Transfers Fort Lauderdale

[lauraandgordon]

This will be our first cruise where we fly first - previously we have gone from Southampton.

 

We have booked to fly into Miami the night before our cruise departs, and we are staying at a hotel between the airport and Fort Lauderdale, where the Celebrity Reflection will be leaving.

 

Our deal does not include transfers, and I don't think the hotel offers free transfers either.

What is the best way to book transfers from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the cruise ship?

[jollyjones]

Just get in a taxi at MIA.

Talk to your hotel front desk to get you a taxi to Port Everglades.

Taxi fare all the way from MIA to the port is somewhere around $120, so I guess a split journey would be a bit more.

 

There used to be shared van options at MIA, there may still be, but after the flight from London you're going to want the quickest and easiest transfer rather than hanging around and being crowded into a van.

 

Or do Uber but I don't know anything about it, never used it, but other posters here comment on it a lot. Dunno if it would save you much over taxis.

 

[leaveitallbehind]

We always use Uber / Lyft.  Very personable and reliable.  Rates compare favorably with taxis. All payments are through your credit card and are fixed in advance based on type of vehicle service chosen.  Plenty of availability with both and very easy to arrange transportation with either.  You can also pre-reserve your pick up from the hotel to the port if desired.  The app is available for both android and iPhone devices.

Edited September 13 by leaveitallbehind

[Host Kat]

9 hours ago, lauraandgordon said:

This will be our first cruise where we fly first - previously we have gone from Southampton.

 

We have booked to fly into Miami the night before our cruise departs, and we are staying at a hotel between the airport and Fort Lauderdale, where the Celebrity Reflection will be leaving.

 

Our deal does not include transfers, and I don't think the hotel offers free transfers either.

What is the best way to book transfers from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the cruise ship?

 

Hello @lauraandgordon and welcome back to the Cruise Critic website and our message boards! I see it has been quite a while since you have posted on the boards.

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Ask s Cruise Question forum! However, it is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. Your inquiry was off topic there since it concerns Ft. Lauderdale departures. 

 

To help you out, your new thread has been moved to the North American Homeports - Florida Departures forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that live here or have sailed from here frequent this forum and provide the feedback you are looking for. Browse through the thread titles in this forum looking for threads of interest. You may find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

The Cruise Critic website and message boards are both great resources for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are so glad you are posting again! Please click here Cruise Critic Community for all our forum categories. I suggest you put the page link in your browser's Favorites for quick & easy access in the future. Please read a few threads in the forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

I sincerely hope this will be helpful and glad to have you back aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[Elaine5715]

Depending on the size of your party, amount of luggage and timing, Uber/Lyft will be much cheaper than a taxi.  I use both of them between Miami and Fort Lauderdale 

[Flatbush Flyer]

On 9/13/2024 at 4:28 AM, lauraandgordon said:

This will be our first cruise where we fly first - previously we have gone from Southampton.

 

We have booked to fly into Miami the night before our cruise departs, and we are staying at a hotel between the airport and Fort Lauderdale, where the Celebrity Reflection will be leaving.

 

Our deal does not include transfers, and I don't think the hotel offers free transfers either.

What is the best way to book transfers from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the cruise ship?

Easiest and best? Contact your hotel concierge and have them arrange it.

[DanJ]

Not sure what hotel you are staying at, but if it's a refundable booking, I would change to a hotel near Ft Lauderdale Airport. Most of those do have cruise port shuttles. If you pull up your favourite map site, look for I-95 and Stirling Rd, and there are a multitude of hotels there. This is still easy access from MIA as it's right on the highway and if you are paying ground transportation anyway, might as well go another few minutes to this area. The 2 airports are less than 50km apart, so even after a long flight, it's not that bad to get there even with traffic. And then that part is done.

[WisCruiser2]

AFAIK, most of the Ft Lauderdale hotels charge per person for their cruiseport shuttle. You may be better off using Uber/Lyft or taxi, not only cheaper but you can go when you want and, depending on how many other ships in port, don't have to stop and let passengers off at other ships.

[DanJ]

I would also add that while I don't have very recent experience there, past experience was driving into Port Everglades in a car meant stopping at security. Going in a shuttle van or the car rental bus from the airport, they just went right in without stopping in the line at security. 

[VMax1700]

 @lauraandgordon

You have got a lot of advice already, but mostly from North Americans who do not realise it can be a bit different for European/UK persons arriving in MIA.

First thing is that data can be very expensive for us in North America, so that makes Uber/Lyft a little awkward, specially during the arrival window, when you are tired and even slightly disorientated.  

We have sailed numerous times from Port Everglades (the port in Fort Lauderdale) and used various transfer/hotel combinations.

Note that in all cases we were staying a few days pre cruise in the area and had at least 2 night in a hotel before boarding the ship.

