Any suggestions for stuff to do in Ft. Lauderdale?

[Cinerama]

My wife and I will be cruising on the Carribean Princess July 16-23, 2005. On the 16th, our flight arrives in Fort Lauderdale at 10:15am. We should have our luggage by 11am I guess. I understand that you cannot board the ship till 1 PM. Should we go directly to the port or do something else?

 

On Saturday the 23rd, I assume we will have an early breakfast on the ship and then leave when we are told to, maybe 10 at the lastest? Our flight does not leave Fort Lauderdale till 7:55 PM. I guess we can drop off our luggage at the airport and get our boarding tickets and then...? Any ideas for things to do?

 

Thanks!

 

Roland

[Toto2Kansas]

You can go directly to the port when you arrive, they normally begin boarding much earlier than 1:00.

As for the day you disembark. You will not be able to just drop your luggage off at the airport and have the day free as there is a check in rule for luggage (if memory serves me correctly it is 4 hours) and so they are not allowed to accept luggage for a flight that leaves later than 4 hours after you check your luggage.

Only suggestions would be to either book a Princess tour for after the cruise, where the luggage goes along with you. Or rent a car for the day where you can take your luggage in the trunk and spend the day sightseeing.

 

I am sure this is not the answer you are looking for, but it is the only way around it.

[spongerob]

You could look into booking a day room at one of the area's hotels. Some will do this for you. There is a pretty good beach area north of the Bahia Mar resort that has some fun places and is a good place to people-watch.

 

Princess also does excursions in FLL for people with late flights. That would be another option to kill some time and keep your bags handy.

[MaryPoppinz]

My favorite post-cruise activity is standing by for an earlier flight. :) But, as someone else said, you are probably not going to be able to check bags and pass through security prior to four hours before your flight, so it requires some planning to do that.

 

Your only other alternatives are to either book a post-tour, a rental car or to book a hotel room.

[espmass]

We took the water taxi. You can get a cab to any of a number of taxi stops and then take it for the entire route. You get a wonderful view of the city and the captain or aide will point out all the famous peoples' mansions plus alot of interesting facts. I found it interesting and relaxing although that may not be your thing. They usually do board very early by the way so if you have your baggage that early you could head straight for the ship.

[dawcruiser]

Take the boat tour of the Mansions. We did this and it was fabulous. We were there the weekend of a Tall-Ship show. We saw million dollar ships.

 

Great tour.

 

Don

[Toto2Kansas]

I think the OP has one problem with all of these suggestions. Without a place to store their luggage, there isn't much they are going to be able to do such as a ride on the water taxi. It is a great thing to do, but you just can't take your luggage along with you for things like this.

[captainron]

Hi,

If you're flight arrives on-time, (you don't say who you're flying with) at 1015hrs and you get your bags by 1045hrs I'd say get yourselves over to the pier.

Regardless of what time the cruiseline tells you to be there, for the most part they start the boarding process about 1100-1130hrs.

Be sure to complete your personalizer in advance as this will expedite the process, then through security to board.

I've done this before and was onboard and in my stateroom by 1235, enjoying the ship and lunch while everyone else was lined up quayside.

The shortest distance to your cruise enjoyment is a taxi to the pier. If you really want to enjoy FLL you definitely need more than 2-3 hours. (Too much to see and do...right Arlene?). Book 2 days pre or post cruuise to fully enjoy this gorgeous city and its environs.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[britsbest]

What about the middle Saturday of our B2B cruise on CB? Is there time for a trip to evergalades ? Are there tour operators at the pier that run such a trip?

[captainron]

Hi Gang,

You might wish to check on the ship. Quite often the ship will run a shore excursion for those people who have late departure flights from FLL. These might just fit in well for your day ashore between B2Bs.

The Princess brochure lists 3 shore excursions that might be of interest:

a. Everglades Airboat Ride;

b. Everglades Airboat & Florida Tropical Gardens/Wildlife Sanctuary; and

c. Ft Lauderdale by Land & Sea.

 

Try going to the Princess shore excursion website at:

 

http://www.princess.com/planner/shorex/index.jsp

 

 

Hope this helps, and...

 

Ciao for now!!!

[britsbest]

Thanks Ron I saw these trips for pax who had flights home and I assume they end at the airport rather than returning to ship side. Perhaps there will be more info on board

[MaryPoppinz]

I wonder if the OP could call one of the hotels on the water taxi route and ask if the bell captain would be willing to $tore their bag$ while they used the water taxi?

[Cinerama]

Thank you for all of your replies!

 

Roland

[Next]

Given that you arrive at 10:15 ( if you are on time), chances are you will not get you luggage and be out the door much before 11:00 -11:30. The cab ride is 15 minutes (only 5 miles, but stop lights, guard gates, etc) which will put you at the ship just about the time they will begin boarding.

 

While you could go do the water tax thing, you really do not have a great deal of time. I'd suggest going straight to the ship, get checked in, have a nice lunch (it don't cost nothin*), find your way around, hang out at the pool, listen to the band, make reservations, and enjoy the amenities of the ship.

 

If you really don't want to go to the ship right away, then I'd do the water taxi. You can reasearch it a little and figure where you want to drop your bags. (One possbility is to go to the pier, dump your bags at the curb, (recommend tipping the handlers) and then sallie forth to the water taxi.

 

http://www.watertaxi.com/FortLauderdale/FLLHome.Asp

 

 

* Belushi - Animal House - "Have a beer, it don't cost nothin"