hiwaves

This is a little bar beside the International Cafe. Two times a night they play videos of how special drink ingredients were “discovered”. The bartender has a microphone and a camera. When someone orders one of the 16 special drinks, the bartender does a special demonstration of making the drink. It is interesting for the first few times. We went there every night because the drinks are good and the bartender would make little jokes while doing the performance. To kid the bartender we would order the Cartegena Cool every night and watch him roll his eyes and joke with us. He didn’t make it on camera after the second or third time LOL. Vanilla Sky from Tahiti and the Key West Key Lime Martini were my favourites. Try it out and enjoy the show.

When we stayed at the Crown Plaza, the shuttles were running less than 30 minutes apart. If you are in the lobby waiting you will be put onto an earlier shuttle if it is not full. The distance to port is so short there were a lot of people walking over to the ship. We walked over to the battleship parked at the harbour the day before our cruise to take a tour. There are benches all along the walkway to sit and watch the harbour and it is a pleasant walk.

After the cruise I would probably stay at a beach hotel like the Best Western Oceanside or the Bahia Mar. Take a taxi to the hotel, enjoy the day at the beach or take the water taxi around Fort Lauderdale. The next morning pick up a rental car from the Bahia Mar (short walk from Best Western Oceanside) hotel - I think it is Enterprise. Drive straight up Hwy A1A and enjoy a leisurely scenic drive up to Orlando airport. We had to stay an extra 10 days in Florida due to covid and had a chance to explore north of Fort Lauderdale. It was a nice drive past multi million dollar homes with glimpses of beaches and marinas.

I just noticed your question on Fort Lauderdale. We stay at Embassy Suites or Best Western Oceanside and get around by bus. The No 40 bus (I think that’s the number) runs along 17th Street and then all along the beach, then turns and goes around the Galleria Mall, before heading back to 17th Street. It costs 2.00 or 1.00 if you are a senior. There is also a free Beach Express Bus that does this route as well. We always take the bus to the mall when in Fort Lauderdale. The stops are a few blocks apart.