Uber from hotel close to cruiseport - Need clarification

[tbmrt]

If we stay at a hotel near the Miami cruiseport and want to Uber back and forth to the port, how does that work? 

 

Have you done this? About how much does an Uber cost from a hotel near Miami cruiseport to port and return trip?

 

I read something about surge pricing and do not understand it.  If I take an Uber from the hotel to the cruiseport and get a certain rate (at a non-popular date/time), would it be that much more to take an Uber back to hotel if I need it when all the cruisepassengers disembark?  (Is that a surge time?)  I wanted to avoid time involved in using hotel shuttle service.

 

If I get a quote on the Uber app, how much higher could it go if the return trip to the airport is at a very busy time? 

 

 

 

[JohninDC]

Uber from a hotel to POM should cost about $10 -the exact fare will be quoted to you when you book the ride, and you will see options for various types of vehicles (UberX, UberXL, Uber Comfort, etc.) at different prices. 

 

Surge pricing indicates that there are a large number of requests for rides in an area with not enough drivers - passengers will need to agree to pay more and the higher fares should attract more drivers, eventually bringing prices back to normal.  Surge pricing could push the fare up by a factor of 2, 3 or even 4 times the normal fare - the amount you will be charged will be displayed when you book your ride - if the fare is too high just take a taxi (meter fare from POM to MIA will be about $30+).

 

I would also set up a Lyft account - I always pull up both to see which has the cheaper fare and shortest wait for a car.

 

Have a great cruise!

[English Tim]

We are from the UK, and have never used either of these services and have no experience of them. Is it easy to set up an account and indeed is it worth doing so or should we just take a cab?

 

[lx200gps]

52 minutes ago, English Tim said:

We are from the UK, and have never used either of these services and have no experience of them. Is it easy to set up an account and indeed is it worth doing so or should we just take a cab?

 

We are absolute Uber newbies and only used it for the first time two weeks ago. We used it twice here in Canada to and from the airport, and we live quite a distance away. Much cheaper than a taxi would have been and we saved a fortune in parking fees. We also used it in Fort Lauderdale to travel from our hotel, the Renaissance, to Terminal 2 at Port Everglades, a ridiculously short distance. Initial setup of the Uber account is very simple and the app has some great features. I loved being able to watch the moving map display showing exactly where our car was as it approached.

 

That being said, there is one down side to using Uber, for us anyway, which caused us to resort to using a taxi instead. We found that trying to hail an Uber at FLL was simply too challenging for us to bother with, so we simply opted to get in line for one of the hundreds of taxis which frequent the airport. Trying to locate a specific vehicle in the pandemonium of an airport arrivals area wasn't worth it. The problem was even worse at Port Everglades when getting off the ship, the rideshare area was absolutely jammed with people waiting for their ride, while the taxi lineup was much easier to navigate.

[English Tim]

It is a way to go before we will need these services, but it’s useful to know how it works. We will be leaving a hotel near to Miami airport and going to the cruise port, so that should be an easier transaction. It would seem that you set up an Uber account in your own country and use that anywhere in the world?

[Dancing Shoes]

Uber or Lyft can be used in any location that provides the service.  So go ahead and download the app and put in your credit card.  

[lx200gps]

12 hours ago, English Tim said:

It is a way to go before we will need these services, but it’s useful to know how it works. We will be leaving a hotel near to Miami airport and going to the cruise port, so that should be an easier transaction. It would seem that you set up an Uber account in your own country and use that anywhere in the world?

That's exactly what I did. I set up the Uber account here in Canada, using my Canadian credit card, and the experience was seamlessly identical whether I used the app here or in the US. 

[carlmm]

Two questions here:

1) Will Lyft work as well as Uber in Miami?

2) I cannot use mobile data on my foreign mobile phone in the US - how to use Lyft? Is there sufficient and easily accessible free wifi at the airport to transact? Outside? Do I need online access during or after the transfer?

[ericosmith]

Both Lyft and Uber work universally.  You'll need a connection to know when your driver arrives and to identify them.  After that, the only things that I recall being online for were to follow the map and to keep track of the ETA.  Beyond that the only post pickup activities on the app are to rate and tip the driver (yes, tipping is a thing here).  Neither of those is mandatory and I suppose cash would always work for the tip if anyone carries cash anymore.