First Disney Cruise - Leaving from Miami - Questions

[rob0519]

My Brother-in-law is putting together a four night cruise for the extended family (so far almost 30 people) for April 2014. The cruise sails out of Miami. This is our first cruise, Disney or otherwise and our first time in Miami.

We're trying to determine if we can spend a day or two at WDW before the cruise or if we will just fly directly into Miami the day before it sails. So, my immediate questions are around transportation and lodging the day before.

The ship sails on a Wednesday. So, what are our transporation options from Orlando to Miami? Is there any type of transportation provided from the resort to Miami? If not, I will just rent a car when we get to Olrando and arrange to drop it off in Miami.

I'm assuming it would be a good idea to spend Tuesday night in a hotel near the terminal to avoid the stress of driving down from Orlando Wednesday morning or going straight from Miami International to the terminal. Are there recommended hotels and do the hotels provide transporation to the terminal?

I'm sure I will have a lot more questions about the cruise itself, but any advice on this topic would be great for starters. Thanks.

 

[Bolna]

I cruised out of Miami this year in April (a five-night cruise though). There are no official transport options from WDW to Miami. You would have to rent your own car. We drove up to WDW after our cruise and I would say the drive is at least four hours (we had a stop in-between and really bad rain).

I did stay in a hotel in Fort Lauderdale before the cruise because I was visiting friends in that area. However, we talked to some people staying at the same hotel as us who mentioned that flying into FLL was considerably cheaper for them than flying into MIA. They got a shuttle to take them to the port in the morning (we had our friends take us there). We stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina and it was a nice hotel. It looks out to Port Everglades and since we were leaving there on Saturday we got to see the Allure (or the Oasis?) of the Sea in port from out hotel room. An impressive ship, but we agreed that the Wonder which we boarded a little later was far prettier!

Sorry that I am of no help with any Miami hotel choices!

 

[angieandtrevor]

We have cruised out of Miami several times and there is lots of great options of places to stay. My personal choice would be to stay in Fort Lauderdale area only because we love everything about that city, specifically the Las Olas Blvd areas (http://www.lasolasboulevard.com/) - it is only about a 45 drive to Miami from there. We've stayed at the Marriott Beachplace Towers and the Courtyard and both are on Las Olas Blvd which is right on the beach. Our very first cruise was out of Miami and we had a really bad experience. It was partly our own fault because we didn't do enough research and we ended up in a really bad part of town. There are some beautiful areas in Miami, we really love South Beach and the Bayside Market area (http://www.baysidemarketplace.com/). We have stayed at the JW Marriott on Brickell Avenue, as well as the Courtyard by Bayside Market - I would stay at either again however the Courtyard is in a more central location. Just do your research first and you should be fine.

Happy Planning

 

[Disneyfalcon]

My parents loved sailing out of Miami. It's a great town.

Renting a car is going to be your best option as Bolna mentioned.