Lots of PC questions/help

[trctjs]

We are cruising with our 4 kids (19,17,14&12) on Carnival Magic 4/2/23. We are flying into MCO the night before and out the day after we arrive back in port.

 

We are needing to find the best way to get from MCO to PC with 6 people and luggage....plus a hotel or air bnb(they are cheaper for a party of 6 sometimes)  for 4/1 and 4/8.

 

This is only my 2nd cruise ever and obviously the first time we've taken our kids and I'm feeling overwhelmed and tad lost as to what is the best way to do this. I know we can stay around MCO and use Carnival's transportation but at over $70pp I'm wondering if there is a cheaper option. I'm not scare of Uber at all...but I know we'll have to take 2 or 3 and I worry about vehicles big enough to hold luggage.

 

So hit me with all your great been there done that advice please!

[GTO-Girl]

5 hours ago, trctjs said:

We are cruising with our 4 kids (19,17,14&12) on Carnival Magic 4/2/23. We are flying into MCO the night before and out the day after we arrive back in port.

 

We are needing to find the best way to get from MCO to PC with 6 people and luggage....plus a hotel or air bnb(they are cheaper for a party of 6 sometimes)  for 4/1 and 4/8.

 

This is only my 2nd cruise ever and obviously the first time we've taken our kids and I'm feeling overwhelmed and tad lost as to what is the best way to do this. I know we can stay around MCO and use Carnival's transportation but at over $70pp I'm wondering if there is a cheaper option. I'm not scare of Uber at all...but I know we'll have to take 2 or 3 and I worry about vehicles big enough to hold luggage.

 

So hit me with all your great been there done that advice please!

Hotels around Canaveral are very expensive right now and will most certainly be April.  You might be better to stay around the airport.

 

Popular suggestions to get to the port:

*Cortrans Shuttle 

*Cocoa Beach Shuttle 

*Cruise Control Transportation 

*GoPort (has pkgs for both hotel & transportation)

*One Way Car rental 

 

 

[Capt_BJ]

6 people and bags .......

 

have you priced a limo?

 

https://hotrayzlimos.com/fleet/lincoln-mkt-8-passenger/

 

they hook a trailer for bags . . . 

[trctjs]

I haven't priced anything because I had no idea where to even look beyond the Carnival transportation....which seems expensive. Thanks! Now I have places to look!

 

[#55worktoplay]

We are getting a one way rental for I think 104.00 pick up at airport drop off at canaveral next day. Same but in reverse when off ship.

 

I am still trying to decide where to stay. I know I’m not stay in Canaveral prices are too high and I read there is really nothing in canaveral to do. If anyone has suggestions I’m listening. I was think Melbourne??

[Sand and Seas]

19 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

We are getting a one way rental for I think 104.00 pick up at airport drop off at canaveral next day. Same but in reverse when off ship.

 

I am still trying to decide where to stay. I know I’m not stay in Canaveral prices are too high and I read there is really nothing in canaveral to do. If anyone has suggestions I’m listening. I was think Melbourne??

Radisson Country Inn & Suites has a good Military/Veteran rate if that might apply for you.  Very close to terminal.    We are keeping the rental car to drive the few miles to Cocoa Beach,etc.   Then will drop rental at PC morning of embarkation.

[Sand and Seas]

Just checked out the Best Western Cocoa Beach.  Prices aren't bad and area seem nice.

Has anyone stayed here?

[xcell]

Price out a minivan/full size SUV rental from one of those big box stores (you can cancel anytime--i.e. keep monitoring the price, it changes and the rates are not bad).

 

 

[trctjs]

Renting a Van/SUV makes me nervous. We've shown up for rental cars before and they've not had the size we reserved. We are 6 adult sized people....plus luggage...so something like a Traverse/Explorer won't be big enough because their cargo space sucks.

[cruisinelmo]

For what it is worth last year we flew into Jacksonville rented an Alamo large SUV for one day and stayed the night at the Hyatt Place in Coco Beach. The next day (day of cruise) drove the last 15 or so miles to drop off rental at Port Canaveral. Alamo has free shuttle to the cruise port. Our return flight home was from MCO so we reserved Cortana for the transportation to the airport. This was a cost affective way for us since flights to Jacksonville cost less, hotels outside of the Orlando/Port Canaveral cost less and the rental car gave us flexibility to find places to eat sightsee and buy our two bottles of wine for cruise. 

[trctjs]

7 hours ago, cruisinelmo said:

For what it is worth last year we flew into Jacksonville rented an Alamo large SUV for one day and stayed the night at the Hyatt Place in Coco Beach. The next day (day of cruise) drove the last 15 or so miles to drop off rental at Port Canaveral. Alamo has free shuttle to the cruise port. Our return flight home was from MCO so we reserved Cortana for the transportation to the airport. This was a cost affective way for us since flights to Jacksonville cost less, hotels outside of the Orlando/Port Canaveral cost less and the rental car gave us flexibility to find places to eat sightsee and buy our two bottles of wine for cruise. 

Thank you!!! We are staying before and after at the SpringHill suites by MCO. The last thing I need to do is find transportation to the Port Canaveral and back.

[Capt_BJ]

I read there is really nothing in canaveral to do

 

Well that's wrong ..... and we're talking one night? Maybe an afternoon and night?

