FLL or MIA I am really stressing about this.

[phillyguy31]

Ok I know this may seem really dumb but I am trying to decide between these 2 airports and here is why.

1. We are flying in on a Saturday for a Sunday departure so arrival time is not as important except I don't want to get there at 10PM.

2. I can either fly from Baltimore to MIA or Philadelphia to FLL Including all of my expenses it comes out to a wash either way.

 

So here is my problem, since we all know airlines are not the most reliable Phila is the better choice because there are more flight to FLL and if necessary they could book me on a flight to MIA. So Philly right? But then all I am reading is how bad FLL is and with 2 teenagers  and my wife I need to make sure flying in there isn't a mistake. The obvious solution is Phila to MIA but that  is significantly higher priced.

 

Any help would be appreciated......

[BlueHerons]

Where are you cruising in and out of?

 

Fly there.  No reason to add transportation to the equation if you are already this stressed.

[phillyguy31]

Sorry forgot that port leaving out of Miami.

[BlueHerons]

Fly into Miami, stay at a downtown hotel like The Hampton Inn.  Plenty to do and lots of good restaurants within walking distance.

 

Short Uber ride from the airport.

 

If you decide to fly to FLL, it's about an hour and a $38 Uber ride to downtown Miami.

Edited August 13, 2019 by BlueHerons

[charmy98]

We are doing this in Feb 2020, flying into FLL and getting a Towncar to our hotel in Miami, even with the Towncar it works out cheaper for us to fly to FLL than it is to fly into Miami. On the way back we are staying 3 nights in FLL, at the Extended stay America Cruise Port Hotel, we have stayed there on 3 different occasions now and no problems at all. I am not sure what you mean when you say "reading how bad it is"do you mean the area, the airport? We have never had a problem with either.

[skrufy]

30 minutes ago, phillyguy31 said:

Ok I know this may seem really dumb but I am trying to decide between these 2 airports and here is why.

1. We are flying in on a Saturday for a Sunday departure so arrival time is not as important except I don't want to get there at 10PM.

2. I can either fly from Baltimore to MIA or Philadelphia to FLL Including all of my expenses it comes out to a wash either way.

 

So here is my problem, since we all know airlines are not the most reliable Phila is the better choice because there are more flight to FLL and if necessary they could book me on a flight to MIA. So Philly right? But then all I am reading is how bad FLL is and with 2 teenagers  and my wife I need to make sure flying in there isn't a mistake. The obvious solution is Phila to MIA but that  is significantly higher priced.

 

Any help would be appreciated......

Most of the FLL displeasure is when you depart. When there are multiple ships in port  FLL gets a little hectic. If it’s a significant savings to use FLL go for it.  Weather you stay the night or go directly to MIA it’s a short shuttle ride, about 45 minutes to downtown MIA. Forget the stress, there won’t be any, you will have a great cruise.

[Roz]

With 4 people, I would make it as simple as possible and fly into the embarkation city.

 

Roz

[BNBR]

Don't take the FLL comments out of context or overthink it.  I think those are just some of the locals and frequent travelers complaining about all the changes and probably embellishing on it (I'm totally guilty).  Either airport is totally fine.  If you would prefer flying out of Philly and the flights work better for you, then by all means, fly to FLL.  Since you are sailing out of MIA, then MIA makes more sense if it's truly a wash.  But really, you are looking at an extra $30 or so transportation and 30 minutes extra flying in to FLL.  It makes little difference in the scheme of things.  You are good either way.  Pick the flight that works best for you and don't stress it.

[BlueHerons]

By the way, I drove from the Riverside Hotel Sunday to the Miami airport and it took me 65 minutes.  I've driven this day and night every day of the week and it never takes less than an hour.

 

Wrecks, traffic, construction make I=95 a ***** show.

[BNBR]

But that's Las Olas to the Miami Airport. They won't be at Las Olas and won't be going to the Miami Airport.  Both of which add 15-20 min off 95. It's 30 minutes or so extra drive time flying in to FLL and going to a hotel in Miami vs flying in to Miami. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by BNBR

[lab_love123]

Which home airport is closer to you? PHL or Baltimore? I would prefer whichever is closer, which for me is Philly. I’ve done the PHL to FLL a few times. I’ve flown into MIA before too. Both were fine - nothing spectacular, positive or negative. Last time into FLL took about a 35ish minute, $30ish Uber ride to my hotel in downtown Miami. MIA is certainly more convenient for the port, but personally I would rather have the convenience on the home end; I don’t want a 1.5 drive from Baltimore to home when I can be home from PHL in about 25-30 minutes or so. 

