Ft. Lauderdale Q&A/FAQ

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by luvtusang

If you had to choose between Marriott Courtyard on Seabreeze or The Westin Beach Resort n FLL Beach Blvd. which would you choose? Both seem great...not sure who to go with.
Thanks!

Westin has the most recent complete renovations. They are both well located and Cruise Critic member favorites.

[kingsnake57]

Thank you.

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[mimi'sgirl]

royalcruz- Can u tell me what the area around the Crowne Plaza on St. Rd. 84 is like? We will have our car and could drive to restaurants. We will be getting to Ft. Laud either late afternoon or early evening. We are really just looking for an updated, clean hotel which we can find for a decent price on a Fri. nite prior to our cruise. We will have our 2 kids with us and I'm not familiar with the area by this hotel. Is Dania beach a better choice? Any info you could give me is extremely appreciated.

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by mimi'sgirl

royalcruz- Can u tell me what the area around the Crowne Plaza on St. Rd. 84 is like? We will have our car and could drive to restaurants. We will be getting to Ft. Laud either late afternoon or early evening. We are really just looking for an updated, clean hotel which we can find for a decent price on a Fri. nite prior to our cruise. We will have our 2 kids with us and I'm not familiar with the area by this hotel. Is Dania beach a better choice? Any info you could give me is extremely appreciated.

CP is a very new hotel so it should be clean and modern. It's fine if you have a car...I wouldn't have any interest in going for a walk around the hotel, as there is nothing there. It is close to the port and beach, by car. There isn't anything special about Dania, but they do have Boomers, Dave & Busters, and Oakwood Cinema. There are a bunch of suite hotels there that would easily fit your family, like Homewood, Springhill, Hyatt House, and Fairfield. Some of them have free breakfast, and I think they all have free parking, too.

[mimi'sgirl]

royalcruz- Thank you so much for the info. I really appreciate it. We don't cruise til Nov. so I have some time to decide and look for a good deal. Thanks again.

[roccomom1]

Could you give me any info on the Comfort Inn Airport/cruise port on Stirling Rd. in Hollywood, Fl? I see that they have free airport shuttle and port shuttle, but we would like to know if there are any restaurants or a Publix or CVS drugstore within walking distance from the hotel. Thank you.

[Bison]

Originally Posted by mimi'sgirl

royalcruz- Can u tell me what the area around the Crowne Plaza on St. Rd. 84 is like? We will have our car and could drive to restaurants. We will be getting to Ft. Laud either late afternoon or early evening. We are really just looking for an updated, clean hotel which we can find for a decent price on a Fri. nite prior to our cruise. We will have our 2 kids with us and I'm not familiar with the area by this hotel. Is Dania beach a better choice? Any info you could give me is extremely appreciated.

FYI We stayed here just 2 weeks ago and found the hotel to be very clean.

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by roccomom1

Could you give me any info on the Comfort Inn Airport/cruise port on Stirling Rd. in Hollywood, Fl? I see that they have free airport shuttle and port shuttle, but we would like to know if there are any restaurants or a Publix or CVS drugstore within walking distance from the hotel. Thank you.

No Publix or CVS by Comfort Inn. Kmart and Big Lots across the street as well as fast food and a chain diner. Walk further into Oakwood Plaza to find Ale House and other sit-down chain restaurants.

[roccomom1]

Originally Posted by royalcruz

No Publix or CVS by Comfort Inn. Kmart and Big Lots across the street as well as fast food and a chain diner. Walk further into Oakwood Plaza to find Ale House and other sit-down chain restaurants.

Thank you very much for the info. Do you happen to know if there is bus service from there to any of these stores?

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by roccomom1

Thank you very much for the info. Do you happen to know if there is bus service from there to any of these stores?

The 16 bus west goes to CVS (one mile) and Publix (4 miles) both on Stirling Rd.

[My Lady Sydney]

Does anyone know of a hotel or somewhere we can rent for a day to leave our luggage. We would like to possibly spend the day after the cruise riding the water taxi and seeing a little of Ft. Lauderdale--our flight isn't until 5:45.. Obviously we need somewhere to leave our bags to do this.

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by My Lady Sydney

Does anyone know of a hotel or somewhere we can rent for a day to leave our luggage. We would like to possibly spend the day after the cruise riding the water taxi and seeing a little of Ft. Lauderdale--our flight isn't until 5:45.. Obviously we need somewhere to leave our bags to do this.

