Feeling overwhelmed

DH and I are booked for cruise out of POM on 12/15. We are planning on flying in the day before (thanks to our previous VERY stressful cruise experience). Now that Southwest's prices are out there, I've been comparing. Should we fly into MIA for about $200 more + baggage, or fly into FLL on Southwest that would include baggage? If we fly into FLL, do we do a hotel in FLL and then what is the best way to get to POM and then back to FLL after the cruise? Could we fly into FLL and do hotel near POM? Does the cost of transporting from FLL area to POM outweigh the lower airline fees? The options are making my head spin and I hope this was enough questions :)

DH and I are booked for cruise out of POM on 12/15. We are planning on flying in the day before (thanks to our previous VERY stressful cruise experience). Now that Southwest's prices are out there, I've been comparing. Should we fly into MIA for about $200 more + baggage, or fly into FLL on Southwest that would include baggage? If we fly into FLL, do we do a hotel in FLL and then what is the best way to get to POM and then back to FLL after the cruise? Could we fly into FLL and do hotel near POM? Does the cost of transporting from FLL area to POM outweigh the lower airline fees? The options are making my head spin and I hope this was enough questions :)

I would fly into FLL (but budget is important to me). Save the $250 or so after baggage. You can get from Fort Lauderdale to Miami on a shuttle for $15/pp.

Once you've made the flight decision you can start planning the rest of your trip. Once decision at at time and you'll get through it.

Have a great cruise.

THings to consider....

Miami hotels are generally higher $$ than FtL .

How much time will you have to spend?

What do you want to do with your time?

Would you be willing to spend time at an airport hotel or do you want to be closer to the port?

Miami and FtL offer different things. Have you been to both before? Guess you'll have to think about which city you will be happier in for the day.

We will hardly be there. Our arrival might be a little after 5pm and could be as late as 10:30 pm, so for a hotel we really just want a clean place to sleep and have a relatively easy transition the next day.

DH and I are booked for cruise out of POM on 12/15. We are planning on flying in the day before (thanks to our previous VERY stressful cruise experience). Now that Southwest's prices are out there, I've been comparing. Should we fly into MIA for about $200 more + baggage, or fly into FLL on Southwest that would include baggage? If we fly into FLL, do we do a hotel in FLL and then what is the best way to get to POM and then back to FLL after the cruise? Could we fly into FLL and do hotel near POM? Does the cost of transporting from FLL area to POM outweigh the lower airline fees? The options are making my head spin and I hope this was enough questions :)

Hi okeydoke,

I had a similar question / problem few years ago. My flight from DTW to Fll was priced lower than a flight to Mia. My cruise was from POM - so what to do ?, what to choose ?

I looked at that this way:

If I fly to Mia I will need a taxi or perhaps a hotel supplied shuttle to the hotel.

If I fly to Fll I will need a taxi or perhaps hotel provided shuttle to the hotel.

So far it is the same regardless where I fly.

Hotel in the area of Miami or hotel in the area of Fll will cost me about the same ( similar hotel).

In the morning if I am in Miami, I will need a taxi or a shuttle to the POM.

If I am in a hotel in the Fll area I will need a taxi or a shuttle to the POM.

So again a similar situation.

In my case the shuttle from Fll to POM was 15 dol p/p so that would be about the same ( 30 dol for two) or close what the taxi would cost in Miami.

On the way back after the cruise, I would need a taxi or a shuttle to the airport.

If I need to go to Mia from POM the cost probably will be 20 / 25 dol for the taxi.

If I need a transportation from POM to Fll airport the shuttle did cost us 15 dol p/p, so it was 30 dol.

Again not that much difference.

The only real difference was the ride: from Fll to POM was about 45 / 50 min. the same on the way back.

Enjoy your cruise.

We will hardly be there. Our arrival might be a little after 5pm and could be as late as 10:30 pm, so for a hotel we really just want a clean place to sleep and have a relatively easy transition the next day.

Okay, then that makes the decision easier because you won't be looking for a lot of entertainment for the evening.

I think I'd fly into FLL for the flight savings, stay at one of the newer "airport" hotels that will pick you up. Check out the Dania area. Then head to MIA in the morning via some shuttle system. You can find recs here.

