

3. What hotel? Does it provide shuttle to the pier?

We're staying at the Crowne Plaza at the airport. Our flight comes in late Saturday night....due to a wedding that we are going earlier that day....it came to $79 per night and has free shuttles to and from the airport. We are planning to fly in and shuttle to the hotel, then go back the next morning and pick up the rental car to drive to the port.

4. What car rental if flying in the day before?

We also are planning to use Avis! They are definitely the cheapest that we have found and I've read so much about them being able to shuttle you directly to the port after drop off!!

 

Thanks a bunch everyone!

 

Hope all of this helps! We are sailing out in August and can't wait!! Hope yoiu have a great trip!!

[metsfan1968]

Try sidestep.com for flights. It searches multiple other sites (including Expedia, Orbitz, etc.) all at once to show you the options available. Once you get an idea of which airlines have the lower rates for your particular date(s), then go to the websites for those actual airlines. The actual airline sites will be a little cheaper, due to no booking fee, and sometimes have more options than what show up on the Orbitz-type sites because you can scan available flights/connections & use the airline's web tools to get a better combination than what the travel search site may have identified if you need to change planes. And, as noted above, be sure to check southwest.com and jetblue.com if they fly from your area - their flights/prices don't show on the travel search sites. Good luck!

[patrickc]

Just back from Sovereign (nice refurb btw, loved boleros).. we flew into Orlando day before (booked airtran thru airtran site, 200 rt). Rented car thru budget site- and as everyone else reported, was easy as can be- $52 for a Focus. Stayed @ Hampton Inn- free Bfast, nice, consistent room w/ ocean view. Drove the car to budget next morning- had a private shuttle- no wait- took us 15 mins max to get from hotel to budget to boat. On way home, rolled off own luggage @ 8am, picked up car thru budget again- drove to Universal & used express pass to do all attractions by 2pm- lunch & flew out at 4:55pm. Easy as can be. Thanks to cruise critic past posters for helping us get this organized! Happy travels!