sailing out of Miami--how easy or hard compared to PC?

[daisyx3]

For sailings out of Miami, how easy is it to get to Port? Not just Disney either, could be Celebrity or Carnival. I don't even know which airport to use, Miami? Fort Lauderdale? I would be flying in the night before--any hotel recommendations with shuttles? Thanks.
Daisyx3

 

[Capt_BJ]

MIA is much closer to POM than is Orlando to PC ..... a taxi is flat rate $27 and takes about 15 minutes so that is probably easier in the eyes of many

Ft Lauderdale as an alternate airport is still closer than is the Orlando to PC jaunt

there are plenty of hotel rooms available but Miami prices tend to be higher than Canaveral/Cocoa area and Miami is 'big city' so there are issues with WHERE you stay in town. The Brickell area is popular with food options a plenty; or Blue Lagoon near the airport. Many like to go to South Beach (a sep' city) but expect hotels and food to be mre $$.

if you drive the traffic in Miami is intimidating to many ... actually the way from Palm Beach south ... and don't even think about saving $ by using off site parking!

 

[Scillycruisers]

We sailed from Miami in Feb for the first time. We were at WDW before so rented a car and drove down the evening before. We returned the car to Miami Airport in the morning and got the free Alamo shuttle to the port, it wasn't far at all - this was for a non DCL cruise (another first!)
Don't know if this helps at all.

 

[daisyx3]

We sailed from Miami in Feb for the first time. We were at WDW before so rented a car and drove down the evening before. We returned the car to Miami Airport in the morning and got the free Alamo shuttle to the port, it wasn't far at all - this was for a non DCL cruise (another first!)
Don't know if this helps at all.

It does; we are actually looking at other lines right now. Where did you stay in Miami and did you like it?
OK if Miami is an iffy place to spend the night, what's another option with a shuttle or a reasonable taxi?

 

[Quagmire]

We have sailed the last two times on Disney out of Miami. We flew into Fort Lauderdale and had a shuttle service pick us up and take us to Miami and had absolutely no problems. It was very easy.

 

[Jess_S]

It does; we are actually looking at other lines right now. Where did you stay in Miami and did you like it?
OK if Miami is an iffy place to spend the night, what's another option with a shuttle or a reasonable taxi?

Miami isn't an iffy place to spend a night at all. Just pricey. Both times that I've stayed in Miami, I used priceline to book my hotels. (I did blind bidding to save some money). South Beach is a more fun place to stay if you are going to be there early enough to enjoy yourself. It's a fun place to stroll around -- lots of art deco architecture, trendy dining and a nice beach. Otherwise, downtown Miami is very convenient to the cruise port. Even if your hotel doesn't do a shuttle, the cab fare is very cheap. We stayed at the Hyatt http://miamiregency.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html, which had very nice views, but a crummy pool area. We walked to Bayside Marketplace for dinner. It's right on the bay and has a fun outdoor daiquiri bar and nice selection of restaurants.

ETA: I apparently don't clean out my inbox enough because I still have the winning bid confirmation for the Hyatt. We paid $179 for our room.

 

[cedricandsophie]

The holiday inn is right across from the bayside mall. I think the room was 199 when we stayed which I thought was a good price compared to the 350 I paid in south beach the year Before. If you haven't been to south beach its a real kick to hang out. The people watching is the best!

But bayside mall is right on the wYer with lots of options for eating and drinking. And the holiday inn was very nice. No breakfast included but we just waited to get on the ship and have early lunch. I think the cab ride to port was about 15.

 

[ImDMous]

We flew into Ft Lauderdale and had SAS shuttle pick us up and take us to the Doubletree Grand Bicayne Bay. We took a cab to Bayside Mall for dinner. Next morning we took the hotel's shuttle (wasn't free but I think it was inexpensive) to the port with our fellow cruisers. Easy peasy.

 

[Crumpets]

I live in Miami so let me offer you my comparisons:
Fly into Miami if you are not planning on really leaving the hotel and its just a pit stop until the next day. There are some decent hotels by the airport or some in Brickell/Downtown.
South Beach is great but has become very rowdy and for lack of a better word "trashy" with frequent shootings. Fort lauderdale is a much "safer" option in terms of you can wander around and feel comfortable. Both the airport area and beach are good. However the traffic on the 95 is awful!! There are accidents constantly. If you stay in fort lauderdale get an Uber which will cost you about $50 to the port. Depending on time of day plan at least an hour door to door.

 

[anricat]

In October we flew into FLL because we were able to fly non-stop on Southwest (no brainer). We uses SAS shuttle to downtown Miami and stayed at the Intercontinental. There's a playground across the street that my daughter played at for awhile before we walked a little ways up to meander around Bayside Mall. Then we enjoyed a meal and some gelato in downtown Miami.

The next morning we took a cab to port. It was fairly inexpensive (maybe $10-15, if I remember correctly). On the return, SAS picked us up at the port and took us directly to FLL.

