ctheng

Hi! My husband and I will be travelling to Miami with our 3 year old on April 5, and have a few days to explore before our Disney cruise on April 8. I would appreciate any recommendations regarding an area to book our hotel or specific hotel, and any possible activities? Looking to explore at a leisurely pace, child friendly activity, maybe some shopping, must see sights? This is our first time in Miami and cruise. Also, does anyone know if it's recommended to book ground transportation to the airport after the cruise. Or are there enough taxis and shuttles that we can just look for one when we disembark? Our return flight isn't until 4 pm, so we have a bit of time to make our way to the airport.

Thank you in advance for any tips and recommendations!

HappyTrvlr

The Hilton Bently is located in South Beach on a broad beach in a nice area for walking, south of Fifth Street. I think it would be a good place to stay with a child. You can walk to a variety of good restaurants too.

Betsy

Check out the link below. It's the Florida departures board at cruisecritic.com. There's tons of information about all aspects of Miami.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

Bon voyage

doug_stallings

Disney provides transportation to the airport after your cruise. Please check and see if it's included in your fare or if it costs extra. Otherwise, you'll find plenty of taxis at the port.

ctheng

Thanks for all the replies. So much information on those boards, hard to decide what to do! Lol feels like two days isn't enough time in Miami.

The biggest decision so far is where to stay and if we need a rental car.

If we were to stay in south beach, would we need a rental car?
Is there another location that is recommended but may need car?

doug_stallings

If you stay in South Beach you definitely do not need a rental car. Everything is within walking distance.

If you stay downtown or one of the bigger self-contained hotels that is not in South Beach and are willing to limit yourself to the pool at your hotel, you won't need a rental car. You could take a taxi to South Beach or a specific attraction one day but if you want to see more than one thing, you'll need a car.

kwar

when we go with our kids, we like to stay in Coral Gables at the Biltmore. It's a short drive to South Beach and It's a great hotel! When my husband and I go alone, we stay at Fountain Blue or Eden Roc. South Beach is not really kid friendly for that age, that's why we stay at Biltmore...

kwar

Also, über is so cheap in Miami, cheapest I've ever seen. We took an uber last week from Joe's stone crab to Eden Roc. look at how far that is, it was $6. I don't think renting a car is necessary. Look at Fountain Blue also if you want to stay right in Miami. Very nice!