Kennedy Space Center

[tami99]

Hi, this is my first post, I'm sure of many. We are traveling on the Pride in July. We plan on going to the Kennedy Space Center while in Florida and I was wondering if there is any advantage or disadvantage to just buying the tickets myself on-line and our family of 4 taking a cab from the port to the center as opposed to buying the excursion through Carnival. We don't really want a guided tour and just want to be free to explore as we feel like it.

 

Obviously, the cost is less doing it myself, but what am I missing?

[hvyhttr21]

Hi, this is my first post, I'm sure of many. We are traveling on the Pride in July. We plan on going to the Kennedy Space Center while in Florida and I was wondering if there is any advantage or disadvantage to just buying the tickets myself on-line and our family of 4 taking a cab from the port to the center as opposed to buying the excursion through Carnival. We don't really want a guided tour and just want to be free to explore as we feel like it.

 

Obviously, the cost is less doing it myself, but what am I missing?

 

 

You are missing nothing. Do it yourself and save some money...

[mrpayroll]

To see most of it, you will be on a tour either way. They have to drive you around the complex to see everything there is to see. :rolleyes:

[tami99]

Wow, you guys are fast! What I meant is I didn't want to pay Carnival for any tour. We just want to go to the space center and decide what to do from there.

 

Thanks!

[hvyhttr21]

Wow, you guys are fast! What I meant is I didn't want to pay Carnival for any tour. We just want to go to the space center and decide what to do from there.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Sorry, I was not clear with my answer. I would NOT take the Carnival excursion...

[slrteach]

We will be on the Pride 11/7. We have a car rental reserved for about $53 through Avis so we can go to KSC or to the beach or do whatever we want. :) Maybe even Disney! Not sure yet, however knowing that we will have our own transportation allows us to have many options. :cool:

[Tenga1899]

KSC is pretty straight forward with their tour packages and such, no need to go through Carnival. Make sure you get a ticket to the Saturn V museum, that is one very cool display.

[Dem&Mag]

What you talk about is what we did after our Glory cruise last year. We just went there by rental and bought tickets at the front. It was great, here are some pictures I took there.

 

 

Enjoy!

[Drew's Wife]

Just a little extra information, for those that qualify, they are having a "Salute to Military Heros" through April 2010 for active duty. They are admitted free and I think their family may get a discount.

[Emma928]

We plan on going to the Kennedy Space Center while in Florida and I was wondering if there is any advantage or disadvantage to just buying the tickets myself on-line and our family of 4 taking a cab from the port to the center as opposed to buying the excursion through Carnival.

 

 

I would advise renting a car over using a cab. According to mapquest, it is at about 23 miles from the port to the space center. Round trip cab fare would be more than car rental for the day.

[firedisney97]

Actually, I would advise using Carnival for this tour if possible. We just did this last week when we got off of the Carnival Dream, and we literally got to drive by all the regular bus tours that the Space Center offers and got to drive up with in a mile of launchpad 39B our bus driver pointed out where the regular tour at Kennedy stops and it was a long ways from where we got to drive in a look around. You do have to stay on the bus and stay seated but it was spectacular to be able to get that close. We also got to skip the lines for the bus tour - we had special busses arranged and we got to skip the lines for the simulator experience at the beginning of the tour. You are on a time frame as opposed to being able to do what you want when you want but I feel I really learned a lot by taking this tour instead of sitting in an airport and my 7yo DD and 3 yo DS seemed to have a really good time also

[tami99]

Thanks everyone....any links for how to rent a car from the port? We would need booster seats for the kids. This is great info. :)

[tami99]

Actually, I would advise using Carnival for this tour if possible. We just did this last week when we got off of the Carnival Dream, and we literally got to drive by all the regular bus tours that the Space Center offers and got to drive up with in a mile of launchpad 39B our bus driver pointed out where the regular tour at Kennedy stops and it was a long ways from where we got to drive in a look around. You do have to stay on the bus and stay seated but it was spectacular to be able to get that close. We also got to skip the lines for the bus tour - we had special busses arranged and we got to skip the lines for the simulator experience at the beginning of the tour. You are on a time frame as opposed to being able to do what you want when you want but I feel I really learned a lot by taking this tour instead of sitting in an airport and my 7yo DD and 3 yo DS seemed to have a really good time also

 

Thank you, I will take this into consideration. It's good to hear from people who have actually done it.

