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Shore excursion - ORLANDO (PORT CANAVERAL) - What to do ?


R.J.

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I have a 7 Night Perfect Day Bahamas Cruise in October this year on the Oasis of the Seas.

 

Day 3 is a stop in Orlando from 13:00 - 21:00

 

I used to live in Jacksonville, however I don't know much about things to do in Orlando that can be done on an afternoon day trip.

 

The shore excursions offered by RCI range between approx.. $50-85 per adult. There is myself, partner and two daughters 10 and 12.

 

Am I better off staying on the ship ?

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Normally I would suggest Kennedy Space Center as mentioned, but it seems like you have a later port stop.  I feel that KSC is best done as an all-day thing.  I don't know what their hours will be but arriving at the port at 1:00pm will likely get you to KSC 1:30-2:00pm with them closing around 6:00pm.

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1 hour ago, Pooch said:

when you only have 4 hours to begin with

But they have an 8-hour port stop.  They just arrive so late that they miss the entire morning and KSC usually closes around 6pm.  I'm not sure it's worth the admission price x4 to only get a half a day at KSC.  

It might be more cost effective to rent a car for the day and explore the Cape Canaveral/Cocoa/Melbourne area if you are really itching to get out and do something at this port.  It will keep you much closer than trekking all the way to Orlando.  The area has a lot of public parks and river/mangrove areas that you can find a kayaking tour-- some where you may be able to see manatees and dolphins up close.  You can drive out to Cocoa Village which is a quaint little shopping area.  One of the more touristy things to do is take a visit to Ron John Surf Shop up on Cocoa Beach.  You could spend a few hours at the beach even if you like.  There's also the Brevard Zoo up in Melbourne.

Otherwise stay on the ship and enjoy it.

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We enjoyed going to a nearby shopping area, I believe it is Cocoa Village or something like that -- took a bus from Ron Jon's, I think.  There are lots of gift shops, restaurants, art galleries, etc.  We have also just taken a bus to Cocoa Beach to enjoy the sand and water.

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

You should be able also to visit a new The Wizard of Oz museum in Cape Canaveral with kids. Hopefully they will be open in October, since they are waiting for pandemic to be over. It should be less than two miles ride from the port  on taxi or uber.

If interested to learn more  about it, visit their website 

https://www.wizardofozflorida.com/

 

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On 1/12/2021 at 6:15 PM, Pooch said:

Oops sorry, senior moment!! Yes 8 hours is a totally different story.  There’s a fabulous seafood restaurant right around the corner from the port- best fish tacos EVER!!  Gonna go google it & will add the name.

Its Grill’s!!!

Another great restaurant that we love is called Squid Lips waterside grill.  It's in Cocoa Beach (the south side of town)

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  • 1 year later...
On 5/6/2021 at 4:38 PM, coneyraven said:

Another great restaurant that we love is called Squid Lips waterside grill.  It's in Cocoa Beach (the south side of town)

coneyraven: We will be on the Anthem OTS in November doing the same itinerary. I look forward to hearing your take on this trip after you return. We have been to all of these ports over the years and we are pretty sure we know what we are doing in Nassau and Coco Cay is a no brainer but we are looking for suggestions on Port Canaveral. My brother lives in Melbourne and we have met him on past trips just not sure it will work with his schedule.  I have been reading that even though our scheduled time of arrival is 12:00 they have been getting there around 3:00PM. Not sure we will want to even get off the ship at that point.

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On 2/11/2021 at 11:10 AM, DTMCD said:

We did Magic Kingdom - the bus ride is about 1 hour - with your time in port the theme parks are 100% do-able, I would recommend though if you choose to-do any of the parks to wisely use fast passes, we did this and we only had 5 hours. 

 

Enjoy! ?

Did you do this trough the cruise ship excursion or on your own? We have an 8 hour stop next year and considering this. Nervous about having enough time. 

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On 7/15/2022 at 7:42 AM, Maegan said:

Did you do this trough the cruise ship excursion or on your own? We have an 8 hour stop next year and considering this. Nervous about having enough time. 

Honestly I wouldn't try this right now.  Fast passes don't exist anymore and the genie system is pretty bad.  Until Disney works out all the bugs, 8 hours with 2 hours of travel is just not feasible to be worth the high price of MK.

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