Country Inn/Suites Port Canaveral Shuttle

[BrerNashville]

Anyone used this and can tell me how well their shuttle system works? On their website, they say they don't take reservations until the day of, but that you don't get a time until you check in. That could fit together in a couple of different ways -- should I call the morning of the day I check in (e.g. the day before cruise departure) to make a reservation to make sure we get the time we want?

Do they have multiple shuttles running so they move people pretty quickly? We've got the first port arrival time, so I'd like to get there early.

We are doing park and cruise, so would I be better off taking the family myself to the port, then coming back to the hotel to catch the shuttle by myself, without luggage?

I'm weighing that vs. staying about 10-20 miles away. I didn't get a great rate at Country Inn, perhaps b/c it's Memorial weekend, or perhaps because I didn't obsessively check the rates over the past three months after I booked in March ($240 all in with taxes for the park/cruise package) and I think I can find somewhere at least $75 cheaper, which will cover the cost to park at the port, which I assume will be more convenient, particularly on arrival back at the Port day?

 

[momof2disprincesses]

We stayed there and did the park & cruise during spring break 2012. You sign up for a shuttle when you check in. They have them going continuously.

Even though we went during a very busy time, everything went smoothly. We enjoyed this hotel very much. We could even see the ocean from our room window.

 

[BrerNashville]

We stayed there and did the park & cruise during spring break 2012. You sign up for a shuttle when you check in. They have them going continuously.

Even though we went during a very busy time, everything went smoothly. We enjoyed this hotel very much. We could even see the ocean from our room window.

Thanks. How about the return trip to the hotel?

 

[sparty7798]

We did this on our first cruise and worked out really well. It was also during spring break week. We arrived late and the day to the hotel, signed up and still had the earliest shuttle. They were waiting for us when we got off so we were back and in the car by 9:00 a.m.

 

[jetskigrl]

We used their shuttle to the port in April of 2011. Since we were coming from California, I knew we wouldn't be arriving until later in the afternoon so I called them in the morning when I was in the airport waiting for our flight. I was able to pick my shuttle time then.

I confirmed the time when I arrived at the hotel and when she pulled out the schedule, I was very glad that I had called. The only remaining times were after noon. There was no way we would have been able to wait that long when we could see the ship in the distance

I do wish they would let you pick a time when you register. Waiting until the day of makes it hard to match shuttle times with assigned port arrival times.

 

[huffjoann]

We did this last yr & they had 3 shuttles & we got on 2nd one. The drive over fine & the hotel fine, the trip back was bad,, we waited an hour in the hot tone crammed into shuttle w grumpy driver. This weekend we are staying elsewhere cause the rate was awful! We also decided park @ Port

 

[ndabunka]

Do NOT book @ the Country Inns and Suites unless you WANT to tack on an extra 2 hours to your return trip.

Mild issues but not a game breaker - Their "family" room did have 2 TV's but there was no (real) sound barrier between the areas (area above the partition was open)

Deal Breaker - The shuttle service was a MAJOR problem upon the return. We walked out of the terminal a bit before 9am and saw a Country Inns & Suites Shuttle and thought "well, we timed this one well...."

Unfortunately, the driver lady was able to fit everybody into the shuttle EXCEPT us but she said "I've called and another shuttle will be here in a few minutes". Still in vacation mode we thought, no problem we can wait. However, after seeing two other Country Inns & Suite shuttles "zip" by the Disney gate on their way to the Carnival ships we called into the shuttle folks again ourselves and were told the same thing, we have someone on the way. THREE more CI&S shuttles go by over the next 30 minutes so we call again and get lots of apologies but only more empty promises. We realize that there weren't any other people with those CI&S pink shuttle vouchers and it became OBVIOUS that they were focusing their shuttles on the cruise line that had the most potential for tip "profit"/more passengers. After a little over an hour, I finally called back and got a bit "aggressive" with Duane telling him that he was welcome to pick up other people from other cruise lines as long as he picked us up FIRST in his next pass. More excuses so I hung up and started to call a cab company using another cell as it was around 10:15 by this time. Duane calls my wife's phone back back and says "I must have gotten disconnected. Good thing she was talking to him instead of me but he said that he would send an EMPTY shuttle to her right away. Amazingly enough, one arrived within about 5 minutes of that call and SURPRISE there was another 2 families that "just happened" to come out of the Disney terminal about that time as well so I suspect that picking us up was just a "mild diversion" on their way to more clients. It's a shame too as we tipped pretty well on the way TO the ship and would have tipped pretty well on the way back if only they had shown up in any timely level AT ALL. In the end, I still gave him $5 bucks for 4 carry bags (we travel light) but felt like I should have stiffed the sucker for TERRIBLE SERVICE but with both of us having previously worked in the service industry, we simply could not do that.

In the end, we walked out of the Disney terminal and were at the shuttle stop a bit before 9am and pulled out of the Country Inns and Suites parking lot @ 10:45. We cruised from Port Canaveral numerous times and each time previously, it was GREAT to get off the ship, jump in the car and be on our way in 10 minutes. We will NEVER do Country Inns and Suites EVER again!

 

[closetmickey]

Looking at the site tonight, it now says that they do not have a shuttle to the port. Can we just take a cab?

 

[Prose]

Closet mickey - I'm looking at their site now and it mentions the shuttle several times....if you don't buy the parking package the shuttle is $5 per person, so it's not necessarily included, but they definitely have one.

 

[NC State]

We just used them 2 weeks ago and it was wonderful. No problem whatsoever. We asked for a 11:30 pick up when we checked in but we were in the pick up room at 10:00. We were on the first van to go over to port. On the return trip we stood and waited maybe 10 mins after we had called them. We were in our car and on the road by 9:15 am. We loved the hotel it was nice and clean, the morning breakfast buffet was great too! We will be staying there again in the future.

 

[closetmickey]

Wow! Thanks for mentioning! I must have been on the wrong site! That would have posed some problems!

 

[cupcakecruisin]

My family and I have been on several cruises out of Port Canaveral and will stay no where other than the Country Inn and Suites. The price is great, and their shuttle service is outstanding. They are always there to pick us up from the Port as soon as we get off. The driver Dwayne and his wife have been honored by Carlson Hotels numerous times for their knowledge of the port and the smooth service. We are sailing again in November and booked this hotel over 6 months ago.