Best Place to Stay in Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral Night Before Cruise

MissMagnolia

DIS Veteran

Joined

Nov 17, 2003

• Aug 30, 2015

• #1

We are arriving around 1:00 pm into MCO and are thinking we will go directly to Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach and stay the night before the cruise. Our other option to to add on a day at Universal before the cruise (we are staying two days after the cruise).

I want a nice resort, possibly on or by the beach (easy access) and reliable transportation to the port. We love to be one of the first on the ship, so we want a shuttle that has reliable transportation. If there isn't any, we may just get our own transportation.

Thoughts?

 

M

Melski94

Earning My Ears

Joined

Jul 20, 2015

• Aug 30, 2015

• #2

I just researched this last week for our cruise so no personal experience. Hampton Inn and Courtyard by Marriott get high ratings from Cruise Critic comments. I chose the Residence Inn which is close to the port but not the beach since we'll get in late and I wanted an option for car parking for the cruise.

 

bumbershoot

DIS Veteran

Joined

Mar 5, 2007

• Aug 31, 2015

• #3

I've read good things about the Four Points by Sheraton that's attached to the Ron Jon shop.

 

maloned

DVC Member 2006

Joined

Jun 27, 2006

• Aug 31, 2015

• #4

Is there a decent and economical hotel anyone recommends? We don't want to make the drive to the Cape early Saturday morning. We'll drive up after work on Friday. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, we will be arriving late at night and go straight to sleep. I read that there are some hotels that give you a discount on parking for the cruise.

 

bumbershoot

DIS Veteran

Joined

Mar 5, 2007

• Aug 31, 2015

• #5

Since we don't know the timing of your cruise, and we don't know what meets your budget, it's likely more informative if you do a google map search for hotels in that area (or go to hotels.com as I mentioned and look at the map view), and then check.

You'll have to go to the hotel's specific website to see if they have deals on parking during the cruise, or even check on the cruisecritic.com message boards for the port forums.

I'm sure some will have ideas for you, but since my idea of economy and yours might be different and our ideas of decent might be different, etc etc, AND we are only a small group here, it might be best to go to the sources (CC and the hotels themselves).

Another google search that can yield results might be something like "fly cruise snooze port canaveral".

 

M

Melski94

Earning My Ears

Joined

Jul 20, 2015

• Aug 31, 2015

• #6

You can look for discounted parking on the port's website. They have a list of hotels. I second looking at other websites. I used cruise critic and trip advisor to choose my hotel. That being said I chose the Residence Inn as I needed a 2 bedroom suite and they had a package for parking and shuttle. Lots of good reviews for the Raddison for hotel and parking. I think parking at the Residence Inn and Raddison are significantly less than even the discounted parking as both are about $6 a day (and mine with a package included parking and shuttle costs).

 

MissMagnolia

DIS Veteran

Joined

Nov 17, 2003

• Aug 31, 2015

• #7

Our needs are probably different than the other post asking about economical lodging and parking. We are going in January - no need of parking as we are flying in to MCO early afternoon on the Saturday before the cruise (ship departs on Sunday), renting a car to drive to Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach, and returning the car the morning of the cruise. We are taking a shuttle back to Universal Studios for a couple of days post-cruise.

We like our luxury on vacation. We are in an owner's suite on the cruise and will be staying club level at Universal. The night before the cruise we are looking for a nice hotel/resort to start the trip. We have not been to Cocoa Beach before so staying somewhere on/near the beach would be preferable. I am not concerned about watching the cruise ships in the port as some may enjoy. Since we will have our own transportation by rental car to the port (returning the car after family and luggage are dropped off at the terminal and then taking rental car shuttle back to terminal), we do not need to rely on hotel shuttles.

I have checked on Cruise Critic and opinions are so varied so I thought I would inquire here.

 

littleblackegg

DIS Veteran

Joined

Sep 6, 2014

• Sep 1, 2015

• #8

We are a Cocoa Beach family. My husband's family moved to Cocoa Beach from New York in the 1960's. While looking for a home, they stayed in the now cult-favorite Wakulla Suites. It's a tiki-themed Florida mid-century classic, with everything that entails. I've only stayed once. I would not call it posh, but I would call it fun in a midcentury, tropical, tiki god kind of way. It is authentic Florida!

 

Psychodisney

DIS Veteran

Joined

Feb 22, 2005

• Sep 4, 2015

• #9

We've stayed at the Courtyard a couple of times. It's not right on the beach but only a 1-2 block walk. I think the Suites mentioned above are right next door. We didn't use the shuttle but they do have one. We had a nice 1 BR at the courtyard with a view of the water.