Cocoa Beach or Orlando

[tink1663]

Hello to everyone! Just another premature question for our December cruise. We have decided to fly out the night before the cruise like has been widely suggested. I wanted to have some input as where to stay. We will not be getting to Orlando until 7:30 pm (I have worked from 6am-2pm that day) so should we stay in Orlando that night or should we drive right to Cocoa Beach. I am the only one that would be able to drive. Also, I am going to try using priceline.com to get a room. Does anyone know how soon I can start bidding on a room? Sorry for all the questions. As a single parent I am trying to make sure I cover all the angles before we go. I want to be well informed so come vacation time I can sit back and cruise on. Thanks again!!!

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

Hi Tink,
We are doing the same thing and will arrive in Orlando around 5:30pm on Thursday night. I decided to rent a car and stay in Cocco Beach overnight to get an early start for the Kennedy Space Center the next day. Plus I have Marriott gift certificates that will cover two nights there plus some leftover for food.

That said, I think it would be less expensive to stay in Orlando the first night and pick up the car the next day. You will get a good rate on the hotel and your car rental bill will be smaller. The other thing is you will be traveling with kids, and may be more tired after the plane ride and the excitement of leaving on vacation to really want to deal with the rental and travel to Cocco Beach that night without another adult to help. By staying at the airport the kids can take a swim, you can unwind and get ready for the next step. You can always get an early start the next day feeling refreshed.

Of course this is just an opinion, as we haven't even actually had a chance to test my plan yet.
Have fun planning!

 

[CACruiser]

My last cruise was in the summer, SO we opted to stay in Cocoa Beach. We did the Space Center tour and had fun at a Holiday Inn there with a "Kid Suite" room.

It was a great way to "warm up" to our vacation, gave the kids some space, acclimate to the weather and time (we are west coasters) AND to top it all off, it was sea turtle egg laying season!

I found a great restaurant in Melborne called "Conchy Joes". We had an awesome dinner the night before our cruise!

I would HIGHLY reccommend staying in CC before your cruise. IT has that beachy vacation start that compliments a cruise.

LisaCA

 

[dtuleya]

If you are going to use priceline to secure a room make sure to check out www.biddingfortravel.com so that you can see what hotels have been won and for how much.

 

[inkkognito]

You can start as early as you want with Priceline. Personally, I like staying in the MCO area so in case I get in late, I can roll right into bed. We use Happy Limo to travel to the port, so that allows us to get a good night's sleep and still get to the port early. You should be able to get something in the $28 to $33 range via Priceline, but be sure to bid for the highest star level or you could end up at the "slum LaQuinta." The highest level is typically the Marriott, and we've also gotten the Renaissance and the Holiday Inn Select. All of them have shuttles from the airport, although it sounds like you are driving so that won't matter.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by DoomBuggieDriver

I think it would be less expensive to stay in Orlando the first night and pick up the car the next day. You will get a good rate on the hotel and your car rental bill will be smaller.

With a 7:30 arrival, I think I'd opt for staying at the airport. But I wanted to mention that the rental car costs would be the same whether you picked it up the night before or the morning of. You pay for 24 hours of rental, so waiting until the next morning will not save you anything. So you might want to pick it up that evening even if you do stay near the airport so you don't have to go through that process in the morning.

 

[ruttie]

They are foing to be too keyed up to sleep anyway I would go ahaead and head to the beach for te night. only a 45 minute trip. Then you can get settled wake up and be there.