Cruises from Port Canaveral: Orlando's Cruise Port

Sailing from Orlando (Port Canaveral): what to know

Port Canaveral built its identity around one idea: the family megatrip. Disney Cruise Line homeports its Florida fleet here, Royal Caribbean parks some of its biggest ships in the terminal next door, and Carnival, MSC, and Norwegian fill out a calendar heavy on 3-, 4-, and 7-night Bahamas and Caribbean routes, most of them calling at the lines' private islands, where the beach day is engineered to theme-park standards.

The port's superpower is the combo week: four days of Disney World or Universal, then a 3-night Bahamas cruise to recover from the parks, one packing job, two vacations. The port sits about an hour east of Orlando's airport and attractions, with shuttles and car services running the corridor constantly. It's also a genuine drive-market port, half the Southeast can reach it on one tank, and parking logistics are gentler than Miami's.

Honest guidance: Disney sails at a real premium, often 40 to 80 percent over a comparable Royal Caribbean week, and whether it's worth it depends entirely on the ages at your table and how much the characters matter. That's a conversation, not a search result. Courtney prices both sides of it weekly, knows which ships have the best kids' clubs by age band, and builds the park-plus-cruise combo (including the room block if the grandparents come) at no cost to you, the lines and parks pay her.