South Beach Info Needed

[two cruisers 723]

We are going to stay for one night before our cruise in South Beach (Christmas Night). We want to stay in a hotel on Ocean Dr. that has a noon check-out as opposed to an 11:00 check-out. We're going to have a short amount of time the morning of our cruise day to walk on the beach and to explore some of the shops. We may want to have breakfast al fresco as well.

 

My questions are:

 

What part of Ocean Dr. would be the best to book a hotel at to be in the middle of the most opportunity for all of the above? The least amount of walking the better since our time will be limited. There are hotels available anywhere from the 400 block to the 1800 block of Ocean Blvd. for good prices online.

 

Also, are taxi's readily available to take us to the Port when we are ready to leave South Beach? And about how much will it cost for a taxi to get there?

 

Any help on this would be very much appreciated.