Suggestions/Opinions please: Pre-cruise hotel/car rental

[crystalk]

Last time we cruised we came in the evening before the cruise and booked at the airport hotel and took the shuttle to the port. Easy Peasy.

This time we are coming in 2 days before the cruise and plan to go to Kennedy Space and Science/NASA. So we arrive Thurs, go to hotel, Friday go to Kennedy, and Saturday get on the cruise.

So we are looking at renting a car for the 2 days before we board the boat. Any suggestions for that? Any deals to be had that we aren't seeing. Right now Alamo looks to be the best value, but I'm not sure. Is it pretty easy to get a shuttle from the car rental drop off to the port? Should we drop the family at the port while one person returns the car? Do we have to go through security together?

It looks like we will be booking Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront through a rewards program, Has anyone stayed here before? Any difficulties getting to the port?

Anything else I should know? This is my first time booking this kind of stuff so far away. Help Me. Please

Thanks everyone

 

[starvenger]

We rented from Budget via Costco. No issues except Costco booked our return as a local renter coming back from Port Canaveral and omitted a "cruiser fee". Traffic can get busy near the terminal (as you probably know) so it can take about 30 min to get there.

My brother dropped his family off and returned his car on his own, and was allowed through security solo. So I'd recommend this option.

Also, if you're booking a return rental, remember to schedule it for 9am. As a first time DCL cruiser accustomed to RCCL's debarkation style I didn't realize they booted you off the ship so early, and had to wait until 9:45 to get my car (I had a 10am booking, but they let me have one early).

 

[lisamarie12]

We booked our car through a compare site for car rentals and got a good deal. I was concerned about using the shuttle to the port or having DD and I dropped off and waiting for DH, so we took the car back early in the a.m. and had them shuttle us back to our hotel. Then we used the hotel shuttle ($5pp) to the port.

We stayed at the Hilton and I really liked it. I would stay there again on a regular vacation trip. It was nice and clean and had a nice pool bar, beach, etc. It was nothing super fancy and it was a little farther down the road, but I really liked it.

 

[crystalk]

We rented from Budget via Costco. No issues except Costco booked our return as a local renter coming back from Port Canaveral and omitted a "cruiser fee". Traffic can get busy near the terminal (as you probably know) so it can take about 30 min to get there.

My brother dropped his family off and returned his car on his own, and was allowed through security solo. So I'd recommend this option.

Also, if you're booking a return rental, remember to schedule it for 9am. As a first time DCL cruiser accustomed to RCCL's debarkation style I didn't realize they booted you off the ship so early, and had to wait until 9:45 to get my car (I had a 10am booking, but they let me have one early).

We booked our car through a compare site for car rentals and got a good deal. I was concerned about using the shuttle to the port or having DD and I dropped off and waiting for DH, so we took the car back early in the a.m. and had them shuttle us back to our hotel. Then we used the hotel shuttle ($5pp) to the port.

We stayed at the Hilton and I really liked it. I would stay there again on a regular vacation trip. It was nice and clean and had a nice pool bar, beach, etc. It was nothing super fancy and it was a little farther down the road, but I really liked it.

Thanks for your insight everyone. Did you use the shuttle at Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront? What was the cost from there to the port? It didn't give me just the hotel to port option in their shuttle prebook site Smart-two.com.

 

[lisamarie12]

The cost for the shuttle from the hotel to the port was $5 per person when we went in May. I had read about it, so I emailed the hotel directly. We had to sign up when we arrived there and pay the driver. I am sure it would have been cheaper and possibly even easier to drop DD and I off at the port and have DH return the rental car or even have the 3 of us shuttle from the rental car company, but I was worried about managing with a preschooler and luggage by myself, while stressing about DH getting back. As it turned out, DD got a bad ear ache on the plane and we had to make a trip to CVS in the a.m. to find some ear drops that I read about online. I had to go with DH to do that because there are some things you just don't leave for dad. lol.