Celebrity pre-cruise hotels in Miami

[shofer]

Has anyone booked a hotel thru Celebrity in Miami? Which ones did they offer and were they any good? We are looking to include transfers from airport-hotel-pier-airport.

 

thanks.

[Gonzo70]

Unless you want to overpay, just book the hotel on your own and use cabs. It will cost you much less - if you use Priceline or Hotwire you likely could save 75% or so off what Celebrity would charge. If you are not familiar with Priceline and Hotwire, betterbidding.com is a great website for researching Priceline and Hotwire. I have been able to land great hotels for about $100 via Priceline in Miami, and cabs from airport to hotel and hotel to port are not very expensive.

[kitkat9438]

Has anyone booked a hotel thru Celebrity in Miami? Which ones did they offer and were they any good? We are looking to include transfers from airport-hotel-pier-airport.

 

thanks.

 

I agree with Gonzo. Book on your own. Save some money. Go to last minute travel dot com. Put in your date and 5 **, the first hotel that pops up is the Intercontinental in downtown Miami, right on the Bay where you have an awesome view of the ship when you wake up in the morning. There's Bayside Marketplace just a short walk for plenty of eating options, and a CVS right across the street for last minute items. Cab fair to the hotel and to the pier is good.

 

To verify you have the right hotel, click on details and then do a bird's eye view (at the bottom of the page) and you will see a hotel sitting on Chopin. That's it.

 

We got this hotel for $95 last December. As you can imagine it's a very nice hotel and normally expensive since it's a 5**.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

[Mr&MrsBee]

We stayed at the Hyatt Place Doral. We drove from our home in Sebring. Fl. Had free parking, trans to and from pier (beware hotels do not offer

return) and breafasty included. See you are from Wheaton. We lived in

Bloomingdale and sister lives in Glen Ellyn.

[eandj]

Totally agree NOT to book any hotel with Celebrity. :eek: The transfers are overpriced also when you consider everything thru X is per person. A cab ride and a hotel room shared is much cheaper.Someone here announced once they got such a great rate from X for their hotel room. Until we pointed out it was per person...thus twice the cost they had thought. Also with transfers, you have to wait until the bus arrives and fills...often for more than a half hour. It's a waste of time. Grab a cab and you'll be at your destination... while the big bus just sits.:rolleyes:

 

Go to the N. American departure board ( see opening page) and head to the the Florida board. You'll get lots of recs for where to stay. ANd if you want, can get info there too re Hotwire and Priceline. We prefer Hotwire.com because I like to know the hotel I'm buying. Easy to figure out...compared to Pl's truly blind bidding.

[Freecall]

I agree with Gonzo. Book on your own. Save some money. Go to last minute travel dot com. Put in your date and 5 **, the first hotel that pops up is the Intercontinental in downtown Miami, right on the Bay where you have an awesome view of the ship when you wake up in the morning. There's Bayside Marketplace just a short walk for plenty of eating options, and a CVS right across the street for last minute items. Cab fair to the hotel and to the pier is good.

 

To verify you have the right hotel, click on details and then do a bird's eye view (at the bottom of the page) and you will see a hotel sitting on Chopin. That's it.

 

We got this hotel for $95 last December. As you can imagine it's a very nice hotel and normally expensive since it's a 5**.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

The Intercontinental is a great hotel but unless you know Miami very well why would you stay downtown? I would stay in South Beach and enjoy Miami at it's very best.

 

.

[Lois R]

The Intercontinental is a great hotel but unless you know Miami very well why would you stay downtown? I would stay in South Beach and enjoy Miami at it's very best.

 

.

 

If you are arriving late, if you know you want to be by the ship, if you

are just happy with that hotel...3 reasons;). I have stayed at the

Intercontinental twice and was happy both times:D..now if you are

spending some time in the area? South Beach and Coconut Grove are

both fun and funky areas!:)

[shofer]

We would be coming in a day early just in case of weather in Chicago. Not too sure what we would be doing for the rest of the day. But I did look at both Hotwire and Priceline and think that is the way to go.

 

Thanks everyone for your advice.

[Gonzo70]

We would be coming in a day early just in case of weather in Chicago. Not too sure what we would be doing for the rest of the day. But I did look at both Hotwire and Priceline and think that is the way to go.

 

Thanks everyone for your advice.

 

If your plane is going to arrive by late afternoon, I'd recommend selecting South Beach area on Priceline or Hotwire; a bit more expensive, but tons of fun restaurants, shops and people watching in walking distance. If you are not arriving until nighttime, then it might be best to select a hotel near the cruise terminal as Kitkat suggested.

[shofer]

Is there anything by the IC to do within walking distance? South Beach sounds like fun but we are a couple of 60 y/o ladies who are not into the beach/booze scene.

[cb at sea]

The Intercontinental has Bayside Marketplace right next door...an easy walk thru a pretty little park to shops and restaurants....overlooks a harbor, and you can see POM from some of the hotel rooms. It's a very, very nice hotel.

If you don't want to spend the money on "very, very" nice, there's a Holiday Inn right across the street...typical HI....

Cab fare to port runs about $8-10 in the morning.

Unless you have alot of time to spend wandering around Miami, don't worry about South Beach...you simply won't have the time to spend there!

[Edward50]

I agree with Gonzo. Book on your own. Save some money. Go to last minute travel dot com. Put in your date and 5 **, the first hotel that pops up is the Intercontinental in downtown Miami, right on the Bay where you have an awesome view of the ship when you wake up in the morning. There's Bayside Marketplace just a short walk for plenty of eating options, and a CVS right across the street for last minute items. Cab fair to the hotel and to the pier is good.

 

To verify you have the right hotel, click on details and then do a bird's eye view (at the bottom of the page) and you will see a hotel sitting on Chopin. That's it.

 

We got this hotel for $95 last December. As you can imagine it's a very nice hotel and normally expensive since it's a 5**. END QUOTE

 

I agree with KitKat. We booked the IC through that website and got it for $89 in November. 5 Star all the way and a beautiful heate pool.

 

As the website does not give you the name of the hotel until you confirm the reservation look at the pics and other detail such as number of rooms. Then go to the IC website. When you have a match

[Edward50]

I agree with Gonzo. Book on your own. Save some money. Go to last minute travel dot com. Put in your date and 5 **, the first hotel that pops up is the Intercontinental in downtown Miami, right on the Bay where you have an awesome view of the ship when you wake up in the morning. There's Bayside Marketplace just a short walk for plenty of eating options, and a CVS right across the street for last minute items. Cab fair to the hotel and to the pier is good.

 

To verify you have the right hotel, click on details and then do a bird's eye view (at the bottom of the page) and you will see a hotel sitting on Chopin. That's it.

 

We got this hotel for $95 last December. As you can imagine it's a very nice hotel and normally expensive since it's a 5**. END QUOTE

 

 

I agree with KitKat. We booked the IC through that website and got it for $89 in November. 5 Star all the way and a beautiful heated pool.

 

As the website does not give you the name of the hotel until you confirm the reservation look at the pics and other detail such as number of rooms. Then go to the IC website. When you have a match away you go.

[eandj]

The OP hasn't said, or did I miss it:o...when they will be in Miami. Prices vary by a ton and the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas will always be lower than at other times of winter months. The OP should not assume the prices given above, are what will be available when she is traveling. Hotwire would be the way I'd go.

 

I agree that the IC would be a nice stay for the Op and her friend if staying only for 24 hours or so. Also, to the OP... feel free to head on over to the ship around 11:00 to start your cruise vacation asap.:)

 

have a great time!