Driving to Miami, parking at peir?

[Passing Lane]

The parking garage is right across the street. You should get the apps for the Port of Miami and Lauderdale.

 

 

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[BIGREDIOWAN]

The parking garage is right across the street. You should get the apps for the Port of Miami and Lauderdale.

 

 

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Apps?! I just searched the play store on my android device and didn't see such a thing? Does it show which terminal your ship is docking at and the corresponding parking garage or something?

[Passing Lane]

They are listed Port of Miami and Port Everglades. They show parking, ships leaving, what ships are at what terminals. I have an IPod and have used these apps for years. You should also get the passport app, you can then go through customs quickly.

 

 

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[BIGREDIOWAN]

They are listed Port of Miami and Port Everglades. They show parking, ships leaving, what ships are at what terminals. I have an IPod and have used these apps for years. You should also get the passport app, you can then go through customs quickly.

 

 

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Yeah I looked up Port of Miami and it's not coming up on any list in the play store that I can see. Thx for the info though.

[Organized Chaos]

Yeah I looked up Port of Miami and it's not coming up on any list in the play store that I can see. Thx for the info though.

I searched the Apple App Store and didn't see anything like that either. There's a third party cruise schedule app (not an official port app), but only if I search Port Everglades. If I search for Miami Port, all I see is a third party "best parking" app.

[Passing Lane]

Sorry it is under cruise schedule!

 

 

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[bottomfeeder]

Just wanted to post my recent experience as an option for folks. I just did a transatlantic cruise from Miami to Southampton. I drove to Miami and parked at Embassy Suites Miami Airport--reserved through airportparkingreservations.com. This hotel has a fenced lot and you do not leave your keys with them. They have a free airport shuttle but charge $10 per person for their shuttle to the port. I was solo so the shuttle to the port was great for me, but if you are in a bigger party you could certainly taxi/uber for lower overall cost--or take the shuttle to the airport and taxi/uber from there to the port if the price is enough better to warrant the extra time.

 

It cost $8 per day plus taxes plus a $5 reservation fee. I would definitely do this again even if I was doing a round trip Miami cruise rather than a transatlantic, if the cruise was over a week long.

 

Just thought I'd throw it out there as an option for folks. I learned about it from a post I made on this board so trying to pay it forward. :)

[BIGREDIOWAN]

First part of the drive is over. We hit Atlanta at around 8:30 or 9 last night, drove right through downtown and had zero issues. Made it to Valdosta, GA from Des Moines, IA in about 19 hours with three stops. Leaving for the drive to Miami in a few minutes and just wanted to update folks.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Just arrived in Miami. Using I-75 was the way to go. The turnpike went super smooth and there wasn't many issues until we actually got into Miami. Even then it was a few slow downs due to traffic and nothing more. SunPass worked great as well and helped keep us moving in the right direction.

[bubba2012]

First part of the drive is over. We hit Atlanta at around 8:30 or 9 last night, drove right through downtown and had zero issues. Made it to Valdosta, GA from Des Moines, IA in about 19 hours with three stops. Leaving for the drive to Miami in a few minutes and just wanted to update folks.

 

 

Just read this post and glad you made it through Atlanta with no issues. I was gonna suggest timing travel plans to go through late at night or early in morning 3/4 am. Enjoy your cruise!!!!

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Got back home this morning from the cruise. We used self assisting debarkation and were in our vehicle and on the road by 9:15am. Got home around 8am this morning. Yes, we drove through the night. I personally don't know if I ever want to do that again, but my wife seemed to like it so she'd have to sell me on that if we drive again. We hit some real terrible severe storms between Atlanta and Nashville that really slowed us down. With our total cost we ended up saving anywhere from $900 to $1100 by driving instead of flying. Des Moines is pretty expensive to fly out of minus Allegiant and most flights we looked at were $1800 to $2000 for all four of us round trip. Some folks might not think that's expensive, but I'm becoming more and more frugal in my aging journey so that's some decent savings in my opinion.

 

If anyone has any more questions feel free to fire away and ask them. All in all it was a good experience.

[JohninDC]

Thanks for all of your feedback - glad you had a good cruise and a safe drive home. :)

[Organized Chaos]

Got back home this morning from the cruise. We used self assisting debarkation and were in our vehicle and on the road by 9:15am. Got home around 8am this morning. Yes, we drove through the night. I personally don't know if I ever want to do that again, but my wife seemed to like it so she'd have to sell me on that if we drive again. We hit some real terrible severe storms between Atlanta and Nashville that really slowed us down. With our total cost we ended up saving anywhere from $900 to $1100 by driving instead of flying. Des Moines is pretty expensive to fly out of minus Allegiant and most flights we looked at were $1800 to $2000 for all four of us round trip. Some folks might not think that's expensive, but I'm becoming more and more frugal in my aging journey so that's some decent savings in my opinion.

 

If anyone has any more questions feel free to fire away and ask them. All in all it was a good experience.

You used port parking, correct? Could you tell us a little bit about that experience? And did you like it overall? Also, as a first-time user of the SunPass, what did you think of it? If you don't mind me asking, how much were tolls on the turnpike both ways? And did you deposit a set amount on the SunPass before going? I hadn't planned on using the turnpike because 95 wasn't that bad until we hit Ft. Lauderdale, but in talking to the others, they kind of like the SunPass idea, so I might be outnumbered.

 

I wonder if the storm you hit was the same one that came through here Friday morning. It only lasted 5-10 minutes, but it did quite a bit of damage and we were without power for 14 1/2 hours. Power company had linemen coming in from all over the place.

