Florida Vacation Options - Need Advice/Suggestions
Feb 25, 2015, 3:06 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3
Florida Vacation Options - Need Advice/Suggestions
My husband and I would like to plan a trip to Florida in April of this year using our Southwest miles and Marriot hotel points/credits, but are undecided on what we should do and where we should go. We have a few options and would like to get some feedback/opinions.
Background info on us:
We are 29/30 years old and are looking for a relaxing trip. We are fairly active and are open to doing some activities and checking out some historic places (knowing those days would be spent walking around and exploring) but are also hoping to have a few days where we hang out by a beach or pool, enjoy some drinks and just let some of the work stress go! Basically, a mix of experiencing the location/culture (on a budget) as well as enjoying some down time.
We do drink, but are not "clubbers" and probably wouldn't go out to popular bars at night unless we were with friends; instead, I imagine that at night on this vacation we would stroll around and see what's going on around town at night, get a nice dinner, and maybe go to a more mellow bar where we can relax and maybe have a drink or two. Sure...maybe we'll go to a top-rated bar once, but since it would be just the two of us, we probably wouldn't stay there long or order multiple rounds.
Here are what we have discussed as travel options:
Option 1. Fly down to Ft. Lauderdale and stay at a hotel in Miami using points (we also have a free 2-night stay credit at select Marriots, and there are options for us in this area). We'd stay there about 3 nights and also rent a car, giving us some time to drive to the Keys (maybe a full-day trip to Key West). On the 4th day, we'd hop on a 3-night cruise down to the Bahamas - one stop at an island and another day at sea. We'd fly home after the cruise. If we choose this option, we'd only be paying for the cost of the cruise and the cost of the car + food/fun. Our flights and hotel stay would be free.
Is a cruise worth it for only 2 full days? Would it be better if we skipped the cruise and spent the last three days in Key West and pay for a hotel there?
Option 2. Fly down to Ft. Lauderdale and stay at a hotel in Miami using points and the credit. We'd stay in this area for a few days and possibly drive to the northern keys. Then on the 4th day we would drive to Naples and stay there for a few days (flying home from Ft. Myers). Unfortunately, we cannot use our 2-day credit in Naples and may not have enough remaining points to cover the rest of our trip, so we'd have to pay for a hotel in this area. We would only need to pay for the car and Naples hotel + food/fun.
Is Naples worth the additional drive? Or should we opt to drive/stay in Key West instead? If we drive to Key West and stay there, we'd have to drive back to the Ft. Lauderdale airport...which may be a long drive before flying home.
We also can't use the credit in Key West, so we'd have to pay for a hotel there as well...
Option 3. Fly down to Ft. Lauderdale and stay at a hotel in Miami using points and the credit. We would stay in this area the entire time of the vacation and rent a car to drive to the keys. We wouldn't have enough points to cover the whole trip, but we'd only be paying for the cost of the car, additional hotel dates + food/fun. Is Miami too hip for us to want to be there for a long period? Should we instead stay in Naples the whole time, or is Naples too adult (I've read previous threads stating that the crowd is more 50+)?
Option 4. Take a cruise or pay for a hotel the whole trip - skip using our hotel points/credit and just take a longer cruise or pay for a hotel somewhere in the Keys (maybe half way).
My biggest questions are:
With these options, are we doing too many things/overdoing it? Should we stay put in one area? Will we be wasting a lot of time driving, rather than relaxing? Are any of these areas more expensive than the others? Are there other cities that we should consider instead?
Background info on us:
We are 29/30 years old and are looking for a relaxing trip. We are fairly active and are open to doing some activities and checking out some historic places (knowing those days would be spent walking around and exploring) but are also hoping to have a few days where we hang out by a beach or pool, enjoy some drinks and just let some of the work stress go! Basically, a mix of experiencing the location/culture (on a budget) as well as enjoying some down time.
We do drink, but are not "clubbers" and probably wouldn't go out to popular bars at night unless we were with friends; instead, I imagine that at night on this vacation we would stroll around and see what's going on around town at night, get a nice dinner, and maybe go to a more mellow bar where we can relax and maybe have a drink or two. Sure...maybe we'll go to a top-rated bar once, but since it would be just the two of us, we probably wouldn't stay there long or order multiple rounds.
Here are what we have discussed as travel options:
Option 1. Fly down to Ft. Lauderdale and stay at a hotel in Miami using points (we also have a free 2-night stay credit at select Marriots, and there are options for us in this area). We'd stay there about 3 nights and also rent a car, giving us some time to drive to the Keys (maybe a full-day trip to Key West). On the 4th day, we'd hop on a 3-night cruise down to the Bahamas - one stop at an island and another day at sea. We'd fly home after the cruise. If we choose this option, we'd only be paying for the cost of the cruise and the cost of the car + food/fun. Our flights and hotel stay would be free.
Is a cruise worth it for only 2 full days? Would it be better if we skipped the cruise and spent the last three days in Key West and pay for a hotel there?
Option 2. Fly down to Ft. Lauderdale and stay at a hotel in Miami using points and the credit. We'd stay in this area for a few days and possibly drive to the northern keys. Then on the 4th day we would drive to Naples and stay there for a few days (flying home from Ft. Myers). Unfortunately, we cannot use our 2-day credit in Naples and may not have enough remaining points to cover the rest of our trip, so we'd have to pay for a hotel in this area. We would only need to pay for the car and Naples hotel + food/fun.
Is Naples worth the additional drive? Or should we opt to drive/stay in Key West instead? If we drive to Key West and stay there, we'd have to drive back to the Ft. Lauderdale airport...which may be a long drive before flying home.
