bizer

Why?

 

Financially it makes no sense. Just out of curiosity I priced it both ways using random dates in January and Thrifty. A 9-day rental + parking at POM would be just shy of $450. Conversely, one-day rentals on either side of your cruise would be about $100 total. Even if you need a taxi from MIA to POM after dropping off your rental, your still looking at a price difference in excess of $300... For what? What benefit do you gain? (genuinely curious)

We have never used shuttles or hired cars before. With young kids we always figured it would be easiest to have a rental car and be on our schedule.

After some research last night I am starting to second guess the car rental. I see that the Residence Inn and Hampton Inn by the airport offer shuttles from the airport and to the port. If we go that route we would only need a rental or hired car to get to FLL after our cruise.

Are there any car rental agencies next to the port or do you have to go to MIA? If you have to go to MIA are there shuttles from the port?

WHY????????? Price was a concern in your original post and now you are going to pay for a rental and then pay to park it at the port for a week? This makes no sense whatsoever.

At the time of my original post non stop tickets into MIA & FLL where roughly $300 more per person then what we could fly into Ft. Myers or Orlando for. I really didn't want to spend upwards of $500 per ticket for the four of us to fly into FLL or MIA for the days and times we need.

I don't mind spending a few hundred on car rental and parking at the port.

I hope you aren't flying in to MIA the day of your cruise.

No. We always fly in the day before.

We have our airline tickets booked. We are flying into MIA and flying out of FLL.

I plan to rent a car at MIA and park at the port. Will then return the car to FLL.

Our departing flight leaves in the evening. Any recommendations on what we (2A&2C) could do during that time? Looks like we will have 6-7 hours to spare.

Are you checking Southwest Air? We usually get good rates from MSP to FLL. Check every day and sometimes twice a day as the rates fluctuate rapidly. Also check for only one person to get the lowest price. If they have one low price and one higher and you check for two people you will only see the higher one.

However, on our Nov trip we are going down on SW and returning on United.

I have checked SW but no nonstop for the day we head down and the nonstop return flight is very expensive at this time.

If we fly into Ft. Myers would we take I-75 or 41 to Miami? Any recommendations on a nice place to stay in Ft. Myers or Naples area the night before the cruise? Or would it be best to head to Miami the night before the cruise?

Thanks for the responses.

I will keep an eye on flight prices to FLL & MIA for the next week or so. If there are no changes I will book flights to Orlando or Fort Meyers.

We will be taking a cruise in January out of Miami on NCL. We have never cruised out of Miami before, only Port Canaveral.

Coming from MN flights are pretty expensive to FLL or MIA for our dates. Flights are reasonable if we fly into Orlando or Fort Meyers. Out of these two options which is preferred for ease of getting to the Miami port? We would have a rental car no matter where we fly into.

Thanks

Thanks for the replies.

The only cabin on deck 16 available is 16016 which looks to be at the entrance. Worried noise may be an issue with this cabin? Any drawbacks to 17003 besides the veranda? Not much to choose from on deck 17 either.

We are looking to take our first cruise on NCL this winter on the Epic. We would like to book a 2 bedroom in the Haven. Are there any staterooms that are recommended? I know 16001 and 17001 are not available for our date. I want to make sure we don't pick one with issues (noise, location, etc.). Thanks

After some preliminary looking at airline tickets and car rental prices we may be best off driving back to MCO after the Wonder cruise. It's a lot of extra driving but the plane tickets are cheaper (and nonstop) and the car rental is cheaper. They (we use Alamo) charge a premium to drop off at MIA/FLL.

Thanks for the responses. Does the turnpike take cash or would I need a Sun pass?

If you fly Delta, why not just fly home from MIA? If you fly Southwest, then FLL is a much easier and shorter drive than PBI. It's about 1/2 hour drive from the port to FLL and you can either take I-95 or the turnpike. I've gone both ways to the airport and personally prefer going a few miles out of my way and paying tolls to take the turnpike but most people don't.

At this time Delta is around $400 for a nonstop one way ticket from Miami to Minneapolis. More then I want to spend at this time.

- Yes it is always best to park at the port . . . but especially in Miami where reliability of offsite parking places is not the best. Plus it's only a 4 night cruise . . . you won't be saving that much by parking offsite anyways. Being in a rental are you sure you want to go this route? Might be cheaper to drop off and get another rental the morning of disembarkation and not pay for parking at all. Something you may want to rethink.

Are there rental agencies right there at the port? I'll look into this option. We will have two young kids with us so I am trying to keep everything as simple as possible.

We are going to Disney World in January for a few days and plan on adding a cruise to the end of our trip. The options are 3 nights on the Dream or 4 nights on the Wonder. I am leaning towards the Wonder since we have never been on it and it has an extra day. My concern is getting to the port of Miami.

We plan to have a rental while at Disney so we would drive to Miami and fly home from FLL, PBI or back to MCO depending on prices. Here are some questions I have:

- Would leaving Orlando at 6:00am give us time to get to the Port of Miami by noon? This would be on a Wednesday. Looks like it is 3.5 to 4 hours with no traffic.

- Which route do you recommend? How is Miami traffic? We are used to Minneapolis traffic for big city driving.

- Is it best to park at the port? Not concerned about trying to save a few bucks on parking.

- Which airport is easier to get to from the Port of Miami, navigate and less chaotic, FLL or PBI? We will fly Southwest or Delta.

- Is the Wonder worth the extra driving?