time to kill in Miami (after cruise) help

[Kajunswty]

my husband and i will be sailing on NCL sky out of Miami ~flying in/out of FLL

 

what i was hoping to accomplish when i booked the late flight home was to hit the hard rock in miami before heading home. i figured we'd be off the ship by 9 or 10. what i didn't factor in is luggage, i guess we'll end up packing light ?? not sure yet. anyway my actual question is about the bayside market place. mapquest shows it just over a mile from the port of miami. will it be open at that time of the day? its been awhile since we've been but its a mall of sorts, right? i'm not looking to shop just somewhere to hang out and people watch till its time for us to head toward the FLL airport.

 

i thought the cruise line might have had an excursion in miami but if they do i can't find it on their website. we've done that sort of thing with ccl before and really enjoyed our day. that would probably be a better idea than the marketplace ??

 

i'm hoping i can get a transportation company to pick us up from the marketplace in miami and get us to the airport in fl. looks like SAS transportation will be my best bet.

 

any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated...thanks

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

I don't know what you will do with your luggage but at the Bayside Market Place at the dock you can find tour boats that do tours of bay. They last about an hour. They are very interesting because the guide tells you who lives in some of the every elegant mansions along the shore and tell some of the history of the Miami area. We have done this cruise several times. It is quite relaxing.

 

I'm not sure what time the Hard Rock Cafe opens at Bayside. Maybe you could do the bay cruise first, then eat at the Hard Rock. Your luggage will be a challenge though.

[mmceachn]

HI

I read on the NCL website that they have a program called Bagss where they take your luggage to the airport for you and check in in for a fee or twenty dollars or so.

 

They offer the service in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

 

Bayside is a shopping/tourist area right on the water with a bunch shops and stores. and a few restaurants like Hooters and Hardrock, as well as a food court.

 

An option that we had considered was taking the everglades excursion that drops you off at the airport when the tour is over.

[cmmcruiser]

I would look into renting a car.

We did that while crusing out of Miami and went to the Bayside Market Place, took a boat tour and went Miami Beach to kill time and then back to the airport to return the car and catch our flight.

If you rent a car, the car rental shuttle will pick you up at the cruise terminal and shuttle you over to the car rental office and then the day is all yours, plus you have a place to keep your luggage stored (the trunk).

I would look into renting at MIA (Port of Miami) and returning the car at FLL.

I plugged in some numbers on alamo for same day rental and the price is about $35 for a compact car. You will end up paying more in cab fare from the port to the Market Place to FLL.

 

Good Luck.

[CEWayfarer]

I'm not sure about NCL, but Carnival has excursions available in Miami, post cruise; they don't show them on their website, you can apparently only find out what they are and sign up once you are on board.

Our flight isn't until 4:00, so I'm hoping they have something interesting (everglades would be great!).

[Searching4Sun]

Is there a car rental place at the port? My flight leaves around 4:30 from FLL, and I have already done the Everglades tour. My last time through the port I had problems finding a taxi, so I'm hoping it's close!

[Kellismom]

Is there a car rental place at the port? My flight leaves around 4:30 from FLL, and I have already done the Everglades tour. My last time through the port I had problems finding a taxi, so I'm hoping it's close!

 

I am using Avis, they have a shuttle at the port.

[cmmcruiser]

There are no car rental agencies at the port however most of the car rental agencies (Hertz, Alamo, Avis, Dollar) all have shuttles that come to the port and pick you up to take you to car rental agency - no taxi needed.

[Nik]

Can anyone confirm that Avis has a shuttle to the MIA airport? We are wanting to rent a car and the only Avis outlet that has anything available is at the airport..the downtown location is sold out of everything except Caddy's. We will be returning it later that day to FLL airport and I don't see where they charge an extra fee for drop off at different location.

 

Anyone have any experience with this - pick up MIA and drop off FLL?

[spikester]

Try Alamo, they shouldn't have drop fees either, most don't. Book it from the Mia airport, not the port location.

They have a shuttle to the airport location from the pier.

 

I just used them in Sep, and it worked out great.

 

PS the Bayside is open air, so you will be able to go in there. Most of the stores will probably open at 10.

(unless it is a sunday!)

The HRC usually opens at 11 or 1130am for food.

[BlueHerons]

my husband and i will be sailing on NCL sky out of Miami ~flying in/out of FLL

 

what i was hoping to accomplish when i booked the late flight home was to hit the hard rock in miami before heading home. i figured we'd be off the ship by 9 or 10. what i didn't factor in is luggage, i guess we'll end up packing light ?? not sure yet. anyway my actual question is about the bayside market place. mapquest shows it just over a mile from the port of miami. will it be open at that time of the day? its been awhile since we've been but its a mall of sorts, right? i'm not looking to shop just somewhere to hang out and people watch till its time for us to head toward the FLL airport.

 

i thought the cruise line might have had an excursion in miami but if they do i can't find it on their website. we've done that sort of thing with ccl before and really enjoyed our day. that would probably be a better idea than the marketplace ??

 

i'm hoping i can get a transportation company to pick us up from the marketplace in miami and get us to the airport in fl. looks like SAS transportation will be my best bet.

 

any suggestions or opinions would be appreciated...thanks

 

I would skip Hard Rock and Bayside, rent a car, visit Viscaya, then have lunch in Little Havana.

[floridacruiser63]

Is there a car rental place at the port? My flight leaves around 4:30 from FLL, and I have already done the Everglades tour. My last time through the port I had problems finding a taxi, so I'm hoping it's close!

Not in the Port of Miami, however there are car rental shuttles that can take you there. There should also be plenty of cabs around, they are all lined up waiting for passengers.

[Kajunswty]

thanks for the suggestions! we don't rent cars in unfamiliar territory..17 years of marriage has "learned" us that is a fast way to ruin a day!! mostly I like to tell him how to drive and he doesn't appreciate it (the nerve) so we will be traveling via taxi or some other form of provided transportation.

 

i like the idea of the harbor tour. we've done the miami / south beach tour with CCL a few times and it was fun but two times was enough. the airboat thing sounds good but my back isn't read dependable and i'd hate for it to act up, don't imagine that would be a very smooth ride.

 

i'm terribly behind on planning this trip, no idea of what we're doing on the excursions and still haven't booked transportation to and from the airport. hopefully i can tackle that this weekend.

 

thanks for all the advise

 

have a wonderful halloween :))

[CEWayfarer]

thanks for the suggestions! we don't rent cars in unfamiliar territory..17 years of marriage has "learned" us that is a fast way to ruin a day!!

 

Trust me, we're going on 23 years and it never gets any better! I actually get kind of car sick as a passenger, so I always drive (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

DH STILL tells the story about how, 16 YEARS AGO, I drove our rental car through Memphis, on our way (I thought) to Beale Street and ended up in a really, really bad neighborhood and right in the middle of a police shootout.

Not my finest moment as a navigator/driver......