Cruise out of Miami

[Disneydreamer5]

Thinking of taken the DC out of Miami in November. First I am wondering if anyone has any idea what the weather is like in Castaway Cay as well as in Key West that time of year.(end of November) also does anyone know of any nice but affordable hotels nears the port as we would like to come in the day before.
Somewhere that offers shuttles to port would be good too.

 

[neg58]

I was at CC last november and it was lovely. I'm sure Key West was too. Of course, you can always get an off day, but I'd say the odds are in your favor.

The POM is right in downtown, so the hotels near the port are Downtown/business priced hotels. There are several other areas with cheaper hotels, like by the airport or Coconut Grove. Some have shuttles, but most charge $5-$10/person. Taxis from downtown to the port are $5-10, from the airport are a fixed $24.

Nancy

 

[PWammy]

It will be probably warm (mid 70s, maybe low 80s); water will probably be cold, but that's a matter of personal preference, I guess. Unless it's raining, though, it's almost always beautiful in Miami!

 

[magrudersmakes3]

We are on the 11/6 cruise out of Miami. We booked a room in South Beach and then had trouble getting a shuttle to the location as they cannot go that far. We are hiring a private car from FLL to our hotel, a taxi to the port and then the SAS shuttle from POM back to FLL. The logistics of Miami seems to be a little more complicated than PC, but definitely doable with some research on what fits your needs.

When I was looking at all hotels, Holiday Inn and Intercontinental got great reviews and were reasonably priced. The SAS shuttle will drop you at those hotels. I was referred by someone from DIS to check out cruisecritic boards for the Miami information as it is new for Disney and they are still collecting information.

I have a friend in West Palm Beach who said we should have good weather, but like the PP, it all depends on the weather system. We have been to CC in both September and October and because of a storm that went through, October had warmer water.

 

[egesicki]

We stayed there in March before and after our cruise after seeing posts from other people on disboards. They have a precruise package that includes transfers and a bottle of wine I believe it was $149. Also if you are members of their loyalty program they give you 2 free drink tickets for their bar. Free breakfast too. Clean, attractive, I would stay there again.

 

[disneylove69]

We stayed there in March before and after our cruise after seeing posts from other people on disboards. They have a precruise package that includes transfers and a bottle of wine I believe it was $149. Also if you are members of their loyalty program they give you 2 free drink tickets for their bar. Free breakfast too. Clean, attractive, I would stay there again.

I am a loyalty member. Is this transfer to port or airport?

 

[lovedmy1stcuise]

we stayed at La Quinta Inn & Suites Miami Airport East they have free shuttle to/from the airport and free to the port, but have to pay (can't remember how much) if you need to get back after the cruise. They also have free parking and free breakfast. We flew to FLL and rented a car, we stayed for 2 nights before the cruise, returned the car the night before at the Miami airport and took hotel shuttle back to hotel and shuttle in the morning to the port. On the way back took car rental shuttle to get a car again at Miami airport and drove to FLL.

 

[omalley1118]

We are staying at the Holiday Inn on Collins Ave. in Miami Beach. I am still researching transfers to and from airport, hotel, POM etc. we are sailing on 11/6 as well. We were in CC in November, 2010. It was very warm and beautiful. The water was awesome!!!

 

[rentayenta]

Subbing as we're cruising out of Miami too.

 

[magrudersmakes3]

We are staying at the Holiday Inn on Collins Ave. in Miami Beach. I am still researching transfers to and from airport, hotel, POM etc. we are sailing on 11/6 as well. We were in CC in November, 2010. It was very warm and beautiful. The water was awesome!!!

We are staying at the Dream on Collins Ave. We are probably going to go with Go Suttle private transport to the hotel (hotel recommends them), taxi to port and then SAS back to FLL. Let me know if you have any questions as I have been doing a ton of research and would be happy to share what I found.

 

[jsthomas618]

We also stayed at the LaQuinta Airport East. Under $100 for AAA rate, breakfast and shuttle to port included. Seeing that with flight delays we ended up at the hotel for a total of 12 hours, it fit our needs.

 

[neg58]

Last time I had my own car, so stayed in Ft. Lauderdale and just drove to the port. This time (this SUNDAY!), we are flying into FLL, taking SAS shuttle to Holiday Inn POM and just taking a taxi to the port.

The bad thing about the hotels in downtown is that the parking is expensive. I don't have to worry about that this time, so it's worth it to me to pay a little more for the room and then just take a $5 taxi to the port.

Nancy

 

[sunryzez]

We cruised in 2011 in November and the weather was amazing in Key West and CC. We are going again this year and have our fingers crossed for the same type of luck!

 

[lilpooh108]

I'm looking for a good Miami planning thread. Is there an official one? Well this looks as good as any.... Here are my questions:

1) We're researching the IC Miami downtown, IC Miami Doral and CP Miami Airport. Any experiences on any of these? We have a rental car but plan on parking at the port.

2) How does the port charge for parking? By day or 24-hour periods? 4 night cruise = $100?

3) I posted a thread on cruise critic forums regarding safety of leaving luggage in a rental minivan while we have lunch on Lincoln Road. 2 locals responded and told me that it was a really bad idea since cars get broken into, etc. I've been to SoBe a few times and I guess I believe it.

Here's my problem -- what do I do with luggage? There is a luggage hold at MIA, but that seems like a hassle.

Does anyone know whether United offers curbside check in at MIA, and if so what time you're allowed to check luggage? For anyone else wondering, AA has this and allows early drop.

4) Versailles or La Carreta? We are picking up SIL morning of the cruise and will be near the airport anyways.

Thanks for any input.

BTW I found another thread on Miami hotels for anyone who is interested: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=47365082