Port Canaveral Cruise Terminal

What to Know Before You Go

The first things that come to mind that you need to know about Port Canaveral cruise terminal and the cruise ships themselves are the basics: passports, ships' departure and arrival days, parking, boarding times, when you disembark, customs and transportation from Port Canaveral. What you need to do at the cruise terminal is important to know BEFORE you book a Port Canaveral Hotel, flights and transportation, and before you leave the house.

Port Canaveral Parking Fees

Even parking can have an affect on your choice hotel and transportation reservations. If you don't like the parking fees at the cruise terminal, you'll probably choose a Park and Cruise hotel. Otherwise you'll be paying $15.00 per day at the terminal.

Departure & Arrival Days

The actual days of the week your cruise ship departs from and arrives back at Port Canaveral are important to know, especially for those on 7-night cruises. All the related hotel, flight and transportation reservations like car rental reservations you make start getting mixed up as about one out of ten of you will find out if you don't take my advice. I know it seems silly, but just double check the cruise ship schedules.

Boarding / Disembarking Times

Boarding times vary according to priority, weddings and how fast the ship off-loaded the previous passengers. If you are getting married on board, you and your wedding party need to board the cruise ship by 10:30 AM. Just because your cruise itinerary says you arrive back in port around 7:00 AM (actually, it's usually earlier) doesn't mean you're back on dry land. It could be as late as 10:00 AM before you disembark the cruise ship.

Legal Documents

Passports are mostly forgotten by U.S. residents and resident aliens need proof of legal U.S. residency. See the upper right margin of this page.

U.S. Customs

Then there's customs, which if you turned in your luggage the night before, it should be through customs by the time you disembark the ship. If you need to get off the ship early, don't turn in your luggage the night before. Take your luggage through customs yourself, and you should be through around 8:00 AM.

How This Affects All Your Other Reservations

Now you have to get back home or to a hotel. If it's home, you probably have a flight to catch and it will probably be at least an hour before you get to the airport after you disembark, so don't forget that and the hour-and-a-half preflight check-in. I don't recommend return flights before 12:30 PM. If you're going to a hotel, remember check-out time at most Port Canaveral hotels is 11:00 AM or 12:00 noon and your room may still need to be cleaned. That's why most hotels don't guarantee check-in until 3:00 PM at the earliest.