Get a hotel, or drive over morning of?

[Megtheblackbelt]

Hello!

 

My husband and myself live in St. Petersburg, Florida. We always embark out of Port Canaveral, and have always (and by always - I mean the only 2 cruises we've been on together) just driven over from St. Pete to Port Canaveral the morning of.

 

However, I do find that driving over the morning of can be a little stressful. We don't mind waking up super early and getting an early start for safe precautions... but I do imagine that getting a hotel the night before and being 5 minutes from the port would soothe my anxiety a little bit.

 

The question being: For those of you who live close-ish to ports (about 2.5 hours away in our case)... do you drive over the night before and shell out for a hotel, or do you just drive over the morning of?

 

Any thoughts on the matter/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

P.S.- We have read about the Radisson Resort, and how they offer complimentary parking for the duration of the cruise at their resort. My concern with this being - are the shuttles they have that take you to Port Canaveral reliable? Is using the shuttle an extra stressor? I feel like just being able to get into your car after you disembark and head home has got to be a huge relief. I wonder if the lines for these shuttles are astronomical and/or unreliable.

 

Thank you for your thoughts! I appreciate them. :)

[Computer Nerd]

It's less than 3 hours to Port Canaveral from St Pete so I would just drive over in the morning and save the hotel money for drinks on board (I live about 90 minutes away from PC and that's what I do).

[louanne93]

We live six hours away and always drive the day of.

[BookDragon]

We live 3 hrs from the port, but have chosen to stay in a nearby hotel the night before. Our TA and a few of our friends who are cruisers recommended this because of transportation and/or car issues. If our car has an issue (knock on wood) we’ve got time to get the issue resolved the day before the cruise. There isn’t much time to resolve transportation or car issues the morning of. Just want to be “safe” rather than “sorry”.

[Micahs Grandad]

If driving we live far away from port so we will always drive and stay nearby. Peace of mind worth quite a lot to us

[stargate fan]

Hello!

 

My husband and myself live in St. Petersburg, Florida. We always embark out of Port Canaveral, and have always (and by always - I mean the only 2 cruises we've been on together) just driven over from St. Pete to Port Canaveral the morning of.

 

However, I do find that driving over the morning of can be a little stressful. We don't mind waking up super early and getting an early start for safe precautions... but I do imagine that getting a hotel the night before and being 5 minutes from the port would soothe my anxiety a little bit.

 

The question being: For those of you who live close-ish to ports (about 2.5 hours away in our case)... do you drive over the night before and shell out for a hotel, or do you just drive over the morning of?

 

Any thoughts on the matter/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

P.S.- We have read about the Radisson Resort, and how they offer complimentary parking for the duration of the cruise at their resort. My concern with this being - are the shuttles they have that take you to Port Canaveral reliable? Is using the shuttle an extra stressor? I feel like just being able to get into your car after you disembark and head home has got to be a huge relief. I wonder if the lines for these shuttles are astronomical and/or unreliable.

 

Thank you for your thoughts! I appreciate them. :)

If I lived 2.5 hours away from a cruise port, I'd drive in the night before and stay in a hotel.

One highway-closing accident would ruin my day.

[teknoge3k]

If you get a hotel, you don't have the stress of "what if" the car breaks down, accidents, traffic, etc. Plus you're not in a rush or anything. If you have a hotel the night before, you can sleep in a little later and not have to get up early and rush.

[cruise_mojo]

well we live in north cackilacky but we always leave a day early, sometimes two or three!:D

 

only id were on some kind of tight schedule where we couldn't leave the full day before will we drive down the night before a cruise to say Walterboro SC so we can pop into jax the next day for a cruise OR we stay in jax the night before our cape C cruises now always

 

that's only a 2 hr drive but easy enough down 95

 

I know you're just a couple hours away but consider local eateries, bars and places to hang out and relax away from home for a day. Then no hassles the day of the cruise. We do know quite a few people that exercise the park and ride options at cape C too! Although we always park at the port.

[ParrotRob]

If I lived 2.5 hours away from a cruise port, I'd drive in the night before and stay in a hotel.

One highway-closing accident would ruin my day.

 

More like your entire week. I'm with you, I'd drive over the night before to be safe. The peace of mind is worth $163 (Radisson at the port) to me.

[Keys2Heaven]

Hello!

 

My husband and myself live in St. Petersburg, Florida. We always embark out of Port Canaveral, and have always (and by always - I mean the only 2 cruises we've been on together) just driven over from St. Pete to Port Canaveral the morning of.

 

However, I do find that driving over the morning of can be a little stressful. We don't mind waking up super early and getting an early start for safe precautions... but I do imagine that getting a hotel the night before and being 5 minutes from the port would soothe my anxiety a little bit.

 

The question being: For those of you who live close-ish to ports (about 2.5 hours away in our case)... do you drive over the night before and shell out for a hotel, or do you just drive over the morning of?

 

Any thoughts on the matter/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

P.S.- We have read about the Radisson Resort, and how they offer complimentary parking for the duration of the cruise at their resort. My concern with this being - are the shuttles they have that take you to Port Canaveral reliable? Is using the shuttle an extra stressor? I feel like just being able to get into your car after you disembark and head home has got to be a huge relief. I wonder if the lines for these shuttles are astronomical and/or unreliable.

