Which Florida port is favorite

we have only cruised out of PC once and that was before the new terminal. Getting on board was great but getting off was very slow. I hope with the new terminal things have improved. Fort Lauderdale is my favourite. Lots of hotels, restaurants and shops close to the port. Airport is really close to the port. We have been lucky as each time we cruised from Fort Lauderdale we have used terminal 18.

Port Canaveral. Uncrowded, reasonable hotel costs, nice places to eat, drinks at John's, very little traffic congestion, best Royal cruise terminal.

Agreed. It just feels more like a beach town than the others. And no traffic.

Port Everglades wins hands down in terms of convenience and ease, Miami wins hands down in terms of sailaway. Port Canaveral has a great terminal but the whole area has too much of a honky tonk feel for me. Have only sailed from Tampa once but it was a good experience.

We have done PE, PC, and Tampa. We did not like Port Everglades at all. Nevermind the 4 hour drive, just the time it took to get to a parking space and to the terminal....between security at the gate, the line to drop off luggage, then getting around to the parking garage, waiting for the shuttle, taking the shuttle...it took us an hour. We will avoid it in the future.

Tampa is our port of choice, mostly because it's a 20 minute drive from home. We valet, and can be on the ship in 15 minutes or less.

We loved PC last fall. We pre-paid for parking, and went from parking to sitting at the bar in 11 minutes.

We're giving Miami a try in March, and I'm already dreading the drive. There are 6 of us going, and we're still trying to figure out transportation.

Key West.

OK, my favorite is which ever one is coming up next.

Key West.

Not an embarkation port. But I agree, Key West is great.

Gee thanks everyone foe the info/ lots of good things to think about.

We [greatly] prefer Miami because of flight availability, resort hotels (pre/post cruise) and things to do. The last time we stayed on the beach in FLL, we actually had taxis that refused to go down there because of the traffic (not that south beach is much better).

Prefer Port Canaveral as there seems to be less traffic. Next year I'm trying Tampa for the first time and I'll see how it goes.

We live in Florida - halfway between Port Canaveral and Port Everglades (about 1.5 hour drive one-way), 2 hours to Miami and 3 hours to Tampa. For driving I prefer Port Canaveral as I-95 seems to be a bit tamer and Cocoa Beach has some good restaurants right at the port. We avoid Miami - crazy traffic and now they have tolls on I-95 from Fort Lauderdale to Miami - very inconvenient!!!!

When we lived in Upstate New York and had to fly - we preferred Port Everglades - short cab ride (you can see the ships from FLL) - many times we stayed in Dania Beach a day before the cruise. Hotels had shuttles for airport pick up, would drive to and from several local restaurants and could arrange shuttles to and from the port / airport. We could get direct flights from Albany, NY on Southwest and Jet Blue which was better than connecting flights (especially in the Winter months).

Here is our argument for FLL. PARKING, we use Park N Go.Drive in to a covered area unload directly into an activity van and off you go. They do not wait to fill it up but get you to the port and go around all the people that attempt to drive up to the gate or park at the terminal. And they drive you right up to the stevedore and are immediately off loaded. Plus it is cost effective to use them vs parking at the terminal.

At PC we used Park N Cruise and found it was not near as organised as FLL parking. Stood in line, in the sun and walked all of our luggage up to be placed in a trailer then got on the bus. When we got to the pier we had to stay on the bus until all of the luggage was offloaded then go pick ours up and get a stevedore to wheel it up to the terminal to check in.

We will still used PC as it is only 1 hour from our vacation home north of there. If we are missing something in regards to parking please let us know.

I'd have to say Port Canaveral. It's a bit farther from me than Tampa, but has more ship/itinerary options. Of course that's subject to change when Brilliance (or any other Radiance class ship) is in Tampa.

Prefer PC- It's just over a 1 hour drive. We park at Park Port Canaveral (closest to the port). We park and are at the terminal in less than 15 minutes. Terminal is quick and easy.

Port Everglades- We typically make the 3.5 hour drive the night before and stay reasonably close to the port at the IHG hotel with the best rate. We use Park N Go. Reasonable pricing & quick to the ship and back to the lot. We used to park at the port, but that's become a hassle. Terminals are efficient.

