Spending a pre-cruise night in Miami is a smart hedge against airline trouble, and plenty of Port Everglades passengers do exactly that - South Beach, Brickell and Downtown Miami hotels are all 28 to 33 miles from the cruise terminals. The morning drive north takes 40 minutes from Downtown on a clear run, closer to an hour from Mid-Beach once you factor in the causeways. The mistake travelers make is treating this as a quick hop; on a Saturday morning with three megaships boarding, you want a planned departure, not a hopeful one.
We schedule hotel pickups working backward from your boarding window. For most sailings that means leaving Miami between 9:30 and 11:00 AM, which lands you at the terminal right as boarding opens and lines are shortest. Your chauffeur loads luggage at the hotel door, takes I-95 north past the airport interchange, and enters Port Everglades through the gate that serves your terminal - SE 17th Street for Northport, Eller Drive for the Midport berths used by Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess and Holland America.
The fare is fixed from $75 depending on pickup neighborhood and vehicle, with bottled water, WiFi and luggage handling included. Couples usually ride Business class; families and groups splitting a Business SUV or Sprinter Van from a Brickell hotel routinely pay less per person than the port shuttles charge, without the bus-station experience. After the cruise, the same service runs in reverse - a driver at your terminal at debarkation, then back to Miami for a late flight or a beach day.
What to expect
- Door-to-door from any Miami Beach, Brickell or Downtown hotel
- Departure time planned around your ship boarding window
- 40-60 minutes north on I-95, fixed fare from $75
- Luggage loaded at the hotel door, dropped at the terminal curb
- Return debarkation pickups available from 7:30 AM