I want to perfect my plan....

[RCCL Fan]

How do you get to the ship when flying in a day early?    RCI transfers? Car rental? 

 

I know RCI is offering hotel partners now, with priceline, do they have any ground transportation partners besides their bus transfers?

 

We live in Dallas and when we sail out of South Florida we always fly into MIA.    

 

I have elite status with American Airlines, so no baggage fees and upgrades and all that.   They run a hub in Dallas and Miami so there are more an better flights there than to FLL.

 

We fly in the day before, stay the day, and head to the ship the next day.

 

If we're sailing out of FLL it begs the question how do you get to the ship?

 

I'd often do Larry's Limo, but they've been pushing $200 for the trip lately. 

 

I am also elite with Hertz so I can rent an small SUV for under $40 for the day. 

 

I love having a car for my day before in Miami, and then for the drive to FLL.   But dropping off the car is always a pain.

 

Last time I dropped my wife and kids off at the pier, then went back, returned the car and ordered an uber. It took an hour.   Leaving the rental car center, walking to the ground transport, ordering the uber, the first two uber drivers not being able to find me.   And my family back at the terminal waiting outside for me so they could check in.

 

They and I were all miserable.

 

There's gotta be a better way.   Should I stick with Larry's?  Can I get RCI transfers from FLL airport  even though I'm not flying in?

 

I'd love  to hear your preferred ways of getting to the ship,  especially those of you who rent cars.

[FionaMG]

So, just to be sure I'm fully understanding. You're flying into MIA, staying overnight in Miami and sailing from Port Everglades the next day?

 

And you're picking up a rental car where? MIA? If that's the case, I guess you could drop the car back at MIA and get an uber or lift straight to Port Everglades. Yes, that will cost more than driving yourself but it'll probably be cheaper than Larry's (I've used them before so no issues with them) and potentially worth it for the ease and convenience.

 

Another potential option is to ask yourself if you really need to stay in Miami and if you really need a vehicle. You could just uber straight to Fort Lauderdale on arrival, stay somewhere near the beach and spend your day just wandering and relaxing. Or better yet, go for a ride on the water taxi. It's great fun. We've done it twice and would do it again. If you do that you effectively eliminate the need for wheels in the first place.

 

[soremekun]

I acknowledge your statement about always flying to Miami.

 

Option Q (A - P have been considered) - Fly to FLL and stay in a hotel near the airport.  Take an UBER, shuttle, or cruise transfer service to cruise port.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Pick up rental at MIA.

Return rental to FLL

Use rental shuttle to port.

[Dan83]

The convenience of Uber/Lyft is sometimes worth the extra expense. To me the hassle of picking up and returning rental cars is not worth considering for a stay of less than 24 hours. Not to mention driving and parking in an unfamiliar city. Also the hotel you are staying at, is it one of the port hotels that offer a shuttle to the ship? 

[CFLRetired]

I have elite status with Hilton Hotels and I've had success several times in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area by using a free car service from the hotel.  They took us shopping, to dinner, and to the port the next day.  Not sure if this is an option for you, but wouldn't hurt to check around.

[CFLRetired]

I meant to add they also picked us up from the airport.

[cvasto]

Stay at the courtyard Marriott in brickcell. We just did this last week. They have a shuttle that is $10 a person to take you to the terminal. Our shuttle picked up just my family from the hotel and drove us straight to terminal. 

[firefly333]

I'm flying into miami and thinking just call uber. Flying in march 11, oasis march 12 oit of miami. I picked miami because we have a group I might want to meet for dinner. ..though I'll be looking for lunch when I arrive!

 

I'm also flying out of dallas. Parking at love field more than double so I picked american out of dfw. 

 

If there is a better choice than uber I'm all ears. 

[irishgal432]

Go to FLL via car rental and spend the night there.  You can then either return the car to the airport that day or the next day and shuttle back to your hotel provided you book one with a free shuttle.  Then it is a quick uber over to the port on cruise day.

 

[MJSailors]

@RCCL Fan I understand that you will fly into Miami due to your status with AA and the cruise leaves from Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale.

With the way travel is lately,my DH and I go for comfort and ease.

With that being said, I think a doable plan would be to arrange for a car and driver (Larry’s Limo ) to transport you and your family to Ft Lauderdale from the Miami airport. 

