Is royal caribbean upset with MIAMI?

[mcatmcat]

I remember the time when I used to drive by the port and I was able to see the Liberty docked at the port. Many ads in the freeway showing royal and the liberty.

The liberty is gone from miami and all I see is carnival, Ncl, ms even disney at miami. Royal is gone ;-(, they only left the majesty of the seas. It's funny since they have the headquarters in here but not many ships sail from miami

 

 

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[Clarea]

Been that way for several years now.

[negc]

I remember the time when I used to drive by the port and I was able to see the Liberty docked at the port. Many ads in the freeway showing royal and the liberty.

The liberty is gone from miami and all I see is carnival, Ncl, ms even disney at miami. Royal is gone ;-(, they only left the majesty of the seas. It's funny since they have the headquarters in here but not many ships sail from miami

 

 

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Apparently other ports, especially FLL, have offered more attractive incentives to convince RCI (and other lines) to berth their ships there. The bottom line pretty much determines where cruiselines will base their vessels. Emotion has little to do with it.

[macruisefan]

Unfortunately, they have become heavily invested in Port Everglades and Port Canaveral. Too bad, because they're both duds to cruise out of. Miami is a much more enjoyable city than Ft. Lauderdale for a pre-cruise stay. And far more scenic for sail-away.

[SamFritz]

Unfortunately, they have become heavily invested in Port Everglades and Port Canaveral. Too bad, because they're both duds to cruise out of. Miami is a much more enjoyable city than Ft. Lauderdale for a pre-cruise stay. And far more scenic for sail-away.

 

 

I have never been to Miami, much less sailed out of it, so I'm not comparing here. But I will say that I have sailed out of Port Everglades and Port Canaveral and I've found them both more than adequate. I love the ease of getting in and out at FLL, and even with the distance from Orlando it's still a nice set up.

 

My first thought, if I was going to sail of of Miami, would be some worry about sailing from a larger city and the impact of traffic on my plans.

[Toddcan]

Unfortunately, they have become heavily invested in Port Everglades and Port Canaveral. Too bad, because they're both duds to cruise out of. Miami is a much more enjoyable city than Ft. Lauderdale for a pre-cruise stay. And far more scenic for sail-away.

 

I've only cruised a few times, but I agree. Miami was a nice port. Easy to get to, easy parking. easy luggage drop off. Our 2009 Liberty sailing left from Miami.

 

Our 2013 Indy sailing left from Port Everglades, but we could not park anywhere near the ship - but we used park n go, which was fine.

 

Sailign out of Canaveral is awesome. Park the car - walk 50 yards to the terminal entrance.

[ryano]

Personally, I have no problem with RCI being heavily invested at Port Canaveral. Its close to home and has two good ships sailing out of there for both a short cruise or a 7 night cruise.

 

The last thing on my mind is where Im gonna spend my "pre cruise stay". I just want a clean room with a comfortable bed the night before. My mind is on nothing else but getting on the ship as soon as I possibly can.

 

I have no desire whatsoever to spend even an hour in Miami. To each their own though!

[macruisefan]

Don't get me wrong. The terminals and access at Canaveral and Everglades have never been a problem to me. It's just that there isn't much worthwhile around them. Ft. Lauderdale can't hold a candle to Miami and Miami Beach as far as destinations go. That's why I tend to fly into Miami and stay there the night before, even if I'm sailing out of Everglades.

[voyager70]

Strange though that Celebrity has two of their newest ships that sail from Miami. I love the Miami sailaway, but hate MIA. Port Everglades is so much easier to get to from FLL and the airport itself is much nicer IMO.

[DEIx15x8]

I personally have loved Ft. Lauderdale. The airport is so close and their are transit system is so easy to get to the beaches from a hotel. We sailed out of Miami once and I hated it. The airport felt extremely dirty and old. The drive from the airport to the terminal is a great view of what Miami is. You go past tons of old run down houses sandwiched on top of one another, then you cross a road and it's nothing but high rise luxury apartments and wasteful spending. It's more of what you expect to see in ports on the cruise than in the US. The sailaway is nice though, just wish it didn't require you to see Miami. Maybe that tunnel project can fix that. I loved Ft. Lauderdale so much though after I sailed from their that I went back for a week just to stay their.

Edited December 13, 2013 by DEIx15x8

[Clarea]

Don't get me wrong. The terminals and access at Canaveral and Everglades have never been a problem to me. It's just that there isn't much worthwhile around them. Ft. Lauderdale can't hold a candle to Miami and Miami Beach as far as destinations go. That's why I tend to fly into Miami and stay there the night before, even if I'm sailing out of Everglades.

That's funny, we're the exact opposite. If we had a cruise out of Miami, we would fly to and stay in Ft. Lauderdale, just to avoid Miami as much as possible.

Edited December 13, 2013 by clarea

[crazyventures]

At least Florida still has several ports to sail from. :( /bitter West Coast-er

[Aquahound]

I'll take PE anyday over POM. I drive to the port and at PE, the freeway ends right into the port. At POM, you have to drive through downtown to get back and forth from the freeway.

 

For those who fly...same thing. The airport is right there, next to PE. Logistically, PE is just so much more user friendly than POM.

