Said I was done; But I guess not

[goofy4prez]

I have said on these forums that I'm done with Disney. Guess I'm not. While I still do not like what they have done to their parks and the parks experience over the last several years, and especially the last couple with all the changes, cutbacks, Genie+, LL, ILL$, slave to the smartphone, and the rebound crowds, I still loved the Disney experience on DCL we experienced on our first cruise in 2019 on the Fantasy. Finally after two plus years and three cancelled cruises, I finally decided to get the courage and book a couple of cruises. One for next March with Regent Seven Seas in March on the Splendor and the second for this December on the Disney Dream for five nights.

My wife and I(mid 50's) will be doing this one alone; just the two of us. We are booked in a concierge family ocean view with veranda. I'm not overwhelmed by the MDR food, it's ok, but not great. However, I'm looking forward to a Dinner at Remy once again, A nice dinner in Palo, the Palo brunch, Disney's top notch shows, and the relaxed fun atmosphere that is on a Disney Cruise. This should be a real nice prelude to our relaxing 10 night cruise next year with Regent. Once the dates are released for 2024 we will be booking an Alaska cruise with Disney.

I do have a few questions concerning the Miami port if anyone can give advice.


1) We would like to stay near the port and stay in the downtown area. We will be arriving two nights early (can never be too careful these days); We will splurge a bit with the hotel; any recommendations?
2) Also we will be getting a rental car. How easy is it to drop off a rental car the day of the cruise and get to the terminal?
3) What attractions would you all recommend? The beach and Miami Beach are not in our plans. We will get our beach fix at Castaway Cay.
4) If any of you rented a cabana on Castaway Cay as just a couple what were your thoughts, yea or nea?
I really do appreciate these boards over the years and appreciate any advice.

I would also like to give a big thanks of appreciation to Dreams Unlimited Travel and to Chris V. Pete has some great agents working for him and Chris was fantastic.

 

[Cameron15]

We enjoyed the Intercontinental on our June sailing. The breakfast buffet was good and we enjoyed the burgers at the bar. Both were pricey though. We also had a great view of the ship by booking a room on the bay side. This was our first visit to Miami so I have no basis for comparison, but we'd do it again.

We arrived a day early and took the free Metromover to Frost Science Museum. They have a pretty amazing aquarium, among other things. There are also various boat and bus tours that start from the waterfront a short walk from the hotel (we skipped those).


For transportation we took the train from the airport. I found finding it confusing and getting around the airport a pain with broken down escalators, elevators, and poor signage. Next time we'll just take a taxi - you can grab one right by baggage claim and it's like $27 to the port. Not sure I'd want a rental car, traffic looked stressful. We also took a taxi to the port, the hotel always had some waiting out front. When we got off the ship there was a huge line of taxis waiting so we just grabbed one to the airport.

We loved cruising on the Dream again, and can't wait to go back. The scenery in Miami was amazing.

 

[dcassetta]

1. If you have a car, why stay downtown? Do you want a view of the port?
2. Returning a car is easy a MIA has one big garage where all of the major companies are located. It's then a quick Lyft or taxi ride to the port.
3. What do you enjoy doing? The Everglades and Biscayne national parks are both great, Biscayne is best seen on a boat tour. We enjoy the Frost Museum and ZooMiami very much. I can also recommend Miami Culinary Tours, especially Little Havana

 

[Mango7100]

We recently stayed at the Mandarin Oriental on a non cruise trip, and it was fabulous. Every room has a balcony and we had a fabulous Miami skyline and water view. Lovely infinity pool with outdoor bar as well. Vizcaya Mansion and Gardens were beautiful. We also walked around Little Havana and had a great lunch and mojito

 

[1200emily]

I would also recommend the Intercontinental. We stayed club/concierge level and they had some great food options in the lounge! We loved the breakfast and they had some great appetizers during the evening time. They also had cookies and water available all day. There were alcoholic beverages during the evening. The rooms were really nice as well!

 

[RAD]

My wife and I(mid 50's) will be doing this one alone; just the two of us. We are booked in a concierge family ocean view with veranda. I'm not overwhelmed by the MDR food, it's ok, but not great. However, I'm looking forward to a Dinner at Remy once again, A nice dinner in Palo, the Palo brunch, Disney's top notch shows, and the relaxed fun atmosphere that is on a Disney Cruise. This should be a real nice prelude to our relaxing 10 night cruise next year with Regent. Once the dates are released for 2024 we will be booking an Alaska cruise with Disney.

As a former DCL lover you might want to check out Celebrity, especially their Edge class ships for that cruise. For the price you're probably paying for DCL you can get a suite in their Retreat Class which is their concierge level service, and probably have their premium drink, tips, on board credit and premium WiFi included and still save a bunch of money over DCL. The wife and I found their food equal to if not better then DCL and more variety. Yes they don't have Disney themed shows, they are more adult themed. And Dreams will also handle Celebrity bookings if you decided to stick your toes in the water.

 

[auntlynne]

Cabana on CC - if you can get one and the price doesn’t make you gasp, I’d say gI’ve it a try.

I have stayed on both beaches - once shared with a couple and the other time with the wife (of that same couple). Just some middle-age people enjoying the beach.

I liked the floats, the shade, furniture that was a low-down lounger. The biggest drawback is that bathrooms are not close-by.

 

[auntlynne]

I get the “I’m done with Disney” feeling. I have said it too many times. So I just booked the Wish. Go figure.

Miami (in April, for the Magic). We stayed in Brickell; it has the look and feel of an up and coming area. But I think it might just be revitalization, I felt very safe walking around In the morning before heading out to the cruise. Publix was nearby for anything you might have forgotten.

[We used Fort Lauderdale airport and took Brightline train to Miami Central Station. We are doing the same thing in October. Much better options on flight times (on Delta).]

I see there’s a Four Seasons there (from a quick look at a map). I cannot comment on upscale hotels; we stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites (it was a little more upscale than roadside versions).

Rental car? And staying in downtown without need for the beach? I think I’d go one option or the other. Lyft (and probably Uber) was so easy. Cruise day involved about 10 minutes from the hotel to the pier without dealing with a car drop-off.

Are you looking at local office drop-off for your rental? Otherwise, you have the run to the airport and then basically come back to your starting point (if near the port). Maybe just a one-day rental (neighborhood office) if you do something outside Miami proper.

I’d like to go to Biscayne Bay and do a tour of the National Park there, but it requires getting there in the morning (doesn’t work in disembark day).

Visit the Art Deco area. Dine. Visit the Everglades.

Hope you have some great cruises.