RocCruisers

Homewood is in the Blue Lagoon area, which is pretty much a hotel only area. Hilton Garden is in an industrial area. Not much to see or do in either area without transportation. For one night before a cruise, I'd take Homewood.

For one night in Miami, look for hotels near Bayside, Downtown or Brickell neighborhoods. Airport and Doral areas are a little cheaper, but offer no ambiance. Airbnb is great for multiple days and or large groups. Any savings and time flying or staying in FLL, might be lost in transportation costs. Uber, taxis are easy to get. There are even some of these hotels that have airport pickup.

Drop and park is doable. Park and carry is just as easy.

There is a separate check in line for suites, but not a separate waiting line - if you have an early check in time.

You may have to call your 'usual websites' AKA on line travel agency to get their pricing. On my OLTA, they have a heading Cruise & Land where the descriptions and pricing are found.

I think we killed their servers.

The people that check your carry-on bag when you enter the terminal are employed by a variety of companies that may or may not care what you have inside. (Mostly don't care.). 12 half liter bottles of xxx and two 750ml of wine will fly through on one machine or it could be checked on another. Last cruise someone had two 24 bottle cases of water go through. We just go through two different lines.

Not sure of the hotel and what month you will be there, but Miami is generally not a walking city like NYC is. Another issue is luggage. Dragging a couple bags is tough in the heat and humidity. Yes, it's doable and yes it's safe at 3PM. If you budgeted $50 for the trip from the ship to MIA, then $50 is plenty for MIA to Brickell. I'd rather get there safe and quickly.

Easy drive. Easy to park. Heck, you don’t even need to stop for a bathroom break.

About the time first dining starts.

Yes, we did the Adventure Tour 2. Nice drive around the island for three of us total. Plenty of stops for pictures and lunch. Didn't go swimming though. Fun time!

The port is less than a couple hours away. Easy drive on 75. You can even take the long way over the Sunshine Bridge. We always found the biggest hassle is getting through security. Drive there, stop for potty break on 75, drop everyone else off at door, park the car, walk across the street, go through security and on the ship in two hours. Just remember that either way, you may have to pay for tolls. (SunPass or Pay by Plate)

This sounds more like work than a vacation. What are the two cruises that make this a requirement?

Do a B2B. Make sure you find and tell the Loyalty Ambassador about your situation, and then on the second leg, he or she should be able to get you the right card and benefits. I did that going from D to D+. Don't go through Guest Services BTW.

It depends on where you leave from and the security firm in charge of the scanning. JMHO, Tampa was the strictest; MIA and PE the easiest. Liter bottles of like Schmitt Sohne Riesling are fine through MIA G Terminal.

PLEASE GO TO https://www.chargerback.com/reportlostitemcbembed.asp?customerid=14677&languagecode=en-US This is the ONLY WAY to get back items that are left on board. NO ONE ELSE CAN GET YOUR WALLET. NO ONE FROM THE NEXT CRUISE CAN DO IT. I left a phone on board once, and even it took a couple weeks to get back home.

We're on board in a few weeks. Not enough time to cancel and rebook something else. The pandemic is not over. Supply and Demand has not reached a comfortable level to all things in life. RCI needs more income, so they sell more rooms. You, I and thousands of others want to enjoy the cruising lifestyle. More rooms means more staff, more food, more everything. Whoops! Can't find the supply!! With Icon, Utopia, Ascent upcoming and Odyssey, Wonder, Beyond entering service this year, it may get worse in the next few months. Maybe the cruise compass should list things NOT to ask for that day! Unless we go back to the 30% occupancy rates. Which most of us would welcome with open arms.