where to stay at Port Canaveral

[puggal]

We are arriving the day before and was wondering where to stay for 1 night

[Schplinky]

I would stay in Orlando. Hotels are cheaper andif you rent a car, your transfer will be cheaper than the ship's ones! A car can be picked up at Budget at the airport and dropped off at PCO for no extra fee (Budget) and they will even shuttle you to the ship for free. Very seemless.

 

Orlando hotel airports can be got on Priceline cheap and even at retail are cheaper than PCO. We stayed at Winngate for $35 through Priceline.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Also check out the East Coast Departure board ... that has a lot of ideas on where to stay. Jan

[cruisindoggie]

My advice is to book what makes you happy. You must conisider more than price. It bugs me that everyone assumes we all want the cheap way out. Book what makes the most sense to you and your needs. We are not all looking for less expensive. Remember location and conveinience as well need to be taken into consideration.

[JCRA]

Schplinky,

 

Thank you for the valuable information. I was also wondering where to stay pre-cruise AND was looking for something inexpensive. We just need some place to grab a few hours sleep and a shower. I was uncertain if was better to drive to PCO the night before or stay in Orlando and drive in the morning. Your answer was just what I was looking for.

 

Thanks,

 

Caryn

[ken_nyc]

We have always stayed at the Radisson. We found it to be very nice and clean and they have a free shuttle to take you to the port, but when you get there and check-in you have to sign-up for the shuttle.

[golferfreddie]

If you are driving in and leaving a car instead of flying to orlando, Comfort Inn and Suites has a deal for about $120/night where you can park your car in the hotel lot for the duration of your cruise and they shuttle you to the port for free (well it is included in the room price I am sure). We did this last year and we are doing it again in about 3 weeks. Nice place to get an extra beach day out of the trip!

[luv2cruz_74]

I've stayed at the Radisson, the Residence Inn and will be staying at the Country Inn and Suites in 11 days :D Got the Country Inn and Suites for $72 and I hear good things about it.

 

I found both properties to be clean and convenient to the port. Hope that helps!

[logan1_2000]

My advice is to book what makes you happy. You must conisider more than price. It bugs me that everyone assumes we all want the cheap way out. Book what makes the most sense to you and your needs. We are not all looking for less expensive. Remember location and conveinience as well need to be taken into consideration.

 

I really agree. I for one just have a personality that needs more certainty than I get with hotwire or priceline, for example, so I can not book through those methods. and maybe someone enjoys waking up with the peace of mind knowing they are at the port, or next door anyway, so that no traffic disaster flaming truck wreck on an interstate or other highway can inconvenience the day. it all depends. and OP did not identify even if flying or driving, which also makes a difference.

 

we like staying at the nice hampton inn up the road a little in titusville, at exit 215 of I-95, when we drive down. a quick drive down to the port the next morning, and convenient to our family's tradition of dixie crossroads the night before a cruise for dinner. but that would not be a good choice, probably, for someone flying in.

[Schplinky]

I certainly did not mean to ruffle any feathers by suggesting what I did. It worked well for us and frankly, we generally arrive later in the evening at the airport so the thought of then driving to PCO and checking in makes no sense to us. Since the majority of cruisers fly to their ports, I presumed the same was true of the OP. They have not said one way or another so the "nice Hampton Inn" may not work for them either.

 

Frankly, I'm glad not everyone uses priceline. That allows those of us who do to get the 4 star hotels for $60 at times while others go for the "predictability" of paying that for a 2 star (for which we typically pay 35 on Priceline). It works for me. The biggest misconceptions that I see about Priceline is that you have no control over quality or where you stay. You choose the star level and you choose the bidding zone. Anyone who can read a map can do this.

 

Disaster flaming trucks happen in Titusville, too, but I'm guessing that anyone who has planned properly can accommodate this.

[piercetc4]

we like to stay in pco night before a mariner cruise so we can go eat at grills and watch the sat ships departing - glory, disney something leave on sat. - it really gets the adrenaline going for our cruise next day :)

i got holiday inn oceanfront for 62 plus tax for our sept sov cruise on h.w.-

we are doing radisson at the port for oct mariner since many from roll call staying there as well-

the staying in orlando idea is a good one also- the drive over to pc is only like 30 - 40 minutes straight shot- nice to know budget does not charge the fee to drop off at diff place than pickup- may check into that this time, thanks!

[Schplinky]

we like to stay in pco night before a mariner cruise so we can go eat at grills and watch the sat ships departing - glory, disney something leave on sat. - it really gets the adrenaline going for our cruise next day :)

i got holiday inn oceanfront for 62 plus tax for our sept sov cruise on h.w.-

we are doing radisson at the port for oct mariner since many from roll call staying there as well-

the staying in orlando idea is a good one also- the drive over to pc is only like 30 - 40 minutes straight shot- nice to know budget does not charge the fee to drop off at diff place than pickup- may check into that this time, thanks!

 

I'd like to have dinner at the Grills sometime. It is so much fun waving at them that it would be nice being in the restaurant (but only if you knew you weren't being left behind, you're just going the next day).

 

Maybe sometime we're there more than one day ahead, we'll go over there. Orlando is hard for we Canadians to pass up, though. Beter shopping, Disney water parks and tons of restaurants we don't have at home.

 

I need more time (and money).

