Miami Post Cruise.. Lots of Time before flight

[victoriap]

Hello-

I am hoping to get ideas of what my son (10) and I can do post cruise in Miami on February 16th since our flight doesn't depart MIA until 930pm and I am trying to avoid renting a car due to cost. I know Carnival offers some excursions but they only seem to be 3-4 hours long. Does anyone know of any private companies that do excursions, city tours or hotels that offer Day Passes? Looking to avoid sitting in the airport for 8+hours.

Thanks much!

[JohninDC]

It has been reported that there is luggage storage a Bayside Market and MIA - I haven't seen or used this service so do some homework. You could then catch a bus to Miami Beach for the day, or even the zoo in Miami.

For day rooms at a hotel I would contact places near MIA that are used to travellers coming and going at all hours, but I suspect a room will cost you more than a car rental. Good luck!

[GorillaPaper]

We have a similar situation coming up in March. I was wondering if Bayside had storage - maybe I will have to give them a call. I'm not that thrilled about spending the day there but it has to be better than the airport!

[sailingthrulife]

Glad we aren't alone, we have the same dilema coming up on Feb 11th. I looked at the Celebrity Miami excursion as well and it was also only 4 hours and pretty pricey.

[candydane]

You may want to consider the "Bags" program that your ship probably will offer. For about $20 pp, you could have your bags delivered from outside your cabin the night before all the way through customs to the airport and not have to claim them until you get to your home port.

There are limits on the Bags program based on times and flights so you'd have to check those out.

That would be one less hassle you'd have to deal with and free you up for doing something during your wait.

[senorita frog]

Check out today's Miami Groupon. Sounds like fun to me!

[girlscruise2011]

Originally Posted by victoriap

Hello-

I am hoping to get ideas of what my son (10) and I can do post cruise in Miami on February 16th since our flight doesn't depart MIA until 930pm and I am trying to avoid renting a car due to cost. I know Carnival offers some excursions but they only seem to be 3-4 hours long. Does anyone know of any private companies that do excursions, city tours or hotels that offer Day Passes? Looking to avoid sitting in the airport for 8+hours.

Thanks much!

Honestly, look into renting a car. If it is just you & your son there are some great deals out there for compact cars. In October, I rented a minivan for $75 with Alamo through my BJs membership. Most others agencies wanted double that. There are codes online everywhere for car rentals. Alamo and a few others have a free shuttle from the Port to the rental office. I was in my minivan in about 1/2 hr. I did online check in before I sailed. Very easy.

If you think it is something you may be interested, this way you can store your luggage and take a tour of Miami. We were flying out of Fort Lauderdale so we stopped at the Boardwalk in Hollywood, FL. Very nice there but unfortunately it was raining so we had to leave. I would love to visit Hollywood again someday in the sunshine. There are lots of other sites you could see with the amount of time you have.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

[Catz n Dog]

Hi all-
We're in same situtation arriving in Miami and having 12 hours to kill, and I have been looking at a number of options. The Bags program will be the best option to free ourselves of our luggage, but then what?
The cruise line offers excursions to the Everglades- which we would be interested in, but they will only drop us at the airport (I did call and ask) which then leaves us about 7 hours to kill in MIA ( no thanks)
My next thought is that maybe we could do some other type of private company to everglades or city tour and then have them drop us at Bayside or South Beach. I can't seem to find anything like that so far- does anyone have suggestions on that?
Many thanks!

[BlueHerons]

Originally Posted by victoriap

Hello-

I am hoping to get ideas of what my son (10) and I can do post cruise in Miami on February 16th since our flight doesn't depart MIA until 930pm and I am trying to avoid renting a car due to cost. I know Carnival offers some excursions but they only seem to be 3-4 hours long. Does anyone know of any private companies that do excursions, city tours or hotels that offer Day Passes? Looking to avoid sitting in the airport for 8+hours.

Thanks much!

A day room may be hard since you are traveling peak week in peak season. If you can find one, go for that. Otherwise I think renting a car and heading to the beach will be the best time for your son.

Both options will run you about the same price. You can always priceline an airport hotel.

I just hotwired a car rental on your date for the heck of it and you can get an economy for $54 for the day.

[JohninDC]

Originally Posted by Catz n Dog

Hi all-
We're in same situtation arriving in Miami and having 12 hours to kill, and I have been looking at a number of options. The Bags program will be the best option to free ourselves of our luggage, but then what?
The cruise line offers excursions to the Everglades- which we would be interested in, but they will only drop us at the airport (I did call and ask) which then leaves us about 7 hours to kill in MIA ( no thanks)
My next thought is that maybe we could do some other type of private company to everglades or city tour and then have them drop us at Bayside or South Beach. I can't seem to find anything like that so far- does anyone have suggestions on that?
Many thanks!

Do the tour, store or check your bags in at MIA and then use the airport flyer bus from MIA to South Beach (for only $2.35 per person each way) -- enjoy people watching, drinks and maybe an early dinner before bussing back to MIA. Good luck!

[Catz n Dog]

Thanks John-
good suggestion-I had not thought of bus.
We'll check that out!

[KeithsKelly]

Originally Posted by JohninDC

Do the tour, store or check your bags in at MIA and then use the airport flyer bus from MIA to South Beach (for only $2.35 per person each way) -- enjoy people watching, drinks and maybe an early dinner before bussing back to MIA. Good luck!

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for this post!! I've been searching for things to do as our oubound flight does not leave until 8:30 pm, and unfortunately I included airport transfers with the cost of our cruise when I booked it and they are non refundable, even to switch them to an excursion with a transfer included.

Any additional info anyone has on this or things to do that are on the airport flyer bus route would be so much appreciated!!