Sailing Superbowl Sunday!

[blanquita79]

Yikes! :eek: I booked our cruise before realizing that Superbowl Sunday is February 4th in Miami! Thank God I already had my hotel booked and airline arrangements made! Anyone else sailing this day out of Miami? And if so, have you had any problems?

[Fiestacruiser]

I guess you are going to miss the Bronco's winning the superbowl, hehehe! OK hold back boys no mean comments, I was just joking, kinda!!!!! Sorry I did not answer your question. I just felt the need to be silly.

[kyrisong1]

we sailed on a feb 4th out of orlando last year, they had a superbowl party at one of the bars on board!! We aren't football fans so didn't go but at least the football people got to watch!!! :D

[gfsmith]

A couple years ago we sailed out of Galveston when the Superbowl was in Houston. It was chaotic to say the least......lol

 

Thank goodness you allready got your room!

 

Just remember to plan for the extra traffic if you are driving in.

[bguppies]

Having been to the Super Bowl twice in Atlanta, once in Tampa and the only time in Jacksonville, the cities are packed to the gills with folks.

 

I don't know how close the cruise terminals are to where the NFL festivites will be taking place.

Hopefully, they will be miles apart.

 

Every city I have been in has been total utter gridlock anywhere within 2-3 miles of the Stadium, NFL Experience, Team Hotels and Press Hotels.

(People like me, arrive in town the weekend before to enjoy the weeklong festivites in town. The actual participating teams fans usually arrive the Friday before and the city is swamped from Friday until Monday morning)

The roads are especially bad on Super Bowl Sunday, due to security concerns since 9-11.

(most roads closest to the stadium are completely shut down and fans with tickets are actually shuttled into the stadium, many hours before the 6PM kickoff, again for extensive security screenings)

 

Miami being as spread out as it is, as long as the NFL festivities are 10 miles away from the terminal and you don't have to pass through the area to get to the terminal, you should be fine.

 

I applaud you for having gotten a hotel room in Miami the night before the Super Bowl. (usually hotels open the dates up a week or so before the Super Bowl the year before and the rooms get scarfed up by travel agents and old vets like myself who have learned their lesson about waiting even a few days.)

 

Good luck to you.

Bill

[popcorngal]

Our cruise returns on Super Bowl Sunday into Ft. Lauderdale. I started looking for a hotel room for one night pre-cruise almost a year out. I was amazed at how the prices had been jacked up! And that was IF there was availability!

 

Good job on already having your hotel and air booked. I'm sure they will release some of the hotel rooms that have been blocked off, but the pickins' were pretty slim when we were looking to book.

[5668200]

We are sailing on the Valor on Feb. 4. Luckily we booked a package that includes a charter plane from MN and a shuttle from airport to the ship. We get to the airport about 11:00 so I imagine it could be quite busy. But, we don't care, we'll be on our way to the ship - I'll take a ship over a bowl any day!!!

[wrp96]

Definitely be glad you could get a hotel room. I know the Days Inn at the Miami Airport is charging something like $400 per night.

[blanquita79]

Wow....$400 for a Days Inn! That's crazy! And I checked to see if we were more than 10 miles away from the stadium, and we are. Thanks for the info! I'm very excited for the onboard activity though, after reading some of your posts! And 566820...I guess we'll be partying together! Can't wait!:D

[Marmarjudy]

We actually had a really good cabin (perfect Cat 11 aft wrap) on the Legend out of FLL sailing on Super Bowl Sunday, (we weren't aware that it was Super Bowl Sunday when we booked!) but then, of course, we were unable to get acceptable/affordable precruise hotel or airfare. All Fort Lauderdale, not just Miami, air and hotels are totally booked.

 

We changed our cruise to Jan 19th, same itinerary and even better great cabin, (deck 4--the best-- Cat 11 aft wrap) and got great airfare and hotel. For us, the additional cost and hassle of that Super Bowl weekend wasn't worth it. Plus we are sailing sooner!!!!!

 

Think about being flexible......

 

Judy

[redskin80]

I guess you are going to miss the Bronco's winning the superbowl, hehehe! OK hold back boys no mean comments, I was just joking, kinda!!!!! Sorry I did not answer your question. I just felt the need to be silly.

 

YEAH, GO BRONCOS. I am not making any predictions. What part of CO are you from?? Centennial .CO here,and broncos season ticket holder. :D

[Patdmoose]

In '99, we were booked on our first cruise on the Imagination out of Miami. We did not realize that it was Super Bowl w/e until a couple of weeks before the cruise. The night before departure was a nightmare. Our hotel we had booked was close to the cruise port. It took us over three hours to get from the airport to the hotel because of all of the street parties that were going on. Then we got to the hotel to find out that they did not hold our rooms. (We arrived after 10 PM) The manager sent us to a small hostel-like place that catered only to French speaking customers. No French spoken by any of us! We finally negotiated one room for the 4 of us. Thankfully, they did not overcharge us!

Now, I always know when and where the Super Bowl is being played before I start looking for a new cruise.

