Miami port questions

[tb209]

My family and I are taking our 2nd Disney cruise next week out of Miami. Our 1sr cruise was out of Port Canaveral. Can anyone explain how porting out of Miami is different?? My kids are a little nervous about Miami port. We can still take Disney shuttle to port from airport? Thank you in advance!

 

[tweety38]

It's not as nice as Port Canaveral. Everyone seemed to come at once. Once you get inside don't expect it to be like the Disney terminal. It's okay lots of seating and restrooms are available. The cast members move everything right along. You are outside in the sun longer than with PC.

 

[Capt_BJ]

you can get a Disney shuttle but a taxi is faster and costs less

MIA to the port is $27 flat rate per vehicle .... and about a 15 minute ride

and as mentioned the terminal is 'shared' so no Disney theme ... in PC the DCL terminal is used ONLY by DCL. In Miami the terminal is DCL today and Carnival tomorrow and someone else the next ....

 

[professorandmom]

You'll find a few threads about Miami if you search but here is my experience: the workers are not "regular" CMs - I don't know if they work for Disney directly or are contract workers. But you may notice some of them are not as "informed"...during my check in, the "CM" didn't give us the boarding card (I had to ask) and was generally confused. In addition, we struggled to get a copy of the Navigator before boarding (had to ask multiple folks). It makes sense - there aren't as many cruises out of Miami

I also noticed a significant difference during debarkation - more confusion, longer lines, harder to find luggage, etc...
However, don't let any of this impact your trip - just because it isn't PC, who really cares!!!
You'll enjoy the sail-away - the city skyline is beautiful
Have a great trip!

 

[darwinsrule]

Our last three cruises have been out of Miami. One on the Wonder last March, two on NCL Getaway.

Yes DCL does have transfers from the airport in Miami. As stated a cab would be both cheaper and quicker (and there are plenty of them). Fort Lauderdale is cheaper to fly into and DCL doesn't do transfers from FLL. There are enough shuttle services however that getting to and from isn't an issue.

Honestly our embark/debark experiences have been great. Even the worst this past August was still as good as anything we have had from Port Canaveral (and light years better than Boston). We have arrived at the port around 10:30 - 11 each time, and been on board by 11:30 - 12 each time. Yeah there is no Disney theming, but we aren't there to hang our the port (the sooner we are on the ship, the sooner the vacation begins).

 

[Weedy]

We sailed last week and it was sooo easy. We drove And got the port at 11:30. It was easier than Port Canerval to pull up and drop off our bags. The garage was a little farther away but not much. We found a place on the 3rd level to park and walked back to the terminal. There was no line to get into the terminal and a short line at security both took about 5 minutes. We're Platinum so check in was easy. The Platinum check in is at the back ( where you walk in) of the terminal so you don't have to get by everyone to check in. The girl checking us in was quick and efficient. We were checked in just as they were calling the Family of the Day. We were given a #1 boarding #.
Bonus: I had read on these boards that Platinum can board through the concierge area. I had to ask but they let us. Very nice very easy.

Getting off the ship was just as easy. We had second seating. After breakfast we were able to walk off the ship with no wait.
The only thing a little different is your bags in the terminal are on a conveyor belt (like the airport) so you may have to wait a few minutes for your bag to come around. Porters were available but we took our own bags. There was no wait for the elevators in the parking garage. You pay for parking as you go out. We sat down for breakfast a few minutes past 8:00 we didn't hurry. We were pulling out of the garage at 9:15.

 

[Hundredacre]

Parking easy and close. Person checking us in did not give us navigator or any information like that. A bit raw, but fine. Customs at the end very nasty. Treated us like criminals. It's not disney land.

 

[Weedy]

Parking easy and close. Person checking us in did not give us navigator or any information like that. A bit raw, but fine. Customs at the end very nasty. Treated us like criminals. It's not disney land.

Customs isn't supposed to be be warm and fuzzy. Its security and serious. Have your paperwork filled out, passports in hand, and ready to hand to them for everyone in your party,no talking and have everyone facing the security agent.

 

[Hundredacre]

Customs isn't supposed to be be warm and fuzzy. Its security and serious. Have your paperwork filled out, passports in hand, and ready to hand to them for everyone in your party,no talking and have everyone facing the security agent.

Agree. But they were a lot nicer in Canaveral and Galveston. It may just be we got someone on a bad day.

 

[Weedy]

You think they are gruff in Miami you should see them in Canada.

 

[1Winston]

Is there a concierge lounge in the port of Miami?

 

[DCLDVC1]

Is there a concierge lounge in the port of Miami?

Yes

 

[cgolf]

Bonus: I had read on these boards that Platinum can board through the concierge. I had to ask but they let us. Very nice very easy.

Do you mean you board with the concierge cruisers?

 

[Weedy]

Do you mean you board with the concierge cruisers?

Yes

 

[cgolf]

Yes

Awesome, thanks

My 2 cents on the one time we went through Miami. Was that overall it was the easiest experience we had, much easier than PC. While we had to pay for the taxi to port, it was much less stressful then making sure you get on the first hotel shuttle to port and getting stuck waiting for them to drop off passengers at the other cruise line terminals first. Inside seemed pretty slick too.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Another difference-you don't board on deck 3, but on deck 4 or 5 I believe. Not quite as grand, but they do still announce your name. And the walk to disembark and get to the luggage was long (my mom walks with a cane, which is why I noticed/mention this). By the time we disembarked our luggage was waiting for us (no conveyor belt), but we had 2nd seating.