Fort Lauderdale Extension hotel question

[ClevelandKid]

Hi all,

 

I just came back in from shoveling a foot of snow, so of course my mind is on our cruise (though it is a long way off).  Couple of questions to help melt the snow away:

 

We signed up for the pre-cruise extension for our Panama Canal cruise.  The hotel is the Westin in Fort Lauderdale.  How are room preferences handled?  You take what is given, or is there a window between when Viking gives the hotel the guest list and when you actually show up that you can contact the hotel directly to get your preferences?  Or is that handled through Viking (I have to think not since Viking doesn't have the reservation software for the hotel).

 

The hotel is right on the beach...  We would like to spend the day on the beach...  Can we send our bags ahead with the Viking transport and go later to catch the ship?  There appears to be a free shuttle that Fort Lauderdale runs between the beaches and Port Everglades (or more precisely, Eisenhower and 17th - a short walk).  Or should we do everything first and then return to the beach (which seems like a bit of a time sink), or best yet - does Viking run its transport multiple times throughout the day?

 

Stay warm (and for those of you already on a cruise - you lucky person you)!

 

[FlyerTalker]

You might want to read this about the Westin:

 

https://viewfromthewing.com/same-marriott-that-tried-to-steal-2-from-every-guest-is-sticking-it-to-elites-on-breakfast/

 

Personally, I never take the "extensions".  They are a bad deal financially and the supposed benefit of having transfers included is rarely any kind of real benefit.   You can get better hotels at better rates on your own.

[TayanaLorna]

2 hours ago, ClevelandKid said:

Hi all,

 

I just came back in from shoveling a foot of snow, so of course my mind is on our cruise (though it is a long way off).  Couple of questions to help melt the snow away:

 

We signed up for the pre-cruise extension for our Panama Canal cruise.  The hotel is the Westin in Fort Lauderdale.  How are room preferences handled?  You take what is given, or is there a window between when Viking gives the hotel the guest list and when you actually show up that you can contact the hotel directly to get your preferences?  Or is that handled through Viking (I have to think not since Viking doesn't have the reservation software for the hotel).

 

The hotel is right on the beach...  We would like to spend the day on the beach...  Can we send our bags ahead with the Viking transport and go later to catch the ship?  There appears to be a free shuttle that Fort Lauderdale runs between the beaches and Port Everglades (or more precisely, Eisenhower and 17th - a short walk).  Or should we do everything first and then return to the beach (which seems like a bit of a time sink), or best yet - does Viking run its transport multiple times throughout the day?

 

Stay warm (and for those of you already on a cruise - you lucky person you)!

 

We did Viking pre extension once and only because it was Covid times and we worried about needing to be in a Viking bubble.  There was no choice for the room but it was very nice.  Not the highest end suite but a high end deluxe room.  We arrived at the airport at an off time and had a private car to the hotel.  They did not make us wait for later flights.  We had a 3 hour tour of Barcelona before boarding the ship.  It was nice but I could have done the same hotel, private limo and private city tour for at least half of what Viking charged.  I would NEVER do a Viking extension in the US.  For many doing the Viking extensions in a foreign country where you don't speak the language or understand the currency is a measure of comfort...but in the US?  If all you want to do is chill at a hotel on the beach and stay on the beach until you board the ship, you can do it for a lot less and save your dollars for optional excursions on the ship.

[ClevelandKid]

43 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

For many doing the Viking extensions in a foreign country where you don't speak the language or understand the currency is a measure of comfort...but in the US?  If all you want to do is chill at a hotel on the beach and stay on the beach until you board the ship, you can do it for a lot less and save your dollars for optional excursions on the ship.

Normally I would agree with you - however, in this case because we are using Viking Air, the finances are a wash, either one comes out to about $400 ($100 pp deviation fee + hotel room which is probably $160 at a Hampton Inn + transportation versus $199 pp and no deviation fee and we got a beach front room, which would be at least $200 - I did check out hotels before going the this route). 

 

As far as using Viking Air, we had booked a cruise where I had made the flight reservations, and when the cruise got canceled I had a headache with the flights.  So, until Covid is a thing of the past, I will use Viking Air and let them worry about it.

[dd57]

We had a fantastic pre cruise extension in the US - in Alaska.  We had been to most of the places before but the included Viking cultural, history, and biology talk experiences made it well worth it to us.