Hotel Stay Flying in Day Before

[chrissy51364]

We are booked on the Carnival Conquest sailing 2/29/20. We live in Ohio and the weather is iffy that time of year so we were thinking about flying in the day before. I can't believe the price of hotel rooms on that day. I looked and couldn't find anything particular going on in Miami, but an airport room that would normally cost less than $100 is $250 during that time. Any suggestions on hotels to try that may be reasonable but clean? Looking either near the airport or the Port of Miami.  Thanks in advance.

[canadiancruiser13]

Couple years ago we stayed at the Holiday Inn on Biscayne Blvd. near the Port of Miami. It is well kept and reasonable price. Hopefully this is helpful.

[beshears]

I don't know all the details, but since SWA does not fly to Miami, we will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale, and then going to Miami.  She said when they cruised earlier this year, they booked a room in Ft. Lauderdale, and for very little, there is transportation that will take you to Miami, that is, if you want to get a hotel/motel in Ft. Lauderdale.

[tallnthensome]

Florida hotel questions post here asked daily for non-Carnival forum related posts

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

[RWolver672]

For our last cruise on the Horizon (Feb 2019), we  stayed at the LaQuinta Inn Miami Airport North.  It was $139.50.  They have a free shuttle from the airport.  Just call them when you land and tell them what gate you are by after you collect your luggage.  

 

They have a free breakfast and there's a McDonald's right next door and on the other side of McDonald's is a Dennys.

 

There is a nice pool and a small shop with snacks and travel supplies.  They hire a shuttle that runs to the port and it costs $10 per person.  You have to sign up for a time slot for that.  

 

We spent a lot of time by the pool just watching the planes come in and take off.  They fly close enough that you can see the passengers in the windows.  

Edited August 18, 2019 by RWolver672

[baggal]

7 hours ago, chrissy51364 said:

We are booked on the Carnival Conquest sailing 2/29/20. We live in Ohio and the weather is iffy that time of year so we were thinking about flying in the day before. I can't believe the price of hotel rooms on that day. I looked and couldn't find anything particular going on in Miami, but an airport room that would normally cost less than $100 is $250 during that time. Any suggestions on hotels to try that may be reasonable but clean? Looking either near the airport or the Port of Miami.  Thanks in advance.

Supply and demand.  Lots of people cruising and vacationing in South Florida at that time of year since its still winter in most of the country.  And yes, I would definitely fly in the day before.  Try checking flights to Ft. Lauderdale.  I find the airfare is usually less and there are many hotel options but you may have to adjust your expectations for how much you will pay for a hotel room in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.

[havanadaydreaming]

there are some decent options on the search engines, particularly when you aren't provided exact name of property until after booking. 

 

pro tip: focus more on user recommendation % than property star rating.  a 4 star with 50% recommendation is a red flag even if seemingly a good price. 

[JohninDC]

11 hours ago, chrissy51364 said:

We are booked on the Carnival Conquest sailing 2/29/20. We live in Ohio and the weather is iffy that time of year so we were thinking about flying in the day before. I can't believe the price of hotel rooms on that day. I looked and couldn't find anything particular going on in Miami, but an airport room that would normally cost less than $100 is $250 during that time. Any suggestions on hotels to try that may be reasonable but clean? Looking either near the airport or the Port of Miami.  Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the boards. 😎 

 

Jan-Easter is peak tourist season for South Florida, you are not the only one who is escaping winter!  Flying into MIA or FLL? You can save money on hotels by flying into Orlando, only about a 4+ hour drive to the port, but the cost of the rental car and has may negate your savings.  La Quinta East is a budget option near MIA popular with cruisers and includes a shuttle to the port..

[RG306]

18 hours ago, chrissy51364 said:

We are booked on the Carnival Conquest sailing 2/29/20. We live in Ohio and the weather is iffy that time of year so we were thinking about flying in the day before. I can't believe the price of hotel rooms on that day. I looked and couldn't find anything particular going on in Miami, but an airport room that would normally cost less than $100 is $250 during that time. Any suggestions on hotels to try that may be reasonable but clean? Looking either near the airport or the Port of Miami.  Thanks in advance.

LMT club has airport hotels those dates between 150-200 and the Holiday Inn Port of Miami for $233.  Amoma.com also has hotels in the same range.  If you're lucky you can find a refundable rate on a third party site thats cheaper than direct with the hotel and use their price guarantee. Marriott & Hilton not only match by decrease the rate by 25%.  Kimpton also price matches. 

[jbethel11]

4 minutes ago, RG306 said:

Marriott & Hilton not only match by decrease the rate by 25%.

For someone reason, my post was deleted and I mentioned this exact fact.

[cindy1957]

10 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Welcome to the boards. 😎 

 

Jan-Easter is peak tourist season for South Florida, you are not the only one who is escaping winter!  Flying into MIA or FLL? You can save money on hotels by flying into Orlando, only about a 4+ hour drive to the port, but the cost of the rental car and has may negate your savings.  La Quinta East is a budget option near MIA popular with cruisers and includes a shuttle to the port..

Don’t do it! Too stressful. It’s a vacation! I live in Tampa and always come down a day earlier.

[bouhunter]

There is no such thing as a hotel in February in south Florida "normally under 100.00"......   At least not one you'd want to stay at.  200.00 +/- is the best you can expect.  Maybe 150.00 if you aren't picky about location or lower tier brands.

[Flymia]

Nothing in Miami will be under $200/night in February, unless you really want to stay in some below average hotels. 

