The pre-cruise hotel night is the smartest habit in cruising: fly in a day early, sleep off the flight on Collins Avenue, and board your ship rested instead of racing a flight delay. The last piece is the morning transfer, and it is shorter than most guests expect. From South Beach, PortMiami is barely 5 miles via the MacArthur Causeway, a 15 to 20 minute ride that rolls past the cruise ships themselves as you cross Government Cut. From Mid-Beach and North Beach hotels like the Fontainebleau or Carillon, add ten minutes down Collins or Indian Creek.
Heading the other way, Port Everglades is about 28 to 30 miles north of South Beach, 40 to 45 minutes via I-95 or the slower, prettier A1A. Plenty of travelers split the difference deliberately: a Fort Lauderdale sailing with a Miami Beach hotel night, or vice versa. Either direction, the fare is fixed when you book, from $75 for the PortMiami run and from $119 to Port Everglades.
Embarkation mornings at beach hotels have a rhythm: checkout crowds peak between 10:00 and 11:00 AM, valet lines back up, and on-demand rides surge. A scheduled pickup sidesteps all of it. Your driver arrives at the hotel entrance at the agreed time, loads your bags, and you are at the porter curb before the midday rush. For groups celebrating on board, one Sprinter from the hotel beats coordinating four separate cars.
We cover every hotel from South Pointe to Bal Harbour and Sunny Isles. At booking, give us the hotel name, your ship, and your preferred arrival time at the port; we will suggest the pickup time that makes it easy.
What to expect
- Scheduled pickup at your hotel entrance, driver meets the bell stand
- PortMiami via MacArthur Causeway in 15-20 minutes from South Beach
- Port Everglades runs from any Beach hotel, about 40-45 minutes
- One fixed fare per vehicle, not per passenger