Port Canaveral - What to do?

[Luluwa]

We're booked on the Pride in January and our first stop is Port Canaveral. Other than rent a car, what is there to do within walking distance from the ship? Thanks!

[Linerguy]

There really is nothing to do within walking distance from the ship.....but, then again, I guess it depends on how far you're willing to walk!

 

We leave on the SPLENDOR this Friday from NYC, and have reserved a car for the day in Cape Canaveral for a total of about $40. I found a $22 Groupon for an airboat ride in Melbourne (Carnival wants $72 per person), so we're doing that.

[tattoos]

There is nothing within walking distance of the Port except maybe Fish Lips or Rusty's restaurant and I don't even know if those are accessible from where you will dock.

 

Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and Port of Miami have nothing within walking distance unlike Port of Tampa which has Channelside shopping, restaurants and the Florida Aquarium.

 

Have you already visited the Kennedy Space Center? Disney is quite a ride from Port Canaveral and prices are sky high for park tickets. Downtown Disney would be doable, nice walking around, lots of shops, restaurants, Lego store, you can rent boats, ride the carousel, see a movie, etc., they recently added a new T Rex restaurant onsite near the Lego store.

 

If you are a beach person, you can take a taxi to Cocoa Beach, lots of restaurants, and Ron Jon Surf Shop. There are two public beaches within close proximity to the Port: Alan Shepard Beach Park on Ocean Beach Blvd., and Lori Wilson Park.

[pamrose228]

Groupon is offering a deal for this......how close is it to the port?$3

$34 for two people.

 

 

https://www.groupon.com/deals/dolphin-paradise-tours

[nchikk]

I'd go to NASA.

[lilmizz]

You would have to Rent a car or maybe they have Shuttles to Cocoa Beach, Its a little walk from the Beach To Ron Jons surf shop. Love that place, They also have para-sailing but is like 100 a person, maybe cheaper , Not for sure. You can go take a tour of the Kennedy Space center. Thats All I do in Port Canaveral. You can Eat at Rustys. Awesome food.

[4merlurker]

Groupon is offering a deal for this......how close is it to the port?$3

$34 for two people.

 

 

https://www.groupon.com/deals/dolphin-paradise-tours

 

I don't think this is "SWIMMING" WITH the dolphins....... like the other $$$$ excursions are. Looks like they take you to an island and you can swim in the ocean.....and maybe possibly see a dolphin or manatee that might possibly be swimming in the same area.....maybe. :rolleyes:

 

We ended up "accidently" swimming with a Manatee this past March right off the beach at coco cay (RCCL's private island in the bahamas). He/she was just hanging out.

[Darthdaddy]

There is a whole lot of nothing w/in walking distance of Port Canaveral. It would probably take an hour to walk to Cocoa Beach...doable, but why?

Ron Jon's is interesting and fun...for 20 min. The pier and beach are mediocre; restaurants are less than that.

 

Orlando theme parks are an hour away by car. Someone suggested Downtown Disney as a fun alternative to paying for park admission. I agree. The same thing applies to City Walk at Universal.

 

If you like gardens, landscaping, or just being outdoors, let me suggest the Henry Liu Gardens in Orlando. Admission is about $5/pp. The gardens are beautiful. Not on Versailles scale, but beautiful, nonetheless. You could enjoy an afternoon there.

Downtown Winter Park is also interesting. The area adjacent to Rollins College has many shops, galleries, restaurants, cafes, etc. Again, you could enjoy some time w/out spending a fortune.

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is far and away the top attraction in the area. It's just 15 min from port (by car). If you have not been there, there is no doubt where to go.

 

My rankings would be:

1. KSC

2. Liu Gardens

3. Either Downtown Disney or City Walk

4. Winter Park

 

Just my opinion...enjoy.

[near the beach]

Nothing within walking distance from your ship.

You could go to Orlando. However it would be the most expensive trip. It would also take two or three hours total of you time with the round trip.

A taxi to Cocoa Beach would be the less expensive thing to do.

The pier has three restaurants. It is just a pier out over the ocean.

The beach is nice depending on the weather. You could do some beach time and then walk to Ron Jons and the Cocoa Beach Surf Company (next door to Ron Jons). There is the Dinosaur shop.

Not a lot to do there. I would compare it to walking around in Nassau or Cozumel.

[pamrose228]

Nothing within walking distance from your ship.

You could go to Orlando. However it would be the most expensive trip. It would also take two or three hours total of you time with the round trip.

A taxi to Cocoa Beach would be the less expensive thing to do.

The pier has three restaurants. It is just a pier out over the ocean.

The beach is nice depending on the weather. You could do some beach time and then walk to Ron Jons and the Cocoa Beach Surf Company (next door to Ron Jons). There is the Dinosaur shop.

Not a lot to do there. I would compare it to walking around in Nassau or Cozumel.

 

No way it is like Nassau or Cozumel, at least in these two ports, the ship in right near all the shopping and other activities.

 

To the OP, there is a shuttle bus for a few dollars that goes to a couple of places Walmart or the beach.

 

I am going on a cruise from NYC and PC is the first port. This is the 3 time I have been there and hate it. Been to KSC 4 times, Disney I stopped counting. The beach is cold in January. I will probably get on the shuttle and go to Walmart since we have none in NYC.:(

[kentuckyluckyguy]

You can't really walk to anything from where the ships dock at Port Canaveral.

