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Fllorida Residents -alternative to Cruise Connection Bus


mkazmer
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We are FL residents who have taken the Cruise Connection bus for years - they are now out of business and I was wondering if anyone has either rented a car each way - dropping it off near the port and then getting another to drive home, or driven down to the port the day before, stayed in a hotel that lets you leave your vehicle for the duration of the cruise and provides shuttle service.

 

I would be interested in your experiences with both ports - Port Everglades and Port of Miami -

 

Thanks

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Are you driving from Palm City?

 

That's just two hours from POM. Drive to the Port and park there for $20/day. Its still going to be a lot cheaper than paying for two one way car rentals I bet. I would also guess that the Miami-Palm City car rental one way is going to be really expensive.

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Where in Florida are you coming from? I am going on the Freedom out of Port Everglades in June. We live in St. Petersburg. The drive down was never really a problem, cruise addrenaline. But we did a cruise out of Miami several years ago and I will tell you the drive back across Alligator Alley was a nightmare...I was so tired. So to not have that situation again, we are taking the train from Tampa to FLL the day before. It is about the same drive time, little longer. if you figure the cost of parking the car for the weeK and the price of gas and wear on the vehicle. It only cost $120.00 for 2 roundtrip tickets. Just have to pay for a few cab rides.

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Are you driving from Palm City?

 

That's just two hours from POM. Drive to the Port and park there for $20/day. Its still going to be a lot cheaper than paying for two one way car rentals I bet. I would also guess that the Miami-Palm City car rental one way is going to be really expensive.

 

We are driving from Palm City - we found that we can rent a car one way for around $35 each way - WAY less expensive than the $20/day at the port and less that we were paying for the cruise connection bus - so I guess that's what we will do in the future!

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The only easy option now is driving, but in a couple of years there is a train being built that will go from Orlando to Miami along the coast stopping in Fort Lauderdale on the way. http://www.allaboardflorida.com/ this time it is going to be privately funded. (for those of you who live in Florida you know how our horrible governor killed high speed rail ...)

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The only easy option now is driving, but in a couple of years there is a train being built that will go from Orlando to Miami along the coast stopping in Fort Lauderdale on the way. http://www.allaboardflorida.com/ this time it is going to be privately funded. (for those of you who live in Florida you know how our horrible governor killed high speed rail ...)

Our great governor saved we common sense Floridian's a considerable amount of money in taxes.

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We are FL residents who have taken the Cruise Connection bus for years - they are now out of business and I was wondering if anyone has either rented a car each way - dropping it off near the port and then getting another to drive home, or driven down to the port the day before, stayed in a hotel that lets you leave your vehicle for the duration of the cruise and provides shuttle service.

 

I would be interested in your experiences with both ports - Port Everglades and Port of Miami -

 

Thanks

 

 

We drive to both ports from the western side of the state and have never had a problem. And we always use an off port parking facility.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We too have used

cruise

connction from the West

coast to Ft. Lauderdale or Miamin cruise ports. I have been told that a company has bought this bus company and will begin operating in November 1912. It's called My

Cruise Bus. It's on line mycruise bus.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

b

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We drive down day before and stay in hotel....then park at the "Park-n-go" right next to the port, and they shuttle to and from the port....it only costs about $7.95 a day way cheaper than at the port!!!!!!! The service is fast too!

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Anyone who is cruising with Princess or Holland America can reserve bus transportation with your travel agent. I couldn't find any info on Princess website about this and then discovered that it is in their search engine as 'coach transportation' instead of 'bus'!!! I spoke to a Princess rep and she confirmed this. They have their own bus to Port.

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Whether we rent a car down and back to the port depends on the number of days we are cruising and the port we are cruising from. Ft. Lauderdale, a week or less cruise, we drive our own car and use Park 'N Go. It’s usually cheaper than renting a car and actually easier than parking at the port as we don’t have to handle our own luggage. They take it out of our vehicle, load it on the shuttle, and hand it off to the porters at the port. (I always check for deals like $5.99- $7.99 per day)http://offairportparking.com/portevg/.