There are numerous hotels in the area, you could stay near the beach in Ft Lauderdale, but there are other hotels near the pier /airport that would be satisfactory for an overnight stay.

Consider how much time you would be spending in Ft Lauderdale once you arrive at the airport and make the drive up to the port area. It may not be a very long time. 

The next morning, you could arrange transport through the hotel if they offer shuttle service . That can be a bit of a hassle though. We prefer getting our own cab, or now, Uber/Lyft to get to the port.

Really, my advice make the trip as comfortable and easy as possible. It may cost some $$$,but worth it.

MJ🙋🏻

[HaveWeMetYet]

American has plenty of non stop flights from DFW to FLL. Why not make it easy on yourself and not spend hours hassling with ground transportation from MIA to the port and back?

[NoShoes2]

8 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

How do you get to the ship when flying in a day early?    RCI transfers? Car rental? 

 

I know RCI is offering hotel partners now, with priceline, do they have any ground transportation partners besides their bus transfers?

 

We live in Dallas and when we sail out of South Florida we always fly into MIA.    

 

I have elite status with American Airlines, so no baggage fees and upgrades and all that.   They run a hub in Dallas and Miami so there are more an better flights there than to FLL.

 

We fly in the day before, stay the day, and head to the ship the next day.

 

If we're sailing out of FLL it begs the question how do you get to the ship?

 

I'd often do Larry's Limo, but they've been pushing $200 for the trip lately. 

 

I am also elite with Hertz so I can rent an small SUV for under $40 for the day. 

 

I love having a car for my day before in Miami, and then for the drive to FLL.   But dropping off the car is always a pain.

 

Last time I dropped my wife and kids off at the pier, then went back, returned the car and ordered an uber. It took an hour.   Leaving the rental car center, walking to the ground transport, ordering the uber, the first two uber drivers not being able to find me.   And my family back at the terminal waiting outside for me so they could check in.

 

They and I were all miserable.

 

There's gotta be a better way.   Should I stick with Larry's?  Can I get RCI transfers from FLL airport  even though I'm not flying in?

 

I'd love  to hear your preferred ways of getting to the ship,  especially those of you who rent cars.

 We also rent a car. It is a pain the drop off and then take the rental car shuttle to the ship, but we enjoy the freedom of movement on our pre cruise days.

[DirtyDawg]

9 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

How do you get to the ship when flying in a day early?    RCI transfers? Car rental? 

 

I know RCI is offering hotel partners now, with priceline, do they have any ground transportation partners besides their bus transfers?

 

We live in Dallas and when we sail out of South Florida we always fly into MIA.    

 

I have elite status with American Airlines, so no baggage fees and upgrades and all that.   They run a hub in Dallas and Miami so there are more an better flights there than to FLL.

 

We fly in the day before, stay the day, and head to the ship the next day.

 

If we're sailing out of FLL it begs the question how do you get to the ship?

 

I'd often do Larry's Limo, but they've been pushing $200 for the trip lately. 

 

I am also elite with Hertz so I can rent an small SUV for under $40 for the day. 

 

I love having a car for my day before in Miami, and then for the drive to FLL.   But dropping off the car is always a pain.

 

Last time I dropped my wife and kids off at the pier, then went back, returned the car and ordered an uber. It took an hour.   Leaving the rental car center, walking to the ground transport, ordering the uber, the first two uber drivers not being able to find me.   And my family back at the terminal waiting outside for me so they could check in.

 

They and I were all miserable.

 

There's gotta be a better way.   Should I stick with Larry's?  Can I get RCI transfers from FLL airport  even though I'm not flying in?

 

I'd love  to hear your preferred ways of getting to the ship,  especially those of you who rent cars.

We used to take a balloon from Miami to FLL but ......😁

[barb in ga]

We had a cruise leaving from Miami in January. We flew in the day before and rented a car for convenience to get to our Miami beach hotel and to use for a nice lunch and dinner out. We arrived at the Miami terminal(Delta) and after claiming our luggage(2 bags each plus carryons) we had a long ride on the moving sidewalks to the car rental center. We enjoyed having the car  for a lunch and dinner, but returning the car to MIA was time consuming and a pain.

 

Looking back, I far prefer flying to FLL for the convenience of a smaller, less hectic airport. The port and a decent selection of hotels are pretty close by, with modest Uber or taxi rates. Pre covid, we even rented cars from FLL and was able to return near the cruise port. Easy peasy. We live in Atlanta so fly Delta, and always have multiple flights to choose from to fit our schedule. 

