You have booked your cruise, you have your flights, and you are ready to take your Disney cruise. When suddenly you panic, but how will we get to the cruise terminal? Do we fly the night before? How do we get our luggage to the port?
First take a deep breath. You are about to go on a fun-filled trip where you don’t have to think about dinner or entertainment at all, it’s all covered. Now let us take you through the options and our experience with them.
A few notes:
There is nothing to do at the cruise terminal if you arrive before your boarding time. If you have small children spending hours waiting to board because you booked an early car service hoping you can sneak on in an earlier group is a recipe for disappointment and kid meltdowns.
The baggage handlers WORK ON TIPS unless you are taking your luggage on by yourself you will need to use the baggage handlers. Have some cash to pay them. I suggest $2 a bag unless it is very heavy
There are vending machines in a back room with some snacks and drinks but that is it. No food until you get on the ship. So don’t skip breakfast.
Your boarding time can be delayed. Sometimes things happen and the ship isn’t ready to board at the 11 am boarding time. This pushes everything back. I am the sort of person who is 2 hours early for a flight. But I don’t get to the terminal until 20 min before my boarding group
You can kill time at Ron Jon Surf Shop or other little places in the area. Cocoa Beach (the town and beach) is only a 10 min drive from the terminal
Car seats are large, bulky, and a pain to travel with and almost impossible to navigate in the staterooms, look into a harness for travel (insert link)
Options
Take MERS or other port transportation
Drive your car
Rent a car
Take another dedicated car service
Take an Uber
Book a hotel/transport combo (TBD I have not figured out how to make this work)
If you are busy and want to cut to the chase, I suggest taking an Uber or Lyft if it suits your needs. The cost is often less, and it is more flexible. You do need to keep an eye on surge pricing, but overall we have found this option to be the most flexible and the most cost effective.
MERS or other bus company
Limited time slots (Stressful with your port arrival time more on this later)
Harder to use if you fly in the day before and stay at an hotel
Charged per person, per bag
Reliable
Entertainment for the drive
Drive your car
If you have a car in the area, this is the way to go
Parking at the port varies on number of days etc but expect to spend about $150 for a 7 night cruise (price subject to change)
Driving my car to the port is the #1 thing I miss about living in Orlando
Rent a car
This option works well if you are spending a few days at the parks as well
Check prices, even with parking at the cruise terminal this still might be cheaper than taking transport if you have a larger group
Convenient for flight disruptions, changes, delayed ships, stops at Target to grab forgotten items, etc
This gives you somewhere to leave your car seats and not have to take them into your very small cabin on the ship
If you want to try to hit up Disney Springs or the outlets before your fight you have somewhere to store your luggage
Take a dedicated car service
They cost about the same as the large shuttles (I paid $360 round trip from Disney Springs)
You don’t have flexibility in time (we wanted to change to an earlier time a week in advance but were unable to do so)
Most companies are reliable
You know what you pay
You need to bring your own car seats and you have to take them onto the ship with you
Take an Uber
You call the Uber when you are ready
An XL is needed if you have extra luggage
You are still stuck with the car seat dilemma
There can be surge pricing when everyone is getting off the ship and trying to get back, you may also run into a scenario where you may need to wait for a driver
Recommended items that make traveling easier
There is a lot of walking and a small amount of room. I’ve owned and love these two strollers.
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