Miami port advice

[AP77]

We are first time cruisers and going on Disney Magic Dec 4th from Miami. We are flying into Fort Lauderdale. There are 5 of us (2 adults, 3 kids). A couple of questions...

1. Does anyone know of any private companies that will take us from the cruise ship to the Fort Lauderdale airport at the end of the cruise? Or would a cab be cheaper?

2. On arrival in Miami, we plan on staying for 3 nights and making it a pre-vacation. We are not at all familiar with Miami. Any recommendations on decent hotels that are on the water? We plan on renting a car while we are there for the 3 days.

 

[Capt_BJ]

1. Not what you would expect but not many hotels in Miami are 'on the water' and the ones that are ... the water is not a beach .... So if you want beach you need to look at Miami BEACH (different town) and those rooms are gonna cost more and maybe MUCH more depending on when your trip is ... winter season is ramping up in December. Popular hotels near the port include

Holiday Inn Port of Miami - not on the water but a port view from SOME rooms, walking dist' to Bayside

Hampton Inn and Suites Brickell - not on the water but walking distance to good food

Intercontinental Miami - on the water, but not a beach ... walking distance to Bayside

I prefer to stay in Coconut Grove area myself.

2. Renting a car huh? Are you used to lots of daytime traffic? I hope so cuz around Miami especially on a work day there will be PLENTY ... and most hotels charge for parking on top of your room. And be aware that many highways around & in Miami are toll roads and the tolls are ELECTRONIC PAYMENT ONLY so you either need to pay that surcharge from the rental company, buy your own SUNPASS or avoid all toll roads (not easy to do).

 

[egesicki]

We are sailing out if Miami next month and we wanted to see South Beach and have some beach time the day before. We looked at Loews, and ultimately reserved the Marriott Stanton with a kids eat free rate.

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

We used SAS Transportation from the port of Miami back to FLL after the cruise. It was $15/person and their van was right there ready to take us when we disembarked.

 

[AndreAggie]

We stayed at the Intercontinental. Great views of the port, but couldn't access the water. If you want beach, you need to look at South Beach. Just a quick FYI, South Beach is considered "european" and some women are topless...just something to keep in mind if you have kids. Otherwise continue up north in the Fort Lauderdale area and there are several resorts that are beach front.

We used Uber as we were at the intercontinental and it's super close to the port, but I've read several disboard members have used SAS transportation.

 

[sbridgeman]

We used SAS Transportation from the port of Miami back to FLL

Did you prearrange the transfer back tot he airport or did they have vans on standby?

 

[CamColt]

We used SAS Transportation from the port of Miami back to FLL after the cruise. It was $15/person and their van was right there ready to take us when we disembarked.

I'll second that.

 

[anricat]

We used SAS last time and from the airport to Miami I was very pleased. Now, on the way back (port to FLL) I was not so pleased. The driver was totally insane. He was going 80 mph down the freeway (yes, I actually looked at the speedometer) and was weaving in and out of traffic, changing lanes and was generally aggressively driving. This all with toddlers in the van that were not in car seats. It was NOT OKAY.

So this time around for our upcoming cruise, I did further research and found that SAS, who is often recommended her on the DIS is not well-liked on Yelp. However, I found two companies that have great reviews on Yelp and I will be contacting one of them for our upcoming voyage. I'm sorry I can't personally vouch for them, but here is the contact information if you want to look them up online or try one of them:

FG Car Services
www.fgcarservices.com
(includes car seats for free)

Jiffy Jeff
www.gojiffyjeff.com/

 

[RebeccaLovesDisney]

Did you prearrange the transfer back tot he airport or did they have vans on standby?

Yes, I prearranged the pickup. I was given a number to call when we were going through customs so that they would know when to pick us up.

 

[AP77]

We used SAS last time and from the airport to Miami I was very pleased. Now, on the way back (port to FLL) I was not so pleased. The driver was totally insane. He was going 80 mph down the freeway (yes, I actually looked at the speedometer) and was weaving in and out of traffic, changing lanes and was generally aggressively driving. This all with toddlers in the van that were not in car seats. It was NOT OKAY.

So this time around for our upcoming cruise, I did further research and found that SAS, who is often recommended her on the DIS is not well-liked on Yelp. However, I found two companies that have great reviews on Yelp and I will be contacting one of them for our upcoming voyage. I'm sorry I can't personally vouch for them, but here is the contact information if you want to look them up online or try one of them:

FG Car Services
www.fgcarservices.com
(includes car seats for free)

Jiffy Jeff
www.gojiffyjeff.com/

Thank you! I will look these up.

 

[AP77]

We are sailing out if Miami next month and we wanted to see South Beach and have some beach time the day before. We looked at Loews, and ultimately reserved the Marriott Stanton with a kids eat free rate.

Were you happy with the Marriott? Was it clean? Good location?

 

[egesicki]

Were you happy with the Marriott? Was it clean? Good location?

We sail Nov 20th, I will let you know

 

[egesicki]

Were you happy with the Marriott? Was it clean? Good location?

we're back from our trip, and ready to report There are mostly pros, a couple cons. pros: gorgeous location. Beach is beautiful, pools are lovely, park with a playground right next door, party scene is several blocks away so you can get there if you want, but if you don't want the noise you don't have it. DCL has a hospitality desk set up on the second floor, Carola was making door decorations and ornaments for each family using DCL transfers. she also recommended the diner down the block, big pink, which had a great breakfast. Transfers were more $ than arranging your own, but, they handle your bags from your room at 9am to your cabin in the afternoon, which is super convenient. Cons: service at the restaurant was slow, not cool for wiggly kids. We requested early check in, but our room was not available until 4pm.
I'd probably stay there again for the convenience.

 

[Skittlesmom]

We just returned on the Magic this past Sunday and used SAS to travel from Port Miami to FLL. The cost was $15/person and very reliable. Contact SAS before departure and they'll send you a phone number to call when you're going through Customs and to meet outside. Very easy and convenient transportation option.

 

[AP77]

we're back from our trip, and ready to report There are mostly pros, a couple cons. pros: gorgeous location. Beach is beautiful, pools are lovely, park with a playground right next door, party scene is several blocks away so you can get there if you want, but if you don't want the noise you don't have it. DCL has a hospitality desk set up on the second floor, Carola was making door decorations and ornaments for each family using DCL transfers. she also recommended the diner down the block, big pink, which had a great breakfast. Transfers were more $ than arranging your own, but, they handle your bags from your room at 9am to your cabin in the afternoon, which is super convenient. Cons: service at the restaurant was slow, not cool for wiggly kids. We requested early check in, but our room was not available until 4pm.
I'd probably stay there again for the convenience.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!