[bguppies]

Wow....$400 for a Days Inn! That's crazy! And I checked to see if we were more than 10 miles away from the stadium, and we are. Thanks for the info! I'm very excited for the onboard activity though, after reading some of your posts! And 566820...I guess we'll be partying together! Can't wait!:D

 

Glad to hear it.

I knew the Dolphins stadium was outside of town (I believe to the North) so I wasn't sure.

Have a great cruise.

 

Bill

[blanquita79]

In '99, we were booked on our first cruise on the Imagination out of Miami. We did not realize that it was Super Bowl w/e until a couple of weeks before the cruise. The night before departure was a nightmare. Our hotel we had booked was close to the cruise port. It took us over three hours to get from the airport to the hotel because of all of the street parties that were going on. Then we got to the hotel to find out that they did not hold our rooms. (We arrived after 10 PM) The manager sent us to a small hostel-like place that catered only to French speaking customers. No French spoken by any of us! We finally negotiated one room for the 4 of us. Thankfully, they did not overcharge us!

Now, I always know when and where the Super Bowl is being played before I start looking for a new cruise.

 

Pat, How about Sunday morning, going to the ship? I have a car scheduled to pick us up at the hotel at 10:00. Should I be thinking earlier, or were the streets not so bad in the morning? The ship doesn't leave til 4, but I hear most people usually arrive at the port around 11.

[Patdmoose]

We had no problems on Sunday morning getting to the dock. I think most folks were still hung over from all of the parties the night before! Be sure to call the week before and the day of your arrival and CONFIRM your hotel reservation. They will be very tempted to cancel your res and take someone elses $400 (as mentioned above)

[Au48]

Carnival will NOT be offering transfers to ships departing Miami or Fort Lauderdale during the week of the Super Bowl.

 

Make sure you have transportation arranged through another outlet AHEAD of time. Taxi cabs will be hard to come by during that weekend.

[blanquita79]

Thanks Pat! That's a relief about Sunday morning. Good thinking on confirming my reservations. I'll have to do the same with the car service.

 

AU, you are so right....that's why I scheduled to have a car transfer from the Hotel to the port. Hopefully they come through! Otherwise, I'm screwed.

 

Do you think I worry too much?! LOL

[bguppies]

Just a heads up for cruisers leaving the week of Super Bowl.

I just checked the Miami Host Committee site (since this thread got me thinking about making the trek down this February for the annual NFL festivities) and the Stadium is apparently 14 miles north of Downtown Miami, which is where the game and the NFL Experience will be.

 

BUT................

The NFL booked hotels for their headquarters, media, the teams, etc... are all right by the cruise docks. (If I am reading the cruise dock maps and the NFL map of hotels correctly.

 

Here is the link to the PDF of the map of downtown, with all the NFL hotels...

http://www.superbowlxli.org/files/SuperBXLI.pdf

 

Hope this new information helps....

Bill

[happy cruzin]

Yep - we are in the same boat too - no pun inteneded.

 

This will be our 3rd cruise that is during the Super Bowl - that time of year works really well for us. But what is different this time is that we are leaving from Ft. Lauderdale - and the Super Bowl is in Miami :eek: . Last year we were worried about being able to see the game since we would be out at sea. Being from Pittsburgh....missing the game was NOT an option :cool: ....lol. Thank goodness for good satellite connections!

 

After we booked this cruise I started looking in to airfare and hotels and it took me a while to figure out why everything was so expensive - or already booked. Duh....SUPER BOWL :o . We have since decided to go with Carnival air - it is no more expensive that what we can get on our own, we do not have to worry about a room the night before - and we will have guaranteed transportation to the port. Hopefully we contiune to have good luck - flying in the day of. :rolleyes: (fingers and toes crossed...lol)

 

Oh well, silly me - I never stopped to think about where the Super Bowl was this year. I guess I'm a little worried too - even in Ft. Lauderdale I expect things will be a little crazy. I just hope that it all works out. I figure once we get to the ship we will really be ready for that first DOD :D !

[bguppies]

Worst part is, until New Orleans is ready to host a Super Bowl week of festivities again, (who knows how long it will take for them to have the capacity to handle the crowds) the Florida cities will keep picking up extra Super Bowls.

2007-Miami

2008-Phoenix

2009-Tampa

2010-Miami

 

Bill

[coasterwiggs]

Will taxis or the Super Shuttle be available to take us from the Miami airport to the pier Sunday morning?

[MaryAnn261]

We were wanting to sail out of Miami that weekend and switched to the Pride out of Long Beach. We will avoid the whole south Florida mess that way. Come on over and sail with us.... noone else has joined the roll call yet.

[mrdood]

Does anyone know who the Colts will be playing in the Superbowl???

[blanquita79]

Hey Coaster, see the post from Au48:

 

Carnival will NOT be offering transfers to ships departing Miami or Fort Lauderdale during the week of the Super Bowl.

 

Make sure you have transportation arranged through another outlet AHEAD of time. Taxi cabs will be hard to come by during that weekend.

[coasterwiggs]

Just got off the phone with Super Shuttle. They said they are running Super bowl Sundday between the Miami airport and the Port for $15.00 per person. I'd rather take a taxi though, as I want to make a soda stop and assume Super Shuttle doesn't do that. Can I buy 12 packs of soda at the airport?