Hotel Daypass in MIA or FLL?

[toodycat]

Hi! My husband and I are flying in and out of FLL, but cruising on Celebrity out of Miami. The ship returns at 7 a.m., but our flight doesn't leave FLL until 3 p.m. Does anyone know of a good hotel in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami that offers a day pass? We would like access to a pool and either a room or access to a locker room to shower and change before the flight. Thanks for any suggestions!:)

[LHT28]

You may want to look on the Florida forum

 

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

 

the question comes up a lot

[Hlitner]

With a 3pm flight out of FLL, you really will not have a lot of extra time. You might want to contact the Atlantic Hotel & Spa (Ft Lauderdale) and see if they would accommodate your needs. They used to sell a day pass for about $50. Keep in mind that a 7am docking does not mean you are off the ship soon thereafter. So by the time you get off the ship, clear immigration, and get your luggage it may well be 9am or later. If you use Uber (about $30-$35 to get to Ft Lauderdale) you might be up at a hotel by 10. You would want to leave for FLL by 12:30 which means you are not getting a lot of time for your money. But it is an option. Beware that the TSA security lines at FLL, can be slow on a busy day. If you have TSA Pre-check...it helps...but otherwise one needs to allow extra time...just in case. We have found the lines to be the worse for the area that accesses the Southwest Airline gates (a very popular airline out of FLL).

 

Hank

[Wheatie59]

Four Seasons in Miami offered day passes last time we cruised from MIA, Jan 2016. They were $35 per person at that time.

[easyboy]

You can check Rodeway Inn & Suites in FLL.

 

http://www.hotelftlauderdale.net/dayroom.html

[packer99]

With a 3pm flight out of FLL, you really will not have a lot of extra time. You might want to contact the Atlantic Hotel & Spa (Ft Lauderdale) and see if they would accommodate your needs. They used to sell a day pass for about $50. Keep in mind that a 7am docking does not mean you are off the ship soon thereafter. So by the time you get off the ship, clear immigration, and get your luggage it may well be 9am or later. If you use Uber (about $30-$35 to get to Ft Lauderdale) you might be up at a hotel by 10. You would want to leave for FLL by 12:30 which means you are not getting a lot of time for your money. But it is an option. Beware that the TSA security lines at FLL, can be slow on a busy day. If you have TSA Pre-check...it helps...but otherwise one needs to allow extra time...just in case. We have found the lines to be the worse for the area that accesses the Southwest Airline gates (a very popular airline out of FLL).

 

Hank

 

Yes this. Take the last disembarkation time, you should have time to shower etc on the ship in the AM. Maybe stop for lunch somewhere but renting a hotel for 2 hours seems like a waste.

[toodycat]

Thanks. I will call those properties and see what's available. I think we will get off the ship fairly quickly as DH believes we can get by with only carry on luggage, although I am not as optimistic as he is about that. We do have TSA pre also. DH is suggesting that we not do the day pass, but rent a car, drive to Fort Lauderdale, have brunch and then just enjoy the city until it's airport time. I like to have a home base and a place to take a shower before I get on a plane.

[freestyling]

If you are off the ship by 8:00 (carrying off you own luggage) get your rental car which took us 45 minutes last Feb you will be on your 45 minute drive to FLL. That will leave you approx 2.5-3 hrs before you need to head to FLL for your flight. Certainly doable.

Next time we will take the late disembarkation (9:30) if we have a flight booked out of FLL or just spend an extra day in FLL.

[BallFour4]

In January we walked out of the terminal at 7:15am and had 5:15pm flights home. I reserved in advance a SUV, walked over to the rental counter, got keys to a new Suburban and then returned to collect my five friends. We had a nice time looking around, having lunch and then enjoying Harbor Beach.

 

Shop the rental rates online and via phone before you reserve.

 

.

[toodycat]

The Atlantic no longer offers day passes:(. I have a call in to the Epic. I also found this article if anyone's interested:

http://www.miamicurated.com/entertainment/miami-hotels-great-pools-offering-day-passes/

[luvtheships]

Thanks. I will call those properties and see what's available. I think we will get off the ship fairly quickly as DH believes we can get by with only carry on luggage, although I am not as optimistic as he is about that. We do have TSA pre also. DH is suggesting that we not do the day pass, but rent a car, drive to Fort Lauderdale, have brunch and then just enjoy the city until it's airport time. I like to have a home base and a place to take a shower before I get on a plane.

 

 

 

Really? Aren't you planning to shower when you get up that morning?

 

Why would you need another shower 6 hours or so later? Aren't you posting above that you aren't doing a day pass?

 

So you want to shower again after brunch?

 

 

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[toodycat]

My husband wants to do without the daypass and go to brunch, but I prefer to eke every moment of sunshine and pool/ocean time out of every vacation. I would definitely shower on the ship that morning, but since Florida in August is so hot and I am a little OCD, I prefer a second shower before getting on the plane. I don't want to sit for three hours feeling sweaty and gross and the person sitting next to me will probably also prefer that I showered. As of now, the Epic Hotel offers $20 day passes which include pool and locker room access and don't have to be reserved in advance. That is our plan, but it is subject to change if we are delayed getting off the ship or the weather is bad.

