Post-Trip Summary and Ratings Part 1: Florida, Oceania Panama Canal Cruise 2025
PART 1: Pre-planning, Florida Pre-Cruise Experience
Introduction
We just returned from a very nice 3-week trip that included five days exploring the Everglades and Miami Beach area and a 16-day Panama Canal transit cruise on Oceania Cruise Lines Vista from Miami to Los Angeles. This trip summary will be in three parts - Pre-trip booking and planning, pre-cruise experience, and cruise experience (second write-up). Each part includes the best experiences, the things that were good, the things that were merely adequate or so-so and the things that were not-so-good. Links are scattered throughout the trip summary.
Pre-Trip Booking and Planning
We decided to book this cruise in January, 2023, two years in advance. We booked it through Highlands Ranch Travel with our superb travel agent Dan Kraft. The deposit for the cruise was $1,000 and, at the time of booking, included round-trip airfare. Details on the cruise will be in the third section (separate write-up). We also purchased travel insurance through Dan at the time of the booking (TravelGuard). We selected this cruise because we are returning passengers on Oceania and wanted to try their newest ship Vista. A cruise in warm places during the winter is a nice option and we thought another transit of the Panama Canal in the opposite direction would be interesting (we did our first transit from the Pacific to the Caribbean in November, 1996 on Princess Cruise Lines).
Later, we decided to do a few days in Florida before the cruise and we booked the new Flamingo Lodge in Everglades National Park one year before our intended stay at that facility (January 2024). We also booked the Mondrian South Beach well in advance; we wanted to stay in South Beach and most options are ridiculously expensive. This hotel was also not cheap, but it seemed like a good option. We had Dan book a rental car for us in Miami (pick-up and drop-off at the MIA Car Rental Center). He chose Sixt Rental Car. We also started booking excursions on the cruise.
As the time grew closer to the trip, we invoked the air travel deviation process through Dan with Oceania Cruise Lines; this request costs each traveler a rather significant fee, but we were able to get the flights we wanted on the days we wanted them to Miami and from Los Angeles. Those flights were booked on United Airlines. Oceania no longer offers free airfare on their cruises. We also booked the Courtyard by Marriott in Homestead, Florida for the first night after we arrived so we would be closer to the Everglades. After our flight deviations were in place, we spent the bucks for Economy Plus on United for both flights. A few days before the trip, we booked two boat trips in the Everglades and made a reservation request for an outdoor table at the Smith and Wollensky’s steak house located on the ship channel at the end of South Beach.
I like booking well in advance and paying off things like this cruise incrementally each month. This keeps us from touching any savings or investments. The cruise was paid off in August, 2024. We use detailed notes for our travel plan to keep track of bookings and things that still need action before we go on the trip.
Best Experiences During this Phase
Working with Dan Kraft at Highlands Ranch Travel. He is their office manager and a senior agent and he does a superb job. He is very responsive and extremely pleasant to deal with.
The Flamingo Hotel was easy to book through a reservations agent for an agency that is contracted by the National Park Service.
The air deviation requests were handled quickly and correctly by Oceania, working through Dan.
Our attention to detail in doing our trip planning is a good thing!
Pre-Cruise Experiences in Florida
Overview:
We flew down to Florida on January 3 on a non-stop from Denver to Miami on United Airlines (more on that travel day in the not-so-good experiences). We picked up our rental car from Sixt and drove to the Courtyard by Marriott in Homestead. On January 4, we took a leisurely drive through the Everglades, stopping at most turnouts and trailheads. We checked into the Flamingo Lodge and had a late lunch at their restaurant. On January 5 we took two boat rides from the Marina in Flamingo to various areas of the Everglades. On January 6 we drove from the Everglades to South Beach, using back roads wherever possible. We arrived at the Mondrian South Beach, checked into our room and then drove over to the Smith and Wollensky’s to watch six cruise ships depart (plus other boats and ships). On January 7, we elected to just hang around the hotel and read and write (it was quite chilly that day). We returned the car to the Sixt rental return on January 8 and got a cab to take us to the Cruise Ship Terminal. Weather was on the cool side for most of this time in south Florida.
