Hello everyone.

This is my first post and it's about my first cruise ever!

We will be cruising from Miami, FL and I was wondering if anyone knows the exact location of the departure in Florida? Also, is there any good hotel close to the location of departure in Miami?

Thanks in advance.

The Ships leaves from the Port of Miami, which is near downtown. OMG Hotels????? Take your choice, after all it's Miami! You can keep reading the posts here, or go visit the posts at cruisecritic dot com. Their is a multitude of information on the cruise critic boards. Also you can go on line and find Hotels in Miami...to see the port and ships try google earth, you can zoom in and see everything, It's pretty cool!!

We cruised from Miami twice and the terminal is fairly new too.  A good place to check for hotels is www.hotels.com as it will give reviews of hotels too.  Another thing to always consider is the location of the hotel you choose.  We had a reservation at one near the airpirt but at the last minute I had a funny feeling that it was not a great hotel.  I was right too.  That was the Embasssy Suites.  I am really glad I found this website and found the Doubletree Grand Hotel Biscayne Bay as it was a great hotel and near BaysideMaret too.  We had a  great view of the Bay but the accomodations were excellent for our needs.  I found it on that website too.  Also there are many fellow cruisers that have recommended lots of hotels that they have stayed at in the Maimi Forum. 

Keep asking any questions you may have too as many on here have cruised several times and everyone is great helping out with answers.  

 So are you flying in or driving?  If driving, you can get MUCH better rates if you stay out of town some.  We drive each time we cruise and we got an oceanfront room at the Comfort Inn in Boca Raton last November for around $50 a night!!  Can't beat that!  

As stated, there are quiet a few hotels to choose from.

The end of August, we stayed at Miami Hilton. The downtown location - it was great. VERY close to the cruise terminal. Not far to Bay side market place. Wonderful floor to ceiling windows. Book the right room and you can wake up to see your ship outside your window. And the rates are very affordable. I have many clients who request this hotel. Let me know if you need more info or would like me to email you a few pics.

Becki I'm going on Oasis in 2010, but crusing on Liberty of the Seas in July 09.