What we have done:

1. Stay in a hotel in Fort Lauderdale (it is quite a few years since we did this as we find it the least enjoyable option.  We pre book a transfer with Larry's Limos to meet us at the arrivals area of MIA and transfer us to our hotel.  This is an expensive but very pleasant way to arrive to your hotel.  We always book a 'sedan', but have always been upgraded to SUV or even a stretch limo without extra charge.  The aircondition help our acclimatisation and the bottles of water etc are very welcome.  Ask them for a quote using the webchat on their website https://larryslimo.com/ I would expect that the transfer from MIA to Fort Lauderdale to be around $200 currently.  We then just take a taxi from the hotel to the ship on the embarkation morning.  Much more comfortable than the hotel shuttle and probably better value (hotel shuttle is per person whereas taxi is per vehicle).  

2. Stay in a hotel in Miami.  We actually stay out near Sweetwater for Dolphin Mall and retail therapy 😱.  We take a taxi from airport to hotel and then have Larry's collect us the morning of the cruise and take us directly to the cruise terminal in Port Everglades.  Again I would expect this to be around the $200 mark.

 

We have never used Uber/Lyft but if you are a user, you should be able to use your hotel wifi to call the car on embarkation morning.

 

For your return the ship will probably offer transfer to MIA or a tour of Miami or the Everglades with transfer to the airport, depending on you flight departure time.

 

You say you have a hotel booked 'between Miami and Fort Lauderdale'.  What hotel have you booked?  It may make a difference to the logistics.

 

 

[lauraandgordon]

Thank you all. I have double checked our booking and we are staying in the Sonesta in Fort Lauderdale, so actually closer than I realised to the cruise port.

 

It seems Uber might be the most straightforward way of booking - but as @VMax1700mentioned, data is expensive in the US, and you can't really rely on there being good wifi at the airport (particularly outside the airport where you would need to wait for an Uber).

 

So next stop is looking at eSims!

[clarky213]

There is a train from MIA to FLL Airport that costs around $5 per person and takes around 38 Minutes. 

 

https://www.tri-rail.com/stations/miami-airport

 

You can then take a cheap taxi from FLL airport to your Hotel.

 

 

[FionaMG]

On 9/17/2024 at 9:46 AM, lauraandgordon said:

So next stop is looking at eSims!

 

E-sims are a great way to have access to data when travelling abroad and there are lots of providers out there, so it's just a question of doing your research and finding one that works for your needs.

I have personally used Airalo and Roamless in the States and both worked fine. Ultimately, I have found I prefer Roamless because it's pay as you go. Your credit never expires and is not restricted to a specific country or region, which means if you have any credit left over from one trip you can still use it on another even if it's to a different country.

[Reina del Mar]

We have flown into FLL several times for a Port Everglades departure. This year we (stupidly) allowed the travel agent to persuade us to fly into MIA .

We were also concerned about the transfer to our FLL hotel. Read lots of comments about how to get to Hotel. Several mentioned train, shuttle, taxi, Uber etc. but noticed that taxi might get expensive due to volume of traffic, time of day etc. I would suggest getting a price for a taxi from Rome to Rio or an Uber quotation.( beware dynamic pricing)

 

What we ended up doing was booking an airport transfer through booking.com

The price was cheaper than anything else we could find (except train) Was able to use my GB iPhone . Driver was punctual, told us exactly which exit we needed to be at, car clean and all was paid for before we left home. 

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, Reina del Mar said:

What we ended up doing was booking an airport transfer through booking.com

The price was cheaper than anything else we could find (except train) Was able to use my GB iPhone . Driver was punctual, told us exactly which exit we needed to be at, car clean and all was paid for before we left home. 

 

When you booked this, what did you put in as the pick-up time? The time your flight was scheduled to land? Or did you add some time on to allow for deplaning and getting through immigration?

 

[Reina del Mar]

I had asked on these boards how long after arrival time would be sensible to book the transfer and was told about one hour to get through immigration…in fact we got through in under half an hour.( no guarantee on that though)  You put the scheduled arrival time on your booking, and the driver keeps on eye on the arrival time…I think you are given a grace period after arrival and the driver had a good idea of how long it would take to clear immigration and pick up cases.

[clarky213]

On 9/28/2024 at 11:58 AM, FionaMG said:

 

When you booked this, what did you put in as the pick-up time? The time your flight was scheduled to land? Or did you add some time on to allow for deplaning and getting through immigration?

 

I Just Booked this and it asks for your flight time. The flight is tracked and it says the driver will wait 45 minutes after you land. For me this shouldn't be a problem as we are doing immigration in Dublin, but if you are clearing immigration in Miami, it may be a problem.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

On 9/23/2024 at 1:49 PM, FionaMG said:

 

E-sims are a great way to have access to data when travelling abroad and there are lots of providers out there, so it's just a question of doing your research and finding one that works for your needs.

I have personally used Airalo and Roamless in the States and both worked fine. 

We are doing a couple of trips to Europe in 2025 and I have been looking at Airalo.  I have never heard of Roamless and the terms sound good.  How is the coverage in Europe?    

[FionaMG]

8 hours ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

We are doing a couple of trips to Europe in 2025 and I have been looking at Airalo.  I have never heard of Roamless and the terms sound good.  How is the coverage in Europe?    

 

I think it is quite new. I discovered it by chance back in February and used it in Miami. I will be able to use my remaining credit this coming December when we travel to Miami again.

 

It works very well in Europe, according to my daughter, who works on cruise ships and has so far used it in Portugal, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Montenegro and Greece.