Best Experiences:
The time in Everglades National Park - We really enjoyed both boat rides, the drive through the park in both directions, and the visit to the Nike Missile National Historic Site located in the National Park. The first gallery below is from this experience. The first boat ride was the Backcountry Boat Tour, which featured 90 minutes of venturing up the Buttonwood Canal through Coot Bay and Tarpon Creek into the Whitewater Bay. The second boat ride was the Florida Bay Tour, which went out into the shallow waters and mangrove islands of this area. We were able to watch a beautiful sunset on this second tour.
Viewing Miami from our room at the Mondrian South Beach - This hotel, located on the west side of South Beach, has a splendid view of Miami and we took many pictures (see the second gallery).
Watching cruise ships and boats depart or arrive in the ship channel on January 6 from the outdoor bar at Smith & Wollensky’s Steak House (see the third gallery).
Dinner at Smith & Wollensky’s Steak House while watching cruise ships - We both had a small New York Strip steak with sides and salads. Everything was delicious and perfectly done (but not cheap).
Gallery #1 - Everglades National Park
Nike Missile at the National Historic Site, Red-shouldered Hawk, Mangroves, Anhinga, Crocodile, Pelican, Heron, Crocodile, Sunset in Florida Bay. Photos Copyright ©2025 Steven and Barbara Sande
Gallery #2 - Views of Miami from the Mondrian South Beach Hotel
Gallery #3: Watching ships and boats from Smith & Wollensky’s South Beach
Good Experiences:
Flamingo Lodge, Everglades - This hotel is brand-new, built in the Flamingo area at the end of the road in Everglades National park. They used shipping containers to make the second-story rooms, with parking (and a flood zone) underneath. The rooms had great historical photos of the Everglades Flamingo area. Our studio room had a balcony, a separate bedroom, a bathroom with a tub and shower set-up (deep tub), and a full kitchen/living room area. See gallery for photos of this hotel. Great dark skies at the hotel (except they have lighting under each unit for the parking area).
Mondrian South Beach - This hotel/residence is at the south end and on the west side of South Beach. Our balcony suite had a kitchenette, a living room, balcony, and separate bedroom. The bathroom had a big walk-in shower. The decor was a bit dated, but the service was top-notch and the views were superb. The food in the restaurant was pretty good (two breakfasts, one late lunch).
Sixt Car Rental - We have had some bad car rentals in recent years, most notoriously from Budget and Thrifty. Dan booked us with Sixt and we had a nice, clean Toyota Corolla and good service on both ends of the rental process.
So-So Experiences (not great, not bad):
Meals and service at the Flamingo Lodge restaurant. As this is the only game in town when you are staying at the Lodge, we had one late lunch, two breakfasts and one dinner at this lodge. You order at a counter and they deliver the items to your table. There is a tiny bar tucked into one corner of the restaurant. The food wasn’t bad, but the service was good/bad. The late lunch on the first day was the worst (it took over an hour to get the food) and a couple of the servers had short fuses and were rude to customers.
Courtyard by Marriott in Homestead, Florida. We have stayed here before and it is a typical and decent Courtyard hotel. Our room was good and the bistro service was also good. But Homestead, other than being near the Everglades, is not the best part of this area south of Miami.
Not-so-great Experiences:
Flight from Denver to Miami - This flight was scheduled for 9:30 am on January 3. As we drove to the airport from home (where it was a clear and above freezing), we encountered freezing fog conditions. The flight was delayed nearly four hours and was, of course, packed to the gills. Crew and service was ok. The was not their fault, but the loading process for United flights has not improved over the years and everyone drags all of their belongings on board because of the high baggage fees.
Miami International Airport - We really dislike this airport, but if you have a cruise going out of Miami, it is the closest airport. It took over an hour to get our luggage and the MIA Rental Car Center is located a LONG ways away, with most of that requiring walking while dragging luggage to get to the people mover tram that goes to the center.
Part 3 of this post-trip summary will provide the details and ratings on the cruise! It will be a separate write-up. In summary, we enjoyed our five days in south Florida before the cruise, especially the Everglades.