Port Canaveral cruise planner: 7 terminals, parking and transfers

Which terminal is your ship using?

Port Canaveral has 7 cruise terminals, split between the north and south sides of the harbor. The port's 2026 terminal map labels 6 of them with ship names, shown in the table above. Use it as a starting point, not a guarantee. The port says its master schedule is subject to change and that you should confirm your terminal with your cruise line's instructions for your sailing.

The map and the dated schedule do not always agree. Celebrity Apex and Disney Wish are labelled at one terminal on the map but listed at another for some November 2026 sailings in the port's schedule. 11 ships on the map carry a "coming soon" label, and the map gives no dates for them. If your ship is one of them, rely on the line's documents.

North side and south side terminals have different street addresses, so set your navigation to your terminal's address rather than to "Port Canaveral". Each address in the table links to the port's directions page.

Parking at the port

The port runs garages and surface lots beside the terminals, so there is no shuttle to catch. Parking costs $20 per calendar day plus tax, and the port counts both the day you arrive and the day you return. A 7-night cruise therefore means 8 days, or $160 before tax. RVs pay the same daily rate. You pay on entry by card: American Express, Visa, Mastercard or Discover. Cash is not accepted, and the port does not take reservations.

Parking opens no earlier than 10:00 on the day you sail. The port's guidance is to follow the boarding time your cruise line assigns.

The port waives the parking fee for vehicles transporting certain people with disabilities, where the vehicle meets one of three conditions: it has special equipment such as a ramp, lift or hand controls; it shows a Florida Toll Exemption Permit; or it has a qualifying Florida Disabled Veteran plate. The port says it grants no waivers for any other reason, so a disabled parking placard on its own does not qualify. Disabled spaces are available, and you can drop off passengers and bags at the terminal before parking, with porters to take luggage.

Getting there from Orlando airports

Orlando International (MCO) is the closer of the two Orlando airports by drive time. It is about 45 miles from the port, and the port estimates around 45 minutes by car, while Royal Caribbean's guide says 45 to 60 minutes. The route is SR 528 east, a toll road, so budget for tolls if you rent a car. Orlando Sanford (SFB) has longer published driving-time estimates: 60 and 65 minutes, via SR 417 and SR 528, both tolled.

From the airport you can book a cruise line transfer where your line offers one, a private or shared shuttle, a rideshare, or a rental car whose company runs a shuttle to the port. We did not find fixed fares for any of these on the port pages we checked. As an example of cruise line rules, Carnival's transfer between MCO and the port runs only on embarkation and debarkation days, must be bought at least 2 days before you sail, and needs your inbound flight to land at MCO by noon. For the trip home, the same MCO transfer needs a flight departing no earlier than 12:50 p.m.

Brightline trains do not run to the port. The nearest Brightline station is at Orlando International, so you would still need a car or shuttle for the last leg. A local bus, Space Coast Area Transit route 9, runs in Cape Canaveral, but we could not confirm that it stops at the cruise terminals, so do not count on it with luggage.

Staying the night before

A hotel near the port the night before takes the pressure off a morning flight or a long drive. Some hotels offer a shuttle to the port; the port's advice is to ask the hotel directly about availability and times. Park-and-cruise packages, where you stay one night and leave your car at the hotel during the cruise, are offered by some hotels. As one example, the Hampton Inn and Suites Cape Canaveral Cruise Port advertises a "Park, Stay and Go" offer covering parking for up to 7 nights with a one-night stay, one vehicle per room, with its shuttle for registered guests only. Confirm the port shuttle when you book, because the offer does not promise one.

How early to arrive

There is no single check-in time for the whole port. Each line gives you a boarding window, and that is what to plan around. MSC, for example, says to arrive no later than 3 hours before departure and that check-in closes 2 hours before. The drive-time estimates on this page are not enough to judge whether a same-day flight leaves enough time; if you are considering one, check your line's own flight and transfer requirements for your sailing. Put the parking, hotel and transfer costs into our cruise cost calculator to estimate the total, and check your ship's inspection record while you are planning.