Thread: Florida Ports ... Your Opinion

From which Florida ports have you cruised?

Do you have a favorite? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each to you?

It's a Multi-Poll so please mark all that apply.

We can drive to all the ports but use 3.

Port Canaveral. Love it. Easy to get to. Most hotels have shuttles. Smaller port so very easy boarding. Nothing I dislike.

Port Everglades. My Favorite. We always stay at the same hotel, close to a huge mall with lots of eating places and shopping. Easy boarding and debark is a breeze with cabs & and vans waiting just outside.

Port of Miami. My least favorite. Easy boarding, Terrible debark, not because of the line it is the port. One cop directing traffic, People grabbing vans & cabs & I have seen elderly pushed aside that have waited a long time to enter the vehicle. Nightmare.

I have cruised from Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Port Canaveral and Tampa.
Miami is nice because there is a direct flight available.
We can get a direct flight to Orlando but it is a long transfer to Port Canaveral.
I do not recall any problems with Ft Lauderdale and Tampa but we do like direct flights.

I sailed from Fort Lauderdale but called at Port Canaveral so ticked that as well.

Of the two I think Port Canaveral is the nicer.

Fort Lauderdal is our favourite for embarking and disembarking as we have never had any hassle, boarding no problems and getting of the ship, also no problem.

Miami always seems chaotic, long lines to check in, and collecting luggage after your cruise, both times it has been terrible.

Port Canaveral have only called in for a day visit, on a Bahamas cruise from New York.

From the ship the view at Miami must be one of the World’s best as its absolutely beautiful. Fort Lauderdale, seeing ships leave before you is a very impressive sight.

I agree Norman. Miami is just beautiful when the ship is docked & as you sail out of the port.

DH & I have cruised out of all listed. Here's our opinion on each:

Ft. Lauderdale - Our favorite! Maybe, it's because it's the devil we know best and rather know what to expect.

Miami - Least favoite! Agree with what Sue and Norman have said.

Port Canaveral - Nice port! We especially like spending the night before in Cocoa Beach. Often when we're driving to Ft.Lauderdale, we spend the night there and drive on down the next morning.

Tampa - Very disorganized for any driving - no one ever knows where we are suppose to drop off our luggage or park ... and it's not always the same. Just outside of the boarding area is nice ... restaurants, an outdoor bar, shops, etc.

Jacksonville - A very convenient drive for us but we have to park our car in an outdoor field. The lines to go through the x-ray machines before checking in are long and confussing ... with no seats for the handicapped. It's a real mess disembarking. One interesting thing most pax enjoy watching --- when the ship leaves Port of JAX and clears the bridge by inches, everyone always cheers!

Getting a cab leaving Miami has been a hassle but I think it was more a fact that we were the last to leave the ship and the lines were already really long. Getting into Ft. Lauderdale is always a mess. Too many people trying to drive in on one really crowded street into the port is a bit of a trial. What we do for security. I like both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale overall. The ship passage down the channel leaving the port of Miami is always interesting. You are going right by the highway and cars honk at you as you depart.

I've sailed from Lauderdale and Canaveral. The latter, being considerably smaller, certainly offers more 'friendly' facilities! However, destination options are more restricted!

Lauderdale is easily accessible from The Villages via Cruise Connection. I can leave my car at a near-by MacDonald's, which my brother will retrieve later in the morning! He then brings it back to the same location for me to pick up when returning home!

Canaveral is certainly popular from The Villages, but most cruisers must accept the benefits of sailing from Lauderdale.

We can sail from Miami, as well, but it is nowhere as convenient

Without any services whatsoever, sailing from Tampa is, I think, generally ignored!

All these caveats mentioned, I must say that the ship's itinerary dictates my bookigs almost entirely!

SWR

We have sailed from all of the Florida ports.

The easiest for us to get to is Port Canaveral. However, traffic can get backed up if there is more than one ship in port.

Jacksonville is OK, but since Celebrity stopped sailing from Jax we haven't booked anything ported there. Only the smaller ships can use Jacksonville because of the bridge that LuLu mentioned. We used to sail the old Zenith from Jax.

Tampa, as has been mentioned, is not really user friendly. The nearby Aquarium is nice to visit while you are waiting to board or to kill some time before heading home after your cruise.

Miami...only if we have to!

Fort Lauderdale, to us, is the most user friendly and when we sail out of Florida we prefer this one.