Biff215 Posted December 16, 2023 Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 Hi everyone, debating on what to do here. We’re flying into Orlando two days before a weekend cruise on Allure. Here are our options for transportation that would cost about the same for a family of four. 1. Rent a car from MCO ($125) and return it there before taking Go Port shuttle roundtrip ($240). 2. Rent a car for the entire trip ($300) and park it at Port Canaveral ($68). The only other option is renting a car at MCO and returning it near the port, but that ends up costing well over $400. I thought I was settled on option 2 since we would have the most control (no shuttles) but now I’m hearing nightmare stories about the parking situation at Terminal 1, particularly for Allure since it’s attracting more locals. What would you do? Thanks in advance! PPPJJ-GCVAB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loki007 Posted December 16, 2023 Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 I would and have chosen option #2. I have parked at terminal 1 many times and never had an issue. What time is your boarding? Get there before noon and there will be no issues parking. Cactus527, Biff215 and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biff215 Posted December 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 7 minutes ago, loki007 said: I would and have chosen option #2. I have parked at terminal 1 many times and never had an issue. What time is your boarding? Get there before noon and there will be no issues parking. Thanks. We got 10:30 and plan to be there nice and early. I’m just hearing about long waits for parking with a huge ship like Allure doing a short cruise, plus Wonder going out of there too adding even more cars. Since both cost about the same, I’m just looking for convenience getting to and from the ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted December 16, 2023 Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 I flew into Daytona Beach (DAB) for Wonder in October. I rented a car to get from DAB to Cape Canaveral, dropped it off, they shuttled us to the port for free. We flew out of MCO, and on the way to the airport we used Go Port. I bring this up because you do have the option of renting and taking a shuttle one way each. We used Avis in this instance. Biff215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biff215 Posted December 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 16 minutes ago, Lucky said: I flew into Daytona Beach (DAB) for Wonder in October. I rented a car to get from DAB to Cape Canaveral, dropped it off, they shuttled us to the port for free. We flew out of MCO, and on the way to the airport we used Go Port. I bring this up because you do have the option of renting and taking a shuttle one way each. We used Avis in this instance. Thanks. If you mean renting at MCO and dropping off at the port, I did mention that but it’s almost $100 more total that way. They’re really upcharging the dropping off at a different location from where you pick up, it’s almost $200 more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted December 16, 2023 Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 52 minutes ago, Biff215 said: I’m just hearing about long waits for parking with a huge ship like Allure doing a short cruise, plus Wonder going out of there too adding even more cars. No waits at all for me and I even parked on Allure's first trip out of PC when both Wonder and Indy had passengers already parked and neither ship was disembarking. The added surface lots provide TONS of extra parking. If you get there in the 9:30-10:00 range you should have no problem parking in the garage... taking the spot of someone who just got off Allure. Biff215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted December 16, 2023 Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 What car company? I've done the one way with Enterprise and the price is rarely that much more expensive than a round trip. Qeyton Dude and kimberlyelayne 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftycruiselady Posted December 16, 2023 Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 The nightmare is true since the construction started on the new garages a few days ago. But it also matters how many ships are in port. If you are on a 6 ship day, it will be ten times worse than a 3 ship day. I personally would be a little ticked to pay full garage price and be stuck out in a surface lot. I would get there early enough to grab a spot s someone is leaving but not so early that not enough people have left yet and you should be fine. Have you considered another option, uber to a hotel very close to the port with a shuttle? Will probably be cheaper but yes, you do lose a little control because you are waiting for shuttles and it is most likely cheaper? Unless you were staying really cheap or free on your two days and then maybe not. Biff215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biff215 Posted December 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 15 minutes ago, smokeybandit said: What car company? I've done the one way with Enterprise and the price is rarely that much more expensive than a round trip. I check Costco daily and it compares Alamo, Avis, Budget, and Enterprise. It hasn't dropped below $300 for the two days, compared to $125 if I pick up and return at MCO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biff215 Posted December 16, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2023 21 minutes ago, craftycruiselady said: The nightmare is true since the construction started on the new garages a few days ago. But it also matters how many ships are in port. If you are on a 6 ship day, it will be ten times worse than a 3 ship day. I personally would be a little ticked to pay full garage price and be stuck out in a surface lot. I would get there early enough to grab a spot s someone is leaving but not so early that not enough people have left yet and you should be fine. Have you considered another option, uber to a hotel very close to the port with a shuttle? Will probably be cheaper but yes, you do lose a little control because you are waiting for shuttles and it is most likely cheaper? Unless you were staying really cheap or free on your two days and then maybe not. Thanks for that info. Looks like 4 ships in port that day. We're staying in Disney on DVC points so no need for a hotel either night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepy425 Posted December 17, 2023 Report Share Posted December 17, 2023 11 hours ago, Biff215 said: Thanks for that info. Looks like 4 ships in port that day. We're staying in Disney on DVC points so no need for a hotel either night. We are DVC and do Disney often. I'd Uber to Disney, then Uber to the port. We are the family that prefers not to have a car in Disney, we don't mind their transportation. And when I'm just done at the end of the night, or need to get to dining at a different resort and don't want to wait for their transportation, an Uber or Lyft is cheap enough that I just pay it. Next week we are flying into MCO and ended up booking a ride service for $440 round trip. I gave in and did that because there are 7 of us on the way there and 9 on the way back, so I didn't want to waste time worrying about fitting all the luggage for a ten day vacation and getting multiple Ubers. Biff215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike n Ky Posted December 17, 2023 Report Share Posted December 17, 2023 In April we took an XL Uber and with tip spent about $100 to get to the port. Since there was only two of us we took Goport back to the airport. Biff215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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