Capt_BJ

Canaveral Port Authority is warning of VERY HEAVY pass' counts on several days in the next couple of weeks . . . "Port Canaveral is expected to break one-day cruise passenger records on Christmas Eve and again on New Year's Eve. But with the increased passenger counts comes increased concerns about traffic congestion and parking issues in and around the port. Five cruise ships are scheduled to be in port on Dec. 24, dropping off passengers ending their cruises and boarding passengers beginning their cruises. The port expects a record 52,000 passengers to get on or off the cruise ships that day. There will be six cruise ships in port on Dec. 31, with 57,000 cruise passenger movements. "We know those are going to be problem days," because of congestion at the port, .."

UPDATE Port Authority is warning of VERY LARGE crowds expected some days in next two weeks ..... From Florida Today: Port Canaveral is expected to break one-day cruise passenger records on Christmas Eve and again on New Year's Eve. But with the increased passenger counts comes increased concerns about traffic congestion and parking issues in and around the port. Five cruise ships are scheduled to be in port on Dec. 24, dropping off passengers ending their cruises and boarding passengers beginning their cruises. The port expects a record 52,000 passengers to get on or off the cruise ships that day. There will be six cruise ships in port on Dec. 31, with 57,000 cruise passenger movements. "We know those are going to be problem days," because of congestion at the port, >>>>>>>>>> you can check the schedule at https://www.portcanaveral.com/getattachment/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules/CPA-Website-Schedule-Nov22-Mar23.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US (this list previously showed capacity of each ship - I think folks found that a bit worrisome! 😮)

Kitti' is a 'special attraction' and boats pay a special fee to go there - it is not reachable as a shore dive <approx 1/2 mile off the beach> - IOW you need a boat trip and it will cost more than average. BTW this is primarily a SCUBA attraction altho they DO take snorkelers. The wreck is sits in about 65' of water and the top of the wreck is still about 20' below the surface .... IOW the closest a typical snork' is gonna get is 20 feet. This is deep open water snorkeling. https://www.thingstodocayman.net/kittiwake/

I'm sure the holiday added to the cornfusion but the fact that several terminals in PE have no immediately adjacent parking (or just small surface lots) is poor design and set up for trouble. For peace of mind you might want to consider https://www.bookparkngo.com/ftlauderdale.php It is just outside of the port and generally gets good reviews. It might save you a few dollars (and might not as their price is 'dynamic') and they TAKE RESERVATIONS .... actually they virtually require reservations. I would have used them but waited too long to try to book (over 6 weeks out) and there was no room at the Inn

according to the port schedule PRIMA will use T-5 which is where she was today as well. T-5 is on the NORTH side of the port aka the A side So the good news is you will be at a terminal they've used a few times and should have the bugs worked out. In PC each terminal has an associated garage so parking is not an issue 99% of the time (and there are several good off site alternatives just a few minutes away from the terminal which offer some $ savings). Only 'bad' thing about 5 is its being very close to 6 so there's a double dose of traffic heading for the same place. Also note that on the 23rd SIX ships flipping ..... so the port is gonna be super busy / crowded and EVERYONE wants to get on board ASAP. There are BIG signs directing you to th terminal, bag drop and parking . . . Lastly note that there is a draw bridge to cross to get from the highway (SR-528 / A1A) to the A side .... if this bridge OPENS you can find yourself in a bit of a traffic situation but not to worry as the openings are usually just for sail boats so don't take very long . . 4 of the 6 terminals active that day are on the north side and everyone for those four must cross this bridge . . . . https://www.portcanaveral.com/getattachment/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules/CPA-Website-Schedule-Nov22-Mar23.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US

We sailed Thanksgiving week on Royal from PE and parking was a mess .... I've posted about the experience in another thread which I'm sure you can find. I'll just say that I've never seen such a parking mess as this sailing from Miami, Canav' .. even Tampa. Every time I sailed from PE previously I did not park at the port. I won't try again in the future. By noon many parking lots were full and closed and the ground staff was particularly UN helpful in helping you find a lot still open .....

