Oops, we did it again, on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend 2018, we drove to Port Canaveral for a day at the beach which resulted in passing Cruise Terminal 8 and the Disney Fantasy. I know, it sounds like torture, but you can have a great time if you can get past the part about not cruising.
Access to Jetty Park requires an entrance fee of $15. The fee is only $5, for Brevard County residents. Years ago, they offered passes for out of county residents. However, now only Brevard residents can purchase a pass. For those unfamiliar with Jetty Park, it is the area at the mouth of Port Canaveral where people lined up to watch the cruise ships leave the port. The park includes a fishing pier, campground, concession area, restrooms, a playground, and most importantly a nice beach. Jetty Park has a vendor on site renting chairs, umbrellas, and other beach accessories.
Visitors are more than welcome to bring your own food to the beach, but if that isn’t in the cards or you forget, there is a concession area operated by Fishlips. Fishlips is the restaurant along the channel where the extremely popular PortCanaveralWebcam.com is located.
Below is a video of the Disney Fantasy sailing out of Port Canaveral from our spot at Jetty Park on September 1, 2018. The horn was played while the ship was in the proximity of Fishlips and it didn’t sound very good on the video. So, I added all 7 of the Fantasy’s primary horns for the benefit of those watching. Additionally, the video is sped up as the full transit down the canal is about 15 minutes.
After a fantastic day at the beach and the sail away at Jetty Park. We met up with some friends for dinner at Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar located near Cruise Terminal 1. Grills has a great selection of seafood and offers a great view of the canal for watching ship departures.
On some days, you can sit out on the deck and see the stern of a Royal Caribbean ship berthed at CT1. Cruise Radio’s Doug Parker tweeted the following image of the Oasis of the Seas at CT1 from his view at Grills.
It’s amazing how big this ship is when you’re so close to it. @RoyalCaribbean Oasis is the Seas in Port Canaveral. #cruise pic.twitter.com/3oiK9epeKw
— Doug Parker | Cruise Radio (@CruiseRadio) September 9, 2018
On our way out, we spotted this cat who was enjoying copious amounts of seafood from guests seated on the deck watching the live band.
Fishlips tends to be the obligatory location to watch the ships sail away and traditionally that is where we have gone. I’m glad we went someplace new this time around. Don’t get me wrong, both are great spots for watching the ships and getting a bite to eat. Each restaurant has its own vibe. I will say, Fishlips is the place to go if you are also interested in watching a football game. Fishlips’ upstairs bar area has plenty of TVs versus Gills which just had a couple TVs.
All in all, I am glad we decided to spend the entire day at Jetty Park and finish with the cruise ships sailing away. Last time, we split our day between Cocoa Beach and Jetty Park, but this time it was much more enjoyable not having to pack up and drive over to the port.
If you are staying in the port area before or after a cruise, I highly recommend checking out Jetty Park. The location easily allows you to spend some time at the beach and places you in a prime spot to watch the cruise ships leave Port Canaveral.
Let me know if you have any questions about watching the cruise ships sail from Port Canaveral.
we have stayed at cocoa beach twice before our cruise. surfing lessons are wild. we liked staying at the bestwestern by the pier. I do agree fishlips is a great place to watch and eat oysters.
We love doing the Sailaway Picnics. We’re in San Diego and on Sundays when the Wonder is departing we head down to Shelter Island and watch and have a picnic. First Sunday departure of the Fall is next week.