[vacationlover_mn]

While I love the embassy suites in Fort Lauderdale, Miami isn’t so bad 🙂. For our Miami cruises, we stay near the port 🙂

[BNBR]

2 hours ago, lab_love123 said:

Which home airport is closer to you? PHL or Baltimore? I would prefer whichever is closer, which for me is Philly. I’ve done the PHL to FLL a few times. I’ve flown into MIA before too. Both were fine - nothing spectacular, positive or negative. Last time into FLL took about a 35ish minute, $30ish Uber ride to my hotel in downtown Miami. MIA is certainly more convenient for the port, but personally I would rather have the convenience on the home end; I don’t want a 1.5 drive from Baltimore to home when I can be home from PHL in about 25-30 minutes or so. 

 

I like to compare MIA/FLL to Midway/O'Hare.  When you travel to Chicago, Midway is better, it's closer and less crowded, but ultimately you just kind of take the flight that's best.  It doesn't really matter.

[FOPMan]

And I’d prefer arriving Fort Lauderdale, especially on Southwest or JetBlue. Easy access to the rental car offices.

 

I’m not particularly a fan of American in Miami. I always seem to get the gate st the end of the concourse.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

From the west coast FLL always seems cheaper for us than MIA so we generally do FLL.  As pointed out I don't think arriving will be much different it might be the departure from FLL.  As long as your flight isn't to early you should be fine.  If you have TSA pre-check that will help.  Last two times we flew 1st class and walked right through 1st class security in five minutes.  It did appear the wait times for pre-check and regular where a little longer.  But we had friends who did regular and said it was about 30 minutes to clear security.  

We also stay in FLL as being from the west coast we always get in late and I would prefer to get to my hotel quickly and deal with getting to the port a day or three later.  

Edited August 14, 2019 by ATSEAMYLIFE

[TruckerDave]

I would just pick PHL to MIA and be done with it. They are both AA hubs so if something does go haywire you have more options for AA to get you there. I just picked a random sat in Feb and found 6 nonstops going down there.  

[Flymia]

You need to give us a little bit more information. But honestly picking between FLL and MIA is like picking between LGA or JFK. Both airports are very busy airports with their own problems. The bad comments about FLL are mostly about departing FLL in that the terminals are small, have little amenities and its very very crowded (like LGA) where MIA is a busier airport, but most of the terminals are large, modern and loads of amenities. 

 

When flying in the day before the cruise you are talking about a difference of 45-60mins. Nothing more, nothing less. 

 

So who cares honestly. If there is a big costing savings going to FLL then go to FLL. You'll hope into an Uber ($40 regular $75XL) and head down to Miami to a hotel near the port in Downtown Miami or Brickell 45-min ride with normal weekend traffic. Or you fly into MIA and hop in an Uber $15 regular $40 or so XL and take a 20min drive to Brickell/Downtown hotel from MIA. 

 

What airlines are you looking at AA from BWI to MIA and then Southwest/JetBlue/Spirit/American from PHL to FLL. If for some reason there are issues, taking American from PHL to FLL is fine because they could always re-book you on a PHL-MIA flight as well. 

 

Stressing over nothing. FLL is 20-miles north of Port Miami. 

[BlueHerons]

14 hours ago, TruckerDave said:

I would just pick PHL to MIA and be done with it. They are both AA hubs so if something does go haywire you have more options for AA to get you there. I just picked a random sat in Feb and found 6 nonstops going down there.  

This is a good  point I didn't think of.  

 

Hub to hub is pretty much a guarantee you'll get there.

[goneclear]

Have flown in to both many times. I will take MIA over FLL any day.

Then again I am flying in on an international flight so my reasons may not affect you.

 

[EAGLESLOVER]

As you can guess I'm from Philly

We just booked our flight from PHL to MIA for our February cruise.  We fly AA and haven't had any significant issues.

We come in two days early ( who knows what the weather may be) and will Uber from airport to hotel and then from hotel to cruiseport.

We have done this before and that's my recommendation.

[dhdelrod]

We prefer Miami

[phillyguy31]

Thanks for all the help, we have decided to do BWI to MIA.  In let my better half make the decision, that way if it is wrong I might not get blamed...LOL

 

I would have loved to to PHL to MIA but the prices for that were so much higher.

Edited August 15, 2019 by phillyguy31

[bouhunter]

1 hour ago, phillyguy31 said:

Thanks for all the help, we have decided to do BWI to MIA.  In let my better half make the decision, that way if it is wrong I might not get blamed...LOL

 

I would have loved to to PHL to MIA but the prices for that were so much higher.

A perfectly fine choice.  Now you can stop stressing

[exercisemama]

On 8/15/2019 at 3:01 PM, bouhunter said:

A perfectly fine choice.  Now you can stop stressing

 We actually had a similar dilemma and traveled with two teenage boys last month! We left Rochester New York and had a layover at BWI. We flew to Fort Lauderdale and Ubered to Hollywood Beach for 2 nights pre cruise. We then took an Uber to the port of Miami the morning of our cruise!