Berthing Fort Lauderdale

Good Day All.

I am looking at booking a Silversea cruise that is scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale. I cannot find the answer to this on the forums so perhaps some one can assist?

Do Silversea use the same berth / terminal every time and if so where is it located?

The only real reason I need to know is that we will be flying into FLL the day before so I need book a conveniently located, half decent hotel for one 'pre cruise' night.

Equally, views on hotels would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

The hotel area on the 17th street causeway is a great location with lots of hotel options - Renaissance, Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn Express, Extended Stay America, Hyatt Place, Comfort Suites, etc. There is also a Hyatt and a Hilton, but the Hyatt is a little further walk to the shopping areas on 17th street.

There are several shopping centers but the main one has a Publix Grocery Store. There are also numerous restaurants within walking distance. Lastly, this area is only about a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the airport and only about a 10 minute taxi ride to Port Everglades. There is an electronic sign that identifies which ships are in port and what the dock numbers are. Usually about 5 days out, you can go to the Port Everglades website and it will provide the dock number for the ship.

Hope this helps!

Port Everglades is quite a big port, but on entering the port area for cruise traffic there are excellent directions to each berth. Illuminated signs have the ship name and berth number and you just follow them.

I've done three SS cruises from there but they didn't all go from the same berth.

As for hotels. We're booked on a cruse departing from Fort Lauderdale later this year (not SS), and we'll be staying further down the coast in Miami as I've given up on finding something I like in Fort Lauderdale. Many recommend the Ritz Carlton but I wasn't impressed.

It will also depend on your budget.

Are you flying into Miami or Fort Lauderdale?The FLL airport is very close to the port so you may want to look at something like the Hyatt Pier 66.

Good Day All.

I am looking at booking a Silversea cruise that is scheduled to depart from Fort Lauderdale. I cannot find the answer to this on the forums so perhaps some one can assist?

Do Silversea use the same berth / terminal every time and if so where is it located?

The only real reason I need to know is that we will be flying into FLL the day before so I need book a conveniently located, half decent hotel for one 'pre cruise' night.

Equally, views on hotels would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

Since Silversea does not home port cruises in and out of Ft Lauderdale they don't have a regular berth they use all the time. That said the port is relatively concentrated and a taxi or car service from your hotel will have no problem locating the berth assignment at the entrances to the cruise port area and getting you to the right terminal.

It's been five years since we last cruised out of Ft Lauderdale so my information on what is the best or recommended hotels is dated and not of much use. We used to stay at the Hilton that overlooks the port area and it was acceptable but not extraordinary. We have advanced Hilton Honors status so we get either free accommodations or upgrades to suites and take advantage of that. It is handy to the port and for our typical one night before a cruise it works.

The Ft.L. Marriott Harbor Beach is a good choice for 1 night. Yes, it is a Marriott but this one is perfectly located on the beach, near the cruise port, clean and comfortable with verandas. The restaurant is NOT run by Marriott. The food, drinks and atmosphere are very enjoyable. It is called Ocean something or something Ocean. Enjoy!

Concur with DT about Marriott.

There is also a doubletree on sunrise which is farther from port, but walking distance to galleria shopping, the beach and several really good restaurants.

Sushi,thAi food, il molino and Cuban food.

Highly recommend il molino on sunrise. No reservations taken, but they make their own pasta, sauces are great and prices reasonable.

Daughter who lived in Italy even gave it thumbs up.

Check it out on web.

I see you have not yet booked and wonder if you intend arriving at FLL from somewhere other than Gods own or are you direct from UK with a stop over as there are no direct flights. I have left from Fort Lauderdale a number of times and either stop in New York for a few days then down to FLL or direct from UK to Miami then $100 taxi ride to Fort Lauderdale. You may wish to consider a direct flight although MIA is not the most pleasant of places so depends how much you may want to fly without a stopover.

As far as hotels go I use the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina which is overlooking to port and not to be confused with the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach. The Marina is quite adequate for one night and I guess you will not be arriving until early evening anyway so probably something light to eat at the pool bar will do. They provide a transfer service to the ship or you can take a taxi for the short trip.