If you are taking a domestic flight, check with your cruiseline to see if they offer a service where they take your bags to the airport and check them in for you. There is a fee per bag for this service. If not, the closest hotels to the port and water taxi are Hyatt Pier 66, Hilton Marina, and Renaissance. If they won't give you a day rate, maybe they'll give you a night rate and hold your bags until your room is available at 3 or 4, when you will be getting ready to leave for the airport. The airport is only a 10 minute $15 cab ride from there.

[plan2travel]

Traveling with friends and wanted to stay one night pre-cruise at Alhambra Beach Resort May 2013. So sad they only had one room available. Is there anything like this in the area that would be a good substitute? Thanks for any help.

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by plan2travel

Traveling with friends and wanted to stay one night pre-cruise at Alhambra Beach Resort May 2013. So sad they only had one room available. Is there anything like this in the area that would be a good substitute? Thanks for any help.

The Pillars is the nicest small hotel but it's expensive. Also look at Tropi Rock and The Shell.

[plan2travel]

royalcruz, Thank you so much. I'll check these hotels out.

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by plan2travel

Traveling with friends and wanted to stay one night pre-cruise at Alhambra Beach Resort May 2013. So sad they only had one room available. Is there anything like this in the area that would be a good substitute? Thanks for any help.

Here's another idea. There are lots of little owner-run motels near the beach but you don't want to stay too far from Alhambra if you want to be close to nightlife....mapquest "Casablanca Cafe Fort Lauderdale" (Alhambra Beach Resort doesn't come up). This is on the same block as Alhambra. Then click on the hotel (bed picture) button, then hotels and motels, and a bunch of dots will show up with hotel names. Then check out reviews on tripadvisor.

[phabric]

I won the Sheraton FLL Beach Hotel on Priceline. We have stayed at the Hyatt Place North and don't know anything about the Beach area. We arrive at midnight on a Thursday and will have 1 day before our cruise on a Saturday.

Is this hotel facing the beach? With a reservation from Priceline, our room won't have a view of the beach. Do you cross the street to get to the beach?

Can you tell what is around this hotel, places to eat, would like seafood, water taxi?

[letscruiseasap]

Ok, so we land in FLL @ 2pm the day before (Dec 29, 2012). Would love to stay on the beach, since the kids have never seen the ocean/beach. However the husbands are afraid of paying an arm and a leg...

Are we better off, staying in town and cabbing it to the beach for a few hours? Can we even use the beach at that time of year?

Our only "must" is that we need a room with 2 queen beds, the rest of our party are a very tall family.

Any hotel ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated....

TIA!!!

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by phabric

I won the Sheraton FLL Beach Hotel on Priceline. We have stayed at the Hyatt Place North and don't know anything about the Beach area. We arrive at midnight on a Thursday and will have 1 day before our cruise on a Saturday.

Is this hotel facing the beach? With a reservation from Priceline, our room won't have a view of the beach. Do you cross the street to get to the beach?

Can you tell what is around this hotel, places to eat, would like seafood, water taxi?

I don't think you have to cross the street. There are a few buildings at the Sheraton. 2 are situated on the beach side of A1A. There is a covered bridge that connects the other building. The hotel used to own some other small buildings across A1A but I don't think they are part of the hotel any more. A fun place to eat is Bahia Cabana, across A1A, on the marina. A really nice seafood restaurant is a block away at Marriott Harbor Beach: 3030. The water taxi is about a block away. It goes to 15th St. Fisheries and Chart House.

[royalcruz]

Originally Posted by letscruiseasap

Ok, so we land in FLL @ 2pm the day before (Dec 29, 2012). Would love to stay on the beach, since the kids have never seen the ocean/beach. However the husbands are afraid of paying an arm and a leg...

Are we better off, staying in town and cabbing it to the beach for a few hours? Can we even use the beach at that time of year?

Our only "must" is that we need a room with 2 queen beds, the rest of our party are a very tall family.

Any hotel ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated....

TIA!!!

You can see the beach but the water will be cold and it might be too chilly to sunbathe. Some reasonably priced hotels in that area are Bahia Cabana (Doubletree), Best Western Oceanside, and Alhambra Beach Resort. If you stay on 17th St you easily take the bus or trolley to the beach. If you stay at Sleep Inn in Dania, it is very inexpensive and only about a mile walk or ride to the beach.