[Tenga1899]

The "normal" tours usually only go to that observation post, there is a "behind the scenes" type tour which is longer and more substantial and they take you as close as one of the flight-following camera locations that are right next to the beach, they use the location to broadcast launches and such. Felt close enough to the launch pad that we could have thrown a rock and hit it, though I figure they'd frown on that behavior :(

[tami99]

Great pictures! Thanks for the info.

 

I'm not sure what it's like there and I'm hearing you need to be on a bus to tour the center? Is that correct?

 

We might also meet some Florida relatives there, so I think it would be nicer to have our own car and arrange to meet someplace in the parking lot.

 

What you talk about is what we did after our Glory cruise last year. We just went there by rental and bought tickets at the front. It was great, here are some pictures I took there.

 

 

Enjoy!

[Sargent_Schultz]

We rented a car from Avis. A number of car rental places run shuttles to/from the port. The was a Diner that we stopped in on the way there that was great, with huge portions. Better and less expensive than anything to eat at the Space Center.

 

Be sure to look for Bald Eagles, Alligators, Armadillos, etc. at the Space Center.

 

Some of our pictures:

 

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[steveaaaaa]

Great pictures! Thanks for the info.

 

I'm not sure what it's like there and I'm hearing you need to be on a bus to tour the center? Is that correct?

 

We might also meet some Florida relatives there, so I think it would be nicer to have our own car and arrange to meet someplace in the parking lot.

 

Hi,

I live a little south of KSC and there are 3 sections to it for the 1 ticket. 1st is a museum interactive center located on the main drag to KSC.Next is the buildings,displays,imax,shuttle ride,ect all in one "Walking" area.Last is the bus tour out to the assembly buildings,saturn 5 buildings,observation post,ect. I doubt you can do all 3 in one day. I would do the space shuttle ride,then the bus tour and if any time is left,do the walking stuff and forget the other building.

 

Steve

[Suntanz]

I am thinking of taking my kids ages 9,9 & 8 to the Space Center after our cruise on the Dream. Can anyone tell me if kids this age would enjoy the tour? Are there any "must see" parts to the tour that I should look at? Also, how long should I plan on spending at the Space Center? Any advice would be real helpful. Thanks.

[tami99]

Thank you!

 

Hi,

I live a little south of KSC and there are 3 sections to it for the 1 ticket. 1st is a museum interactive center located on the main drag to KSC.Next is the buildings,displays,imax,shuttle ride,ect all in one "Walking" area.Last is the bus tour out to the assembly buildings,saturn 5 buildings,observation post,ect. I doubt you can do all 3 in one day. I would do the space shuttle ride,then the bus tour and if any time is left,do the walking stuff and forget the other building.

 

Steve

[the_woodman]

We took this same cruise in September. We rented a car from Budget (about $40 for a Compact) and drove to KSC. It was easy and cheap.

 

My photos of the ship and the Ports of Call (including KSC) can be found here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1062908&highlight=

[steveaaaaa]

I am thinking of taking my kids ages 9,9 & 8 to the Space Center after our cruise on the Dream. Can anyone tell me if kids this age would enjoy the tour? Are there any "must see" parts to the tour that I should look at? Also, how long should I plan on spending at the Space Center? Any advice would be real helpful. Thanks.

 

They would rather die than do this tour.Save your money as they are not old enough yet.

This is not a 2 hour thing but many hours and if you are not into this type of thing you/they will be bored.If you take the bus tour there is no getting off/out of it until its over and thats a few hours at least.

 

Steve

[jenrie]

They would rather die than do this tour.Save your money as they are not old enough yet.

This is not a 2 hour thing but many hours and if you are not into this type of thing you/they will be bored.If you take the bus tour there is no getting off/out of it until its over and thats a few hours at least.

 

Steve

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on this we have done the tour quite a few times and every time we have had children on the tour and they have always been very interested in everything.