Atlanta to Ft Lauderdale

[CJMini]

Hello all,

Hoping I might receive some suggestions --

 

My son and his bride (as of Nov 2016) will be celebrating their honeymoon on Freedom of the Seas. They plan on departing Atlanta by car the day before cruise departure. They are looking for suggestions for a hotel and nice restaurant as they will be celebrating her birthday.

 

My knowledge of Florida tells me once you transit through the Orlando area there isn't a lot of choices until you reach the coast of Florida. The ship is due to depart at 5:30 pm so there isn't a need to wake at zero dark thirty to head for Ft Lauderdale.

 

Thank you in advance for any ideas.

 

C.J.

[Clarea]

Hello all,

Hoping I might receive some suggestions --

 

My son and his bride (as of Nov 2016) will be celebrating their honeymoon on Freedom of the Seas. They plan on departing Atlanta by car the day before cruise departure. They are looking for suggestions for a hotel and nice restaurant as they will be celebrating her birthday.

 

My knowledge of Florida tells me once you transit through the Orlando area there isn't a lot of choices until you reach the coast of Florida. The ship is due to depart at 5:30 pm so there isn't a need to wake at zero dark thirty to head for Ft Lauderdale.

 

Thank you in advance for any ideas.

 

C.J.

You may also want to post on the Florida Departures forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=672

[jcg4550]

I live in both places. That is a 700 mile drive. I highly suggest flying to Fort Lauderdale on the departure day. Get to Lauderdale by 11:00am & board the ship by noon for a great day. When the ship returns it will be a 700 mile drive back to Atlanta. After a relaxing week, the drive home will take its toll.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited April 13, 2016 by jcg4550

[papaflamingo]

I live in Atlanta. We drive often to Ft. Lauderdale to cruise. About 10 hours. We tend to spend the night in Orlando. Easy. We did Serenade in March. Stayed at the Hampton Inn, Gateway at Orlando Airport. I know a Hampton isn't the nicest hotel for them, but it was new and nice. There was some good restaurants across the parking lot, including Bonefish and Carrabbas. There is also a number of other hotels in the area including an Embassy Suites, a Sheraton, Marriott, and Hilton Garden Inn. We chose this because during Spring Break the hotels in Ft. Lauderdale were ridiculously expensive. Anyway, there are a number of hotels, as you can imagine, in Orlando, as well as great restaurants. The drive to Orlando was about 7 hours, and then about 3 to Ft. Lauderdale.

A couple more ideas is Palm Beach, or Boca Raton. We've done both of them also. They also offer some nice hotels and restaurants.

My best advice, is that get at least as far as Orlando. Then it's an easy morning. Leave at 8 or 9 and be on the ship by noon.

As mentioned above, they could fly. But I wouldn't go the day of the cruise EVER. I am an Airline Pilot. I know the potential. One Sunday I was flying a flight from Atlanta to Miami, full of cruise passengers. We were scheduled to arrive around noon. We took off and had a flap malfunction. We had to burn off some fuel, land in Atlanta, and get another plane out of the hangar. The noon arrival was at 4 pm. Now, this is unusual, but it only has to happen once.

[icemanoneaatl]

We have driven that route. Be prepared for traffic slowdown on 75 south near Gainesville/Ocala - for no good reason, traffic on 75 will come to a stop and then move again. Once you get to the turnpike, it gets regular freeway speeds again. We drove straight to Jupiter fl and stayed the night at la Quinta. We were tired and found a local, typical Florida outdoor open air, casual restaurant - dune dogs- for a fish sandwich. It was nice and enjoyed the feel of it- would go back again- but this was very casual and not upscale- so, maybe y'all will want something different.

[SthrnCruiser]

We drove it from Atlanta in 2014. We stayed at the Sheraton Cypress Creek in Ft. Lauderdale. It was nice. We got in late (10pm ish) and only slept there. But it was nice and I'd stay there again.

 

It was a long drive though. That turnpike was forever! it felt like. That is the reason we looked at a cruise out of Port Canaveral for this one with our kids.