Kennedy Space Center excursions (2)

There are two excursions to the Kennedy Space Center offered.

1. Kennedy Space Center VIP (PC14) - $78 and 8 hours

2. Kennedy Space Center w/ NASA up close (PC15) - $102 and 7.5 hrs

The 2nd one includes all of the first plus " 2-hour narrated journey through the Space Shuttle program, from launch preparation to lift-off" Not too sure how this one can be listed as shorter than the first??

I've also seen where people mention doing the tours on your own, but the pricing from the KSC website doesn't look any better. For instance the Tour of the Vehicle Assembly Building and Up Close Tour is $75. Not sure what that all includes, but the VAB is certainly covered in the RCCL excursion plus other stuff.

Any help in determining the real difference between the two RCCL excursions and in the do-it-yourself choice?

Are you there for a port stop, or looking at a post cruise excursion after returning to Port Canaveral?

We did the post cruise VIP tour with transfer to the airport. It was excellent. It also included the shuttle launch experience. I think it was well worth the cost and the guide was excellent. We had a great time. We did not enter the VAB as it was being used to rebuild the crawler units to accommodate the new Orion rocket systems for returning NASA to manned space flight.

The Atlantis was recently moved to its new display building. That should open to the public by mid summer and will be part of the tour.

Warning! If you are doing this excursion post cruise, do not book this if you have a flight out of MCO leaving before 4:00 pm. You will most likely not make your flight. A couple had a 3:00 flight and the tour company would not cut the tour short to get them to MCO. The rest of us were relieved, as the tour we booked through RCI clearly stated the flights had to be after 4:00 pm.

Eric

We are there for a port stop.

Definitely check your times. Our ship is arriving at noon, and KSC is only open until 5. Not nearly enough time for the 7 hour tour offered by NCL. That's just not right. If they don't have enough time they shouldn't offer or should discount.

There are two excursions to the Kennedy Space Center offered.

1. Kennedy Space Center VIP (PC14) - $78 and 8 hours

2. Kennedy Space Center w/ NASA up close (PC15) - $102 and 7.5 hrs

 

The 2nd one includes all of the first plus " 2-hour narrated journey through the Space Shuttle program, from launch preparation to lift-off"

 

 

Any help in determining the real difference between the two RCCL excursions

I did the NASA "Up Close" last year as part of a port stop. Our excursion guide gave up the admission tickets to Kennedy Space Center. We had some time to explore the Rocket Garden, watch an IMAX movie, and look at other exhibits around the main entrance area. We had a time to meet our excursion guide for the Kennedy Space Center tour bus. (We also had a specific time to meet the excursion guide back at bus to get back to the ship, so time was very limited after the guided Kennedy Space Center tour bus to explore other exhibits.)

The Kennedy Space Center tour bus is were the difference between "Up Close" and "VIP" come into play. The "VIP" tour goes to a tower that visitors have to climb up to view the property. The "Up Close" tour bypasses the tower and goes around the property to the VAB, launch pads, landing strip, and other buildings. The "Up Close" tour guide for my trip was a retired NASA employee who was able to share with us information going back to the moon landing. At the end of the tour, we are dropped off at the Apollo/Saturn V center. There's a presentation, then time to look around the Apollo/Saturn V center, but time is limited. You will have to get in line to board a different Kennedy Space Center to get back to the main entrance. The bus ride is 15-20 minutes. We didn't have time to do anything else to get back to the bus to ship in time.

As far as the do it yourself, if you search the net you can get discount tickets online. I think I paid $39 for the all days pass including the bus tour to Saturn V.

The only negative if you are on a cruise schedule and not on a dedicated bus, you may have to wait for a while for the return tour bus to the visitor center main gate. The buses show about every 15 minutes and if it is toward the end of the day can get delayed due to all the peeps heading back at the sametime. Couldbe nerve racking if you are on a schedule.

Look up orlandofuntickets on the net for info.