Hi Janet! I usually stay at a hotel in the Walt Disney World area the night before I go on a Disney cruise too. In my opinion it's so much more fun to stay at Disney than in a hotel at the cruise port!
Downtown Disney is a collection of shops, restaurants and other entertainment options located on Walt Disney World property. Click
here for details. Several chain hotels are located just across from Downtown Disney. I stayed at the Downtown Disney Hilton several years back, and it was your basic Hilton hotel. When I stayed there, I also got a really great deal and I appreciated that for the same price as one of the value resorts, I could have a larger room in a more upscale hotel. It doesn't have the Disney magic and theming that the Disney resort hotels have, but it was fine. The proximity to Downtown Disney is really nice and another great perk is that guests of this hotel are entitled to use the Extra Magic Hours at the Disney parks. (For more recent reviews of this hotel or of the Doubletree Suites, check out guests' posts on an unofficial site like TripAdvisor.com. They seem to give the Hilton and the Doubletree favorable reviews.)
Since you are arriving so late on Saturday, and you'll want to get on the road to Port Canaveral on Monday, I don't think you'd be able to get your money's worth out of a two-day Park Hopper ticket. I recommend that you plan to enjoy Downtown Disney on Saturday night. Buy a one-day ticket to the park of your choice on Sunday. On Monday, book a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's or Cape May (you won't need a park ticket since they're in the resort hotels, not the parks) and then head on down to board your cruise. Since you've paid for your cruise, you'll want to get there early so you can board and start having fun!
Come visit us again at the Moms Panel if you have more questions! We'd love to help!