closest hotel to Port Canavaral

[MJN]

We are sailing on the Freedom of the Seas on August 23 and were looking for a hotel that will allow us to park for the week and shuttle us to the port. We found that the Radisson Hotel in Melbourne will do this but wanted to find out if they are the closest one to the port as well as the most reasonable. Thanks folks, we are really excited to go on our first Freedom class cruise as well as our aft balcony!

[DonnaK]

Don't stay at the Radisson in Melbourne. The beach there has a reef offshore and the surf is way too rough for swimming. As well, it's in a very residential area, so there's not much to do in the vicinity. It's also quite a distance from the port (30 minutes) We liked the hotel itself, and it wasn't at all crowded (some days we had the pool all to ourself), but it was kind of boring. I don't think you could park there unless you want to spend a lot for the shuttle, because of the distance.

 

There's a Radisson at the Port (not sure if the official address is Port Canaveral or Cocoa Beach). It's about 3 blocks or so south of the pier. Many CC members recommend it, however we thought it was kind of old. It also has spotty reviews over on Trip Advisor.

 

There are two newer hotels between the Radisson and the port. We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott - it's all-suites and a full breakfast is included, staff was friendly, etc. There's also the Country Inn and Suites. Both of these are beautiful and only 1-2 blocks from the port - you can see the ships from the hotel!!!!

 

You have to play around with the numbers, because it's possible to get excellent deals for any of these. It all depends on the season, supply and demand, etc. I'm not sure which of these allow you to park your car for the duration of the cruise. They all have shuttle service to the port, although some charge a modest fee like $5pp.

 

There are also less expensive hotels in Cocoa Beach. These would be about a mile or two from the port, and offer shuttles.

 

 

If you're looking for a restaurant recommendation, A New York Pizza House on A1A and Rt 520, on the diagonal corner from Ron Jon's Surf Shop is excellent, inexpensive family style Italian food. We eat there every time we're in Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach.

[time4agetaway]

We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott also. It was great and we got a shuttle from the car rental place to the ship. The Residence also has a shuttle if you are not renting a car. The hotel is only a couple of minutes from the pier.

 

In case you are looking for a great place to eat dinner the night before, there's a slammin seafood place at the port. I don't remember the name of it offhand, but I do remember it was delicious!!

 

Enjoy the Freedom! Let us know how it is!

[jhmoore143]

We are sailing on the Freedom of the Seas on August 23 and were looking for a hotel that will allow us to park for the week and shuttle us to the port. We found that the Radisson Hotel in Melbourne will do this but wanted to find out if they are the closest one to the port as well as the most reasonable. Thanks folks, we are really excited to go on our first Freedom class cruise as well as our aft balcony!

 

Dont go to Melbourne. That is almost 40 miles south of where you need to be.

 

We are leaving in June and are going down the day before. I have heard the Radisson has free parking and so does the Double Tree. I am a Hilton Honors member and was able to get a free stay (thanks to points) at the Hampton Inn. When I heard that Double Tree (another Hilton Family) has the free parking, I had to call the Hampton Inn. They have it too. They have a third party shuttle bus to the terminal for $10 per person Round Trip. They also have a free hot breakfast - so needless to say, we are keeping our reservations at the Hampton Inn.

 

As for your question, "which one is closer" - I dont know. I know the Double Tree and Hampton Inn are right around 4 - 6 miles from the terminal. I think the Radisson is in that same general area as well.

 

As for food - that NY Pizza sounds good. . . hard to get a good NY pizza in Florida. I havent been here, but I have heard good things about Grills. It is on the port and you can wave bye to the ships leaving. We were planning on going there, but now (NY Pizza) it is up in the air - http://www.grillsseafood.com/

[newbiecruiser09]

We stayed at the Radisson at the Port. I believe they have a park & cruise option and free shuttle to the port. The Residence Inn and Country Inn & Suites were all right there so I would see where you can get the best rate.

 

 

In case you are looking for a great place to eat dinner the night before, there's a slammin seafood place at the port. I don't remember the name of it offhand, but I do remember it was delicious!!

 

Don't know if you are talking about Fish Lips but that is where we ate last time and it was fantastic (definitely try to the scallop risotto--YUMMMMMM!) We sat outside and watched the Wonder pull out of port.

[cruiserbryce]

we stayed at the Radisson at the port. It was a nice and very clean hotel. The staff was friendly, there was a nice pool and bar area and the shuttles were run very well

[MJN]

Thank you so much DonnaK for your quick response and time4agetaway too. This information will be very helpful to us in making our choice for a hotel before we sail. We only have about a 5 hour drive from Tallahassee so we could do it all in one day and not pay for a hotel but then we would really be rushing and be exhausted when we arrive and still have to pay more than $100 to park for the week at the port so this just seems like the more leisurely way to start our vacation. Appreciate your help.

thanks, MJN

[MJN]

These last 3 messages came in while I was writing my reply to the first 2. Thank you all, great info...Grills sounds great!....MJN

[ebutterfrick]

We just stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Cocoa Beach (right next door is a Hampton Inn). The hotel allows you to park at no cost while you are on the cruise. The shuttle to the port was $6 per person, per way. The shuttle is operated by an independent company, Travelynx, and is not the hotel's own shuttle/van. You can pay for the shuttle at the front desk or pay the driver-you have to sign up at the front desk if you plan to take the shuttle.

[MJN]

Hi, Thanks to all who helped in this decision. We did some research and ended up booking at the Radisson by the port. I thought I was dealing with that hotel the other day and some how ended up with the Melbourne one by mistake. I was glad I asked the question and someone told me how far away it was....we would NOT have been happy with that. We actually checked out the pictures of this one and saw the cruise ships in the background. We had used this hotels cam shot to see the Freedom in port the day it arrived so we knew this hotel was close. thanks for the help! WE are booked and can't wait!

MJN

[patnolen]

the radisson is nice. there are lots of places to eat at the port, grills, fishlips, rusty's, and millikens are all good, a little pricy but most have live bands and you can see the ships sail out on Sat. late afternoon. Enjoy your stay!