Good morning Port Canaveral! I sensed a change in movement on this morning and was up in time to watch us cruise in. We were the first ship to arrive shortly after 4:45 a.m. The Disney Wish arrived next around 5:30 a.m. That ship is quite spectacular all lit up at night. It docked right across from us so I got a great view of it spinning around to back in.
One thing we found really odd was the complete lack of information about disembarkation. Late in the cruise I remember seeing tags available to pick up at Guest Services but there never was any notice (that we saw) telling us to go looking for them so unless you were at Guest Services, you probably wouldn't have ever found them.
Then on every other cruise line we have sailed recently, you usually get a handout in your room at turndown your last night with information such as when your luggage has to be out, what time breakfast is in the morning, an estimated schedule for departure, how to handle your final bill, etc. We received absolutely nothing. If we weren't savvy cruisers, we may not have ever realized that we could have had the cruise line carry off our luggage for us or that we would be expected to be out of our rooms and off the ship pretty early. The lack of information on this one important part of a cruise felt very odd.
So before we went to bed the night before, we called Guest Services to ask about hours for breakfast and when they anticipated self-assist walk-offs would start.
We had one last breakfast at Hudson's which did not disappoint. On our way back to our room we stopped a crew member blocking off stairways to ask about where the gangway would be and whether they had started disembarkation yet. He was helpful and warned us a line had already started. We went back to our room to finalize packing, heard the announcement that the ship had been cleared, and headed down the forward stairs.
When we arrived at the atrium on deck 6, there definitely was a line that had already formed. What we didn't realize when we got in it though was that it was headed into the theater (which seemed odd at first), snaked through the entire theater before finally making it to the gangway. Fortunately, the line moved fast. I don't think we ever stopped walking all the way through customs (where facial recognition was used) and to the parking garage.
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| Instead of escalators or having to wait for an elevator, the cruise terminal had this really long switchback ramp which probably is a lot safer and more efficient than escalators when you consider all the luggage and those with mobility issues. |
We entered the line in the atrium around 7:30 a.m. and were already to our car before 8:00 a.m. Before 8:15 a.m., we were on the road.
We figured we had a few extra minutes before the Kennedy Space Center opened so we took a quick detour to Manatee Cove Park where we actually saw a manatee in the water not far from where we stood. There were also two beautiful male Anhingas drying their wings and a Great Blue Heron.
Then we were ready to start our space filled day! When looking at the details on the Kennedy Space Center that morning or the night before, we had noticed a reference to a launch with details about a bus being provided to a viewing site. So upon arriving at the Kennedy Space Center, while Paul waited in line to enter, I stopped in at Information to ask about it. The bus and viewing of the launch was fully covered by our admission price but was on a first come first serve basis and space limiteds so they recommended we catch a bus before 1:30 p.m. The launch was originally scheduled for 4:21 p.m. That gave us the morning to explore the center and then find lunch.
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| The Center was all decked out for Christmas! |
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| Rocket Garden |
We decided to start with the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit building.
There were two short video experiences (one of which had way too much motion for me) before the wall in the last theater opened up for a dramatic revealing of the original Atlantis. The Atlantis flew 33 missions and traveled 126 million miles. This was pretty cool!
There was a really nice memorial to the Fallen Heroes from the Challenger and the Columbia towards the end of this building.
After touring the Atlantis building, we walked through an outdoor memorial for all astronauts.
Our next stop was Gateway The Deep Space Launch Complex. Before actually touring the exhibits, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Space Bowl Bistro. The food was really good and allowed you to customize your own bowl of proteins, grains, veggies, and a sauce.
All the Christmas decorations around the complex were really nice.
Here is the Mars Rover.
By this point, we had seen all we really wanted to see at the main complex, found lunch, and wandered the world's largest space gift shop (where we each purchased a sweatshirt to stay warmer for the rest of the afternoon). So we headed to where the buses would take us to the Saturn V building which was next to the launch viewing site.
The Saturn V building reminded us so much of the Huntsville space center in how it was laid out. Each of the stages of Saturn V were displayed above you in this huge warehouse type exhibit.
We now had a little more than a half hour before they would open the gates to the launch viewing area and so we got in line. At 2:30 p.m. the gates opened and we managed to get a seat at the top row of the bleachers. This is when the wait began, a wait that would be longer than expected. Twice the launch would get pushed back and ultimately wouldn't go until the last minute of the launch window. The launch window was 87 minutes long and started at 4:21 p.m. The rocket actually launched about 5:48 p.m.
In the meantime, we enjoyed the moderate temperatures, the birds flying around, and got to know the people around us. Additionally, they did have a man providing commentary and updates along with some videos playing on a large screen which would also show the launch up close.
While we waited, Paul also went into the cafe of the Saturn V building to grab a light dinner for us, a kid's chicken tender basket and pepperoni pizza, both were quite good.
The launch on this day was from SLC-40. It was a SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch the SES O3b mPower mission (medium orbit satellites to reach portions of the world currently without internet coverage; O3b stands for the "other 3 billion" people without internet). This Falcon 9 had done seven other missions.
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| Double-crested Cormorants |
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| SLC-40 - the rocket is in the middle waiting for launch. |
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| Vehicle Assembly Building - this building is tall enough to fit a rocket. |
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| White Ibis |
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| SLC-39A - the launch site of the Starlink satellites that was also going to take place on this day but was rescheduled to the next day. |
After the launch, we were a bit concerned at how long it might take for the buses to get all the people back to the Space Center. We overheard a worker say there were about 1,300 people and that it was a light night (there were plenty of open seats in the bleachers). Fortunately, they have the bus system down to a science. The line was long but it never stopped moving. There was always an empty bus waiting once one filled up.
We were walking through the Space Center at night to head back to our car before 6:30 p.m. The space center was a neat atmosphere at night too, we enjoyed the Christmas music they played all day and the trees were quite spectacular at night.
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| Rocket Garden lit up at night |
Once, we left the Kennedy Space Center, we headed to our hotel to check in. This clearly is a very new hotel which sits right on the water and we would later learn actually has a great view of many of the launch sites. The entire hotel is very space themed with a star projector to use in your hotel room and a pair of binoculars to use during your stay.
When we arrived, we were ready to crash. It has been a long day!
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