Turnaround Day in Ft. Lauderdale – Any Excursions?

[79Smiles]

My husband and I are doing the 14-day Caribbean Adventurer in November. Will there be any excursions available in Ft. Lauderdale on turnaround day for folks who aren’t disembarking? The ones listed in the Personalizer are all designated “Disembarkation” and include airport transfers. Do you have any recommendations for non-Princess tours if nothing is available? We’d like to get out and see some of the sights while the Ruby is in port. Thanks in advance!

[cantwaitfornextcruise]

It really depends what you are looking for, if it's a little beach time and shopping. Hop in a cab from the port to the beach or Las Oslas or The Galleria. If you want to do the Glades, speak to the Tour desk and they will arrange for the bus to drop you off back at the port before they take the folk onto Miami International.

 

We usually get a taxi to Publix then take the trolley Bus for the day, then take a taxi back to the Port when we are ready.

[MtnBikerFallDown]

Not sure what times you'd actually be off and available, but if you like to see the city from the water, the Jungle Queen cruise is fun. It's hokey, but in a neat way! We really enjoyed it. They do sight seeing cruises at 9:30 and 1:30. You couldn't do the 1:30, because it wouldn't get back until 4:30. But, if you could get off the ship soon enough, you could do the 9:30am. Again, it's kind of hokey/kitschy, but in such a fun way.

http://junglequeen.com/sightseeing-cruise/

[pompeii]

We are in the same situation in November except that we are changing ships between cruises. If you read the descriptions of the Princess excursions in FLL, you'll find at least a couple that are for b2b cruisers as well as those who are going to the airport. In other words, they come back to the port. One that we are considering is the Everglades and Flamingo Gardens. The benefit to us is that Princess will transfer our luggage to the new ship as part of the excursion. But as others have pointed out, you have other non-ship options as well. We'd probably do the water taxi, except for having to get our luggage to the new ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

My husband and I are doing the 14-day Caribbean Adventurer in November. Will there be any excursions available in Ft. Lauderdale on turnaround day for folks who aren’t disembarking? The ones listed in the Personalizer are all designated “Disembarkation” and include airport transfers. Do you have any recommendations for non-Princess tours if nothing is available? We’d like to get out and see some of the sights while the Ruby is in port. Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

This one is great! It would have to be booked on the side but Princess uses them too for disembarkation tours.

 

http://www.carriebcruises.com/

Edited May 30, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[bhopal21]

This one is great! It would have to be booked on the side but Princess uses them too for disembarkation tours.

 

http://www.carriebcruises.com/

 

This was offered as a Princess shorex when we did a B2B on the Ruby in February. It also included shopping time on Las Olas Blvd as well. They will drop off folks at the airport first at the end of the tour and then return to the ship.

 

We really enjoyed it and agree it is a great tour for turnaround day!

 

Mike:)

[msw.delafield]

Another option would be the Yellow Water Taxi that runs north/south on the intercostal.

 

 

 

You can enjoy the ride as a nice tour of the large yachts and houses if you like.

 

 

 

Or you take the water taxi up to the Galleria mall or into the downtown strip for dining/shopping. There is a southbound run as well to Hollywood for beaches and some of the lunch spots down there.

 

 

 

Boats depart from underneath the 17th street causeway bridge just north of the cruise piers (#2 & #4) – if looking at map, right at the Hilton Marina hotel. Is an easy walk from the terminal exit north to 17th and the pickup point.

 

 

Search Google for the Fort Lauderdale water taxi and find all relevant information there!

 

 

I believe price is now $22 for a full day pass.

[ggprincess2004]

You can reserve any tour that drops passengers at the FLL airport, it will drop them off and then return you to the pier. They put a few on for in transit passengers exclusively, but just double check at the shore excursion desk about the return to the ship.

[Pam in CA]

This one is great! It would have to be booked on the side but Princess uses them too for disembarkation tours.

 

http://www.carriebcruises.com/

Get on the boat early as the seating inside (I didn't go to the top) is very, very cramped and unless you're at the window, you won't see much. Food and drink is very expensive.

 

This was offered as a Princess shorex when we did a B2B on the Ruby in February. It also included shopping time on Las Olas Blvd as well. They will drop off folks at the airport first at the end of the tour and then return to the ship.

We had no shopping time on our tour and after the tour and dropping people off at FLL, the bus went back to the ship to just drop off the tour guide before heading on to MIA. Granted, it wasn't far, but I couldn't understand why we had to sit on the bus an extra half hour because the tour guide had to get back to the ship and by that time, the traffic at the ship was horrendous. Edited May 30, 2014 by Pam in CA

[bhopal21]

Get on the boat early as the seating inside (I didn't go to the top) is very, very cramped and unless you're at the window, you won't see much. Food and drink is very expensive.

 

We had no shopping time on our tour and after the tour and dropping people off at FLL, the bus went back to the ship to just drop off the tour guide before heading on to MIA. Granted, it wasn't far, but I couldn't understand why we had to sit on the bus an extra half hour because the tour guide had to get back to the ship and by that time, the traffic at the ship was horrendous.

 

There wasn't a soul inside the boat on our shorex as everyone sat up top and I would guess we had about 90 min on Las Olas.

