Where to stay in Miami before a Disney Cruise.

[DouglasG]

Hi, we are going on a Disney cruise leaving on December 27th out of Miami. We will arrive on December 26th. Any suggestions on where to stay the night before the cruise or what to do in Miami that evening? thanks!

 

[dcassetta]

Will you have a rental car, or will you need transportation from the airport? Do you want to stay close to the airport, or close to the port of Miami? What kind of things do you and your family enjoy doing – that may help with suggestions. Miami is a hugecity with a wide variety of things to do.

 

[DouglasG]

It will just be me and my 12 year old daughter. We will have a car as my mother lives in Florida and will pick us up from the airport. I thought we would stay close to the port for convenience. My daughter likes shopping. We would love to go to a show the night before the cruise, but not sure what is playing and where. Would consider staying on Miami Beach or other ocean location and do some swimming or water sports. My daughter loves to find sea schells, any good locations for this? We just don't know Miami at all. I'm sure there is a lot of fun stuff to do the night before the cruise, but I just don't know what it would be. Just looking for some random suggestions on an activity and hotel (hopefully reasonably priced!). Thanks.

 

[dcassetta]

I have two general recommendations for you based on your interests.

For shopping in theater evening I would recommend staying close to the port. The holiday inn at the port of Miami and the Marriott Biscayne are both pretty close to the port and would be accessible for shopping and shows. The Bayside marketplace is an outdoor mall and restaurant area it's also pretty close to the port. For shows I would recommend the www.arshtcenter.com or the www.areastagecompany.com. If you enjoy dance the www.miamicityballet.org is also good.

Southeast Florida is not great for shelling. Your best options there would probably be up to go out to Key Biscayne.
There are two hotels there - the Ritz, which is pretty pricey, and the Silver Sands which is more reasonable. Both have pools and are beachfront. On Miami Beach itself, my favorite hotel is the Fontainebleau.

 

[MandAmommy]

I'm glad to hear a recommendation for the Marriott Biscayne as that has been on my radar for where to stay when we sail out of Miami.

 

[anricat]

We're booked for our October cruise at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. There's a large shopping complex nearby and lots of food options. The cab from there to the port should be fairly inexpensive.

 

[Anonny]

Two nights pre-cruise in December, we're staying at the Edgewater South Beach.
http://www.edgewatersouthbeach.com

 

[gzmtlock]

For our cruise this past January, DD17 and I flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before, rented a car, and stayed at a Hampton Inn in Coral Gables. Shopping and restaurants within walking distance. Morning of, we drove (not far) to Fairchild Botanic Gardens and spent 3 hours there - it was lovely! One of the highlights of our vacation! Drove the rental car to MIA, returned it, and took the shuttle to the port. Arrived at the port about 2 pm, no lines, basically walked onto the Wonder. Easiest embarkation ever!

If we ever leave from Miami again, I would try to do exactly the same again!!

 

[Anonny]

For our cruise this past January, DD17 and I flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before, rented a car, and stayed at a Hampton Inn in Coral Gables. Shopping and restaurants within walking distance. Morning of, we drove (not far) to Fairchild Botanic Gardens and spent 3 hours there - it was lovely! One of the highlights of our vacation! Drove the rental car to MIA, returned it, and took the shuttle to the port. Arrived at the port about 2 pm, no lines, basically walked onto the Wonder. Easiest embarkation ever!

If we ever leave from Miami again, I would try to do exactly the same again!!

What was the cost of shuttle from MIA to the port?

 

[gzmtlock]

Free, with rental car from Alamo.

 

[ajo]

We stayed at the Conrad Miami this past winter before our Wonder cruise. It was super convenient because it was a DCL hotel. We checked in at the DCL desk when we arrived and they gave us the DCL transfer info for the next morning. Our bags were picked up from our rooms in the morning and we took the DCL transfer to the port. It was so easy. The hotel was also walking distance from a large shopping area. We were able to walk to dinner as well as the grocery store and stock up for our cruise. It's probably not the cheapest option, but it was so easy that it was totally worth it for us!

 

[tinkmom2]

We stayed at Hampton Inn in FLL. It's close to the FLL airport. You can rent a car there to go to port. We used All Star Transportation and they were late. It was also $80.00 for the four of us when we were quoted much less. It wasn't too bad getting to port from there. The rooms were clean and they had a great free continental breakfast.

 

[dennes]

We stayed at Yve Hotel which is opposite Biscayne Marketplace. They organised the shuttle to the port $4 each. Easy done!

 

[mevelandry]

We are booked at the Stanton. I was told it is one of the hotel DCL usually uses.