Orlando to Port Canaveral - Best Family Choice

We have a RCL cruise leaving out of Port Canaveral in mid-February. Family of four (2 teenagers and 2 parents) arriving two days before and staying at Orlando hotel, with a day to visit a park or enjoy the warmer weather. I have read posts suggesting not to take the airport shuttle to Port Canaveral and instead rent a car for the drive to PC, return vehicle there, and then rent another car at PC for the drive back from PC to Orlando.

Is the hassle of returning/picking up a rental car at Port Canaveral better than taking a shuttle? Anything to see along the way from Orlando to Port Canaveral?

And if a shuttle, which shuttle service is the best choice for four passengers.

If you are only going between the airport and the port, then I'd opt for a shuttle each way. We use Cortrans, $20pp, each way.

Orlando itself (not the theme-park area) has lots to see and do. But between Orlando and Port Canaveral there isn’t much. There’s a place to take air-boat rides, but that’s about it. Otherwise it’s wetlands and highway.

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Personally, I wouldn't want to hassle with rental car drop off. Maybe, I would have one while near the parks, but probably shuttle vans can get you to where you need to be. Then book a car service to take you to the port. We have used a couple from Universal and Disney hotels for about $130.

When were there a few years ago we had no problem using UBER around MCO and the parks. Then we booked a limo to take us out to the port.

How are you getting from MCO to your Orlando hotel and the theme parks? :confused:

I would rent the car for two days, use it while in Orlando, and then drop it off in PC and ride the agency's free shuttle to the port -- easy! :cool:

Post cruise, unless your flight leaves after about 2:00 I would not bother with a rental and just use one of the shuttles to get from PC to MCO.

How are you getting from MCO to your Orlando hotel and the theme parks? :confused:

 

I would rent the car for two days, use it while in Orlando, and then drop it off in PC and ride the agency's free shuttle to the port -- easy! :cool:

 

Post cruise, unless your flight leaves after about 2:00 I would not bother with a rental and just use one of the shuttles to get from PC to MCO.

I agree!

Is the hassle of returning/picking up a rental car at Port Canaveral better than taking a shuttle? Anything to see along the way from Orlando to Port Canaveral?

 

And if a shuttle, which shuttle service is the best choice for four passengers.

We've done it two ways- copy/pasting relevant info from my blog:

We previously used FL-Tours to drive us round trip between Orlando and Port Canaveral. For a family of five, it was a better rate than using Disney transfers. We had a good experience with them, including the free use of a 5-point car seat and 2 booster seats. I ended the trip thinking I would use them again. I'm afraid if I don't mention it now, I'll forget to explain why we rented a car this time. When we priced a week-long rental and parking at the port, the costs were about even, but this way, we had our own car to get around Cocoa Beach after the cruise. On the downside, we had to bring our own booster seats with us because they wouldn't guarantee having them for us at the airport rental place. We were able to leave the booster seats and a few bags in the rental car during the cruise, rather than bringing everything on the ship with us.

In our case with the rental, we looked at two one-ways as well, and were able to find a coupon code on a cheap rate for a week-long rental. However, our cruise was only 4 nights, so if your cruise is longer, you might not have the same savings, because you also have to pay for port parking. It was nice though, to have the rental car parked there so that we could keep things in the trunk instead of taking everything with us on the cruise. This was 2014.

As I mentioned, in 2013, we used FL-Tours and had a private van both ways. They did a nice job.

We rent the car. It is so easy and easy to return. Would not do it another way

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I love this community! I just reserved my shuttle transportations thank to the person that commented above recommending Cortrans.