[luvtheships]

My husband wants to do without the daypass and go to brunch, but I prefer to eke every moment of sunshine and pool/ocean time out of every vacation. I would definitely shower on the ship that morning, but since Florida in August is so hot and I am a little OCD, I prefer a second shower before getting on the plane. I don't want to sit for three hours feeling sweaty and gross and the person sitting next to me will probably also prefer that I showered. As of now, the Epic Hotel offers $20 day passes which include pool and locker room access and don't have to be reserved in advance. That is our plan, but it is subject to change if we are delayed getting off the ship or the weather is bad.

 

 

 

Well it's clear you can't do brunch AND spend a day at the beach and pool

 

Of course a shower if you do the beach but you sounded as though the brunch was the decision

 

 

Just a suggestion...since you want to get every second of sun and water possible (which I totally understand) why not for your next cruise book something from a Sunday to Sunday with the debark Sunday being the day before a federal holiday

 

Fly to your destination on Friday night....enjoy every second of a beachfront hotel until Sunday morning then get on the ship. Upon debark the following Sunday check back into a hotel and enjoy the day.

 

Fly home the next morning which is the federal holiday

 

Of course this assumes you get holidays off and don't mind the extra expense...but hey you get the extra beach pool time

 

Alternate suggestion...travel more frequently

 

 

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[Nic6318]

Hi! My husband and I are flying in and out of FLL, but cruising on Celebrity out of Miami. The ship returns at 7 a.m., but our flight doesn't leave FLL until 3 p.m. Does anyone know of a good hotel in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami that offers a day pass? We would like access to a pool and either a room or access to a locker room to shower and change before the flight. Thanks for any suggestions!:)

 

 

Hi there

 

You really don't have that much free time.

 

This is where cruise line tour and airport drop would work well with your time line. You might want to consider renting a car. There are lots of things that you can see or do around Fort Lauderdale. Look on the "Florida departure" threads for many suggestions. Either of these would work for you because you do need transportation to the airport.

 

hope this helps

have a great cruise

[notentirelynormal]

Four Seasons in Miami offered day passes last time we cruised from MIA, Jan 2016. They were $35 per person at that time.

 

Wow. At $35 per person, depending on how many in your party could be more expensive then just booking a room and asking for late check out. Say you have 4 people, that is $140 just to use the pool. Of course, you also waste time checking in and out even for a day pass so for as early as a flight OP has I wouldn't waste my money. Just get up half an hour earlier and take a shower before you leave the ship. FLL is horrible to go through. So bad in fact that if I were to fly through with my young grand children I'd get them Nexus just so we could avoid the lines that one time LOL.

[toodycat]

Well it's clear you can't do brunch AND spend a day at the beach and pool

 

Of course a shower if you do the beach but you sounded as though the brunch was the decision

 

 

Just a suggestion...since you want to get every second of sun and water possible (which I totally understand) why not for your next cruise book something from a Sunday to Sunday with the debark Sunday being the day before a federal holiday

 

Fly to your destination on Friday night....enjoy every second of a beachfront hotel until Sunday morning then get on the ship. Upon debark the following Sunday check back into a hotel and enjoy the day.

 

Fly home the next morning which is the federal holiday

 

Of course this assumes you get holidays off and don't mind the extra expense...but hey you get the extra beach pool time

 

Alternate suggestion...travel more frequently

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for the feedback. We are actually arriving Saturday morning and spending the night before the cruise at a beachfront property in MIA, so I'm getting my extra quotient of sunshine then. I'm just trying to milk it for all its worth on the way back. The federal holiday idea is a great suggestion. We just returned from a trip to the UK wrapped around the July 4th weekend, and it worked out well. I do get the holidays off and DH is an independent contractor who doesn't get paid when his client closes for a federal holiday, so there's no reason not to travel then. As for traveling more frequently, we went to Ocho Rios in Feb, England over the 4th, we're going on this cruise for a week and then we have a trip to Disney in August and one to Amelia Island in September. The budget is tapped!

 

Wow. At $35 per person, depending on how many in your party could be more expensive then just booking a room and asking for late check out. Say you have 4 people, that is $140 just to use the pool. Of course, you also waste time checking in and out even for a day pass so for as early as a flight OP has I wouldn't waste my money. Just get up half an hour earlier and take a shower before you leave the ship. FLL is horrible to go through. So bad in fact that if I were to fly through with my young grand children I'd get them Nexus just so we could avoid the lines that one time LOL.

 

The Epic is $20 per person and it's just the two of us. They don't require any reservations, so we're not making any kind of commitment. I know FLL can be tough. That is why I booked the later flight home. I hate getting there immediately after debarkation because so often 8-11 cruises worth of people have just arrived. We do have TSA-pre, so that is a help.

Edited July 17, 2017 by toodycat
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[Wheatie59]

Just checked Four Seasons Miami for Sunday Aug 19 and the cheapest room is $292 with taxes. So $70 for two people doesn't seem bad. We would have gladly done this but it was in the 40s when we debarked.

 

We had stayed at Z Ocean before the cruise and they said we could hang out there after we came back.