booking Princess air and hotel in FLL

[racepoint]

I have booked Princess air to Fort Lauderdale and I was quoted a rate from Princess to fly in a day early and stay at the "Renaissance Hotel" at $69 extra/pp. This seems very reasonable and I have done a little research on this hotel. NOW I'm tipped off by a Cruise Critic member that the "Reanaissance" could mean either Renaissance Fort Lauderdale, which is really close to the dock ($109/pp), or the Renaissance Plantation ($69/pp), which is not. I need some advice from those who have made these arrangements with Princess in the past: your opinion of either of these hotels as far as value, cleanliness, proximity to airport and pier . . . and anything else you can offer that would help me with my decision. (Oh, I have kids and we would all just like a nice, clean pool to hang out by during the day; a decent place to grab a meal at night; and a quiet night's sleep.)

[LARGIN]

It has been a while since I booked a Princess flight and hotel combo but when we did transfers from the ship to the hotel and hotel to the ship were included.

[Pam in CA]

Several years ago, I did the Princess hotel pre-cruise (it was a Christmas cruise and hard to find hotel rooms) and we were put up at the Marriott Renaissance on 17th Street right near the pier. I believe that's the hotel they still use. $69/night isn't bad... except with Princess, you're paying per person and you could book the same hotel for the same amount for the room. It's only 5 minutes away from the pier and maybe a $7 taxi with tip.

[cruisers0708]

We stayed at the Renaissance 17th Street in June this year. It's a very nice hotel. We all enjoyed the hotel pool and last minute shopping (for wine and bottled water) is within walking distance. Cruise Pier is minutes away from this hotel. The hotel arranged a van to take us (6 people) and all the luggage for $7/pp. Same driver also picked us up at pier and drove us to the airport. Great service!!

[joanne1]

As far as good prices, it all depends on when you are going. I can't really tell you about either hotel but I can tell you about what we have experienced for our up coming March cruise as far as prices go . . .

 

The night before the cruise we are staying at the Renaissance and I hear it is a great hotel. We got it on Hotwire for $114 back in August. Same day, I checked for prices for after our cruise and things are pretty much going for $225 for a 3* and up. There has been no deals for the beginning of April so we had booked the Renaissance, through Princess, for $109 pp - that was still way better than the $350 they wanted. Meanwhile, we kep trying Priceline . . . finally got the Sheraton Yankee Trader for $145. We have never paid that much for a hotel on Priceline but it is still better than any other prices I have seen.

 

I am pretty sure that you can specify that which hotel you wanted added onto your cruise package because you would need to pay for it before final payment is due. I know that Pam is right when she said that the Renaissance is very close.

 

You may want to ask this question over on the Eastern Coast Ports board . . . there are a couple of people from FFL and they might have some good advice.

[sunvalley cruisers]

I searched long and hard to find a good deal on a hotel precruise for our Feb '07 cruise without luck so I went to Priceline. After trying bids for a week, finally got the Renaissance Plantation for $107 a night. It books for $275 a night through Marriott.

 

I did a lot of research on the hotels as far as their quality goes and this one got some good review on tripadvisor. If you haven't use tripadvisor before, have a look. It's based on customer reviews and people can post their photos of the hotels as well.

[Aquarian]

We booked the pre-day at the Renaissance on 17th St. with Princess. I had the same worries about which hotel it was after reading these boards and called my TA. She phoned Princess and made sure that it was the Renaissance on 17th St for me. This is a beautiful hotel. When you check in, ask at the desk if you can have a room with a view where you can see the ship when it comes in. If you have a Marriott Rewards membership card, you can mention that or show it to the clerk while making your request. A great way to spend the day/evening in Ft. Lauderdale is by taking the water taxi which is a short walk from the hotel (get directions from the hotel concierge). This takes you for a tour past the beautiful homes and yachts along the waterway. We got dropped off at Las Olas Blvd and ate dinner at Mango's. Lots of boutiques and outdoor cafes. If you love candy, stop at Kirwin's and try their fudge and pecan snappers. We ate lunch behind the hotel at a neat place called Bravo's (not the chain) and our waiter told us about a new wine store. It's a little bit of a walk but well worth it because of the vast selection and prices. Going up 17th to The Embassy Suites, you turn left and walk back to a little strip mall to find this particular wine store.

[gvre]

I have stayed at the Renaissance twice, and used Priceline for the room, great place.

 

I have been trying to book it for February 16th through priceline. I tried $145.00 last night with no luck. I don't get what the problem is? Any suggestions

[Pam in CA]

I have stayed at the Renaissance twice, and used Priceline for the room, great place.

 

I have been trying to book it for February 16th through priceline. I tried $145.00 last night with no luck. I don't get what the problem is? Any suggestions

The "problem" is that this is vacation week for Northerners in FL. You won't find flights, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc. for anything resembling a reasonable price that week. You're going to have to pony up for more $$ or book the Princess pre-cruise hotel.

[TexasMom2]

I'm going to piggy-back on this thread since there are responses about FLL -- has anyone stayed at the Atlantic?

[Coral]

I have stayed at the Renaissance on 17th Street and it is a nice, clean - typical Marriott type hotel. Nothing flashy but a clean hotel. It is in a very good location - close to grocery stores, the pier, drug stores, restaruants, etc .. A bit of warning is the pool area is a disappointment - it is small and faces 17th Street and a parking lot - so it is anything but quiet but there is a pool.

 

Princess uses both Renaissance on 17th Street and the Plantation one - make sure which you book.

 

Whenever I have booked a hotel with Princess - transfers are included. Though I would probably just get a cab and not wait for the bus but that is me.

 

Theresa

[leith]

To make sure I get this right. The Renaissance closest to the pier is the one on 17th street. Is that right? Also, we are going on 4/15 on CB. Should I book my hotel now? I wasn't worried about it so I haven't booked it even though I booked the cruise 6 months ago.

 

Thanks for the info.

[Coral]

To make sure I get this right. The Renaissance closest to the pier is the one on 17th street. Is that right? Thanks for the info.

 

Yes - the 17th Street Renaissance is closest to the pier.

 

You can always add a Princess hotel to your booking and then drop it at final payment time.