robsvacation

Figured I'd post on the off chance someone finds this LGBTIA+ roll call.  I'll be hitting the friends of Dorthey meet and greet, hoping I'm not "the gay" (outside of the crew of course, lol.)

A regular balcony cabin on the Triumph has about the same layout as a cat 11's on Fantasy, and it's just a little smaller (love-seat instead of a full sofa and shower in the bath.) All you'll gain in the suite is a fridge, bath-tub and maybe slightly nicer decor (since Fantasy has renovated cabins and the suites have a bit more marble). Fantasy has a longer waterslide and the spray park if you have smaller children, but otherwise Triumph is bigger with a few more public rooms. If it's cheaper I'd do the Triumph, spend the money in the spa instead.

Before you book a pre-cruise package please at least check the hotel's website. Even adding in the cabs I've never had a cruise line quote me a lower overall price than I could do on my own. Cab Downtown is $19+ Tip, Airport to the port is $21 + Tip, downtown to the port not more than $8 + tip. That's a total of about $58 in total. Carnival's bus transfer from the port to MIA is $11/PP and you still tip the driver.

If Carnival charges $129/pp for a night downtown with all transfers, you can spend up to $200 on your hotel room and still be under Carnival's rates, certainly not a huge challenge except for maybe a holiday weekend in the middle of high season. Case in point: I did a quick check president's day weekend 2005 for 1 night, February 19th, likely the most expensive pre-cruise night you're going to find. You could be staying a in "petite suite" at the Hyatt, get a full breakfast for 2, a bottle of Champaigne, turn-down service with strawberries, a free in-room movie, and late checkout (if you'd rather lounge in your hotel room and wait until the lines die down a bit at the cruise terminal) for $209 on the hyatt website, so with cabs that's $10 more than what Carnival would normally charge you to shelp you around in buses and to stay in a standard hotel room at the Marriott.

Hotwire is advertising a 4star room for $80 that same night if you're not too particular which hotel you stay in, Priceline would likely be even less.

And honestly even if I had free transfers from a downtown hotel to the port I'd still grab a cab, It's only $8 as opposed to:

-Waiting for bus

-Waiting for bus to fill up

-waiting of the last of the lugguage to be put on bus

-slowly drive to the port

-staying on bus until all bagagge is offloaded

-Identifying your bags

-Identifying yourself to Carnival rep by the bus

-joining the herd into the building

My advice - DIY!

Short Answer: some and none that I know of.

There are a couple of hotels that throw in shuttle service as a ploy to get you to stay in their hotels located far from everything else. Check out choicehotels.com for a bunch, I believe there is a red roof inn that does this too. Personal opinon, alot of these hotels are a)nasty b)in nasty areas c) a&b. Book at your own risk.

If you happen to be at a hotel where the cruiseline has booked rooms for a bunch of people you can sometimes find the Carnival rep and book a transfer directly through them

All the higher end chains by the airport will shuttle you to/from the airport but none offer free shuttles downtown or to the cruise ships.

None of the downtown hotels offer free shuttle service last time I checked.

My experience in florida: Don't skimp on the hotel, they are generally really nice or really bad, no in between. Use priceline and select 3 star or higher, that will get you into a Hilton/Marriot minimum, and taxis aren't too expensive.