 

Mike:)

[caribill]

Will there be any excursions available in Ft. Lauderdale on turnaround day for folks who aren’t disembarking? The ones listed in the Personalizer are all designated “Disembarkation” and include airport transfers.

 

The small print of the Princess excursions says

 

"This tour is for passengers with flights leaving Fort Lauderdale International Airport after x:00 PM. **Although, this is a

disembarkation tour, guests who are continuing the cruise (on LINK voyages or back to back) and wish to participate on this tour

should be aware that the coach will first drop off the passengers at the Fort Lauderdale airport then return to the pier where the

ship is docked."

[AKman2495]

At the end of January we were on a 14 day B2B. At the end of the first week, we took one of those disembarkation excursions. We went to the Everglades and then to the Flamingo Gardens.

 

I thought it was a great tour. As others have noted, the tour ends by dropping off the departing passengers at the airport. Those continuing on take the same bus back to the ship.

 

We got back around 1 pm. I think there were between 20 and 30 of us. We went through the scanners at the terminal and were led straight to the gangway. We almost took out the photographer!

 

Note that the tour has differently numbers tickets depending on whether you are leaving or an in transit passenger.

[OCruisers]

We had some cruiser friends from England on a B2B interested in doing something on their turn around day in FLL. An extremely nice person in Shore Excursions highlighted the ones offered for In Transit passengers. :)

LuLu

[bhopal21]

We had some cruiser friends from England on a B2B interested in doing something on their turn around day in FLL. An extremely nice person in Shore Excursions highlighted the ones offered for In Transit passengers. :)

LuLu

 

Heck we enjoyed the day in FLL much better than any of the crappy Caribbean ports.

 

Mike:)

[Minoushka]

We went to Sawgrass and were brought back to the ship

[Colo Cruiser]

We went to Sawgrass and were brought back to the ship

 

So they would not let you in? :eek:

[Crystabel]

Another option would be the Yellow Water Taxi that runs north/south on the intercostal.

 

 

 

You can enjoy the ride as a nice tour of the large yachts and houses if you like.

 

 

 

Or you take the water taxi up to the Galleria mall or into the downtown strip for dining/shopping. There is a southbound run as well to Hollywood for beaches and some of the lunch spots down there.

 

 

 

Boats depart from underneath the 17th street causeway bridge just north of the cruise piers (#2 & #4) – if looking at map, right at the Hilton Marina hotel. Is an easy walk from the terminal exit north to 17th and the pickup point.

 

 

Search Google for the Fort Lauderdale water taxi and find all relevant information there!

 

 

I believe price is now $22 for a full day pass.

 

I second the idea of taking a water taxi. We purchased a day pass and did a hop on hop off excursion on our own. You'll just need to pay attention to the schedule of the different routes so you get back to the ship on time. The water taxi pilots give you a rundown of who owns the homes and yachts and prices of same. It was a great way to spend a leisurely day on water.

[AKman2495]

Heck we enjoyed the day in FLL much better than any of the crappy Caribbean ports.

 

Mike:)

 

I wouldn't quite go that far, but the day in FLL was very nice.

[KruzPrincess]

I did the Carrie B tour once. It was a relaxing tour and I enjoyed it. It wasn't crowded at all when I did it and I really enjoyed the ride around the harbor to see all the ships. We did have a bit of shopping time when I did the tour, but not much. This was a couple years ago.

[Minoushka]

We went to Sawgrass and were brought back to the ship

 

Duh we had time to shop. And browse ...loL

[pablo222]

Heck we enjoyed the day in FLL much better than any of the crappy Caribbean ports.

 

Mike:)

 

Hardly anyone in Ft. Lauderdale wants to braid your hair, or take you

on an island tour.

[bhopal21]

Hardly anyone in Ft. Lauderdale wants to braid your hair, or take you

on an island tour.

 

Isn't that the truth?

 

We had not been on a Caribbean cruise in years but did enjoy our time on the Ruby.

 

Two good things about Fort Lauderdale and Alaska are the things you mentioned.;)

 

Mike:)

[geoherb]

We took the opportunity on our turn-around day between cruises to walk to Total Wine and Publix and stock up on things for our second leg. We waited to go after lunch. We were staying a night in Fort Lauderdale after the second cruise, so we knew we'd have time to do things then. I highly recommend the water taxi. We stayed at the Marriott and were able to catch the water taxi right beside the hotel--underneath the 17th Street bridge.

[Reader0108598]

We took the opportunity on our turn-around day between cruises to walk to Total Wine and Publix and stock up on things for our second leg. We waited to go after lunch. We were staying a night in Fort Lauderdale after the second cruise, so we knew we'd have time to do things then. I highly recommend the water taxi. We stayed at the Marriott and were able to catch the water taxi right beside the hotel--underneath the 17th Street bridge.

 

 

FYI:

 

One of the websites has a deal on the Water taxi now $22.00 for two.

Good until October 2014.

I cannot mention the website but opposites attract---- Dead unsocial:D

 

Reader

[PescadoAmarillo]

FYI:

 

One of the websites has a deal on the Water taxi now $22.00 for two.

Good until October 2014.

I cannot mention the website but opposites attract---- Dead unsocial:D

 

Reader

 

I was just coming here to mention this too. We took advantage of a 2-for-1 on the warwe taxi a couple of years ago. Best Fort Lauderdale day ever!