Hotel Ft Lauderdale

[Labarador]

We are going on a Princess cruise in March we have been told that Princess has select hotels to stay in at Ft Lauderdale. What advantage is it to stay at one of these recommended hotels are they worth the extra cash. Which one comes the most recommended. Are there other ones not recommended by Pincess that may be better and offer the same amenities.

 

Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

There is little value to staying at the Princess hotels. You can usually do better in price, on your own. Don't use Princess transfers in FLL either, cabs will be cheaper, maybe much cheaper.

 

For Florida Hotel and transport research, come over to the Florida Departures board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

[Essiesmom]

It's just the convenience of having Princess find the hotel and arrange the transfers. But you pay a premium for it. You are better off to go to the Florida ports board as ask about the latest in hotels that have free shuttle from the airport and to the port. with free breakfast. EM

[jdvmd]

We are going on a Princess cruise in March we have been told that Princess has select hotels to stay in at Ft Lauderdale. What advantage is it to stay at one of these recommended hotels are they worth the extra cash. Which one comes the most recommended. Are there other ones not recommended by Pincess that may be better and offer the same amenities.

 

Thanks

You are going to be paying a premium if booking one of the recommended hotels. No advantage to booking through Princess. The cost will be higher than if you booked conventionally. Also, there have been numerous times that we have stayed at a "preferred" hotel with whatever cruise line but booked the room through hotwire.com or priceline.com. The most recent example was at the Sheraton Gateway LAX. I booked for $70 by bidding on Priceline. The only thing I saw that indicated this was a preferred hotel was a Princess near one of the waiting areas.

[kruzerci]

There's no advantage in booking with the cruise line.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Book your own hotel -- we always do.

[royalcruz]

The hotels that Princess uses are:

Marriott Ft Laud north

Embassy Suites Ft Laud

Sheraton Ft Laud Beach

 

Marriott is over 10 miles from the port. There is a multiplex cinema and a few restauarants a short walk away. It's not in a resort area. If you miss your shuttle transfer expect to pay $35 in cab fare.

 

Embassy Suites is a cruisers' fave pic. It is very close to the port and there are lots of restaurants, drug stores, grocery, wine, and a few other shops within easy walking distance.

 

Sheraton is right at the beach but a lot of the rooms are older and across the street. It is close to the port. You can walk to a few restaurants from here. You can walk to the main strip along the beachfront but it is a good walk.

[obnurse]

We stay at Embassy Suites on 17th St. We are able to walk to a great Italian restaurant, the grocery store and to many other places for last minute things. The hotel is nice and includes breakfast in the morning. You can arrange transfer to the port through the hotel when you check in. Much better than booking through Princess for us.

[DonnaK]

We stay at Embassy Suites on 17th St. We are able to walk to a great Italian restaurant, the grocery store and to many other places for last minute things. The hotel is nice and includes breakfast in the morning. You can arrange transfer to the port through the hotel when you check in. Much better than booking through Princess for us.

 

What is the name of this restaurant? We didn't see an italian restaurant the last time we stayed at Embassy, which is our top choice hotel when in FLL.

[royalcruz]

What is the name of this restaurant? We didn't see an italian restaurant the last time we stayed at Embassy, which is our top choice hotel when in FLL.

There are a few Italian restaurants within walking distance, namely Bistro Mezzaluna (upscale) and Bravo (moderate). Of course there are a bunch of pizza/casual places too like Dough Boys, etc.