Miami or Fort Lauderdale

[cruisnfool]

Flying into Lauderdale and sailing out of Miami. Should we get hotel in Miami or Fort Lauderdale?

[CruiserBruce]

Commonly mentioned here...Ft Lauderdale is usually cheaper. Plus, when are you arriving,  and how do you plan to get to Miami? Shuttle services dry up as the day gets latter, but taxi and Uber/Lyft are always available. 

[BoozinCroozin]

There are a few factors on that decision. The first being what time to you arrive to FLL. If it is later in the evening, just get a cheap hotel near FLL. Saves time, gets you to bed earlier, and easy to get to Port of Miami in the morning. If you arrive earlier, that decision is entirely on what you want to do. 

[tw67]

We usually fly in really late, so we stay in Ft. Lauderdale.  We then use a car service to go to the port in the morning.  We have found a number of Ft. Lauderdale hotels have airport shuttles so we usually get to our hotel pretty quickly.  There are also many that offer breakfast.  

[George C]

We would stay in Miami loving waking up and being able to see our ship from the balcony.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

If you stay at a Fort Lauderdale hotel with free airport pickup, you only have to arrange for one transfer: from your hotel to the port in the morning.  There are lots of such hotels with shopping and restaurants within walking distance. This is what we are doing (Hyatt Place, Dania Beach).

 

If you want to stay in Miami, you need to arrange transport to the hotel, and then transport from the hotel to the port in the morning. The advantage here is that if you get to Miami early enough, you can find a hotel within walking distance of more activities/points of interest. Such hotels will cost more, though.  

 

We're arriving midafternoon and planning an early bedtime.  For us, staying in Miami didn't seem worth it.

[Ashland]

For my cruise this upcoming Feb 2024 out of POM it's actually less expensive to fly into MIA vs FLL. So it's best to keep checking the rates as you never can be sure.

 

I've also been checking hotel's and am seeing a great one night deal at the Miami Airport Hotel...something I would have never expected. Then we'll just need transportation to the port from there.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Ashland

[Dancing Shoes]

We used the Briteline train to get down to FLL from West Palm Beach when our flight was cancelled due to the flooded airport.  Not crowded, booked regular seat and paid $10 to check our larger suitcase.  Train was $17 a person.  It was clean and had restrooms.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Dancing Shoes

[cruisnfool]

Thanks. Everyone for your input. The air was $140 pp to Miami. I tried. Sounds like a FLL airport is best