 

Good luck with your plans whichever method you choose, I just doubt I'll fly to Miami again if I can avoid it.

Barb

[ngrund]

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm flying into miami and thinking just call uber. Flying in march 11, oasis march 12 oit of miami. I picked miami because we have a group I might want to meet for dinner. ..though I'll be looking for lunch when I arrive!

 

I'm also flying out of dallas. Parking at love field more than double so I picked american out of dfw. 

 

If there is a better choice than uber I'm all ears. 

I'm on the same cruise-I'm just taking an Uber from hotel to port-

 

I left out of Miami in Jan (day of the marathon mess) heard horror stories about the hotel/port shuttles.

 

I just reserved the Uber the night before, there were 4 of us and I wanted to guarantee an SUV, cost a little more for the advanced reservation, but no problems getting to the ship-ended up costing less than 4 on the shuttle.

 

This time, it is just 2 of us, so I'll save a little bit and just order the Uber in the morning

 

[erinsmom03]

We just did the reverse. Flew into FLL and sailed out of Miami. We use Lyft and Uber. I think I paid about $90 including tip, for four adults and a lot of luggage in a Lyft XL. Bonus… I get Amex points when I use Lyft. 

[BirdTravels]

15 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

I'd love  to hear your preferred ways of getting to the ship,  especially those of you who rent cars.

We fly in a day early. 

 

We're EPs with AA, and fly into FLL. We stay at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. It has access to the water taxis to do some touristy stuff if you want. In the morning, the hotel has a shuttle (for fee) to the port. Or it may be more cost effective to just hire an Uber XL. It's a couple of miles from FLL to the hotel. And a couple of miles from the hotel to the cruise terminal. The hotel food was kinda pricy, so we did an Uber Eats last time we were there. 

 

You could see the ship from the hotel (zoomed in)

 

[neverbeenhere]

We took tri-rail once.  Only saw two serious fights and no stabbings at stops, so it was a success. (I wish this wasn’t true) 

[firefly333]

43 minutes ago, ngrund said:

I'm on the same cruise-I'm just taking an Uber from hotel to port-

 

I left out of Miami in Jan (day of the marathon mess) heard horror stories about the hotel/port shuttles.

 

I just reserved the Uber the night before, there were 4 of us and I wanted to guarantee an SUV, cost a little more for the advanced reservation, but no problems getting to the ship-ended up costing less than 4 on the shuttle.

 

This time, it is just 2 of us, so I'll save a little bit and just order the Uber in the morning

 

It's just me solo. Not sure of any savings, just crossing my fingers. Galveston it's getting hard to book uber. Have to book comfort or a more expensive car to get picked up. Too much demand. 

[cruiseboy89130]

21 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Pick up rental at MIA.

Return rental to FLL

Use rental shuttle to port.

That shuttle has been cancelled for about 5 years!

[S.A.M.J.R.]

3 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

That shuttle has been cancelled for about 5 years!

Then uber/taxi from there. You can't tell me it's hard to get an uber or taxi from an airport.

[bobmacliberty]

Rent a car at MIA for the flexibility that you want.  Instead of dropping your family at the port first, take everyone to the FLL rental car center and then Uber/Lyft XL to the port.  You'll still have the hassle of dropping the car and getting an Uber/Lyft, but your family will all be together.  Leave yourself plenty of time in the morning so that there's no rush, and you'll still be at the port before boarding starts.

[RCCL Fan]

On 3/4/2023 at 6:35 AM, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Pick up rental at MIA.

Return rental to FLL

Use rental shuttle to port.

 I wish,  they don't have one!

[RCCL Fan]

8 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Rent a car at MIA for the flexibility that you want.  Instead of dropping your family at the port first, take everyone to the FLL rental car center and then Uber/Lyft XL to the port.  You'll still have the hassle of dropping the car and getting an Uber/Lyft, but your family will all be together.  Leave yourself plenty of time in the morning so that there's no rush, and you'll still be at the port before boarding starts.

 

Yeah that's likely what we'll do.  

 

Issue is you have to lug all your bags out of the Rental Car Center,  across the highway to the terminal,  then down to Baggage Claim, and walk down to the uber pick up area,  where our last two experiences we would order an uber, the driver would get moments away and cancel.   It's super annoying.