Cruise excursion to Disney from Port Canaveral worth it?

[deevku]

We're cruising on Royal Carribbean in December with a stop at Port Canaveral, and one of the options is a shore excursion to Disney. We'll only have about 6 hours there. Any experience or tips or advice are most welcome!

Is it worth going with such a short amount of time? How should we plan our 6 hours? Etc...thanks!

 

[theone74733]

I would say no. The ride from the coast to WDW is around a hour so you lose two hours right there. Also, I haven't taken a cruise in awhile, but I know some cruises have strict deadlines on getting back to the ship or else they will leave you behind. You would need to leave WDW early to give yourself enough time to get back before the ship leaves to account for traffic/accidents etc. I don't think you would get a whole lot done within that short time frame that would make it worth paying the one day park admission.

Is there going to be a shuttle provided dropping you from Port Canaveral to WDW that is affiliated with Royal Caribbean? It may be okay if you know that it is an event sponsored by the cruise line that will guarantee that you get back to the ship on time.

 

[jpeden]

If you don't mind sharing, how much is the cost of the excursion per person? If it's a ship-sponsored excursion then they will either wait for you if you're late or pay for you to meet the ship at the next port of call.

Also, is this part of a re-positioning cruise to Port Canaveral where you're continuing on the next leg? I've been cruising for a long time and I've rarely heard of a ship "stopping" at Port Canaveral (just curious). If the excursion left around 7AM and you got to MK when it opened and then had from say 9AM to 3PM and had to make sail-away by 4:30 it might be worth it depending on the price.

 

[Scrappygrrl]

Also, is this part of a re-positioning cruise to Port Canaveral where you're continuing on the next leg? I've been cruising for a long time and I've rarely heard of a ship "stopping" at Port Canaveral (just curious). If the excursion left around 7AM and you got to MK when it opened and then had from say 9AM to 3PM and had to make sail-away by 4:30 it might be worth it depending on the price.

NCL runs a ship every week I think, doing a Nyc-> Port Canaveral -> Bahamas -> NYC , Carnival may do a similar route as well. I assume that is what the OP is doing.
I would consider it if it a) was a cruise ship sponsored excursion so that they are responsible for getting you back in the event of delays and b0 if a was doing a smaller park like DHS or AK on a day that it is forecasted as a "recommended" park.

 

[subtchr]

Looking on the RC website, it looks as if it is $39 per person for transportation only, or $134 per person for transportation and park ticket (1 day/1 park).

I wouldn't do it for only 6 hours, but if you do want to, I'd buy the ticket ahead of time so that I could at least book some FP before arrival.

 

[LisaCM614]

I would go to Kennedy Space Center if they run an excursion - that is much closer and a really wonderful way to spend a day.

 

[jpeden]

Looking on the RC website, it looks as if it is $39 per person for transportation only, or $134 per person for transportation and park ticket (1 day/1 park).

I wouldn't do it for only 6 hours, but if you do want to, I'd buy the ticket ahead of time so that I could at least book some FP before arrival.

It looks like the total excursion is 9 hours, so you do get approximately six hours at Disney World. If you're going to MK it's not a bad deal since you do get $10 off the gate price of $105. Personally, I'd go for it if it's a slow day because six hours in MK is enough time to get almost everything we'd like to do done.

 

[d-train]

We cruised the Carnival Pride last summer and did the WDW excursion on July1. Carnival's price I think was 159. Although it was an expensive excursion for sure, we still had a day at MK, which was awesome. And we had our DS3 with us - his first time at MK, which was also priceless for DW and me. We got our tix when we boarded the bus in Canaveral, and immediately loaded them in MDE and made FP+ reservations. We got the ones we wanted without a problem. Also, I had made an ADR for CP months in advance (no tix required for that). We did 14 character meets, 9 rides, a parade, and a meal at CP, along with about 45 minutes of shopping time before getting on the monorail back to the TTC to catch the bus. We were the third to last group on the last bus at 4:15 - but we had till 4:30, and we waited past 4:30 for the last group... We arrived back at the ship late - but since it was a ship sponsored tour, it was not a big deal at all - by the time we got up to the stateroom, the ship was pulling away from the dock.

It was a great day, busy, exhausting, like any other WDW day of touring, and we had a great time. I would do it again for sure!

 

[IrishNYC]

Not worth it.

Also, is this part of a re-positioning cruise to Port Canaveral where you're continuing on the next leg? I've been cruising for a long time and I've rarely heard of a ship "stopping" at Port Canaveral (just curious). If the excursion left around 7AM and you got to MK when it opened and then had from say 9AM to 3PM and had to make sail-away by 4:30 it might be worth it depending on the price.

Many cruises departing from the northeast have port calls at PC.

 

[theone74733]

It looks like the total excursion is 9 hours, so you do get approximately six hours at Disney World. If you're going to MK it's not a bad deal since you do get $10 off the gate price of $105. Personally, I'd go for it if it's a slow day because six hours in MK is enough time to get almost everything we'd like to do done.

Ah yes. After looking at the link provided, the cruises that have a stop at Port Canaveral arrive at noon and leave at 9:30 pm. Maybe the OP was commenting at 6 hours including all transportation travel. However, the bus will drop you off at the TTC, which means you can't go to AK or DHS due to the extra monorail/bus trips you would make. Also, you would be going to WDW at peak times of day when it gets crowded.

With all things considered, it seems like too much trouble so I would recommend going to WDW when you have several days to stay. Even a couple of reviews on the Royal Caribbean website stated they didn't have too much time or didn't get to ride anything at WDW.

 

[IrishNYC]

I would go to Kennedy Space Center if they run an excursion - that is much closer and a really wonderful way to spend a day.

Yes! My mom did that excursion and said they were there all day and didn't see everything they could have. She really enjoyed it.