Torn on what to do in Port Canaveral

[DirtyDawg]

🤔 1pm - 9pm in Port Carnival??

 

It sounds like a good opportunity to take a long afternoon nap. 🛌

[mjkacmom]

13 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

 5 hours is about enough time for two rides at Disney if you splurge on a fast pass.

 

13 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

 5 hours is about enough time for two rides at Disney if you splurge on a fast pass.

No more fast passes (they were free), with this new paid system I think you need to book your attractions first thing in the morning or else they’re all gone.

[billslowsky]

43 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

 5 hours is about enough time for two rides at Disney if you splurge on a fast pass.

Maybe 3 at Epcot unless you want "Frozen", then that's probably it.

[nu_cruzer1]

2 hours ago, Jaedog105 said:

Looks like the Oasis 8/21-8/28 sailing only has the Space Center shuttle excursion available. Is that because the tour options are sold out or were never offered? Any chance the tour might be available to book onboard?

Both the tour and shuttle options were available when I first booked my cruise. About a month or two ago the cruise line cancelled the tour and left the shuttle option. I sail in May.  I am hoping that the tour comes

back by May.

[Dayman9966]

I would watch out for the Kennedy Space Center, Which I love, because the website says it closes at 5pm, but the cruise says it's a 6 hour tour.  Just verify before you book!

[John Reid]

10 minutes ago, Dayman9966 said:

I would watch out for the Kennedy Space Center, Which I love, because the website says it closes at 5pm, but the cruise says it's a 6 hour tour.  Just verify before you book!

Good advice, but their answer may not be definitive. They will base their answer on a 12:00 arrival. The real-world arrival time of 3:00 decreases the available time even more. If I remember correctly, in September they were able to get the Space Center to stay open until 6:00. That left about a 2 1/2 hour total tour time.

[onefishtwofish]

8 hours ago, Vacationlover2 said:

How long is the walk from the ship to Jetty Park?  And can you walk to Ron Jon?

No - you will need to Uber

[Tin can]

22 hours ago, time4u2go said:

What time did your ship arrive and depart?

 

It arrived in the morning and left late afternoon, I'm not sure of the actual times but just checked and the actual Universal tour we did departed at 8.30am. We left the park at 3.00pm as I remember the complaints about why so early.

 

It was a Monday at the end of August in 2019 and perhaps we were lucky but we literally walked straight on to the rides. For two adults and a child the day tickets were expensive though.

[jean87510]

back in 2010 we rented 2 kayaks with our rental car and did a DIY kayak trip with our 10 and 8 yr old in port canaveral on a port stop.  Saw manatees plus dolphins up close on our own.  Granted this was 12 years ago but a hell of a lot cheaper than wdw.  If me, Id save the Disney experience for another vacation preferably in mid September or mid January.  

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, Tin can said:

 

It arrived in the morning and left late afternoon, I'm not sure of the actual times but just checked and the actual Universal tour we did departed at 8.30am. We left the park at 3.00pm as I remember the complaints about why so early.

 

It was a Monday at the end of August in 2019 and perhaps we were lucky but we literally walked straight on to the rides. For two adults and a child the day tickets were expensive though.

We were there in mid September 2018.  5 minute wait for Harry Potter.

[rolloman]

23 hours ago, matj2000 said:

Port Canaveral is not a cruise destination.

 

It is an embarkation.

 

People have been getting fooled for years.

 

 

Evidently you have not been here for a while. The new RCCL pier is right next door to multiple restaurants, a museum, shopping and a short walk down the road to the beach/park. 

[matj2000]

4 minutes ago, rolloman said:

Evidently you have not been here for a while. The new RCCL pier is right next door to multiple restaurants, a museum, shopping and a short walk down the road to the beach/park. 

I have been there way too many times.

 

Although I like it there.

 

I stand by my statement that it is not a cruise destination.

 

The beach is not exactly or Magen's Bay or Orient Beach.

 

Who wants to take a trip, get off the ship and go to Grills,  Fishlips or RonJons?

 

Perhaps take a cab down the street to Cheaters....

 

 

 

[bob brown]

If I wanted to combine a cruise with a good visit to the Orlando theme parks, I would drive or fly to Orlando, do several days at the theme parks, and end with a cruise originating at Port Canaveral.  

Trying to do it during a port of call is not really a viable idea, for all the good reasons mentioned in this thread.

[mets123]

This past week the Anthem didn't start letting passengers depart until 3:50. Back on board time was 8:30 but the ship didn't leave until after 11 because the were loading supplies. It seems to me that the majority of supplies are now being loaded in PC rather than Bayonne now.. They also say that they arrive in PC later because they leave later from Bayonne due to advanced Covid cleaning. But hard how is it to make up for two hours in almost 40 hours sailing from Bayonne to PC. Could it just be a way to cut down on the port charges accessed by PC.

[bob brown]

On 3/28/2022 at 2:19 AM, mets123 said:

This past week the Anthem didn't start letting passengers depart until 3:50. Back on board time was 8:30 but the ship didn't leave until after 11 because the were loading supplies. It seems to me that the majority of supplies are now being loaded in PC rather than Bayonne now.. They also say that they arrive in PC later because they leave later from Bayonne due to advanced Covid cleaning. But hard how is it to make up for two hours in almost 40 hours sailing from Bayonne to PC. Could it just be a way to cut down on the port charges accessed by PC.

I doubt they are trying to cut port charges by arriving later in PC, especially since they have to stay longer to complete resupply.   Not to mention disappointing the passenger's.

