any advise on doing kennedy space center before or after a cruise?

[npoon]

would like to visit kennedy space center before or after a cruise. any advise on hotels that provide shuttle service to/from port Canaveral that are close to ksc?

 

[Rachfamilyof5]

We did this one time on disembark day, as we had time to kill for a late evening flight. We had a rental car and drove there. Spent most of the day there. Kids (7,4,2) were exhausted. They lasted about 2 hours... my husband enjoyed it though!

 

[kylaura]

We did on disembark day, had a rental car, then went to hotel in Orlando. It was a nice day.

 

[MickeyD74]

We did on disembark day, had a rental car, then went to hotel closer to the airport and flew home the next morning. We were pretty tired but, it was a nice day!!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

After the cruise for us as well, with rental car. I don't have any advice about hotels that are close to KSC, other than those at the port, where there are plenty.

 

[Jason Lee]

If you have a rental car, Orlando is close enough to allow you to have a long list of hotels to choose from. Kennedy Space Centre is amazing by the way, a nice choice for after cruise if you are planning to do it the same day.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We did on disembark day, had a rental car, then went to hotel closer to the airport and flew home the next morning. We were pretty tired but, it was a nice day!!

Now, see, that's exactly why I would do the space center before a cruise. I go on a cruise to relax. Ending my trip with a full day of walking and getting from here to there and back again, isn't the way I want to end a vacation.

 

[knewton64]

IMO, I plan on being very busy on my October 4 day land side of my DCL adventure.... yes - will also be spending the day down at KSC doing an 11 hr tour of the place ..... THEN relaxing on the SEA side of my adventure before heading back to my home country:


** REALITY LAND ***



T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[remlap]

We did the KSC on the morning we boarded the cruise ship. First, we were ok we would not be in boarding group 1. We are in California, had flown out and seen the last Atlantis shuttle launch, so even while Endeavour is a 20 minute drive away, we wanted to see "our shuttle." We booked a hotel near the KSC entrance. We were there at opening, went directly to the Shuttle. After the "second group" entered, we left and got on the bus tour. We still made it to the Saturn 5 building before it even opened for tour groups. Took a few photos and headed back to the entrance and drove to the port. It was open boarding with no wait.

Did I see everything at KSC, no. However, I would have been happy to just see the Shuttle and getting the bus tour (which we had previously done) was bonus. Personally I now think the KSC bus tour is depressing since we don't have a manned space program.

If you're taking a full day at KSC I highly recommend the extra charge bus that takes you to the air force museum and focuses on the Mercury and Gemini era.

 

[FigmentSpark]

We did KSC the day before our cruise. We stayed in Cocoa Beach (Sheraton Four Points), drove out there, did Fishlips for dinner and then on to the cruise the next morning. It works best if you have a car.

 

[Capitalangel]

As others have said we took a shuttle from the port to pick up a rental car then went to KSC, spent the night in a hotel, and then went to KSC the next day before flying out. We stayed at the Radisson Resort at the Port. I do not know if they have shuttles to the port or not but we found the staff very nice and the rooms were fine.

 

[Capt_BJ]

assuming you get to KSC early ... proceed directly to the tour bus loading area. If you go early you'll usually walk right on ... by the time you get back the queue will be LARGE/LONG. Don't be distracted by long queues at attractions you pass along the way ... folks fall prey to the 'stop at the first one' and 'there's a queue so we'd better join it'

 

[Lacoccinelle]

We used dollar rental and they were so easy. No crazy line in morning of cruise like budget. We arrived at 8am at MCO. Drove to near KENNEDY and got Subway before we entered. The drive was very easy. We spent the whole day there and could’ve gone back. Be sure to go out to the building and tour of grounds. Food options expensive and mediocre, not that subway is quality, but it was near there. Take water.

We stayed at the country inn and suites right by the port, about 20 minutes from Kennedy. Everything was easy. Florida Seafood In Cocoa beach was reasonably priced and fun for kids. They had a ballon person.

I dropped everyone off at port with luggage and went back and returned car. Took an Uber to port. Worth the $20 to not wait for shuttle.

 

[kpd6901]

Hi everyone. Looking for some thoughts and help. We have 3 boys, 15, 11, and 7, and all 3 have varying levels of positive interest in the subject matter at Kennedy Space center. We are disembarking and we have a hotel there near the area already booked. First, I think that we will rent a car and keep our luggage in it after disembarking (we would have DME from MCO to our WDW hotel, then in parks for 2 days, then take Uber XL from WDW to port prior to cruise). Our flight from MCO departs at 5:20 pm. So, the idea was that we get 2-day passes, since we will probably be there for 3/4 of a day after disembarking and then another 1/2 to 3/4 of a day before driving up to MCO.

We have a WDW resort stay prior to our cruise, so we have DME coming from MCO to our CaribBeach hotel. I am assuming (we've never done a DCL or ever rented a car in FL before, so ANY help or advice would be great!!) that we will need to return the rental car somewhere at MCO and then check our bags, yes? I assume that DME would NOT be an option, correct? This is our first trip where we had something different than DME-to-parks-and-back-via-DME. Thanks so much!

