Expert: Linda - 3/3/2010

Question
Hi, we are taking the Glory out of Miami on 4/4 but are arriving on 4/3 are there any hotels near the pier or any that have shuttle service, that are reasonably priced?  I have also heard it is cheaper to book on land excursions after you get off then with the cruise line.  Is this true and is it safe?  Does the Pop pass cover bottle water and iced teas or just pop?
Thanks, Lisa

Answer
Hi happy cruiser!

There are lots of hotels near the port.  In Miami, there is the city of miami, then some water, then a bridge, then the port....not real good at explaining, but want you to know there is some distance between hotels and the pier.  That being said there are a number of hotels close to the port.  All offer shuttle service, though none are free.  Since it's close, the most you should pay is $10 per person including tip.  We have stayed at a number of the hotels and have no issues with any...except the Holiday Inn, not quite what we want.  April is still our "season" here so prices are a bit higher than the summer.  I do have some suggestions.  Check out the prices on Expedia.com, hotels.com and a new one rooms.com.  IF and only IF you are sure you're not going to cancel or change anything about your flights etc, my suggestion is priceline.com.  Understand you can't cancel, change, delete anything about your room, but you will most certainly save money.  Log into priceline.com, navigate to Miami, then DOWNTOWN Miami.  Enter 4 star, then enter the amount you wish to pay.  If that amt is accepted, your credit card will be charged and it can't be changed.  I've used priceline probably 60 times and never a problem.  If they don't accept your 4 star, you can change to 3 star and rebid, what you can't do is just change the price....only can do that one time every 72 hrs.  Next suggestion is to go to cruisecritic.com, join the community (free), then click on BOARDS, the CARNIVAL, then MEET AND MINGLE, look for your cruise date and then you'll be at the site where you can talk with the people on YOUR cruise date.  You can find out where they are staying, what they're paying as well as getting to know some people you'll be cruising with.  It's a wonderful site.
OK, now for the soda cards, good for soda only.  Iced tea is free on deck 12 so you can fill up your soda container from there for your iced tea.  Bottled water is still charged for.  You may bring water on board if you wish, no problem.

As for getting from hotel to port, there are plenty of vans to take you.  None are free as I stated, but again, not far from the pier so not expensive.

please ask away if you have more questions.  Happy sailng

Linda