Miami - hop on, hop off bus tour recommendation?

We are coming in to Miami 2 days before our cruise. We are interested in taking the type of bus tour where you can hop on & off all day so that we can explore the city. I can find some tours with google, but have no idea which one might be best.

Does anyone have any recomendations?

We have done the same thing before. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Biscayne across the street from Bayside Marketplace. It was great location. So much to do over there. We also ordered a Miami Go card before we went. It includes the hop on hop off bus and many attractions. The bay cruise was great. It was a very affordable way to see what Miami has to offer. On the web page it will list all the attractions that are included for one price. Some of the attractions are stops on the hop on hop off bus route so that makes it nice. The buses leave from Bayside Marketplace so that was nice also. Hope this helps.

We have done the Hop on Hop off couple times... great way to see the city!

Joanne

I've seen the duck tours before but never the HOHO busses.

We are staying at the Hampton Inn near Bayside, so that will work great!

I will also look into the Miami go card - thanks!! :D

Have a great time.

Keith

We took the HOHO as a way to kill time between debarkation and our flight time. The one thing we did though is bought it as an excursion from the cruise line because your baggage is stored for you and when done, you get complementary transfer to the airport. Those two things were worth the little extra price for me. Booking it on your own will save some money but you will have to drag your luggage along with you and get a cab to the airport.

We are coming in to Miami 2 days before our cruise. We are interested in taking the type of bus tour where you can hop on & off all day so that we can explore the city. I can find some tours with google, but have no idea which one might be best.

 

Does anyone have any recomendations?

The tour company I usually book with in most cities I have travelled is City Sightseeing Hop On Hop Off, and there is one in Miami. In fact, there is a Groupon for this particular one for $35 for 2 people:

http://www.groupon.com/deals/city-sight-seeing-miami

http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/united-states-of-america/miami.htm?set-currency=USD

The other company is Big Bus Tours:

http://eng.bigbustours.com/miami/home.html?gclid=CLfdyMGP47sCFeJF7AodLQYAuw

We have done the Hop on Hop off couple times... great way to see the city!

 

Joanne

I have a 2pm flight and am interested more in going to one location rather than touring on the bus the whole time. Can you remember any of the stops? Any way to find out the stops of the hoho bus used by ncl? (am booking thru them for luggage storage and airport transfer)Ncl couldn't tell me for some reason. Thanks for any help you can give me. Shirl

We are staying at the Hampton Inn near Bayside, so that will work great!

 

I will also look into the Miami go card - thanks!! :D

We did this one year. It is a very nice way to get an overview. Yes you can pick up a bus right at Bayside. You'll see them lined up at one of the entrances. It'll take you over to Miami Beach and South Beach. Plan on getting off there for great time. You'll also go thru Little Havana area where some people got off for the"famous" ice cream store. If it's not too busy, the bus will actually wait. You'll get a map I think I remember of the route and stops.

Since you are there for two days, you have no reason to book thru the cruiseline.

Hi XYZ Cruiser,

I just returned from the NCL Getaway on July26 & I took the Big Buss HOHO with Miami Airport drop off (NCL cost $54.99pp). I too tried calling NCL customer service to confirm details but they weren't very informed & told me to ask on the ship. This didn't really help since I wanted the info in advance to determine my flight departure time as I wanted to squeeze in the HOHO tour. The shore excursion description on the NCL site mentions 13 stops which is actually only 1 loop & I wanted to be able to do both loops (20 total), but needed confirmation that I was indeed allowed to do both loops. I posted on CC but didn't get a response before leaving so I wanted to give you the info you need.

Turns out> Yes, you can do both loops (time permitting). Each loop did take 90 minutes (be careful b/c there can be alot of traffic on the beach loop depending on the time of day and whether it is a weekend, etc.). We did both loops in 3 hrs without getting off. Central Stn is Bayside & you do have to switch buses for the 2 loops. If getting off, expect/allow a 30 minute wait for the next bus to arrive at your stop.

City Loop stops: Central Stn/Vizcaya & Science Museum/Coconut Grove/Biltmore Hotel/Venetian Pool/Coral Gables Downtown/Cuban Eateries/Little Havana

Beach Loop stops: Central Stn/Miami Beach Marina/South Pointe Park/ Ocean Drive/Loews Hotel/Bass Museum/Riu Hotel/Fontainebleau/Lincoln Road/Old Miami Beach City Hall/Angler's Resort/Shops at 5th & Alton/ Jungle Island.

We booked the post cruise excursion last minute on the ship after I got the specifics>cost diff appears to be only $1 according to the Big Bus Map/Brochure. They stored our luggage on the van that picked up the luggage (leave 15 minutes or so to get your luggage and then head to the airport shuttle right around the corner). The shuttles leave for MIA airport every hr (11:45am is the 1st shuttle departure with an est Airport arrival time of 12:15pm). The last shuttle leaving for MIA airport is 4:45pm (airport arrival of 5:15pm).

Remember to check the weather forecast before booking the HOHO (We forgot to check when we booked & it was raining> still okay to see from the lower level>able to do the 2nd loop on the upper level. They provide rain ponchos, but ran out. Also remember to ask at the ship desk for a BIG BUS HOHO map, because they also ran out of them on the bus)...Hope this helps with your planning.