Arriving Cheaply to Port Canaveral

[DLM1980]

So our first cruise back in February we did things, I don't want to say wrong but, it cost us more than it probably should. We arrived a day early, stayed at the hilton hotel in Miami cause my partner had hilton points to use. We didn't use their shuttle and rented a car for a day, and then took the transport from the airport to the port.

There was definitely money I didn't need to spend being spent, so now that we are going on the Dream in July out of Port Canaveral I wanted to see my options.

Disney transport from the airport seems a bit expensive, but if we did that we would need to be back at the airport....thought about staying at the airport hotel, no need for a rental car, but who am I kidding, I'm gonna want to leave the airport

I thought about staying at a Disney resort for a day or two, but its $263 w/tax w/o park tickets, at the cheapest hotel, I thought "Oh we could just do Disney Springs" but I know once I get there I was going to be all "why not spend the $100+ per person for a 1 day ticket, we are so close, it would be a shame to not go" (and really, with our yearly trip in October, at that point it might be cheaper to Annual Pass it, but I don't know what the future holds in terms of us moving to FL within the next year it's already been a year of trying to transfer down there)

So what are the cheapest ways to spend a day or two pre-arrival at Port Canaveral?

What hotels do you recommend staying at? Car rental? skip disney transport?

 

[openwater]

How many people? That will make a difference when it comes to transport/hotel options.

 

[DLM1980]

How many people? That will make a difference when it comes to transport/hotel options?

just two adults

 

[MUN]

Rent a car at MCO and stay somewhere at PC. Return the car to PC the morning of the cruise and get another one-way rental for the trip back to MCO. I bet this will be cheaper than staying at the airport and taking DCL transportation.

MUN

 

[Jestocost]

just two adults

With two adults DCL transport is probably going to be one of your best priced options at about $70 pp round trip. Car services are going to be more. You may be able to do better with a car rental if you are willing to drive. There are tons of reasonably priced hotels in the MCO area with free shuttles between the airport to get you to DCL transport in the morning. There also are hotels in the PC area that you could drive to the night before.

 

[DLM1980]

Rent a car at MCO and stay somewhere at PC. Return the car to PC the morning of the cruise and get another one-way rental for the trip back to MCO. I bet this will be cheaper than staying at the airport and taking DCL transportation.

MUN

are the rental stations close to the disney terminal or is this another take a shuttle thing?

If I go this route am I still able to participate in the airline checkin/luggage service or is that a DCL Transport thing? I really liked not having to pickup my luggage at customs, it was just sent to the airline and I picked it up at home.

 

[Shea&Van]

For our cruise in November, we spent the day before enjoying Cocoa Beach. We stayed at a nice spot...the Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral (3425 N. Atlantic Ave., Cocoa Beach, FL 32931). We got the AAA rate and it was under $120 (including taxes and fees). The free breakfast was just okay, but the hotel was clean, modern and convenient. We strolled to the beach and enjoyed the sparkling pool. Would definitely stay here again. We had a rental car so we drove around had a really lovely brunch and then did some shopping and had a good dinner. We returned the rental car to Budget and took the Budget shuttle to the port. We had a standard car and it was $40 (picking up at the airport and leaving at Port Canaveral).

Coming home we tried the Disney transport. It was very easy figuring that out. We had an "early" flight after the cruise and I didn't want the hassle of picking up a car then returning it to the airport then getting on a plane. So to me, it was worth it to pay the extra $30 for convenience of not doing a rental car. If we had more time or a later flight, I would have rented the car and stopped for a nice lunch on the way back. It seemed very easy to do that as well.

 

[Jestocost]

are the rental stations close to the disney terminal or is this another take a shuttle thing?

If I go this route am I still able to participate in the airline checkin/luggage service or is that a DCL Transport thing? I really liked not having to pickup my luggage at customs, it was just sent to the airline and I picked it up at home.

You will need to take a shuttle from the rental car locations to the terminal, and on-board airline check-in is available only to passengers who have booked DCL transfers and are flying on a participating airline (notably, Southwest does NOT participate in OAC).

 

[DLM1980]

With two adults DCL transport is probably going to be one of your best priced options at about $70 pp round trip. Car services are going to be more. You may be able to do better with a car rental if you are willing to drive. There are tons of reasonably priced hotels in the MCO area with free shuttles between the airport to get you to DCL transport in the morning. There also are hotels in the PC area that you could drive to the night before.

Driving I don't mind, I just need to remember to take my sun pass out of the rental car this time

Is PC have a touristy things to see or is it your run of the mill city with a port attached to it?

 

[openwater]

1. The very cheapest option is to fly into MCO on the morning of your cruise and take a shared shuttle bus to your cruise terminal and back after your cruise. The roundtrip transportation will cost you $29 x 2 = $58!!! Disney will cost you $70 x 2 = $140.

2. It is safer to fly in the night before, however. Then find the cheapest hotel in Orlando with free airport shuttles and return to the airport on the morning of your cruise to take the return shared shuttle for $29 each.

