Transatlantic, leaves Pt. Everglades, fly in to Miami, where to park?

[bottomfeeder]

I'm looking for advice on the best way to handle the following situation: I'm leaving on a cruise out of Pt. Everglades. It's a transatlantic cruise, and when I fly back from Europe I'm planning to fly into Miami (although I could fly into FLL if it's that much more convenient; the price is just a bit better into Miami.)

 

I live in the Sarasota area so will be driving to Pt. Everglades. When I get back from Europe it will be rather late (especially to my Europe-conditioned body) and I'm thinking I would be best off staying overnight at a hotel in the Miami area and driving home the next morning.

 

So...do I call hotels with a stay/cruise package to see if I could have the parking BEFORE my stay rather than after? (I can drive in the morning of the cruise.) If I do this, would it be better to stay near Pt Everglades or near MIA? And what transportation should I use between the hotel and the port/airport since I'm assuming a hotel would only offer free transport to one or the other?

 

Do I plan to take a Cruise Connection shuttle to Pt. Everglades from home and then rent a car at MIA to drive home with?

 

Is there some other option that would work better? I could fly into Sarasota airport rather than MIA or FLL but it's a lot more expensive, plus I'd have to figure out where to leave my car there that is convenient to pickup from the Cruise Connection shuttle.

 

Thanks for any help!

[LHT28]

There are lots of hotels that offer Park n cruise packages ... you can stay before or after your cruise & leave your car

 

 

Option 2

get a hotel near MIA with a cruise package then book the shuttle to Pt Everglades to catch the ship, fly back to MIA

[Dietemann]

We also live in the Sarasota area and when we go on a Transatlantic we always rent a car one way, then fly back to airport of our choice and do another one way car rental home. Since we will fly back from Germany, we fly AirBerlin to RSW.

[FLAHAM]

Drive to MIA, leave the car at one of the discount lots, take the GO shuttle to Port Everglades, and the lot shuttle to your car upon return to MIA.

[bottomfeeder]

We also live in the Sarasota area and when we go on a Transatlantic we always rent a car one way, then fly back to airport of our choice and do another one way car rental home. Since we will fly back from Germany, we fly AirBerlin to RSW.

 

Thanks, I hadn't thought about checking RSW since they are usually the most expensive airport for me. But for this one, if I want to fly on Delta (which I do for the frequent flyer purposes) the flight from LHR to RSW is the same as flying into MIA or FLL, and less than SRQ. There's also a more convenient flight time.

 

So, unless my parents decide they want to come house-sit and dog-sit for me, I think I'll drive to RSW, park in the economy lot, rent a car, drive to FLL, get a taxi to Pt. Everglades...and then fly back to RSW and drive home.

 

Unless there is a place close to Pt. Everglades that I could drop off a rental car and that provides free shuttles to the port? I couldn't find one searching on travel sites, but maybe I just wasn't doing my search right!

[Twickenham]

Unless there is a place close to Pt. Everglades that I could drop off a rental car and that provides free shuttles to the port? I couldn't find one searching on travel sites, but maybe I just wasn't doing my search right!

 

Thrifty/Dollar, Hertz, Avis and Budget all have locations near Port Everglades with free shuttles to the port.

[Florissouri]

I'm looking for advice on the best way to handle the following situation: I'm leaving on a cruise out of Pt. Everglades. It's a transatlantic cruise, and when I fly back from Europe I'm planning to fly into Miami (although I could fly into FLL if it's that much more convenient; the price is just a bit better into Miami.)

 

I live in the Sarasota area so will be driving to Pt. Everglades. When I get back from Europe it will be rather late (especially to my Europe-conditioned body) and I'm thinking I would be best off staying overnight at a hotel in the Miami area and driving home the next morning.

 

So...do I call hotels with a stay/cruise package to see if I could have the parking BEFORE my stay rather than after? (I can drive in the morning of the cruise.) If I do this, would it be better to stay near Pt Everglades or near MIA? And what transportation should I use between the hotel and the port/airport since I'm assuming a hotel would only offer free transport to one or the other?

 

Do I plan to take a Cruise Connection shuttle to Pt. Everglades from home and then rent a car at MIA to drive home with?

 

Is there some other option that would work better? I could fly into Sarasota airport rather than MIA or FLL but it's a lot more expensive, plus I'd have to figure out where to leave my car there that is convenient to pickup from the Cruise Connection shuttle.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

First of all, I would avoid Miami completely. It's the 3rd or 4th most crime ridden cities in America with a 1 in 18 chance you would be a victim of a property crime, so I would definitely NOT leave my car parked in Miami.

 

Second, you need to back up and view it from outside the box. Did you know British Airways has a nonstop flight from London Gatwick to TPA that gets you into Tampa at 4:10 PM? I don't know what kind of fares you've been looking at, but a quick check on kayak.com I found a rate of $770 for that flight if I book it as a multicity (JFK-MAD 5/28/13) and throw the second leg away.

 

I also don't know what your plans are as far as staying for a few days and visiting London, but London Gatwick is well south of London, so it would be the easiest airport to get to by train from Southhampton. Near Gatwick is a Ramada Inn. It's a pretty nice property that Hotwire used to list as a 4 Star and in the past I've gotten a good rate through Hotwire when I stayed there. It's located next door to a middle school and on the other side of the school is a Tesco Extra which is Britain's version of a Super Walmart. There you can find fresh baked loaves of bread and pastries for what us American would call a very low price, but the local housewives were complaining about the price.

 

So...The next step to make the above solution work you need to see how you could get to Port Everglades. You could compare one way rental car rates if a flight is too expensive.