Leaving ship prior to sailing from Miami

[Abovethesod]

Hi all,

as title suggests trying to maximise Miami time. Our sailing on the Seaside on October 5th does not sail until 7.pm and with it being our first time in Miami  would love to spend a few extra hours there . We arrive 1700 hours the previous night at the Hilton Blue Lagoon which seems a fair bit out of town.

I know, should have booked a few days either end of the cruise , but!!!!!!!

Is possible,permissible to park our cases, board at our appointed Aurea time, register and then leave the ship for a few hours. Possible Taxi to somewhere in Miami to stretch our legs prior to sail off?

Is it even possible time wise, would have to be in a taxi watching the Seaside sail away.

Thanks as always.

[emmas gran]

One thing you have to do before sail away is the compulsory muster drill so that could be around 5 pm. Haven't sailed from Miami on MSC but others will advise you. The hotel is very nice, bear in mind the time difference and

possible jet-lag all we want to do is grab a bite to eat and sleep on arrival. If your plane lands at 5 pm it could be 6.30/7 before you get to the hotel. Are you flying via a gateway so you do immigration then or direct to Miami as that can also delay you.

You could get off the ship early disembarkation deposit your luggage at the airport and come back into town to sightsee

[sidari]

If you miss the Safety drill you will have to do it the following morning, 5pm may be the all aboard time despite the 7pm sail time.

We are headed back out again for another Xmas sailing and as far as I know for UK residents Dublin Ireland is the only place that does pre clearance for the USA, we are flying that way this time around.

If you do get off the ship make sure you take your passport as well as cabin card.

[JAGR]

Probably wouldn't impact many other UK flyers, David, but you can do US pre-check at Shannon as well.  Actually, US preclearance is offered in 6 countries: Dublin and Shannon in Ireland; Aruba; Freeport and Nassau in The Bahamas; Bermuda; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg in Canada.

[Preziosa]

Hi Think you Will stress yourself. You Can board around 11.30. So stay on the ship and have a Nice afternoon on the ship. And Be ready for a fantastic sail away from Miami.

See Miami from a ship is fantastic.

[Até]

I see no problem with getting to the ship early, say 9:30 to 10am, dropping off luggage and checking in to get your cruise cards then leaving.  I don't know if you go ahead and board the ship early whether they will let you back off again without a good reason.  Just be sure to still get back to the terminal by 5pm and it should be an easy walk right onto the ship.  The only pitfall I see is that your luggage may be sitting outside your cabin for a while.  I'm pretty sure they only do the safety drill after all aboard time, but missing the safety drill would somewhat a plus as the makeup session the next day is a lot easier.

[CruisingFox27]

If I understand correctly, you'll arrive the day prior to your sailing, which is when you'll clear immigration etc and then you'll have the evening to relax in the hotel?

 

You could feasibly check in at the ship and embark around lunch, collect your cruise cards and then disembark for a couple of hours. You do need to be back by all aboard time at 5pm and to complete muster. So you'd probably only have a couple of hours to see miami, which to be honest, with traffic in and out of the port and trying to go anywhere isn't really going to be worth it. You won't see much and the stress won't be worth it either. 

 

Embark, relax and begin the enjoyment of your cruise. 

[reedprincess]

9 hours ago, Abovethesod said:

Hi all,

as title suggests trying to maximise Miami time. Our sailing on the Seaside on October 5th does not sail until 7.pm and with it being our first time in Miami  would love to spend a few extra hours there . We arrive 1700 hours the previous night at the Hilton Blue Lagoon which seems a fair bit out of town.

I know, should have booked a few days either end of the cruise , but!!!!!!!

Is possible,permissible to park our cases, board at our appointed Aurea time, register and then leave the ship for a few hours. Possible Taxi to somewhere in Miami to stretch our legs prior to sail off?

Is it even possible time wise, would have to be in a taxi watching the Seaside sail away.

Thanks as always.

I'll suggest a slightly different itinerary.

 

Arrive, go to hotel night before, sleep, etc 

 

Morning of cruise, go to port around 10/10:15 and drop off luggage with porters (keep valuables/medications, etc with you).

 

Once luggage is dropped off, head back out of port, sightsee for a few hours and return to port around 3/3:30 and do your check-in, get cruise cards and board.  

Much easier, quicker and smoother that way - you'll essentially waltz through security, check-in, and onboard as the lines and crowds are gone by then, and there's no worry or confusion about checking in earlier and getting cruise cards but then working your way through the terminal and back outside or boarding then finding security to halt oncoming guests to let you off, and you having to go through the immigration checks to disembark to go sightsee. 

 

You're not going to see a lot on 3-4 hours but you could drive through South Beach, through Little Havana, maybe Little Haiti and back to the ship.. 

Or get up early, around 7 or 8, sightsee till 1 or 2 then head to the ship with luggage etc and check-in, board and enjoy.  

 

Good luck 

 

[sidari]

6 hours ago, JAGR said:

Probably wouldn't impact many other UK flyers, David, but you can do US pre-check at Shannon as well.  Actually, US preclearance is offered in 6 countries: Dublin and Shannon in Ireland; Aruba; Freeport and Nassau in The Bahamas; Bermuda; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg in Canada.

John ... I knew about Shannon but didn't mention it because few if any flights go there from the UK and with Dublin being the main gateway.

The Safety drill on our two Seaside sailings was at 4pm.

[Abovethesod]

Not flying out of Dublin , virgin out of Heathrow, so no pre_clearance unfortunately.

Finding out that muster could be at 4pm might decide it for us.

Will fully decide on the day but we are not ones for putting extra pressures on ourselves while on holiday so could leave exploring Miami for the next time and instead try strolling around Seaside with the first of many beverages, alcoholic and otherwise.

I am sure there will be other questions closer to the time but thank you all for now.

 

[Epos Man]

It does get very busy in the port area and considering you will most probably get to the terminal at around 11.00 and if all good be on board by 12.00 you then have to get out of the port which will be busy and then get back by 17.00 it might give you around 2.30 hours of looking round thats 2.30 hrs of no drinking

 

[TrinaLC]

I think the best suggestion was the one to get to the port around 10:30 (most departing traffic will have cleared), drop off your luggage at curbside with the porters waiting to take them (keeping any valuables/meds in a day backpack: tip $1 bag is prudent!!), but do not check in. Grab a cab and go to the Art Deco historic district. Print out a walking tour and some restaurant reviews. Have a leisurely 3 or 4 hours in what is the most interesting part of Miami (and it includes an ocean beach). Head back no later than 4, avoiding rush hour traffic. Then proceed to easily check-in. 

Edited August 22, 2019 by TrinaLC

[CruisingFox27]

Another alternative, rather than dropping your luggage at the port and then heading back into Miami,  could you use a luggage storage facility  outside of the port?

We recently had a city break with a late flight home. Our accommodation didn't have luggage storage so we used a company called stasher. Checked out of the apartment, dropped the luggage off, enjoyed a day of sightseeing, collected luggage and flew home. 

[mickey89]

What time do you leave Miami on your return to Ireland?  Most flights are late evening giving you a full day to see Miami sights, do the HOHO bus, they store your luggage at Bayside and take you to the airport at the end of your day.  MSC will offer the Hoho excursion costs about $55pp - less hassle and more enjoyable.

Edited August 22, 2019 by mickey89