Tri-Rail informaton

[OCVTSGIRL]

My husband and I are sailing on Symphony September 14th.  We fly into Ft. Lauderdale and sail out of Miami.  We have a hotel booked in Miami so we will be closer to the POM in the morning.  I have been reading about the Tri-Rail from FLL to Miami Airport and it sounds like this might work for us.  Our hotel has free shuttle service from the airport in Miami and a free shuttle to the POM.  I'm wondering if anybody else has done the Tri-Rail and can give me pros and cons.

[Gallivanting Souls]

what hotel do you have booked?

[JohninDC]

9 hours ago, familyoutdoors said:

what hotel do you have booked?

Are you flying into MIA or FLL?  If MIA, and you are arriving late and just want a room look at hotels in the Blue Lagoon neighborhood (Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn, etc.) Or the various Marriott properties near the airport.  La Quinta East is a budget option popular with cruisers and includes a shuttle to the port.

[OCVTSGIRL]

On 9/5/2019 at 8:08 PM, BNBR said:

Should we just copy and paste all the answers from the thread you started yesterday with the same question? 

I didn't see any replies so I asked this question on the Royal Caribbean board and it was moved here.

[OCVTSGIRL]

21 hours ago, familyoutdoors said:

what hotel do you have booked?

We are at the Comfort Inn In Miami so we would be close to the port.

[OCVTSGIRL]

12 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Are you flying into MIA or FLL?  If MIA, and you are arriving late and just want a room look at hotels in the Blue Lagoon neighborhood (Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn, etc.) Or the various Marriott properties near the airport.  La Quinta East is a budget option popular with cruisers and includes a shuttle to the port.

We arrive at FLL around 3:30 and have a hotel booked in Miami.  I read that the Tri-Rail is very inexpensive and there would be no worry about traffic for obvious reasons.  We will only have 2 suitcases so that isn't a problem.

[JohninDC]

1 hour ago, OCVTSGIRL said:

We arrive at FLL around 3:30 and have a hotel booked in Miami.  I read that the Tri-Rail is very inexpensive and there would be no worry about traffic for obvious reasons.  We will only have 2 suitcases so that isn't a problem.

You will spend about 2+ hours between shuttles and trains to get to your hotel, compared to $35-40 for door to door service in Uber or Lyft and about a 30+ minute drive. Your call.

 

Instead of staying at a hotel near the MIA airport for the "free" port shuttle I would stay near FLL, relax by the pool instead of spending time on the train, and spend my train fare on margaritas! 😎. Then shuttle or Uber to POM the next day.

[thinfool]

10 hours ago, JohninDC said:

You will spend about 2+ hours between shuttles and trains to get to your hotel, compared to $35-40 for door to door service in Uber or Lyft and about a 30+ minute drive. Your call.

So true...also true is that the same amount of time could be spent sitting in an Uber or a taxi in heavy traffic.

Personally I like the fact that, on the TriRail I can sit in comfort, using wifi and passing the bumper to bumper traffic  as the train goes along its merry way.

We have not yet tried the Brightline train, but it's on our list of things to do.

 

[JohninDC]

Living in the DC area I do not find the traffic around Miami to be that much of an issue.

[Flymia]

Its not worth it. You will save maybe $30 to get on a shuttle go to the trains station, hope to time the train right and not wait 45-mins, get on the train that takes you to MIA airport to then get on a shuttle. You are looking at potentially 2-hour travel time. 

 

Or just get in the car and take a 45-min drive and $35-$40.00 

On 9/8/2019 at 8:39 AM, JohninDC said:

Living in the DC area I do not find the traffic around Miami to be that much of an issue.

Its not D.C. bad (I lived in D.C. for four years, love D.C.) but it is bad compared to most places. It really just depends where you are going and time of day though. Typically traffic is pretty easy on the highways so long as its not 7:30am-10am or 4:00pm-7:00pm. 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by Flymia

[BlueHerons]

Take Brightline instead of Tri Rail.  You have to switch trains to the Metro Rail with Tri Rail.

[JohninDC]

4 hours ago, BlueHerons said:

Take Brightline instead of Tri Rail.  You have to switch trains to the Metro Rail with Tri Rail.

Brightline is not an easy option from FLL and OP is staying near MIA.

[BlueHerons]

17 minutes ago, JohninDC said:

Brightline is not an easy option from FLL and OP is staying near MIA.

I missed that they are staying by the airport.

[SteerageJoe]

I've done Tri-Rail to MIA many times.

You get the free transfer bus at your arrival terminal to the Tri-rail station. 10 - 15 minutes depending on terminal

Tri-Rail -  40-50 minutes

At MIA you hop on the MIA-mover - 3-5 minutes to the terminal where you get the hotel shuttle

[BlueHerons]

That sounds like such a giant PIA to save a few dollars.  The TriRail is very slow because of all the stops.

 

I'd just Uber.

