In the following hotel review, we’ll give you a tour of The Resort on Cocoa Beach, and let you know whether or not we think this is place to consider for a pre-/post-cruise stay with your family. The Resort on Cocoa Beach Resort is 7-miles from Disney Cruise Line’s terminal at Port Canaveral and features plenty of parking and direct beach access.
The Resort on Cocoa Beach is a short 20-minutes drive south of Disney Cruise Line’s terminal at Port Canaveral on North Atlantic Avenue and just about a mile away from the Cocoa Beach Pier. Upon arrival, we pulled into the drop off circle while we checked-in, and unloaded our luggage onto available luggage carts. The Resort is set back off the main road with the parking lot, basketball and tennis court, and pool in front placing the room closer to the beach.
The lobby is bright and welcoming with friendly employees staged at the desk.
The Resort on Cocoa Beach offers spacious two-bedroom condos with accommodation for up to six people. All units feature a full size kitchen, washer/dryer and televisions in the living area and bedrooms. The units have tile in main rooms and bathrooms with carpet in the bedrooms. This is great given the proximity to the beach and try as we all might, sand inevitably follows you back to the room after spending time at the beach.
The main living area is an open concept shared with the kitchen and eating area, a sliding door offers plenty of natural light and fresh air during the cooler and less humid Florida months.
The kitchen is equipped with basic appliances to cook, or at the very least heat up some leftovers and make a quick breakfast.
The kitchen is well stocked with everything you’d need to prepare a standard meal.
The master bedroom is very spacious with a walk-in closet. There is a safe in the closet to further secure valuables during your stay.
The on-suite master bathroom features a jacuzzi tub and a separate shower. According to The Resort’s website, there is a bathroom tub and shower renovation project scheduled for September 2020. Similar to the cruise line, a hair dryer is included in the bathroom.
Across the hall from the master is the second bedroom with twin beds, closet, dresser, bedside table, and a television.
Back outside the bedrooms is the shared bathroom that is similar to the master without a bathtub.
In the entry hall there is a stacked washing machine and dryer. A mechanical closet sits between the laundry closet and the kitchen pantry. If you choose to stay here post-cruise, this is a great alternative to washing clothes onboard.
Our room’s balcony view faced the neighboring property, but still offered a view of the Atlantic Ocean where we could watch the cruise ships sail by after departing Port Canaveral.
The beach access is just a short walk down a boardwalk from the main building. Various rentals are available such as lounge chairs and umbrellas at daily and weekly rates. Surfboards, bodyboards, and paddleboards are also available to rent by the day. Rental prices during our stay are presented below and are subject to change at any time.
rentals
- Lounge Chair with Cushion – 10.00/daily
- Umbrella – 10.00/daily
- 2 Lounge Chairs, Cushions & 1 Umbrella:
- Daily – 25.00/daily
- Weekly – 150.00/weekly
- Surfboard – 20.00/daily
- Bodyboard – 5.00/daily
- Paddleboard – 40.00/daily
On the evening of our check in, we headed down to the beach in time to see the Disney Dream sail away on a 3-Night Bahamian cruise after leaving Port Canaveral.
The pool sits in front of the resort which has a built in advantage. The pool is protected from the ocean breeze making it a nice area to hang out when the wind is blowing onshore. However, it does make it inconvenient for guests who would like to bounce back and forth between the ocean and the pool. We didn’t find this to be an issue, but it is worth pointing out if this is important criteria when search for a place to stay on the beach.
The covered parking area is dual use as the roof is where you will find the hot tub as well as basketball and tennis courts.
Inside the resort, you will find a fitness center complete with sauna.
Depending on your length of stay, you can take in a screening in the movie theatre. From the looks of the schedule, the films change monthly.
There is an onsite restaurant open to the public, Azteca 2 Mexican. A menu was available in our room to place a carry out order. Due to our schedule, we had plans to meet friend for dinner both nights elsewhere. However, I did come close to ordering lunch while I was watching college football games until I remembered we had leftovers from the previous night.
I know a lot of you love to unplug when cruising; it is really a refreshing break from the real world. However, if you are in the “I need internet access” camp for one reason or another, the resort does offer complimentary WiFi. During our stay, the WiFi was hit and miss, but they did mention during check in they were working on it as they recently installed a new system. It was the weekend following Thanksgiving, so I didn’t expect much technical support, but it was eventually up and running by 10pm on the night we checked in. However, I found it more reliable to tether to my cell phone. I am still going to give them the benefit of the doubt since it was a known issue at the time. Below are a couple speed test results with pings of 60ms and 27ms, for comparison, 2ms is the ping I get at home.
The Resort at Cocoa Beach offers a schedule of activities, most are included while others are available at an additional fee. We stayed over a weekend, checking in after the last activity on Friday, so we did not get to experience any of the offerings listed during the week. You will notice there is a RCI vacation session; yes, this is a time share property, but unlike others we have stayed at in the past, there was no pressure or even casual mention of this during check-in. We saw informational signs as well as the information desk as this is a RCI affiliated resort, but we found it extremely refreshing not to be bothered during our stay with a sales pitch.
This is not a negative, but it should be noted the resort does not offer any cruise parking options or shuttle to the cruise terminals.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the The Resort on Cocoa Beach and would recommend for a pre-/post-cruise stay if you are looking for a beach vacation. However, if you are simply interested in a place to stay the night before a cruise after a late arrival, I’d say stick to a basic hotel for the night.
The Resort at Cocoa Beach is located at 1600 N Atlantic Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931. You can find out more about the resort at their website.
Scott, great review of The Resort on Cocoa Beach. DCL Platinum member myself and we have stayed there several times before cruising. Before stumbling upon this hotel, we stayed at several others in the area and for all your readers this place was by far the best. Azteca II, the Mexican restaurant, worth visiting too. Decent and convenient place to grab a meal and margarita for a reasonable price. Safe sailing!!!
Alan, thanks for sharing.