miami (reflection)

Ok so we are (after many years) going out of Miami. We do NOT want to park at the port. Any suggestions on where to park that is easy to get to and not overpriced. We are also considering staying at the Best Western Premier for a night and then keeping our car there for a week. Anyone ever done that? Thanks for all your help.

Be careful about booking in an off site parking facility. They are further from the port than they advertise, shuttles are slow and they won't refund your money if you want to cancel.

Try http://www.parksleepfly.com for hotels that will let you leave your car. You may have to pay for a taxi to get to and fro the terminal. I prefer to stay in Ft. Lauderdale myself. I find the hotels much nicer...at least the ones that offer parking packages on parksleepfly. And trust me, you will get a better rate going through that website than booking directly with the hotel and buying their parking package. Then I use QLS ($15 pp) to take us to Miami. This may sound pricey....but many a cruise out of Miami has made us decide this is the way to go.

Be sure to also post this on the Florida Departures Board.

Keith

BW, along with La Quinta East, Springhill Suites Medical Center, and the Comfort Suites North are budget options near MIA that offer cruise parking deals and are regularly suggested on the FLA board. Nicer hotels in a nicer area are found in the Blue Lagoon area near MIA - Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, etc.

The Hampton Inn Mary Brickell in downtown Miami offers a cruise/stay deal for some dates - worth clicking on the link usually found on the FLA departure board.

None of these hotels include a free shuttle from POM back to your car - figure about a $15 cab ride to downtown hotels and about $30 to MIA area hotels.

We used a garage at 1430 NE 2nd Ave through globalairportparking dot com. It was safe, very quick and easy to the port. Coming back we waited 30 minutes or so, but friends we made on the cruise who were just 5 minutes behind us disembarking had to wait 90 minutes or more.

One problem is that the Celebrity terminal is last on the loop through the port, so your shuttle fills up before it ever gets to you. With 6-7 ships coming in the same morning it is a zoo. You could also hail a cab for your ride back to the garage for about $20.

We live in north florida, so we like to rent a car (about $35 for a day) one way and drop it off.

We usually take the trans atlantic cruises so we fly straight back to home.

I don't know if that works for your situation but i thought i'd mention it.

We live in north florida, so we like to rent a car (about $35 for a day) one way and drop it off.

We usually take the trans atlantic cruises so we fly straight back to home.

I don't know if that works for your situation but i thought i'd mention it.

we used to rent a car one way there then one way back years ago when we did go out of miami BUT I cannot find any decent prices. If I could find a $35 trip then I would do that. what car rental place did you use?

We used a garage at 1430 NE 2nd Ave through globalairportparking dot com. It was safe, very quick and easy to the port. Coming back we waited 30 minutes or so, but friends we made on the cruise who were just 5 minutes behind us disembarking had to wait 90 minutes or more.

 

One problem is that the Celebrity terminal is last on the loop through the port, so your shuttle fills up before it ever gets to you. With 6-7 ships coming in the same morning it is a zoo. You could also hail a cab for your ride back to the garage for about $20.

never did celebrity out of Miami, just RCCL years ago. don't like being at the end of the line. will check out that garage. when was the last time you used it?

Try http://www.parksleepfly.com for hotels that will let you leave your car. You may have to pay for a taxi to get to and fro the terminal. I prefer to stay in Ft. Lauderdale myself. I find the hotels much nicer...at least the ones that offer parking packages on parksleepfly. And trust me, you will get a better rate going through that website than booking directly with the hotel and buying their parking package. Then I use QLS ($15 pp) to take us to Miami. This may sound pricey....but many a cruise out of Miami has made us decide this is the way to go.

I will check that out. but the reason I was thinking of best western premier was because I have a $100 GC for them. Do you have to pay extra for the room if you leave your car there for the week?

we used to rent a car one way there then one way back years ago when we did go out of miami BUT I cannot find any decent prices. If I could find a $35 trip then I would do that. what car rental place did you use?

Try http://www.priceline.com/ and go to Cars or try http://www.rentalcars.com/

never did celebrity out of Miami, just RCCL years ago. don't like being at the end of the line. will check out that garage. when was the last time you used it?

Hi,

It was January of this year. I researched it very thoroughly and it was fine. I even looked at the Miami-Dade police crime map & there had been no incidents in that garage. It is gated etc., and on the Saturdays we were there that area was extremely quiet.

we used to rent a car one way there then one way back years ago when we did go out of miami BUT I cannot find any decent prices. If I could find a $35 trip then I would do that. what car rental place did you use?

We usually go through AAA

Btw Sixt Miami Downtown got us a Mini Cooper as an ECAR class rental for a day, those guys are great. It was around $50 for the day, excl. fees, Sunpass, etc, in total $75 excl gas (a few bucks, the only time in our lives that we left a gas station with a large smile haha). All reserved through their own site, perfect service and easiest pickup and return ever! And nice cars..

I just booked a room at the La Quinta East and they have free parking up to 7 days and a free one way shuttle service to POM. Here is a link to the website.

http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/propertyProfile.do?ident=LQ4040&propId=4040&savedSearchQuery=%2Flq%2FproxySearchRes.do%3FsearchType%3DGEO%26searchCity%3DMiami%26searchState%3DFL%26searchRadius%3D40%26IATA%3D99020724%26cid%3Dsrch_google%26sissr%3D1%26availability.palsra_IND_D%3D31%26availability.palsra_IND_M%3D05%26availability.palsra_IND_Y%3D2014%26availability.palsra_OTD_D%3D01%26availability.palsra_OTD_M%3D06%26availability.palsra_OTD_Y%3D2014

I will check that out. but the reason I was thinking of best western premier was because I have a $100 GC for them. Do you have to pay extra for the room if you leave your car there for the week?

You need to call the hotel for their parking arrangements. Some include parking for 7 days and some 14. And you prearrange it when you book the room. Not sure if that hotel has the package avail.