.... like I said in #7 . . . snork' at Eden or Sunset should be considered 'big boy/girl' snorkeling ..... this is NOT 4 feet of water and put your feet down anytime ya want. Water will be too deep for standing ......

the BIG factor is the port load for the day: how many ships will be turning over. Some days it is one and then odds are no biggie at the rental places. Other days you might have FIVE .... then stand back!!!! here's the schedule thru March https://www.portcanaveral.com/getattachment/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules/CPA-Website-Schedule-Nov22-Mar23.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US

EDEN seldom has any significant current. Certain times in winter and spring when the wind and waves are out of the west there can be surge into the area - which is also the ship anchorage off Georgetown. If the swell is too much they can't tender safely and the port is cancelled. SOME times a ship or two can use the alternate anchorage on the south side of the island but the surge would make the water entry at EDEN (seawall with ladder) dangerous and typically the staff at the dive shop will close the entry point. Similar situation down the road at Sunset House. this picture was taken from Sunset looking north to the main anchorage, the small boat you see is a dive boat at Eden Rock. This picture was taken about 1 hour later .... 'the weather started getting rough' ... ships were scrambling to get their pax back via tenders . . . p.s. it was March . .

I know folks that lived their entire life within a few miles from their birth place because they know it is the best place to live in the entire world and have no desire to even VISIT anyplace else. I know folks who only eat out at ONE restaurant every week with no desire to try anyplace else or anything new because they know it is the best place Check my full sig and you'll see a lot of cruise lines listed. We started cruising in the 80's and several things have changed: our tastes, our budget, sailing with and without kids, kids ages changing (in 30's now) and desire to see new places. We've sailed some lines repeatedly but never as many as 10 times. Some lines we sailed are no longer in business! Having some 'industry experience/knowledge' there are lines I will not sail . . . Currently we're fans of VIKING - both the river and ocean versions ...... no kids, no casino, good food, no 'nickel and dime' our next cruise (a few months from now) we'll revisit some parts of Norway we've enjoyed before and add Iceland - new territory for us. We're just off of a Royal with stops in Carib that we'd mostly been to before. Repeat customers on this line . . . in part because we find places they home port very convenient ....

for what it's worth PAT was not being enforced by Royal at T-18 ...... when we arrived anyway. Boarding had begun and we moved thru checkin very quickly having completed everything on line. Basically someone with a tablet scanned our passports and asked if we were vac'd and POOF done.

for most cruise lines a formal 'requirement' is long gone Cruise CUNARD and they ENFORCE dress codes A few days ago I finished a Royal 8 night and long pants and a polo shirt was as fncy as I got altho there were two 'formal optional' nites

KSC Visitor Center is most certainly open for visitors https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com

UBER should run about $70

I sailed from T-18 Thanksgiving week and the parking was horrible. So bad that I will seriously reconsider the port of departure in the future. I had a 1230 PAT and arrived around noon. The adjacent surface lot was full and queries of where to go were met with indistinct arm waves. I ended up in a queue for the garage at 19 which is where it appeared everyone on the south side of the port was being directed. Everything was full except for some spots marked "do not park here' on ground floor which is where I was directed to park (My car was there when I returned). I'm not sure where they put cars that were still in the queue to enter behind me. Oh, and there was no shuttle to T-18 either when I parked or when we returned and no signs indicating recommended foot path ...... I'd tried Park N Go months ahead of time but they were already booked solid for the week (at same price as the port). Previous sailings from Everglades I'd always gotten a ride to/from the port but this time tried to park there. Never again. MUCH better at Canav and Miami . . . Normally I agree with the 'on average same number of cars depart as will arrive' but for the holiday week this was clearly not the case.

yes .... https://www.sunsethouse.com/

you're staying in Melbourne Beach? If you tell me where specifically I may be able to provide better recommendation (I'm a local) from Mel Beach you need to travel a bit to find something 'good' depending on your definition of good. As mentioned the 'arts district' has a slew of decent places incl a chart house ... or a lil way north on A1A is a decent Italian place with 2 sides - one for pizza and the other for full Italian meals https://www.yelp.com/biz/petrillos-italian-eatery-indialantic If a decent burger will suffice try Sand on the Beach in Melb Beach ..... http://sandonthebeach.com/

spit aka lugie

as I think I say in my post ... fog is just a contributing factor to a bad history of significant accidents and the State of Florida took action .... Plenty of other LARGE ports don't 'close' because of fog ..... but TAMPA does the 'bad rap' is from port closures screwing up cruise schedules ..... I doubt the merchant folks like the closures either. {btw .... I was stationed in St Pete in 1980 and present and 'involved' in the BLACKTHORN and bridge collapse incidents . . . it was a busy year 😮}

