Before and After advice

We fly in on the afternoon of Friday, we are concierge level so we can board the ship first thing in the am Saturday, which we plan to do. What is a good plan for this night before? I have read several suggestions, WDW hotel- evening at downtown disney. I am not sure that buying park tickets for a few hours in the evening will be worth the expense. I am hoping to get a hotel near Cape Canaveral the day we disembark. We don't leave until late afternoon on Sunday. So that should be enough time to see that.

1- What do you suggest for the one evening before the cruise? We could get a rental car if needed. I would like the easiest less stress option for that evening, and the less stress version for getting to the port the next am.

2- what hotel do you recommend for seeing the cape when we get back? I assume the best action is to rent a car at the terminal then drop it at the airport when we leave?

Thanks

To me, least stressful would be to stay at an airport area hotel and take DCL transfers to the port. ($35 pp one way).

If you have an early Port Arrival Time, I would go on out to Port Canaveral by rental car or shuttle and stay there.

I wouldn't fool with WDW. It's the wrong direction from where you're headed and you'll possibly wait longer on a bus which would be frustrating if you have an early PAT.

I would stay right at the Hyatt at the airport. Take a swim in the pool, window shop in the terminal. If you have kids with you there is a Macaroni Grill in the terminal. If not, have a fantastic meal at Hemispheres. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34515-d426657-Reviews-Hemisphere_Restaurant-Orlando_Florida.html

Take the DCL bus to the cruise terminal in the morning.

Personally there are no really nice places out in Cocoa Beach. What do you mean by "seeing the Cape?" Do you mean Cocoa Beach? Kennedy Space Center? Something else?

The easiest thing, by far, is to stay at the Hyatt MCO and take the DCL bus in the morning. Your luggage will be taken from your hotel room to the port (you will need to notify the Hyatt that you are with DCL. They will register you on their list of bags to pick up and give you a form for the DCL people to verify that DCL receives the bags). You can take the first bus out from the airport, be the first people into the terminal and onto the ship. For an additional $10 for up to 6 bags, the Hyatt will even claim your bags from the airport carousel and transport them to the hotel room (allowing you to bypass baggage claim).

OK, in reality, there is not much to do at the Hyatt--swim, get on line. You can eat at the Hyatt or at any of the airport restaurants. But it is very convenient for a late afternoon or evening arrival.

I'm with Ducklite--what do you plan to do that day after you get off the ship? You'll need a car to do almost anything, but what are your plans? It isn't a very nice beach, especially compared to what you'll experience on the cruise. The space center is worth seeing Is there a reason for spending the extra day and not flying home on Saturday? It will be much easier to give suggestions if we know what your thinking is.....

The easiest thing' date=' by far, is to stay at the Hyatt MCO and take the DCL bus in the morning. Your luggage will be taken from your hotel room to the port (you will need to notify the Hyatt that you are with DCL. They will register you on their list of bags to pick up and give you a form for the DCL people to verify that DCL receives the bags). You can take the first bus out from the airport, be the first people into the terminal and onto the ship. For an additional $10 for up to 6 bags, the Hyatt will even claim your bags from the airport carousel and transport them to the hotel room (allowing you to bypass baggage claim).

 

OK, in reality, there is not much to do at the Hyatt--swim, get on line. You can eat at the Hyatt or at any of the airport restaurants. But it is very convenient for a late afternoon or evening arrival.

 

I'm with Ducklite--what do you plan to do that day after you get off the ship? You'll need a car to do almost anything, but what are your plans? It isn't a very nice beach, especially compared to what you'll experience on the cruise. The space center is worth seeing Is there a reason for spending the extra day and not flying home on Saturday? It will be much easier to give suggestions if we know what your thinking is.....[/quote']

 

On the Hyatt website it says you can sign up for a shuttle to the ship through the hotel.

Is that the DCL shuttle?

If not do we sign up for the DCL shuttle through our cruise reservation?

Also, does taking the DCL shuttle offer an earlier boarding time?

Thanks!

On the Hyatt website it says you can sign up for a shuttle to the ship through the hotel.

Is that the DCL shuttle?

If not do we sign up for the DCL shuttle through our cruise reservation?

Also, does taking the DCL shuttle offer an earlier boarding time?

Thanks!

I don't know anything about a shuttle offered thru the Hyatt. You book the DCL shuttle on your cruise reservation at $35 per person each way. No, riding the shuttle does not get you an earlier boarding time BUT it does get you into the terminal when you arrive. The shuttle starts running about 9:15 (technically 9:30, but like most things Disney is usually a bit early), and runs every 20 minutes or when full, whichever comes sooner.

Example--the first bus may leave at 9:15 and the second at 9:25 (assuming full). The next bus may be 9:45 (but not quite full). The idea is that no one will wait more than 20 minutes from checking in at the welcome center to being on a bus that is departing.

On the Hyatt website it says you can sign up for a shuttle to the ship through the hotel.

 

Is that the DCL shuttle?

 

If not do we sign up for the DCL shuttle through our cruise reservation?

 

Also, does taking the DCL shuttle offer an earlier boarding time?

 

Thanks!

Do you know how you get your Port Arrival Time? That affects when you get on the ship (after you are assigned a boarding number in the terminal).

On the Hyatt website it says you can sign up for a shuttle to the ship through the hotel.

Is that the DCL shuttle?

If not do we sign up for the DCL shuttle through our cruise reservation?

Also, does taking the DCL shuttle offer an earlier boarding time?

Thanks!

Be careful what Hyatt you are looking at on the website. The Hyatt Place 2

miles from the airport offers a park and ride package which includes a shuttle

to the port. They tell you what time they will leave.

The Hyatt Airport location is attached to the airport and they don't have a shuttle, but the

DCL shuttle leaves from the airport at a cost of $35 per person and they leave in random

increments from the Disney Transportation Center in Terminal B, ground floor starting at 915AM.

The Radisson at Port Canaveral was very convenient and easy. Not fancy, but a nice pool. I thought about your question SO MUCH in planning our cruise on the Fantasy. :D I looked into WDW, Universal Studios, all the attractions and beaches and tours and . . . exhausting. We finally decided to fly in Thursday afternoon, and we spent Friday at NASA. Loved that and it wasn't as pricey as some other options. We weren't being cheap (also went concierge) but pricing Harry Potter World just about gave me a heart attack! In retrospect, if we had flown in on Friday, I would have spent the evening hanging at the hotel pool or a beach.

Be careful what Hyatt you are looking at on the website. The Hyatt Place 2

miles from the airport offers a park and ride package which includes a shuttle

to the port. They tell you what time they will leave.

The Hyatt Airport location is attached to the airport and they don't have a shuttle, but the

DCL shuttle leaves from the airport at a cost of $35 per person and they leave in random

increments from the Disney Transportation Center in Terminal B, ground floor starting at 915AM.

As noted above, the Hyatt MCO and Hyatt PLACE NW are totally separate hotels, although obviously both part of the Hyatt corporation. Frankly, we love the Hyatt Place NW, but it will not give you the total convenience we were discussing in this post. They do have a shuttle from MCO (complimentary) and a paid shuttle to the port as well as a good breakfast. But nothing beats the convenience of the Hyatt MCO and the DCL shuttle with luggage handling, etc.

Hyatt MCO costs more, but as OP is cruising concierge, cost is not their primary concern.