Price Line

[scubaman]

I will be cruising on the Valor next May and wanted to know when should i start looking for hotel on priceline? Which area of Miami of Miami is the best to stay?

[GoinCruisin]

Go to www.biddingfortravel.com you will find information about all of the zones in the area, when to bid, and bidding strategies... It's a bit early to start bidding (IMO), to get the best deal, you may want to wait a bit, but you could start now bidding low and you have plenty of time to keep an eye on what pricing is being accepted...

 

good luck....

[Rdabadie]

Here's vote #2 for biddingfortravel.com, it's the priceline bible! On that site look under Florida - Miami and the 2nd thing listed is "hotels near the cruise ships." Basically the Downtown zone is closest, Southbeach is the most happening area (and there is the beach of course) and the Airport is fine if all you want is a place to stay the night before. Be forewarned, read before you post questions on the biddingfortravel website, the moderators will be more than a little curt and do not take kindly to people posting questions without doing their homework first.

 

DO NOT even think about using priceline until you read the Hotel FAQ on that site, it will save you alot of $ and help you get the zone you want. Also, read and understand what a "free rebid" zone is, it is the absolute best trick in using priceline.

 

Finally, double check your zones, Priceline has been combining zones into larger ones in a number of locations over the past year, Miami could change too at any time.

 

Also, you might want to try biddingfun.com for a little more light handed advice on priceline.

 

Last year I booked 29 hotel nights on priceline, it truly is the way to go!

[CruiseFever]

Most popular and efficient for your pre-cruise stay is Miami. There's lots to do and plenty of good hotels available at a good price. Personally I don't think it's so much a matter of when you choose to bid as it is how much you want to pay.

 

If you agree that a reasonable price for a 3 star, Downtown Miami hotel is $45 (and it is) you could start bidding right now. If your bid is accepted now or 6 months from now who cares?

 

Before we bid on priceline or hotwire, and I mean before every bid, we go to biddingfun.com and biddingfortravel.com to get up on what's being bid and what's being won right now.

 

In Downtown Miami we've stayed at at most of the hotels now and never had a bad experience at any of them yet. My favorites are the Sheraton Biscayne Bay, Hyatt and Intercontinental but the Holiday Inn Marina Park is, to me, in a location that's hard to beat. It's doesn't come up on priceline bids but its reasonably priced anyway.

 

The standard formula for a great pre-cruise is to get into town early afternoon if possible, get to the hotel then walk or take a cab to Bayside Marketplace for shopping, dinner and maybe a harbor cruise if you're coming in the night before your cruise. If nightlife is a biggie on your list a cab ride to South Beach might be in order too.

 

If you've got more time, like say you come in a full day or so ahead of your cruise, then South Beach is a must. You've truly not seen Miami if you've not seen South Beach.