speaking about FOG causing cruise delays: " I don't remember ever seeing that on the Atlantic side" Oh, it happens ... there was pretty good fog this morning in the Canaveral area. BUT THERE'S A DIFFERENCE .... No, not a difference in the fog! Fog does not necessarily close down a port and I've seen cruise ships moving in Canaveral in some pretty low visibility. Compared to Port of Tampa the run from sea to the terminals in Canaveral is a piece of cake. The run is pretty short with just a minor turn along the way and having navigated both by ship as navigator and 'driver' you just can't compare. Tampa is a long run with many turns and hazards along the way and b4 GPS was significantly more difficult navigationally when visibility was bad ..... and as a larger port you could have multiple vessels moving near you. Canav' it is so small that large ship two way traffic almost never happens. But wait, there's more...... following three very serious incidents in Tampa waterways the state imposed very strict rules about ship movements above and beyond the federal rules and regulations. When visibility drops below certain levels in Tampa ship movements STOP .... dem's da rules. the three incidents 1. USCGC Blackthorn was a 180-foot seagoing buoy tender which sank in 1980 in a collision near the Tampa Bay Sunshine Skyway Bridge, resulting in 23 crew member fatalities. 2. The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed at 7:38 a.m. on May 9, 1980, when the 606 feet (185 m) freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a support column during a sudden squall, causing the catastrophic failure of over 1,200 feet (370 m) of the span. Six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus plummeted 150 feet (46 m) into Tampa Bay, resulting in thirty-five deaths. 3. Just after dawn under clear skies on August 10, 1993, three vessels collided at the entrance to Tampa Bay leaving more than 300,000 gallons of heavy oil and another 33,000 gallons of jet fuel in their wake. A raging fire aboard the crippled Maritrans barge Ocean 255, carting nearly eight million gallons of gasoline, jet and diesel fuel, took more than 16 hours to snuff out. https://www.porttechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PT34-32.pdf "This CVTS was established because the maritime casualty history in Tampa Bay includes the loss of the ‘CGC Blackthorn’ in 1980, the catastrophic Summit Venture collision with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, also in 1980, resulted in the collapse of the bridge and the three vessel collision (between the ‘Balso 37,’ the ‘Seafarer’ tow and the ‘Bouchard’ tow) and resultant fire in 1993. Following these events, the state of Florida commissioned a consortium to examine mitigation efforts to reduce risk on Tampa Bay

what class cabin are you in? Some include restock of mini bar (DV) and some include booze restock of mini bar/fridge (beyond DV) AND VO lets you bring anything on board for own consumption . . . drink pkg will not deliver to the room IME (last time 2018)

you can fly Brightline's projected fare is higher then what I last paid to fly and takes longer .... if you drive expect 4 hours ....

finished an eight night cruise on Odyssey OTS this Sunday and my parking experience (at berth 18) tells me to NEVER sail from PE again (and I have 70+ cruises under my belt) We had an early arrival time but when we got there and I dropped off the bags the adjacent lot was closed off as 'full'. I could SEE open spaces but yellow tape covered the entry. ASKING anyone directing traffic where to go to park got a random arm wave. I eventually ended up in the garage at T-19 from which there was NO shuttle back to 18 and no one could point me in the correct direction. All in all a really horrible start to my holiday. BTW I tried Park n GO ... they were booked up when I checked (MONTHS in advance) and the SAME price as parking in the port! curious tidbit ..... I think I could have parked for free!!!! When I did manage to park in the tower at pier 19 and stumbled around looking for a shuttle ... I saw some machines "pay for parking here" ....... hmmm ... no signs saying you must pay in advance BUT .... So on my return, I went to the pay here place and dutifully paid for my parking and got a ticket to use to exit the garage ........ and as I exited the garage a port employee pushing cars out told me ... don't stop ... don't use the ticket ... just GO. 😮 Overall ... with 70+ cruises I found PE the MOST unfriendly cruise port for a drive up .... a few years back we left from PE and our daughter who lived near dropped us off at the port and THAT sucked but I thought 'anomaly' ..... NO .... PE just handles people very very poorly.....

we carried a 'special' wine that is a turkey day tradition for us this past week on Odyssey. We were on the drink package as well. WED I mentioned to asstnt server I'd be bringing my own wine on THU and asked what corkage fee would be ..... "don't worry about it" and wine glasses were set for our group (7) .... I opened the bottles myself. No fee on my final bill. it's pretty good this year . . . . I've picked up another case