Hotels at the port???

[Goofygirl]

For our next Cruise we plan on taking a towncar from Orlando airport to the port and spend the night before the cruise in one of the hotels nearby.
Has anyone experiences with hotels and their shuttles to the cruise ship?
Thanks in advance for any help!

[DisneyPam]

The Radisson is the closest hotel to the Port and I've read nothing but good reports about it over at the DIS cruise board.

[dvcreg]

We stayed at the Radisson in February. We had a later flight, rented a car and drove down. There's an Avis office right at the hotel.

We were very surprised at how nice the room was. I caught a special offer and we got a suite for $99.00. I didn't expect much for that price but it was gorgeous. We had a living room with a kitchenette, and there were two king beds in the bedroom, as well as a jacuzzi. It was meticulously clean.

We arrived in the evening. The next morning we opened the curtains and there were the cruise ships! :D

We kept the car and headed to Ron Jon's for some shopping. We then turned the car in and took the shuttle over to the ship. (For our return, we took the shuttle to the resort and picked up a rental car for the day.)

I highly recommend this hotel.

[Ursula]

I was just able to book the Radisson for $109 per night. Not as good as $99, but still a great price for a King Suite on a holiday.

I called the hotel reservation 800 number, was first quoted $139, asked if there were any specials because "that was more than I really had in mind" and lo and behold there was one for $109. This works so well especially since I have 6 people in my family.

I am glad to hear it is so nice. We will be staying Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week, then sailing on Saturday.

Ursula

[Goofygirl]

I´ve read in a tripreport that the shuttle to the cruise ships doesn´t go before 12:30 from the Radisson hotel.
Is that really true???
We need to be there earlier b/c they don´t send the cruise documents to a Disney resort anymore and we have to fill them out right at the check in. ´

[dvcreg]

That's not true about the shuttle. When we checked in, they asked us what time we'd like the shuttle. I can't remember the exact time that it started, but I know that it was before 12:00.

We had friends staying at the Radisson who try to be first in line to board the ship. They were able to get there early enough to do that.

There actually are two shuttle services, both Avis and Radisson. You can use either one irregardless if you rented a car or not.

[Goofygirl]

Thank you very much dvcreg!
I´m really glad it isn´t true what I´ve heard!