Port of Miami to Everglades to MIA as late as possible

[Hotspring]

Hey, we are interested in the taking one of the Everglade Tours while in route to the MIA after ship docks at 8AM.

The challenge is that the cruise ship offers excursions that require we be on the shuttle by 9AM and the excursion only lasts 3.5 hours. Our flight is not until after 7:00PM. So we are going to be rushed off the ship only to end up spending six hours in the airport.

 

Our goal would be to board after 10 or 10:30 and come back closer to 5PM. Unfortunately, all the non-cruise line excursions appear to only be picking up from hotels and are not clear about what they would do with our luggage.

 

Any know of any Everglade tour companies that pick up from the Port later in the morning and drop the guests off at MIA with their luggage? Alternatively, what can we do at MIA for 6 hours. Any quick tours from MIA to Miami?

[JohninDC]

The ship will not let you hang around until 10:30 -- they are preparing for the next set of cruisers and will push you off shortly after about 9:00.

 

Your best bet is to rent a car, do the tour on your own, and then have a late lunch before heading to the airport.

 

National, Alamo, Thrifty and Enterprise offer free shuttles from POM to their MIA airport locations. Others - Avis, Hertz, etc. -- offer downtown locations closer to POM, but they are sometime overwhelmed by cruisers resulting in long delays and you do not have time to mess around.

[Flymia]

This is a though one. I would agree with the above poster that if the Everglades is your goal, getting off the ship early and renting a car is the way to go. They won't let you stay on the ship that late in the day anyway.

 

If you go with the cruise tour, I would say take it, enjoy the tour, then either check-in your luggage or store it at MIA. From there you could take a quick Uber or I think there is a shuttle to near by Dolphin Mall.

 

If you do the rental car route the best way is get there early, so there is no rush and the lines are not to long.

 

Lastly, it seems like your cruise is this summer? Keep in mind how brutally hot and humid it will be in the Everglades that time of year. I would never suggest anyone go there past 12:00pm. Especially with the frequent thunderstorms around 1:00pm. Its nasty out there that time of year. The Everglades is fantastic, just keep that in mind.

[eandj]

I agree. Rent a car and you can pick and choose from all kinds of things to do around the area. Do the research for things of interest for you.

[Hotspring]

This is a though one. I would agree with the above poster that if the Everglades is your goal, getting off the ship early and renting a car is the way to go. They won't let you stay on the ship that late in the day anyway.

 

If you go with the cruise tour, I would say take it, enjoy the tour, then either check-in your luggage or store it at MIA. From there you could take a quick Uber or I think there is a shuttle to near by Dolphin Mall.

 

If you do the rental car route the best way is get there early, so there is no rush and the lines are not to long.

 

Lastly, it seems like your cruise is this summer? Keep in mind how brutally hot and humid it will be in the Everglades that time of year. I would never suggest anyone go there past 12:00pm. Especially with the frequent thunderstorms around 1:00pm. Its nasty out there that time of year. The Everglades is fantastic, just keep that in mind.

 

Really appreciate your on the scene input on the likely weather conditions for this Northwestern. We are staying in a NCL Haven cabin so believed we could more leisurely leave the ship by 10 and get through customs by 10:30. Your recommendation removes all doubt that we should just use our priority disembarkment to get take the earliest excursion and get to MIA asap, check in our luggage and then rent a car or Uber to wherever else we end up going. Maybe people watching Floridians at the mall will be enough entertainment for a few hours.

 

Thanks!

[Hotspring]

This is a though one. I would agree with the above poster that if the Everglades is your goal, getting off the ship early and renting a car is the way to go. They won't let you stay on the ship that late in the day anyway.

 

If you go with the cruise tour, I would say take it, enjoy the tour, then either check-in your luggage or store it at MIA. From there you could take a quick Uber or I think there is a shuttle to near by Dolphin Mall.

 

If you do the rental car route the best way is get there early, so there is no rush and the lines are not to long.

 

Lastly, it seems like your cruise is this summer? Keep in mind how brutally hot and humid it will be in the Everglades that time of year. I would never suggest anyone go there past 12:00pm. Especially with the frequent thunderstorms around 1:00pm. Its nasty out there that time of year. The Everglades is fantastic, just keep that in mind.

 

Really appreciate your on the scene knowledge of the likely weather conditions for this Northwesterner. We are staying in a NCL Haven cabin and thought we could hang in there to delay our disembarkment to the last possible moment. But with your recommendation we should just use our priority disembarkment to take the earliest Everglade excursion then check in our luggage at MIA asap. Then we can rent a car or Uber and see other Miami sights.

 

Thank you!

[JohninDC]

From the MIA airport you can use the Airport flyer bus for about $3 each to get to/from South Beach -- great place to site see, grab drinks and people watch before heading back to MIA.

 

http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/routes_detail.asp?route=150