RCI past cruise tour Fort Lauderdale " everglades airboat ride " anyone knows more ?

[fvandewouwer]

HI,

doing the TA next month ending in FLL, we are staying 2 days in Miami before heading back home ( Belgium )

Hesitating between taking a shuttle from port of FLL to our hotel in Miami ( QLS price for the ride is 30 us )

or taking the everglades airboat ride offered by RCi

we have been to the everglades and did the airboat ride but it seems wonderful doing it again and we need a ride to Miami

so I wonder if this tour is any good ( price 65 us / pp )

(not sure if this tours ends at the airport, if it does that is fine as we are staying near the airport at a hotel with shuttle service)

 

all help is welcome

stay safe

Frieda

[Clarea]

You might try getting more info from the cruise line at shorex@rccl.com.

[fvandewouwer]

You might try getting more info from the cruise line at shorex@rccl.com.

Thanks

 

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[yuvraj]

I have not done this tour but found myself asking the same question a couple of weeks ago.

 

Initially I booked a tour thinking of the convenience of being dropped off at the airport after a days sightseeing. However, I then cancelled it for the following reasons ....

 

Tour departs at 8:30 so that puts some pressure on us to get off the ship in time. No doubt they have arrangements in place but it can still be a little chaotic and unpredictable.

 

The tour is of limited duration so we would end up at the airport a lot earlier than we needed to.

 

We ended up cancelling the tour and taking an uber to Miami airport. I booked a day room at the airport hotel so that we could dump our bags and then spent the day at Bayside.

[homeschoolmama]

I have done the tour multiple times. Getting off the ship is no problem as you disembark with your tour group. My reasoning for repeatedly doing the tour is i can spend money to sit in a car, or spend a bit more and get some fun and sun. No matter how many times I have done it, I have been glad I chose the tour option over a mere taxi ride. You are dropped at the airport doors of your specific airline. Another fun tour out of Ft Lauderdale is the city and boat trip. You walk to some sights, then take a cruise through the intercoastal waterway.

[fvandewouwer]

thanks for the answer, we do not need to be at the airport as we have a flight 2 days later but we booked a hotel with a free airport shuttle so that would safe us some money. basically we need to get from Port Everglades to Miami and we had a choice like taking a taxi / booking a shuttle ( qls for ex ) or doing a tour

it has been a while since we have been to the Everglades so that seemed an opportunity to visit one more time and be dropped of at the airport and then take the shuttle to the hotel ....

not sure by now how the Everglades were affected by the storm

 

 

I have done the tour multiple times. Getting off the ship is no problem as you disembark with your tour group. My reasoning for repeatedly doing the tour is i can spend money to sit in a car, or spend a bit more and get some fun and sun. No matter how many times I have done it, I have been glad I chose the tour option over a mere taxi ride. You are dropped at the airport doors of your specific airline. Another fun tour out of Ft Lauderdale is the city and boat trip. You walk to some sights, then take a cruise through the intercoastal waterway.

[fvandewouwer]

it is indeed the pressure that make us think twice also the Everglades tour is departing at 8.30 and we hate to be rushed ...

but

it is a great opportunity to see the Everglades one more time

that is why I wanted to know if anyone did this specific tour

thanks for your answer

 

I have not done this tour but found myself asking the same question a couple of weeks ago.

 

Initially I booked a tour thinking of the convenience of being dropped off at the airport after a days sightseeing. However, I then cancelled it for the following reasons ....

 

Tour departs at 8:30 so that puts some pressure on us to get off the ship in time. No doubt they have arrangements in place but it can still be a little chaotic and unpredictable.

 

The tour is of limited duration so we would end up at the airport a lot earlier than we needed to.

 

We ended up cancelling the tour and taking an uber to Miami airport. I booked a day room at the airport hotel so that we could dump our bags and then spent the day at Bayside.

[Medvedik]

Hey HomeSchoolMama,

 

Sorry for digging up this old thread, but you state that you've done the airboat tour with FLL transfer more than once, and I have a specific question:

 

What time do you usually get to the airport on this excursion? The fine print says it's good for domestic flights that depart after 2:30pm. We have a flight at 2:39pm and want to make sure that we do, in fact, have enough time to get to our flight.

 

Thanks in advance for any info you might have!

[Norwich Cruiser]

We did the same tour last January and were extremely disappointed with the airboat ride.

It didn't last very long about forty minutes from memory I know they cannot guarantee that you see any wildlife but we only saw one eagle and one crocodile the captain seemed more interested in asking for a tip.

We were at the airport by midday.

Definitely wouldn't recommend it.

Other folks may have had a better experience and the sightings may well differ as to what time of year you take the tour.

Hope this helps.

[wendychloecruiser]

I have done this as my flight out of MIA wasn’t till ~2100hrs. Despite having lived in the Ft Lauderdale area for many years, I didn’t want to be at the airport that early.

 

I certainly enjoyed the little jaunt. They dropped off the FLL pax at about 2 and 3 for MIA. It was still early and the lounges in MIA are absolutely appalling but it wasn’t that much more cost wise than just taking UBER to MIA.

[Homosassa]

We did the same tour last January and were extremely disappointed with the airboat ride.

It didn't last very long about forty minutes from memory I know they cannot guarantee that you see any wildlife but we only saw one eagle and one crocodile the captain seemed more interested in asking for a tip.

 

If you want to see wildlife in the Everglades, do not take a noisy air boat ride. There are several walking trails (wear lots of bug spray) where many types of birds and other critters can be seen.

[Norwich Cruiser]

If you want to see wildlife in the Everglades, do not take a noisy air boat ride. There are several walking trails (wear lots of bug spray) where many types of birds and other critters can be seen.

Thanks for that excellent tip we will certainly give that a try.

[Hokie79]

I’ve been on many airboat rides over the years (have family in the Ft Lauderdale area). Never failed to get close to many alligators. On a sunny day, you will see plenty of birds, iguanas,etc as well.

 

I’ve gone primarily to Everglades holiday park. Not sure where Royal would take you.

 

 

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[Homosassa]

Thanks for that excellent tip we will certainly give that a try.

 

If you are going to walk in the Everglades, I will expand on my advice.

 

Mosquitos and noseeums (small biting gnats) can be fierce, especially in the shade during the day.

 

Wear long sleeve shirts, long pants, closed toed shoes with socks and a hat. These should be light in color (not black, navy, brown, etc.). Insects are programed to go for dark colors as it is the color of most fur on animals. Tuck the bottom of the pants into the top of the socks.

 

Spray insect repellent (and not wimpy "Skin So Soft") all over your clothing and your hat. Apply the insect repellant to any exposed skin: face, neck, back of ears, and hands.

 

LOL - if you have A type blood, stand next to someone with O type blood. Mosquitos will go for the O type over the A type.

[matj2000]

We did the Airboat ride this year at Holiday Park, but not through RC.

 

It did not live up to any hype.

 

The boats don't really go that fast and pretty much the entire place looks the same no matter where you go. Sure you see a few animals but big wow.

 

It was a "one & done" thing. I will never go again.