Celebrity transfers from MIA to cruise terminal in Fort lauderdale

[jimzgoldfinch]

We have not used Celebrity transfers from MIA before. We arrive the day before and stay in an Airport hotel which will transfer us back to Airport.

 

instructions mention the location of two places where we will be met by a Celebrity rep. The locations are carousel #24 at Lower level concourse D and South bus terminal at lower level concourse J.

 

For those of you that have used this service, can you let us know the best drop off location. I would suspect that the hotel transfer driver would know the best location.

 

Any comments welcome.

 

[Gordoncruickshank]

40 minutes ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

We have not used Celebrity transfers from MIA before. We arrive the day before and stay in an Airport hotel which will transfer us back to Airport.

 

instructions mention the location of two places where we will be met by a Celebrity rep. The locations are carousel #24 at Lower level concourse D and South bus terminal at lower level concourse J.

 

For those of you that have used this service, can you let us know the best drop off location. I would suspect that the hotel transfer driver would know the best location.

 

Any comments welcome.

 

Are Celebrity not organising the hotel for you? Is so they will do the transfers to the hotel and then on to the ship.

 

The BA flights, from memory arrive at terminal F and Virgin is at terminal G. If you are in Terminal G you are quicker going to Terminal H for Customs.

[jimzgoldfinch]

11 minutes ago, Gordoncruickshank said:

Are Celebrity not organising the hotel for you? Is so they will do the transfers to the hotel and then on to the ship.

 

The BA flights, from memory arrive at terminal F and Virgin is at terminal G. If you are in Terminal G you are quicker going to Terminal H for Customs.

As mentioned we arrive the day before. Our TA arranged hotel but transfer was arranged with Celebrity 

[Gordoncruickshank]

7 minutes ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

As mentioned we arrive the day before. Our TA arranged hotel but transfer was arranged with Celebrity 

Did Celebrity organise the flights? 

The reason I ask is that we always travel independently of the cruise company and stay days before and after. We had tried in the past to get Celebrity to do the transfers but they wouldn't at that time if they had not supplied the whole package.

[barbette165]

Both the hotel shuttle bus and the Celebrity transfer bus will loop the airport in an anti-clockwise direction passing D before reaching J.

I wouldn't think, there's much difference between either, but I would tend to go for D.

1) You get on the transfer bus sooner, so better choice of seats and limited chance that the bus could be full

2) If the hotel shuttle is ferrying more than just you, it could be making multiple stops round the airport, and the transfer shuttle could manage to loop the airport faster and overtake the transfer bus.

 

[chemmo]

It is unusual for Celebrity to arrange transfers but not the hotel...I am surprised your TA has set things up for you this way. It is usually a ‘full package’ or cruise only. Never known anyone book a transfer which on the morning of their cruise has them returning to the airport...

 

Your plans are really messy in terms of having to take your luggage to a hotel then next morning back to the airport before finally heading to the port.  Also the road system around Mia can become quite congested. It would be much  more leisurely to get either a taxi or private car direct to the port. We rarely do packages but one of the things that has put us off them is sitting on a coach waiting for more guests to arrive. 

 

If you have paid for this transfer (which I am sure you will have done) get your TA to price up alternatives direct from your hotel. If you email the concierge of your hotel they will be able to give you the approximate cost of a taxi/private transfer. If you want to book a Celebrity transfer post cruise you can do this on the ship. Personally I would pay a bit more for a taxi or private pick up to avoid on the morning of my cruise queuing for a shuttle bus from my hotel with luggage to queue again at the airport to get on a coach...

 

 

[ipeeinthepool]

If understand the OP correctly, they are flying into Miami the day before the cruise and staying overnight at a hotel and are then going back to the airport to catch a Celebrity shuttle the following day.  Is this correct?  If it is correct, the first thing I would do is find a new TA. There's no reason in the world to go back to the airport.  Why subject yourself to the hassle of a shuttle going back to the airport and then waiting for a Celebrity bus to fill up before leaving.  I don't care if you've already paid for the Celebrity bus, I would just get a taxi or Uber from the hotel and go directly to the pier.   It will probably be about $25 + tip.

