Pros/cons of sailing from Port Everglades during the Boat Show

[FionaMG]

Happy New Year to my CC friends around the world.

 

We are just starting to plan our next cruise. (Yay! ) 

 

One of the sailings that would suit us nicely departs from Port Everglades on the 3rd of November 2019, which is the last day of the Boat Show. We would be coming from across the Pond, so a 2 to 3 night pre-cruise hotel stay would be in the plans.

 

For those of you familiar with the Boat Show, how much could this impact our travel plans? I realise hotel prices are going to be higher but if we were to book well in advance is there any chance of getting something in Fort Lauderdale at a sensible price? (For us, sensible would be max $200 per night.) If that's not likely to happen, how close can we get without breaking the bank? Hollywood Beach area, maybe? Driving is not an option for us, so we would need to stay somewhere with food and shopping nearby.

 

How much impact would the event have on things to do in Fort Lauderdale? We really like the water taxi; is that likely to be operating normally or will it be restricted? And what about places to eat? Bearing in mind we're not into fast food like McD etc., would we have to book tables months in advance?

 

Lastly, is this a good event for the general public? Would it actually be something worth visiting? Or is it more of a trade show?

 

As I said, we have just started planning so have not booked anything yet. Should we keep this date as a possible or should we not touch it with a barge pole?

 

Any other pros and cons you can think of will be welcomed.

 

Thanks very much.

Fiona.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

We arrived in Ft Lauderdale the last day of the Boat Show in 2017. The Water Taxis were not available...they were being used to shuttle people to the site of the Boat Show. And hotel rates were high, and they booked up fast. That was the only two impacts, didn't otherwise affect us.

[BlueHerons]

The Boat Show is a lot of fun!  I highly suggest you get tickets and go.  Lots of good food, drinks, and yachts, it's a great party.

 

You can't get on the mega yachts unless you know someone or quality but you can certainly tour the 10-25 meter plus yachts.  The Azimuts are some of my favorites.

 

Yes, the water taxi is used to shuttle boat show attendees but it is still a good time.  I think we've gone every year since the late 1990s.

Edited January 2, 2019 by BlueHerons

[arlodog]

We are also sailing that date out of Fort Lauderdale on Allure.  I forgot about the boat show when we booked our cruise.  We usually stay in FLL even if we are cruising out of Miami as the hotels are generally less expensive and we love the water taxi/general vibe of FLL better than Miami.  We have already booked our hotel in Fort Lauderdale and are staying at the LaQuinta by the airport for 1 night for $125.  I booked it about 6 weeks ago.  If you want to go book something now as prices will continue to rise!

We have sailed during this time before as it falls on my birthday week.  Last time we flew into Fort Lauderdale and then Ubered to Miami to stay to save on the hotel as we hadn't booked this far in advance and didn't realize the boat show was going on at that time.  Hotel rooms will be double (or more) the normal price during this week.  The Yachts are really something to see though!   If you are flexible on dates and want to save money I would change the date.  If you don't mind paying a bit more you can find reasonable mid level accommodations.  

[cindivan]

We also booked the Allure not realizing the boat show was that weekend.  We can switch without penalty to another weekend, but the show intrigues me a bit.  While I don't want to pay the extra hotel prices, I wonder if it would be fun to walk around and *dream.*  But if we can't get access to much without credentials I don't think it would be that much fun.  Its one thing if we live there, another to make a trip for it.

 

We usually travel with our kids and/or extended family but this will be a cruise with just DH and me (25th anniversary - but our big celebration is Asian cruise a few months later).   We usually stay at Embassy on 17th but for this cruise I thought it would be better to do something different - preferably ocean-front.   So many hotels are already full, but I noticed the boat show website says it has blocks of hotels booked, but they aren't booking anything yet.  Do you think the hotels are already gone or just not released from the boat show blocks?

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 

[wave rider]

We were just in FLL this year on the last day of the boat show sailing on Reflection.  The only issue we had was traffic between our hotel at GalleryOne and the airport.  We used Lyft and the driver very nicely let me know before we started out that due to the show he was taking a round about route to the hotel.  Other than that, we saw no noticeable issue with the show.

[foflocruiser]

keep an eye on Sunny.org website.  There are 20+ hotels around Port Everglades that are under construction.  This will help with occupancy rates