As to making up a couple of hours due to a late start, increasing the cruising speed to the max, has a big penalty in fuel consumption, which is more costly now due to fuel price increases, although I have been aboard where they often will recover times spent avoiding weather, or perhaps a medical evacuation....

[Bound4Bermuda]

I’m doing this same cruise in July and trying to figure out what to do in Port Canaveral is the big topic of debate in my family. We ruled out the theme parks once we realized how far they are and how tight the timing is. My daughter and I really want to to the Indian River Lagoon kayaking excursion, but my husband is paranoid about falling in. (For someone who loves cruises and looking at the water he has a fear of actually going in water.) He wants to do Kennedy Space Center, but I think it would be boring, and as was noted, since it closes at 5 doesn’t seem like we’d have much time there. At this point it seems like we’re going to have to compromise and do the bus drop-off at Cocoa Beach, but my friend Google tells me there’s not much there beyond the Ron Jon Shop, and since it’s later in the day we probably wouldn’t want to swim. At this rate, I’d just sat let’s split up and my husband can go to Kennedy if he refuses to kayak—but then he wants to be together as a family. Does anyone know of any type of excursion where you can see the local nature such as Indian River Lagoon but it’s a walking tour or perhaps on a bigger boat? That would be a good compromise. This one stop late in the day at a port that is nowhere near where advertised seems like a real “bait and switch” to those of us who didn’t quite have the full picture when selecting this cruise. 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Bound4Bermuda

[Capt_BJ]

https://www.islandboatlines.com/

[Anita Latte]

On 3/30/2022 at 6:29 AM, Bound4Bermuda said:

My daughter and I really want to to the Indian River Lagoon kayaking excursion, but my husband is paranoid about falling in. (For someone who loves cruises and looking at the water he has a fear of actually going in water.) 

 

I live around here. I'm not familiar with the exact location where the kayaking excursion takes place but the Indian River Lagoon is one of the shallower bodies of water around. While they did have to dredge out a path for the actual intercostal water way, the average depth of the lagoon is still 4 feet. Kayaking could be a wonderful thing to do depending on the chop factor of the water. Would knowing about the water depth calm your DH's worries?

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I always tell my northern friends that Florida weather has 3 months of misery and 9 months of bliss. June 15th - September 15th is in the misery part of the year with humidity beyond belief and a high likelihood of afternoon thunderstorms. Getting over to Orlando can be done but it's impractical. Disney Springs is an option as is Gatorland Zoo. Best choices are to remain fairly close to the ship; use the beach at Jetty Park (walking distance from RCI cruise terminal) or a Kennedy Space Center tour. The Zoo in Melbourne is good but if you're originating in NY/NJ, you already have nice zoos. My opinions, of course.

[exm]

14 hours ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

I always tell my northern friends that Florida weather has 3 months of misery and 9 months of bliss. June 15th - September 15th is in the misery part of the year with humidity beyond belief and a high likelihood of afternoon thunderstorms. Getting over to Orlando can be done but it's impractical. Disney Springs is an option as is Gatorland Zoo. Best choices are to remain fairly close to the ship; use the beach at Jetty Park (walking distance from RCI cruise terminal) or a Kennedy Space Center tour. The Zoo in Melbourne is good but if you're originating in NY/NJ, you already have nice zoos. My opinions, of course.

 

I don't live in Florida, but I visited Florida in March. Cold. In my opinion Apr-Jun and Sep-Nov are the months

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

4 hours ago, exm said:

 

I don't live in Florida, but I visited Florida in March. Cold. In my opinion Apr-Jun and Sep-Nov are the months

Yes, those are great months. March is great too but usually every year we'll have at least one cold front pass during the month which turns things rainy and then (relatively speaking) cold for a few days.

Edited April 13, 2022 by KINGBOBOFTHENORTH
typo

[NoWhiners]

On 4/13/2022 at 12:45 PM, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

Yes, those are great months. March is great too but usually every year we'll have at least one cold front pass during the month which turns things rainy and then (relatively speaking) cold for a few days.

 

This is so true. Last time we went, in March 2020 just before everything shutdown, the weather was fine, temps pleasant. But, if you went on a water ride, it took a while to warm back up. This was at Universal, but still.

Edited April 17, 2022 by NoWhiners
changes

[LivLove2Cruise]

Having just returned, I can speak based on my experience.  We took the shuttle to Seaworld.  We arrived at 2:20pm.  We purchased tickets on Groupon and printed them at home.  They were able to scan the bar code and we went straight in. There were no lines and we were able to experience almost everything. We were back on the bus before 7pm. My only compliant was many of the food vendors were closed but besides that it worked out prefect for us.  I would not do Disney or Universal with this amount of time.  I watched folks looking at the Disney and Universal apps as we were waiting in the Royal Theater. There were 60-120 minute wait times for the popular attractions. 

 

I don't know how the crowds will be in summer months at SeaWorld. However, SeaWorld could be an option.

[Redsky5292]

We were just at WDW this past summer, the traffic is HORRIBLE!  My parents live pretty close to Orlando and we would get stuck in hours long traffic, a ride that was supposed to take 20 minutes could take up to an hour.  You'll spend more time getting there and getting back to the ship then actually in the park.  When we docked at Port Canaveral we went and walked around Ron Jon's and people watched on the beach.  The following year (we did the cruise two years in a row), we met my parents for lunch near the port and then toured the Exploration Tower, you get great views of the port from the museum: https://visitportcanaveral.com/attractions/

[mspink98]

A hurried trip to a theme park on an August afternoon when you HAVE to be back somewhere by a certain time literally sounds like hell. I recommend the Space Center, or just make it a beach day.