Edited January 8, 2020 by ipeeinthepool

[Gordoncruickshank]

11 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

If understand the OP correctly, they are flying into Miami the day before the cruise and staying overnight at a hotel and are then going back to the airport to catch a Celebrity shuttle the following day.  Is this correct?  If it is correct, the first thing I would do is find a new TA. There's no reason in the world to go back to the airport.  Why subject yourself to the hassle of a shuttle going back to the airport and then waiting for a Celebrity bus to fill up before leaving.  I don't care if you've already paid for the Celebrity bus, I would just get a taxi or Uber from the hotel and go directly to the pier.   It will probably be about $25 + tip.

The only reason I can see for this arrangement is if the OP wanted a cheaper hotel (or a better hotel) than what Celebrity provide. They usually put UK passengers into the Sheraton at the airport which I stayed in once, but only once. I do not think I would rush back. There is nothing around it other than a golf course. I tried walking to see if there was anything else in the area but unless you take a taxi, and know where you are going you are stuck in the hotel.

[gold1953]

19 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

If understand the OP correctly, they are flying into Miami the day before the cruise and staying overnight at a hotel and are then going back to the airport to catch a Celebrity shuttle the following day.  Is this correct?  If it is correct, the first thing I would do is find a new TA. There's no reason in the world to go back to the airport.  Why subject yourself to the hassle of a shuttle going back to the airport and then waiting for a Celebrity bus to fill up before leaving.  I don't care if you've already paid for the Celebrity bus, I would just get a taxi or Uber from the hotel and go directly to the pier.   It will probably be about $25 + tip.

Uber from Miami airport tp FLL is $48, Taxi is more

[Gordoncruickshank]

2 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

Uber from Miami airport tp FLL is $48, Taxi is more

I am not sure if the OP has said which port he is going to. A taxi to Port Everglades is around $80 from that area and around $35 to Port of Miami.

[ipeeinthepool]

4 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

Uber from Miami airport tp FLL is $48, Taxi is more

 

Sorry I missed that in the title, but it really doesn't change anything for me.  I would still go independently to Fort Lauderdale.  Try to arrange a shared shuttle if you are sensitive to cost.

[chemmo]

16 minutes ago, Gordoncruickshank said:

I am not sure if the OP has said which port he is going to. A taxi to Port Everglades is around $80 from that area and around $35 to Port of Miami.

 

Agree to this, similar to what we have paid...I would pay $80 to avoid carrying my luggage back and forwards...

 

OP remember this is for the taxi not per person whereas X  shuttle costs are per person.

[Gordoncruickshank]

25 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

Uber from Miami airport tp FLL is $48, Taxi is more

Well done for reading the title to the thread. I read and re read the post and didn't notice the title

[jimzgoldfinch]

Thanks for all your responses.

 

A bit of background. Our flight was originally book to fly to Fort Lauderdale with hotel transfer from airport. The hotel provided a shuttle to cruise terminal.

 

BA decided to stop flying direct to FLL. (As did Norwegian air). Our only direct flight option was to Mia. We asked our TA to rebook, get a hotel close to Airport and then a transfer to cruise port. Celebrity was not involved with flight or hotel. We werehappy that Celebrity was providing transfer. The hotel is only 8 minutes from hotel. 
 

An overall price which was ok with us, was quoted. When We received Guest booklet, We also noted that  a return transfer from cruise port to Airport was included.

[Gordoncruickshank]

47 minutes ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

Thanks for all your responses.

 

A bit of background. Our flight was originally book to fly to Fort Lauderdale with hotel transfer from airport. The hotel provided a shuttle to cruise terminal.

 

BA decided to stop flying direct to FLL. (As did Norwegian air). Our only direct flight option was to Mia. We asked our TA to rebook, get a hotel close to Airport and then a transfer to cruise port. Celebrity was not involved with flight or hotel. We werehappy that Celebrity was providing transfer. The hotel is only 8 minutes from hotel. 
 

An overall price which was ok with us, was quoted. When We received Guest booklet, We also noted that  a return transfer from cruise port to Airport was included.

BA use terminal F here is a link to where the baggage claim and customs are http://www.miami-airport.com/map-domestic-baggage-claim.asp. If the transfer is ok it will probably save you the best part of $200 in taxi fares for the 2 journeys to and from the port including tips. 

