Advise on nearby hotels and transport

[Thenuns]

Hi, my family 2 adults and one child (11) from the UK are embarking upon our 1st cruise this November.

This has come about because we had leftover COVID Virgin Atlantic flights to Orlando. So decided to book a Royal Caribbean 8 day cruise.

We arrive a few days beforehand and have booked a hotel on international drive and 4 days car hire. This takes care of getting from the airport to our hotel and from our hotel to Fort Lauderdale. But I still have some issues I hope you guys can help me with.

1. My drop off for the car hire is Fort Lauderdale airport. Can anyone advise on transport options from there to the cruise ship port?

2. When we come back from the cruise (19th) we need a hotel for one night. Our flight home is 1730 on 20th. I've again booked car hire from Fort Lauderdale Airport to MCO Orlando. (1500-19th to1500 20th. Can anyone advise on picking up the car from the airport once we dock back at port and on hotels (areas) that will be logistically suitable for our needs.

Thanks for reading, an excited Brit

[Host Kat]

11 hours ago, Thenuns said:

Hi, my family 2 adults and one child (11) from the UK are embarking upon our 1st cruise this November.

This has come about because we had leftover COVID Virgin Atlantic flights to Orlando. So decided to book a Royal Caribbean 8 day cruise.

We arrive a few days beforehand and have booked a hotel on international drive and 4 days car hire. This takes care of getting from the airport to our hotel and from our hotel to Fort Lauderdale. But I still have some issues I hope you guys can help me with.

1. My drop off for the car hire is Fort Lauderdale airport. Can anyone advise on transport options from there to the cruise ship port?

2. When we come back from the cruise (19th) we need a hotel for one night. Our flight home is 1730 on 20th. I've again booked car hire from Fort Lauderdale Airport to MCO Orlando. (1500-19th to1500 20th. Can anyone advise on picking up the car from the airport once we dock back at port and on hotels (areas) that will be logistically suitable for our needs.

Thanks for reading, an excited Brit

 

Hello @Thenuns  and welcome to the Cruise Critic message boards!

 

To help you out, your new thread on an incorrect forum where it is off topic has been moved to the Florida Departures forum where it will be on topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed from or live in Florida frequent this forum and provide feedback here. Browse through the thread titles on this forum looking for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

Be sure to find and post on the Roll Call for your cruise. Please click What is a Roll Call? Everything you Need to Know and How To: Create A New Roll Call. For more information about our famous Roll Calls, please read the Roll Calls and Our Policy Regarding Facebook and Roll Calls sections in the Guidelines we all agreed to follow when registering for our fee Cruise Critic memberships.

 

The specific Roll Call thread for your line, ship and sail date is the ONLY place on the Cruise Critic message boards where you and your fellow Roll Call thread members are allowed to post personal ads about sharing private tours, excursions or transportation with each other to save money. There is a "captive audience" there since you are all sailing together! Your fellow Roll Call thread members may have important information posted in your Roll Call thread. Especially those that have sailed your line, ship or itinerary before. They may already have posted share requests that may interest you. Also, you can find out the Florida plans of the Cruise Critic members sailing with you on the cruise.

 

The Cruise Critic website and message boards are a great resource for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are glad you found us! Please feel free to browse the Cruise Critic Community categories list for the various forums. Read a few threads in the different forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka Stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

I sincerely hope this information will be helpful to someone new to posting on our message boards. We are so glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[JohninDC]

Taxi from FLL to the port will be about $15-20 on the meter.  Same fare will get you back to FLL.

 

www.visitlauderdale.com has lots of tourist and hotel information.

 

If any of this helps you owe me a pint - whatever bitter your local pours will be fine! 😎

[WatchHill]

Car drop off at FLL is quite easy and  well placed signs as you approach the airport car return location - toward the left side of the elevated ramp. Watch for you specific rental company as you enter the facility garage. After drop off, you will see signs for taxi and ground transportation. Use the elevators and at ground level there will be lots of cabs, and someone in charge of identifying the size you may need and facilitating getting you and your family on your way to PE. Last fall it cost us about $20. cab fare after we dropped our car at FLL. 

 

Post cruise, again, cab to FLL with family and luggage, reverse of what you have already done. Then set the sat nav to what ever hotel you select. We like the 17th street area, and Hyatt Place, though they do charge for car parking overnight. Last trip to FL, we opted for Hyatt [both House and Place] in Dania, a tad south of the airport, and very easy access to RT 95 North, no charge for parking. 

 

Love Guildhall Tavern in Poole. We're heading to the UK in a few weeks, one night in London, then meeting friend from Southbourne at Hampton Court and spending a few nights with them before we do a transatlantic. 

 

Darcy

[hiwaves]

After the cruise I would probably stay at a beach hotel like the Best Western Oceanside or the Bahia Mar. Take a taxi to the hotel, enjoy the day at the beach or take the water taxi around Fort Lauderdale. The next morning pick up a rental car from the Bahia Mar (short walk from Best Western Oceanside) hotel - I think it is Enterprise. Drive straight up Hwy A1A and enjoy a leisurely scenic drive up to Orlando airport.  We had to stay an extra 10 days in Florida due to covid and had a chance to explore north of Fort Lauderdale.  It was a nice drive past multi million dollar homes with glimpses of beaches and marinas. 

[capriccio]

3 hours ago, hiwaves said:

Drive straight up Hwy A1A and enjoy a leisurely scenic drive up to Orlando airport.  We had to stay an extra 10 days in Florida due to covid and had a chance to explore north of Fort Lauderdale.  It was a nice drive past multi million dollar homes with glimpses of beaches and marinas. 

I live on A1A north of Fort Lauderdale.  A drive on A1A to Orlando would certainly be leisurely - A1A in most places has a 35 mph speed limit and lots of stop lights (especially from Fort Lauderdale thru Palm Beach County and in subsequent towns).  Since A1A hugs the Atlantic coast after about 180 miles you need to make a left turn at Cocoa Beach to head to Orlando (another 60 miles via highway). Google Maps has the A1A portion taking about 5 hours.  That said, you could take A1A to Palm Beach (less than 50 miles) and see plenty of mansions, marinas and beaches and then get on the highway (170 miles) to Orlando.