[chad_n_jess]

Over the past few years we have stayed in daytona over by the speedway, that way you are out of a huge portion of traffic and you have a krispy kreme store about a mile from you. The speedway exit has about every chain hotel you could want and the rates are not very high either.

[reallyitsmema]

It really depends on what your family likes. We flew in the night before to MCO and drove to Port Canaveral. We stayed at the Residence Inn. With a 16 yr old, the ability to sleep in the morning of the cruise worked for us. If I had younger kids who would be up early, I probably would have stayed in Orlando and driven over the morning of the cruise. Not having to wake a teenager up before 10AM makes for a very enjoyable morning:p

[gamecockvic]

We are arriving the day before and was wondering where to stay for 1 night

 

 

My family of 4 have stayed at the Radisson and the Residence Inn. Both are very close to the pier and offer some type shuttle service that is convenient and inexpensive. If you drive, you can leave your car there. Both are very nice and offer breakfast. The Radisson has a very nice pool and suites with a jacuzzi. Both were moderately priced in peak season. I would recommend both. There are restaurants nearby.

[Former Goalie]

We stayed at the Courtyard Port Canaveral. We loved it - it has a boardwalk to the beach which it shares with a sister property (Hampton Inn) next door. Publix down the road about 1/4 mile.

Both the Courtyard and the Hampton would be good choices, as the Hampton also looked very nice. The Hampton also offers a complimentary breakfast buffet, which the Courtyard does not.

[mstea]

We are booked at the Country Inn & Suites, for June LOL, they sleep more, and we want to be right there at the Port the day before. There are 15 of us going and with teens and young adults the Beach and Pier are where it's at.... and I agree, waking a Teen early,,, WHY :confused:

We want to walk the pier , eat and watch the ships.....

We rather do the shuttle from Orlando to PCO....the day before, I get too pumped to do it later..

Either way ENJOY

[maggiecharlie]

What kind of restaurants are in Port Canaveral?

[andygump55]

We have also stayed at the Radisson the night before each of our cruises and will be staying there again in November. You do not have to wait until you get to the hotel to make a reservation for the Radisson shuttle. I made our Radisson reservation this past Sunday and also got our shuttle reservation made at the same time.

 

We have also eaten at Grills several times and have always had good service and good food, looking forward to eating there again in November.

 

We've also had good service and good food at Zachary's, which is right next door to the Radisson.

[JanineM]

What kind of restaurants are in Port Canaveral?

 

There are two threads over on the East Coast departures that will answer almost all of your questions about Port Canaveral.

 

The first is called, "I Work in Port Canaveral" - here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=436720

 

The second is called, "The Best of I Work In Port Canaveral" and it is much easier to read through - here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=596321

 

A couple of people have gone to a lot of work to sum up info on PC and the local area.

 

For restaurants - there are several listed on those threads, but this area also has all of the big chains (Outback, Chili's, Olive Garden, Pizzaria Uno, etc.) and several really good alternatives at Cocoa Beach. Cocoa Beach is about a 15 minute drive (in traffic) south of the Port

 

I'd like to have dinner at the Grills sometime. It is so much fun waving at them that it would be nice being in the restaurant (but only if you knew you weren't being left behind, you're just going the next day).

 

Maybe sometime we're there more than one day ahead, we'll go over there. Orlando is hard for we Canadians to pass up, though. Beter shopping, Disney water parks and tons of restaurants we don't have at home.

 

I need more time (and money).

 

I'm Canadian and do recall clearly how exciting it was to go shopping in the States. In this area there is also a fair bit of shopping --- unless you eally want to hit the high end stores at Mall of Millenia. There is a decent mall close to the Port, plus there is a pretty good outdoor mall about 20 minutes south. My family often prefers to shop here in Melbourne rather than brave the traffic at the malls, especially at Florida Mall.

 

If you're looking for bargains, there is a Dave & Barry's at the Merritt Island mall. They are a discount line that originally started with just school stuff but now have Sarah Jessica Parker's clothing. Everything is under $10 (or very close to that).

 

Just another alternative! ;)

[DJ1VIKES]

Go to cocoabeachnow.com It will answere alot of your questions.

[Fun@C]

Has anyone ever flown into daytona instead of orlando? I wasn't sure how far away daytona was to the port. Thanks!

[floridastyle05]

I live in Titusville, Fl which is about 15 minutes north of Port Canaveral and we have some very nice hotels that are inexpensive to stay in one night. You may want to check them out. Not sure if you want fancy dancy or just some place to crash for the night. The Clarion is on the river across from the Launch Pads at KSC then we have a Days Inn (IHOP is next door nice pool to), Hampton Inn (Cracker Barrel is next door), and Best Western (Durangos is atttached) by the interstate which is 3 miles west of the river there is also a Walmart, Target and other shops right there if you need to pick up anything before your cruise. If you decide to stay here in Titusville the zip is 32780 when you are looking up hotels.

 

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-475147-titusville_fl_vacations-i

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Misti

www.floridastyledecor.com

Sovereign of the Seas 2006 First Cruise – Loved It!

[rocketman1]

The Country Inn and suites is very nice and reasonable and will take you to the terminal. I think that without the car package it was about $90.

[floridastyle05]

if you do decide to stay in Titusville the weblink below is a local shuttle company that can take you to the Port not sure what they charge but they are local.

 

http://www.nbbd.com/thunderstorm/index.html

 

 

 

Misti

www.floridastyledecor.com

Sovereign of the Seas 2006 First Cruise – Loved It!