Motel stay before cruise
 

We are going to take a cruise out of Miami in Feb. Would like to stay in Miami the night before the cruise departs. Would like some information about places to stay that would be convient to the docking area, etc. thank you

Does it have to be a motel or will a hotel work?

What are your dates?

Presidents Week, the Superbowl, the Miami International Boat Show are citywide sellout events and are actual South Florida sellout events.

If your dates take place during any of those dates, you may have to book as far away as Orlando.

That's what I was gonna say, GoT. We're cruising out of Miami on Superbowl Sunday and several people on our cruise are FREKING out because they've gotten tickets a day ahead and can't find a room. We're flying into Orlando then staying in W Palm at HI Express (priority club points)then driving to Miami airport and taking shuttle. Amazing, I booked it for a measly 10,000 points.
For any other regular cruise, we use priceline for hotels.

I can imagine!

The ride from Orlando to Miami isn't bad at all because the Florida Turnpike isn't anywhere near as busy as I-95. I can't remember how long the drive is but hey, you are on vacation, you are in sunny Florida, AND...you are getting ready to go on a cruise.

Linda, make sure y'all check out Sailfish Marina for dinner when you arrive. It is so cool to check out the billion dollar yachts and Palm Beach. The Sailfish Marina is on the water.

Cool! Thanks, GoT...been a long time since I was in the area. I hadn't even thought about a dinner spot, but with all the crowds we should call ahead and take care of it. Thanks for the suggestion!

We have a cruise leaving from Miami on Feb 5th -9th. Would like a hotel/or motel for Feb 4th.

Yep....that's Superbowl Sunday. Good luck. The Holiday Inn Express that I mentioned is actually in Juno beach, but does show openings for the 4th at $220. a night. You can do a search, but I doubt you'll find much im Miami or Lauderdale and you'll probably have to drive a bit up the coast. This hotel is 85 miles from the Miami airport.

djm, that is Superbowl Sundayf, forget finding a room within 125 miles. Literally.

Try West Palm and Orlando.

Linda, when will y'all arrive in West Palm?

Take the water taxi and if it is warm enough, snorkel Peanut Island. Go see the manatees because dozens of manatees will seek out warm water coming from the Riviera Beach Power Plant (Peanut Island/Palm Beach Inlet area which is right across from Sailfish Marina). I think it has opened back up.

http://www.geocities.com/palmbeachboating/manatees.html

Just for the heck of it, I ran a search for you and found the Sheraton at Miami airport has a room for 269. The only other one I found was the Rodeway...and BEWARE that hotel..it is the scariest hotel I've ever seen. Perhaps there will be some rooms that pop up because it will probably be busier on the 3rd.

Oh my, I see that the Super Bowl is on Feb.4th - so, I guess we'll have to get an early flight on the 5th since the ship leaves at 5pm - probably will be o.k. to do that...maybe we can stay an extra night when returning from the cruise on Saturday, Feb.10th. thanks

Be sure to get trip insurance. Flying the day of has worked ok for us, but one year we barely got out before a blizzard shut the airport down. Where are you flying from?

We are flying out of Philadelphia airport to Miami. Ship leaves at 5pm. Phila is terrible for shutting down its airport for bad weather. I'll just have to take my chances on the weather and get an early flight!

djm, what about flying to Jacksonville and driving to St. Augustine to spend the night?

It is a GREAT city, one of my favorites. Granted, a long haul down I-95 but at least you would not be stuck in Philly.

I think St. Augustine is around 4 hours from Miami. It is probably 300 miles but the traffic on I-95 flies. You could leave St. Augustine by 9AM and be in Miami by 1PM.

Let me add that the stadium on almost on the Miami-Dade/Broward County line so as long as you stay on the turnpike way south of that, you'll be fine.

Don't even think about driving I-95 through Miami or I can promise you you'll miss the ship.

Hit the Florida Turnpike in Ft. Pierce.

I-95 will be a parking lot. Resist all urges.

djm.....A roommate just got a room Holiday Inn Express West Boca Raton @ Glade Road and I-95, $170.00...

What time is the game? If we got a cab from the airport to the dock - would there be any other way to get there other than the I95?? what a mess.

Now, the game is on a Sunday 4th. If I can't go Sun (because of game.) Then I would go Monday, 5th. Do you think I'll run into problems going to the dock via 95 on that morning?

djm, I said take the Florida Turnpike instead of I-95 through South Florida and get on at Ft. Pierce.

As we will not have a car and will have to depend on taxi service to get us from the airport to the dock is this route vie Fla Turnipke thru S.Fla and getting off at Ft. Pierce feasible? thanks

No, not feasible. If you fly into Miami the day of, you will not need a car.

If you fly into any other city other than Miami, with maybe the exception of FLL, you will have to rent a car.

No way around that.

The Tri Rail system still has a lot to be desired and I would not plan on it getting me anywhere on time.

If you fly to Miami,. you can get a cab or a reasonable cruise shuttle from your cruise line. An easy ride to the pier. Most ships will let you start boarding around noon.

