Go Port — Local services in Merritt Island

I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING GOPORT - HOT, NO AIR CONDITIONING ON BUS I reserved GoPort to go from Port Canaveral to Orlando Airport for me and 11 other family members on June 8th. When we got off cruise ship we checked in at GoPort stand and were told to board the bus. As soon as we got on the bus, it was hot and humid. We know Florida is hot and the doors on the bus were sitting open while they were waiting for the bus to fill up so we thought warm air and heat was due to the doors sitting open. After about 20 minutes of waiting while the driver helped put luggage on the bus. All passengers were fanning and adjusting their air vent. Air was room temperature out the vent definitely not cold. Driver got on the bus and pulled away from GoPort stand and we waited another 15 mins in parking lot on hot bus with doors closed before he took off. We all asked driver to adjust air and he said it was on 65 degrees! Clearly everyone is sweating so the air is broken if it is on 65. I messaged the company from the bus and was told by the representative from GoPort that bus number 835 had been properly checked and maintained and that I was just not used to the Florida heat. After 4 more messages back and forth with the representive while the bus was headed to the airport. The company finally apologized that the air was in fact broken. We road from Port Canaveral to Orlando airport with NO AIR. Due to an accident the ride which is normally 50 mins took 1 hour and 10mins. Can you imagine riding on a bus with no ventilation and warm air blowing on you on a HOT JUNE DAY! A total health risk!! I complained to the company it was a health risk to travel on a bus with NO air with 50+ passengers for a trip this length. All I got was a message back from a representative was "I am sorry for the inconvenience". I requested a refund as I had paid for an AIR CONDITIONED bus to the airport and not a hot, stuffy, sweaty ride to the airport. I was told there would be NO refund as they do not refund for services. Since I got a ride to the airport that was considered a completed service. However, I was loaded on to a bus and the bus took off with no air. If I had been given a choice to wait for an air conditioned bus and I refused, I would understand not giving me a refund! I was not given an option and was transported with comments from the driver that he had air on 65 degrees and it would cool down shortly. That was a lie. He drives a bus everyday and should have known the air was broken. It is poor customer service, unethical and pure greed to take a bus full of people with no air for over an hour and then refuse to refund your patrons because they didnt get what they paid. So disappointing the level of corporate greed to knowingly transport people with no air, tell them that it will cool down, message them with a "sorry for your inconvenience" and then refuse to give them a refund!! If I could give them a NEGATIVE 5 score I would!!! Find another shuttle service...can't imagine what would have happened if someone had passed out while en route to airport! Guess we would have been told the person was taking a nap and kept on moving to the airport. So...

Summary: Great service, great staff, confusing instructions, no way to communicate on morning of pickup, and not for people with mobility issues.

More details: This is a wonderful service to get to Port Canaveral for cruises. It was easy to make reservations. We live just outside Orlando, had family take us to the Renaissance Hotel which is one where GoPort picks up and we spent the night.. They send texts about the time window they expect to be at the hotel. Ours was 10:30-11:30am

One thing that was confusing and frustrating is that the hotel had a front and back entrance to the lobby. No one seemed sure where the bus would pick up -- until I talked to a lady from housekeeping. There were mixed instructions from GoPort in my paperwork saying to wait outside the lobby and another saying to wait inside. So with two doors, we were confused. As it got closer to the end of the hour window, I tried to call and message GoPort to be sure where we were supposed to wait, in or out and which door, and to confirm we were there although my Mom had to go to the bathroom at the last minute. (There are no bathrooms on the bus.) I could never reach anyone from GoPort. Phone was busy for the 15 minutes I tried. I got no answers from texts.

Here's what happens:. GoPort actually sends someone to the hotel ahead of the bus. They go into the lobby and find you there so when the bus arrives, they have everyone ready and escort you to the bus. So a lot of our anxiety was for nothing. The GoPort staff who came to the hotel were great and the driver was absolutely wonderful.

Mobility issues: I had read a review about a woman with a walker or wheelchair and how great the staff had been. My companion uses a rolling walker and can walk short distances holding someone's arm or using a cane I had looked at pictures of the bus and the couple of steps getting on did not seem too steep and had a rail. BUT. . . it is definitely problematic for people with mobility issues. My companion can normally do a couple of stairs. The grab bar ended and once you get up the 3 steps into the bus, you turn and there are 2 or 3 MORE steps. The driver went out of his way to help and had saved a seat behind him for us, but I would not recommend it if you have problems with knees and steps. Getting out was even harder because of the lack of a full bar to hold onto. As great as the service is, I would not use it again with someone with any mobility issues.

But if you don't have any mobility issues, I would definitely recommend it. The ride is comfortable. It takes about an hour or hour and 15 minutes, depending on any other hotel stops and traffic, and they drop you off right in front of the terminal for your ship. You save a bundle on parking fees. On a repositioning cruise like we had, you have to fly back, so we could not leave our car at...

Okay experience overall but I doubt I ever book round trip again. The trip to port from airport was much better and I'd book that leg again. The meeting point is at the very end of terminal where the rental car desks are. The desk is inside, not outside and you must check in at the desk. It was a bit of a walk from baggage claim but not bad. The bus is clean and seats were comfortable. The trip to the port was quick and efficient but bus was packed full. Luckily the seats are large so I didn't feel crammed in. You may be separated from your group. On the trip back from port to airport, there was confusion where to meet. The company is not proactive to help. I went to the first 'go port' stand from the cruise ship but no one was at the station. I stood there for a while expecting a bus to show, but it did not. I found a text for contacting the company - and they responded after about 5 minutes stating I needed to go to a different port area. I found it, but not without help from others. It was a bit of a trek with luggage and I wasn't sure I was headed the right direction. I booked this option because it sounded like my time to depart the ship was more 'however I feel at the time' since they run multiple buses until the ships are empty. I didn't count on the time it takes for a bus to go from dock to dock waiting on people from all the different cruise ships. Luckily I had a late flight but it took a good hour to actually leave port from when I first sat on the bus. My phone was low on charge and although there are outlets, it did not work. I powered my phone off until I was at airport. It was more expensive to return to the airport than using the cruise provided transportation and I see no reason they didn't pick up where the ship was. There is no excuse they didn't put a sign at that location telling us to go somewhere else. Also, they had their passenger's cell numbers - they texted very late morning asking for ETA of people who hadn't gotten on the shuttle bus. I suspect they were at the same location in front of the cruise ship trying to figure out where the shuttle was. The bus never stopped at that location. SOOO - if cheaper, I'd book one way to ship but I would not book a return to...