Advice for a red eye flight to Miami

[myisland00]

I will be traveling with my kids from Las Vegas to Miami in July on an overnight flight that arrives at 6:30am the morning of our cruise( 3:30am our time) We will be exhausted before the vacation starts, I'm sure! Can anyone recommend a hotel we could check into for the few hours before we board the boat?

 

 

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[Clarea]

I will be traveling with my kids from Las Vegas to Miami in July on an overnight flight that arrives at 6:30am the morning of our cruise( 3:30am our time) We will be exhausted before the vacation starts, I'm sure! Can anyone recommend a hotel we could check into for the few hours before we board the boat?

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

That will be a difficult night.

 

I would ask this question on the Florida Departures forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

 

There are many folks there with lots of info about the area.

[Flatbush Flyer]

I will be traveling with my kids from Las Vegas to Miami in July on an overnight flight that arrives at 6:30am the morning of our cruise( 3:30am our time) We will be exhausted before the vacation starts, I'm sure! Can anyone recommend a hotel we could check into for the few hours before we board the boat?

 

 

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You must be kidding.

[Langley Cruisers]

Oh my gosh, is there any way you can come in a day earlier? You will still pay for the hotel room regardless. Not to mention, if anything happens along the way or before you even start out, your cruise could be in jeopardy by flying in the same day. Many people have done it, but most of us here on the boards advise against flying in the same day.

[klfrodo]

I will be traveling with my kids from Las Vegas to Miami in July on an overnight flight that arrives at 6:30am the morning of our cruise( 3:30am our time) We will be exhausted before the vacation starts, I'm sure! Can anyone recommend a hotel we could check into for the few hours before we board the boat?

 

 

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Someone says you must be kidding.

I'm saying that unless they are paying your bills, to just mind their own business.

 

We do exactly what your asking about.

We book the room for the night before and guarantee a late check in along with a requested late check out. Most will go for noon or 1PM. That way when we arrive at the hotel at 6:30AM, our room is ready for us.

You can do it at the Holiday Inn across from Bayside

[myisland00]

Thank you so much for the advice! The flight I'm looking at will be hard, but it's also $600 less for our family of 4. [emoji2]

 

 

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[whataboutport]

You must be kidding.

 

Why would you think they have to be kidding? I've done it before. Three times in fact. Sometimes you just have NO other choice: can't get off from work early; flights cost significantly more where it's a deal breaker; no more flights. I'm sure there's even more reasons. Not everyone has the luxury of taking a few days pre or post cruise, and people shouldn't be chastised or given attitude for it.

[Langley Cruisers]

Someone says you must be kidding. I'm saying that unless they are paying your bills, to just mind their own business.... You can do it at the Holiday Inn across from Bayside

 

Someone new to these boards asked for advice and opinions, and they were given. Gee.

 

As well, the Holiday Inn Port of Miami has been sold and is slated for possible demolition, as it were. Not sure of dates, but I wouldn't stay there anyway. There are other better hotels, less expensive too.

[Keith1010]

I see you are new to Cruise Critic.

 

For hotels, I would post this on the Florida Departures Board.

 

There are hotels near the airport. That is what I would select. I believer there are three or four Marriott Hotels there. I wouldn't begin a cruise having just come of a red eye flight but that is your decision not ours.

 

Keith

[Flatbush Flyer]

Okay - let me put it more delicately with an age old adage: "pennywise and pound foolish."

 

I can only assume (without specific dates) that OP is considering Frontier Airlines, which has recently improved it's "on time" record to second worst.

 

Being new to CC, OP should really do some forum searches to see what folks who fly regularly for work have to say about "same day arrivals" for cruises.

 

That said, OP could still do the cheap Frontier "red eye" but do it a day earlier and either ask for ultra early hotel check-in or pay for a second day (at a per person equivalent cost that is far less that a total of $600). Less stress all around.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Flatbush Flyer

[Keith1010]

In the end the OP has to figure this out.

 

Another option is to fly in a day early on the red eye.

 

Yes some hotel expenses.

 

Keith

[SadieN]

In the end the OP has to figure this out.

 

 

 

Another option is to fly in a day early on the red eye.

 

 

 

Yes some hotel expenses.

 

 

 

Keith

 

 

Same hotel expense. Most hotels will hold luggage even if you cannot check in.

 

Just had friends do the red eye LAX-Sydney, arriving on day of departure. They made it to the ship but they slept the first day away.

[bigsky]

We've had to do that before. Our flight was a tad later. Couldn't sleep if we wanted to because we were so excited to board! Hopefully you'll get some zzzz's on the plane! [emoji574]️[emoji16] enjoy!!

 

 

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[MommaBear55]

I will be traveling with my kids from Las Vegas to Miami in July on an overnight flight that arrives at 6:30am the morning of our cruise( 3:30am our time) We will be exhausted before the vacation starts, I'm sure! Can anyone recommend a hotel we could check into for the few hours before we board the boat?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

We have done this with kids as well. We had to pinch every penny. I love the idea of booking a hotel to check in at 7 am to get late checkout. Usually ones at the airport are the most flexible. I would call them directly to book so that they can put it right in the reservation. Check prices online first so you can get a feel for the best rates.

 

Some traveling advice: super comfy clothes so it is easier for the kids to sleep. Keep the energy and activity level as low key as possible so they can sleep better. My kids always woke up better if they could get in the hotel pool just after breakfast. It seemed to help set their internal clock to the new time zone. And luckily, coming East, bedtime will be earlier the first night on the ship since you will have lost two hours.

