Florida hotel room with view of port?

[Caramel1398]

Hello,

A few years back we stayed at the Embassy Suites on 17th street in Fort Lauderdale. Our room had a balcony that had a wonderful view of the port and when we woke up the morning of the cruise we were able to see our ship- and it was GREAT!

So, we're trying to book our next trip out of Fort Lauderdale but are wondering if there are any other hotels that offer a similar view of the port from the room? We loved the Embassy Suites but are just curious to see what else is out there with a similar view. We're planning on taking friends that have never cruised before and think that's something that would start the day off great for them- it did for us! :D

 

Thanks in advance,

Caramel1398

[lindanick]

The Hyatt on 17th St causeway. Get tower rooms and request South side of tower.

Linda

[FritzG]

The Hilton Marina tower view rooms have a graet view of Princess ships--but I wouldn't recommend the hotel. We stayed there in April before our Ruby TA, and while we had a terrific view of the Ruby coming into port in the a.m. the hotel was not very clean and service was terrible. I'd suggest Pier 66; we've stayed there in the past and loved it.

[Caramel1398]

Thanks for the suggestions. We'll definitely check them out. Does Pier 66 have a view of the port as well?

 

Thanks again!

[MaryPoppinz]

The Hyatt and Pier 66 are the same hotel. :)

[Caramel1398]

LOL, oops!:D

[hubofhockey]

We stayed at Hyatt Pier 66 but did not stay in tower. The village units are bigger and have two queen beds as opposed to the double beds in the tower rooms. Since we had our 11 and 9 year olds with us, that made sense. But we walked out on the causeway and got some great pictures of our ship (Crown Princess). Princess ships are closest to the bridge and you get a great view of them. We saw the Ruby and the Crown on successive days. Actually, there was a little dinky ship in front of the Princess ships. It must be one of those ships they use for folks who visit time shares and get the "free 3-day bahamas cruise". Ugh. In any case, the Hyatt is filled with cruise ship passengers, has a great pool area, and is convenient to everything. It is not as nice as Hyatts in cities. But the price is great and we'll stay there next time we embarc from fort lauderdale.

[SharkieRools]

We had a partial view from the Renaissance on 17th Street

[cynbar]

We were 2 days at the Hyatt Pier 66 before our January Ruby cruise, and we loved it. Great view of the port, lovely pool area, comfortable and renovated rooms, friendly staff, and it is on the water taxi route if you want to do any sightseeing. A small negative is that it is something of a walk to restaurants or stores, but we either grabbed an inexpensive cab or hailed the Sun Trolley which goes up and down 17th for a buck a ride. Here's the Hyatt and the pool area:

 

 

 

We would definitely stay there again.

[5:00_Somewhere]

We stayed at the Hilton Grande

 

http://www.fortlauderdalemarinahotel.com/

 

before our cruise on the Ruby last December. We had a wonderful stay, and a completely different experience from FritzG, apparently.

 

We found our room and the entire property beautiful and beautifully maintained, and the service outstanding. We requested an upper floor room with views of the port and, sure enough, the morning of our cruise we were pleased to wake up, open our curtains and have coffee on our balcony looking out at the beautiful Ruby Princess docked immediately before us.

 

Wherever you end up staying, I hope you have a wonderful time and a fantastic cruise! :D

[partybarbie]

We stayed at the Hilton Grande

 

http://www.fortlauderdalemarinahotel.com/

 

before our cruise on the Ruby last December. We had a wonderful stay, and a completely different experience from FritzG, apparently.

 

We found our room and the entire property beautiful and beautifully maintained, and the service outstanding. We requested an upper floor room with views of the port and, sure enough, the morning of our cruise we were pleased to wake up, open our curtains and have coffee on our balcony looking out at the beautiful Ruby Princess docked immediately before us.

 

Wherever you end up staying, I hope you have a wonderful time and a fantastic cruise! :D

 

We stayed here as well in March 2009. Our room was nice, with a view of our ship, the Emerald Princess. The hotel is so close, that we wheeled our bags across the street and handed them off to the baggage handlers. We were in our cabin by 11:45am. I have already booked a room for our cruise next March. :D

[5:00_Somewhere]

We stayed here as well in March 2009. Our room was nice, with a view of our ship, the Emerald Princess. The hotel is so close, that we wheeled our bags across the street and handed them off to the baggage handlers. We were in our cabin by 11:45am. I have already booked a room for our cruise next March. :D

 

Yeah, though we haven't booked it just yet, we've already decided to stay there again for our February 2010 cruise out of FLL, as well. We loved the view, the balcony and the bathroom (especially the shower.) ;) And the bar in the lobby made a nice martini. :p

 

p.s. - love your username, PartyBarbie. Bet you folks are fun on a cruise! ;)

[hubofhockey]

One more thing about the Hyatt Pier 66. It is very convenient to the Publix Supermarket (for your soda, wine, and beer needs before your cruise), which is over the bridge a mile down in the shopping plaza on Cordova.

