Hotels near Miami port recommendation

[disneyfan2]

Looking for suggestions for hotels close to port, but also walking distance to local shops and dining. Also thinking of renting a car for the day before when we arrive in Ft Lauderdale, are their any rental companies that will allow the car to be dropped off at the port?

 

[Mom2Kera]

We are staying at Holiday Inn-Port of Miami the night before our cruise in February. We have not stayed there before (this is our first cruise out of Miami), but we chose this place because it is very close to the port and Bayside Marketplace is right across the street with lots of shops/restaurants. There is no shuttle service to port, but it's a quick cab ride from the hotel to the port. With any luck, we'll get a room overlooking where the ships come in so the girls will see the Wonder waiting for us in the morning.

 

[OrlandoBob]

Just got back from the four day Christmas Cruise on the Magic. We stayed at the InterContinental near the Bayside Marketplace. Great hotel. Had a view of the port and saw the Magic dock the first morning of our cruise.

 

[cwdefouw]

We like the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay. They are right on the water and many rooms have an incredible view of the port. There are shops and restaurants (there is a really good little Italian place) within the hotel as they share a mall area with the Double Tree next door. It is not within close walking distance (20+ minutes walk) to the Bayside MarketPlace, but it is only about a block from the free monorail system that runs around the downtown area so you can get to within a couple of blocks of that popular shopping area with that service. Last time, in October, we took Uber out to South Beach / Lincoln Road, only took about 10 minutes and $10. Cab fare to the port is usually like $15 with tip. There is also a really nice Publix about a block away so it is easy to pick up any last minute items you may need.

 

[anricat]

We were able to score the Intercontinental on Hotwire for $90 for the night before our cruise. We easily walked to dinner and then paid around $10 (pre-tip) for our cab to port the next day. Renting a point to point car is really really expensive. Usually 2-3x as much as a normal round trip. I would recommend a shuttle service from the airport to your hotel.

If you go the Hotwire route, you're booking a "mystery" hotel (or whatever the term is). You don't know what the hotel is, but it gives you a radius and it tells you the star rating and that the hotel would be on par with Hyatt, Intercontinental, etc. (all nice hotels). Really anything downtown would be good for a night.

 

[AndreAggie]

My husband has status with Holiday Inn and we have a free (!!!) room booked at the Intercontinental as well for our upcoming spring break cruise on the Wonder. I like the proximity to the port as well as shops for any last minute things we forget to pack (it never fails...we always have to stop at CVS or Walgreens and CVS is about 1/4 of a mile from the hotel).

Our plan is to use Uber to get a ride to the port. We haven't told our son yet either. I'm hoping we can score a port view room, and Mickey will call the morning of the cruise to let him know we're getting on the ship. For now, we are just telling him Daddy has a work trip to Miami so we need to pack some beach stuff.