Have you booked a cruise leaving from Port Canaveral? Do you need a reputable place to park your car? 

Our last cruise left from Port Canaveral. We decided to drive and stay in Cocoa Beach the night before. (You can see our reviews of that by clicking this link.) Which meant we would need a place to leave our car. Just knowing I have to find a place to leave my car for an entire week flooded my mind with questions.   Where is the best place to park? What is the cost? How does that compare to other locations? Is it safe? How close to the port is the parking located? Do they offer shuttle service to the port? Do they handle your bags? Is the parking covered or open? Will they pick you when you disembark the ship? 

After researching our options, we chose to park at Park Port Canaveral.  

Where is the lot located?

When looking online, checking maps and determining the proximity to the cruise terminal can be difficult.  There are often obstacles or issues that are not discernable by looking at an aerial map. With Park Port Canaveral, we did not have any issues finding them or getting to their parking lot. 

Photo credit: parkportcanaveral.com

They are located on highway A1A. (Their address is Thurm Blvd, but their property and signage front on the Highway) It was only around a 5-minute ride to the port. Another easy way to find this location is the “Radisson Resort at the Port”.  The parking lot for Park Port Canaveral adjoins this resort.  

How much does it cost? 

We prepaid our parking for this 7-day cruise.  Their website had a special that allowed us to park for less than $75.  I would recommend prepaying your parking as this usually allows you a better price and speeds up the process when you arrive.  When we pulled into the parking lot, there was a security checkpoint where they verified the reservation and gave a ticket to leave on the dash of the car. 

What is the parking process?

After you check in with the tenant at the security checkpoint, look for the white tents set up in the parking lot.  This is the bag drop off area. They have some seating, and the tents provide some relief from the sun or rain because in Florida it could be either at any point.  Once your bags and passengers are unloaded, it is time to park.

Parking here is self-park in an uncovered, paved lot. You drive around until you find a parking spot, then walk back to the tents.  There were no parking locations that I would have considered a great distance from the drop off area.

One tip we found helpful was to take a picture of where you parked to help you find your car when you return.  After a 7 day cruise, it can be difficult to remember where exactly you left your vehicle.   

How did we get to the port?

Shuttle provided by Cocoa Beach express

The buses used by Park Port Canaveral are not very large, which we enjoyed.  Your luggage is handled by the personnel and loaded in either the bus (the bus we rode over had luggage racks built inside the bus) or in a trailer pulled behind the bus.  The max these buses would hold was around 30 people.

Once you arrive at the port, your luggage is handed over to the cruise personnel and delivered to your room later in the evening.  You just need to make sure you have tagged your luggage with the printable tags emailed to you by the cruise line. If you skip this step, the cruise line would have no way to know what stateroom your luggage needs to be delivered to. Therefore, you are going to have to take the time to tag your luggage on the sidewalk. 

Our ride over was great!  We were dropped off at the baggage drop location, right beside the entrance to the cruise terminal.  The driver gave us directions to the pick-up location which was one pavilion over from the drop off location.  

How did we get back to our car?

Pick-up was not as smooth. Due to a fishing tournament launching at the same time we were to be picked up,  the buses could not get to the terminal. There was a long line of passengers waiting to be picked up after departing the ship. Two staff members were directing Park Port Canaveral customers on where to wait. They kept us updated the whole time and sent five buses at one time to pick up the crowd.  We were loaded quickly once they were able to arrive.  

What is our opinion of Park Port Canaveral? 

Overall, this was a great place to park.  The staff was friendly, helpful, and even apologetic for the wait to be picked up.  Their location was great, and the cost was affordable. I especially liked parking my car and keeping my keys with me throughout the week.  This gave us a sense of peace that no one would be in our vehicle or driving it around while we were gone. We will use this business again the next time we cruise out of Port Canaveral.  

Have you ever parked at Park Port Canaveral?  Leave a comment and let us know about your experience.