Miami,Ft Lauderdale or Port Canaveral

[thesawch]

I was booking another cruise and i have done Ft lauderdale port once already.i was wondering what Miami port and Port Canaveral ports are like.Which is the worst one to depart from and stay over night in.Just some opinions to help me decide.just me and the DW on this cruise.Thanks thesawch

[Cruising89143]

It depends on the individual. I happen to love the port of Miami and the city itself. Many do not. IMHO there is no other port in Florida that provides the beauty of sail away like Miami has going down Government Cut. Pt. Canaveral is probably the easiest to cruise out of but also one of the most unattractive sail aways which are important to me. I do not like Pt. Everglades in FLL at all. My next cruise is out of Miami.:)

 

Leaving from Miami.

[jmb4534]

thesawch,

 

We like FLL. 1) Cheap flights out of Houston; 2) You can be at the port within 30 min of touchdown if you take a taxi. Once we were ON the ship & having lunch 45 minutes after touchdown. I do mean touchdown, not disembarking the plane. A taxi to the port is about $15. If you take a shuttle, it will take longer.

 

We are cruising out of Port Canaveral in the fall and I'm finding that getting from MCO to the port will be a lot more hassle and $$$ than FLL. We are having to fly in a day early & rent a car to be on the safe side. That is something we normally don't do for a cruise out of FLL. Just my opinion, hope it helps you.

[yogimax]

The advantage to Fort Lauderdale is the short taxi ride from the airport to the pier.

[kruz gal]

We've cruised out of all three ports and prefer Port Canaveral... just booked another one out of that port yesterday as a matter of fact! It is much less congested... very smooth arrival and departure... no real traffic, and embarkation/debarkation is a breeze. Parking garage is a very short walking distance from the ship, so you don't have to wait for shuttles. We live in West Palm Beach, so Miami is about the same 2-hour distance for us, but no contest for us between those two ports. Traffic and congestion in Miami is horrible, and I never feel quite comfortable leaving the car there for a week. Fort Lauderdale is better than Miami, but our favorite itineraries didn't seem to be offered from FLL this year.

 

I do agree that the sail away views are spectacular from Miami though... no contest!

 

Sailing away in 43 days! :D

[LindaAndBillTravel]

While it is pretty sailing out of Miami, you may find yourself so irritated with their port check-in that you may not be able to enjoy it. It can take hours to get through the lines in Miami to get onboard. It is the worst port we have ever sailed out of. And disembarkation is no better.

 

The problems seem to be not enough immigration people. So people are slow getting off, and that holds up people getting on. So, if you are going to go out of Miami be prepared with a water bottle for waiting in line!