 

We recently stayed two nights at Cocoa Beach before our cruise and had a great time.

 

NASA was closed due to the Government shutdown, so that wasn't an option. Instead, since we had driven down, we just hung out on the beach during the day and then we ate at a couple of places, visited Ron Jon's for maybe 45 mins and we also drove inland to Lone Cabbage and did the airboat ride which was a LOT of fun and very interesting.

 

I'd highly recommend Lone Cabbage Airboats but it's about 18 miles or so from Cocoa Beach.

 

The pier is, as some one said, just like any other pier and we didn't eat there but there were a couple/three restaurants on it and the food looked and smelled great.

 

Cocoa Beach is a really laid back place (at least it was at the first of this month) and it really kind of "sets the tone" to get you on "island time" for your trip in my opinion.

 

It was my first time ever cruising out of Port Canaveral and it definitely won't be the last. Easy to get in and out of the port...and we aren't travelers that have to have a lot of excitement and lots of entertainment options either...give us some chairs, a beach, some sand, some sun and a couple of drinks and we're happy campers.

[kl25th]

HI...we were on the Pride this past January....nice ship, the weather is just so cold in January for the first 2 days and last day back, I prefer cruises going out of Florida! We rented a car ahead of time for Port Canaveral we and there was a shuttle to take us to the rental car place, can't remember which one though. About a month before we left I was trying to figure out what to do there, so we decided to do an Airboat ride to look for alligators.....we went with an independent company...the guys name is "Captain Gator Bruce", google him, you will find him....what a great time that was, very nice man, not too expensive and then we went to Cocoa Beach ate at a restaurant there and played in the water for a while.

 

In Nassau we got a day pass for RUI resort, it is across the bridge to Paridise Island, next to Atlantis, it was $75.00/person, that was for food and drinks, all inclusive, then we walked to the Atlantis casino to see it! Beautiful place....have fun!

[Luluwa]

Thanks everyone for the ideas and input! :)

[mking8288]

When we called on PC 2 years ago, we opted not to do Orlando, it's just too far & given the high cost of transport and park admission, etc. - just wing it and go easy.

 

The shuttles to nearby shopping mall/Walmart is good for stocking up soda and beach isn't for us in February w. temp in 60's - we just hopped onto one of the many waiting minivan taxi for a short 10-15 minutes ride across and into the town of Coca Village & got dropped off - bumped into others from our ship & from another ship docked at the pier. It's your typical Main Street, Anytown USA with a few shops, restaurants & local businesses - quiet & spend about an hour there. Really, not much to see or do or buy, lunch menu prices seemed reasonable & good.

 

We called our taxi driver's cellphone # on the BC he gave us and waited about 15 minutes, and took us back to the ship for a late lunch. Cost to ride was, I vaguely recall, either $6 or $8 p/p one-way - similar town shuttle booked on the ship would cost twice as much or more.

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We would go to the parks in a minute. They have the new smart phone apps that allowed us to hop to 5 parks in one day!! You can time everything around the wait times and still see a ton. Given that it takes us 13 hrs to drive to Orlando, we would definitely go to SeaWorld (which can accommodate huge numbers of people at a time, so good during heavy crowds) or Universal or Hollywood Studios (probably stay at that one, as it has most of our favorites and plenty to offer) for the day. Yes yes we would. However, our cruise leaves out of PC so we have a weekend before and a weekend after. Depending on your cruise times (I don't know your specific itinerary, but some of them land at 8 or earlier and some don't leave til late at night) you could definitely have a GREAT day. Its a 45 min ride from the port. I've had excursions that far away or longer many of times on various islands.

[satbeachbill]

I don't think this is "SWIMMING" WITH the dolphins....... like the other $$$$ excursions are. Looks like they take you to an island and you can swim in the ocean.....and maybe possibly see a dolphin or manatee that might possibly be swimming in the same area.....maybe. :rolleyes:

 

There is no island offshore Port Canaveral or Cocoa Beach. There are islands in the river/lagoon. That is probably where they meant by "island".... and swimming in the vicinity of some randomly passing dolphin.

 

I'd second the recommendation of an AirBoat Tour in the St. John's River and marsh area at Lone Cabbage Lodge. Lots of wildlife to see, lots of alligators. A restaurant on the premises.

 

 

Ahummm, do you see my count down clock? Oh yeah !!!!

[stevenr597]

Port Canaveral is in the process of completing a large observation tower and they will begin construction on an amphitheatre soon. They do have landscaped areas around the observation tower for walking. They are also planning major changes to the restaurants at the port and it is my understanding that a Jimmy Buffet's Margaretaville is soon to open.

 

Rent a bike. Bike Riding on the beach is permitted and is a lot of fun.

 

The beaches are not too crowded.

 

Many restaurants on A1A

 

The Kennedy Space Center

 

Disney

 

Winter Park Orlando with Park Avenue has excellent shopping

 

Deep Sea Fishing at the Port

 

If you look, there is a lot to do. Enjoy

[Cruzface]

Cocoa Beach is very nice. Wide and soft sand. There is also a tiki bar on a pier that I have seen pics of, looks cool. You will have to drive to Cocoa though.