Many thanks .... looks easy enough to get sorted.

Yes I am flying from Yorkshire - actually I need to get my passport sorted as it will be a Manchester flight :-(

As you may be aware BA are the only company to fly MAN to LHR and now they have moved the MIA flights to T3 which is a complete farce! I would have considered it but I haven't flown BA for three years so they have lapsed my Avios and deleted the 67000 points I had. Not happy!

I am looking at United ~ MAN / EWR and thence FLL. UA have Premium Economy so it shouldn't be that bad .... maybe .... perhaps ...

AA fly to JFK but onward connections are sparse ........

I once made the mistake of flying Continental to EWR in a 757 in Economy .... never again!!

I agree about MIA .... totally awful!

Mike

Many thanks .... looks easy enough to get sorted.

Yes I am flying from Yorkshire - actually I need to get my passport sorted as it will be a Manchester flight :-(

As you may be aware BA are the only company to fly MAN to LHR and now they have moved the MIA flights to T3 which is a complete farce! I would have considered it but I haven't flown BA for three years so they have lapsed my Avios and deleted the 67000 points I had. Not happy!

I am looking at United ~ MAN / EWR and thence FLL. UA have Premium Economy so it shouldn't be that bad .... maybe .... perhaps ...

AA fly to JFK but onward connections are sparse ........

I once made the mistake of flying Continental to EWR in a 757 in Economy .... never again!!

I agree about MIA .... totally awful!

Mike

We often fly from MAN as one of our UK bases is in Lancashire (sorry!).

We flew with Continental MAN-EWR-FLL about 3 years ago. It was a 757 but we flew in BusinessFirst which was surprisingly very comfortable with decent food. Except the 757 is so old that it's incredibly noisy and was difficult to sleep.

This was just before UA took over or merged with CO.

So my advice is to check that UA aren't still using that old CO 757 on the MAN-EWR route.

Overall it's definitely far preferable to fly MAN-EWR-FLL than it is to fly MAN-LHR-MIA, as we all know MIA is horrid.

On the return, we also prefer to know that we've got a longer sector as the final one, I hate arriving at LHR and knowing that I've still got an hour or so on the flight up to MAN.

However, immigration is now a bit improved at MIA and we've decided to give it a try for our cruise this year. We'll be doing the BA hop across to T3 from T5 - oh joy!

Anyway, point of my post, check the aircraft on the MAN-EWR route before you book!

Half decent hotel recommendation:

Courtyard by Marriott cruise port hotel. It is adequate for one night pre-cruise. There is a free shuttle from the airport and from the hotel to the pier. Get a room on the side of the hotel away from the train tracks. The rooms are clean, with no view. Breakfast is nothing special. There is an Islamorada Fish Company restaurant within walking distance for dinner. We always figure that we will have great accommodations and food on Silversea, so we can do a less than 5* hotel the night before we sail. If you do stay there, book your shuttle to the port when you check in so you can get the time you want. It's a very short drive to the port.

Remember -- I said half decent. We have stayed there several times and have reservations again for January.

you may want to look at something like the Hyatt Pier 66.

Not the best Hyatt but its a) close to the port and b) at the edge of a very extensive Marina and c) there is a great seafood restaurant in the Marina. Its also reasonably priced. It is on the ocean side of the bridge though, although its fun to watch it open and close for large yachts. There is also a stop for the intercoastal waterway service in the Marina and if you have time a trip on the boat is well worth doing.

Here's a link that might help you.

http://www.sunny.org/cruise-and-play/hotels-with-shuttles/

Mark K

Great resource. Thanks.

Mike, as mentioned there are lots of hotels in Fort Lauderdale and many near the port. We just take taxis if you are arriving to the Fort Lauderdale Airport.

In terms of hotels it comes down to how much you want to pay. Some to consider at different price ranges include.

Ritz Carlton (higher price)

Marriott House Beach Resort

Embassy Suites

Embassy Suites has a couple of advantages. It includes a very nice breakfast and it is also located near restaurants and stores should you need to pick up any last minute items.

