First Time Cruising out of Miami and SO Many Questions

[nj2vagrl]

We sail out of Miami later this month. We wanted a Marriott property as we a few free night rewards and wanted to use one of those.

I checked many properties near the airport and many had terrible reviews so we decided on the SpringHill Suites Miami Downtown/Medical Center. It is closer to the port than the airport but does NOT have any shuttles but thought we would just taxi or uber from airport to hotel and hotel to port. We can use our free night there. We may book DCL transfers from port back to airport.

Does anyone know if DCL is doing Onboard Airline Check-In service currently out of Miami? or even PC for that matter.

Edited to add.....I may be changing hotels yet again....newer reviews have been terrible!!

MJ

Thank you for taking the time to respond, appreciate the insight.

 

[nj2vagrl]

I have a different Miami hotel booked and I'm thinking the same thing.

Also, if you are considering a hotel with an included shuttle to the port, find out when the first departure time. I booked a Comfort Inn & Suites near the airport (free shuttle to hotel & to port, plus breakfast) but then discovered the first shuttle to the port doesn't leave the hotel until 11 (if you can reserve a seat on the first shuttle.) Our PAT is 10:30.

So now I'm back to hunting for a hotel. It is a nice distraction from all of the other cruise worries I have for our 1/31 trip.

Good point I had not even considered. We tend to prefer getting to port early.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

[miss0033]

Just honest questions. FREE isn't a concern in anyway. Most FREE offerings are included somehow in costs already being paid. I was asking an honest question and your way to respond is quite interesting. Just providing the facts would have been enough, thank you for that. I appreciate it. I have not been on the boards in years and am probably even posting and responding wrong. I am old school and have never used Lyft or Uber. I have a large sized family (oldest son is 6'8"). He does not comfortably fit in the passenger side of most cars and many suv's.

I wasn't intending to be rude, apologies if it was taken that way. Everyone has their reasons. I am sorry for choosing your post to respond to, there have been many lately asking about free shuttles. (Combined with people asking about free/discounted shuttles to WDW in other topic areas)

I have just seen so many threads about Fly/Snooze/Cruise (And Park sometimes) deals, where people are left extremely disappointed. Either in the shuttle, the room, the cost, or some combination of those things. There are other options, like UberXL and things of that nature. I just wouldn't pigeon-hole myself into only 2-3 hotel options just because they offer a free shuttle. If it works for your family, great. If it doesn't, be aware there are other options.

For us, value. If I am choosing between Hotel A that has a free shuttle to the hotel & port plus an included breakfast that costs $200 and Hotel B that just costs $200, picking Hotel B will actually cost me at least $75 more (2 uber/taxi fares and breakfast for 4.)

Knowing when an included shuttle will get you to port is an important part of making the decision to book that hotel or use the shuttle.

Absolutely.

My experience with "FREE" shuttles has been pretty poor, as I stated. And often times, just included in other ways. I have yet to return to a hotel that had resumed complimentary breakfast... I tend to stay at the same hotels for work though...

Looking at the "DCL Partner" hotels and seeing what they charge for the hotel room, yikes. And their Port Transfers aren't really a bargain once you have more than 2 people. Port Canaveral is one thing when the airport is a ways away. In Miami, it is much closer so it gives you many, many more options.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We stayed at the Comfort Suites Airport that many stay at in Miami. With a family of 5, the free breakfast, airport shuttle, and shuttle to port seemed like a huge bonus. We did end up taking an Uber to port, because the shuttle timing wouldn't have gotten us to port until 1pm or so and we had a PAT of around 11 or 11:30 I believe. So that perk did not get used. But the free breakfast was great, and the free airport shuttle was also amazing, because our luggage ended up being late and I had to hoof it back to the airport at 3-4am to pick it up, it was super nice not to have to pay to get to the airport and back to the hotel again!

I am not one to be terribly concerned about a hotel when I'm only there for a night or two. Any longer and I would tend to choose a nicer space.

