My husband and I are going on our first cruise, I was wanting so opinions on the best places to stay in Miami. Is it better to stay close to the port or closer to the airport. And does anyone have any hotel picks. thank you

I always stay at Holiday Inn Port of Miami. In the morning it is a quick taxi ride to the pier. The Holiday is right across from the Bayside Market which has shopping, restaurants, and entertainment. You can also take evening cruises to Millionaires Row from Bayside.

This subject about hotels comes up all the time so if you do a search or just scroll down in the Port Hotels section you will find a lot of information.
Welcome to Cruise-Chat.

Are you going to be in Miami for just one night prior to the cruise ? If that is true, then I agree with the guru, go to the port area Bayside to stay. NO REASON to stay at the airport, very busy, congested area, get to the ocean asap. My only other suggestion would be South Beach for the adventurous, who love people watching. But you must budget in the cost of transportation to South Beach and to the port, I love it there....JMHO

Most of the time I fly into Miami or Ft. Lauderdale the day before my cruise. My next cruise is April 12th and I will be in Miami at 8pm on Friday April 11th. I logged onto Priceline and entered a bid for a 4 star hotel at $75 and was sucessful. I got the Hilton Airport Hotel for a total of $97 with insurance and taxes. I called the hotel and was quoted $199 plus taxes and fees. I've used Priceline before and I've always been happy with the amount of money I saved. You never know which hotel you'll be staying at until you win the bid—you do get to pick the location before you make your bid though. Just thought some of you might want to try it.


Sonny

quote:

I got the Hilton Airport Hotel

We stayed there last summer prior to the Liberty Of The Seas cruise. A nice hotel but the bar prices are way up there! $10 for a standard issue rum and coke.

I'll wait until I'm in the Concierge lounge before I order a drink. What did you think of the Hotel? Does it really rate a four stars? For a hundred bucks I won't complain if it doesn't.

Sonny

Four stars? I don't think it rates that high. It is a solid 3 stars in my book. The room was very nice and the staff was helpful, but otherwise it is just another hotel. It is an old property that has been refurbished. The pool was pleasant, although at times annoying because of people hot-dogging on wave-runners in the causeway that surrounds the pool area. The pool bar was where I got the overpriced rum and coke. People complain about ship prices, but they never seem to gripe about hotel bars - which in this case is twice as high as a cruise ship!

LOL....and I am sure you will be King of the Concierge lounge immediately. We will be looking forward to your feedback after your relaxing crossing. Like Sonny, for a one night pre hotel stay, I usually use priceline. I usually choose the beach area, but it would be useless for Sonny arriving at 8pm, the airport much more convenient. Since you can choose your hotel star level and general area, I haven't got a bad deal yet. I also use it for quick weekend trips to Chicago for shopping, and have saved lots of money there too. I understand some people have special needs and this might not work for them.

Another thing to take into consideration is the free shuttle service the airport hotels have to the hotel. I'm going to use Top shuttle from the hotel to Port Everglades. I was quoted $65 for the two of us. The price is the same from 1 to 4 passengers. The price for 5 to 7 passengers is only $10 more…in case anyone is interested in shuttle rates.

Sonny