My pre-cruise trip report!

[lucywestie]

I had asked a fair few questions on this part of the forum regarding my stay before our cruise over Xmas and New Years so I thought I would post a bit of information about what we did and maybe why.

 

First of all we drove from Ontario, Canada all the way south to Miami with some stops on route. We actually did the drive in one night with a stop in Fayetteville NC before driving to Fort Lauderdale for a two night stay prior to the cruise.

 

I had originally done the usual and asked about various places to stay but I wasnt worried about closeness to stores and restaurants etc. as we had our vehicle. In the end we ended up spending the two nights at the Best Western Plus on Stirling Rd.

 

It reportedly appears to be a newer hotel but we had some issues that were resolved once we got home. We arrived late on the Friday night (2130hrs) and because it was a big cruise weekend we were offered either a room on the 1st or a room on the 6th floor. Needless to say we took the 6th. On closer inspection there was a fair bit of mold in the bathroom on the shower caulking and grout plus the ceiling. Lots of damage to the baseboard around the door and alot of marking and damage to the wall where you could tell people had been opening suitcases etc.

 

We were so tired we put it out of our minds and spent the two nights there though I did take pictures which will come in to play later on. On return from our trip, some 3 weeks later I called the Best Western customer service centre and using honey rather than vinegar I had a great conversation with a customer service rep who gave me 16,000 Best Western Loyalty points (enough to cover approximately two nights in a hotel). I emailed them the photos and they assured me it would be looked after.

I call that a result

 

I think I chose the hotel because it seemed to be central to a lot of the things we wanted to do in the one whole day we had there. There was a shopping plaza across the road with a K-Mart (not in Canada anymore) plus a nail salon for my wife etc.

 

On the Saturday we did some shopping then after a quick drive West we went to the Sawgrass Recreation Park. Now even they admit they arent really on the Everglades but for $24 each we did a great airboat ride out over the grass and were immediately in and around 3 big gators. Very up close and personal experience with them plus turtles, Ospreys and then another gator on the way back. It was well worth the money and the guide we had was extremely knowledgeable. I would recommend it to anyone that has an afternoon or at least just a couple of hours to kill.

 

On the Sunday we had a 25 minute drive down to the Port of Miami. I have a new truck and elected to park it at the port rather than trust it to some of the off site places. I know the POM is pricey ($20 per day) but to my thinking it was peace of mind.

 

We had a gps in the truck which actually tried to divert us off the 95 and take us over the bridge into the port rather than through the tunnel but I had done some research and we took the tunnels. Very easy drive which allayed a lot of my fears about getting there.

 

Our ship was the Navigator so we were at Terminal G which is pretty much the closest terminal to the city of Miami. Once we had circled round the one way system security let us do a quick stop right infront of the terminal where a porter took all our labelled bags (labelled them the night before) and threw them in a cart. Then it was a 30 second drive around the garage and we were in and up on the 2nd floor.

 

Now here is where the Port could improve. Once you are in the garage there is no signage to show what floor you are on, what are of the parking garage etc etc. Its very poor. When we returned from the cruise we got a bit turned around and it took me a few minutes to find the truck. Im not dumb, but there really needs to be better directions inside the place. The only signage was inside the elevator.

 

We parked for 16 nights and the total was $320. I expected there to be tax on top but I guess that either its already included in the price or they just don't tax on parking. It was a very short walk from the truck to the terminal which was another blessing when we were carting our luggage on the way back.

 

So there you go, all my fears prior to getting to Miami where quickly allayed (never cruised or driven down there before so I had some concerns). Very easy to get to the garage, my truck has 4 wheel drive and I think in the garage we had about 4-6 inches spare above the height of the truck so if you do drive a bigger vehicle its not an issue.

 

Hope this might help with some of you that are heading down. We also picked staying in Fort Lauderdale over Miami because

 

a. the prices seemed to be cheaper (I booked and cancelled numerous hotels in the months leading up to the trip) and,

 

b. I just felt we would be a lot safer in the area we were at in FL rather than in Miami.

 

Pete

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing your pre-cruise experience.

 

 

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[JohninDC]

Great, detailed trip report. Thanks for posting! :)

[Lido_Deck]

Too bad you didn't stay at the La Quinta Airport East since they allow up to 14 days free parking with a one night stay and they have a complimentary shuttle to the port.

[capriccio]

Too bad you didn't stay at the La Quinta Airport East since they allow up to 14 days free parking with a one night stay and they have a complimentary shuttle to the port.

 

They have a free shuttle to the Port of Miami?

[Lido_Deck]

They have a free shuttle to the Port of Miami?

 

Of course, since they are located near MIA.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write a trip report.

 

Keith