Fort Lauderdale cruise advice

[MarkC]

Hi all,

I know there are a lot of cruisers out there, be it Disney, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, etc. We are cruising from there next spring. Do you have any advice on transportation? Is there a good motel to stay close to the port? Does anyone provide free shuttle service? If you rent a car, do the car rental services shuttle you? I know we rented from Hertz at Port Canaveral and that couldn't have been any easier. We dropped off the car and they took us right to the cruise terminal.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We have stayed (and cruised) out of Fort Lauderdale before. I don't remember the name of the hotel, and honestly it's probably not the same name any way, as this was 14 years ago. We stayed in a chain hotel on the beach and it was a very quick drive to the cruise terminal. Might have been a Ramada or Radisson. Sorry I can't be of more help with hotel choice.

I can, however, recommend a place to have dinner the night before if you have time. We had dinner at a place called the Mai Kia. It's a polynesian dinner show and we loved it! As a matter of fact we stayed in Fort Lauderdale for one night before a flight to the Bahamas a few years after our cruise and we had dinner at the Mai Kia again. It's been years, but if the service and quality are still the same it's a wonderful place to have dinner.

[MarkC]

Thanks for the advice. Interesting that you are from Lafayette. I was just there last Thursday on business. Had I known I would have looked you up for lunch or something. Maybe another time. I'll be back through in November. Thanks again.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Thanks for the advice. Interesting that you are from Lafayette. I was just there last Thursday on business. Had I known I would have looked you up for lunch or something. Maybe another time. I'll be back through in November. Thanks again.

It's a small world..... sorry couldn't resist! Hope you enjoyed your time here in Lafayette!

[coloradowendyl]

The port is literally 5 minutes from the airport. If you are flying in the night before, look at one of the airport hotels. Another option would be the Hyatt at Pier 66 or the Embassy suites.

I know there is a Hampton Inn at the airport and they may provide shuttle service to the port. I would check.

wendy