We are cruising in February and also plan on arriving early. But for the night before the cruise we booked the Marriott Residence Inn in Cape Canaveral.
It gets great reviews and also includes a free breakfast. You could always visit Kennedy Space Center for the day.
We are paying $179...but that is for a 2 bedroom with a kitchen. They have smaller rooms I think which would probably be less.
You can see reviews on tripadvisor.com.
Also...do you know about cruisecritic.com? Just like the DIS boards but for cruising.
Have an awesome time.
HeatherC