My family/friends have decided to take a milestone cruise to the Bahamas in July. We land in FLL 1130 pm. There will be 10 of us so I figure by the time we retrieve our bags it will be close to 1am. Is it worth getting a hotel room for 9 hours. We can begin boarding at Port Everglades at 1pm. Has anyone hung around FLL airport overnight? If not any suggestions for cheap hotel rooms that offer shuttle service.

"Is it worth getting a hotel room for 9 hours."

Yes.

How cheap does a room need to be, split among, presumably, several people?

I would.

Just look for some hotels which have what you want. Shouldn't be hard to do.

From the website: >>You can only stay in a pre-security waiting area (not on the concourse) for the night.
Our seating is attached chairs with arm rests.
Heavy-duty cleaning is often conducted at night.
Food and beverage service is limited.
It can get cold in the terminals, so bring warm clothes<<

Do you really want to spend the night before your cruise sitting up in a chair listening to floor polishers?

Book rooms - definitely more than one room. No hotel I know of would allow 10 people to crash in a single room.

Thanks I think i will begin looking for some rooms. The cruise is in July so maybe I will find a great deal.

http://www.sleepinginairports.net/us...lauderdale.htm

Fast look found a Homewood Suites near FLL for just over $100 - King bed and sofa bed and includes free breakfast. Could get 3 rooms and breakfast for about $40 per person. You would have to buy breakfast on cruise day anyway. So even less $ when you factor that in.

I would not even consider sleeping in an airport for that small amount of $

Absolutely get a hotel. You don't want to be so exhausted, you just crash the first night on the ship, and 12 hours is plenty of time to get a full night's sleep.

Some, like Ramada Inn, can be as cheap as $70.00 for two double beds if you book early. Prices can go up near your cruise date.

Get one close to both airport and port, with a free shuttle either from the airport or to the port. Check because some may not run so late.

Land at 1:00, get luggage and you can be at the hotel and in bed by 2:00 - 2:30. Get up at noon, grab a bite and easily be at the ship by 1:00. You got 8 hours sleep and will be rested to enjoy the sail-a-way on the ship.

I miss-read. You land at 11:30. You will probably be at the hotel and in bed by 1:00, so even better situation. Definitely get a hotel. If anyone I was with wanted to stay at the airport for 12 hours during the night, they would do it without me.

One thing to factor in is the cost of transfers, from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the airport.

Some hotels cut off the airport to hotel transfer fairly early.

There are a lot of newish hotels near I-94 and Stirling. There's also a decent La Quinta Inn on a lake near the Oakwood shopping center (which has restaurants and a Home Depot if you need to buy some last minute things like insect repellent).