Overnight the night before boarding

[mmps108]

Where does everyone stay the night before boarding?

Should we stay at a Disney resort and take Disney transportation?
Or should we stay by the airport and take private transportation?
Or should we stay by the Port? Did I read the Radison is close?

Any help would be most appreciated!!

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Where does everyone stay the night before boarding?

Should we stay at a Disney resort and take Disney transportation?
Or should we stay by the airport and take private transportation?
Or should we stay by the Port? Did I read the Radison is close?

Any help would be most appreciated!!

WE always stay right there at the Hyatt mco

 

[sillysully]

That said, I guess it depends on where you're flying from and when you're arriving. If you get in early enough, you may consider driving to the port and staying locally. If you stay at/near the airport you can take the DCL buses to the port in the am. We are a family of 5, so we're hiring private transportation. Of course, WDW resorts are an option, but I wouldn't want to drive or shuttle there and then have to transfer to port very next morning. JMHO. Do a search; there's lots of other opinions on this and suggestions for hotels. Happy planning!

 

[CraftyMouse]

We always stay at the port. There are many hotels in the Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area. If you choose to stay at the port my suggestion would be to rent a car at the airport for a one-way rental to the port. YOu can then drop your family and luggage off at the port the next morning and then return the car (taking their shuttle back) while they check in. YOu can do the same type of rental for the return to the airport after the cruise.

I'd reccommend renting a car even if you choose to stay at the Hyatt or WDW. DCL transportation will cost $70 per person, round trip. For a family of 4 that would be $280. A rental car (depending on what size car you choose) will be $40 - 60 each way for all of you. That's less than half of the DCL transportation price which is a considerable savings. The ride to the port is very easy to navigate and several rental cars (Budget, Avis & Thrifty among them) are within a mile or so of the port with a free shuttle back to the terminal.

 

[cmacf1]

We're staying at POP Century the night before and taking private transportation to the port the next morning. There are 8 of us, so private transport was MUCH cheaper than the Disney bus. And we were going to stay by the airport until I discovered tha POP Century was comparable in price to where we had planned on staying.

 

[mmps108]

There are 4 adults in our party and we're coming in from Chicago at 4 PM on Saturday night. What would you do?

My last cruise was in 2000 and we did the land part first and took DCL transportation.
I don't even remember the embarking proceedure. If we are able to check in online now, what is the proceedure?
How soon can we get there and actually get on the Ship?

Will DCL transportation get us there in time?

 

[birkner]

Where does everyone stay the night before boarding?

Should we stay at a Disney resort and take Disney transportation?
Or should we stay by the airport and take private transportation?
Or should we stay by the Port? Did I read the Radisson is close?

Any help would be most appreciated!!

I prefer my own transportation as we can get to the port when we want.

If we fly a day or two before the cruise, we rent a car stay at the Radisson which is a couple miles from the port.

If we fly in the night before, we stay at the Hyatt MCO and rent a car.

Here is my GK's in the pool at the Radisson:

 

[CatFish Show]

We will be staying at the Country Inns & Suites at Port Canaveral - it is closer than the Radisson to the port and they have a great breakfast included (so I have been told, this is our first time)

here is the site:

www.countryinns.com

Hope it helps.

 

[tvguy]

There are a half dozen nice hotels at the outer edge of the airport in Orlando, all on Augusta National Drive. All offer free shuttles to and from the airport (or to the Disney shuttle pickup point at the airport on cruise departure day). All are a lot cheaper than the Hyatt in the airport, and all about 5 minutes ride away.

 

[mmps108]

We always stay at the port. There are many hotels in the Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area. If you choose to stay at the port my suggestion would be to rent a car at the airport for a one-way rental to the port. YOu can then drop your family and luggage off at the port the next morning and then return the car (taking their shuttle back) while they check in. YOu can do the same type of rental for the return to the airport after the cruise.

I'd reccommend renting a car even if you choose to stay at the Hyatt or WDW. DCL transportation will cost $70 per person, round trip. For a family of 4 that would be $280. A rental car (depending on what size car you choose) will be $40 - 60 each way for all of you. That's less than half of the DCL transportation price which is a considerable savings. The ride to the port is very easy to navigate and several rental cars (Budget, Avis & Thrifty among them) are within a mile or so of the port with a free shuttle back to the terminal.

I have heard of up to $100 drop off fees at car rental places...have you done this personally? I've never rented a car "one-way." How close are the car rental terminals to the Port? They have a shuttle to and from their rental lot?

Also, if it is that cheap, wouldn't in be just as easy rent the car for the weekly fee and leave the car at a hotel and use their shuttle back and forth from the port?

Sorry about so many questions! thanks in advance!!!

 

[Billinaz]

We rent a car from MCO, either Budget or Avis.

Never had a problem with drop off fees....didnt even notice one.


We stay at the Hampton Inn near the port.....

 

[kaseyC]

There are 4 adults in our party and we're coming in from Chicago at 4 PM on Saturday night. What would you do?

My last cruise was in 2000 and we did the land part first and took DCL transportation.
I don't even remember the embarking proceedure. If we are able to check in online now, what is the proceedure?
How soon can we get there and actually get on the Ship?

Will DCL transportation get us there in time?