I did want to comment about Miami International Airport as to me sometimes it gets a bad rap as did the city as a whole. A lot has changed in Miami. We now stay there about once or twice a year and also fly in their regularly. Airport is much nicer than it used to.

Since the voyage is leaving out of Fort Lauderdale flying into Fort Lauderdale has an advantage in terms of proximity to the port but if fares were lower to Miami or if it was more convenient to fly there I would certainly consider it now or for another cruise. The distance from Miami to Fort Lauderdale is about 30 to 45 minutes in terms of a drive.

Keith

Port Everglades is quite a big port, but on entering the port area for cruise traffic there are excellent directions to each berth. Illuminated signs have the ship name and berth number and you just follow them.

I've done three SS cruises from there but they didn't all go from the same berth.

 

 

As for hotels. We're booked on a cruse departing from Fort Lauderdale later this year (not SS), and we'll be staying further down the coast in Miami as I've given up on finding something I like in Fort Lauderdale. Many recommend the Ritz Carlton but I wasn't impressed.

It will also depend on your budget.

Are you flying into Miami or Fort Lauderdale?The FLL airport is very close to the port so you may want to look at something like the Hyatt Pier 66.

Which hotels do you prefer in Miami? Earlier this year we booked into the Four Seasons on Bricknell and quite liked it. Not too far at all from the port. Open to trying other upscale hotels.

Which hotels do you prefer in Miami? Earlier this year we booked into the Four Seasons on Bricknell and quite liked it. Not too far at all from the port. Open to trying other upscale hotels.

We do like the Four Seasons. I find it to be not quite so upscale as some other Four Seasons, eg Hong Kong and George V, but it's a nice hotel. The only issue is that it's a little bit distant from Port Everglades. Great though, as you say, for Port of Miami.

St Regis Bal Harbour is very pleasant too, but my favourite in the area is Acqualina Resort. It's just north of Miami Beach in Sunny Isles Beach. Very convenient for Port Everglades.

It has a delightfully tranquil adults-only pool area. We book the Deluxe One-Bed Oceanfront suites. Great service is the hotel's strong point. Food isn't the hotel's strong point, but there's plenty of choice within a short cab ride distance.

In Miami, SS will be putting next year's WCers at the Mandarin Oriental. If it is anything like the one in Singapore, it should be a winner.

Going back to the initial question,for what it is worth, the cruise ships all seem to berth in Lake Mabel, accessed via the Stranahan River entrance.

For the geeks amongst us, look at http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com/ which usually points that way - the camera is sited on the north side of the channel entrance. Another source of amusement is http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com/ .

Zoom in to see who /what is berthed where.

Sad isn't it :rolleyes:

The past three years we have stayed at the Hilton Marina. Price is okay and the rooms are fine and clean...for a couple nights. They have a nice pool, bar at the pool, good restaurant, good breakfast, wifi, reduced happy hour prices and snacks at a small bar area in the main lobby, within walking distance of other restaurants, and easy access ( about 10-15 min by taxi) from where Silversea Ships leave.

Getting back to your initial question, Silversea ships do not all berth in the same place each time. The port is huge. We have embarked/disembarked over a dozen times there.

Port Everglades is quite close to Fort Lauderdale airport, and the Fort Lauderdale beaches. Assuming you will take a taxi from one of hotels on the strip, the fare will be roughly the same from each hotel. The port is huge, and if you are taking a taxi, it really doesn't matter where the ship is berthed. It's not like a European city (i.e., Stockholm, Copenhagen, etc.) where you can walk to the ship.

Taxis from the hotels on Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. run about $20 if my memory serves me correctly and take about 15 minutes. So all the hotels on FL Beach Blvd. in FL are really conveniently located.

We like the Ritz Carlton on Fort Lauderdale Beach (North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.). Though check as I heard that may be in the process of being renovated. There are lots of hotels on N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. I would definitely avoid the Hyatt Pier 66. The W on Fort Lauderdale beach is ok, but a bit to trendy and modern for our taste. We didn't care for the room (even though we had a two bedroom suite), the hallways are dark, it can be noisy, etc.

Good luck and happy travels.