 

I would go to outside the first baggage claim area in area D as that comes first as the shuttle goes round. That isn't going to that easy as everything around the exit is flowing out of the airport. You need to get up either one or 2 levels to get to where the exit from baggage is. There are lifts around the exits in the Central area so there must be ones in area D as well. You should be able to see the Celebrity people at the level the baggage and customs is on which looks like 1. While that is level 1 you may have to go up two floors as the street level exits as quite a bit below.Once you find the Celebrity people you will probably travel back down to where you started as the transport is all underneath. It may may sense for one of you to stay at "ground" level with the bags and cases while the other tries to find a Celebrity rep rather than taking cases up and down.

 

I hope that helps.

[ipeeinthepool]

1 hour ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

Thanks for all your responses.

 

A bit of background. Our flight was originally book to fly to Fort Lauderdale with hotel transfer from airport. The hotel provided a shuttle to cruise terminal.

 

BA decided to stop flying direct to FLL. (As did Norwegian air). Our only direct flight option was to Mia. We asked our TA to rebook, get a hotel close to Airport and then a transfer to cruise port. Celebrity was not involved with flight or hotel. We werehappy that Celebrity was providing transfer. The hotel is only 8 minutes from hotel. 
 

An overall price which was ok with us, was quoted. When We received Guest booklet, We also noted that  a return transfer from cruise port to Airport was included.

 

If that's the situation, then I would ask the TA to change the pre-cruise hotel to the Fort Lauderdale area and get a cab to the port in the morning.  You can use taxi or Uber to get to the hotel and to the port.  If possible see if they will refund the cost of the shuttle at the beginning of the trip.  I would also double check the flight time on the return to make sure there is enough time to get back to Miami in time for your return flight.

 

Try not to let these little speed bumps affect your trip.  Enjoy your cruise

[Gordoncruickshank]

7 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

If that's the situation, then I would ask the TA to change the pre-cruise hotel to the Fort Lauderdale area and get a cab to the port in the morning.  You can use taxi or Uber to get to the hotel and to the port.  If possible see if they will refund the cost of the shuttle at the beginning of the trip.  I would also double check the flight time on the return to make sure there is enough time to get back to Miami in time for your return flight.

 

Try not to let these little speed bumps affect your trip.  Enjoy your cruise

The flights from Mia to the UK usually start at around 6pm if using Virgin or BA

[jimzgoldfinch]

1 hour ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

If that's the situation, then I would ask the TA to change the pre-cruise hotel to the Fort Lauderdale area and get a cab to the port in the morning.  You can use taxi or Uber to get to the hotel and to the port.  If possible see if they will refund the cost of the shuttle at the beginning of the trip.  I would also double check the flight time on the return to make sure there is enough time to get back to Miami in time for your return flight.

 

Try not to let these little speed bumps affect your trip.  Enjoy your cruise

We are happy with arrangements made. A bit late in the day anyway!! Arrive tomorrow!

The reason for not having a hotel in Fort Lauderdale was the cost of transfer to our original booked hotel. As mentioned We don’t know what the cost which was inclusive of airfare, hotel and Celeb transfer.

 

Have spoken to TA who told us that it would be best to go to concourse D.

[helen haywood]

I absolutely agree with everyone that you are giving yourself needless trouble to go to the airport from your hotel to catch a Celebrity shuttle to Port Everglades.  I would call an Uber/Lyft from your hotel and go directly to the port.  Much easier and quicker and less hassle.  But it seems you are happy with your plans so I hope it all goes well for you.

[ipeeinthepool]

2 minutes ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

We are happy with arrangements made. A bit late in the day anyway!! Arrive tomorrow!

The reason for not having a hotel in Fort Lauderdale was the cost of transfer to our original booked hotel. As mentioned We don’t know what the cost which was inclusive of airfare, hotel and Celeb transfer.

 

Have spoken to TA who told us that it would be best to go to concourse D.

That's fine enjoy your cruise.  But there's still no way I'd go back to the airport to get a transfer to the port.   I'd just get a taxi or Uber.  

[Mark_T]

4 minutes ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

We are happy with arrangements made. A bit late in the day anyway!! Arrive tomorrow!

 

If you are happy that is what matters.

 

Hope all goes well and do let us know how it goes, first time I've ever heard of Celebrity providing transfers like this.

[helen haywood]

Yes, please do come back and tell us how it went.  That was one of our worries for you....never heard of Celebrity doing this so hope it all works out.  Enjoy your cruise!

[chemmo]

Just an ‘and finally’ make sure you have the paperwork with you (and convenient)  to show the rep at the airport that you have a booked transfer just in case your name isn’t on their list.

 

Have a fantastic cruise!