We are flying in from Milwaukee and will get to Orlando about 6:00 pm. We are staying Courtyard (Marriott)Orlando Airport (2 rooms for free, using Marriot rewards points). They offer a free shuttle from the airport. We have then arranged for a private car service to transport us to the port the next morning. Much less expensive than DCL transfers for our party of 5, plus our driver will make a stop so we can pick up water, pepsi and movie snacks for our girls.

 

[J&L'sMommy]

I have heard of up to $100 drop off fees at car rental places...have you done this personally? I've never rented a car "one-way." How close are the car rental terminals to the Port? They have a shuttle to and from their rental lot?

Also, if it is that cheap, wouldn't in be just as easy rent the car for the weekly fee and leave the car at a hotel and use their shuttle back and forth from the port?

Sorry about so many questions! thanks in advance!!!

I just rented a car through Avis for $40 ($50 after all the taxes/charges) to pick up at MCO and drop off at Port Canaveral. There is a place on the website reservation that lets you select (drop off at different location). The different drop off location is included in my rate. I chose Avis because they had the best rate for our dates (other than Thrifty) and they have an office in the airport (we get in at 9:45 with two kids under 5). If you aren't getting in too late, I hear Thrifty is available by shuttle and you could probably save a few dollars.

 

[ibela]

There are a half dozen nice hotels at the outer edge of the airport in Orlando, all on Augusta National Drive. All offer free shuttles to and from the airport (or to the Disney shuttle pickup point at the airport on cruise departure day). All are a lot cheaper than the Hyatt in the airport, and all about 5 minutes ride away.

We stayed in this cluster of hotels too, 1 mile from the airport. Also, there are several chain restaurants that you can walk to (if you don't rent a car) to get some dinner including TGI Fridays, Chili's, Olive Garden, etc.

I have heard of up to $100 drop off fees at car rental places...have you done this personally? I've never rented a car "one-way." How close are the car rental terminals to the Port? They have a shuttle to and from their rental lot?

Also, if it is that cheap, wouldn't in be just as easy rent the car for the weekly fee and leave the car at a hotel and use their shuttle back and forth from the port?

Sorry about so many questions! thanks in advance!!!

We rented from Budget and there was no drop-off fee. DH dropped us off and went to return the car himself to Budget but it seemed to be a short time, maybe about 10 minutes? I guess if you get a cheap weekly rate you can do that instead of 2 1-way rentals, I know the Budget and Avis shuttles both left before my DCL transfer to MCO did.

 

[mickeyluv]

We are flying into Sanford and renting a car. We are actually flying in on Friday at 6pm, before our cruise (Sunday departure). We are staying at CI&S.

 

[seashell724]

Do all rental agencies offer a shuttle to your ship?

I was also wondering about renting a car vs. taking DCL transportation. Are there any other shuttles available that would also be a good option to the Port?

 

[ps17]

National is significantly farther away and does not offer a shuttle. Also - we learned the hard way - the morning of our cruise, cabs can be very tough to come by. I waited at the National office for close to an hour for a cab to take me from the office to the pier.

Last time we cruised for a Saturday embarkation on the Magic, we came down on Thursday afternoon so that we could take in a day at a WDW park. Stayed at the Beach club and toured Animal Kingdom the day before our cruise.

Had a Budget rental vehicle. Their shuttle system to the ship works pretty well. You will want to drop off your family for check in and have a single person drop off the car.

 

[pixie08]

We are stying at the MCO hyatt the night before. We are going to use the DCL bus because there is just 2 of us and it works out cheaper than a town car...or a family a town car is more economicl I believe.

 

[CraftyMouse]

I have heard of up to $100 drop off fees at car rental places...have you done this personally? I've never rented a car "one-way." How close are the car rental terminals to the Port? They have a shuttle to and from their rental lot?

Also, if it is that cheap, wouldn't in be just as easy rent the car for the weekly fee and leave the car at a hotel and use their shuttle back and forth from the port?

Sorry about so many questions! thanks in advance!!!

I haven't read all of the responses yet so if my response is duplicate information I apologize.

Drop Off Fee - If there is to be a drop-off fee it will show up as an itemized charge in the Estimated Total when you get your quote online. You will know before you reserve if a drop-off fee is being assessed. If so simply close the window and try someone else. Yes, some agencies do charge a drop-off fee but most don't. We have never paid one.

Keeping Car During Cruise - I guess my reasoning is why pay for something I'm not using. It's about $50 each way for the one-day rentals. It would be far more than that to keep the car during the time I'm on the ship. Why pay that extra money when I don't have to? Plus, by not having a car to park during my cruise I do not need a hotel that provides a shuttle. I was able to get the Comfort Suites in Cocoa Beach on Hotwire for nearly half of what the Radisson was charging. So not only am I saving the cost of the car while I am on the cruise, I also saved money on my hotel.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Do all rental agencies offer a shuttle to your ship?

I was also wondering about renting a car vs. taking DCL transportation. Are there any other shuttles available that would also be a good option to the Port?

No. Not all rental agencies offer a shuttle. Budget, Avis and Thrifty are three that do. There are also Hertz and Enterprise locations in the port area but I"m not sure if they have shuttles.