Hotel in Ft Lauderdale or Miami pre NCL Getaway

Hello, I could really use some help from all the cruisers familiar with the Fort Lauderdale/ Miami area. I am flying in one day early to the FLL airport (cheaper from Toronto) to sail on the NCL Getaway leaving from the POM. Should I spend the night in Fort Lauderdale using an airport shuttle and then the next day take a Taxi or shuttle to POM to board or should I get a taxi to a Miami hotel from the FLL airport and then the day of cruise just get a short ride to the port from a Miami hotel.

 

I have stayed at the Embassy suites on 17th in Ft Lauderdale but don’t really have a hotel in mind if I stay overnight in Miami.

 

I appreciate your thoughts and any hotel recommendations.

Sunny.org

How late in the day do you arrive into FLL? Travelling with kids? As a couple? Honeymoon?

 

In general hotels in the FLL area will be a bit cheaper than comparable hotels in either Miami or Miami Beach. As suggested above, www.sunny.org has lots of FLL area hotel and tourist info. We find the FLL area to be somewhat more family friendly.

 

You can use UberX or Lyft to get from FLL and nearby hotels to POM and downtown Miami hotels for about $35-40; car is big enough for 2-3 passengers plus standard bags. If you choose to stay near FLL there are several shared shuttles (SAS, QLS, etc.) that will transport you to POM for about $15 per person.

 

It's your call -- FLL or Miami. ;)

Thanks, my flight arrives in the early afternoon on Saturday. I am doing my first solo cruise on the NCL Getaway. I would like a clean hotel with a nice pool. Breakfast in the morning would be nice but not a deal breaker. Wifi....now that’s a deal breaker..... I think I am leaning towards Fort Lauderdale.

It makes no difference where you stay, other than the specific amenities you are looking for. Fort Lauderdale and Miami are basically interchangeable in this case.

Not much of a difference. You might have a cheaper room in Lauderdale. If you want to check out Miami though go. You are going to have spend money getting their regardless. You would want to take an Uber or shuttle though, Taxi is double to triple the price.

 

For Miami I would check out the Intercontinental in Downtown Miami or Hampton Inn Brickell. Both very popular with cruisers. Nice pools, and the Hampton comes with breakfast.

We've stayed at the Riverwalk in FT L and loved it. Nice location and we walked around at night. I will most likely be staying there again when we are on the Getaway in September.

We've stayed at the Riverwalk in FT L and loved it. Nice location and we walked around at night. I will most likely be staying there again when we are on the Getaway in September.

 

We stayed at the Riverside Inn last March, we really enjoyed the area

If you get a hotel in Miami (Downtown or Brickell), then you can get to Port Miami for free with the trolley.

http://www.miamigov.com/trolley/information.html

The Coral Way loop serves Port Miami with multiple stops.

We stayed at the Riverside Inn last March, we really enjoyed the area

I've got a booking for March in a Riverside classic room (don't want to pay more for the tower room) but reviews seem to either love it or hate it. Presumably you found it OK?

 

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I'm guessing you are referring to the Riverside Hotel. I'm unaware of a "Riverside Inn" anywhere around here. I'm almost certain they were doing some major renovations this last year, not sure if they finished. But it's a great location, that's for sure.

Apologies my fuzzy. I did mean the Riverside. Very nice hotel.

There is the Brightline Train that runs between the airport, just a heads up. We plan on taking that in November. You still would have to get a ride from the airport but at least it's way cheaper than an Uber.

Brightline is not really anywhere near the airports. While its cheaper, you do need transportation to the Brightline station. At which point you may ask yourself, how important is $15 to me?! I see absolutely no reason to go through that mess to save $15-$20 and add 30-60 minutes... Just Uber to wherever you need to go.

 

If you think $15 is "way" cheaper, than by all means... But boy, I see taking the Brightline as an absolute nightmare to simply transfer from fll to Miami.

We have stayed at the JW Marriott on Brickell in Miami before a couple of cruises from the POM. Really liked the hotel and the stainless steel swimming pool. Definitely pricier than Ft. Lauderdale, but check out the Marriott website to see if you can get a decent rate.

 

 

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We are staying at the Embassy Suites in Miami for our September Cruise. There's six of us total, so we will probably book a Shuttle from FLL to Miami. Happy Sailing!