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Late Flight Home, What to Do In Miami All Day


samiaam25

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We have a late (9:50pm) flight home from Miami on Sunday, 12/29 and are wondering what in the world to do all day between disembarking and boarding our flight home. The idea of having to deal with our luggage and boredom for 12 hours with a 14 year old is a little daunting. We ended up with this late flight due to the high prices around holiday travel and deciding on this particular cruise last minute (we will plan better next time!)... That said, we have never been to the Miami area and are wondering if anyone has any suggestions with how to spend the day and/or what to do about our luggage? Thanks!

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Last March, we rented a car and went exploring for a few hours. We ended up on the beach and had lunch in a great Cuban restaurant. We even took leftovers for dinner on the plane!

We're going to do it again this coming March.

I reserved a car online for pickup at the airport. We took an Uber from the port to the rental car center. Then dropped the car back there and took the shuttle/tram to the airport. It worked very well!

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We like to rent a car and go ride up the A1A through Hollywood and check out all the huge beautiful buildings and houses along the way.  Lots of things like exotic cars running around...alot of money in that area for sure!   We came across a small aquarium/sea turtle sanctuary on one of the side roads by the beach.   There's Haulover inlet where you can hang out and watch all the big yachts and speedboats come and go which is also right by a big beach and some parks.   Theres a dog beach there as and its fun to watch all the dogs playing in the ocean if you're into that.  After a week we miss our dogs back home so thats fun for us.    We have a retired greyhound at home and met a couple on the beach there that had two running around on the beach so we made some friends and chatted for awhile.  We have also noticed along the beach you'll sometimes find roped off areas where sea turtles have come up and laid their eggs.  Theres some nice little restaurants and bars along the endless beaches as well to check out.   

Having the rental car for the day also provides a place to store your luggage so you don't have to drag it around wherever you go for the day.  Usually a rental car for the day will be about $50 or so and also includes a free ride from the port to the airport to pick it up when you get off the ship.  We usually fly into Ft Lauderdale for Miami cruises because its cheaper and this is also a good reason for the rental car.    

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We rent a car for the day for the luggage and for us to explore.  There is a Budget rental car downtown Miami that picks up at the pier and we return the car to the airport.  If the kids are with us we do a hotel room for the day so the kids can chill out and watch tv or swim.  If just hubby and I we will shop or find a casino.  There are a couple of websites that offer hotel day rooms.  Some are better than others as far as cost and what you get meaning a room verses just general hotel access and use of pool. 

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I used to live in Miami. If you are foodies, definitely try some Cuban food. If you can find an authentic medianoche sandwich, I highly recommend. (It uses a different bread than a classic "Cuban" sandwich but otherwise very similar). The Biltmore in Coral Gables is gorgeous. I used to take art lessons there and my mom and I would enjoy a nice lunch. And, the Fontainebleau was a lovely place to go see and have lunch. They are fancy hotels but I recall their food being good and it was so pretty and grand that a young girl might find it beautiful to see if she is into art or fashion kind of stuff. The beaches are nice but as an aside, last I was there, South Beach did allow for topless sun bathing. This does not bother me in the least but I do recall one woman tourist who showed up being highly offended by this and rather vocal about it. Just a heads up you may see that. I have never had a problem with my own daughter seeing that in context as on a beach and "this is how some people do things in different parts of the world" but I know other parents would prefer their young kids to not be "exposed" to that. They weren't clothing optional or nude but many of the ladies did go topless just as an FYI.

 

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