Fort Lauderdale hotel with views of departures

[travelholics]

We are spending a night in Fort Lauderdale after arriving on the Rotterdam TA in November. There are lots of ships in port that day and we would love to stay at a hotel where we can watch the sailaways in the afternoon. Any suggestions would be very welcome.

[CruiserBruce]

If you look on the Florida Departures board, where this is discussed almost daily, you will see Hilton Marina, Pier 66 and Embassy Suites are the hotels commonly recommended for their port views.

[Krazy Kruizers]

East side of Embassy Suites -- Floors 10, 11 and 12 are the best.

[RocketMan275]

To see the ships, you'll need to get a room high up.  Embassy Suites actually charges a surcharge for these rooms.  $20-30 IIRC.   People have reported that the high rooms in Pier 66 are not available due to hurricane damage.   There really aren't any good locations where one can sit and have a beer and watch the ships like Port Canaveral.

 

You could walk out on the bridge and see most of the ships depart.  There is also a public beach just north of the ship channel.  You would need a car to get there.

 

BTW, Lago Mar is on the beach about 1/4 mile north of the ship channel.  It would be an easy walk down to the channel.  Lago Mar has good reviews but it's away from most of the attractions and other restaurants.  

 

Here's a map of the port:

https://www.google.com/maps/@26.0981477,-80.1132513,15.37z

that shows Embassy, Hilton, Pier 66, and Lago Mar.

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by RocketMan275

[cabinluvn]

This last January we stayed at Pier 66. The towers were not open, as stated above. Room was nice, a bit overpriced. What was nice was that there was wonderful restaurants within the resort area. We took Lyft from the airport and to the cruiser port. Cheaper than a taxi. Even at the high rate(we booked when it got pretty cheap), I would book again. They had a concierge that would book you Everglades tours and shuttles to the cruise port. Very, very nice staff


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[travelholics]

Thank you so much for your responses and the map, we have started watching the sailaways on Sunday afternoons and it will be great to see one in person, even if it will mark the end of our cruise!

[utahtea]

We stayed at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Marina in Room:  812 Q1F and had fantastic views of the port and the ships coming and going.  We had booked though Holland America that trip and just lucked into this fantastic room!  Make sure you request rooms with the view of the port because not all rooms do.

 

Utahtea

[Halfmoonfan]

I travel to Fort Lauderdale several times a month.  As others have said, the towers at Pier 66 are closed.  While it is true one can see the cruise ships coming and going from the Embassy Suites, it is not much of a hotel.  Trust me you are not missing anything if you do not consume the “free” breakfast (think cheap bacon, plastic tray, paper napkins), or the “free” cocktail party. 

If you are going to spend the night(s) in Fort Lauderdale, stay on the beach.  From any hotel on the beach you can see the ships come and go.  I took the attached picture last Tuesday of the Zuiderdam sailing into FLL from the 12^th floor of the Atlantic Hotel. The Atlantic is the farthest north on the beach.  I like the Atlantic, but there are several other options, moving south; The Conrad, Hilton, W, and Ritz.  There is a Westin, but it was the old Sheraton, and is a bit dated.  From any of these hotels you will have great views of the ship traffic.

[travelholics]

Thank you Utahtea and Halfmoonfan for your pictures, they both look great locations. It has been great to compare the hotel pictures with google maps and I now have a much clearer idea of the area, never having visited before! I particularly like the Hilton and I think this will be our choice.

[CruisinShips]

Lago Mar is the best for that.  A short walk down the beach takes you right to the edge of the water where the ships sail right past you.

[Halfmoonfan]

FYI there are two Hiltons within two miles of each other.  The larger, new one is on the beach.  The other is called the Hilton Marina.  The latter is nice as one always sees some high end white boats docked there.  There is also a fairly active pool bar/restaurant that is busy all day and late into the night.