My DH would prefer to be in the city where the ship departs so he wouldn't worry that something would go off the morning you had to get to the port.

You'll get help here. While you wait however, scan thru these threads as there are many that ask about the same situation as you have.;)

DH and I are booked for cruise out of POM on 12/15. We are planning on flying in the day before (thanks to our previous VERY stressful cruise experience). Now that Southwest's prices are out there, I've been comparing. Should we fly into MIA for about $200 more + baggage, or fly into FLL on Southwest that would include baggage? If we fly into FLL, do we do a hotel in FLL and then what is the best way to get to POM and then back to FLL after the cruise? Could we fly into FLL and do hotel near POM? Does the cost of transporting from FLL area to POM outweigh the lower airline fees? The options are making my head spin and I hope this was enough questions :)

Save the $200, stay near FLL (check out www.sunny.org for info on area hotels), and use SAS (www.ridesas.com) or one of the other shuttle operators (QLS and Go Airport Shuttles) to get to/from POM. Good luck! :)

Love Southwest. Fly to FLL.

Hey there-

I agree with the others. Stay in Ft. Lauderdale near the airport at a hotel

that provides a shuttle, or do the Super Shuttle to Port of Miami! Miami

is more expensive all the way around, and Ft. Lauderdale really caters to

the cruisers more...check out tripadvisor for hotel reviews and for which ones have free shuttle service....Its all good, now breath!:cool:

DH and I are booked for cruise out of POM on 12/15. We are planning on flying in the day before (thanks to our previous VERY stressful cruise experience). Now that Southwest's prices are out there, I've been comparing. Should we fly into MIA for about $200 more + baggage, or fly into FLL on Southwest that would include baggage? If we fly into FLL, do we do a hotel in FLL and then what is the best way to get to POM and then back to FLL after the cruise? Could we fly into FLL and do hotel near POM? Does the cost of transporting from FLL area to POM outweigh the lower airline fees? The options are making my head spin and I hope this was enough questions :)

Thanks everyone - I have much more confidence in our decision now to fly in and hotel in FLL and shuttle to Miami in the morning. DH loves the idea of saving a few bucks too!

What ship are you sailing on in December? We are on Epic sailing 12/15/12! Anyway, I was worried about the same things you are for our first cruise out of Miami. Fly to FLL and take a shuttle to Miami. They are cheap enough. You can get a good deal on hotels in Miami through Last Minute Travel dot com. Hotels that are near the port. Then on the day of sailing take a cab to port for around $10ish dollars. We are staying at Intercontinental. Great location and within walking distance to Bayside Marketplace. I recommend it. We also are looking at flights on SW but I am going to wait to see if the price comes down a bit since they just opened them up.

I would fly into Fort Lauderdale and then find a hotel in the Port of Miami. A taxi or shuttle service would take you from Fort Lauderdale airport to the Port of Miami.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale a few years back and we cruised out of the Port of Miami. We rented a car and that was pretty convenient as well

I wish I waited for Southwest to open. I hate that they waited so long to open. They added nonstop flights from Manchester, NH and I could have saved $150 pp and I'm a family of 5 if I waited.

As far as the others have said, flying into FLL and getting to Miami is easy. I've done it on my past 3 cruises. The only difference for me is I would rather stay in Miami the night before so I'm closer to the port. Most of the shuttles won't pick you up in FLL until 11am since they are busy picking people up at the ports to return home. I'd rather be at the port before then to get on the ship as soon as I can.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise

We have flown into FLL and cruised out of Miami. There was a huge cost savings - so with some of the money we saved we hired a limo to take us from our FLL hotel to the Miami cruiseport. It was such a fun way for our family to start our vacation.

We have flown into FLL and cruised out of Miami. There was a huge cost savings - so with some of the money we saved we hired a limo to take us from our FLL hotel to the Miami cruiseport. It was such a fun way for our family to start our vacation.

We are thinking of using a limo. What service did you use?

It's been almost two years ago but we used Larry's Limos - 1-800-611-6631 or 1-954-473-6631. They were excellent to work with and we arrived to the port in style!