Hotel suggestions night before cruise

[TLR134]

Any hotel suggestions for a one night stay the night before a cruise in Port Canaveral or Cocoa Beach?

 

[EOD K9]

I'm partial to a night in WDW first. I have had family stay at Cocoa Beach and were none too thrilled. Others have stayed at the Hyatt in MCO. Either way, you will need some type of shuttle. Since I am a DVC Member, I will stay on site at both sides of my cruise. It is really up to you.

 

[MaryJaneP]

We stayed at Hyatt MCO, which is neither Port Canaveral nor Cocoa Beach. We did like the conveniences but paid top dollar.

 

[NelleBelle]

We stayed at the Best Western Ocean Beach Hotel & Suites. There were 3 adults and 2 kids in our party and what was nice is that we put the kids in the pull-out couch in the front room. My son and I both had a case of can't-sleep-because-we're-cruising-tomorrow so we stayed up late after my other son fell asleep and watched Disney channel; the. When he fell asleep, I watched a movie and never bothered my mom or husband. It was nice to have the extra room before piling into a cramped (although larger by most) stateroom

We are still debating about taking a red eye this year that would get us into MCO at 5am the morning our cruise leaves. I know what every one says, that it's risky to do it. But it's been a thought...

 

[C&D]

We drive (from S.C.) so we needed a cruise and park. We had good luck at the Residence Inn (Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach location). You have to get the 'stay and cruise ' or 'stay and park' program but we figured that the cost of the room was partially covered by what we would have had to pay to park at the terminal. The Hotel's transportation was excellent (in our opinion) plus breakfast is included in the price.

 

[Phonedave]

I have stayed at WDW and taken their transportation to the cruise
I have stayed at WDW and driven a rental car to the cruise
I have stayed at Comfort Inn & Suites Port Canaveral and taken the rental car to the cruise

So, far, I like staying at WDW and taking the rental car.

I don't like using WDW transportation, as now you are on their schedule, and they don't get to the port as early as I would like (and they are expensive in my opinon)

I didn't find staying in Port Canaveral any more convienent. You still have to drop the car off at the rental car place and take the rental car shuttle (some hotels do have their own shuttle). The Comfort Inn was, in a word, serviceable. I would put it at a WDW value level. The room was clean, but nothing special. Doors open to the outside (as opposed to a hallway). It was a short walk to the beach, but we were going to be crusing the next day, so we just waded into the ocean - did not want the hassle of wet bathing suits and loads of sand. I guess the fact that we were right there made it a bit easier, but the drive from WDW to the port is not bad at all. I prefer to rent the car at MCO, drive to WDW, stay in my DVC room, go to DIsney Springs for the evening, and then drive to the port in the AM.


-dave

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

I have stayed at WDW and taken their transportation to the cruise
I have stayed at WDW and driven a rental car to the cruise
I have stayed at Comfort Inn & Suites Port Canaveral and taken the rental car to the cruise

So, far, I like staying at WDW and taking the rental car.

I don't like using WDW transportation, as now you are on their schedule, and they don't get to the port as early as I would like (and they are expensive in my opinon)

I didn't find staying in Port Canaveral any more convienent. You still have to drop the car off at the rental car place and take the rental car shuttle (some hotels do have their own shuttle). The Comfort Inn was, in a word, serviceable. I would put it at a WDW value level. The room was clean, but nothing special. Doors open to the outside (as opposed to a hallway). It was a short walk to the beach, but we were going to be crusing the next day, so we just waded into the ocean - did not want the hassle of wet bathing suits and loads of sand. I guess the fact that we were right there made it a bit easier, but the drive from WDW to the port is not bad at all. I prefer to rent the car at MCO, drive to WDW, stay in my DVC room, go to DIsney Springs for the evening, and then drive to the port in the AM.


-dave

Dave is spot on. We used the WDW transportation from Pop Century to port for our first cruise and were disappointed to find out that it didn't even pick us up until around 1230. I would have liked more time on the boat especially since it was just a 3 nighter. Next time, we will either add our WDW time at the end of the cruise (might also help burn off the meals), or do as Dave did and rent a car.

 

[21stamps]

I have stayed at WDW and taken their transportation to the cruise
I have stayed at WDW and driven a rental car to the cruise
I have stayed at Comfort Inn & Suites Port Canaveral and taken the rental car to the cruise

So, far, I like staying at WDW and taking the rental car.

I don't like using WDW transportation, as now you are on their schedule, and they don't get to the port as early as I would like (and they are expensive in my opinon)

I didn't find staying in Port Canaveral any more convienent. You still have to drop the car off at the rental car place and take the rental car shuttle (some hotels do have their own shuttle). The Comfort Inn was, in a word, serviceable. I would put it at a WDW value level. The room was clean, but nothing special. Doors open to the outside (as opposed to a hallway). It was a short walk to the beach, but we were going to be crusing the next day, so we just waded into the ocean - did not want the hassle of wet bathing suits and loads of sand. I guess the fact that we were right there made it a bit easier, but the drive from WDW to the port is not bad at all. I prefer to rent the car at MCO, drive to WDW, stay in my DVC room, go to DIsney Springs for the evening, and then drive to the port in the AM.


-dave

We are renting a car from the Dolphin and driving to the port. I don't have option of dropping people/luggage off first.. Can you give me a realistic time frame of how long it takes to return rental and shuttle to port?

 

[NelleBelle]

It depends...when we dropped our rental car off, there were probably 100 people waiting in the parking lot waiting for the shuttle to the cruise terminal. The attendant put us in the ridiculous line that never moved. After waiting an hour, I overheard the same attendant tell this group of people who just arrived, "oh, we're loading DCL over here," which happened to be a non-exisitent line. They placed us in a line of people waiting to go on a Carnival ship. Apparently there were 4 ships that had all come in and there were some people waiting to rent cars and some waiting to get on the shuttle to the cruise terminal. It was a MESS! The shuttle driver told us next time to call ahead to find out how many ships were in port and to plan accordingly (nice tip, eh). This year, we will be taking a town car and by-passing the stress (although, I'd really like to hit the Ron Jon surf shop...hmmm).

 

[Phonedave]

We are renting a car from the Dolphin and driving to the port. I don't have option of dropping people/luggage off first.. Can you give me a realistic time frame of how long it takes to return rental and shuttle to port?

The rental car places are about 15 minutes from the port. When I did the drop off when staying in Cocoa Beach, I was being dropped off at the port about 30 minutes fromt he time I arrived at the rental car lot. Of course I was EARLY - we were the second group to enter the terminal when it opened. As +NelleBelle said, later in the day it could take longer.

When I drove from Disney World, it was a little longer, maybe 45 min from the time I got to the rental car lot. 15 min to return the car, 15 min to wait for the shuttle, and then the shuttle ride itself.


-dave

 

[BigRedDad]

I think much of the decision is based on how many hours you would be in the room. If you are getting in at say 2PM the day before, the decision would be far different if you are getting in at 11PM. It also depends on how far you want to drive in the next morning (assumes you are driving). If it was earlier in the day, I would go somewhere near Disney Springs. You can enjoy their nice pools, head to Disney Springs to get in the mood.