Hadestouch

I have an 8 day eastern Carribean booked for feb 27 on the carnival breeze. I had an epic fail predicting the fall of the dollar, but hey I'm committed now..a year ago when I was booking I planned to stay 2 days in Miami to give me a buffer flying out of canada in winter. my main problem is finding a hotel in Miami that isn't outrageous without staying in a slum. I'm renting a van, so I don't mind driving to find a good place to stay but i could really use some suggestions as to where to consider. Are there areas that are nice and perhaps more reasonable because they lack the convince of being close to airport or seaport?

Hello all, I'm brand new to the forum. I have an 8 day eastern Caribbean cruise booked on the carnival breeze for 3 adults and 3 children. We are arriving in Miami 2 days before cruising. I'm having difficulty finding a hotel that is reasonable. I'm renting a van on arrival so I don't mind a bit of a drive to find reasonable accommodations that are clean, safe and don't break the bank. I'm comfortable driving up to an hour to find more reasonable lodgings but I don't know what are good and bad areas or what neighbouring towns to try. Please help..