2015 Land & Sea Help

[belledream]

We are in the process of planning our honeymoon and we want it all! The best of both worlds - land and sea! I’m hoping that somebody here has done something similar to this before and can help us out! Here’s the rundown of our ideas:

We’ve cruised once in 2012 on the Dream and had the time of our lives! Since then, we’ve wanted to cruise again, but on a different ship. Since the Magic overhaul, that has become our next goal based on our timetable and budget.

We’re looking at a 2015 at Magic cruise that leaves from Miami. We have no experience cruising from here, and it is unfortunate that it’s not leaving from Port Canaveral, but would still love to make this happen. We both initially preferred land then sea, but honestly, we’ll take the easier and more cost effective path.

Fly to Orlando, go to Disney, rent a car from the AAA Car Care Center, drive to Miami, drop the car off (where? Only the airport?), spend a night there, go on the cruise.

Or:

Fly to Miami (or Fort Lauderdale – I heard it was cheaper and close by?), go on the cruise (possibly eliminating a hotel stay the night before), rent a car, drive to Disney, drop car off at AAA, begin Disney trip.

If you’ve done this before, how did you do it? I would appreciate any insight or advice! Especially on car renting and transportation to and from the airport and port since we've never been. Good Miami hotels that are nearby and offer good transportation options. We aren't opposed to spending a day exploring Miami, but it is mainly a Disney trip.

This is more of a ‘what’s easier’ dilemma as opposed to ‘what's more fun’, since we everything Disney is fun to us! Thanks!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I think this is a situation where you need to price it out both ways and compare. Both ways you're flying in/out of a different airport, renting a car, and going thru much the same motions. Personally, I would lean towards parks before the cruise but that has nothing to do with cost or logistics. That's because when we did parks after our first cruise we just couldn't mentally get into the parks. Every day we talked about how we wished we were still on the ship. But, if it was a huge cost difference that could sway me.

There are rental car return places closer to the Port of Miami than just the airport. They'll shuttle you over to the port terminal. Even if you did your rental return at the airport, all my research says taxi from the airport to the terminal is $20-$25. That's not terrible. (I'm researching sailing out of Miami also for the Panama Canal next May.)

 

[Master Yoda]

@sweetpee_1993 pretty much nailed it, but I would add one thing.

Never ever, under any circumstances plan a situation where you need an airline to get you there on the day of your cruise. Always arrive the day before. There is just way to much that can go wrong (@Disneyfalcon can attest to this) when you fly and you could end up missing the boat.

Just think of that hotel stay as an insurance policy and blood pressure medication all wrapped up in one.

 

[belledream]

I think this is a situation where you need to price it out both ways and compare. Both ways you're flying in/out of a different airport, renting a car, and going thru much the same motions. Personally, I would lean towards parks before the cruise but that has nothing to do with cost or logistics. That's because when we did parks after our first cruise we just couldn't mentally get into the parks. Every day we talked about how we wished we were still on the ship. But, if it was a huge cost difference that could sway me.

There are rental car return places closer to the Port of Miami than just the airport. They'll shuttle you over to the port terminal. Even if you did your rental return at the airport, all my research says taxi from the airport to the terminal is $20-$25. That's not terrible. (I'm researching sailing out of Miami also for the Panama Canal next May.)

Great to know about the rental car locations! I will definitely be pricing things out - unfortunately, this is more than a year away and what I'm trying to base our plans on ($$$) will have to wait.
I have no issue with taking a quick taxi trip either. Just the fact that we will have to rent a car anyways made me think we should just use it. Thanks for your help!

@sweetpee_1993 pretty much nailed it, but I would add one thing.

Never ever, under any circumstances plan a situation where you need an airline to get you there on the day of your cruise. Always arrive the day before. There is just way to much that can go wrong (@Disneyfalcon can attest to this) when you fly and you could end up missing the boat.

Just think of that hotel stay as an insurance policy and blood pressure medication all wrapped up in one.

Haha - that is very true. The peace of mind will be worth the hotel fare we pay. I better start researching fun things to do in Miami!

 

[Master Yoda]

Haha - that is very true. The peace of mind will be worth the hotel fare we pay. I better start researching fun things to do in Miami!

Good luck with that. I hear Miami is a sleepy little burg where they roll up the sidewalks at 8:00 PM.

 

[belledream]

Good luck with that. I hear Miami is a sleepy little burg where they roll up the sidewalks at 8:00 PM.

Seriously. Where am I gonna find some decent entertainment?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

If you wanted you could drive to the Vero Beach Disney resort for a night then make your way down to Miami the next morning. WDW to Vero Beach shows under 2 hrs on Google maps. Then Vero Beach to Miami shows around 2.5 hours. We typically make it faster than Google estimates. You could leave Vero by 8 and be pretty good for embarkation in time for lunch. You'd hit the bigger metro areas at the tail end or just after the morning rush hours. Just an idea.

 

[belledream]

If you wanted you could drive to the Vero Beach Disney resort for a night then make your way down to Miami the next morning. WDW to Vero Beach shows under 2 hrs on Google maps. Then Vero Beach to Miami shows around 2.5 hours. We typically make it faster than Google estimates. You could leave Vero by 8 and be pretty good for embarkation in time for lunch. You'd hit the bigger metro areas at the tail end or just after the morning rush hours. Just an idea.