For longer cruises, it is usually more cost effective to just rent a car to and from Ft. Lauderdale.

However, for port of Miami, we just about always rent from Hertz down and back. They are less expensive to use than any port parking. Their office is about 5 blocks from port, and they have a very efficient shuttle process.

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Just got off the phone with Princess. Representative, who check with her supervisor, said that they HAD a bus but got so many complaints that they cancelled the service. I hope they get new servers before the Fall. Any new info gladly accepted.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Appreciate all the input, have found that one way rental can be cost effective - just depends on the deal one gets.

 

We used to drive to the ports and park in the garages there, but my husband is very picky about where he parks the car and with the amount of traffic in and out, it just isn't a good option for us.

 

Looked at the mycruisebus.com and it isn't live yet - shows a Sarasota address - will check it out to see if there actually is a business with that name or a DBA for it.

 

Didn't know (and you would think I would having cruised with Princess a bunch) that I could reserve bus transpo with Princess.

 

Since we won't be cruising until Fall, there is time for the company to get up and running - or we will just do one way rentals - but it won't stop us from cruising - LOL

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Appreciate all the input, have found that one way rental can be cost effective - just depends on the deal one gets.

 

We used to drive to the ports and park in the garages there, but my husband is very picky about where he parks the car and with the amount of traffic in and out, it just isn't a good option for us.

 

Looked at the mycruisebus.com and it isn't live yet - shows a Sarasota address - will check it out to see if there actually is a business with that name or a DBA for it.

 

Didn't know (and you would think I would having cruised with Princess a bunch) that I could reserve bus transpo with Princess.

 

Since we won't be cruising until Fall, there is time for the company to get up and running - or we will just do one way rentals - but it won't stop us from cruising - LOL

 

It's a bit in limbo now. Princess, and maybe other lines, HAD a contract with Gold Coast Tours after Cruise Connection sank but they canceled that contract in early June. There is a service <thefloridaexpressbus.com> that says they mimic the same route & stops as Cruise Connection. It's pricy, and their fares are listed as "one way". Be sure to read their very strict cancellation policy which I interpret as "no refund under any circumstances"! Some bad reviews, also.Then there is a new company that has a website "under construction" @ <mycruisebus.com> in Sarasota. Rumor has it that they are to be the genuine replacement for Cruise Connection, and plans a fall opening. More rumor has it that they will operate directly by or under Princess alone or in concert with several cruise lines. There is a phone number on the website. Our neighbors booked the bus with Princess months ago when there WAS a contract. Their TA says that her contact at Princess proclaimed that there WILL be a bus by fall!

 

REDTOY

Punta Gorda, FL

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We are FL residents who have taken the Cruise Connection bus for years - they are now out of business and I was wondering if anyone has either rented a car each way - dropping it off near the port and then getting another to drive home, or driven down to the port the day before, stayed in a hotel that lets you leave your vehicle for the duration of the cruise and provides shuttle service.

 

I would be interested in your experiences with both ports - Port Everglades and Port of Miami -

 

Thanks

 

We live close to Daytona and it takes us about 4 hrs or so we always drive our car. The past few cruises we've taken we stay at a hotel the night before so we aren't exhausted from waking up and driving the day the ship leaves.

 

A few years ago we stay at a hotel near Miami airport and left our car for the week free of charge. This time we are only doing a 4 day cruise and parking at the port. We also will be staying the night before.

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  • 3 weeks later...

On another cruise critic site someone posted that Escot Bus Co. will be picking up the old schedule. (Fri thru Mon) cruiseconnection.travel 1-888)501-5388. I did email Princess and they said you could no longer schedule it through them but they did give me the name and tele #. If anyone has anyother info re the bus please reply.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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