Miami Post Cruise Tours

[mnsawyer]

Can anyone give me their opinions of the Miami post cruise tours? We have been to South Beach but wondering about the Seaquarium tour or Everglades tour. Was it nice? What was the cost?

 

Thanks!

[Kokamo]

In 1999 we had a late flight out of Miami so we took the Sequarium tour. Can't remember the price, but it was better than sitting around the Airport for 6 hours.:rolleyes:

[molly361]

Everglades tour is neat if it would include an airboat ride, I am not sure what it includes and like stated above, beats sitting around the airport for 6 hours-

[JoeSmooga]

$39/pp for Everglades tour and transfer to MIA airport. Well worth it.

 

If you are feeling really adventurous, rent a car (take a free shuttle from the port to any major car rental agency) and drive to where they do the Carnival sponsored tour. It's out on Hwy 41 just about 15 miles west of Miami itself. I believe the place is called Everglades Safari. You will see all the cruise passengers there with their tour stickers on :). We liked this option as it saved us a healthy chunk of change AND we had the ability to go to an early dinner before our flights at the location of our choice... not the standard airport food. Here's the breakdown in costs that we incurred... we have done this tour both thru Carnival and on our own. Reminder... this is the costs for a family of 4...

 

Carnival

$39/pp X 4 = $156

Price includes bus ride to Everglades Safari, admission to the park, and storage of luggage on the bus while you are there.

 

On our own

Free shuttle to Alamo/MIA Airport

Car Rental = $55 after taxes, gassing the car back up before return at the FLL airport, etc.

Admission to the park = $20/pp X 2 = $40 (as we had two kids under the age of 3 at the time they were free... they were NOT free via Carnival... we paid $39 for each of them the one time we went thru Carnival for this excursion!)

Dinner for four = $25

Our flight out of FLL was at 7:30PM. If you go thru Carnival, you will be dropped off at the airport around 2PM. Freedom to drive where we wanted and kill time doing other things besides sitting in an airport all afternoon = PRICELESS :)

Total cash out of pocket = $120.

 

Joe

[scsagh]

We did the Everglades tour on Sunday, April 2 off of the Carnival Victory. The charge was $35 pp and $32 for our 10 year old. If we purchased via the tv screen on the ship, there was no mention of a child's rate, but since we had a question, we booked at the shore excursion desk and was able to get $3 less for our 10 yr old.

 

The tour went to Safari Park (http://www.evsafaripark.com)

 

The four of us enjoyed the airboat ride and the wildlife show. Even tried the alligator meat at the restaurant. Our tour guide on the bus was very informative about the history of the Miami area. Even the 10 & 14 year old said they enjoyed it when they could stay awake! We were dropped off at the airport around 1:30.

 

We had reserved a rental car in case the tour was full, which someone mentioned one time. If we had rented a car, we were also considering going to Gator Park (http://www.gatorpark.com), since the cruise tours would not be there. My husband felt very strongly that he didn't want to have to end his vacation by picking up a rental car, schlepping our luggage around, and driving in Florida. He said it just wouldn't be relaxing for him, so for him, it was worth spending a little more to do the Carnival excursion.

 

If you are doing the Carnival excursion, we met in one of the lounges at 8:15 a.m., but it was actually 8:45 by the time we got off the ship. Would HIGHLY recommend using one of the porters once you are off the ship and in the luggage area. Seems like they always get right through at customs with no waiting. Once outside, they knew right where to go for the excursion. Since the porter loads your luggage directly onto the bus, he finds out which airline you are on and you get to skip the line for the bus since they are dividing the buses (we had 2 buses) based on which airline you were flying on. The luggage on the bus compartments are also divided between compartments based on a further break down of airlines. It was probably 9:15 or 9:30 by the time the tour bus actually left the port area for the bus ride to the Everglades.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Sandy