Pre cruise tour of Miami on departure day.

We are cruising out of Miami in November on Carnival Victory. We are flying in on the departure day with our flight arriving at 8:30 in the morning and we are looking for suggestions on the best way to get a quick tour of Miami before going to the port.

there are hop on hop off tours (which are common in EU are they not)

but your timing is really not conducive to this IMO

for example, what are you going to do with your luggage?

the ship will PROBABLY start boarding around 11 .....

We are not bothered about getting on the ship early. My wife has never been to Miami and wants to see South Beach. We just are not sure of the best way to get from the Airport to SB and then to the port.

As for luggage we will only have carry on as it is only a 4 day cruise.

well the quick and dirty is to jump in a taxi and let him drive you around ... on the meter ... which could get expensive.

In the islands I'd just approach a driver and negotiate a "tour" for a flat price, but in the US ........ hmmmmmm ... taxi are on the meter and even UBER has an up front commitment.

As I mentioned there ARE hop on/off tours and these all seem to stop at BAYSIDE which is just outside of the port. My concern would be what the 'minimum' round trip time is .... but Google is your friend.

Maybe someone else will jump in with a better solution.

We are not bothered about getting on the ship early. My wife has never been to Miami and wants to see South Beach. We just are not sure of the best way to get from the Airport to SB and then to the port.

As for luggage we will only have carry on as it is only a 4 day cruise.

By the time you de-plane, walk about a mile in the terminal and get through customs it will be close to 10:00 AM if your plane arrives on time. Your only realistic options are a taxi (expensive) or a rental car at the airport in which you could drive around for about 2-3 hours before you would have to return to MIA, drop the car and take the car rental shuttle to the port. Personally, I just wouldn't do it because you're not going to see much other than traffic. And if you have trouble and get stuck, you could miss the ship.

Our flight into Miami is a domestic one from DC so we should be out relativity quickly. Does anyone know of any tours which have an airport pickup and port drop off? All I have found on google are tours which start at the port.

Our flight into Miami is a domestic one from DC so we should be out relativity quickly. Does anyone know of any tours which have an airport pickup and port drop off? All I have found on google are tours which start at the port.

Your best bet is to jump in a cab with your luggage and head to News Cafe on Ocean Drive for a leisurely brunch.

Afterwards, if you want to walk around, pay a hotel concierge a couple of dollars to watch your luggage for you.

Sitting at News Cafe (do not eat at the other Ocean Drive restaurants because they are ripoffs and will charge you $28 for coffee, not joking), will give you a very good idea of what South Beach is.

I'm serious about the restaurants. The Front Porch you can also eat at but there are other restaurants that play on their name that will are rip offs.

I seriously suggest you look into a hop on hop off like

http://eng.bigbustours.com/miami/route-map.html

- you can start the tour at any stop ... so altho they do not go to the airport, there are stops about halfway between the airport and port ... you could taxi or uber to a stop

- you can switch routes at several stops so plan to get on the one that goes out to south beach ....

this is just one company ... there are several ....

Our flight into Miami is a domestic one from DC so we should be out relativity quickly. Does anyone know of any tours which have an airport pickup and port drop off? All I have found on google are tours which start at the port.

Oh...Well, you failed to mention that bit of bad news. November? Washington, D.C.? Flying in the day of the cruise?

I'm sorry, but you just might be lucky to make it in time to catch the ship.

Oh...Well, you failed to mention that bit of bad news. November? Washington, D.C.? Flying in the day of the cruise?

 

I'm sorry, but you just might be lucky to make it in time to catch the ship.

OP - While I always advocate flying in a day early, weather in Washington, DC in November is usually fine (excepting an unforecasted snow storm that dumped over 12 inches of snow over Veterans Day weekend almost 30 years ago :D). December (except last December when it was like summer all over the east coast) through March can be dicey because, even though the weather isn't as bad as New England and the mid-west, the local governments have no where near the equipment necessary to handle a large storm.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Although i live in the UK I am originally from the DC area and am well versed with the weather. It is a chance we will have to take. I believe the hop on hop off bus is the best option. We can get an express metro train to Bayside which is the first stop for the buses and is also walking distance from the port so we are covered for any eventuality.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Although i live in the UK I am originally from the DC area and am well versed with the weather. It is a chance we will have to take. I believe the hop on hop off bus is the best option. We can get an express metro train to Bayside which is the first stop for the buses and is also walking distance from the port so we are covered for any eventuality.

There is no express metro train to Bayside. You can get the Tri-Rail from MIA, but then you have to transfer to the Metro Rail, and then you have to transfer to the Metro Mover to get to Bayside. Not sure what day you are traveling, but on weekends, the schedules are limited.

If your wife wants to see South Beach, then take the Airport Flyer bus straight from MIA to South Beach for $2.35 per person (Lincoln Rd & Washington Ave). Then you can take a taxi or Uber to Port Miami.

http://www.miami-airport.com/pdfdoc/airport_flyer_brochure.pdf

Keep in mind that you have to check-in at the pier at least 90-minutes prior to departure.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Although i live in the UK I am originally from the DC area and am well versed with the weather. It is a chance we will have to take. I believe the hop on hop off bus is the best option. We can get an express metro train to Bayside which is the first stop for the buses and is also walking distance from the port so we are covered for any eventuality.

There is no express anything from the airport to Bayside, not a train, bus or camel.

You will spend hours on public transportation. What we do have is not efficient or quick.

If you want to see South Beach, take a taxi to South Beach.

You don't have time for the HOHO, you may have an hour tops and it will cost you almost $100.

Now that we are home, I wanted to let you know what we did.

We caught the 150 bus from the airport which cost less then $3.00 each which took 30 minutes to South Beach and dropped us off on 8th Street where we enjoyed a nice leisurely brunch at The News Cafe before taking an Uber to the port. The Uber was $10. Everything went smoothly and we had a nice cruise.