What to do after a cruise for 5-6 hours

[emmilu]

This is our first cruise where we are not staying in FL and have a late flight. The ship excursions are only 3-4 hours long. I thought I read about a shuttle that runs by the port that you can hop on and off of. I'm not sure what you do with your luggage? Thanks for any help!

[Colo Cruiser]

This is our first cruise where we are not staying in FL and have a late flight. The ship excursions are only 3-4 hours long. I thought I read about a shuttle that runs by the port that you can hop on and off of. I'm not sure what you do with your luggage? Thanks for any help!

 

What about a post cruise Princess tour?

[satxdiver]

Luggage an be a real problem. Some hotels rent day rooms (regular rooms that are rented for a day at reduced cost) which might be worth checking into. Another idea is to rent a car for the day, stow the bags in the trunk and go sight seeing etc. until your flight. I have done both in the past while waiting for a late flight home.

[oskidunker]

You might have to pay $25 each but well worth it.

[reedprincess]

What about a post cruise Princess tour?

 

Pretty sure they address that in their OP, "The ship excursions are only 3-4 hours".... So apparently they've considered those...

[ar1950]

This is our first cruise where we are not staying in FL and have a late flight. The ship excursions are only 3-4 hours long. I thought I read about a shuttle that runs by the port that you can hop on and off of. I'm not sure what you do with your luggage? Thanks for any help!

 

If you have a late flight (and the Princess post cruise tours are pretty much over at noon) then there is probably not much else available other than having some reading material or a downloaded movie or two to occupy your wait time at the airport. If you are at FLL you may get lucky, depending on your airline and be able to check your bags early. Otherwise you have to wait until 2 (or 3, don't recall for sure) hours before flight to check your bags. That means you are waiting in the area before the TSA check point and the boarding terminal area.

Edited January 15, 2017 by ar1950

[RotaryMike]

This is our first cruise where we are not staying in FL and have a late flight. The ship excursions are only 3-4 hours long. I thought I read about a shuttle that runs by the port that you can hop on and off of. I'm not sure what you do with your luggage? Thanks for any help!

 

Depending on which airline you are flying, and your destination, sign up for EZcheck during your cruise, for $25/pp princess will deliver your airline boarding passes AND bag check tags to your cabin the night before you get back to port. You put the airline tags on the bags and then you don't see the bags until you get off your plane !!

[ar1950]

Depending on which airline you are flying, and your destination, sign up for EZcheck during your cruise, for $25/pp princess will deliver your airline boarding passes AND bag check tags to your cabin the night before you get back to port. You put the airline tags on the bags and then you don't see the bags until you get off your plane !!

 

Great idea, although there is still the carry-on (or carry off the ship) stuff to deal with. If you are frugal with that luggage (you don't have much) then there may be no real concern.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great idea, although there is still the carry-on (or carry off the ship) stuff to deal with. If you are frugal with that luggage (you don't have much) then there may be no real concern.

 

Yes!

[fred 15]

Go to the Renaissance Hotel on 17th Ave. They will hold your luggage for free. Take the Intercostal water taxi for a tour

[browns3030]

We have rented a car and done some sightseeing. Most rental companies will have a free shuttle from the port to the airport to rent your car. Sometimes renting the car is way cheaper than any excursion or shuttles.

 

 

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[mevs904]

Our flight home isn't until 8:00 pm and we are renting a car for some sightseeing. We will pick up the car at the Budget office near the port and return it to the airport at no extra charge. We are considering doing an Everglades tour.

[jagsfan]

Rental car is the way to go. You could do an airboat in the Everglades, visit museums, or spend a couple of hours at Sawgrass Mills, which has got to be the largest outlet mall on the planet and has multiple restaurants.

 

 

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[sunsetbeachgal]

We had the same situation when we disembarked the Regal in November, a flight at 8 pm. We called around and found a motel with day rooms and free shuttle from ship to motel then free shuttle to airport. It wasn't the Ritz but we spent the afternoon by a quiet pool, relaxed and showered in the room, had an early dinner then headed over to the airport.

 

 

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Edited January 15, 2017 by sunsetbeachgal

[JF - retired RRT]

We had the same situation when we disembarked the Regal in November, a flight at 8 pm. We called around and found a motel with day rooms and free shuttle from ship to motel then free shuttle to airport. It wasn't the Ritz but we spent the afternoon by a quiet pool, relaxed and showered in the room, had an early dinner then headed over to the airport.

 

 

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It would help if you would name the hotel for the OP.

[capriccio]

If you don't go the rental car route, there is luggage storage in every terminal at FLL: http://www.bagstogo.net.

 

If you are disemarking on a weekend, there is a free trolley to/from downtown Fort Lauderdale: http://www.suntrolley.com/airport-link/. From downtown you can explore Las Olas Blvd (http://www.lasolasboulevard.com) or take the sun trolley to the beach.

 

Check out http://www.sunny.org for more ideas on how to spend your time.

Edited January 15, 2017 by capriccio

[capriccio]

We had the same situation when we disembarked the Regal in November, a flight at 8 pm. We called around and found a motel with day rooms and free shuttle from ship to motel then free shuttle to airport. It wasn't the Ritz but we spent the afternoon by a quiet pool, relaxed and showered in the room, had an early dinner then headed over to the airport.

 

 

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It would help if you would name the hotel for the OP.

 

Probably the Rodeway Inn; it is mentioned frequently on the Florida Departures Boards which the OP should check for other ideas: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Probably the Rodeway Inn; it is mentioned frequently on the Florida Departures Boards which the OP should check for other ideas: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495.

 

 

Yes you are correct, the Rodeway. We called several of the hotels near the port on 17 th street, and none of them offered day rooms. This fit the bill for us, we have stayed in the Ft Lauderdale area numerous times and have done the sightseeing and attractions, so really didn't want to rent a car.

 

 

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Edited January 15, 2017 by sunsetbeachgal

[PrincessNancy]

Yes you are correct, the Rodeway. We called several of the hotels near the port on 17 th street, and none of them offered day rooms. This fit the bill for us, we have stayed in the Ft Lauderdale area numerous times and have done the sightseeing and attractions, so really didn't want to rent a car.

 

 

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Thanks for the info--this is just what we need. It's only $59 for the day room!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks for the info--this is just what we need. It's only $59 for the day room!

 

 

It was fine for us too, just don't expect the Marriott! There is a sports bar and restaurant on site for lunch or dinner.

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the info--this is just what we need. It's only $59 for the day room!

 

It's one of the worst hotel in FLL.

[Thrak]

EZ Check. Excursion. Airport bar. :) Makes for a more "relaxed" flight. (I don't fit well in the cheap seats.)

[iceleven]

We did the EZcheck and our bags were never seen again until we touched down in SF. We had one small roller and walked over to the water taxi and took a relaxing tour of the waterways and the Los Olas area. The water taxi has several stops along the way where you can get on and get off all for just one price.

 

We stopped at a waterside restaurant called Shooters and had a wonderful lunch, a couple drinks, and got back on the water taxi for more exploring before our turn around. The ride was beautiful and relaxing and there was no real schlepping our roller anywhere

 

A quick pick up with Uber at a local hotel took us right to the airport.

 

We're not shoppers, not beach people, and not interested in renting a car for a short day with the possibility of getting lost, or traffic, and missing our flight. It was a perfect ending to a day with a late flight.

Edited January 16, 2017 by iceleven

[Justprettynpink]

We did Ezcheck...carried a small gym bag and went to an IMAX movie/Museum...stored our bag there in the locker for .50