AARGH! Ground Transportation

[sk8ingmom]

I can't be the only person with these issues! What has worked for you?

We are booked on the 3/14/04 4-night Wonder cruise (YAY!!). We will be flying to Orlando & spending 2 nights before cruise and 2 nights after cruise at the Port Canaveral Radisson (I think, not booked yet). The dilemma is: should we rent a car for the week - leave it parked at the Radisson for 4 days unused? Rent a car for 2 days, turn it in and get another car for 2 days (cheaper if it can be done conveniently)? Is the resort close enough to the beach and resaurants to be 'carless' in Port Canaveral? In which case we would probably go for a car service.

This is all compounded by the fact that I have 2 DS in booster-type car seats ($8 a day each from car rental agencies!). I had planned to bring theirs from home-they can sit in them on the plane, but then WHAT do I do with them (the car seats, not the DSs!) on the cruise?? They don't stow very easily (the car seats OR the DSs!!)

Any suggestions????

 

[my3kids]

The Radissson is a fine place to stay the night before a cruise. I wouldn't really think it is a 2 night place, and definitely not a 4 night place. It is just a hotel on a busy road, not in a particularly pretty and definately not in a vacation type of location. If you want to stay at Cocoa Beach for a vacation, there would be much better choices, in my opinion.

There is storage on the ship under the beds and in the closet. Not tons, but boosters would probably fit. I think keeping the car is a good idea though. I loved parking at the port, even though it costs $10 per day, because we walked off the ship, into the car and were on our way...not waiting for shuttles or worrying about pick up schedules.

Again, just my opinion on the Radisson. You'll probably get a lot of varied ones.

 

[sk8ingmom]

Thanks for your thoughts on the Radisson. I would LOVE to stay somewhere on Cocoa Beach BUT...DH and I both work at universities, so I know we are traveling during a prime spring break week. I'm al little concerned about my happy little family of 4 getting stuck staying in spring break central! Any thoughts?

 

[ReadyForDisney2003]

I would not stay at that Radisson for as long as you are talking. I would go closer to the beach or stay at Disney.

If your DSs are out of the 5-point harness, you cannot use the booster on the plane. I would bring your own boosters and just stow them under the bed or in the closet. We had 2 low back boosters that worked fine. In fact, I had to buy another one just for the trip -- for $16 at Target it was a deal. You can check these through as baggage on the plane and keep them in your room.

Keep the car. Find a closer hotel to the beach and bring your own boosters! You will have a great time.

 

[Little Twin Stars]

Hi sk8ingmom,

We are also going on March 14, 04!

We have 2 kids: 4 and 7. We will also each of them a boster seat and will put them back to our suitcase after use as they are not really big.

We would most likely reserve a room near the airport the day before the cruise.

We have booked for Cat 11. What about you?

 

[tonyg]

I just returned from the 7 day West Carib cruise (absolutely great, btw). In answer to your car rental question - here's what we did:

We rented a car from Budget at the Airport for 1 day. We stayed one night at CBR, then drove to Port Canaveral (a very easy, direct drive) and left the car at the Budget located there. Total cost for this was less than 50 dollars.
On the way home from the cruise, a shuttle picked us up (eventually) and took us back to Budget- rented it for TWO days (since we were leaving the following evening) and the total was less than 150.We drove it directly back to the airport the following night. Definitely worth it for us because we had a few stops to make and needed the freedom of a car.
I would suggeset this over leaving a rental car there all week without using it, unless you can get a great deal for the week. That way you don't worry about the car all week long.

Only problem with Budget was service was a BIT slow -- but it all worked out great in the end. A couple of other providers are available as well.
Hope that helps.

 

[sk8ingmom]

Our original plan was to stay at Disney (SOG - we still have the res.) before and after the cruise, but DH is military & we couldn't pass up the specials and free-bees they were running this summer, so we drove down from CT in June to do the WDW part of our trip! It was like 2 trips for the price of 1. We would like to spend a few days at the beach/pool before and after the cruise, but I'm concerned about ending up with 200 college students in a hotel.

Little Twin Stars -
We are also Cat 11. 6th deck. Are your kids boys or girls?

tonyg -
Thanks for the Budget info, I'll check them out.

 

[Little Twin Stars]

Hi sk8ingmom

My kids are 4 and 7.

We don't know which stateroom we are assigned yet as we booked it thru a TA.

What about yours?

When is your dinner seating?