Fort Lauderdale to Port Miami

[CarouselofColor]

We just left our ship this morning (boooo) and took an Uber from the port to FLL, it was super smooth and only cost $40 total, so ended up being more economical for the two of us than basically any other option I researched

 

[Thumper99]

We arrive in FLL the day before our cruise, so we've decided to rent a car (through Costco), and drive from FLL to MIA. It'll be nice to have the car for the day to shop, etc., then the next day we'll return the car and take the shuttle from the rental agency to the port.

How was the drive to from FLL and which rental agency in MIA has a shuttle to the port?? I am tempted to do this but my Hubby hates driving in strange places and worrying about tolls and such! LOL

 

[Tama-chan]

We just left our ship this morning (boooo) and took an Uber from the port to FLL, it was super smooth and only cost $40 total, so ended up being more economical for the two of us than basically any other option I researched

That’s so reasonable!! I am wondering how the disembarking process was? What time were you able to be off the ship?

 

[kerreyn]

How was the drive to from FLL and which rental agency in MIA has a shuttle to the port?? I am tempted to do this but my Hubby hates driving in strange places and worrying about tolls and such! LOL

Our cruise isn't until Feb. 23. We booked the car with Budget, through the Costco website, and it looks like the return office is in downtown Miami (2nd Street), the shuttle to the cruise port is included in the rental cost. I believe their shuttle runs to the cruise port from 8am to 130pm every day.

 

[CarouselofColor]

That’s so reasonable!! I am wondering how the disembarking process was? What time were you able to be off the ship?

Yeah, it was great, makes me surprised that anyone takes the shuttles if they have few enough people to fit in a rideshare!

So, we had later dining, which means we had later breakfast, so I’m really not sure how early people could get off. First dining had breakfast at I believe 6:45am, so probably a bit after that if I had to guess? Our breakfast was at 8 and there were people leaving the ship at that time- they give you color coded bag tags, and release you to leave based on the color so it’s not a mad rush. Our flight home isn’t until 6:45 pm (still sitting at FLL, going on 8 hours now lol) so we found a comfy seat in the atrium and sat until the announcements made it clear they wanted everyone OFF haha. We debarked around 9:15 am, and the actual debark process was super easy, no lines for customs or anything that late- I’m sure earlier it was probably a bit crazier haha

 

[Tama-chan]

Yeah, it was great, makes me surprised that anyone takes the shuttles if they have few enough people to fit in a rideshare!

So, we had later dining, which means we had later breakfast, so I’m really not sure how early people could get off. First dining had breakfast at I believe 6:45am, so probably a bit after that if I had to guess? Our breakfast was at 8 and there were people leaving the ship at that time- they give you color coded bag tags, and release you to leave based on the color so it’s not a mad rush. Our flight home isn’t until 6:45 pm (still sitting at FLL, going on 8 hours now lol) so we found a comfy seat in the atrium and sat until the announcements made it clear they wanted everyone OFF haha. We debarked around 9:15 am, and the actual debark process was super easy, no lines for customs or anything that late- I’m sure earlier it was probably a bit crazier haha

Thank you sooooooo much for the detailed report. This is super helpful!
Hope your flight home was smooth.
It sounds like you maximized the time on board

 

[Chewy0307]

We always use Jiffy Jeff Transportation. Great customer service e and friendly drivers. Very reliable and dependable service.

They are highly recommended on all the website.

Our go to transportation service in the South Florida area.

 

[sarahrdh]

We always use Jiffy Jeff Transportation. Great customer service e and friendly drivers. Very reliable and dependable service.

They are highly recommended on all the website.

Our go to transportation service in the South Florida area.

