One night pre-cruise MCO

[Qtips4Mick]

There will be 6 of us, 4 adults, one 13 year old and a smaller child. What is the least expensive configeration we can stay in for the night before the cruise? If the economy doesn't improve we will be canceling, but being hopeful, we still need to cut corners. Ideas?

 

[inkkognito]

When we used to live in Chicago, we would use Priceline for our pre cruise nights. Just be sure to choose the highest star level, and check out www.biddingfortravel.com to see how much to bid.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You will def need 2 rooms. There are some hotels that will allow a 5th person on a rollaway bed for an added fee but no place I know of holds 6 per room.

If you are on a very tight budget and just want a clean, decent place to crash for 1 nt pre-cruise, I would recommend getting something in the MCO area thru Hotwire. You choose what * level you want and it lists some (but not all) of the amenities offered at that hotel, and the price. You just don't find out the exact name of the hotel until after you buy. You should be able to get something decent for around $40-50 + tax per room.

Sounds scary if you're not familiar but as long as you keep to 3* or better, it won't be bad. The 3* we got at MCO was Wingate Inn, 3.5* is Sheraton, 4* Hyatt inside MCO.
2.5* are Comfort Inn, Amerisuites, etc.

Here is a great website that has identified many of Hotwire's hotels, people report back what they actually got after purchasing. They are good at IDing and answering your questions and have been correctly guessing for me approx. 7 times now.
www.betterbidding.com


btw, Priceline only guarantees a room that sleeps 2. We are a family of 4 so this is the only reason I don't use Priceline. Plus I like IDing all the hotels on my Hotwire search results, then choosing the best deal. lol! (the thrill of the hunt and all that...)

Be sure to enter total # of guests and 2 rooms so that you get enough beds for everyone and both rooms at the same hotel.
I don't know that I'd book a whole vacation this way but for 1 nt. it's great!

Good luck finding a great deal.

 

[Qtips4Mick]

Thanks for that link! I will need to study it, it does seem intimidating. Just to tweak the question a bit, is it better to stay at a hotel near Port Canaveral or the Airport? Or should I make that question a separate thread?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is really just a matter of personal preference, no right or wrong way.
Some like to get as close to the ship as possible the day before while others may have a long flight or very small children and dread the idea of another 1 hr drive after arriving at MCO. Those using DCL buses for transportation will not be able to do so the night before so staying at the port is not an option.

There are definitely more choices (competition) in the MCO area so prices will probably be lower there. In the past we've stayed at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott, Wingate Inn and Hyatt MCO. We like the Hyatt best as it it just past security, right in the terminal so no shuttle needed and minimal amount of carrying our luggage. Fairfield Inn had a great free cont. breakfast so that would probably be my 2nd choice, or a HI Express.
Some also like to stay at a Disney hotel, getting free ME, and visiting parks pre cruise.
It really just depends on how much time you have, what you want to do once you arrive and how much you want to spend.

You may want to ask on the DCL boards about port hotels if want more info about them.

 

[Qtips4Mick]

It will probably be the Hyatt. You helped a lot, thanks. I read that hotwire isn't showing the Hyatt, but I will keep looking.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It will probably be the Hyatt. You helped a lot, thanks. I read that hotwire isn't showing the Hyatt, but I will keep looking.

Well, you have to enter your specific dates to see. It used to show lots of availability but not so much lately. Still worth checking it out. Even the AAA price at the Hyatt is almost $200 after tax.

Hotwire is designed to help hotels fill empty rooms. If they have lots of vacancies, they'd rather get a little $ than none at all. That can vary a lot with season and even day of the week.
Hyatt is the only 4* in the MCO with at TripAdvisor rating of 4.5 out of possible 5. That part is very important. If the TA rating is anything but 4.5, it's not the Hyatt.

 

[Qtips4Mick]

OK. So I put 4 stars in and if one comes up it's for the Hyatt?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

no. You don't "put stars in."

All you can do is enter your dates, # of guests, and put MCO for the area. It will give you a whole list of many hotels. It lists the price, star rating and a bunch of amenities for each hotel, but not the name of the hotel.

Not all are in the MCO area either. Some might say "International Dr/Sea World area" or maybe "Downtown Orlando" or "Orlando Airport West Area"

If you see a 4 * in the MCO area (not Airport West) click on it. It will take you to another page. Scroll way to the bottom. It will then display that hotel's rating on TripAdvisor.com. (A hotel rating website.)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/

The Hyatt is the only 4* in the MCO area with a tripadvisor rating of 4.5 out of 5 with over 100 ratings.
If you see that the tripadvisor.com rating is 4.0 out of 5, it's not the Hyatt. It's the Renaissance. It will have 40+ ratings.

I just did many searches and finally found it. If you search 3/1 to 3/2, 2 adults, that 4* is the Hyatt.

You have to click on the red square that says continue and check the trip advisor rating. You can't tell just looking at the main search page.

good luck!

 

[pillow]

The airport Hyatt offers "stay certificates." You order the certificate through Hyatt (just make sure you have the right level certificate for that particular hotel). You purchase the certificate from Hyatt (works sort of like a gift certificate), then use it to book your room - saves quite a bit of $$. We love that airport Hyatt. It is so convenient - especially if you fly in late the night before the cruise.

https://www.certificates.hyatt.com/OrgFAQ.aspx

If you are looking for cheap transportation from the airport to the port, we have used www.cbshuttle.com. They were great and quite inexpensive compared with DCL pricing - especially if you have lots of people. Good luck!

Jodie

 

[Qtips4Mick]

Thank you both!

 

[Qtips4Mick]

I tried Hotwire, nothing available just now. I will keep looking, thanks for that advice. I am not clear on what the certificates are and how they save money?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I tried Hotwire, nothing available just now. I will keep looking, thanks for that advice. I am not clear on what the certificates are and how they save money?

https://www.certificates.hyatt.com/products/CertsStay.aspx

Stay certificates are a great way to get a discount off Hyatt's regular or even AAA rates.
You order a stay cert directly thru Hyatt. You are basically pre-paying 1 night's stay (or longer if you like) When you call to book you must tell them you're using a stay certificate as there is limited availability. They will FedEx your stay certificate and you just hand it to the clerk when you check in. It includes all taxes too.
We used one for our TG cruise since it never showed up on Hotwire. This is the 2nd best price for getting the Hyatt.
These certs are non-refundable and do have an exp. date so it's best to make sure that there is defintiely "stay certificate" availability before you buy one.
You will still need 2 rooms so buy 2- one night stay certificates.

 

[Qtips4Mick]

This is great! So I will call and ask if there is "stay certificate " availability for my date and then order it? It is several months from now so if it is available now, it is safe to say it will be by the time it arrives in my mail. Thanks so much!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This is great! So I will call and ask if there is "stay certificate " availability for my date and then order it? It is several months from now so if it is available now, it is safe to say it will be by the time it arrives in my mail. Thanks so much!

Yes, they will usually just put a hold on it for you and ask that you call back with the cert. # once it arrives.
They are only sent by FedEx and must be sent to the billing address on your cc. This is the only PITA with these things. Last year I was able to have it shipped to my work. Not so anymore.

You will love it there! Have a great cruise!

 

[Qtips4Mick]

Thank you so very much!