Miami - Late Flight Post Cruise

[cruisediva07]

I couldn't find any info on the East Coast section of the Boards, so I'm posting here. We have a 4:30pm flight home after getting off of the Freedom and I was looking for ideas from those who have also had later flights on how to spend the day. Has anyone taken and really enjoyed any of RCI's post-cruise Miami excursions? If so, what time did they begin?

 

Are there any Miami hotels that offer day passes? I contacted the hotel we're staying at pre-cruise (Marriott Courtyard Miami) and they do not. I wouldn't mind relaxing around a pool for a few hours, if we were given a reasonable rate to use the pool and bathroom. And also, are there any shopping areas that shouldn't be missed while we're in Miami?

 

Thanks in advance for your help. :D

[jeh4554]

We just got back from a cruise on the Navigator. We booked our air through RCCL and they gave us a 4:00 fllight out of Miami. We thought about trying to do something in Miami but by the time we got our luggage checked (it was a zoo trying to get off the ship and at the airport) it was almost 10:30 a.m. We ended up just hanging out at the airport all day. Pretty boring. A few of our friends took a cab to Bayside though and did some shopping and had lunch. They enjoyed it and it is relatively close to the airport.:)

We tried to reschedule the flight to an earlier time but were told it was impossible. I think RCCL chooses the lowest fare flights so that they clear a larger profit on the booking. We decided to book our own flights next time.

[MsWitty1]

We were stuck post cruise and went to the airport. We then took a cab to the beach for a few hours. We didn't swim but were able to watch people, have a light snack, and then headed back to the airport.

[krivers33]

The Miami International Airport hotel has a day rate of $95 for 10am to 6 pm. Our flight wasn't until 6:30 PM so we got a room to nap and relax. The room isn't the nicest but it beats sitting in an airport lobby for 8 hours :)

 

It's in concourse E.

[sdouglas]

We have the same situation next month, 630pm flight to Colorado. Judging by how early we've gotten off the ship before, I figure we'll be amongst the last off, so guessing we'll be at MIA around 11:00. Figured we can kill time by having a leisurly lunch at the MIA hotel (heaven knows we should be feeling starved by then), so that should kill at least an hour to an hour and a half. Do a little shopping at the airport (you mean I have to pay tax on that?). Stop off for a cocktail (where's my regular bartender?). And just people watch to kill some more time. Trust me, the Miami airport has quite a few characters passing through daily.

[Alexis]

I couldn't find any info on the East Coast section of the Boards, so I'm posting here. We have a 4:30pm flight home after getting off of the Freedom and I was looking for ideas from those who have also had later flights on how to spend the day. Has anyone taken and really enjoyed any of RCI's post-cruise Miami excursions? If so, what time did they begin?

 

Are there any Miami hotels that offer day passes? I contacted the hotel we're staying at pre-cruise (Marriott Courtyard Miami) and they do not. I wouldn't mind relaxing around a pool for a few hours, if we were given a reasonable rate to use the pool and bathroom. And also, are there any shopping areas that shouldn't be missed while we're in Miami?

 

Thanks in advance for your help. :D

 

Have you thought of this service available to you?

Express Luggage Valet Service

 

You still have to claim your luggage when you get off the ship.

 

This is how it was just done with us.

 

There are 4 airlines that I know of that do this service. American, Delta Continental and United.

We had this from Miami to home when we got off the Navigator. We had a late flight from Miami too.

For $10 a person, 2 pieces of luggage each, you can sign up for it during your time on board. It was well worth it to us not to have to drag luggage around.

They have the forms at the pursers desk if you do not receive one in your room with your Cruise Compass.

We did a Saturday to Saturday cruise and the form had to be returned to the pursers by Thursday.

On the form, you give them your name, how many are traveling with you, your flight numbers, times, how many pieces of luggage you will be checking.

On the last night of the cruise, your cabin attendant will deliver the airline packet to your room. There will be the colored tags that RCCL gives you, the boarding passes for everyone (clear on through to your final destination), and the airline luggage tags. You put the colored RCCL tags on the bags, the airline baggage tags on and place them in the hall as you would normally do. People who use this service get Lavender RCCL tags. (we were given priority white ones, but did not use them because of the luggage express service.)