[MM42]

We stayed at Hyatt Pier 66 but did not stay in tower. The village units are bigger and have two queen beds as opposed to the double beds in the tower rooms. Since we had our 11 and 9 year olds with us, that made sense. But we walked out on the causeway and got some great pictures of our ship (Crown Princess). Princess ships are closest to the bridge and you get a great view of them. We saw the Ruby and the Crown on successive days. Actually, there was a little dinky ship in front of the Princess ships. It must be one of those ships they use for folks who visit time shares and get the "free 3-day bahamas cruise". Ugh. In any case, the Hyatt is filled with cruise ship passengers, has a great pool area, and is convenient to everything. It is not as nice as Hyatts in cities. But the price is great and we'll stay there next time we embarc from fort lauderdale.

 

Leaving the hotel for the cruise, can you walk to the Princess ships or do you have to take a taxi?

[hubofhockey]

Leaving the hotel for the cruise, can you walk to the Princess ships or do you have to take a taxi?

 

You can't walk from the hotel to the port. You'd have to take a taxi.

[BarbaraP]

Which is best the Hilton Grande Marina or the Hilton Beach Resort??? I've been looking at both. Barb:confused:

[SheltieLady]

My vote would go for the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 just love that hotel have stayed there twice the last time was in March and we did a 3 night pre-cruise what a great way to start a vacation. We had a tower room overlooking the port.

 

Click on the photo link in my signature have many photos taken from my tower room of the view.

 

Christine

[sp2]

We stayed at the Hilton Grande

 

http://www.fortlauderdalemarinahotel.com/

 

before our cruise on the Ruby last December. We had a wonderful stay, and a completely different experience from FritzG, apparently.

 

We found our room and the entire property beautiful and beautifully maintained, and the service outstanding. We requested an upper floor room with views of the port and, sure enough, the morning of our cruise we were pleased to wake up, open our curtains and have coffee on our balcony looking out at the beautiful Ruby Princess docked immediately before us.

 

Wherever you end up staying, I hope you have a wonderful time and a fantastic cruise! :D

 

 

We also stayed at the Hilton Grande in Dec 2008, before sailing on the Celebrity Solstice. Same as above, we had a tower room with a view of the port. When we arrived the Ruby Princess as well as lots of other ships were docked and boarding; we watched them all sail away! Then the next morning, we were up at dawn, sitting on our balcony, and watched our ship as well as a bunch of others arrive! I love this pre-cruise ritual and we found the Hilton Grande to be a great location (literally right across the street from the pier), clean, well-priced, and good food. The shower is lovely rainfall one. We also went down to the Lobby Bar to collect drinks to watch the sail aways from our balcony, and they had a happy hour special (from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. I believe). It was a great start for our cruise, and we have booked there again for this December when we sail on the Ruby!

[spingal]

I agree with the folks who liked the Hilton Grande. Great location, great rooms, wonderful shower and well priced. I stayed there before my Crown cruise in October. I have stayed at the Hyatt and the Grande and prefer the Grande.

[royalcruz]

Which is best the Hilton Grande Marina or the Hilton Beach Resort??? I've been looking at both. Barb:confused:

 

Barb, this depends on what you are looking for. Personally I would stay on the beach because it is on the beach and new, but I read that the service isn't good (that really doesn't matter that much to me).

Both hotels are on the SunTrolley route. Here are some comparisons. Enjoy your trip, whatever you do. :cool:

 

Marina-right at the port entrance, view of the ships from south side, older hotel, about 4 blocks from Publix and Total Wine, mostly family style restaurants in the area but some upscale restaurants also (China Grill in the hotel), water taxi stop

 

Beach-about 3 miles from the port entrance, right across the street from the beach, about 5 blocks from the fun beachfront restaurants/bars/shops/CVS drugstore, upscale hotel restaurants in the immediate area, just a few blocks from Casablanca Cafe (my favorite), just opened a few months ago new construction, nice coffee shop/bakery on the beachside of the bldg (serves Starbucks), a mile from Galleria Mall, a few blocks from water taxi.

[spingal]

The Grande might be older but the rooms look like they have been recently renovated.

[MaryPoppinz]

You can't walk from the hotel to the port. You'd have to take a taxi.

 

I'm not sure when you say "you can't walk" whether you are saying you aren't permitted to walk into the port or whether you're saying it's prohibitively far. But, if you are in reasonable shape, you should easily be able to do it....and a number of posters on Cruise Critic have reported that they've done so. You will also see crew streaming in and out of the port on foot all day on turnaround days.

 

PS: The Hilton Marina Grande finished a huge overhaul about 16 months ago or so. It's an older hotel but there is nothing old there now except the structure.

[hubofhockey]

I'm not sure when you say "you can't walk" whether you are saying you aren't permitted to walk into the port or whether you're saying it's prohibitively far. But, if you are in reasonable shape, you should easily be able to do it....and a number of posters on Cruise Critic have reported that they've done so. You will also see crew streaming in and out of the port on foot all day on turnaround days.

 

PS: The Hilton Marina Grande finished a huge overhaul about 16 months ago or so. It's an older hotel but there is nothing old there now except the structure.

 

What, with a week's worth of luggage? :eek:

[spingal]

What, with a week's worth of luggage? :eek:

 

LOL!!! I have to agree with you!! We stayed at the Grande and still took a taxi to the pier!! :D

[jtcoolk]

We stayed at the Grande also. Did not want to bother with luggage so we took a taxi - cost $4.00 + tip. Sweet!