fort lauderdale
 

Author: georgec ([email protected])
Date: 07/18/2005, 07:14 am
We are looking to take a cruise from Fort L in April next year. How far is airport from departing docks? Cost of transfer? How far is docks from Sheraton Yankee Clipper Hotel? Any comments on quality of hotel?

george-
you are about 10 min cab ride ( $10) from airport to hotel..
and a $5 cab ride to cruise terminal from hotel..

Do NOT get the cruise ship transfers...a big rip off...

Hotel has been renovated...
You can also look at Hyatt Pier 66, The Americasuites, and the Renaissance..all in the same area...Hyatt overlooks the Intracoastal..All others are NOT beach properties...

Ditto on the cruise ship transfers. We paid $24 each and a cab would have cost 1/2 that amount. In addition, you have to pick up more passengers at other terminals on arrival & wait until they load luggage. (Our luggage was stained when they removed it from the luggage bin.)

Ft. Laud is the most heavily used cruise port in the USA. While the airport is only a few miles away, getting there by taxi,WHEN YOU WANT IT, can be a real problem. we have arrived there to disembark at the same time that 9 other cruise ships were disembarking. you will wait for a taxi for more than 2 hours, if you can get one. beware.

Having cruised over many years out of Ft. Lauderdale; I have watched traffic in and out of this port explode. Here's my take. I always do my own taxi at embarkation. Easy, ten minutes and $10 to $15 including tip depending upon traffic. Not as conjested all ships are boarding over a six to eight hour window.

Disembarkation is another story. In the past you could just walk outside the terminal and hop in a cab. Those days are over. Increased use of the port combined with 9/11 are the reason. Every cab must stop at security before entering the port now. So, turnarounds take considerably more time and, as another poster mentions, you have six to eight ships all debarking over a "two" hour window. It's a no brainer for me. I cab in and take the transfers back.

I call it a few dollars for convenience and sanity rather than standing in a taxi line and watching grown adults push and shove and argue about cutting in line for cabs. Ridiculous! Don't care to end my wonderful vacation that way!

The Sheraton Yankee Clipper is an absolute dive of a hotel. There is another Sheraton very nearby that is even worse.

You'd do better to stay almost ANYWHERE else. We go to a yearly function at this hotel each June. It just keeps getting worse.

We were told at The Pillars hotel that on a Sunday morning, we might not be able to get a cab to take us to the airport!! We ended up getting a car to take us!!

Marriott Marina is nice and is in sight of the port (you can see the ships) and its right on the water taxi/intercoastal. The Renaissance is fine too. Just a couple of blocks to the water taxi and nice/ quiet with excellent restaurant. I stayed there and got shuttle on my own to the ship without a hitch.

We will be disembarking from Ft Lauderdale and I am so glad that I read this thread. Does anyone know how much the one way transfers cost?

Also, we have booked the Ramada Airport hotel for arrival one day prior to the cruise. They offer free shuttle service from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port. I did not want to have to rent a car and the beach was not necessary, only a pool. Full hot breakfast also included in the price.

The best deal will be getting Hyatt Pier 66 on Priceline.com (be sure to read www.biddingfortravel.com first to see what others are paying before you bid and also to learn about "free re-bid zones). This is 4 star, beach area. This hotel is more of a resort with nice pool and grounds and all the rooms have nice balconies. This is my 1st choice.

If you don't want to bid and just pay for a nice, newer, clean hotel than the Holiday Inn Express on 17th will work fine for a night or two. It includes breakfast and free internet. It's a good value for the money. It's located very very close to Port Everglades. It has shuttle service from the airport to hotel but I hear they're discontinuing the shuttle to the pier soon. It's no problem though....a very cheap cab ride (maybe $5 or so).