Flymia

This is Miami. Your requirements are hundreds of hotels. Arriving in the late afternoon there is no reason for a place inside the hotel. Just book something in Brickell or Downtown and chose the endless amount of places to eat dinner in the area.

United does not have a big operation in Miami compared to other airports, so there is no club. In the 1990s and early 2000s they had a small hub in MIA, but those days are long gone. Not sure if they have any partner clubs as there are other clubs in that terminal.

Uber/Lyft. Both drives are not long in mileage, time will vary based on traffic, but very short rides in mileage.

There is zero reason book anything from hotel to port. It is a 10-min drive, just do the Ubers. Airport to Hotel, I guess you would save a little bit a money. But given the reviews, I would not do it. The savings are not huge and there is not a huge hassle to just get two Uber XL. Miami Airport is close to Downtown, just traffic makes the drive longer sometimes.

I would recommend spending some time on Las Ollas if staying in Lauderdale area. For seafood in Lauderdale I go to 15th Street Fisheries. Just remember when you are eating seafood in Florida, get the fish that actually live in Florida like snapper and mahi. Don't order salmon. If you don't mind driving Garcia's has great fresh seafood, it is also a seafood market right on the Miami River. Not a view, but the river is a working river where some of the fish comes in. From there you could take a quick drive to Brickell and check out Brickell area and Brickell City Centre. If you want to see Miami that would be my plan.

Larry Limo is highly recommended. Though depending on how many people/bags you have may not be needed. It is not a long trip.

It varies but you are looking at very early morning, before sunrise. Almost all the ships are docked before the sun comes up. 4:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. is when they come in. There are some pretty good videos online you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/@BLCStreams

You could stick with the upper Keys, give Key Largo a look. About 90-min drive from Miami. It could be a long day trip or spend a night there. It is not as famous as Key West, but still the Keys with great scenery and water. But that is definitely a water/beach type of trip. And by beach small beaches, not resort type beaches. Key West has more things to do in town lots of history etc.. I would say you would need two more days to really be able to enjoy the keys and take that trip. Miami has changed in 10-years and certainly plenty of things to do and see. A rental car helps a lot.

With luggage I just don't know if it is worth it. 3pm flight means getting to MIA by 1:00 p.m. If you don't have TSA Pre the lines can get long on a weekend or in the evenings on any day of the week. I would just get off the ship as late as possible and head to the airport. Hopefully you are flying out of North Terminal or South Terminal (most airlines use these but a few like Southwest, Frontier and Spirit use the older terminals). North and South have a lot of options to sit and relax, have a decent lunch and even walk around some shops.

Not Miami, but in November we took a 3-night to Bahamas our of Port Everglades, and Customs getting off was nothing. Took maybe 30-seconds. I don't even remembering giving them my passports, just walk through a line that said passports instead of birth certificates. No lines, no wait.

6 people how many bags? May as well just take two ubers and be done with it. Its 20-30 minute drive.

The book a refundable hotel and keep looking is the best advice. This far out in December is going to be high, and if lots of people book it will remain high. But chances are sometime in say July or August you will find better deals.

No need. Anything close to the port, is well close to the port. It is a quick uber/lyft or taxi ride away. Most shuttles will cost more per-person then the rideshare.

For Sushi Osaka Miami is a good bet, get a reservation. There is also NAOE on Brickell Key. A great place is motek in Brickell City Centre, brand new location. Another great spot for lunch is Julia and Henrys in Downtown Miami, its a food market type of place lots of good choices. Garcias is good fresh off the boat seafood, and you should go to either Versailles or La Carretta for lunch one day to get Cuban food. Or try out Cafe La Trova one night for Cuban food (expensive Cuban food it is usually a cheap meal) drinks, music and dancing.

Hampton Inn Brickell. By far the best pre-cruise hotel for the price and location. Also by far the most popular recommendation.

