Miam Port/Hotels, etc

[tezbear]

We have only sailed out of Port Canaveral so Miami will be new to us. How far is the port from the Miami Airport? Also, what are a few nice places to stay 1-2 nights before the cruise? (either near airport or port) We have older teen boys. any info would help...thanks!

[Blizzard54]

The airport is about a $21 cab ride to the pier. I don't know how far in miles.Any of the Downtown hotels are close to the pier. There is another section of the board that has lots of information on Miami.

[rrkky]

Get your hotel on Priceline. We normally get the Hyatt Downtown Miami (bid 3 star or better) for $55 per night. This Sept we got the Intercontinental which is a 4 star for $75 per night in Sept. Intercontinental is directly across from Bayside Marketplace and normally goes for $189 night minimum.

 

Best bet in my opinion is to fly into Ft. Lauderdale and take Larry's Limo service to hotel, then take cab to port in morning.

[jcerniglow]

we flew into ft lauderdale then rented a car to the miami embassey suites by the miami airport. very nice for the night before and near restaurants. reutrned the car to the airport and got the shuttle back to the suites. the suites have a service and for a nominal fee took us to the port. the area right around the port is marginal at best and I would not stay there.

[FlyingPhotog]

Get your hotel on Priceline. We normally get the Hyatt Downtown Miami (bid 3 star or better) for $55 per night. This Sept we got the Intercontinental which is a 4 star for $75 per night in Sept. Intercontinental is directly across from Bayside Marketplace and normally goes for $189 night minimum.

 

Best bet in my opinion is to fly into Ft. Lauderdale and take Larry's Limo service to hotel, then take cab to port in morning.

 

Or you can fly into Ft Lauderdale and rent a car for about $40. We got a nice PT Cruiser from Alamo. We returned it at Miami Airport the day of the cruise and they gave us a free shuttle ride to the pier. That has to be cheaper than the limo/towncar service right?

[Let'sGo!]

We flew on American to Miami... stayed at Holiday Inn directly across the street from Bayside Market.

At that time (last April) Priceline still did the bid thing and I couldn't get a hotel, so I called Holiday Inn directly and got a rate of $118.

 

It was a great spot as you could walk right across the street for dinner, browsing whatever. The marketplace has a couple of sports bar type restaurants... like Hooters, a Bubba Gumps and some other little places. Incredibly convenient for your teens.

 

We also walked about 3 blocks to a Walgreens for those last minute incidentals.

 

The reason I mentioned American... they had a check-in service there at the terminal. Once we got to the Miami airport, we just walked up to the gate and got on the plane. Very cool!

 

Ann

[digital_curator]

We cruised out of Miami in January.

 

It was about a 15 minute trip to Downtown from the airport and cost $20.

 

 

 

We didn't know about Priceline when we booked our pre-cruise stay at the Courtyard Marriott and paid $109 for the Cruise Package- a king room, hot/cold buffet and shuttle to the port. The room was nice, the lobby was bright and well decorated and the breakfast was tasty. The shuttle took about 10 minutes to get to the port.

 

We booked a post-cruise stay at the Hyatt through Priceline for $60- check out www.betterbidding.com for Priceline trips. I loved our room (which looked out over a river) but the hallways and lobby left a lot to be desired.

 

Both hotels are downtown and about 4 blocks from Bayside Marketplace, which was a great area to shop, have a drink or a meal (mostly chains like Hard Rock Cafe, Chili's etc.) and there were harbour tours from here as well ($15 pp).

 

We quite enjoyed Miami- hope you do too!

 

Cheers,