Introduction
Cape Canaveral is positioned on the Atlantic coastline of Florida, roughly halfway between Miami and Jacksonville, approximately forty-five miles to the east of Orlando. Bounding the city to the east is the Banana River, to the west is the Atlantic Ocean, on the south side is Cocoa Beach and to the north is Port Canaveral.
From early days this treacherous section of the shoreline was well-known to sailors, who called the peninsula Cape Canaveral. The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse was constructed in 1843 to make the coast safer for shipping.
The little fishing and farming settlement of Artesia grew up to the south of the Cape in the early years of the twentieth century.
To the south of Artesia the little township of Avon-by-the-Sea, with streets named after a series of famous presidents, was established by a group of speculators.
In WWII two naval air bases were constructed on Florida’s barrier islands, one was positioned at the Cape. In the late years of the 1940s the USAF chose the Cape as a space base, as rockets could be launched over the Atlantic ocean without danger.
Avon-by-the-Sea and Artesia were swamped by facilities constructed for the workforce of the space center, and the city of Cape Canaveral came into being.
The Cape Canaveral base needed a way of retrieving first stage rocket motors from the ocean, and Port Canaveral was constructed and officially named in 1953.
In the 1970s Port Canaveral was a well-situated port-of-call for cruise ships whose passengers were enthusiastic to visit the wild rides at the theme parks of central Florida.
Premier Cruises and Carnival Cruises based ships at Port Canaveral, running trips to Nassau from newly opened cruise facilities.
The 1990s were a period of fast growth for the cruise port, with the building of cruise terminals 5, 8, and 10. Disney cruises commenced operations from the port.
Today over a million people leave on their cruise trip from Port Canaveral every year. Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean have been added to the list of cruise companies running cruises from the port.
Take A Tour Around Port Canaveral
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
The Kennedy Space Center is the heart of NASA’s activities and served as the launch site for those famous landing on the moon missions. Though today it’s future may be in doubt as the shuttle program closes. At the Center you can undergo the Shuttle Launch Experience, discover all about the future of space exploration at the Exploration Space show, see a space movie at the IMAX center and go to the LC39 Observation Gantry and the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The Space Center is about 10 miles north from Port Canaveral.
Astronaut Hall of Fame
The US Astronaut Hall of Fame spotlights US astronauts. View intriguing collection including the Science On A Sphere exhibition, the Sigma 7 Mercury rocket, an astronaut training simulator and space suits. The Hall of Fame is around 4 miles west of the Space Center.
Cocoa Beach Pier
Constructed in 1962 Cocoa Beach Pier is amongst the best-known landmarks on Florida’s Space coast. The pier boasts souvenir shops, 5 restaurants, frequent live musical entertainment and 4 bars. The beach by the pier offers showers, restrooms, all year lifeguards and beach-hire concessions. Cocoa Beach is sited around 3 miles southwards from Port Canaveral.
Available Cruises
Sample itinerarys comprise the Eastern Caribbean (St Maarten, San Juan and St Thomas), the Western Caribbean (Belize, Roatan, Grand Cayman and Cozumel), or the Bahamas (Nassau and Freeport). More extensive cruises are also on offer, examples would be transatlantic cruises to Europe.
See cruises from Port Canaveral for detailed cruise departure information.
Cruise Ship Terminals
Port Canaveral has six cruise terminals, but only 3 are regularly used for multi-day cruise ships. They are terminals 5, 8 and 10 which are sited on the north west shore of the port. Terminal 2 hosts a casino cruise ship. Terminals 3 and 4 are not utilized often.
A Side (North) Terminals 5, 8 and 10
Cruise terminal buildings 5, 8 and 10 are situated on the A or north east side, by Charles M Rowland Drive. These modern terminals possess larger docks able to berth the biggest cruise ships, and all 3 can cope with more than 3000 cruises.
Cruise Terminal 5 is an attractive triangular shaped complex, with a thirty foot high glass reception area resplendent with tropical plants and cascading waterfalls. Embarking cruisers are handled on the top floor, debarking cruisers on the bottom.
Cruise Terminal 8 was constructed for Disney Cruise Line, and is an eye-catching art-nouveau style building with an impressive 80 foot high glass foyer.
Cruise Terminal 10 features a fast passenger loading/unloading arrangement, with completely automated baggage processing.
Each terminal building has the necessary services such as pay phones, restrooms, cab rank, vending machines, check-in desks and ATMs. Beside each terminal there’s a parking lot
Currently plans are in progress for the construction of a new cruise terminal, numbered 6, for the use of Carnival cruises.Getting To The Port From The Airport
Orlando International Airport
Orlando International Airport, located in the south eastern outskirts of Orlando, is around 45 minutes drive west of Port Canaveral. Travel from the airport is possible by shuttle bus or cab.
Melbourne International Airport
Melbourne International Airport is about 40 minutes drive south of Port Canaveral. Travel from the airport is possible by taxicab or shuttle.