Miami Post Cruise Hotel (or what to see/do for a day)

[LuCruise]

Our cruise is in March and coming with 2 kids (13 and 9 years).  Our flight is early the next morning so need a hotel for one night.  We currently have Hilton Blue Lagoon booked for a good price, but looking for opinions as this hotel looks nice but seems isolated with not much to do outside of swimming.  So a few questions.

 

1. If we keep this hotel, are there any recommendations of what to do for the day?  We don't mind taking an uber somewhere (don't know Miami area at all)
2. Or, with kids...do you recommend any specific hotel in South Beach?  Or Miami Beach?  Not sure which area is better.  We also don't want to be too far form the airport as we have an early morning flight.  Price range is $230 USD (we're Canadian so using current exchange rate). 

 

Thanks.

Edited October 24, 2018 by LuCruise

[FLLconcierge]

Well since you will be coming from Canada and with two kids, I really think you need to get out and explore the Everglades. Your kids are the perfect age for an airboat ride. march is wonderful in the Everglades with an abundance of wildlife from gators to birds......there are a few companies that will pick you up and return you to the hotel. The Everglades is a UNESCO World Heritage site! Something everyone needs to see (before it is gone).

[JohninDC]

If you keep the hotel you could taxi or UberXL there, drop your bags off (tip them to store your bags if your room is not ready), and then use the hotel shuttle to get to the MIA airport.  From there you can catch the Airport Flyer bus to South Beach for about $3 each.  Beach, lunch, art-deco architecture, people watching, etc.

[bunnyrab]

On 10/24/2018 at 6:25 AM, JohninDC said:

If you keep the hotel you could taxi or UberXL there, drop your bags off (tip them to store your bags if your room is not ready), and then use the hotel shuttle to get to the MIA airport.  From there you can catch the Airport Flyer bus to South Beach for about $3 each.  Beach, lunch, art-deco architecture, people watching, etc.

 

Thanks John, sounds like an interesting day. Would it be hard to find the bus back to the airport?  Heather.

[JohninDC]

Should be easy - ask the driver when you get off.  Here is a link to the bud schedule/info: http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/routes_detail.asp?route=150

[LuCruise]

On 10/24/2018 at 8:25 AM, JohninDC said:

If you keep the hotel you could taxi or UberXL there, drop your bags off (tip them to store your bags if your room is not ready), and then use the hotel shuttle to get to the MIA airport.  From there you can catch the Airport Flyer bus to South Beach for about $3 each.  Beach, lunch, art-deco architecture, people watching, etc.

 

Thanks...any idea how long  a bus ride it would be from the airport to South Beach?  Still struggling with going with your suggestion (which works best for early morning flight) or switching hotel to decent priced one at South Beach or even Brickell area.  I don't know Miami at all so hard to know what is best for our day before flying home next day.

[BlueHerons]

 

 

I agree with John to Uber or shuttle to the airport then take the Airport Flyer to South Beach.  It will be a fun day for your kids.

 

FLLConcierge, Airboats are actually banned from being inside the Everglades National Forest. 

[JohninDC]

4 hours ago, LuCruise said:

 

Thanks...any idea how long  a bus ride it would be from the airport to South Beach?  Still struggling with going with your suggestion (which works best for early morning flight) or switching hotel to decent priced one at South Beach or even Brickell area.  I don't know Miami at all so hard to know what is best for our day before flying home next day.

Staying weekend or weekday?  Traffic could be a factor, but I would count on an hour+ to shuttle to MIA and then bus to SB.

 

If you stay downtown you are looking at about $20 each way in an UberX or standard Lyft.  If you stay in SB then you are steps from where you want, but have a longer trip to MIA the next morning.  Your call! 

[LuCruise]

We get off the ship on a Saturday and fly out next morning.  If we kept our Blue Lagoon hotel then I could see us trying airport shuttle and bus to South Beach but then Uber back.

 

Any recommended hotels in South Beach? The ones in our price range are Meridian House (but even that is high once resort fees are added) or Princess Ann hotel.  The thing is we are staying the extra day since flights home were much more on Sat vs Sun so defeats purpose if we end up paying $$$ for hotel.

 

Or even decent but affordable downtown? We paid about $250 cad (plus taxes) for current booking.

 

I'm sure based on budget we'll stick with our booking but good to look at our options.

Edited November 4, 2018 by LuCruise

[Tapi]

We did the YVE hotel in Downrown Miami for a one night pre-cruise stay in July. Absolutely fantastic location, right across the stree from Bayside Marketplace and 5 minutes from the Port of Miami. We had a beautiful water view and even saw our ship coming in that morning, right from our window on the 16th floor. The hotel is trendy and modern, although rooms are a tad on the small side and somewhat basic. But for one night, it was more than adequate. We even got vouchers for free drinks. Don’t know what the rates will be when you cruise, but when we were there, it was suprisingly affordable (less than $150 USD after taxes).

 

We used Uber for all of our transportation needs. No problems whatsoever. There’s  also a free trolley with stops near the hotel. 

[LuCruise]

5 hours ago, Tapi said:

We did the YVE hotel in Downrown Miami for a one night pre-cruise stay in July. Absolutely fantastic location, right across the stree from Bayside Marketplace and 5 minutes from the Port of Miami. We had a beautiful water view and even saw our ship coming in that morning, right from our window on the 16th floor. The hotel is trendy and modern, although rooms are a tad on the small side and somewhat basic. But for one night, it was more than adequate. We even got vouchers for free drinks. Don’t know what the rates will be when you cruise, but when we were there, it was suprisingly affordable (less than $150 USD after taxes).

 

We used Uber for all of our transportation needs. No problems whatsoever. There’s  also a free trolley with stops near the hotel. 

This hotel looks quite nice and we could even spend the day doing some shopping or walking around.  Only thing that stands out (aside from it costing 150 more than current booking) is that it has 2 double beds (vs queen).  May be tight for our kids to share (then again, they share a sofa bed on the ship).

[Tapi]

3 hours ago, LuCruise said:

This hotel looks quite nice and we could even spend the day doing some shopping or walking around.  Only thing that stands out (aside from it costing 150 more than current booking) is that it has 2 double beds (vs queen).  May be tight for our kids to share (then again, they share a sofa bed on the ship).

We are a family of 4 and our room had two queen sized beds, so we slept fine. But once again, the rooms are small, so we didn’t have a sitting area, just a ledge by the window where we would sit.

[LuCruise]

Thanks for the feedback. Not having a sitting area isn't a huge deal...and queens would be fine. Rooms for booking list double.  Will keep it YVE hotel in mind.  Thanks.