[slidergirl]

From someone in the hotel business:

Book a room for arrival the night before. Be sure you book for exactly the number of beds you need - do not count on booking the cheap King room and have the hotel change to a room with 2 queen beds for no charge (my pet peeve - book the cheap room for 1 person then show up with a family of 4 and get all upset when I can't change you to the room you should have booked). CALL THE HOTEL AS SOON AS YOU BOOK. Let them know you will be arriving around 7am the next morning. You can ask the hotel to pre-register you (aka "check you in") that night. Your room will be waiting for you when you arrive. When you call the hotel, also see what the latest check out time they may offer. Some may offer a later checkout for a fee - you might have to weigh whether or not that fits in your budget. If it doesn't, see if you can check out and then spend some time in the public area of the hotel, use the pool, use the restroom to change. FOLLOW UP WITH THE HOTEL A FEW DAYS PRIOR TO ARRIVAL TO VERIFY THEY HAVE THE PRE-REGISTER NOTE ON YOUR RESERVATION.

We do this all the time at my hotel. I have 3 of the pre-registers to do today for people who are actually arriving tomorrow AM.

Edited February 27, 2016 by slidergirl

[zoncom]

OR if Frontier is as bad as they say, it will be late enough you can do a nice breakfast then just go over to cruise port a little after 10AM.

[breezy270]

Someone says you must be kidding.

I'm saying that unless they are paying your bills, to just mind their own business.

 

We do exactly what your asking about.

We book the room for the night before and guarantee a late check in along with a requested late check out. Most will go for noon or 1PM. That way when we arrive at the hotel at 6:30AM, our room is ready for us.

You can do it at the Holiday Inn across from Bayside

 

Yay!!!!Thank you thank you for the awesome idea!!! I am also taking a red eye from Las Vegas and get in at 6am. We are coming in a day early this time but our last cruise we did not. The red eye flight we took was a killer and we were so exhausted and at the POM by 7:45am.

 

This time I want to avoid the exhaustion but I want a room ready once we arrive. I know we will want to sleep! I have over 100 days to go till we cruise but I have been going back and forth over where we will stay and how we will get around...

 

I found my solution with the Ramada Ft Lauderdale airport/cruise port. They allow you to check in anytime after 3pm and out of the room by 11am...they offer a shuttle to the POM for $15.90 per person. The free airport shuttle starts at 5:30am .....this will be so perfect.

 

I also found out that the rodeway inn near FLL airport has a dayroom deal between 10am and 6pm...I believe it was 59.99 for up to four people...I might consider this on the way home since we have a long wait once we disembark the ship!!!

Edited June 13, 2016 by breezy270

[Cruisin' Chick]

For my second cruise, we had decided to take advantage of the flight/hotel/cruise offered by the cruise line. But when I got the tickets, I found we were given a red eye flight to arrive early in the morning of our cruise in Miami. With a hotel room for just the morning. BF and I discuss this and decided this was unacceptable and I called the TA and insisted that it get changed.

 

We got to Miami around 8 pm. The next morning, we were about to go downstairs to have breakfast when the elevator door opened. Some bleary-eyed people got off and we figured they were given red eyed flights. We were so glad we got our arrangements changed as we couldn't see boarding the ship tired (I can't sleep on planes). To me, the first day of the cruise is a major part of my vacation.

 

Also I wouldn't want to risk some flight delay and either have to rush to get to the pier or otherwise miss the first day (and have to play catch up to the ship if it's allowed -- there's some itineraries that you can't do this).

 

I've been in the situation where I didn't have a lot of vacation days. In some jobs, it helped if I could accumulate days and roll them over into the next year. Even if that meant not having a true vacation every year. We had decided that if we didn't have that extra day for travel before the embarkation day, we're not going to book the cruise.

[breezy270]

For my second cruise' date=' we had decided to take advantage of the flight/hotel/cruise offered by the cruise line. But when I got the tickets, I found we were given a red eye flight to arrive early in the morning of our cruise in Miami. With a hotel room for just the morning. BF and I discuss this and decided this was unacceptable and I called the TA and insisted that it get changed.

 

We got to Miami around 8 pm. The next morning, we were about to go downstairs to have breakfast when the elevator door opened. Some bleary-eyed people got off and we figured they were given red eyed flights. We were so glad we got our arrangements changed as we couldn't see boarding the ship tired (I can't sleep on planes). To me, the first day of the cruise is a major part of my vacation.

 

Also I wouldn't want to risk some flight delay and either have to rush to get to the pier or otherwise miss the first day (and have to play catch up to the ship if it's allowed -- there's some itineraries that you can't do this).

 

I've been in the situation where I didn't have a lot of vacation days. In some jobs, it helped if I could accumulate days and roll them over into the next year. Even if that meant not having a true vacation every year. We had decided that if we didn't have that extra day for travel before the embarkation day, we're not going to book the cruise.[/quote']

 

I agree that the first day of the cruise is so exciting and I love to wander around the ship and start my vacation! This last time in the planning stage a red eye flight sounded okay. I had done it before to Michigan to visit family and it wasn't that bad. This last time it was horrible. I was so tired that I slept in the atrium through the muster drill and barely enjoyed anything that first day. All I could think about was sleep. I have also vowed no more red eye flights on the same day as the cruise. It cut back on my fun and my drinking..lol...