W. Palm Beach Airport to Miami

[Maria65]

I'm looking for advice regarding flying in and out of West Palm Beach Airport. We're sailing on Navigator out of Miami. The air from Philadelphia to West Palm is at an obscene $121 nonstop on United. Considering we're seven people, that's a lot of money to save in comparison to flying into Miami. Ft. Lauderdale is also reasonable but there are no direct flights at this price.

 

We would be flying in the evening before because there are no early morning flights. I'm thinking of staying at an airport hotel in West Palm and taking a limo or large van to the pier the next day. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure on what to expect this to cost?

 

The return flight would be at 6:45pm. Now, I like not having to stress about getting off the shp on time, but that gives us a lot of time to kill. Any suggestions? I know there are post-cruise excursions but I have to leave enough time to get to the airport. I'd consider renting a mini-van at the pier (I think there are rental agencies there?) but there's no way all our luggage would fit along with seven bodies. If you book a post-cruise excursion through the ship, do they hold your luggage somewhere?

 

Thanks!

[kdavis5472]

Hello - since I live in South Florida, I thought I would give you some suggestions. First, my feeling is that it would be cheaper in the long run to rent two vehicles from the WPB airport - Enterprise or the like and then use them to haul your family and stuff one way to the Miami port. You can simply turn in the vehicles at the port. Easy as pie.

 

For something to do, I wasn't quite sure on how much time you will have. If you are only coming in the day prior to sailing, there isn't much time. If you have a free morning, you can go on an airboat ride in the everglades which is really cool for out-of-towners. Billy Swamp Safari is one of the best. You can actually check out of your hotel, drive to the everglades and then head to the port. It would make more sense than backtracking to the hotel.

 

Other ideas for things to do between WPB and Miami - Mizner Park in Boca Raton - shopping, Dreyer Park Zoo in WPB - great for young kids, Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale - more shopping and eating, Beach Place in Fort Lauderdale - right on the beach - shopping, people watching and food, Bayside in Miami - right next to the port, and you guessed it - more shopping and food.

 

Hope this helps. Email me if you have any more questions or need phone numbers or directions for anything down here. Karen - kakabrca@hotmail.com

[Maria65]

Thanks. I'm trying to find a car rental agency which would allow pick-up at PBI and drop-off at the port of Miami. So far, I've had no luck with the major rental agencies, at least with their online service. Does anyone know an agency in operation at the pier? I guess I'd need to do the same thing on the return day as well as we wouldn't need to be back to the airport until 5PM or so and we could explore a little for ourselves.

 

The other option would be doing a tour and being returned to the pier and then getting a limo/van back to PBI. Is it about two hours from the pier to PBI?

[cruizinEllen]

All of the car rental agencies allow drop off at a spot different from pickup. We did that for our Enchantment cruise....picked up our van in W. Palm beach and dropped it off at Ft. Lauderdale. I'm sure it will be the same for Miami. Used Thrifty and was very reasonable.

[Maria65]

I don't know why they weren't letting me reserve that way online. It's a moot point because the airfare is gone now. I should have grabbed it when I saw it. It's always a battle between wanting to save some money and going with what is most convenient. Hopefully now I'll find something nonstop to Miami at 7am on the day of my cruise at a reasonable price.

[Maria65]

I called United directly and was able to get the seven of us booked at $116 each RT, nonstop, which was just too good to pass up. I'll figure out the details of how to get us to the ship but I'm sure it won't cost more than the $700 saved by flying into PBI. I think renting two cars sounds like a nice option. We can take the kids to see the beach in the morning before we go to the ship and it will also be easier to pick up last minutes supplies and soda before we board.