 

[MomOTwins]

I wasn't intending to be rude, apologies if it was taken that way. Everyone has their reasons. I am sorry for choosing your post to respond to, there have been many lately asking about free shuttles. (Combined with people asking about free/discounted shuttles to WDW in other topic areas)

I have just seen so many threads about Fly/Snooze/Cruise (And Park sometimes) deals, where people are left extremely disappointed. Either in the shuttle, the room, the cost, or some combination of those things. There are other options, like UberXL and things of that nature. I just wouldn't pigeon-hole myself into only 2-3 hotel options just because they offer a free shuttle. If it works for your family, great. If it doesn't, be aware there are other options.



Absolutely.

My experience with "FREE" shuttles has been pretty poor, as I stated. And often times, just included in other ways. I have yet to return to a hotel that had resumed complimentary breakfast... I tend to stay at the same hotels for work though...

Looking at the "DCL Partner" hotels and seeing what they charge for the hotel room, yikes. And their Port Transfers aren't really a bargain once you have more than 2 people. Port Canaveral is one thing when the airport is a ways away. In Miami, it is much closer so it gives you many, many more options.

The price we paid for Hyatt with DCL was no different than the prices at the nearby Marriott and Hilton. The Hyatt is the mid-range one—EB was inexpensive (same cost as airport hotels I looked at), and Four Seasons is obviously the priciest. I appreciated that they had a range of prices.

I agree the DCL port transfers are not a bargain but they are convenient. There is something to be said for not having to worry about a PAT or whether your luggage will fit in an uber or if you will hit surge pricing on uber and pay 5 times what you budgeted, or get a coughing uber driver not wearing a mask properly …

 

[auntlynne]

I’m booked into a new- build hotel for an April cruise. It’s an Element by Westin and is a dual property with the AC by Marriott.

The big draw is the low number of points necessary for a night. In August, I see rates of 20-30K for a Category 4 property.

The hotels are in the Brickell area, with a mall and a Publix nearby.

No shuttles, but Lyft fares are low enough (especially when considering 4-5 people).

 

[auntlynne]

in November, I stayed at the Courtyard Miami Airport (Le Jeune Rd), which occupies space on a Marriott campus with Marriott, Residence Inn…

They shared a shuttle for the short distance to the hotel, after waiting with lots of people at the shuttle stop (for various hotels).

I had caught a Staycation rate of $98. It seems timing and checking rates on the Marriott website can lead to low rates.

The hotel offered a $12 pp shuttle to the port. It was too high off the ground, with no step available, so I got a Lyft. For my return to the airport, I just walked off the ship, found the taxi manager/ wrangler, and headed home for $27 flat rate.

 

[auntlynne]

Deciding where to stay also depends on when you will arrive and what you want to do with your free time. If you have the time, money, dining needs, you may want to try South Beach. More expensive, but there are some Marriott hotels there.

I find Miami so different than Orlando. It is so nice to sit back and let someone else drive you to the airport and port.

I‘ve picked my next hotel within walking distance of multiple dining choices.

Transportation will be offset by points-booked rooms.

 

[allashore]

We sail out of Miami later this month. We wanted a Marriott property as we a few free night rewards and wanted to use one of those.

I checked many properties near the airport and many had terrible reviews so we decided on the SpringHill Suites Miami Downtown/Medical Center. It is closer to the port than the airport but does NOT have any shuttles but thought we would just taxi or uber from airport to hotel and hotel to port. We can use our free night there. We may book DCL transfers from port back to airport.

Does anyone know if DCL is doing Onboard Airline Check-In service currently out of Miami? or even PC for that matter.

Edited to add.....I may be changing hotels yet again....newer reviews have been terrible!!

