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Miami for two days before Escape Cruise

bon91324

By bon91324,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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bon91324

bon91324

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I have never been to Florida before and I will be staying at the Holliday Inn Port of Miami across the street form Bayshore Market place for 2 days before my cruise and am looking for recommendations of must do see and places to eat.

 

Thanks!

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purpletequila

purpletequila

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I have never been to Florida before and I will be staying at the Holliday Inn Port of Miami across the street form Bayshore Market place for 2 days before my cruise and am looking for recommendations of must do see and places to eat.

 

Thanks!

 

If you like Japanese cuisine and/or sushi and don't mind dropping some change, I can not recommend Zuma enough. It's inside the Epic hotel which should be around a 10 minute walk from where you are. Just check it out on TripAdvisor or Yelp. I'm hitting it again when I go on my cruise in November. If you decide to go, reservations well in advance are needed.

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LakeWinniMom

LakeWinniMom

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We also arrived two days early for our Feb cruise. I recommend grabbing a taxi and going to Miami Beach for a day.

 

If you are interested in shopping and a large selection of restaurants, Lincoln Mall Road is a great place to visit. We ate at Havana 1957, which had great Cuban food and a great atmosphere. You will also need a taxi to get here, but they are readily available and we thought they were pretty reasonable.

 

Have fun!

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labbro58

labbro58

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Spend a day (or afternoon) on one of the "Hop On- Hop Off" bus tours. You can stay on the bus for a couple of hours and see most of the "Miami Hot Spots", or stretch your time out by getting off and exploring a particular area, then getting on the next bus to continue the tour. We did this after our cruise last year and got to see places that our friend that lives in town had never been to - and he's lived there for 20 years!:)

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Maddysdaddy

Maddysdaddy

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Spend a day (or afternoon) on one of the "Hop On- Hop Off" bus tours. You can stay on the bus for a couple of hours and see most of the "Miami Hot Spots", or stretch your time out by getting off and exploring a particular area, then getting on the next bus to continue the tour. We did this after our cruise last year and got to see places that our friend that lives in town had never been to - and he's lived there for 20 years!:)

 

Agreed. This is what my family does whenever we have a few days in an unfamiliar city. For our upcoming trip, we have a tour of Miami scheduled for the first morning we're there, and then we have the rest of that day and all of the next to go back to explore those places that jumped out at us.

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johnnyrb

johnnyrb

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If you want to try the most famous Cuban restaurant in Miami, you must get to Versailles. You will have an absolutely awesome meal. Dont forget the Cuban coffee. I always get a "colada" to go. If you want decent Cuban food at a great location on the bay with plenty of people watching, hit Mambo at Bayside. If you havent been to Miami before be sure to do SouthBeach. Its way overpriced and all the Collins ave restaurants are mediocre ripoffs, but its lots of fun. Grab a drink at Bongos or at the Clevelander. Lots of great cafes and shops on Lincoln ave also. Miami is a great place to visit, enjoy!

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Quincella

Quincella

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I agree with grabbing a taxi and heading out to South Beach for a bit. Eat at a cafe, watch the people, go into some of the really cool shops.

 

If you want to tour something, I love Vizcaya. It's only a very short ride (less than 10 minutes) from where you're staying, right where I-95 ends at U.S. 1. It's a national historic landmark and was built as a winter home by....someone famous. I forget who. :D

 

Anyway, to say it's a "house" is an understatement. It's a villa/mansion, right on the water, that's now a museum, with stunning gardens. Much of the house is open air, and you can see where they threw lavish parties, imported the tiles and such from exotic places, and had an indescribable view. I love the place, and it's a great way to spend a couple of hours.

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zackarykeef

zackarykeef

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I live in Miami, and I would agree with what above posters have mentioned...

 

Downtown Miami (where the port it) is mainly condos and offices, so you'll probably want to get out of downtown, however...if you like art, the Perez Art Museum of Miami (PAMM) is right next to the port, and it's FANTASTIC. I like it better than the MoMA in NYC.

 

As mentioned, Vizcaya is stunning...definitely check it out.

 

And you have to go to South Beach, obviously...someone mentioned Havana 1957 before. Go there for good Cuban food and the Miami vibe, but go to the one on Hispaniola Way (also in SoBe)...it's a great area, and SLIGHTLY less traveled than Lincoln Rd.

 

Avoid eating/drinking on Ocean Ave...$$$$$

 

You could also consider an Everglades tour, if that's your thing...but I wouldn't say that's the essence of Miami :cool:

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teseo

teseo

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the best place to find any information is always TripAdvisor, you can find all kind of attractions, tours, reviews and pictures. Also groupon is a good place to find deals, but when you are closer to your sailing time because most of them have a short expiration time.

 

We found a great tour to everglades in groupon, was really cheap, just that you had to drive there, but we had a rental car.

 

Unless the beach is a must for you, i would'n spend time there, beaches are nice but you are going to be in a cruise and going to different islands, definitely worth going to SoBe, walk around, see all the architecture, the buildings at night are lighted up, Lincoln Road is a nice stroll.

 

Bayside is a nice mall, you can catch a tour from there, they offer many options, definitely look on TripAdvisor and you will find tons of info there.

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javalsu

javalsu

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If you want to try the most famous Cuban restaurant in Miami, you must get to Versailles. You will have an absolutely awesome meal. Dont forget the Cuban coffee. I always get a "colada" to go. If you want decent Cuban food at a great location on the bay with plenty of people watching, hit Mambo at Bayside. If you havent been to Miami before be sure to do SouthBeach. Its way overpriced and all the Collins ave restaurants are mediocre ripoffs, but its lots of fun. Grab a drink at Bongos or at the Clevelander. Lots of great cafes and shops on Lincoln ave also. Miami is a great place to visit, enjoy!

 

It's worth noting that a colada is not intended for one person. It's like a cup of shots. You take one or two shots.

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j603

j603

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We stayed at the same hotel last January. It is an older hotel and shows her age a little but the rooms were clean and the staff were griendly. There is also a CVS right next by for last minute essentials or if you plan on bringing water or soda onboard. The other fun thing to try is the elevated tram, I forget what it is called. It is free and is a neat experience.

 

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

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silvercrikhix

silvercrikhix

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The hop on & off bus tour has 2-3 different loops and is fun and gives a great overview.

We did a combo with a Cruise on the Island Queen around the bay out of Bayside Marketplace which is where you can get the bus too.

You can get off in South Beach / the Cuban Area / etc...

We also enjoyed the duck tour. Way fun and informative also.

Tripadvisor is a great resource, as other posters said!

Bayside has live music and a great frozen drink bar near where the Island Queen is docked.

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acharris1

acharris1

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LOVELOVELOVE Bayshore - go on the Starlsland boat cruise..and see all the stars homes....we did that last year and it was soooooo fun. What an awesome place to spend the day.....before your cruise

 

 

Does the StarIsland boat cruise have a specific name? I'm having trouble finding it.

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