Miami- Similar drive and stay to PE (30-45 minutes longer). Others mentioned toll roads, but that depends on which route you take and if you want to use the express lanes on 95. We park at the port as the offsite parking is not to our liking. Since they added the tunnel and expanded the parking near the terminals I would say Miami and PE are about a wash for us.

Tampa- Just under 2 hours drive. Offsite and terminal side parking are both convenient. Biggest issue with Tampa depends on which terminal you go out of. Not sure on the numbers, but one terminal is tiny (furthest north I think) and that can slow down boarding a lot. Another possible drawback is that larger ships cannot sail from the port as they cannot get below the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Just off Oasis. Ship to cab in 20 minutes.

That is with the Concierge escort though.

10 minute cab ride home, but that's just bragging.

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Miami is amazing to sail from. The views are incredible. My favorite for sure.

PC becuz its only an hour drive for me. Luv the offsite parking also. Then PE and Tampa,

Miami all the way. Best sail away (although heading down the Bay and under the Sunshine Skyway is unique). But more than that is everything the city has to offer. Beautiful resort hotels, great beaches, fantastic restaurants.

Tampa is second with many of the same attributes.

PE and PC are convenient, but lack the appeal of Miami and Tampa. I just prefer what real cities have to offer.

Port Everglades for me. I once left the Hyatt Pier 66 and was on the Royal Promenade on the Oasis in 25 minutes total.

And the 10 minute ride to the airport after the cruise seals it for me.

My one embarkation and disembarkation out of Port Everglades/Ft. Lauderdale was so bad (beginning and end) it would have to be a fantastic itinerary for me to cruise out of there again.

We have done three cruises out of Port Everglades and have only had one remarkably smooth embarkation and disembarkation. That was on/off Allure in 2016. The parking situation at Port Everglades is pretty good too, close parking to the port. We usually drive down and stop in West Palm Beach the night before. My parents drive in from north Georgia and my sibling and family drive from the Florida panhandle. It's a full days drive for all of us and we prefer to stop just short of FLL and enjoy Citywalk in West Palm.

We live in coastal South Carolina, so Port Canaveral is an easy drive for us and we like the area. Our cruising experiences out of Port Canaveral have all been second to none. I know many people rave about Radisson at the Port, due to proximity to the port and a lot of people think it's a great place to stay. It was by far our worst hotel experience pre-cruise. But to each his own.

Port Canaveral.

Laid back. Can stay 5 minutes from the port. Awesome "non-chain" restaurants where you can watch sail away the day before you board. Short distance to Cocoa Beach.

Port Canaveral. Uncrowded, reasonable hotel costs, nice places to eat, drinks at John's, very little traffic congestion, best Royal cruise terminal.

They do seem to have terminal 1 operating efficiently. I like it as much or more than terminal 18, that is the only terminal I have used in 4 cruises from Port Everglades. I'll look forward to comparing it to the new Miami terminal in 300 days.

Port Canaveral.

Laid back. Can stay 5 minutes from the port. Awesome "non-chain" restaurants where you can watch sail away the day before you board. Short distance to Cocoa Beach.

Good point, I am looking forward to another upcoming visit to Grills.

I've only done chartered music cruises, so I've only sailed out of 3 FL ports. In order of preference...

1) Tampa - This is mostly for non-cruise travel purposes. I live in Louisiana, but travel to Tampa a lot since I belong to the Cigar City Brewery 'club', so I'm really familiar with the area. Done 1 cruise out of Tampa on the Brilliance, and stayed at the Waterside Marriott. Super easy to get around, flat rate from the airport, and extremely easy to get to and from the port. Airport rates from New Orleans are also hard to beat.

2) Fort Lauderdale - Haven't done RCCL out of here, but again, airport and hotel access was the draw here.

3) Miami - I fly Southwest almost exclusively, so even though Miami is my most cruised port and I love the terminal, it ranks lower to me because of travel logistics. We fly into FLL, and then get a car over to Miami. Usually have stayed at the Springhill Downtown/Medical Center (Marriott Points lol), but going to try out the Regency since there are a couple of parties happening before our next cruise. We have the whole thing booked with people on the cruise.

Good point, I am looking forward to another upcoming visit to Grills.

They just opened a Grills in Orlando about 20 minutes from where we live :cool: