lots of ?????'s

[ocean waves]

i tried to do a search without any success on where to stay the night before in miami. i think awhile back someone said they got a great price on priceline.com for the intercontinental, is this the hotel i should try for? we're on a strict budget and would like to come in the day before the cruise but not go to overboard on the spending. i have my AAA book here and its very confusing on the number of hotels in miami. where exactly does everyone stay? close to the airport or the port itself, how far apart is the airport to the ship? we will be coming into miami on saturday april 12th around 5:30pm and sailing on fos the next day and it would be nice to be able to pick up some things at a market or local convience store within walking distance to where ever we end up. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. also i remember reading that los was experimenting with open dining times, has it been successful that it might start up on the other ships as well?

[Sue L]

The closest is the Holiday Inn Port of Miami and it is right across the street from the Bayside Marketplace where they have a ton of restaurants. From cheap to more pricey.

 

For Priceline you would want downtown and for the Intercontinental say 4 stars I believe . Go to the site and see what hotels they show in the downtown area for each star level.

[EggDropErin]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. We booked a suite and ended up getting one that overlooked the port. The hotel was clean, comfortable, and reasonably priced...nothing fancy. As the OP stated, it is across from restaurants and shopping.

[skandls]

Try looking at the East Coast Departure boards - Florida section. I have found a lot of good info for pre-cruise and transportation questions.

[TEXASMUNK]

Since you have to pay to get to the port anyway, take a look at hotels near the airport, off the plane, relax, shuttle or taxi to the port the next morning.

 

BUT, I would recommend you hop on something like travelocity and check out hotel locations (not necessarily pricing..but locations). When you find something that fits, then see if you can do it on hotels.com or priceline.com.

[Kruzeagain]

Trip Advisor can be a handy little tool. We were less concerned with port proximity than being in a clean hotel that didn't have all the morning pre-cruise departure madness. Been there done that got the stubby little toenails to prove it.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g34438-Miami_Florida-Hotels.html

 

We used this to find a sweet little deal at Homewood Suites (Hilton) near the airport. Instead of getting two rooms for the four of us we ended up with a massive 2-bedroom suite for a similar price. One king bed, 2 double beds plus a sofabed. Hmm, we still have room for 2 more people...

 

http://www.homewoodsuitesmiami.com/guestrooms.php

 

Happy Cruising,

Alan

[alexkrn46]

We flew in the night before and stay at the Miami Motor Mart, I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel and have Mall attached ( it seems to be for wholesale buyers but they will let you in). You can go to the Bjoux store and buy the same items the ship sells for $10 for a few dollars.

[firefly333]

betterbidding will help with hotwire and priceline. I like hotwire myself a little better than pricelines. the prices are fixed, and some great deals. At least you will be able to see what the price range is and then have to go to a site like betterbidding to match up the stars and amenities with which hotel. They may have 3 hotels, all 3 stars in one area of Miami, the only way to tell which is which is by matching up the amenties for hotwire.