What hotel did you stay at the night before - Port Canaveral

[southlake]

Currently looking to book the Hyatt Orlando, but wondering if I should stay closer to the port.

 

[mimmi]

We stayed at the Country Inn & Suites last time and I enjoyed the view of the Fantasy in the morning.
That said, after a long flight from Europe with transfer in Washignton DC I would have liked crashing at the Hyatt.
On the other hand, I enjoyed that we didn't have to drive far on embarkation day.

 

[carissa1970]

I am trying to decide that very thing. Some of our flight options have us arriving very late, in which case I think the Hyatt would be best.

 

[staley98]

We will be staying at the Country Inn and Suites as recommended by our TA. We're driving, not flying, so it saved us a little on parking.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Our flight gets in at 10pm so we are staying at the Hyatt. If I had a day I would go closer to the port but MCO Hyatt and DCL transfers are all about convenience for this trip.

 

[natandscott]

I think we're going to bite the bullet and come down a few days earlier and stay at Disney's Contemporary Resort. I'd like to do just one day at the MK. It's a long way for us to go without setting our eyes on the castle atleast once

 

[Mandersons04]

Unless we fly in many days before our cruise, we always stay at the Hyatt MCO and use DCL transfers the next day. We'll be doing this in 5 days

 

[zippingalong]

I live in SC and drive down the night before.

I've stayed in several PC hotels (I've stopped counting our number of cruises out of PC) and right now my favorite is the Holiday in Express PC. It was very clean, comfortable and the staff was really exceptional. I was super impressed by the friendliness.

We do the park and sail packages always so we've used many of the major players (ROP, Comfort Suites most recently) and I found the Holiday Inn Express to be much better than our last several stays. Their reviews on Tripadvisor seem to pretty much agree.

We're doing 7 nights on the Fantasy in August and I need to make my reservation soon.

Have fun.

 

[The Lorax]

We stayed at the Hampton Inn our last cruise. Booked the Fly, Snooze & Cruise package. Included all transfers to and from MCO and the cruise terminal. Standard hotel with ocean views with direct beach access via a short path.

 

[truck1]

We drive in to the port and use CIS for there park and cruise. We like being there early and having a free breakfast before we leave.

 

[kalc12345]

We always stay at Country Inn & Suites. That is where we are staying for our upcoming cruise. It is really close to the port, they offer free breakfast (not the best but edible) and they have a park and cruise type package.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

We/I have stayed at both the Country Inn & Suites and the MCO Hyatt. I think they each have their advantages so it just depends on what you're looking for or prefer.

The Country Inn & Suites was perfect when we rented a car from the airport and used the one way car rental to get to Port Canaveral and turned it in the morning of the cruise. For our first Dream cruise, we came down 2 days prior to the cruise and explored Kennedy Space Center and the area. On the second cruise we came down one day before but still went out in the area and ate locally and had a good time. For the Fantasy sailing with my Mom, I didn't want the "worry" of renting the car and dealing with returning it for just the two of us so we kept it "simple" and stayed at the MCO Hyatt. The hotel rate was a little more than the Country Inn & Suites but my Mom had a special rate that allowed room service for breakfast which for us was AWESOME! We were lucky as well that at that time they were still allowing the check in's for the actual cruise and we were assigned our boarding time (#2) when we went down to catch the bus to the port - LOVED that feature! I still would stay at the MCO Hyatt, even w/out this feature being offered any more as it's very easy.

For our next family cruise on the Fantasy next year, we'll likely do the MCO Hyatt for convenience sake as we'll be flying in late afternoon/early evening and only there for that one night before heading to the Fantasy in the morning.

Heather

 

[cpeters]

We stayed at the International Palms Resort on Cocoa Beach (10 min drive to Port). It was priced very reasonably (Stayed end of January/1st of February this year prior to 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise on the Fantasy) and is right on the Beach. Did not use the Park & Cruise package (had bad experience with that at a different hotel last year), but I believe they do offer that. We plan on staying there again prior to our next cruise so I feel safe in recommending it.

 

[trickiwoo]

We are staying at a Value Resort at WDW the night before! Our flight is scheduled to arrive in Orlando around 10 am the day before the cruise. We're taking the Magical Express to our resort. We aren't doing any of the parks, but planning on spending the day at the hotel pool, Downtown Disney, as well as checking out some of the other resorts on property. That night we're planning on watching Wishes from the Polynesian beach! Then the next morning we are having the DCL bus pick us up from our resort to take us to Port Canaveral!

 

[calismic]

We were initially going to stay at a Disney Resort until I discovered its further from the Port and the buses leave later. Since we have an 11am PAT, I'd like to get as much time on the boat as possible. So we decided to stay at the MCO Hyatt and take the first DCL bus out of the airport.

 

[Petrus4DCL]

If you don't arrive too late, staying in Cocoa Beach has its advantages. The Marriott and Hampton Inn (Free Buffet Breakfast at Hampton) offer parking and shuttle to the port. They also have a nice walking path to the beach. Cocoa Beach is interesting in itself. Take a trip to Ron Jon. Being that close to the ship you can have a more relaxed morning getting ready to go as well.

 

[SeaSpray]

We were initially going to stay at a Disney Resort until I discovered its further from the Port and the buses leave later. Since we have an 11am PAT, I'd like to get as much time on the boat as possible. So we decided to stay at the MCO Hyatt and take the first DCL bus out of the airport.

Does anyone know what time the DCL busses start from the Hyatt? Thanks!

 

[jlbeard]

We are booked at the Country Inn and Suites at MCO, for the night before, and we'll take their shuttle back over to the airport in the morning to catch the Magical Express out to the port.

 

[Laurie26739]

Radisson for us. Free transportation from Orlando airport to the hotel and it only cost less than $10 to be dropped off at the ship. Saved us from renting a car following our flight.

 

[joech]

Animal Kingdom Kidnai for us. We are still debating if we should stay closer to port. We will be arrived one day prior to the cruise and we will have our car rental for 2 weeks. Our traditon is to go to Downtown Disney for dinner once we picked up our car rental at MCO. I figured it is not a big deal to drive an hour to port the next morning and pay the $75 for parking. The shuttle from Comfort Inn would cost us $40 for 4 of us if we were to stay there for the free cruise and stay package.