Differences in sailing from Miami vs. Port Canaveral?

[Autumnslight]

We've never been on a cruise, DCL or otherwise, and are investigating the options for our first cruise on DCL. I had just assumed we would sail from Port Canaveral, but the 5 night cruises from Miami are pretty appealing to us.

Is there any major difference between sailing from either port, aside from flying to Miami (or Ft. Lauderdale) versus Orlando? I had figured we would fly into MCO, then take the DCL bus from the airport. My understanding is that we wouldn't need to deal with our luggage that way, similar to taking DME to the resorts. But it looks like that's not the same in Miami?

We were also thinking about adding on a WDW trip at the end of our cruise. Would that even be realistic if we cruised from Miami? It looks like it's almost a four hour drive from Miami to Orlando. Is there any sort of easy/reasonable transportation (Disney or otherwise) between the two, or would we just have to rent a car and drive?

 

[ahain]

There asre certainly others on this board that are MUCH more knowledgeable than I am on these things, but here's my $.02 from what I've read here.....

- The terminal at Port Canaveral is much nicer/more special (more "Disney") than in Miami.
- There is no Disney Transportation to the Miami terminal
- There is no Disney Transportation between Miami and MCO

I'm guessing you would need to rent a car and drive if you wanted to do WDW and cruise out of Miami.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

It may have just been bad luck but our luggage arrived at our room on the Magic in Miami looking like it had gone a few rounds with a gorilla. Never had that in 7 cruises out of PC.

 

[LeslieG]

Having done both, I much prefer Port Canaveral. It's easy to get to. No big city traffic. The terminal is nicer. And close to WDW, if we have a little extra time.

 

[Zandy595]

Having done both, I much prefer Port Canaveral. It's easy to get to. No big city traffic. The terminal is nicer. And close to WDW, if we have a little extra time.

I second everything Leslie said.

 

[Capt_BJ]

agree 100%

in Canaveral the DCL terminal was built special for DCL and no one else can use it

In Miami the terminals are shared so there is no 'theme-ing'

Is that a biggie? IMO no.

But if I was planning to go to WDW from the cruise, that is a different question

cuz you can book DCL transfers fm Canaveral; or, if you rent a car the drive is 1 hour versus 3 . . .

(and traffic getting out of Miami can be quite intimidating to say the least. I was just there Sunday moving dd into a apartment as she has a new job in downtown Miami.)

 

[WRUNDELL]

I live in Miami and have taken Disney cruises out of both Miami and Port Canaveral. Unless you are in love with the itinerary/ship out of Miami, go to Port Canaveral. Everything is easier there as far as airport transportation if you want to take Disney bus. The terminal at Port Canaveral is much nicer, but that doesn't mean much to me. I am about the ships and ports. Also if you plan to go to Disney World after, go to Port Canaveral. From Miami to Disney World it is a 4 hour drive and you will need to rent a car. Have a great time!

 

[Thnlk]

Having done both, I much prefer Port Canaveral. It's easy to get to. No big city traffic. The terminal is nicer. And close to WDW, if we have a little extra time.

Have also done both and prefer Port Canaveral. Would go back to Miami again to save money however.

 

[jrabbit]

Your goal should be to be in the Terminal Less than 1 hour vs. however many DAYS on the ship!!

We have had a rental car twice and have chosen to drop it off at the Miami airport and use the Disney Bus to the port - so no "traffic" worries for us.

Next cruise in Miami we are renting a car from Budget when we get off of the ship. The downtown / cruise location is about a mile from the port (going to take a taxi) and then we will drive to WDW (3 - 3 1/2 hours), check in at our resort and I will drop the car off at the Disney "hotel plaza" Doubletree (I think) where there is a Budget location, catch the bus to whatever resort we are going to first to meet up with the rest of my party. I am hoping that it works out OK - I do NOT have any worries about this.

 

[mmouse37]

There asre certainly others on this board that are MUCH more knowledgeable than I am on these things, but here's my $.02 from what I've read here.....

- The terminal at Port Canaveral is much nicer/more special (more "Disney") than in Miami.
- There is no Disney Transportation to the Miami terminal
- There is no Disney Transportation between Miami and MCO

I'm guessing you would need to rent a car and drive if you wanted to do WDW and cruise out of Miami.

There is DCL bus service from MIA to the Port of Miami. There is no bus service from Port Canaveral/MCO to Miami Port.

MJ

 

[TLPL]

If we'd fly into Ft. Lauderdale International Airport, is it possible to rent a car there and drop off near the port of Miami? Lots of rental company in MCO not charge extra for one way rental to Port Canaveral, is it the same in FLL/ Miami?

 

[WRUNDELL]

There are some rental companies (I believe at least Hertz and Dollar) that will accept cars in Miami and shuttle you to port. Double check that. It may be easier to just get a shuttle van/limo from FLL to Miami port. Do a google search and there will be plenty of choices that will probably be cheaper and much quicker than a car rental.

 

[TLPL]

There are some rental companies (I believe at least Hertz and Dollar) that will accept cars in Miami and shuttle you to port. Double check that. It may be easier to just get a shuttle van/limo from FLL to Miami port. Do a google search and there will be plenty of choices that will probably be cheaper and much quicker than a car rental.

I am thinking to rent a car for an extra day or two to drive around different attractions, do you think it is necessary to have a car? Or should I take public transportation?

 

[WRUNDELL]

In South Florida a car is a MUST! Public transportation here is awful! Take the car and I would say turn in at airport. Check for shuttle with car rental agencies. If not a shuttle/Limo wont be that bad. Enjoy!

 

[Dhew79]

I just came back last Friday from the Miami Port. I also did Port Canaveral about 12 years ago. For me and my family its all about money. It made no difference to me whether the terminal was smaller or bigger (you are there for maybe an hour anyway). We stayed at a hotel the night before in fort lauderdale and paid $11 per person for transportation to the port. We didn't touch our luggage after we left the hotel the transportation company did it all and there was hardly any traffic and the driver was very informative about the surroundings and telling us all about Miami. The only thing that would sway me more towards Port Canaveral port is if you want to do disney too and the newer ships. I don't mind the older ones and being smaller. But like i said when you have to pay for 5 people money is everything. I cant wait for the remaining of 2015 dates to come out bc we will be booking in December again from Miami.

 

[Lisamarie4400]

I just came back last Friday from the Miami Port. I also did Port Canaveral about 12 years ago. For me and my family its all about money. It made no difference to me whether the terminal was smaller or bigger (you are there for maybe an hour anyway). We stayed at a hotel the night before in fort lauderdale and paid $11 per person for transportation to the port. We didn't touch our luggage after we left the hotel the transportation company did it all and there was hardly any traffic and the driver was very informative about the surroundings and telling us all about Miami. The only thing that would sway me more towards Port Canaveral port is if you want to do disney too and the newer ships. I don't mind the older ones and being smaller. But like i said when you have to pay for 5 people money is everything. I cant wait for the remaining of 2015 dates to come out bc we will be booking in December again from Miami.

Who did you use for transportation to the port?