 

[bcwife76]

We did KSC the day before our cruise. We stayed in Cocoa Beach (Sheraton Four Points), drove out there, did Fishlips for dinner and then on to the cruise the next morning. It works best if you have a car.

This is pretty much our exact plan for before our Dream cruise next summer

 

[Mommb]

First, I think that we will rent a car and keep our luggage in it after disembarking (we would have DME from MCO to our WDW hotel, then in parks for 2 days, then take Uber XL from WDW to port prior to cruise). Our flight from MCO departs at 5:20 pm. So, the idea was that we get 2-day passes, since we will probably be there for 3/4 of a day after disembarking and then another 1/2 to 3/4 of a day before driving up to MCO.

I am assuming (we've never done a DCL or ever rented a car in FL before, so ANY help or advice would be great!!) that we will need to return the rental car somewhere at MCO and then check our bags, yes? I assume that DME would NOT be an option, correct? This is our first trip where we had something different than DME-to-parks-and-back-via-DME. Thanks so much!

This plan makes sense. You can’t take Disney transportation from Port Canaveral unless you are going directly to the Orlando airport or to Walt Disney World after the cruise.

You can easily take a rental car shuttle from the port, pick up a car, and drive to Kennedy Space Center. At Orlando International Airport, the rental car return is right across from the terminal.

We have rented from Budget at Port Canaveral and paid no additional fee to return the car at the Orlando airport; I think that’s possible with other car rental companies as well.

 

[kpd6901]

This plan makes sense. You can’t take Disney transportation from Port Canaveral unless you are going directly to the Orlando airport or to Walt Disney World after the cruise.

You can easily take a rental car shuttle from the port, pick up a car, and drive to Kennedy Space Center. At Orlando International Airport, the rental car return is right across from the terminal.

We have rented from Budget at Port Canaveral and paid no additional fee to return the car at the Orlando airport; I think that’s possible with other car rental companies as well.

Thank you. We are used to MDE and the 3hr rule, and this is our first time doing this return home on our own. So, given that we need to drop off rental car, check in with luggage, and then go through TSA, for our 5:20 flight, I assume that we should plan to arrive at MCO rental return no later than 3pm? Does that sound about right? Google maps lists a 45 minute drive from KSC to MCO, so round up to an hour, that means leaving KSC about 2pm. Since KSC opens at 9 am, that leaves us about 4.5-5 hours on flight day. Now the other question is about the day before - DCL disembarkation day. KSC will likely close at 6pm that day. Since we will be getting off the ship and getting our rental and then going straight to KSC, about what time should we expect to be there? It opens at 9,but I'm thinking that we might not get there till maybe 10? Or would the debarkation and rental process take longer? If we get there by 10 and KSC closes at 6, that would give us 8 hours on debarkation day and another 4.5-5 hours on flight day. To me, that would seem like enough without having to rush everything. Are there any suggestions for things that are a MUST do? Or even things that fill up super early where we might need/want to RD on flight day (assuming that debarkation day would not allow us to be there for RD)? This is our family's first time at KSC. I went once about 35 years ago, when I was about 5.
Thanks!

 

[littledebbie335]

Since we will be getting off the ship and getting our rental and then going straight to KSC, about what time should we expect to be there? It opens at 9,but I'm thinking that we might not get there till maybe 10? Or would the debarkation and rental process take longer?

We did KSC after disembarking, taking the shuttle to the rental car place, and renting a car. We had our car by 7:57 am (I always take a picture of our rentals in case of damage claims, and I still had that one on my phone with a timestamp!) and were at KSC right around the time they opened (possibly a little before). I remember having a fairly leisurely breakfast in the MDR, and while we didn't dawdle, we didn't rush to disembark, either.

 

[ahain]

We did KSC the day before our cruise. We stayed in Cocoa Beach (Sheraton Four Points), drove out there, did Fishlips for dinner and then on to the cruise the next morning. It works best if you have a car.

This is exactly what we did. I prefer to do the "busy stuff" before the cruise so we can relax on the ship and finish our vacation in "relaxed" mode. When we arrived at KSC, the car line-up for the entrance was REALLY long. We were there around 4-5 hours, and honestly didn't see it all. As PP suggested, we headed directly to the queue for the bus tour. (I'm guessing we waited maybe 1/2 hours in line). Glad we did, because the line got nothing but longer as the day progressed.

 

[kpd6901]

We did KSC after disembarking, taking the shuttle to the rental car place, and renting a car. We had our car by 7:57 am (I always take a picture of our rentals in case of damage claims, and I still had that one on my phone with a timestamp!) and were at KSC right around the time they opened (possibly a little before). I remember having a fairly leisurely breakfast in the MDR, and while we didn't dawdle, we didn't rush to disembark, either.

MDR??