Where to stay on Disney cruise from Port Canaveral?

[hrhdhd]

We drive to Port Canaveral from VA and typically stay in Titusville, until they got rid of the discount parking vouchers. This year (Sept 4th) my wife is suggesting we sleep in the car in Cocoa beach being overly cautious etc. We shall see.

Overly cautious about what?

Edit: I assure you Florida is open for business and many people are at hotels every day. Get vaccinated, then get a hotel room.

 

[Lynes88]

Overly cautious about what?

Edit: I assure you Florida is open for business and many people are at hotels every day. Get vaccinated, then get a hotel room.

We are already vaccinated, but being in a hotel increases the risk of exposure (vaccines are not 100%) so we are looking at this as one step we can eliminate risk. I am very confident in the vaccines, but it is partially peace of mind. Not sure what we will do at this point. Lots of places are open for business, not automatically a good idea either...

 

[sabrecmc]

We have stayed at the MCO Hyatt, Disney, Port Canaveral and Disney's Vero Beach Resort pre-cruise. Of those, probably the easiest and less stressful was the Hyatt when we were flying. For driving, both Vero and Disney were easy. Our experience at the Hampton at Port Canaveral was fine, too, but just felt more hectic that morning trying to get breakfast and leave, though we weren't using the hotel shuttle thank goodness. I'm sure it is not as crazy as it looked and probably very well organized, but it LOOKED like chaos. So, I think it depends a lot on if you are driving/flying, how much time you have pre-cruise, and how valuable it is to you to have very little stress.

The MCO Hyatt is so convenient for late arriving flights. We have dinner either at the hotel restaurant or in the airport food court, shop around a bit, maybe swim, then get a good night's sleep. I quite enjoy having a glass of wine while sitting on the balcony and looking over the airport. Morning is breakfast, then off to the first bus to the port. Super easy.

For driving, it's super easy to stay at a Disney resort or head down a bit further to Vero, which is lovely. If you have time to spare and want an experience that's a bit different, Vero is a wonderful way to start your cruise. On the other hand, if you just want to sleep and then get to the port, then Port Canaveral has a couple of perfectly fine places to lay your head. Oh, and if you have time, you could also think about the La Quinta in Cocoa Beach, which is the "original astronaut hotel". It was owned by the original astronauts and is kind of a cool walk down memory lane, especially if you have a chance to make it to Cape Canaveral and tour the space center. Essentially, lots of great choices, just depends on what you and your family want to do and how much time you have!

 

[Girl of the South]

Quick question . . staying at the Hyatt at the airport. I am guessing I will need to bring wine in my luggage from Nashville. I don't think there is any place in the airport to buy any alcohol, right? I am hoping the post office is still open or will be in January. I am having my friend from Switzerland bring me some knives (small ones) but can't bring the on the ship so plan to mail them home from the airport. And no, I don't want to take an Uber to a store to buy wine, easy enough to just pack it. Thanks!

 

[Weedy]

Quick question . . staying at the Hyatt at the airport. I am guessing I will need to bring wine in my luggage from Nashville. I don't think there is any place in the airport to buy any alcohol, right? I am hoping the post office is still open or will be in January. I am having my friend from Switzerland bring me some knives (small ones) but can't bring the on the ship so plan to mail them home from the airport. And no, I don't want to take an Uber to a store to buy wine, easy enough to just pack it. Thanks!

Bring an extra small carry on bag so that you can carry the wine onto the ship. You are not allowed to have it in your checked luggage. You will need to keep your carry on bags with you until cabins are ready at 1:30pm. Enjoy your

 

[JWG]

So, we have also done it all. Stayed at the Hyatt and used Disney transportation, stayed at Disney and used Disney transportation, stayed at a Cocoa Beach resort (drove our selves) and parked at the port, and stayed close to MCO and used private transportation.

Our preference is:
If we drive ourselves - stay near the port at Cocoa Beach
If we fly and need transport - stay at/near the airport and use a shuttle (non-Disney) service

Given the RT cost of Disney's service, we've found it cheaper to use a 3rd party (we do use FL Tours as suggested here and they've been great).
Given the chaos at Cocoa Beach hotels on departure days and the waits for free shuttles, etc. we find it easier to just go directly to the port the morning of from a hotel further away. There's no real advantage to getting to the port before 11a-12p. We're happy to check-in just before boarding rather than wait around in the crowded terminal.

But that is us.

 

[sabrecmc]

Quick question . . staying at the Hyatt at the airport. I am guessing I will need to bring wine in my luggage from Nashville. I don't think there is any place in the airport to buy any alcohol, right? I am hoping the post office is still open or will be in January. I am having my friend from Switzerland bring me some knives (small ones) but can't bring the on the ship so plan to mail them home from the airport. And no, I don't want to take an Uber to a store to buy wine, easy enough to just pack it. Thanks!

You can buy bottles of wine from the hotel bar (this I know for sure!), but it is a bit expensive.

 

[lizzyb]

We have always stayed in Cocoa Beach the night before the cruise.

Stayed once at the Four Points and twice at the Hampton Inn.. both were nice but we preferred the Hampton In. It includes breakfast, they have a shuttle (although we did not use it).

 

[lanejudy]

being in a hotel increases the risk of exposure

I get it. You've been super careful for so long that now you are unsure what's safe. But honestly if you are willing to board a cruise ship where you will have potential interactions and close hallways and eating in dining rooms and attending theater... a quick night in a hotel is less likely to be an exposure risk.

A hotel poses no greater risk of exposure than picking up take-out at a local restaurant or going to the grocery store. Unless you plan to hang around the public areas of the hotel, your hotel room is perfectly safe. Some chains are even putting a "seal" on the door so you know nobody has entered after the room was cleaned between guests.

 

[Lynes88]

I get it. You've been super careful for so long that now you are unsure what's safe. But honestly if you are willing to board a cruise ship where you will have potential interactions and close hallways and eating in dining rooms and attending theater... a quick night in a hotel is less likely to be an exposure risk.

A hotel poses no greater risk of exposure than picking up take-out at a local restaurant or going to the grocery store. Unless you plan to hang around the public areas of the hotel, your hotel room is perfectly safe. Some chains are even putting a "seal" on the door so you know nobody has entered after the room was cleaned between guests.

Yes, totally get what you are saying. Since the cruise ship will be full of vaccinated people (guaranteed) this risk is more than reasonable and manageable. The hotel may or may not be as clean as we like but some of that would be out of our control so (unscientifically) we can't ignore it as one more risk to consider. If we avoid the hotel all together, risk is avoided and we focus on the cruise. It is driven by piece of mind, not coming up with ways the hotel might be more or less risk as compared to other activities....too many variable to worry about. Since our cruise is early Sept, we will see as we get closer... thanks for the input!

 

[MickeySwirl]

Yes, totally get what you are saying. Since the cruise ship will be full of vaccinated people (guaranteed) this risk is more than reasonable and manageable. The hotel may or may not be as clean as we like but some of that would be out of our control so (unscientifically) we can't ignore it as one more risk to consider. If we avoid the hotel all together, risk is avoided and we focus on the cruise. It is driven by piece of mind, not coming up with ways the hotel might be more or less risk as compared to other activities....too many variable to worry about. Since our cruise is early Sept, we will see as we get closer... thanks for the input!

Well, it is guaranteed for the UK Staycations because they require vaccines for all passengers 18+, but we've seen no indication that DCL will require vaccinations for its US sailings.