Tri-Rail or Bright Line info please

[crusin'k]

We are flying from MIA to Barcelona on Oct 7, 2022.  We will be boarding Celebrity Beyond on Oct 12 for a TA and eventually taking a second Beyond cruise that will end in Port Everglades on November 4.  We live outside of Naples Fl (Ave Maria, FL) so will be driving to the port.  We would like to leave our car near Port Everglades so it is convenient to our arrival at the end of the cruise.  We had considered leaving our car at Park and Go in Fort Lauderdale (like we always do) and taking an Uber or cab down to MIA for our flight to Barcelona.  But the parking alone would be $300+ plus the Uber/cab.  

 

A friend suggested Tri-Rail or Bright Line train service from Fort Lauderdale to MIA.  Does anyone have any experience doing that?  Are the trains safe?  Tri-rail has free parking at most of their locations.  Do you know if you can park there for a month?  Bright Line has parking for 1 month for $75 (reasonable in my opinion) but I'm not sure how you get from the Bright Line station in Miami to the airport.

 

Any help is appreciated

 

 

[thinfool]

TriRail parking is not secure.  I do not know about Brightline, but you should check.

I would also suggest that you rent a car to drive from Naples...then rent again to get home.  The trade off of parking fees vs. rental fees  would likely be small.  Several car rental companies have no drop off fees within Florida.

We have done this more than once and it seems to work for us.

[Rothko1]

I believe that TriRail does go directly to MIA airport - it's just a long trek.  Brightline does not.  I am not aware of anything from Brightline that would get you from their station in downtown Miami to the airport.

 

[Rothko1]

Oh, and to answer your questions about safety:

 

Brightline trains are very safe.  No worries there.

 

TriRail can be a bit sketchier, because it is very inexpensive.  Many school age kids take TriRail and so it can be crowded with "those darn young kids with their rock & roll music" etc...  But I really wouldn't be concerned about getting mugged onboard.

[Cienfuegos]

I would probably rent a car in Naples, and drop it in Miami Airport. And, rent another car at Fort Lauderdale and drive home. The Miami airport rental center is extremely efficient, esp if you're flying American Air since their terminal is at the other end of the airport tram.

 

I've done something similar, also for a Barcelona trip.  Rented a car in Stuart ($40, as I recall) and dropped it at Miami airport. Flew to Oslo, spent a few days, and on to Bergen. Fifteen days on a ship, flew back to Miami from Barcelona. Picked up another rental ($60 or so).  Saved several hundred dollars.

[FOPMan]

I wouldn’t leave a car at either a Brightline or TriRail station for 3 days, let alone a month. My bet is that their intention is a month long pass used for daily parking, not overnight parking. 
 

it’s quite some distance between Port Everglades and either the Brightline station or TriRail. (you’d want the Fort Lauderdale Airport TriRail station, not the Fort Lauderdale station). 

[Rothko1]

On 8/25/2022 at 1:17 PM, Rothko1 said:

I believe that TriRail does go directly to MIA airport - it's just a long trek.  Brightline does not.  I am not aware of anything from Brightline that would get you from their station in downtown Miami to the airport.

 

 

Let me amend this.  There is a free shuttle from the Brightline Station in Miami to the Airport:

 

Mobility | Brightline (gobrightline.com)

 

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I agree fully with 2 one-way rental cars. It avoids parking charges, security for your car and convenience. Check with Enterprise to see if they will price one way rentals because they have a lot of neighborhood locations to pick up and return to.