We flew into Orlando airport and picked up a one way rental from Dollar at the terminal. It was $48 total for 24 hours, including $19 one way fee and taxes, plus $6 fillup upon return for a fullsize that was upgraded to a minivan for free. We had signed up for the free Express rental card, so we just walked over to the parking terminal and saw our name on a board which shows what parking spot your car is in. Jump in and drive off easy! They provide a free shuttle to the cruise ship from the Port Canaveral location, so you can't beat the price for transport of 3 people from Orlando airport to the Port Canaveral cruise terminal. We also do this same thing when sailing from Tampa.

We drove 40 minutes to Port Canaveral for our overnight stay in the Wakulla Suites on the main drag A1A, about 2 miles from the terminal. It was 2 blocks from the Ron Jon store and near CVS, Walgreens, Publix, and lots of "outlet" beach shops. This 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen came free from our travel agent. It is a very dated place but was clean. Good luck finding a parking space. The free wi-fi didn't work that night, and calling the main desk did nothing to get it fixed, but was working the next morning. Also our Sprint phones got NO signal for voice or data while in the room. The property has its own entry to the beach and has a nice courtyard with grills spread around. And did it make us hungry with so many people using them.

We went to a cruise critic meet and greet at Fishlips restaurant across from the terminal. Really good food. Four other families showed up for a total of about 15 people...very nice dinner. My son found a friend to hang out with for the whole cruise. We stopped at a Walmart on Merritt Island that was about 2 miles away to pick up some stuff. We left the hotel around 11am the next morning and stopped at a beach shop and CVS for more stuff. The Dollar rental place was halfway to the terminal also on A1A. We returned the car and waited about 15 minutes for the free shuttle to the terminal. And here we met the first of many long lines. Every shuttle from rental agencies, hotels, private shuttles, park and rides, and taxis have to wait in line to unload people. We waited 45 min to get to the unload spot. Porters took the bags and we walked across the street into the terminal. Read more