3. For more convenience when arriving the day before, use special codes and with patience you should be able to rent a one-way to the Port for under $60 and you have wheels to explore with! You then find the cheapest hotel you can get anywhere between Orlando and Cocoa Beach and drop the vehicle on the morning of your cruise at Cape Canaveral and take the free rental shuttle to the Port. Book the shared shuttle ($14.50 each) for the return back to MCO after the cruise.

In Cocoa Beach the cheapest hotels are usually just under $100 a night - look at Motel 6, Cocoa Beach Suites, Econo Lodge, etc.

 

[DLM1980]

You will need to take a shuttle from the rental car locations to the terminal, and on-board airline check-in is available only to passengers who have booked DCL transfers and are flying on a participating airline (notably, Southwest does NOT participate in OAC).

Well then it sounds like we are staying in the orlando area, really liked the OAC service.

I'll have to see what sort of rate my partner can get though his work with Diamond Resorts.....few years ago we got 5 nights at the Grand Beach for $99 total. But then again I need to find a way there, and they say its $65 one way via a taxi.

Trip planning can be such a pain in the tush!

 

[lanejudy]

Wanting to use OAC post-cruise doesn't have to dictate your pre-cruise plans. It could be less expensive pre-cruise to stay in the Port Canaveral area and get a cheap rental car for 24 hours, with free shuttle to the terminal the morning of embarkation. Then use DCL transfers post-cruise to take advantage of the OAC. Just one more option to consider...

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[My2litteprincesses]

1. The very cheapest option is to fly into MCO on the morning of your cruise and take a shared shuttle bus to your cruise terminal and back after your cruise. The roundtrip transportation will cost you $29 x 2 = $58!!! Disney will cost you $70 x 2 = $140.

2. It is safer to fly in the night before, however. Then find the cheapest hotel in Orlando with free airport shuttles and return to the airport on the morning of your cruise to take the return shared shuttle for $29 each.

3. For more convenience when arriving the day before, use special codes and with patience you should be able to rent a one-way to the Port for under $60 and you have wheels to explore with! You then find the cheapest hotel you can get anywhere between Orlando and Cocoa Beach and drop the vehicle on the morning of your cruise at Cape Canaveral and take the free rental shuttle to the Port. Book the shared shuttle ($14.50 each) for the return back to MCO after the cruise.

In Cocoa Beach the cheapest hotels are usually just under $100 a night - look at Motel 6, Cocoa Beach Suites, Econo Lodge, etc.

OpenWater- how do you find out about/book the shared shuttle from MCO to Port Canaveral? I cannot find anything on it.
Thank you in advance!!

 

[openwater]

OpenWater- how do you find out about/book the shared shuttle from MCO to Port Canaveral? I cannot find anything on it.
Thank you in advance!!

There are several shared shuttles ranging from smaller buses used by Cortrans, Cocoa Beach Shuttle and others. They park next to the Disney bus at MCO and depart at fixed times (usually every hour or so). Rates start at $20 per person each way but get cheaper if you have more friends!

Nowadays, the cheapest shared shuttle is offered by a local travel agency (GoPortCanaveral) in partnership with Stylus - depending on the amount of people you may be traveling in a nice bus same size as Disney but you pay only $14.50 pp each way! They have 3 departures on cruise day - 9am, 11am and 1pm.

For links to all these companies and other good ones, please go here for a summary of transportation options between the airports and DCL. Too many to list here!

 

[My2litteprincesses]

There are several shared shuttles ranging from smaller buses used by Cortrans, Cocoa Beach Shuttle and others. They park next to the Disney bus at MCO and depart at fixed times (usually every hour or so). Rates start at $20 per person each way but get cheaper if you have more friends!

Nowadays, the cheapest shared shuttle is offered by a local travel agency (GoPortCanaveral) in partnership with Stylus - depending on the amount of people you may be traveling in a nice bus same size as Disney but you pay only $14.50 pp each way! They have 3 departures on cruise day - 9am, 11am and 1pm.

For links to all these companies and other good ones, please go here for a summary of transportation options between the airports and DCL. Too many to list here!

OpenWater! You ROCK!! Thank you so much!!

 

[Sarah O.]

I don't know about dollar for dollar, but it was very convenient for us to rent a car at the airport (for the duration of the trip to save hassle, and sometimes a week is cheaper than a few days anyway), and stay at a PC hotel with a park and cruise package. We did the Country Inn & Suites Port Canaveral, but there are other good options with shuttle service and parking for your cruise as well. Have fun!

 

[wherespluto]

Not sure if it is something that interests you, but a fun thing to do can be to stay in PC or Cocoa Beach and go to Kennedy Space Center. My grandfather worked for NASA so i grew up going there all the time, but havent been in 20 years. It looks like they have a lot of interesting things there now to do and see. We are getting in a day early in August and staying at the Double Tree in Cocoa Beach and taking the kids there.

 

[Billinaz]

Just get a rental car. I currently have an Avis rental for $40 both one way to and from the port.


We are staying at the new Homewood suites across the street from the Country Inn and Suites. Better price and newer hotel.