[Gallivanting Souls]

Thanks for the heads up on this. I considered the Tri Rail as the cost was good. I also don't have that much time. It's like I (tried to) explain to my eldest son on his up coming trip to NYC. His brother has a hotel discount with Marriott. Really good prices, but how much of your time is worth spending riding buses and subways to save a few bucks (even $100). I gave him info on a hotel right in Time Square, but cheap'o says brother's discount will save him $100. 

I"m leaning towards staying in FLL for the night and Ubering/Lyfting to POM in the am.  I'll pass on the train.

[SteerageJoe]

On 9/7/2019 at 8:13 PM, OCVTSGIRL said:

We arrive at FLL around 3:30 and have a hotel booked in Miami.  I read that the Tri-Rail is very inexpensive and there would be no worry about traffic for obvious reasons.  We will only have 2 suitcases so that isn't a problem.

 

Just in case you want to stay with the cheapest option (Tri-Rail) despite the exta time, here is a complete description of the whole process with photos and such. It is really quite easy if your luggage is easy to handle.

 

http://lets-see-america.com/fort-lauderdale-airport-fll-to-miami-airport-mia-tri-rail/

[NJ&Ozzie]

1 hour ago, SteerageJoe said:

 

Just in case you want to stay with the cheapest option (Tri-Rail) despite the exta time, here is a complete description of the whole process with photos and such. It is really quite easy if your luggage is easy to handle.

 

http://lets-see-america.com/fort-lauderdale-airport-fll-to-miami-airport-mia-tri-rail/

That is good info.  We are considering trying this as we our fight doesn't leave MIA till early evening.  We are used to trains, etc. from travelling in Europe.  Is it possible to buy your train ticket in the FLL airport?  Thought I read there was a Tri-Rail office there???

Thanks,

NJ 

[OCVTSGIRL]

8 hours ago, SteerageJoe said:

 

Just in case you want to stay with the cheapest option (Tri-Rail) despite the exta time, here is a complete description of the whole process with photos and such. It is really quite easy if your luggage is easy to handle.

 

http://lets-see-america.com/fort-lauderdale-airport-fll-to-miami-airport-mia-tri-rail/

Thanks for this!  This makes it much easier to make our decision.  We may go with Uber or Lyft.  We tried to book SAS but since our flight arrives around 3:30 we were told they don't pick up at the airport after 3:00!!!!  Not sure why and we were disappointed to find this out.  Doesn't make much sense to me but they must have their reasons.

[JohninDC]

The shuttles run when there are large numbers of passengers, they can fill the vans, and they can make a profit. Later in the day there are fewer passengers looking for transportation.  It is a supply and demand thing.

[SteerageJoe]

7 hours ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

That is good info.  We are considering trying this as we our fight doesn't leave MIA till early evening.  We are used to trains, etc. from travelling in Europe.  Is it possible to buy your train ticket in the FLL airport?  Thought I read there was a Tri-Rail office there???

Thanks,

NJ 

 

Good question! I am normally in a hurry and want to get to the station ASAP so I haven't looked for a ticket kiosk inside the terminal or transportation info kiosks! Will check in the coming days when I'm back at FLL and will let u know!

[NJ&Ozzie]

13 hours ago, SteerageJoe said:

 

Good question! I am normally in a hurry and want to get to the station ASAP so I haven't looked for a ticket kiosk inside the terminal or transportation info kiosks! Will check in the coming days when I'm back at FLL and will let u know!

Wow - thanks so much.  That would be great to know.  It's looks like a good option.

NJ 

[CruiszBug]

On 9/10/2019 at 2:31 PM, NJ&Ozzie said:

That is good info.  We are considering trying this as we our fight doesn't leave MIA till early evening.  We are used to trains, etc. from travelling in Europe.  Is it possible to buy your train ticket in the FLL airport?  Thought I read there was a Tri-Rail office there???

Thanks,

NJ 

Per Tri Rail site online: Tickets may be purchased: "At any ticket kiosks located at the West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale Airport, Pompano Beach, Metrorail Transfer and Miami Airport stations."

[CruiszBug]

I must say for my upcoming cruise which has me on an early flight into FLL and sailing out of Port of Miami, I was strongly considering this option. My flight gets in a day early so I have the time. What changed my mind was the multiple on-off scenarios with your luggage when transferring  from bus to train to Metrorail. So I decided to go with SAS. They will deliver you to your hotel in Miami (only certain ones that are listed on their website) for $15 per person. Someday I want to try this; it sounds like an adventure!

[NJ&Ozzie]

3 hours ago, CruiszBug said:

I must say for my upcoming cruise which has me on an early flight into FLL and sailing out of Port of Miami, I was strongly considering this option. My flight gets in a day early so I have the time. What changed my mind was the multiple on-off scenarios with your luggage when transferring  from bus to train to Metrorail. So I decided to go with SAS. They will deliver you to your hotel in Miami (only certain ones that are listed on their website) for $15 per person. Someday I want to try this; it sounds like an adventure!

We would SAS too but we are going to MIA airport not cruise port this time.  We may try this.  Can't be any worse than train from Rome to Civi port!

NJ