Miami post cruise - any suggestions?

[LindaKE]

Does anyone have suggestions of good sight seeing places for a couple of hours post cruise?

[mooline]

Hi Linda: I live on South Beach, in one of those condos you glide by as you come in and out of the Port of Miami. I wave to all you cruisers every night from my balcony!!

 

Depending on how much time you have and what types of things you like, there are several options nearby.

 

Bayside is a typical touristy outdoor mall, with pushcarts, shops and restaurants. The Parrot Jungle, a fun museum and animal attraction is a short ride over the MacArthur Causeway (that's the causeway at the end of the ships' turnaround basin) as is the Miami Children's Museum.

 

Vizcaya is a gorgeous old "castle" type mansion, a "mini Versailles" with spectacular grounds (although some tree damage from Hurricane Wilma), nice for walking and relaxing, operated by Miami-Dade County. Not too, too far, maybe a 15 minute ride depending on traffic.

 

Fairchild Tropical Gardens is an especially beautiful botanic garden in the Coral Gables section, probably 20 minutes or so away. This is a place where you can lose yourself in outdoor splendor.

 

Of course, you can always take a cab or bus to my neigborhood, South Beach (maybe 10 minutes away) and just walk along Ocean Drive, have lunch at any of the gazillion outdoor restaurants. Have the cab drop you at the corner of 5th St and Ocean and just walk north from there. I recommend the News Cafe for decent food at decent prices.

 

Even better, take a cab to Monty's on the Miami Beach Marina, have lunch (food is OK but setting is great, an outdoor tiki bar type of place), then enjoy a really nice walk along the marina, out into South Pointe Park, along Government Cut, culminating on the tip of the beach. This is not as "touristy" as Ocean Drive, but it is a great walk, you'll see many of us "locals" walking our dogs, jogging, riding bikes or just strolling enjoying all the wonderful things there are to enjoy here.

 

Have fun and thanks VERY much for visiting!

[snorkelhead]

Get a tattoo at Miami Ink! I think the address is 1344 Washington...:p

[LindaKE]

Thanks!

[abbyndrewmom]

Any suggestions on what to do with 2 children (6 & 8) we will be there betwen 9-6 on the NCL Spirit March 15. I want to be outside but not necessarily at the beach all day. What is the zoo like? Dh is thinking of an everglades tour but I am not sure I want to do that. We lived in SC and saw lots of Aligators there!!!

 

Are there any car rental agencies right at the port? I know there are some that will pick you up and drop off but I would prefer just to pick up the car and drop if off right at the port, even if it does cost more.

 

Thanks for your assitance.

 

Allison

[Bequia]

Are there any car rental agencies right at the port? I know there are some that will pick you up and drop off but I would prefer just to pick up the car and drop if off right at the port, even if it does cost more.

 

Allison, there are no car rental agencies at the port. Avis has a location just outside of the port though.

Downtown Miami - M6I

99 Southeast 2nd Street, (at Southeast 1st Avenue), Miami, FL 33131 (1) 305-379-1317

Sun 08:00AM-04:00PM; Mon-Fri 08:00AM-06:00PM; Sat 08:00AM-04:00PM

The Miami Zoo is really nice. The Everglades tours very educational. Usually they touch base on the Everglades ecosystem, point out it's inhabitants etc. The highlight is the airboat ride itself whizzing you thru the Glades. The kids would really get a kick out of it.

Miami has a decent Sea Aquarium. Skip Parrot Jungle, bit of a rip-off.

[abbyndrewmom]

Are the Everglades tour through the zoo? I just found a site called Gator Zoo with an airboat ride, do you know anything about that? Dh would really like to do an airboat road through the Everglades!!!

 

Thanks again for your assitance.

[TrentS]

The Everglades tours the ships offer do not go to MetroZoo. I'm not familiar with Gator Zoo however, no idea what that is.

 

The Everglades park with airboat ride the cruise lines use is Everglades Safari Park... http://www.evsafaripark.com/

 

Miami MetroZoo... http://www.miamimetrozoo.com/

[Bequia]

Are the Everglades tour through the zoo? I just found a site called Gator Zoo with an airboat ride, do you know anything about that? Dh would really like to do an airboat road through the Everglades!!!

 

Thanks again for your assitance.

 

Did you mean Gator Park? http://www.gatorpark.com/full_site/ It's fine. Well run organization, nice boat rides. Request tour guide "Rick" if you can. He goes above and beyond. Coopertown Tours say they've been around the longest, they're fine as well http://www.coopertownairboats.com/ the Miami Herald has rated them Floridas Best for 4o years in a row. You can't go wrong with either firm.