I never even thought about that. Never been but it looks wonderful! But between the beach and Miami, I'm inclined to pick Miami since we will have/will be at the beaches during the cruise. And I would like to explore the city for a tiny bit!
Also to complicate matters less and reduce the number of things that can go wrong, it might be better for us to just get in the car once, drive, drop it off, and then await the fun. Whether we are going from Disney to Cruise or Cruise to Disney, I plan to give us more than the estimated time (~4 hours) to travel. Like, the whole day basically. Stock up on food, and just drive. Road trip! Unless I am severely underestimating the damage that FL traffic can cause...haha.

I will look at this for another vacation idea though!

 

[Bolna]

I have done cruise and then parks afterwards twice and I loved it both times. It was much less horrible to get off the ship when I knew that I had some more fun planned. Also, I often pick up some kind of bug when at the parks and I would hate to take it on the cruise with me... But then this is something that you never can really plan anyway.

As to Miami: I think it would be a great location to stay there for two nights before the cruise. South Beach is really neat with all the art deco buildings (there is a really good walking tour). I also found the rest of Miami quite interesting when I stayed there for a few days several years ago.

However, if you want to drop off a car before going on the cruise, I would recommend dropping it off at the airport as those locations offer shuttles to the port. The airport is really very close to the port. There might be a few downtown location that are closer, but as far as I know those don't offer any shuttle. If you are staying in a hotel on South Beach and don't want to venture far, you might consider not having a car there as the parking fees are pretty high. You could just get a cab to the port at the start of your cruise.

 

[belledream]

You have some really good points. The cruise offers much more relax/downtime which is great, but then my mind might also wander more. It'd be great to know I'm getting off the cruise and heading to my favorite place in the world, as opposed to going home!

I definitely only want to rent a car for the purpose of getting from A to B. I don't want to drive around Miami and constantly search and pay for parking. I'd be totally fine finding a centralized hotel and just walking here and there.

I totally forgot about Disney transportation to and from the airport. I guess this really applies more to if we were to fly in the day of the cruise? Which we won't be doing. I think it is $40 per person/round trip. But the port and airport look so close to each other. This would be unnecessary for our purposes, no? A taxi ride for 2 would be like $30 max. I wouldn't be missing out on 'early' embarkation/'late' disembarkation right? The only thing I can think of is that we will lug our luggage around with us, which isn't really a problem.

For some reason, I feel like Miami to Orlando would be easier too.
Fly, hotel, port, CRUISE, shuttle to the airport, rent a car, and drive to Disney. I read that when you drop the car off at the rental car place in Swan & Dolphin, they will shuttle you to your resort for free. This is easier than driving to Miami, returning the car at the airport, and then taking taxi to a hotel, then finding a way from the hotel to the port? (Basically Miami to Orlando means we can use Disney-provided transportation versus Orlando to Miami we may need to utilize taxi service) Maybe it's all the same and I'm missing something. Not that a $30 taxi ride would make or break this vacation. Just running through all the scenarios that I can!

 

[Bolna]

I think in my research about Miami I came across that there is actually a fixed rate for going to the port from the airport by cab. Look at the port website for info, it should be there.

I think it really is more or less the same regarding hassle whatever you do first. If you do Orlando first, it will be an easy jump over to the airport (whether with Disney transportation or taxi) and when you arrive in Miami it does not matter whether it is by plane or car, you will still need to get to a hotel and from there to the ship.

The only thing is that it might be more relaxing to be at Disney before the flight home as then you can choose whatever flight time suits you as you get the ME whenever and enjoy Disney until then. With the cruise ship they throw you out in the morning and if you would get a great deal on an afternoon flight you would end up hanging out at the airport for quite some time.

I am not sure about the Swan & Dolphin location and shuttles. But at least you could always take Disney transportation from there. Drop your bags off at the hotel first, then the car and then go and explore Epcot and once you are done with that take your transportation to your hotel. When we got a car from the Car Care Center once, they did pick us up at the hotel though. I think both are locations are from different companies, so that gives you more options. Actually, if it makes a big difference in price, dropping the car off at the airport in Orlando is an option, too. You could just take ME to your hotel from there. You don't need to arrive on an airplane to do that.

 

[belledream]

You are right: $24.00 flat rate 'on cruise days'? I'll have to clarify what that means exactly.
It's too far out to get a price on things right now, but assuming it's not a huge difference, if we were to leave from Orlando, I would just rent a car from the CCC and head to Miami. Going to MCO would be backtracking a bit.

Good call on making the most of our last day in FL by spending it at the parks as opposed to the airport. Without thinking, I guess I assumed we could kill time in Miami after we get off the ship, but we might feel inclined to shuttle to the airport and just wait to go home. Definitely reconsidering cruise then parks! Thanks for all the info!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

@sweetpee_1993 pretty much nailed it, but I would add one thing.

Never ever, under any circumstances plan a situation where you need an airline to get you there on the day of your cruise. Always arrive the day before. There is just way to much that can go wrong (@Disneyfalcon can attest to this) when you fly and you could end up missing the boat.

Just think of that hotel stay as an insurance policy and blood pressure medication all wrapped up in one.

Yes. This.

 

[belledream]

Yes. This.

I won't ask you to recount what happened. I think I'm convinced.