Idea's for a day in Miami?

[WDdaughter]

Never too early to plan!! We are doing back to back 4 and 5 day cruises on the Wonder from Miami next Jan 2013.

Question #1: Any suggestions on what to do in Miami for the day when we have to debark between cruises?

Question #2: To anyone who has done back to back - how long do you have to get off of the ship before you can get back on board?We will be platinum for the second cruise.

 

[Gigi22]

Platinum!!! Way to go! We are doing back to back cruises on DCL in May this year. We have previously done back to back cruises with HAL from Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale).
In our experience with HAL, there's actually not a lot of free time between the two cruises. And, the back to back HAL passengers were kept in a kind of isolation between the two cruises so that we didn't have to go through Security and Immigration a second time--not even sure that we had the option of getting off the ship to tour.

 

[Gigi22]

Double post.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Never too early to plan!! We are doing back to back 4 and 5 day cruises on the Wonder from Miami next Jan 2013.

Question #1: Any suggestions on what to do in Miami for the day when we have to debark between cruises?

Question #2: To anyone who has done back to back - how long do you have to get off of the ship before you can get back on board?We will be platinum for the second cruise.

Sorry, don't know anything about what's quick to do in Miami.

Regarding the B2B, on the second to last night of your first cruise you will receive a letter in your room describing what the procedure will be for your debarking/reembarkation.

Basically, you will be directed to either meet up with a DCL rep onboard and be escorted off the ship and through check-in OR directed as to what time your (individual) debarkation will be. I'm not sure what the procedure will be for Miami, but at PC and Barcelona, once we had done our new check-in we were pretty much allowed back on the ship. Off the ship about 10 - 20 minutes tops.

You will reboard before the new cruisers will be arriving. The ship will be under prepration for the new cruise, so you need to be cautious moving about the ship. There is limited food service (Cove Cafe in our case). You can use the pools once they are clean.

If you are in the same room for both legs of your B2B, you will have access to your stateroom until the new cruisers start boarding. At that time the barriers go up and no one can access their rooms until everyone can (usually about 1:30-2:00). This is so the new people don't see others crossing the barriers and going in the stateroom areas when they can't.



Edit: If you opt to do something while in Miami between the cruises, and leave the port, you will not be able to reboard the ship until the check-in and boarding for the new cruisers has started.

 

[WDdaughter]

Thanks so much for the responses. We are leaning towards getting right back on the ship and enjoying the quiet time around the adult pool.

 

[socialgal]

If you don't have a lot of time and want to see Miami, Bayside MarketPlace is right by POM. You can walk around, get something to eat. There is a pharmacy close by if you want to refill your goodies for the second cruise.

 

[ben1993]

I actually found Bayside incredibly dull, the shopping wasn't even that great, only spent about half an hour there before we took a $20 cab over the bridge to South Beach, much more lively, loads of dining and beautiful art deco architecture and of course the beach! Best beach I've ever been to.

 

[socialgal]

I actually found Bayside incredibly dull, the shopping wasn't even that great, only spent about half an hour there before we took a $20 cab over the bridge to South Beach, much more lively, loads of dining and beautiful art deco architecture and of course the beach! Best beach I've ever been to.

You are probably right. The fun of Bayside is that there is some Cuban restaurants, lots of souvenirs and it is close to the port. If you don't have a lot of time, it is the place to kill it. But if you have the time, SoBe it is much more lively.

 

[DVCNuts]

And if you have the time to go to SoBe, The News Cafe and the Clevelander are fun spots. Both iconic in movies. And of course, the Versace mansion is there too.

 

[braysmommy]

We will be doing a B2B next May and are thinking about spending the day at South Beach or the state park. I read that a cab would be 15-20 each way