CruisingYiayia

Westin has an awesome pool. There are several restaurants at the hotel and others within a mile but not that much. The Crowne Plaza is by the broadwalk which has lots of little restaurants.

Are the 2 hotels near each other?

I'm hoping I will get this hotel on hotwire. If I put in 4* Hollywood beach area, the price is coming up $108/night. From what I read on cruisecritic, people are getting either the Westin Diplomat or Crowne Plaza Hollywood. Just wondering, are there restaurants within walking distance of either of these hotels or would we need to rent a car? We will be arriving in Fort Lauderdale 2 days before our cruise in March and would like to stay at a nice hotel on the beach with a nice pool. Any other suggestions in Hollywood or Fort Lauderdale?

I would recommend Secrets Capri, about 10 minutes from Playa del Carmen. All-adult, all-inclusive, high-end, good service, great food. Relaxing, not high energy, atmosphere. Great place for a relaxing vacation. Not one of the mega complex, hyper action-filled, wrist band resorts. Classy and elegant. We will have our 5th stay in December.

I would also highly recommend Secrets Capri. We were there October, 2007 and it rained every day, so I would definately stay away from September/October. We are going to Secrets Maroma in April and have heard it is nicer than Secrets Capri. They are on facebook and lots of very positive comments posted.

We stayed at the Grand Palladium and had to eat at the buffet every night, except for 3 nights when we could go to their a la carte restaurants. The resort is very big (3 resorts all connected) and beautiful, but we didn't care for the food. I realize food is very subjective, but for us, we prefer restaurants over buffets (the food selection in the buffet was just OK...again, just our opinion).

We just returned from Solstice 10/10 - 10/17 and were in AQ 1541 and just wanted to give a heads up to those who might be booked in this cabin. The cabin is located under the Aqua Spa Cafe, and the noise from the Cafe can be heard in this cabin all day and all night long. You can hear tables and chairs being dragged across the floor, heavy foot steps, machines running, things dropping and breaking. The noise can also be heard in AQ 1539. We made numerous complaints, but the noise continued.

Also...and I will preface this by saying this is only my opinion and I realize food is very subjective, but, I didn't think the dinner selections and food in Blu were anywhere near exceptional. We also found the service to be very inconsistent. We did, however, enjoy breakfast very much.

Ship: Solstice

Deck - 11

Cabin # - 1541

Class – Aqua

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Bed near?(balcony or bath) – Balcony

Quiet Cabin (With comments on problems. Note if connecting. ) – This cabin was EXTREMELY noisy from Aqua Spa Cafe located directly above. The noise was ALL NIGHT and ALL DAY long. I would NOT recommend this cabin. We made several complaints and they were able to compensate us with future cruise credit.

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Great view.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal

Was wind a problem? No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? NOISE

Any other comments? I would NOT book this cabin. Breakfast in Blu was very nice, but did not care for the dinners at all. My opinion (and I realize food is very subjective) I would not book an Aqua Class cabin again.

We will be on the Explorer of the Seas in a couple of weeks. Is La Bombonera near where the Explorer docks?