Warning: Call the pursers desk and confirm you are getting the service on your last evening.. Our next door cabin neighbors saw us in the airport and told us they were never told that they had been rejected from doing the luggage Express. They did not find out until they called the desk to ask where their packet was. No one would give them an explanation as to why.

We were called off the ship at 7:00 am. (We waited on line and actually got off at about 7:45) We went to the Delta Lavender carousel and got our bags. We had a porter take them to the Delta area where all the express luggage is lined up. We had to accompany him until they were placed in the Delta area.

We went to the airport and our bags were on our plane when we landed in Rochester, NY.

We had a 4:10 pm flight, so we took this option because we were going to stay around Miami for the day.

There are many tours you can take from the Bayside Marketplace, just on the other side of the bridge. Bus tours, boat tours, etc.

This service was great. We had no problems and it was really nice not to have to drag luggage to the airport. When you are done in Miami, you hop a cab to the airport and go right on to security and to your gate because you have your boarding passes already.

[blmcdps]

We just got off of the Navigator on Saturday. When we were getting on the cruise a guy came up to us from a tour company and offered us a private taxi for the day when we got back. Our flight left at 4:30. It worked out great. We had paid the 10.00 on the cruise to check our bags and get our boarding passes. When we got off of the cruise he was there with our name on a sign. We had him take us to south beach, giving us a tour along the way. After we were done at South Beach, we called his cell phone and he picked us up about 10 minutes later. He then gave us a another tour on our way to the airport. While we were at South Beach, we were able to leave anything we wanted in his taxi. It worked out great for us. We paid 20.00 per person. It is 25.oo per person if you have bags. Hope this helps!

[kendallison]

Thanks so much for the info. on the express luggage valet service! I had not heard of it until now. It will certainly come in handy for my 7:20 PM flight!

[cruisediva07]

Thanks everyone. :)

 

We actually did use the express luggage service on the Adventure last year and it was wonderful. We definitely plan to do that again. We'll still have our carry-ons and laptop with us....which is inconvenient if we're shopping or on a beach....but it's better than having it all!!!!

 

I don't know if anywhere in Miami has lockers .... or maybe we should go to the airport and rent a locker for the rest of our stuff and then take a cab back to the beach or something. Thanks for the info on the airport hotel, but we'd really like to use the facilities of a hotel on the beach. So far, I haven't found anything. We don't necessarily need a room.... just beach/pool access and use of the bathroom and lounge chairs. If we decided to shop.... what's the best area.... is it the Bayside Market or Southbeach or something else? (Can you tell we've never been to Miami before??)

 

Alexis, did any of the tours at the market look good? Do you remember what any of them were? No one said anything about the tours that RCI offers, so I guess they're not so great.

 

Blmcdps, I wish we could find a taxi driver like that! What time did you board that you found him? Was it waiting in line before boarding began? Would you have trusted leaving your carry-ons in his trunk while you were in Southbeach?

 

Thanks again for all the assistance,

[Alexis]

I can't remember the RCCL tours. Senior moment. :o They have some good tours.

But if you go to the RCCL website and look at Shore excursions for Miami and Tours, it will give them to you. It will also tell you how much they cost per person. Luggage goes on the bus with you and to the airport to be dropped off after the tour.

 

These next ones can be done after you leave your luggage with the Express Valet.

The Bayside Marketplace offers Bus tours of Miami, Boats rides past the rich and famous peoples homes. I loved that. (seeing how I will never live)

Thrill boat rides. Lots of shops and places to eat. There is the Parrot Jungle Island? tour.

I will get you the Bayside link.;)

Here you go.

Here is a site showing you the Marketplace and what it has to offer.

Bayside marketplace.

http://www.baysidemarketplace.com

[AFT_LOVER]

we were on Freedom for the member cruise. We had a 4pm flight so we got the last PINK tags on luggage so we were last off the ship. Played mini golf, enjoyed the sun, had breakfast in the dining room before so we were fed. When we heard PINK called at about 12:15pm we started down to the get off area but the line was huge, so we watched a bitof the Freedom on the Today show show, and when it was dying down we went thru customs, then to the carousel, the got a cab to the airport. It was 2PM when we got there, so we had lunch at a restaurant & flew home at 4PM.