We also can't use the credit in Key West, so we'd have to pay for a hotel there as well...
Option 3. Fly down to Ft. Lauderdale and stay at a hotel in Miami using points and the credit. We would stay in this area the entire time of the vacation and rent a car to drive to the keys. We wouldn't have enough points to cover the whole trip, but we'd only be paying for the cost of the car, additional hotel dates + food/fun. Is Miami too hip for us to want to be there for a long period? Should we instead stay in Naples the whole time, or is Naples too adult (I've read previous threads stating that the crowd is more 50+)?
Option 4. Take a cruise or pay for a hotel the whole trip - skip using our hotel points/credit and just take a longer cruise or pay for a hotel somewhere in the Keys (maybe half way).
My biggest questions are:
With these options, are we doing too many things/overdoing it? Should we stay put in one area? Will we be wasting a lot of time driving, rather than relaxing? Are any of these areas more expensive than the others? Are there other cities that we should consider instead?
Feb 25, 2015, 5:32 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Naples, Florida
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, Hyatt Platinum,Marriott Silver,Hilton Honors Gold
Posts: 592
Sounds like you are taking on too much and yes, the cruise for the sake of two full unencumbered days is not worth it
A Miami and Keys combo makes sense. The Keys are where we Floridians go to get away. Split your keys stay with an Islamorada/Key West combo
or Marathon only where you can hit Key West for day or night only
Worldspan
Naples, Florida
A Miami and Keys combo makes sense. The Keys are where we Floridians go to get away. Split your keys stay with an Islamorada/Key West combo
or Marathon only where you can hit Key West for day or night only
Worldspan
Naples, Florida
Feb 25, 2015, 7:45 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Posts: 3,360
What part of April? The first week in April is going to be the tail-end of Spring Break season. Most reasonably sane adults try to avoid South Florida during Spring Break. Although it's not a "wild" as other destinations, it's still going to be busy.
Since you're planning on flying into FLL, you might consider staying in Fort Lauderdale instead of going to Miami. I'm local, so I've never stayed there; but, many people seem to thoroughly enjoy the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
Personally, I pretty low-key so I dislike going down to Miami/South Beach. Fort Lauderdale has a mix of beachside dive bars and upscale lounges...without the nonsense of hyped DJs and high cover charges.
Since you're planning on flying into FLL, you might consider staying in Fort Lauderdale instead of going to Miami. I'm local, so I've never stayed there; but, many people seem to thoroughly enjoy the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
Personally, I pretty low-key so I dislike going down to Miami/South Beach. Fort Lauderdale has a mix of beachside dive bars and upscale lounges...without the nonsense of hyped DJs and high cover charges.
Mar 15, 2015, 5:35 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3
Thank you all for your feedback! We opted for a combo Miami/Keys trip in mid April. It was the cheapest option for us using points and with a rental car we'll be able to drive to the northern Key's just about every day. :-)
We are spending 2 nights in Marathon, so that one day we can drive down to Key West and check it out. The other days we will be staying at a Miami Marriott - even though Miami activity isn't really our style (DJs/Clubs, etc.), we're about an hour or so outside of Key Largo and plan to just drive down there to relax during the days. We will still check out the Miami area, since we've never been, but think the Key's is the relaxing vacation we are looking for.
I'm going to search through other threads, but if you have any tips or suggested activities/beaches we should check out in the Keys (or maybe some not-so crowded beaches in Miami), please let me know.
Speaking of beaches, are there many that will allow us to grill on if we bring some charcoal and stock the rental car with food? We're thinking of grilling fresh seafood - but I did read somewhere that most restaurants will cook your day's catch...is that true? I assume for a fee, but not as expensive as paying market price.
We are spending 2 nights in Marathon, so that one day we can drive down to Key West and check it out. The other days we will be staying at a Miami Marriott - even though Miami activity isn't really our style (DJs/Clubs, etc.), we're about an hour or so outside of Key Largo and plan to just drive down there to relax during the days. We will still check out the Miami area, since we've never been, but think the Key's is the relaxing vacation we are looking for.
I'm going to search through other threads, but if you have any tips or suggested activities/beaches we should check out in the Keys (or maybe some not-so crowded beaches in Miami), please let me know.
Speaking of beaches, are there many that will allow us to grill on if we bring some charcoal and stock the rental car with food? We're thinking of grilling fresh seafood - but I did read somewhere that most restaurants will cook your day's catch...is that true? I assume for a fee, but not as expensive as paying market price.
Mar 15, 2015, 6:40 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3
Sunpass
Also, on the note of a rental car - can we get a Sunpass for the highway tolls? Can they be purchased for rental cars or do we have to be billed by the license plate? (We are renting through Budget from FLL)
Last edited by KRose52; Mar 15, 2015 at 6:55 pm
Mar 19, 2015, 7:01 am
#6
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: JAX/St Augustine, FL
Programs: Delta Plat, Southwest RR, HHonors Diamond, Hertz PC, National EE
Posts: 529
https://www.sunpass.com/selectAccept...sponder.action
Last edited by ChevyCruze; Mar 19, 2015 at 7:07 am
Mar 19, 2015, 9:27 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: RSW, MGA, DCA, CSX, HKG
Programs: Still working on being loyal
Posts: 154
I'm 29, live in Naples, it's not so bad. April/Easter is usually pretty busy, if you wanted relaxed and clean avoid Miami and head to Naples. RSW is an easy airport if it's an option. From Naples you can head to Sanibel Island, Captiva, Marco Island, etc. Lot's of beaches, lots of restaurants. Easy to drive around and Uber is running now.