So, If I were to fly from Phila to Miami on Monday morning, Feb 5th I should have no problems with getting a cab to the dock in time for the ship - since all the excitment/traffic will be on Sunday for the game. Would this work out? thank you

The airport will be full of cabs dropping off guests who were in town for the Superbowl.

In other words, no, you will not have a problem getting a cab at the airport.

Make sure you have trip insurance in case you run into inclement weather.

I too would not risk day-of-cruise flight. What about flying into PBI (West Palm Beach) or FLL on 2/4 and getting a hotel and car there - then heading to cruise port on 2/5.

I know Miami is a real city compared to Jacksonville - but husband and son attended SuperBowl in Jacksonville a few years ago and there is no describing amount of disruption to a city a SuperBowl can bring - there are activities the entire week before, media and all sorts of groups book hotel rooms 364 days in advance.

Are you even sure you can get a flight into Miami on the day of the SuperBowl? Flights also get booked up.

Another hotel option is to contact cruiseline and see if you can add a hotel night stay at this point - I tend to doubt it considering your date of departure, but there is always a chance they have booked a block of rooms and still have some available.

Thank you all for your help. We do have travel insurance. I think we will be o.k. with an early flight to Miami and cab to the dock on Sun, Feb 5th.

OH, I did it again - I put the wrong date down- I said Sunday that we would be sailing ---no, it's Monday, Feb 5th. and this would be after the SuperBowl, so if we got an early flight-and a cab to the dock, I don't see why we wouldn't get there on time for the 5pm departure...sorry about the confusion!

djm...it says 5 pm sailing, but you must be on by 4. They will have a muster drill before sailing. That in mind, whatever time you arrive, you'll probably board around noon and usually you'll be able to go to your room at one. When you first board, make a beeline for the buffet and have a nice lunch before exploring the ship. Which cruise are you on?

djm, the problem is you are flying out of the northeast in February and incliment weather ANYWHERE will almost certainly delay your flight.

If you can book a direct, non stop flight originating out of PHL, your chances are much better of making the flight. Also book the first flight of the day.

We will try to get a flight around 8am-if the weather is good it should take 2hrs from Phila to Miami. That gives us 2 hrs to get to the port by 12 noon.That'is if all goes well. The ship is Celebrity/Miami,Key West,and Grand Cayman returning on Sat 7am into Miami. If I had known when I booked that this was Superbowl weekend - I would have booked a week later! thanks

Interested to hear how you like this cruise - we are taking same cruise 2 weeks after you (so if you hate it, I guess I really don't want to know).

I am still nervous for you taking flight same day as cruise. I guess you could always meet up with cruise the next day in Key West, but flights are delayed in winter far more than 3-4 hours in winter all the time.

Gail- interested to know if you are going the night before your cruise. And if so, where are you staying? In Miami? We have been on this ship before-went to Southern Carribean and we enjoyed it then very much. My husband has always wanted to go to Key West/and G.Cayman-so this is a surprise for his Christmas present.

We may be in same position as you - it is beginning of Feb. school vacation week and have not booked hotel yet (I know we should have - procrastination). We are flying down arriving late afternoon day before cruise, leaving day cruise returns. (Flying from Boston nonstop on AA)

My brother lives near West Palm Beach, so we will not be totally stuck.

Going with teenage dtr who wants to parasail - I wanted to swim with singrays, but now that strangely seems more dangerous than parasailing!

Husband wants to scuba dive in Cayman. Since there are 3 of us, we got a Concierge class balcony cabin.

We're doing the same cruise 11/27, flying down the day before as we have friends in Miami and had no trouble booking the Hyatt w/a senior rate...but then again, this is the Sunday after Thanksgiving and everyone is going the other way!

Well, I changed my mind - it was so much of a hassel to decide what to do about getting to Miami on time the day of the cruise. So, I called got in touch with the website that I used "Vacationtogo" - and they were very good to change my date and since I was within the time frame - there was no extra charge (they have been very good to work with) - just changed my date to Jan 22-27th. This way we can leave the day before stay overnight and they go to the ship. With unknown weather conditions/superbowl, etc. I feel this will work out better. Now I need to find a place for one night..if anyone can help with that....thank you

I'm glad you are happy. No need to stress before a vacation! Mine begins when I step on the plane...have you considered bidding on Priceline?

doggone it, i hit the button too soon...here's a thread from cruisecritic that tells about bidding at priceline for cruise motels. Really good info here!
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=412923

Good call.

Both the Intercontinental and the Holiday Inn Bayside are right downtown across from Bayside Marketplace and you can see the cruise ships.

However, my choice would be either the beaches, Coral Gables, or Coconut Grove. Key Biscayne and South Beach would be the closest beaches to the cruise ships. Coral Gables and Coconut Grove are only a few short miles to the port.

What would you like to do the day before? R&R in your room? Downtown.

Shop and see some sites? Coral Gables or Coconut Grove.

Sit on the beach with a mojito? One of the beaches.

Tell me an area and I'll suggest hotels.

One last question, are your new dates over MLK's Birthday Federal Holiday?

:-D

Oh Great GoT....give em one more thing to worry about!!!!!