Ft. Lauderdale airport for Miami cruise?

[2boyzmom]

Our local airport has direct flights to FLL but not Miami. How far is the Miami cruise port from FLL?

[DancingMike]

FLL is about a 45 minute ride to the miami pier depending on traffic.

 

Miami airport can be a zoo at times.

 

We flew into FLL from BWI for a NCL cruise out of Miami and it was no hassle compared to the next time out of Miaim.

[2boyzmom]

How did you get to the pier?

[smeyer418]

rented a car or have a relative pick me up....half of NY retires to southern Florida...

[cliffd64]

How did you get to the pier?

You can hire Supershuttle from Ft Lauderdale ...

[kalamari]

How did you get to the pier?

 

take 95 south to Miami, just past 836 exit to the airport is the next exit to the port of Miami. If you fly into Miami, you can take 836 straight east to biscayne blvd. then go south on biscayne a couple miles and you'll see bayside marketplace then hang a left and go over the bridge. You'll see it.

 

Hate to burst bubbles, but many times even on a weekend 95 south to the port can be a nightmare. On the other hand, sometimes it's a breeze. During the week, forget it...Menina

[Remeljen]

We rented a car at the FLL airport and drove around Miami (we actually booked a hotel in Miami 2 days prior to embarkation) than returned the car in Miami, if you are flying in same day as embarkation contact the cruiseline and request for a bus transfer it is easy and cheap, they pick you up at FLL and drop you off on the embarkation ramp.

[ron46936]

What I have done several times is to fly into FLL at least a day early. Rent a car and stay in FLL. We prefer FLL to Miami. Then on the morning of the cruise drive to the car rental in Miami and they will shuttle you to the port. It is less than an hours drive.

 

I am a firm believer in going at least a day early just in case. Last year my suitcase was delayed and it would have missed the ship if we had flown the same day.

 

If you are not particulary interested in being near the beach in FLL you can usually get great deals on hotels in the Plantation area thru Hotwire or Priceline.

 

 

On the return trip if you have time you can reverse the procedure. It's cheaper to rent a car for a day even if you only use it to get to FLL. If you have a late flight out it has the added advantage of giving you the opportunity for a little sightseeing instead of sitting in the airport all day.

 

If you have an early flight back then a cab is the quickest but most expensive way to get to FLL.

[richtersl]

FLL is about 45 minutes from MIA. For our last cruise we flew into MIA and left from FLL. I was really happy about the departure from FLL because I know MIA can be a zoo.

 

Got news for you: FLL is just as big a zoo as MIA, if not even worse. We arrived there two hours prior to our flight's departure and we were on line for 1 hour just to go through security. :eek: Our security line stretched out into the parking garage.

 

The airport was packed with FLL cruise ship passengers going home.

 

When I went back to work the Monday following our arrival, there was a very interesting and timely article in The Wall Street Journal about wait times at airport security checkpoints. Guess which airport had the country's longest wait times? FLL! :eek:

 

We arrived home November 20. If any skeptics have a subscription to The Wall Street Journal On Line, you can do an article search to find that article to which I am referring.

 

If you're going to fly home from FLL, make sure you get to the airport AT LEAST two hours prior to your departure time and be prepared to stand on line.

 

I can't say what it's like to fly into FLL -- it may not be bad at all. But leaving from there was awful! :cool:

 

Just thought you'd want to know....:D

[Splatitudes]

Hi Linda -

 

Living here, I can say that though that article may have some techincal accuracies, the difference between FLL and MIA can't be stated enough. To call MIA a zoo is doing a disservice to zoos everywhere. It's constantly under construction, parking/loading areas are chaos, and even the check-in/terminal areas are often chaotic.... FLL is well designed, seldom overrun (save holidays and peak season weekends, even then better than MIA), and the process has ALWAYS been smoother there... i've flown home on holiday weekends, spring break time, etc., and FLL is plain and simple the way to go.

 

...of course, that being said, PBI (Palm Beach Int'l) blows them both away in sheer convenience.. but there just aren't too many flights available..

[2boyzmom]

I think we'll go the rental car route from FLL to Miami. It looks like one of the rental agencies even has a drop off point at the port! So- we'll go down the day before- rent a car at FLL airport and drive to Miami. We have never been to Miami so we'll spend the day there prior.. Going home we'll probably bite the bullett and take a shuttle or taxi to FLL. Thanks everyone for your great advice!

[QLOTP]

I think we'll go the rental car route from FLL to Miami. It looks like one of the rental agencies even has a drop off point at the port! So- we'll go down the day before- rent a car at FLL airport and drive to Miami. We have never been to Miami so we'll spend the day there prior.. Going home we'll probably bite the bullett and take a shuttle or taxi to FLL. Thanks everyone for your great advice!

 

Alamo states that there drop off is at the "Port of Miami" however it is my understanding that it at the airport (others from the board told me this). I was also mistaken about this however, we have decided it is still much cheaper to rent cars since there are 9 of us.

[Splatitudes]

You're right - last I heard Alamo drops off at the MIA airport location on LeJeune Rd. and provides a shuttle to Dodge Island (port o' Miami) -- still very convenient, though.

[crewsn]

We just booked a car in February for rental the end of this month and the dropoff location printed was Port of Miami Rental Plaza, 3355 NW 22 Street Road, Miami. Has something changed? I guess I will have to check it out with Alamo.

 

Steve

[cantwaitt]

Alamo is about a 10-minute ride to the pier.

 

Several years ago we had a 7 p.m. flight out of FLL.

 

We would have paid $30 per person for the cruise shuttle to be taken to the FLL airport from POM and would have sat around for 8 hours. We were four people.

 

Instead, we rented a car for $30, went to the Miami zoo, went out for a late lunch/early dinner, and still got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and an extra "port of call" day.

 

It's a no-brainer.

[2boyzmom]

How did you pick up the car after the cruise?