Yes, morning flights do typically have less delays because it is those stacking of delays later in the day that get you. But it is certainly still possible, especially if an outbound plane is late or not able to get into Montreal. The good thing about using Air Canada is you have more options to get you into Miami if there was weather in Montreal. Either way you have a decent buffer, but to me I would prefer to go with the evening before. Since you need a hotel regardless, evening before makes sense, more of a buffer, flying the airline that has a large base in Montreal as well. If you were flying the opposite direction my advice would be the same. Fly 12-hours earlier and flying the airline with the bigger operation in Miami.

This hotel is not in "Brickell" the location is not horrible, but you around a 10-15 min walk to anything that a local would consider being Brickell when talking about places to eat and see. It is a 10-15 minute walk to the Metromover/Metrorail station.

Don't look for shuttles. Miami is a rather small city geographically. You are right, you want a hotel in Downtown or Brickell. But nothing there will have an airport shuttle, and most airports hotels ( I don't know of any) have a port shuttle. And most hotels in Downtown/Brickell also don't have any port shuttles unless they are paid for. Even the paid for are usually more expensive than just getting a rideshare. If you want to enjoy an evening in Miami. Book a hotel in Downtown/Brickell. Just take a taxi/rideshare to Downtown Brickell, it is a 20-35 minute drive depending on traffic and cost around $30-$45. Then for the cruise you have a $10-$15 taxi/rideshare ride to the port 10-15 mins. To save maybe $60.00 I don't think it is worth it to be restricted to shuttle hotels, especially since none will have a free shuttle to/from both spots. Brickell is the better option, though Downtown is good as well. Hampton Inn Brickell is a popular value hotel compared to others and in a great location. Lots of hotel options depending on budget.

Yes rideshare is the easiest option. There are cheaper options (tri-rail or shuttle from FLL) but not worth the extra time.

The parking in garages near the Port are fine and safe. The days of parking in empty lots are pretty much long gone as there are very few empty lots left in Miami. At least close to the port. But I would not park anywhere more than say a 10-min shuttle drive from the Port. Parking at the port is going to be much easier though. From the reviews, it is the shuttle drop off and pick up that really can get bad sometimes. Overall its about saving money vs saving time/convenience and an added level of safety parking in the port, but not that big of a deal anymore when you are looking at parking at garages in Downtown.

Rent a car or Brightline. There are also bus options. Brightline will likely be more expensive, and if you want to do anything outside the immediate resort area of Universal, you will want a car. But if you have no need for a car in Orlando brightline will be easy. There are also plenty of flights, but the time for the train and flights is around the same, and the train is certainly easier.

It is easy. The drive is fairly easy as well and if you are a big group or have lots of bags I would say just take a taxi/Uber. But the train would take you to Government Center, from there you transfer to the Metro Mover system, which is free and take it to Bayside station, from that station looking at a 3-min walk.

Don't look for hotels with port shuttles. I have yet to see once that does not charge per-person and usually the charge is more expensive then a taxi/uber. If you want a lot of places near by look at hotels in Brickell. Two good ones in great locations are Hampton Inn Brickell or East Miami. You have a very quick and cheap taxi or uber ride to the Port from any hotel in Brickell or Downtown.

No, I would not be concerned, weather looks great for Monday. Right now it is showing around 2.5 to 3.0 inches of rain over Friday and Saturday. That won't cause major flooding. Also the turnpike will be fine, it is the city streets that have issues, not large highways. Flooding happens when there are torrential downpours that put down 5-10 inches in a few hours. That is not what it looks like will happen with this one. Flood warnings are a very common thing in the summer time. December not so much, but I am not overly concerned with the forecast I am seeing.

It has been an odd system for December! It is windy here in Miami, gust in the 40mph range. Not a ton of rain yet, but a constant drizzle and cloudy for two days now, expect it to be the same Friday and Saturday. Saturday there might actually be some thunderstorms as it has been rain and wind but no lighting. With these winds not surprised to see changes to itineraries.