Miami Questions

[Noxequifans]

Next year we are booked on a Miami to Miami cruise and are staying the night before at the Intercontinental Hotel. I'd appreciate anyone's experience in getting a taxi from the hotel to the ship the morning of embarkation. Also, when disembarking what was the experience in getting a taxi from the cruise port to the airport? Thanks.

[newbie60]

Next year we are booked on a Miami to Miami cruise and are staying the night before at the Intercontinental Hotel. I'd appreciate anyone's experience in getting a taxi from the hotel to the ship the morning of embarkation. Also, when disembarking what was the experience in getting a taxi from the cruise port to the airport? Thanks.

 

Getting to the port from the hotel should be a simple process. When leaving, if your ship is the only one docking that day, it's also a simple cab line with a couple minute wait. However, I've heard horror stories of multiple large ships disgorging the same morning and the wait could be several hours! The good news is that Oceania docks on the opposite of the pier so at least you're not mingling with thousands of other passengers.

 

There are shuttle van services that you can pre-book a ride and then you are guaranteed no waiting.

[orchestrapal]

Next year we are booked on a Miami to Miami cruise and are staying the night before at the Intercontinental Hotel. I'd appreciate anyone's experience in getting a taxi from the hotel to the ship the morning of embarkation. Also, when disembarking what was the experience in getting a taxi from the cruise port to the airport? Thanks.

 

Never a problem to get a taxi to the pier but I would pre-book one for the return

Especially if your flight is early. We are usually last off the ship, or close to it, so it's no problem whatsoever. The Intercontinental was wonderful and lunch in their restaurant was excellent.

[pacheco18]

Never a problem to get a taxi to the pier but I would pre-book one for the return

Especially if your flight is early. We are usually last off the ship, or close to it, so it's no problem whatsoever. The Intercontinental was wonderful and lunch in their restaurant was excellent.

 

Agree

There are plenty of reasonably priced car services to choose from. When we docked in Miami it was a nightmare. The taxi line was ridiculous.

[LHT28]

One year we had a disembarkation nightmare ...some missed their flights we almost missed the check in

 

Last cruise I booked a private car & shared with a few others on the roll call ..worked out same $ as a taxi & less hassle

 

Lyn

[YoHoHo]

Agree with the other posts, arriving is easy (did have a not insignificant problem but that was with O and the Coast Guard inspection [thank goodness] not with the port services and not usual. Leaving is another matter.

 

At Miami once took O's expensive transfer and had comfort in knowing the we would arrive to the airport in time. Wee have paid O's extreme price for this comfort a couple of time and have had no regrets for those specific cases. One trip through LA at morning rush and one can just relax.

 

On Marina's maiden voyage we did not book a transfer in Miami and had the worst experience we have had had at any port.

 

Despite the fanfare of the new ship arrival complete with circling helicopters, yachts and being led in with a fireboat escort with plumes of water shooting into the air, apparently someone at the Port forgot to let the taxis know this ship was scheduled for embarkation. The queue for taxis was terrible, and fellow pax demeanor turned terrible as panic set in fearing missing their flights.

 

Thankfully we had a late afternoon flight but it was hard to not get caught up in the panic. The port even provided a bus normally used for the parking lot shuttle to take pax out to the airport with no charge just to clear the decks.

 

So bottom line is we will always now reserve transport ahead of time when arriving in Miami unless staying the night or have a very late flight out.

YMMV

[beachmudhut]

Intercontinental Hotel is very good. Getting to the dock is a short ride, no problem.

 

The return not so good.

 

Oceania uses the smaller dock area which in theory should be good. It takes forever to disembark because there is only one small elevator down to the customs hall. Two wheelchairs and it is full (and there were a lot of wheelchairs). Once outside, the clamour for taxis mixed with very rude porters barging their way through, it was not a good experience. We had a pre booked prepaid airport shuttle but had to wait 90 minutes for it to arrive and then the driver took us to the larger port to pick up more people which also took a long time. Definitely pre book a car.

 

Another word of warning. Use the washrooms before you go outside because they will not let you back in! There are no other washrooms once you get out of the building.

[Noxequifans]

Thank you all. We will pre-book transfers both from the hotel and the ship.

[G&G]

We have sailed on Oceania in/out of Miami and had no problem getting a taxi. Why? Because we were the only ship in port.

 

Check to see how many ships are in port when you arrive back to Miami and if there is only Oceania or one other ship you should have no problem with taxis

[LHT28]

We have sailed on Oceania in/out of Miami and had no problem getting a taxi. Why? Because we were the only ship in port.

 

Check to see how many ships are in port when you arrive back to Miami and if there is only Oceania or one other ship you should have no problem with taxis

 

Not always the case:rolleyes:

We were the only ship in port but were delayed due to CDC inspection & taxis were not told of us arriving

We waited in line over 1 hr for a taxi, the port used the rental car bus to get people to the airport

 

Sometimes it works sometimes it does not

I will always book a private driver from now on

 

YMMV

Lyn

[hypercafe]

This port can be a problem. We always get a plane in the afternoon as I would rather wait in the airport than miss the plane or have a stress attack.

 

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[Bowie MeMe]

I bet that the concierge at the InterContinental will have absolutely no problem arranging for a car to take you to port and then pick you up at the end of the cruise. Absolutely reliable because the drivers do not want to make the management of IC mad or their customers either. Any IC in the world will offer this service and the price believe it or not is very comparable to "out on the street". I just love being greeted by the little sign with my name on it!

 

(SIL is 5 star hotel manager and his first job was parking manager and the second was concierge and he is the one who turned this small town middle class person on to some of the perks of the wealthy or wanna-be wealthies:D)

[sitraveler]

If you're on a R ship, easy peasy. On Marina or Riviera it can be a problem. Taxi to or from MIA is fixed, last time it was $25.00.

[Acrusa]

Does anyone know of a car rental agency that delivers and then picks up at our hotel in Miami?

[rheasue38]

Hi!

We love this hotel! Will be there again in Jan. and March. Great restaurant for dinner around the corner from the hotel-Il Gabbiano-recommended by Jim and Stan. You need to make reservations for it at least two weeks in advance. Also Trulucks is a great seafood and steak restaurant in the area.

We always got a cab from the Intercontinental to the port in a few minutes.

When we wake up in the morning, we see the Oceania ship docked across from the hotel.

What a great sight!

Rhea