[scsagh]

Our plane doesn't leave until 7:48 p.m. after our cruise (Miami). I know that the cruiseline's Everglade's tour says it lasts 4 hours. Are there any tour companies offering any type of combination tours that may last longer? If there are any other tour companies, would they also take luggage, or is the cruiselines pretty much the only option other than a rental car (which my husband flat out refuses).

[mooline]

Probably depends how far you want to travel. The zoo is a good 45 minutes away from the port, w/o traffic and there is always traffic! I love the Zoo, but many people compain that it is far too much walking, especially with young kids and especially on hot days. Everglades is even father away. If you want to stay local, consider the Parrot Jungle and Miami Children's Museum, right over the MacArthur Causeway, a very short hop from the port.

 

http://www.parrotjungle.com/jsps/

http://www.miamichildrensmuseum.org

 

Some of my guests (I live on South Beach, so I have LOTS of company all winter long!) have taken the Duck Tour and found it to be lots of fun. I've never done that but it might be another option for you.

 

http://ticketing.ducktoursmiami.com/eventcategory.asp?c=2

 

Just a warning, though, since you're traveling with kids: If you spend a fair amount of time in Miami Beach, you're bound to see some, shall we say "interesting" sights...Many people vist from all over the world and our idea of "appropriate" clothing is different from that of other countries. In addition, if you do go to the Beach, be aware that it's "tops optional" pretty much everywhere.

 

Whatever you do, have fun and enjoy our lovely city. Thanks for visiting!

[TrentS]

Our plane doesn't leave until 7:48 p.m. after our cruise (Miami). I know that the cruiseline's Everglade's tour says it lasts 4 hours. Are there any tour companies offering any type of combination tours that may last longer? If there are any other tour companies, would they also take luggage, or is the cruiselines pretty much the only option other than a rental car (which my husband flat out refuses).

WHY would he flat out refuse to rent a car??? For the life of me I just can NOT understand that... For a situation like yours that is the BEST possible way to handle it. Rental cars are quite inexpensive, the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area is VERY easy to navigate, and you can put the luggage in the trunk and go whereever you want, do whatever you want.

 

The cruise line's tours will drop you at the airport anywhere from about 12:30-2pm at the latest. I'm not aware of any other company that would give you an all day tour, store your luggage and drop you at the airport.

 

If he won't rent a car then you might want to hire a limo for the day. They can put your luggage in the trunk and give you a customized tour.

[ginamaddog]

help me make my decison on where to spend our pre-night cruise at miami beach area......me and 2 kids....

[TrentS]

These are all nice/decent South Beach hotels...

 

Hotel Victor... http://hotelvictorsouthbeach.com/

 

Loews... http://www.loewshotels.com/hotels/miamibeach/default.asp

 

Royal Palm... http://www.solmelia.com/solNew/hoteles/jsp/C_Hotel_Description.jsp?codigoHotel=5964

 

South Beach Marriott... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/MIAMB

 

Ritz-Carlton South Beach... http://www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/south_beach/default.html

 

Shore Club... http://www.shoreclub.com/

 

Delano... http://www.delano-hotel.com/

 

Raleigh Hotel... http://www.raleighhotel.com/

 

The Tides Hotel... http://www.tideshotel.com/

 

The National... http://www.nationalhotel.com/

 

Doubletree Surfcomber... http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=MIAOFDT

 

Marriott Courtyard South Beach (3 blocks from the beach)... http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/MIACB

 

The Hotel of South Beach (1 block from the beach)... http://www.thehotelofsouthbeach.com/

[ginamaddog]

wow, thanks trents......it was fun looking at those beautiful places.....some alittle out of my range but I will figure it out....royal palm will probably win....

[TrentS]

wow, thanks trents......it was fun looking at those beautiful places.....some alittle out of my range but I will figure it out....royal palm will probably win....

I know most are rather pricey... BUT South Beach is NOT a cheap place to stay. The hotels are for the most part quite old. The nicer places have been gutted and modernized, the cheap places have not and are quite scary! :eek:

 

Also be aware that some hotels that say they're in South Beach are not, and are too far to away to walk to anything. The hotels I listed are all nice places in the real South Beach, close to everything, and not scary dumps.

[ginamaddog]

thanks.....since you know so much....how far is it to miami ink from royal palm?

[TrentS]

thanks.....since you know so much....how far is it to miami ink from royal palm?

About 3-4 blocks