Spring Break 2016 Cruise – Part 2 – Travel

Fortunately, our travel down to Florida for the cruise was fairly uneventful.  We had discussed a number of options to get to Reagan National airport.  It isn’t very far from our house, and most of the time, it is accessible by the DC Metro system.  In the end, we decided to just drive to the airport and park there in daily parking.  This cost $20 a day, but we knew we were going to be returning late at night, and this plan would allow us to just get into the car and come home once we returned.  It also saved us any trouble getting there as well.

We arrived at the airport early and, thanks to TSA Precheck, zipped right through the security line.  We headed to the Admirals Club to hang out while waiting for the boarding time for our flight.  We have access to the American Airline Admirals Club lounges because of the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card.  We definitely use these lounges as much as possible since we pay a hefty fee for the card each year.  The clubs give us a place to grab a snack or drink as well as keep our devices charged up while waiting for our flights.

The flight to Miami is relatively short and we landed without issue.  We took a short taxi ride to the InterContinental at Doral and checked in.  The InterContinental at Doral is a nice hotel.  It is not as nice as the InterContinental Miami, but it was great for the price we paid (free with our IHG credit card).  We didn’t receive an upgrade, but since there isn’t a water view, we didn’t really mind.  After a peaceful night of sleep, we were up early the next morning.  We weren’t quite sure what was available for breakfast within walking distance, so we ordered room service.  We got a taxi to take us to the port around 9:00 am so we could arrive early.

The taxi dropped us off in front of the Disney Cruise Line terminal at the Port of Miami.  There are luggage porters out front that will take your luggage and make sure it gets on the ship.  You do have to make sure you have the Disney Cruise Line luggage tags on your bags.  Your name and room number are on these tags.  Once you hand the bags to the luggage porter, the next time you will see them will be on the ship.  We handed our bags over, along with a tip of $2 per bag, and headed to the Terminal.

Overall, traveling down to Miami was uneventful, just as we like it.  We’ve now done this flight four times, mixing up the hotels a few different times.  Getting from any of the hotels to the Port of Miami is very easy via taxi.  Next post will be about getting on board!

Planning | Travel | Boarding | Sea Day | Cozumel | Sea Day | Castaway Cay | Disembarkation

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