 

Near the port is nice beach if you arrive early enuf to enjoy and the port side restaurants seem to entertain many with evening entertainment, watching cruise ships depart (build the anticipation for the morning) and maybe even a space launch ....Cape Canaveral is a tourist beach small town ..... there's 'stuff to do'

 

 

zip lines

museums

KSC Visitor Center

go karts

mini golf

surfing lessons

eco tours

kayaking

parasailing

rent a polaris slingshot

[trctjs]

has anyone actually used Cortrans? It looks like they will pick up and drop off at our hotel...which is appealing with 4 kids in tow. I'd rather not have to shuttle back to MCO just to shuttle to the ship.

 

I did price a Limo...because that sounds super fun but it's more expensive and we would rather spend money on the ship/in port so trying to go cheaper. Cruise control is the cheapest but it requires the shuttle back to MCO because they do not pick up at our hotel.

[Ashland]

With our extended family of 4 adults and 2 kids we opted to stay at Home2Suites and used Cruise Control booking them as private transportation round trip and they were just amazing.

 

(888) 416-8830  Call Corey owner/operator

[trctjs]

3 hours ago, Ashland said:

With our extended family of 4 adults and 2 kids we opted to stay at Home2Suites and used Cruise Control booking them as private transportation round trip and they were just amazing.

 

(888) 416-8830  Call Corey owner/operator

Looks like that is only $40 more than Cortrans....might be worth it for the private vs shared bus.

[Marie51]

On 3/8/2023 at 8:02 AM, trctjs said:

has anyone actually used Cortrans? It looks like they will pick up and drop off at our hotel...which is appealing with 4 kids in tow. I'd rather not have to shuttle back to MCO just to shuttle to the ship.

 

I did price a Limo...because that sounds super fun but it's more expensive and we would rather spend money on the ship/in port so trying to go cheaper. Cruise control is the cheapest but it requires the shuttle back to MCO because they do not pick up at our hotel.

We used Cortrans and were very happy with them. Driver was on time, van was clean and it was a pleasant drive. I would not hesitate to use them again.

[Ashland]

19 hours ago, trctjs said:

Looks like that is only $40 more than Cortrans....might be worth it for the private vs shared bus.

Private service is absolutely worth it to us when we take the family.

[TSUmom]

17 hours ago, Ashland said:

Private service is absolutely worth it to us when we take the family.

We plan on the private transfer instead of shared.  When we land we want our vacation to begin ASAP and waiting for a van/bus to fill is not our idea of starting off right.  It might be more but it is well woth it to us.

[Mike C]

On 2/21/2023 at 7:43 PM, Sand and Seas said:

Just checked out the Best Western Cocoa Beach.  Prices aren't bad and area seem nice.

Has anyone stayed here?

We stayed there a few years ago.  There are a few different room types, such as ocean view, etc. so make sure the price you see quoted is for the room you’re interested in.  We enjoyed our stay; plenty of food choices in the area.

[VirginiaIsForCruisers]

On 2/15/2023 at 4:33 PM, Capt_BJ said:

6 people and bags .......

 

have you priced a limo?

 

https://hotrayzlimos.com/fleet/lincoln-mkt-8-passenger/

 

they hook a trailer for bags . . . 

I've used Happy Limo and have been happy with their prices and service.  They have transit vans that can carry 10 people + luggage.

[trctjs]

Well I waited too long. I wasn't sure what time I needed transport so I waited until we checked in this morning. Cruise Control is booked now. So now I'm looking at Cortrans or Happy Limo. That other limo place was crazy expensive. Hopefully someone has something or we will end up on the Carnvial bus that is over priced.

[tweety33]

On 2/21/2023 at 6:08 PM, Sand and Seas said:

Radisson Country Inn & Suites has a good Military/Veteran rate if that might apply for you.  Very close to terminal.    We are keeping the rental car to drive the few miles to Cocoa Beach,etc.   Then will drop rental at PC morning of embarkation.

Thank you for that info!! I called the Raddison we are staying at in Port Canaveral, used our military discount and dropped another $73 off the rate we had booked at, plus a better room and breakfast added. Love these boards.

[Sand and Seas]

26 minutes ago, tweety33 said:

Thank you for that info!! I called the Raddison we are staying at in Port Canaveral, used our military discount and dropped another $73 off the rate we had booked at, plus a better room and breakfast added. Love these boards.

Great!  I love when we can help each other on this forum😊

[thinfool]

On 2/28/2023 at 5:05 PM, Capt_BJ said:

I read there is really nothing in canaveral to do

 

Well that's wrong ..... and we're talking one night? Maybe an afternoon and night?

 

Totally agree....once those 4 kids get wind of the fact that there is a huge Ron Jon surf shop in Cocoa...you may never see them again.  Best to slip an Airtag in their pocket so you can find them at sailing time.

[trctjs]

On 3/15/2023 at 3:59 PM, VirginiaIsForCruisers said:

I've used Happy Limo and have been happy with their prices and service.  They have transit vans that can carry 10 people + luggage.

Thank you so much for this rec!!! All the other places were totally booked but they were not! Cost more but we now have our own private transportation to and from hotel/port!