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Arriving in Miami night before cruise - where to stay?

A

anniemac

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A group of us are going on our first cruise in May - good bye winter! We have decided to fly into Miami the night before to reduce travel worries. Since we won't have a vehicle what's the best approach to getting ourselves into a convenient location to get to the port the next day? I'd be particularly interested in Hilton brand hotels since I have points piled up. Suggestions? Thanks!!:)
 
The best way to ask for this info is to go over to cruisecritic.com and post the question on the East Coast ports of call board.

Art
 
I also endorse Cruise Critic. The forums are excellent sources of insider info.
But for Hilton specifically, I recommend one of these:

-- Doubletree Grand - Biscayne Bay, 1717 North Bayshore Drive (1.10 miles)
-- Hilton Miami Downtown, 1601 Biscayne Blvd. (1.13 miles)
-- Conrad Miami, 1395 Brickell Avenue (1.55 miles)
-- Hilton Miami Airport, 5101 Blue Lagoon Drive (6.44 miles)
Source: www.hilton.com

Stay away from Miami Beach, as you enter the port from downtown Miami.
 
IMHO, you've made two wise choices. One to fly into the port city the day before and two to stay with a quality brand hotel chain that's reliable as to quality. To many things can happen when flying in that can cause you to miss your cruise and, even though it's only one night, skimping on that hotel can lead to a bad start to your vacation.

Normally we sail from Fort Lauderdale so I can't really comment on the Miami hotels but, once we thought we'd try to save a couple of bucks and go with one of the cheaper brands in hotel's (Choice's Comfort Inn). What a horrible mistake that turned out to be. Now we stick with either Marriott or Hilton brand hotels.
 
Dougp - where do you stay in Ft. Lauderdale? After checking fares and flight times, it may make better sense for us to fly in and out of FLL. Thanks!

Ann
 
Annie,

Are you taking the cruise from Miami or Ft. Lauderdale?

If you are taking the cruise from Port Everglades then yes fly into Hollywood/Ft. Laud Airport but if taking the cruise out of Port of Miami
then it would be more convenient to fly into Miami.

If you are wanting to stay in Miami and have something to do at night, I'd recommend staying in Coconut Grove at possibly the Doubletree hotel or the Mayfair. Coconut Grove is a nice little area to hang out at night. Nice little restaurants, a comedy club and a couple of nice little bars.

If you stay in the Brickell Village area there is a JW Marriott and a Sheraton within walking distance. Brickell Village is also a nice little area with nice restaurants and bars that you can walk to from the hotel. There is also a Hyatt nearby on the River at the entrance to downtown.

Staying in either the Holiday Inn or the Intercontinental on Biscayne Blvd.
will put you near Bayside Marketplace. Bayside is right next to the port entrance. You'll need to take a cab to get in but it's not far at all. If you stay near Bayside there are a few things to do at night. You can take a party cruise or watch the local action. We've got lots of interesting characters in our town.

Something you might consider is picking up an Enterprise rental car at the airport and keeping it for the day so you can get around and then returning it to the Downtown location. Then they can drive you to the port for free. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are cities that you really need a car to appreciate. Without a car you are very limited to what you will see as the buses and metrorail are not the greatest. We have one of the worst public transport systems in the world. Sadly we've spent a fortune on it but it's honestly for the most part pretty useless for most of us locals and tourists as well.
 
anniemac said:
Dougp - where do you stay in Ft. Lauderdale? After checking fares and flight times, it may make better sense for us to fly in and out of FLL. Thanks!

Ann
Click to expand...

Hampton Inn Airport North was nice and can be reasonable. Our last stay was at Courtyard by Marriott cruise/airport location and we found it to be very convenient for us. We've already booked the Courtyard for our next cruise. It's not a hotel I'd choose for anything other than a stay pre-cruise but, for one night we found it to fit our needs. Shuttle to/from the airport, free shuttle to the Cruise port (Flort Lauderdale, not Miami) and there is a Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World with Restaurant attached just a short walk away. It's not the greatest restaurant but it's good enough.

You'll need to take into consideration the additional cost and time of getting from Fort Lauderdale to Miami's cruise port. Sometimes that additional cost makes it cheaper to fly in/out of Miami but, there are a lot of people who will fly into either one and take a shuttle to the cruise port. Miami and Fort Lauderdale aren't that far away from each other. Most cruise line will offer transportation to either airport from either cruise port at the end of the cruise. Shuttle services such as Super Shuttle are set up to take you to either cruise port from either airport. It's really not that big of a deal but, you do have to figure in the additional time and cost getting to the airport pre/post cruise.
 
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Well, the cruise is out of the Port of Miami but air fares into Miami are about $75 more per person with long layovers - we could go non-stop out in an out of Ft. Lauderdale.

It looks like we can get complimentary shuttle from airports to about any hotel but will need to pay for a shuttle to the port from Miami hotels or Lauderdale hotels. It's probably a toss up $$ wise, but I hate flying all around robin hood's barn to get to the destination and home again.
 
Annie if you are leaving from Port of Miami it's about 30 miles from Ft. Laud airport. A taxi would be pricey. You could probably pick up a rental car cheap in Ft. lauderdale and return it downtown Miami and be less stressed on the day you leave. Ft. Laud airport is much easier to navigate than MIA and if the flights are better then start your vacation a day earlier. Afterall, we have alot to see here before you start your real vacation. :D
 
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