MJ

what hotel did you wind up staying at? would you recommend it or not? how did you get to port, uber?
would be happy to hear any other advice, we have never sailed out of Miami,

 

[mmouse37]

what hotel did you wind up staying at? would you recommend it or not? how did you get to port, uber?
would be happy to hear any other advice, we have never sailed out of Miami,

We wound up staying at the Courtyard Marriott by the airport. It was a decent hotel with comfortable rooms and beds, had a nice pool that it shared with the Marriott Residence Inn (the have a connected courtyard/pool area). Was it luxury, not at all but was fine for our needs for 2 nights pre cruise. I had a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. We did not have a car and I wished we did have one. We walked to a nice Latin restaurant for breakfast one of the mornings and liked it so much we went back for dinner. At the hotel there is a sports bar type restaurant in the lobby. Our Uber for two people to the port from the hotel was $15.48 so very reasonable. It took about 15-20 minutes.

We are cruising again on April 7th out of Miami and this time I chose the EB Hotel which is one of the hotels Disney uses with their transfers. I was able to book it with reward points and not directly with Disney and was told I could still book their transfers.. Traveling with a friend this time so we decided to just have Disney handle our transport...plus I wanted to be guaranteed an earlier boarding time since I booked only 3 weeks ago (and Disney has stopped boarding group 1 for Platinum CC members).

MJ

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We wound up staying at the Courtyard Marriott by the airport. It was a decent hotel with comfortable rooms and beds, had a nice pool that it shared with the Marriott Residence Inn (the have a connected courtyard/pool area). Was it luxury, not at all but was fine for our needs for 2 nights pre cruise. I had a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. We did not have a car and I wished we did have one. We walked to a nice Latin restaurant for breakfast one of the mornings and liked it so much we went back for dinner. At the hotel there is a sports bar type restaurant in the lobby. Our Uber for two people to the port from the hotel was $15.48 so very reasonable. It took about 15-20 minutes.

We are cruising again on April 7th out of Miami and this time I chose the EB Hotel which is one of the hotels Disney uses with their transfers. I was able to book it with reward points and not directly with Disney and was told I could still book their transfers.. Traveling with a friend this time so we decided to just have Disney handle our transport...plus I wanted to be guaranteed an earlier boarding time since I booked only 3 weeks ago (and Disney has stopped boarding group 1 for Platinum CC members).

MJ

We stayed at the EB Hotel 1 night pre cruise in late November. It was fine. It actually had a very European vibe with a bidet. Our room was huge with separate living room area near the door, large bathroom/shower area in center, and bedroom area near the window. I would definitely stay there again. We Ubered to the port, which was much cheaper than using DCL transportation, even for just 2 of us.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

EB Hotel pics:

 

[allashore]

thank you @mmouse37 & @ruadisneyfan2
for all the info & pictures, going on Dream July 4th

 

[mmouse37]

EB Hotel pics:
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Thank you so much for the pics....since my friend and I are paying our own ways it was only a slight difference for me in price ($6) so I am "splurging" by take the DCL bus haha.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

@mmouse37 and @allashore
Have a wonderful time on your cruises!

 

[Dug720]

EB Hotel pics:
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Wow!

If that's your "fine" I'm curious what you see as better! It looks amazing.

 

[jujubiee4]

DCL transfers are only 21 from Miami airport? They are 40 from MCO right?

I assume the port is closer in Miami? (never been)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

DCL transfers are only 21 from Miami airport? They are 40 from MCO right?

I assume the port is closer in Miami? (never been)

Much closer. It’s around a 20 min drive.

 

[mmouse37]

DCL transfers are only 21 from Miami airport? They are 40 from MCO right?

I assume the port is closer in Miami? (never been)

Yes $21 for Miami
and $39 for Port Canaveral

 

[Cheburashka]

DCL transfers are only 21 from Miami airport? They are 40 from MCO right?

I assume the port is closer in Miami? (never been)

Yes, the port is in Miami, so you're only driving through the city, not between cities as is the case for the Orlando to Port Canaveral transfer.