CruisinMSN

My husband, son and I are certified divers. I really want to do this on our Quantum OTS sailing (April 2023). RCCL has only a couple of excursions listed and this certainly isn't one. Do you recommend any particular tour company? 

Hello all! I have searched the boards but couldn’t find the answer to this. My family of 4- myself, DH, DS 11 and DD 9 would like to go to De Palm island in January.  We are interested in doing the SeaTrek helmet dive.  We are cruising with carnival, and they offer this excursion. However, Carnival has a minimum age of 10 for the SeaTrek, while the De Palm island website has a minimum age of 8. We can’t book the SeaTrek via Carnival because my DD isn’t old enough. Would we be able to book the generic island trip through carnival and add on SeaTrek once we arrive, since she is old enough according to the facility? Or would we be better off doing this on our own and arranging our own transportation? If we need to arrange our own, would we just ask for a taxi to the water shuttle and then take the shuttle over? So many questions on the logistics! Thanks for your help! 

Hello!! My DH, DS 11, DD 9, and I are cruising from POM on a B2B on Carnival Horizon in January. We have lived in Orlando for all my kids’ lives- up until early this year, when work took us to the pacific NW. We are cold and miss the sunshine! We are looking forward to returning to our home state! 
 

We are looking for a hotel for 3 nights pre-cruise in Miami. We fly in on a red eye, landing Jan 2, 2020. We are used to Orlando area resorts and have no idea what to look for in Miami to keep my preteens occupied. We wouldn’t mind spending time on the beach, but are also perfectly happy to arrive at the hotel and not drive or Uber unless we have to. Any suggestions on safe, fun areas for both hotel and entertainment? Is there anything like Orlando area resorts/entertainment we should check out? 

Thank you for your suggestions!

If you use the search function on this board you will find many threads discussing off-site parking in Miami. Some will claim to have saved money and had no issues, while others will talk about no show shuttles, overcharging, vandalized cars, etc. :eek: There are several companies advertising parking in Miami that use the word "Premier" -- not sure if it is many versions of the same company or several companies competing.

 

There are also many hotels near the MIA airport offering cruise parking deals - but none include a ride back to your car so figure on about $30 for a taxi or $20 for an Uber.

 

You might consider staying cheap outside of south FLA (West Palm and north on 95; even Orlando is only 3.5-4 hours away if you get going early in the AM) and then parking at POM.

 

All of the regular locals who often show up on this board suggest parking at POM - not off site.

 

It is your car - do you feel lucky? :confused:

Thanks, JohninDC! I live in Orlando and am familiar with the safe offsite options here, but I rarely cruise from POM. I remember several years ago there were lots of complaints from offsite parking in Miami but I didn't know if it had changed. I'll listen to the locals! Thanks again!

Are there any safe, reputable parking places outside the port?

Traffic in Orlando is always awful. :(

 

LuLu

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Couldn't have said it better myself! As everyone else has said, the Turnpike is the ONLY way to go, and the entrance to the turnpike is a short 10-15 minute drive from Orlando Airport (MCO, not SFB, which is really in Sanford). That area is not usually too congested for the Orlando area, but depending on the number of accidents on other routes it can become quite busy. Enjoy your LONG flight, and hope you have a pleasant drive. :)