 

Thank you for your thoughts! I appreciate them. :)

 

My thoughts are that you're on vacation and should do whatever you need to in order to not stress out on day 1! If you need to rent a room for a night...so be it!

[pcvtmom]

We live in VA, and sometimes cruise out of Baltimore, MD (about a 3 hour drive). We leave in the early morning and drive to the port. A longer drive, say out of Charleston or somewhere in FL, we go the night before.

[goofygal531]

The only thing that scares me about Port Canaveral is that one highway to get there. If there's an accident and the road closes you're stuck.

 

Is there access from the other direction? Cocoa Beach?

 

If you can figure out a solid back up plan, then I'd drive the morning of. If not, I'd look for a Florida resident rate and stay nearby and consider it the start of your vacation.

 

Regarding hotels, I've stayed at the Radisson and wasn't impressed. A friend of mine stayed at the Country Inn and Suites and liked it. She said they offered a nice free breakfast and had a cruise parking deal too.

[JerseyGirlJen]

I would drive the day before. Besides getting to start your vacation a day sooner, I always keep in mind what if something happens and you can't get there the day of, or you're seriously delayed and stressed you'll miss the ship? (Meaning, massive traffic incident due to unforeseen circumstances...accident, construction, other emergency).

 

 

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[ParrotRob]

The only thing that scares me about Port Canaveral is that one highway to get there. If there's an accident and the road closes you're stuck.

 

Is there access from the other direction? Cocoa Beach?

 

Yes. The Bee Line is the mot direct route, but the Merritt Island/Cocoa Beach causeway is just 3 miles south. And another causeway a few miles south of that that drops you just below Patrick AFB.

[weluvcruising9804]

well we live in north cackilacky but we always leave a day early, sometimes two or three!:D

 

only id were on some kind of tight schedule where we couldn't leave the full day before will we drive down the night before a cruise to say Walterboro SC so we can pop into jax the next day for a cruise OR we stay in jax the night before our cape C cruises now always

 

that's only a 2 hr drive but easy enough down 95

 

1. My father is from North Carolina and we call it North Cackilacky too. Brings back good memories of visiting Ahoskie in the summer.

 

2. We are driving from Virginia to Jacksonville, staying in a hotel then driving the 2.5 hours to Port Canaveral the next day. Good idea.

[ParrotRob]

The only port we drive/fly in early for is Miami. Then we spend a day or two in the Keys before the cruise.

[Saint Greg]

I live 5 hours away and like to get within an hour of the port the day before.

[bobandsherry]

In Tampa area, we drive day off. 2 hour drive for us. Just sailed out of Canaveral last month, left at 9, to the port by 11, parked and in our room by 11:30. If there's an accident still plenty of time to get there before sailing. We also drive to Ft Lauderdale the same day, leave by 8 and to the port by 11:30 or noon. Cruise next year out of Miami, we plan to go down day before and just extend our vacation by a day. More to do in Miami than Canaveral....

 

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[JayDeeJay]

We have been caught up in two separate catastrophes getting to canaveral, one was a 4 hr. delay, the other a 6 hr. delay - but luckily it was the day beforehand! Annoying? Yes! But we finally got to our room at la Quinta, then unwound at Fishlips. Absolutely worth driving in the day before. Had that been departure day, we would have probably missed the boat.

[SRQbeachgirl]

Since you’ll be eastbound on I-4, I’d drive over the night before. I have been stuck on I-4 one too many times due to accidents between Tampa and Orlando. The last time it happened I sat on the highway for 2 hours while they untangled a tractor trailer and a pickup.

[Tank's Mom]

I’m in Tampa. I’ve done both options depending on work schedules, etc. A few weeks ago we stayed at the Radisson. The shuttle service was great. We had a 10:30 time and were on the shuttle at 10:20. When we got back there was a shuttle waiting to bring f us back. Well worth it to avoid I-4 hassles. I do think you’ll be perfectly safe time wise driving the day of, we’ve gone to Fort Lauderdale the day of and had plenty on time. Starting the day relaxing made the hotel so worth it though.

 

 

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[Mr2Scents]

My thoughts are that you're on vacation and should do whatever you need to in order to not stress out on day 1! If you need to rent a room for a night...so be it!

 

 

 

Exactly this. If being close and stress free means a room, then do it. It’s your vacation. Start it early!

 

 

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[GUT2407]

I live about 21/2 hour drive from my port, always try to go the night before, so much more relaxing

[Megtheblackbelt]

Thank you all so much for the advice/tips! 11/10 am going to book a dang hotel the night before. $150 is sooo worth not having to stress.

 

Thanks, guys! :)

[GUT2407]

Thank you all so much for the advice/tips! 11/10 am going to book a dang hotel the night before. $150 is sooo worth not having to stress.

 

Thanks, guys! :)

 

 

Totally agree, here in Sydney I pay 2 or 3 times that so $150 I’d definitely go the day before. Get something as close to the port as is reasonable is another suggestion I’d make.