Getting To The Cruise Terminal From Miami Airport

Above, my first look at the Norwegian Sky at the terminal in Miami. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When Mitch Geriminsky and I went to Miami, Florida to take a cruise to the Bahamas earlier this month, we arrived at Miami Airport around 5:30 AM.

After getting our luggage, we went to the meeting place to catch our shuttle to the Norwegian Cruise Line terminal (about 10 miles away) that we paid $25.00 each in advance. There was nobody there when we got to the location, so we called and left a message. We waited a bit and I called the number and left a message. We again waited. 

We waited a while for someone to show up or get a return call, but nobody came or called.

I decided to get a ride through Uber to the Norwegian Cruise Line terminal. Within a short period of time (about 20 minutes), the Uber driver arrived and took us to the terminal.

The cost for the ride (not including tip) was $23.00. We never did hear back from the shuttle service. (Note: this was with a third-party company and not affiliated with Norwegian Cruise Line.)

Later, during the cruise, I met a couple from Pennsylvania in the smoking area and we talked about getting to the terminal from the airport and, for them, the hotel. They said they took a taxi from the hotel to the terminal which cost around $90.00 (roughly $45.00 each instead of carload). They also were booked at a hotel in Miami that wasn't what they expected. They wanted a hotel reasonably close to the terminal and were assured that the hotel they were booked at was near the cruise terminal. It wasn't.

If one is planning to take a cruise that departs from Miami, a little word of cost-saving caution. Avoid taxi cabs and so-called pre-paid shuttle services. Both are rip-offs. 

It has been posted here and there that the flat rate for Uber and Lyft from the airport to the terminal is a flat rate of $27.00. We got the ride for $23.00. 

When our ship got back to Miami after the cruise, we again got a ride with Uber and the price was the same. Our flight was around 10:00 AM and we arrived in Miami around 7:00 AM.

My general impression of Miami (besides expensive taxi service) was that it looked rundown in comparison to Fort Lauderdale, from which we took a cruise to Key West and Havana five years ago.