"If you like Piña Colada, and getting caught in the rain" – if you like long beaches, palm trees and the blazing summer sun, then Miami is the city for you. With warm to hot temperatures all year round, the weather is always perfect for beachgoers and sunbathers. And yes, it rains in Miami. Almost every day in fact, on most days it won't be more than a short drizzle though. If you're already in the water – going for a swim in the ocean – a little more water won't do any harm, and if you're just relaxing on the beach, the cool rain will be more refreshing than anything.
Even if baking in the sun all day isn't for you there's loads to do in Miami. Like swimming with dolphins, taking a speedboat for a tour, or diving in the Biscayne National Park. If you don't want to get wet, you can visit one of the many, many museums, see a play in one of Miami's theatres, explore Little Havana, or take a Lamborghini for a spin on the Homestead Miami Speedway.
Little Havanna & Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, FL
Of course there's also much to see for animal- and nature-lovers, like the Everglades National Park, where you'll get to see more alligators than you can count. Another special attraction is the Monkey Jungle, a 120,000 m² large sanctuary, where “humans are caged and monkeys run wild”. More than 30 different types of primates, like gibbons, guenons, spider-monkeys and orang-utans live here. The environmental activist in you will enjoy a visit to the Biscayne Nature Center, a non-profit organization whose interest lies in preserving the local natural resources.
Our advice: Something truly curious to visit is the Ancient Spanish Monastery. Built in 1141 in Spain, the building has been taken apart stone by stone, shipped to Miami and was then rebuilt in North Miami Beach in 1952. It's the oldest western building that's still standing and open to visitors.
All this and more makes Miami worth a visit on its own, but the city is also called the “Cruise Capital of the World” - and for good reason: Miami is host to the headquarters of Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. It's no surprise then, that more than 700 cruises per year start and end here, with more than 4.9 million passengers passing through the port in 2015.
At the cruise terminal on Dodge Island – a small island directly in front of the city, overlooking the skyline of downtown Miami and the sparkling waters of Biscayne Bay – it's not uncommon to see up to seven cruise ships anchoring at a time.
The itineraries and destinations are numerous
Many cruises will take you through the Caribbean. Even here you'll have plenty of choices to make: Whether you want to take the western route, along the shores of Cuba, to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the even more Western route to the coasts of Honduras, Belize and Mexico or even down to Chile – or the Eastern routes, along the beaches of the Bahamas, to Nassau and Coco Cay, to Puerto Rico and beyond to Saint-Martin – the choice is yours.
But the Caribbean is just the beginning, cruises will take you down the West coast of South America, past Panama, Ecuador and Peru. Or up the East coast starting in Argentina, going past Uruguay, Brazil and the Amazon to end in Miami. If you can't get enough of cruising along the coasts of South America, why not embark on a ten week long voyage around the whole of it? Starting and ending in Miami, of course.
Exploring the coasts of North America is also a possibility, starting in Vancouver the cruise will take you around North and Middle America, and through the Panama Canal. On the other side cruises start in Montreal and let you discover the beauty of the East coast. Even Transatlantic trips from and to Europe are available, exploring the Mediterranean on the way. Last but not least, you can, of course, also start a World Cruise in Miami.
Fort Lauderdale – Port Everglades
Not far up the coast from Miami lies Fort Lauderdale, a small city with a busy port. Port Everglades, which is not in fact near the Everglades, rivals Port Miami in size and importance: More than 3.7 million passengers passed through in 2015, making it the worlds third busiest cruise port, after Port Canaveral and Port Miami.
In 2016 the port broke the Guiness World Record for number of cruisers in a day at over 54,700, the port also holds the record for most cruise ships at harbour in a day (15), and boasts about having more homeported ships than any other port.
Like Port Miami Port Everglades has a wide variety of cruise routes and destinations, from the Bahamas, the Caribbean, South, Middle and North America to long transatlantic voyages to Europe and the Mediterranean, and can definitely compete with Port Miami in this aspect as well.