Port of Miami advice please??

[AP77]

We are leaving Dec 4th for our Disney Cruise. We are leaving from Miami and were thinking of spending 2-3 nights in Miami before our cruise. Can anyone offer advice??

We are flying into Ft.Lauderdale. We have 3 kids age 7, 6, 4.

1. Where should we stay??? Thee are so many areas and we are not familiar. We don't want to rent a car so wanted a place that we could walk to the beach or attractions or easily catch public transportation.

2. How do people get from the airport to the hotel & hotel to the port etc. Taxi? Do hotels offer shuttles? Or is there a shuttle service that I should be looking into?

3. Is there much to do in Miami for our family with young kids? Or should we just spend the minimum one night then do our 7 day cruise. Are there any suggestions on what we could do while in Miami?

Thanks for any advice that anyone can be offered. Looking at the map of Miami is a little overwhelming and I don't know where to start planning! We also don't want to spend $400 night.

Thank you!

 

[MunFam]

Well, we jam packed our 2 days in Miami with a 4 year old, BUT we rented a car. If you want to avoid a car rental, you will me much more limited. We went to the Everglades National Park and went on an airboat tour and our kiddo got to hold a baby alligator. We also went to Biscayne National Park and down to the Keys for a day. BUT...like I said, you need a car.

We arrived at Miami Airport and took the free shuttle to the Homewood Suites Miami Airport Blue Lagoon. They upgraded us to a 2 bedroom suite since it was 3 adults and 1 kid. They offered free wifi plus free breakfast and dinner with wine/beer for free too. At the Marriott next door, there was a Enterprise Rental Car, so we got our car there for 2 days and toured around. Then we returned it the night before and used an UBER to get to the port.

 

[minorthr]

If you are flying into FT Lauderdale and leaving from Miami you are either going to need to rent a car or a car services to take you to miami its about 45min to an hour drive depending on traffic. There maybe some shuttles bus services but you can probably rent a car cheaper then paying for 4 or 5 people on a shuttle.

 

[BensDaddy]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Fort Lauderdale airport. Lots of restaurants and a Walgreens within walking distance and free airport transportation. Uber to the port the next day worked great!

 

[anricat]

1. We stayed downtown at the Intercontinental. We were able to book it through Hotwire as a mystery hotel and got a great rate ($90). There's a park right next door with a playscape that my daughter played on for quite awhile after we checked in. It's also within walking distance of a shopping mall and lots of dining options downtown.

2. We used a shuttle to get from FLL to the hotel (SAS Transport) and we used a taxi to get to the port from the hotel (around $15). From the port back to FLL we also used SAS Transport.

We only spent one night there, so I can't answer your other question.

 

[ksh1111]

We just spent 4 days in Miami (1 pre cruise and 3 post cruise), also sailed out of Miami last March on NCL. This last trip we flew in and out of MIA, but our March trip was in/out FLL.

A few years ago, we stayed at the Sheraton on South Beach, which was great, but it isn't convenient to port.

Pre cruise we stayed at a Hyatt Place near MIA, it was okay, not great by any means.

We stayed on Brickell (central Miami) post cruise, and it was easy to walk around and look at stuff, but traffic is terrible, and they drive very aggressively. We only took our car out one of the 3 days, and went to the Miami Zoo which was amazing, but it is a bit of a drive. We also went to the Everglades on the day we disembarked the cruise, before checking into hotel.

Last March we flew into FLL 2 days before our friends joining us on cruise, and had to go get them from the airport. It took us 3 hours Round trip on a Friday night, to go 25 miles each way. Brutal!

After 5 trips to Miami in last 5 years, we have decided we much prefer to cruise out of other ports, due to the expensive hotels in Miami and needing a car, but it is a really neat city.

 

[wanderlust7]

Is renting a car completely out of the question? The highlight of our post cruise stay was a visit to Lion Country Safari. It's about an hour north of Fort Lauderdale. It features a drive thru safari park (with your own car), as well as animal exhibits, animal feeding (feeding giraffes was especially cool), kiddie rides, and a bunch of other fun things for kids.

 

[minorthr]

If you have extra time in Miami check out the zoological wildlife foundation. It is pretty cool but can be very pricey.