 

We're taking my wife's brother/SIL and their three teens next year. The plan right now is to take their large passenger van. Last year, we stopped about half way and it drove me nuts because there was plenty of drive time left in the day, so this time I want to go straight through. We have enough experienced drivers to take turns that it should work out well. Plus a couple of driving teenagers that we might give a little wheel time to. I just hope their passenger van doesn't hit the oversized vehicle limit for port parking (if we choose to park there) because then it's double the price and we can't manage that. I think the port website said anything over 20 ft. and I think they're van is about 19 ft.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

You used port parking, correct? Could you tell us a little bit about that experience? And did you like it overall? Also, as a first-time user of the SunPass, what did you think of it? If you don't mind me asking, how much were tolls on the turnpike both ways? And did you deposit a set amount on the SunPass before going? I hadn't planned on using the turnpike because 95 wasn't that bad until we hit Ft. Lauderdale, but in talking to the others, they kind of like the SunPass idea, so I might be outnumbered.

 

I wonder if the storm you hit was the same one that came through here Friday morning. It only lasted 5-10 minutes, but it did quite a bit of damage and we were without power for 14 1/2 hours. Power company had linemen coming in from all over the place.

 

We're taking my wife's brother/SIL and their three teens next year. The plan right now is to take their large passenger van. Last year, we stopped about half way and it drove me nuts because there was plenty of drive time left in the day, so this time I want to go straight through. We have enough experienced drivers to take turns that it should work out well. Plus a couple of driving teenagers that we might give a little wheel time to. I just hope their passenger van doesn't hit the oversized vehicle limit for port parking (if we choose to park there) because then it's double the price and we can't manage that. I think the port website said anything over 20 ft. and I think they're van is about 19 ft.

 

1. We did use the port parking and it went pretty smooth. We had a check in time of 12:30 to 1:00 for boarding, but said forget it and decided to drive down around 10:30. The parking garage and lot were already pretty full, but we lucked out and got a parking spot on level 3 of the parking garage, garage D since Vista left from terminal D, but if we HAD to we could've parked on the top level, but I didn't really want to do that because I wanted our vehicle protected from the weather while we were gone. There were a bunch of spots open up there.

 

 

My advice as far as parking is concerned is from what I noticed about parking when we left that I didn't see when we arrived. We got off of the ship around 8:45 am or 9:00 am. At that point there were parking spots all over the place from the folks leaving from the Vista and the folks arriving hadn't yet arrived. So if you want a spot in the garage that's a good spot and not on top, arrive around 9 am and you'll probably get a pretty good spot.

 

 

We didn't wait in line at all to park and I kept driving around until the spot on 3 opened up from someone leaving. When we got back our vehicle was fine, no scratches, dents, etc. We paid on the first floor of the garage, $120 for 6 days, and showed the receipt to the lady working the booth as we left the garage.

 

 

2. Sunpass: We liked the Sunpass option as it kept us moving along our route. You have to slow down to a set speed so it can register your Sunpass, but at least you don't have to stop. It looks like it's $1.06 for each toll booth, but there are several along the turnpike both ways. We drove through Miami as well so total it cost us around $25.00 in tolls for the entire trip in Florida. The Sunpass was $5.00 for the sticker option, they have a more expensive removable Sunpass that you can switch from vehicle to vehicle, and when you set up the account you tie a credit card to the account and set up what amounts you want on the account. I set up $20.00 initially and then told it to pull another $20.00 once we got close to using that first amount. It worked smoothly, I got e-mails telling me when they took money and of my activity. I'm going to close the account in a few days so we'll see how getting what is left on the account back goes.

 

And I know what you mean about the stopping part. Stopping in Valdosta was perfect since it was only a 5 1/2 to 6 hour drive to Miami the next day. I could've kept driving myself, but I was getting a tad punchy by the time we got there. :')

 

 

3. It might've been what went through there, but it kept back building over the top of us and wouldn't move to the east. It was red and pink on the radar above us pretty much our whole time between Atlanta and Nashville. At one point there was a billboard on fire on the side of the road from getting struck by lighting. The lighting was about the worst I'd personally ever seen. The fastest I could drive was 35 and I thought about pulling over several times due to the driving conditions. I almost hit a tree that had fallen onto the interstate that I wouldn't have seen, but luckily for me I was in the process of changing lanes and it was dumb luck I missed it.

[Organized Chaos]

Thanks for all the info. That's good stuff. Now all I have to do is remember it because our cruise isn't for another year. :p

 

I think we might treat everyone to FTTF since it's my wife's family's first time. We didn't get it last year, but there's going to be 8 of us this time. That's potentially 8 carry-ons, so it'd be nice to have our cabins ready right away so we don't have to drag all those around. Or at the very least, I'm considering getting just one FTTF out of our three cabins so we'd have one ready immediately and put all the carry-ons in there. If we all had FTTF, then we could get to the parking garage a little earlier to get a good spot and not have to worry about waiting too terribly long to board. I'll have to get the details on the length of their van. If it's considered oversized, we'll probably find a hotel with cruise parking and do it that way.

 

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of the SunPass. The cost is very manageable and we could always split it between us two families.

 

I've never been able to sleep easily in a car, so even though I'll have some relief this time, I don't know if I even can. And with 8 people riding together (4 teenagers), I'm sure it's easier said than done. I didn't necessarily want all of us to ride together, it just kind of happened. :o We planned on taking two vehicles, but when I said there'd be enough of us to take turns driving, I think they assumed I meant everyone in their van. What I really meant was, one of us could go drive the other vehicle if necessary. We'll see how it plays out. They're convinced all of the luggage can fit in the back. We told them we want to do a dry run first. I enjoy driving and have done a lot of long distance driving over the years, but it's not as easy on me as it used to be. But since we have enough people to switch out, regardless of taking one or two vehicles, I'd prefer to go straight through and save the money we'd have to pay for a hotel on the road there and back.

 

Thanks again for all the info.