 

I think the reason you see such a large Carnival presence in POM is the Micky Arison connection to Miami, the Miami Heat, and a nearby park-n-ride. As of this year, he is no longer Carnival Corp CEO, so we'll see if more CCL ships move over to PE. I realize Princess and HAL are huge on PE, but CCL is their namesake cruise line.

[leaveitallbehind]

That's funny, we're the exact opposite. If we had a cruise out of Miami, we would fly to and stay in Ft. Lauderdale, just to avoid Miami as much as possible.

 

Agree completely. We flew into FLL and shuttled to Miami several times. IMO the infrastructure for serving - in particular Oasis / Allure - is far superior at Port Everglades to Miami, and with FLL so close to the port it is so much easier to sail out of Port Everglades for us. Back in the day when Miami was the key port, we experienced our worst embarkation and disembarkation delays there.

[Tyler80]

I remember the time when I used to drive by the port and I was able to see the Liberty docked at the port. Many ads in the freeway showing royal and the liberty.

The liberty is gone from miami and all I see is carnival, Ncl, ms even disney at miami. Royal is gone ;-(, they only left the majesty of the seas. It's funny since they have the headquarters in here but not many ships sail from miami

 

 

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Obviously Royal Caribbean thinks Port Canaveral and Port Everglades are better than Miami. And in my opinion they are. Superior facilities, Fort Lauderdale airport is a stones throw away from Port Everglades.

[Esmerelda]

Having sailed out of both ports (Miami and Fort Lauderdale), I would choose Fort Lauderdale any day over Miami. Neither experience for us in Miami was good.

 

This has been quite a few years ago. My entire family really really enjoys Fort Lauderdale. We always go and stay 2 or 3 extra days just to enjoy the beaches and so forth before we sail. Staying in FL is just part of our vacation experience. (of course, we've sailed out of Bayonne as well, not just Fort Lauderdale).

[dadroy]

On my cruise last December I chose FLL sailings because it was soooo much cheaper to fly into FLL than Mia. If I remember from Los Angeles there was about a $150 pp savings.

[macruisefan]

I'm just a sucker for Miami and it's more metropolitan feel. I love the restaurants, the hotels, the beach...

[rushedmom]

I have sailed out of Miami and while it was a fun go there once type of port, I would much rather sail of out Ft. Lauderdale. Love the ease of getting to the airport, and have had so much fun at the beach at Ft. Lauderdale.

[Dave85]

I'm just a sucker for Miami and it's more metropolitan feel. I love the restaurants, the hotels, the beach...

 

I agree. After several consecutive years of sailing out of FLL we returned to Miami late last year for a New Years sailing on Carnival and I remembered how much I love Miami. A gorgeous city with so much to offer... the colors, nightlife, restaurants, etc. I live in a city and am a city person so these things appeal to me, I can easily see how it might not appeal as much to someone who isn't a city person. I really enjoyed our pre-stay. That said, I'm not defending the Miami airport. We still flew into FLL and took SAS down to Miami, which was easy and cost effective. Also, as others have said, there's no comparison to the sailaway from Miami... while we've soured on Carnival I hope to get to sail out of Miami in the future.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I dislike Fort Lauderdale. It is easy as could be with everything so close together. We have our routine there -- fly in to FLL, taxi to the Embassy Suites, lunch and a trip to Publix at the shopping center next door, managers reception, dinner at Outback, quick hop to the port in the morning. I have lots of fond pre-cruise memories in Fort Lauderdale... but come on, as much as I enjoy my pre-cruise dinner at the Outback, it does not compare in any way, shape, or form with the dinner at the great fish place in the art deco hotel on South Beach the night before our last Carnival cruise :p. I think my comments can be summed up by saying I find Fort Lauderdale to be a very convenient cruising homeport, but Miami is a destination in and of itself.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Dave85

[macruisefan]

Miami International is fine if you're flying in and out on American. That terminal is nice. It's the rest that's a mess...

[molsonschooner]

That's funny, we're the exact opposite. If we had a cruise out of Miami, we would fly to and stay in Ft. Lauderdale, just to avoid Miami as much as possible.

We have done the same thing. One of the reasons is that the air fare was quite a bit less to fly into FFL than to fly into Miami. I also prefer smaller airports, FFL is a nice size.

[ehfl]

When RCL wanted to expand, especially to accommodate Oasis and Allure, they talked with Miami and Port Eveglades. Miami gave them the brush off, so they built the new facility at Port Everglades which was happy to have them.

[fletch1027]

Personally, I have no problem with RCI being heavily invested at Port Canaveral. Its close to home and has two good ships sailing out of there for both a short cruise or a 7 night cruise.

 

The last thing on my mind is where Im gonna spend my "pre cruise stay". I just want a clean room with a comfortable bed the night before. My mind is on nothing else but getting on the ship as soon as I possibly can.

 

I have no desire whatsoever to spend even an hour in Miami. To each their own though!

 

Amen! Especially for us - both because we are driving from Atlanta as well as we are Disney Vacation Club members so our pre-night spot is taken care of! :)

[bilyclub]

THe cheap Priceline rooms at the Hyatt were the best thing about Miami. Even saw Tom Jones for nothin at the Convention Center adjacent to the Hyatt.