When should i book a hotel?

[Cru1ser]

our sail date will be July 3. we plan to stay one night at Fort Lauderdale on July 2.

 

when should i book a hotel? now or later when it's close?

 

thanks.

[irishgirl]

You should probably book now. I have mine booked for October and now there is no availability, everything is booked.

 

Good Luck.

 

Judy

[BillOh]

our sail date will be July 3. we plan to stay one night at Fort Lauderdale on July 2.

 

when should i book a hotel? now or later when it's close?

 

thanks.

 

You will probably be ok waiting, but if you can, why not book now. For our cruise, there were 5 ships in port, 2 going TA so a lot of rooms were booked. I waited till a month ahead and ended up at my 7th choice. But that worked out ok, saved me $100 over other choices and it was good enough for one night.

[Cru1ser]

thanks for the quick replies!

 

another question, which way is better: booking through one of the hotel-booking websites(priceline, valuetrips for example), or directly through a hotel ?

 

thanks again.

[ChickonRules]

i did it through hotwire and got a good deal :)

[ZoeyVictoria]

That is a holiday weekend and hotels will book up quickly. I would book it ASAP.

[travelpeon]

You should probably book now. I have mine booked for October and now there is no availability, everything is booked.

 

Good Luck.

 

Judy

 

I blame the boat show on that weekend Judy. I booked a few weeks ago on the advice of our roll call and just checked the current price. Still available but for at least $10 more than I paid. Availability must be going!

 

If you don't mind where you stay, hotwire can be a good choice since you get to see the price for a area + class before you book it. Hotwire is non-refundable, though. If you do mind, try the Florida departures board for hotel suggestions. There's a couple of hotels and web sites that show up in several threads asking about FLL hotels. They cover pretty basic 1 night budget hotels to the ones which have a nice port view.

[Cru1ser]

i did it through hotwire and got a good deal :)

 

Hotwire is non-refundable, though.

 

i called a hotel, their price is more expensive than the price listed on those booking websites, but the hotel said if i booked directly through them, i can cancel it any time as long as it's 48 hours prior to our check-in date and we can get full refund; but if i booked through a booking website, i can't cancel it, is non-refundable.

[Maya57]

our sail date will be July 3. we plan to stay one night at Fort Lauderdale on July 2.

when should i book a hotel? now or later when it's close? thanks.

 

I am also sailing July 3rd and already booked my hotel, arriving July 2nd

 

If you are not concerned about hotels you can wait but then you get the bottom of the barrel, i.e. whats left.

 

We are booked (3 rooms) in Hyatt Place in Ft Lauderdale (10th Street). They have complimentary airport transfers, and complementary transfers to the ships. In addition a free breafast in the morning (not the best but the coffee is hot)

If you are driving you can get free parking for the week (check with your TA for this)

 

I have stayed here before when cruising out of Ft Lauderdale and when you add in the cost of free transfers (some hotels charge for) it was a bargain

[Cru1ser]

I am also sailing July 3rd and already booked my hotel, arriving July 2nd

 

If you are not concerned about hotels you can wait but then you get the bottom of the barrel, i.e. whats left.

 

We are booked (3 rooms) in Hyatt Place in Ft Lauderdale (10th Street). They have complimentary airport transfers, and complementary transfers to the ships. In addition a free breafast in the morning (not the best but the coffee is hot)

If you are driving you can get free parking for the week (check with your TA for this)

 

I have stayed here before when cruising out of Ft Lauderdale and when you add in the cost of free transfers (some hotels charge for) it was a bargain

 

you booked it through an agent(a website) or directly from the hotel?

 

what's the price there for one room after tax after all the surcharges?

[Host Faith]

We normally bid on Priceline for hotel rooms pre-cruise. We paid full price on our first pre-cruise stay, and tried Priceline the second time. Saved a LOT of money.

 

If you don't mind not having complete control over exactly where you're going to stay (within specific hotel categories), it could work out nicely for you. We normally bid on resorts and 4-star hotels and have been happy with our results. Check out betterbidding.com for info on bidding in Florida before you give it a try.

[justluv2cruisewithhubby]

I've read several hotel reviews on Trip Advisor to see how other guests rate the stay, food and location.