How much was jiffy Jeff’s? We are doing a RC cruise and will have 11 people- flying into FLL and staying the night so we need a hotel
Pick up and then bring back to a hotel after. ft Lauderdale hotels are less expensive but I also don’t want to just even out and spend more money on transportation. This is our first cruise experience so we literally have zero idea

 

[Chewy0307]

How much was jiffy Jeff’s? We are doing a RC cruise and will have 11 people- flying into FLL and staying the night so we need a hotel
Pick up and then bring back to a hotel after. ft Lauderdale hotels are less expensive but I also don’t want to just even out and spend more money on transportation. This is our first cruise experience so we literally have zero idea

Suggest going to the website and get a quote.

 

[sarahrdh]

Suggest going to the website and get a quote.

I saw I could do that, but I don’t have the hotel booked yet bc I’m trying to see if it will be better to stay in FLL or MI with the transportation cost considered. The quote form wants a hotel entered.

 

[NEGeekymama]

Depending on the size of your group, a one-way rental car from FLL to Miami worked for us on a couple of occasions...around $50 to $70 depending on the size of the vehicle...AVIS has a downtown location at 99 2nd Street and offers a free shuttle to/from the cruise port...

Depending on the time of year, there may be next to no rental companies that offer a one-way. We ran into this when we cruised in March around spring break time, and only one rental company would allow a one-way (and they closed before we would land).

 

[CisforCookie991]

A word of caution about the Avis downtown location that picks up at the port. We were going to use them after disembarking on our cruise coming up in April. Then I read the Google reviews. The reviews consistently have the same complaints - basically corporate overbooks and people are left waiting hours for cars, the shuttle is frequently full and will drive past you so you're left waiting for a while just to get to the office, and calling the location to get a shuttle is nearly impossible (which I have found is true about basically all Avis locations - you call the local number listed on the website and you get bounced to the call center. The call center then tells you that the location is just "busy" and you should keep trying. Spoiler: you can't ever get a person at the location). So we decided to Uber to the airport location instead.

 

[NEGeekymama]

A word of caution about the Avis downtown location that picks up at the port. We were going to use them after disembarking on our cruise coming up in April. Then I read the Google reviews. The reviews consistently have the same complaints - basically corporate overbooks and people are left waiting hours for cars, the shuttle is frequently full and will drive past you so you're left waiting for a while just to get to the office, and calling the location to get a shuttle is nearly impossible (which I have found is true about basically all Avis locations - you call the local number listed on the website and you get bounced to the call center. The call center then tells you that the location is just "busy" and you should keep trying. Spoiler: you can't ever get a person at the location). So we decided to Uber to the airport location instead.

I don't think it was Avis, but on one of our cruises the rental company shuttle literally drove by us multiple times and left us stranded at the port for over an hour. We eventually wound up on a different rental company's shuttle that took us back.

We don't utilize the rental shuttles anymore for that very reason.

 

[AndreaG17]

A word of caution about the Avis downtown location that picks up at the port. We were going to use them after disembarking on our cruise coming up in April. Then I read the Google reviews. The reviews consistently have the same complaints - basically corporate overbooks and people are left waiting hours for cars, the shuttle is frequently full and will drive past you so you're left waiting for a while just to get to the office, and calling the location to get a shuttle is nearly impossible (which I have found is true about basically all Avis locations - you call the local number listed on the website and you get bounced to the call center. The call center then tells you that the location is just "busy" and you should keep trying. Spoiler: you can't ever get a person at the location). So we decided to Uber to the airport location instead.

We witnessed this last year in February. We took an Uber downtown so we didn't have to fight for spots on the shuttle. When we got there there were multiple families waiting for vehicles to come in and it was supposedly going to be hours. We had booked a mid size SUV due to luggage and grown kids with us and they didn't have any. They did have one sedan left that they offered us and it was a major Tetris job trying to get everything to fit. But the families waiting couldn't squeeze into a sedan, they all had multiple children, luggage, strollers and car seats etc. They were NOT HAPPY and the poor guys working the counter (young 20s maybe) were so patient trying to deal with the situation, but they said cooperate does this to them every day that a cruise ship comes in.