Downtown Miami or South Beach? Return Rental Car or Keep?

[littlestars]

We are departing on Freedom at the end of Nov and will have driven down from Orlando pre-cruise.

 

Would you recommend as first timers in Miami to stay downtown or see a bit of South Beach?

 

Would you recommend keeping the car overnight and returning it in the morning before the Cruise or returning it the night before?

 

THANKS ;)

[littlestars]

:confused: Also ~ would I be better to book now or wait a few months??!! :rolleyes:

[willysgrandma]

We are flying into Ft. Lauderdale the day before our cruise, renting a car through Enterprise at the airport and driving to the Hyatt in Miami. We are doing a 24 hour rental so we can use the car to sightsee the day before and leaving it at the Hyatt the next day before the cruise, as Enterprise has a rental office in the hotel. We specifically booked through Enterprise because they have a location at the hotel we are staying at.

 

We are going in September and booked the car last month.

[folashade]

My personal preference is to stay in South Beach esp if it is your first time in Miami. Depending on how much luggage you have I would return the car to a Miami location and cab in since finding parking in South Beach can be a pain or you can Valet. You can go to restaurants, shopping within walking distance.

[racegrrl]

Please consider parking costs - VERY expensive, and that's if you can find a place open to park it. Most garages are $12-20 overnight. If you don't care about that expense, keep the car and drive over to South Beach - it's amazing! :D