I would do it again all the same way next time were we sailing out of Miami again (no plans at the moment, but you never know).

 

[m&m's mom]

Oh my gosh!!It's so stinkin easy!!
I braved going from PC to Miami last year as the 5 day cruise I wanted only departed from Miami. Now, I may never go back to PC again.
As others have said the transportation is the HUGE advantage. Instead of an hour+ drive, it's just a $27 15 min cab ride.
I liked it so much, I just cruised on another 5 days out of Miami a week ago.

 

[shoes99]

We live in the Northeast and have booked a B2B out of Miami for the first time this winter. We are
veteran DCL cruisers but are looking for something different. I liked that I could book
a 5 night Bahamian cruise and a 5 night Western cruise out of the same port. DH has
mobility issues, so we are flying down 2 days early and staying in a hotel near Miami airport.
Sounds like we won't have any trouble from airport to hotel, and hotel to port.

 

[Shanti]

For sailings out of Miami, how easy is it to get to Port? Not just Disney either, could be Celebrity or Carnival. I don't even know which airport to use, Miami? Fort Lauderdale? I would be flying in the night before--any hotel recommendations with shuttles? Thanks.
Daisyx3

DCL provides a shuttle to & from the Miami airport, but not Fort Lauderdale, so I would stick to the former.

 

[Scillycruisers]

It does; we are actually looking at other lines right now. Where did you stay in Miami and did you like it?
OK if Miami is an iffy place to spend the night, what's another option with a shuttle or a reasonable taxi?

We didn't actually stay in Miami. As we were driving down from WDW we stayed about 45mins drive North at a Doubletree. It was fine and cheaper than in Miami. We then just drove the rest of the way to MIA in the morning.

 

[jack87891]

For sailings out of Miami, how easy is it to get to Port? Not just Disney either, could be Celebrity or Carnival. I don't even know which airport to use, Miami? Fort Lauderdale? I would be flying in the night before--any hotel recommendations with shuttles? Thanks.
Daisyx3

Miami is relatively easy to use for cruises. If you stay by the airport you the hotel will likely have a free shuttle. Hotels are usually in the $125-$150 range. You can then take a shuttle (about $12 per person) to the cruise port or take a taxi ($30 ish). It's only about 15 minutes to the port. We have stayed at the home wood suites and the doubletree by the airport. Both are nice and convenient. Or you can stay downtown which is closer to the cruise port. The hotels will be more expensive and you will have to pay to get to the hotel from the airport. The taxi from the downtown hotel to the cruise port will cost less than from the airport

Having cruised out of both I prefer port canaveral. I like the cruise terminal much better than miami's. If you stay by the PC cruise port, the hotels are less expensive than Miami.
If you drive in from Orlando it is really cool when you first get a glimpse of the ship, but that's just my preference

 

[Jess_S]

Fort lauderdale is a much "safer" option in terms of you can wander around and feel comfortable.

I got curious about this statement because we visited friends in FLL last summer and I actually felt much less safe there than in Miami. We saw lots of obvious drug addicts laying about, etc. in Fort Lauderdale. Since anecdotal experience isn't particularly valuable, I decided to check the crime rate in both places. Based upon crime stats on neighborhoodscout.com, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are actually equally unsafe. Both have a higher crime rate than 94% of US cities. Florida as a state has a higher crime rate than many other states. But if you look at crime by neighborhood, there are many safe neighborhoods in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Florida as a whole.

If I were personally choosing between FLL and Miami for a precruise stay out of Miami, I would choose Miami for convenience alone. It was great to be able to sleep in, have a nice breakfast and still get to the port and board the ship before lunch.

 

[trayecejay]

We stayed at the Comfort Suites Miami airport North. They had a free airport shuttle that picked us up when we called and a free shuttle to port. The rooms were nice and breakfast was included. The also offer a reasonably priced voucher for shuttle service post cruise back to the airport if you need it.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

We stayed at a downtown Marriott Courtyard. They had a shuttle for $10pp (you had to book it the night before). We arrived after dark, but the clerk told us we would love our room. We didn't figure out why until the next morning when we awoke to a view of the Disney Wonder.

We felt perfectly safe in the hotel, but it wasn't an area I would have wanted to wander around alone at night.

 

[MPS516]

• If coming in the "night" before I would probably just stay near MIA airport, catch a cab to port. We always fly into Ft Lauderdale and spend a day or two; get daily water taxi pass, lots of places to visit and eat. We book with Jiffy Jeff's Shuttle to port, cheap, clean and reliable. Port very easy and smooth, drop and pick up clearly marked and not crowded. Our cruise departure port determines whether we spend a few days at WDW or Ft Lauderdale, both very enjoyable.

 

[daisyx3]

If we are sailing Saturday-Saturday, I will already have to miss a work day on Friday to fly in early so one day is the limit.