 

I usually don't do this but since it is so easy given one date I took a look on hotels.com for 02/28 checking out 02/29. Holiday Inn Port Miami is $256/night. Which is a pretty decent rate that time of year in that location. If you want to actually enjoy your day before the cruise I would highly suggest looking into staying there. 

 

Even better, Hampton Inn Brickell is $252/night. Fantastic rate and one of the best pre-cruise hotels around. Highly recommended on this board. 

 

By MIA airport I see homewood suites at $215/night. A residence inn under $200/night and a near by Hampton Inn by the airport too. There is an MIA airport Ramada at $134/night. 

 

So I am confused on where you are seeing prices. 

 

My suggestion is stay at the Hampton Inn and actually enjoy your pre-day in Miami. If you are flying into Miami at night then there are plenty of decent and well priced hotels near the airport. Almost nothing in Miami that is $100/night or under no matter the time of year is worth staying in. 

 

If you are flying into FLL, same rule applies. Either go and stay in Miami at the Holiday Inn or Hampton Inn or pick an airport near FLL airport if you are flying in at night. 

 

Also, it would be insane to not fly into Miami the day before. IMO you don't have an option, you need to fly in the day before. 

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by Flymia

[Ashland]

Consider as others have suggested flying into/out of FLL and booking a hotel there for the night pre-cruise...Easy cheap shuttles or Uber/Lyft to get you to POM for your cruise morning of.

[BlueHerons]

On 8/19/2019 at 8:39 AM, bouhunter said:

There is no such thing as a hotel in February in south Florida "normally under 100.00"......   At least not one you'd want to stay at.  200.00 +/- is the best you can expect.  Maybe 150.00 if you aren't picky about location or lower tier brands.

Nothing in Miami anywhere is under $100 that doesn't rent by the hour or have bodies in the closet.

 

Try Hotwire or another one of the discount sites.

 

 You need to plan on spending about $150 a night for a entry level hotel in a safe area.

[QueSeraSera]

We are cruising out of Fort Lauderdale 12/3 for the first time.  we'll fly into FLL on 12/2, probably on Jet Blue.  I've been following the various threads here and hope its ok to ask this here.  We get that the Embassy Suites is a good choice.  We could save a few $$ by staying at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, which looks very nice (or even nicer?).  Would that be a good choice or am I missing something?

 

33 minutes ago, BlueHerons said:

 You need to plan on spending about $150 a night for a entry level hotel in a safe area.

 

Agreed, seems also true for FLL?

Thanks in advance.

[BlueHerons]

59 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

We are cruising out of Fort Lauderdale 12/3 for the first time.  we'll fly into FLL on 12/2, probably on Jet Blue.  I've been following the various threads here and hope its ok to ask this here.  We get that the Embassy Suites is a good choice.  We could save a few $$ by staying at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, which looks very nice (or even nicer?).  Would that be a good choice or am I missing something?

 

 

Agreed, seems also true for FLL?

Thanks in advance.

That's a shame because Christmas On Las Olas is that night!  It is a lovely holiday street party.  They close Las Olas and it really is a fun party.

 

I think you should find something nice for under $150.  Try for the Riverside on Las Olas.

[QueSeraSera]

 

51 minutes ago, BlueHerons said:

Christmas On Las Olas is that night

 

Just looked on FB, Christmas on Las Olas looks like a fun community event!!  But you're right, we'll be sailing out of town, while you all celebrate.  I've wondered how Floridians celebrated Christmas with the balmy temperatures and all - now I see... I'll look into the Riverside, thanks.

[BlueHerons]

35 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

 

 

Just looked on FB, Christmas on Las Olas looks like a fun community event!!  But you're right, we'll be sailing out of town, while you all celebrate.  I've wondered how Floridians celebrated Christmas with the balmy temperatures and all - now I see... I'll look into the Riverside, thanks.

It's a gorgeous hotel in an amazing location!

[beshears]

Thank you for the reference of of postings for Florida hotels/motels to check out.

 

Also, as I have seen posted here, I don't, but my son has gone to an area where (I don't now all the details) you pick out a hotel/motel of the kind you are looking for in the area of cost as well, and they will not give you the name, but will give you (I don't know how soon before) the address before you go to that area.  When he did this, it was amazing the cost for what we got, and we found out we didn't need to know the name after all, but "found out" when we arrived at that address. 🙂

[LHT28]

8 minutes ago, beshears said:

Thank you for the reference of of postings for Florida hotels/motels to check out.

 

Also, as I have seen posted here, I don't, but my son has gone to an area where (I don't now all the details) you pick out a hotel/motel of the kind you are looking for in the area of cost as well, and they will not give you the name, but will give you (I don't know how soon before) the address before you go to that area.  When he did this, it was amazing the cost for what we got, and we found out we didn't need to know the name after all, but "found out" when we arrived at that address. 🙂

I guess if you like to live dangerously  it works

Who knows what you might get next time  🙂

 

[JMarlowe]

I would also suggest checking out AirBnB. They have some great options! That is what we are doing. Found a great little house to stay in Miami that is less than 10 minutes from the port and it was only 79 per night (plus tax and fees).

[beshears]

Oh my JMarlowe, that sounds like a good deal.  There will be 8 of us coming in March, so we might check into that as well.

[Flymia]

Its important to be cautious with AirBnB in Miami for two reasons. 

 

1. Many or illegal rentals in condos and you can be denied entry. 

2. 10-mins from the port could mean an area of million dollar homes or a high crime area that you won't be comfortable walking around. 

[beshears]

Flymia, thanks for the "heads up."