New year's day in Port Canaveral

[seaver]

What's open in Port Canaveral on New Years Day? We are arriving on Explorer of the seas @ 1:00 pm till 11:00 pm.

[teacherbee]

What are you interested in doing? Do you want somewhere in PC to eat? Do you want to go somewhere a little farther away?

 

I think the Astronaut Hall of Fame is open 12 - 5. Probably a better idea than Kennedy Space Center as it would be a little cheaper and since they close at 5 you'd have more of a chance of getting to most of the stuff at the HOF.

 

Most of the Port restaurants will be open: FishLips, Grills, etc.

 

Air boat places are probably open too. Or you could rent a car and drive to the MI Wildlife Sanctuary and look for manatees, dolphins, etc.

 

What kind of thing are you looking for?

[Johncn]

What's open in Port Canaveral on New Years Day? We are arriving on Explorer of the seas @ 1:00 pm till 11:00 pm.

 

Hi,

 

As the other response asked, "What kind of thing are you looking for?". It's pretty hard to answer a wide open question with useful advice.

 

What is open "in the Port" itself is very different than "around" the Port Canaveral area...and that is quite different than "or in Orlando". ;-) The bars and restaurants will be open, the weather should be beautiful - I'm betting right around 70 F and mostly sunny.

 

Help us help you by telling us the composition of your group, and your interests. Let us know what you are looking for, and we'll try to give some better advice.

 

Regards,

 

Johncn

[Mom2B&Z]

I was going to ask the same question, we are 2 adults and 2 boys 7.5&5 yrs on the Jewel. I tried booking a rental car, but the agencies are either closed or have limited hours that don't work for us. I read about a local bus service, but I'm not entirely sure how close the nearest stop is to the port or whether it will be operating on New Year's Day.

We like the beach, museum type places for the kids and definitely want to go to Ron Jon's surf shop. We are Canadian, so we will likely go in the water, even if the temperature is in the 70's lol! (It is snowing here, has been for 3 days now, and we will likely be skiing on Boxing day, so 70F sounds great right about now!) Transportation is limited to either walking, bus or nothing, as I will not be bringing the booster seats into this port.

Any suggestions are most welcome. Right now our back up plan is to book NCL's unlimited bus shuttle to Cocoa Beach, but it seems expensive, especially if we can use local transportation.

[teacherbee]

Well walking options are slim, you "might" be able to walk to Jetty park (beach access) if your boat docks at terminals 2, 3 or 4. If you dock further back, it would be a long walk. Not sure how much a cab would cost to Ron Jon's, which is just a touristy surf shop but would get you to a beach with stuff close by to rent as well as some shops and a few restaurants.

 

The boys might really like the astronaut hall of fame. My eight year old loves it when we go. It has museum stuff as well as some interactive exhibits like landing a shuttle.

[Johncn]

Well walking options are slim, you "might" be able to walk to Jetty park (beach access) if your boat docks at terminals 2, 3 or 4. If you dock further back, it would be a long walk.

 

Hi,

 

I believe that Explorer uses the Royal Caribbean dock for Port Canaveral, not the South terminal slots for transient ships. That means it would be a long walk.

 

Also, since I was dispensing opinions on the walk to Mullet Drive, and had not been over there in a couple years, I drove over the bridge yesterday to check it out.

 

The Port Authority has installed a new fence right at the old Port's End Park (called Rodney S. Ketcham Park now...south side of the bridge) that makes cutting over the shoulder of the road - which is all grass at a gentle slope - pointless. I have no idea why they would do that. This makes the walk we used to make much longer, and I can think of no meaningful purpose...other than further isolating the Port Canaveral passengers for the one and only Port Authority-approved taxi service...which got a lease and exclusivity deal.

 

That just stinks, in my opinion....and I don't believe in coincidence much. The Port Authority locked out all cab companies from Port Canaveral pick ups, except their tenant, about a year and half ago. Now, you can't just walk across the bridge to the Cove and the other areas. You have to use an approved "service", I guess. Ugh.

 

Anyway, the SCAT (Space Coast Area Transit) trolley bus may or may not be running New Year's day. Their website says that they are not running on Christmas Day, but no information about New Year's is posted:

 

http://www.ridescat.com/transit/fares/

Restaurants and bars will be open (Grill's, Fish Lips, etc.) in the Port Area, but how you get there is now going to be a bit more a problem because of the stupid fence.

 

Regards,

 

Johncn

[Capt_BJ]

the zoo is open ... but that's a $$ taxi ride ... maybe you can negotiate. Good for your age kids - you can kayak and feed the giraffes

[Mom2B&Z]

Anyway, the SCAT (Space Coast Area Transit) trolley bus may or may not be running New Year's day. Their website says that they are not running on Christmas Day, but no information about New Year's is posted:

 

http://www.ridescat.com/transit/fares/

Restaurants and bars will be open (Grill's, Fish Lips, etc.) in the Port Area, but how you get there is now going to be a bit more a problem because of the stupid fence.

 

Regards,

 

Johncn

 

Thanks John, I looked up the scat website and it says New Years Day is one of the holidays they observe, so i assume they will not be working when we are there. Someone else mentioned using a shuttle with a Raddison label on it, but I'm assuming you can't just jump of a hotel shuttle without having a reservation at the hotel. Other than the ship's shuttle any ideas of how to get to and from the port to Cocoa Beach without using a taxi? Right now we don't plan on bringing the booster seats for the kids and I like this idea :). (Before someone suggests traveling in a taxi without the boosters, this is not an option for us.)

[Johncn]

Thanks John' date=' I looked up the scat website and it says New Years Day is one of the holidays they observe, so i assume they will not be working when we are there. [/quote']

 

Hi,

 

I just called SCAT and waited through their call tree to ask if they had New Year's Day service. They do not have any buses running on January 1. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. :(

 

Johncn

[Mom2B&Z]

Hi,

 

I just called SCAT and waited through their call tree to ask if they had New Year's Day service. They do not have any buses running on January 1. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. :(

 

Johncn

 

Thank you John, I really appreciate you finding this information for me! I'd rather use local transportation than the ship tours, but sometimes you just don't get a choice. I'm sure we will still have a nice relaxing day enjoying the area.

Happy new year!