Excursions in Miami and Fort Lauderdale before 3:10 Flight from Miami

[newfielover]

I am sailing on the Allure in March. My flight out of Miami does not leave until 3:10 p.m, which means I need to find something to do. Royal offers the Sawgrass Mills shopping and the Airboat ride excursions, then drops you off at the airport. I read a couple of reviews on their website, neither got real good reviews. Has anyone done either of these? I figure the transfer from the ship to Miami is $30, the excursions are $20 or so dollars more. I don't know what else we can do to pass the time.

 

Thanks for the help!

[DonnaK]

We loved the airboat tour of the Everglades. It was an interesting way to pass the time before our late flight, plus it provided a safe place to stow our luggage and transportation to the airport!

[LMaxwell]

Ride the water taxi. No need to travel far. Very relaxing. Watertaxi.com

[phoenix1181]

We did Sawgrass a few years ago & wouldn't do it again. Sawgrass is huge & there's not enough time to see much of it. Plus, if you do any shopping, you have the added hassle of finding a place in your luggage or carry-on to put your purchases.

[riclop]

We did Sawgrass a few years ago & wouldn't do it again. Sawgrass is huge & there's not enough time to see much of it. Plus, if you do any shopping, you have the added hassle of finding a place in your luggage or carry-on to put your purchases.

 

They just want to kill some time.

[mollyeilis]

A 3:10 flight means arriving at the airport at at least 1:10pm. If you were to delay getting off the ship until the last, that means getting in line to leave by, what, 9? Getting all the way off and through customs by...10? I think the airport is fairly closeby, so let's estimate 30 minutes of a taxi including wait for a taxi, traffic, and such.

 

That really isn't THAT long before you would be there anyway. At an airport like Miami I can easily find things to do for a few hours. Easily.

[racerxspeedy]

We just returned from FLL. I have done this 3 times now:

 

We self disembark, grab a cab to the Airport (20) and rented a car at EZ Rental for $35. If you enjoy the beach - Drive 5 miles south to Hollywood beach area and walk this nice boardwalk. There is a Public parking lot at Taylor street. Cheap food and drinks right on the beach.

 

You could also enjoy the downtown area - Drive down to Los Olas and park near the riverwalk (SE 3rd). You can walk along the river and/or take a water taxi ride.

 

No problem doing this and getting back to the airport at 1:00pm

 

We drove to Sawgrass once. Nice mall, but overcrowded. Did the airboat ride. OK but renting a car is much cheaper and we like our independence.

 

Enjoy

[jmaedcruise]

We just returned from FLL. I have done this 3 times now:

 

We self disembark, grab a cab to the Airport (20) and rented a car at EZ Rental for $35. If you enjoy the beach - Drive 5 miles south to Hollywood beach area and walk this nice boardwalk. There is a Public parking lot at Taylor street. Cheap food and drinks right on the beach.

 

You could also enjoy the downtown area - Drive down to Los Olas and park near the riverwalk (SE 3rd). You can walk along the river and/or take a water taxi ride.

 

No problem doing this and getting back to the airport at 1:00pm

 

We drove to Sawgrass once. Nice mall, but overcrowded. Did the airboat ride. OK but renting a car is much cheaper and we like our independence.

 

Enjoy

 

thanks for the ideas, we will be renting a car in FLL for the day our ship returns as we have 6pm flights... What is EZ rental? Our flights are out of Miami though can you return one of these rentals to a different airport??

[phoenix1181]

They just want to kill some time.

 

I may not have expressed myself to your satisfaction but the point is I considered it not to be worthwhile when we were trying to kill time before our flight.

[bouhunter]

We just returned from FLL. I have done this 3 times now:

 

We self disembark, grab a cab to the Airport (20) and rented a car at EZ Rental for $35. If you enjoy the beach - Drive 5 miles south to Hollywood beach area and walk this nice boardwalk. There is a Public parking lot at Taylor street. Cheap food and drinks right on the beach.

 

You could also enjoy the downtown area - Drive down to Los Olas and park near the riverwalk (SE 3rd). You can walk along the river and/or take a water taxi ride.

 

No problem doing this and getting back to the airport at 1:00pm

 

We drove to Sawgrass once. Nice mall, but overcrowded. Did the airboat ride. OK but renting a car is much cheaper and we like our independence.

 

Enjoy

 

Except I believe OP said they're on Allure (FLL Port?) and are flying out of Miami.....

[racerxspeedy]

thanks for the ideas, we will be renting a car in FLL for the day our ship returns as we have 6pm flights... What is EZ rental? Our flights are out of Miami though can you return one of these rentals to a different airport??

 

EZ car rental. at FLL airport There are many others we have used as well - EZ had the best rate that week. MIA and FLL have similar rental agencies. The person in front of me at FLL was dropping his car at the MIA branch.

 

I imagine that there is an added charge for this.

 

Enjoy

[DonnaK]

EZ car rental. at FLL airport There are many others we have used as well - EZ had the best rate that week. MIA and FLL have similar rental agencies. The person in front of me at FLL was dropping his car at the MIA branch.

 

I imagine that there is an added charge for this.

 

Enjoy

Unless something has changed recently, in Florida there is no additional charge to drop a rental car off at a different location.

[FTLcruisers]

We just returned from FLL. I have done this 3 times now:

 

We self disembark, grab a cab to the Airport (20) and rented a car at EZ Rental for $35. If you enjoy the beach - Drive 5 miles south to Hollywood beach area and walk this nice boardwalk. There is a Public parking lot at Taylor street. Cheap food and drinks right on the beach.

 

You could also enjoy the downtown area - Drive down to Los Olas and park near the riverwalk (SE 3rd). You can walk along the river and/or take a water taxi ride.

 

No problem doing this and getting back to the airport at 1:00pm

 

We drove to Sawgrass once. Nice mall, but overcrowded. Did the airboat ride. OK but renting a car is much cheaper and we like our independence.

 

Enjoy

 

this works if you are flying out of FLL but the original poster has a flight out of Miami.

 

I would suggest the ship's airboat ride excursion - I live right across the highway from the Everglades and it is quite a unique experience for those who have never seen it.

[Ltgfrk]

Unless something has changed recently, in Florida there is no additional charge to drop a rental car off at a different location.

 

Normally you can rent at FLL and drop off at MIA without an additional charge. This is not the case for all of Florida. Even renting at PBI and dropping off at MIA would be an additional charge with most rental agencies.

[DonnaK]

Normally you can rent at FLL and drop off at MIA without an additional charge. This is not the case for all of Florida. Even renting at PBI and dropping off at MIA would be an additional charge with most rental agencies.

Thanks for the info. We usually rent at MCO and drop off elsewhere with no additional charge