What to do in Miami before the cruise ...

[BigHeadEd]

My family and I are on the 2/19 Jewel. "Problem" is we arrive at Miami airport at 6:30am and the ship doesn't leave that day until 5:00pm. Any suggestions on what to do in between?

[sjbdtz]

My family and I are on the 2/19 Jewel. "Problem" is we arrive at Miami airport at 6:30am and the ship doesn't leave that day until 5:00pm. Any suggestions on what to do in between?

 

My suggestion is not to mark the thread as a thumbs down.

[Quincella]

This is not a "problem"! Miami is a great city....full of culture and activity and great people-watching opportunities.

 

You could:

 

1. Tour Vizcaya

2. Hang out at Bayfront park...there is fun shopping and usually live music and decent food, and you could get in a bay tour of Star Island from there

3. Go to South Beach. Great beach day, awesome people watching, fabulous food, beautiful architecture

4. Combine #1 adn #2

5. Go to the Miami Seaquarium

 

Just a few ideas. I lived there for nearly 6 years and miss it every day. Personally, I'd treat it as the first stop on your cruise!

 

Have fun,

Quincy

[2Cruise4Ever]

My suggestion would be to go have a leisurely breakfast somewhere and then get yourselves to the port. On my last cruise, we arrived in Miami at 8:30 a.m., were at the port by 9:30 and on the ship by 11:00. In fact, we were the first ones on board. That was such a great feeling, too. We were unpacked and up by the pool sipping our froo-froo drinks long before we had done so in the past. :D

[MA 2 VA]

You can also head over to Bayside and have breakfast by the marina and relax.

[fozzyfoz]

Miami Seaquarium is great (but keep track of the time). We also went to Bayside MArina and had lunch at Bubba Gumps and then wandered the shops, enjoyed the view and got into cruise mode. It's only about 5-10 minutes across the causeway from the piers and is a great spot.

[TrentS]

No "attractions" will be open that early. There really isn't much of anything to do so early in the morning... I would go have breakfast and hang out somewhere such as Bayside for a little while, then go over to the port at about 10:30am... Embarkation normally begins somewhere around or a little after 11am. You won't have time to do much else in Miami before you'll want to get to the ship.

[BigHeadEd]

Thank you for all the good tips. I suppose we could check our luggage at a hotel in the area that we visit in the morning, say South Beach, and then head over to the cruise terminal around 11. These Boards are an incredibly valuable tool. Sorry about the thumbs-down icon. I didn't have my glasses on and thought it was a question-mark.:)

[trish1c]

My family and I are on the 2/19 Jewel. "Problem" is we arrive at Miami airport at 6:30am and the ship doesn't leave that day until 5:00pm. Any suggestions on what to do in between?

 

Be the last people off the plane. It should be about 7 am when you deplane. Head to the rest rooms & freshen up. Grab a cup of overpriced coffee & stroll to the baggage claim. Let everybody else rush to get their stuff, then get yours. It'll probably be about 8 am by then. Grab a cab & head somewhere for breakfast. Have a leisurely meal then go to the port. You'll probably be able to baord by 11 - 12.

 

Bayside doesn't really have any place to eat breakfast, per se, but the water is nice to look at.

[Arwenmark]

If you want to drive to Ft. Lauderdale the King Tut exhibit is there as one of its four US stops. But get tickets in advance.