Guindalf Posted November 17, 2021 #26 Share Posted November 17, 2021 The last time we traveled on the day of our cruise was, and always will be the last time we travel day of! We missed our flight from ATL to MIA and couldn’t get another in time. We got lucky with a standby, but vowed never again. OP, make your own decision, but if you’re spending all that money on a cruise, is it really that important to save a couple bucks on a hotel? Of course, you don’t have to stay in FLL. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oville Posted November 17, 2021 #27 Share Posted November 17, 2021 8 minutes ago, mommysoncruiser said: Moved to florida. Guess I never updated my profile. Oh well🙃. No problem, where in Fl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommysoncruiser Posted November 17, 2021 #28 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Just now, Oville said: No problem, where in Fl? Central Florida. Greater orlando area so every port I sail out of here is "close" in my opinion. Are you in FL too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oville Posted November 17, 2021 #29 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Just now, mommysoncruiser said: Central Florida. Greater orlando area so every port I sail out of here is "close" in my opinion. Are you in FL too? Yes, split time Cape Cod and Naples. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrhdhd Posted November 17, 2021 #30 Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) We live in central FL and almost always have driven to the West Palm Beach airport area the day/night before cruising from Port Everglades or PortMiami. The couple of times we drove the day of, I was a wreck (figuratively, of course, thank goodness). My next cruise is from Tampa, and I'm debating driving in the night before. Edited November 17, 2021 by hrhdhd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommysoncruiser Posted November 17, 2021 #31 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Just now, Oville said: Yes, split time Cape Cod and Naples. Nice! We are about to be on a ship on the 22nd of this month for our Thanksgiving cruise. Driving in the morning of to Port Canaveral. Can't wait! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oville Posted November 17, 2021 #32 Share Posted November 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, mommysoncruiser said: Nice! We are about to be on a ship on the 22nd of this month for our Thanksgiving cruise. Driving in the morning of to Port Canaveral. Can't wait! Please leave early.😉😀 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oville Posted November 17, 2021 #33 Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, hrhdhd said: We live in central FL and almost always have driven to the West Palm Beach airport area the day/night before cruising from Port Everglades or PortMiami. The couple of times we drove the day of, I was a wreck (figuratively, of course, thank goodness). My next cruise is from Tampa, and I'm debating driving in the night before. Just do it, it’s so much more relaxing and I don’t think the hotels are as expensive as Fort Lauderdale/Miami. Enjoy a nice dinner, sleep and have a relaxing drive to the port. Edited November 17, 2021 by Oville 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverlaysup Posted November 17, 2021 #34 Share Posted November 17, 2021 2 hours ago, anditoo72 said: We are booked for Celebrity Reflection on Feb 19th. I live about 4.5 hours away from Ft. Lauderdale Port. I would love to book a hotel room the night before we sail, but we are on a budget. What would you do? Bite the bullet and book a room or drive 4.5 hours the morning of the cruise to get to the port? Thanks in advance! If you have a noonish boarding time, why not just leave at 6am and drive. You will have plenty of time for fill up and leg stretching. I live in California for now so i am forced to fly in a day early! If it were me....I would drive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oville Posted November 17, 2021 #35 Share Posted November 17, 2021 1 minute ago, neverlaysup said: If you have a noonish boarding time, why not just leave at 6am and drive. You will have plenty of time for fill up and leg stretching. I live in California for now so i am forced to fly in a day early! If it were me....I would drive. You don’t live here. Stuff happens. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverlaysup Posted November 17, 2021 #36 Share Posted November 17, 2021 6 minutes ago, Oville said: You don’t live here. Stuff happens. Fair enough, it looks like the choice to book a hotel has been made! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaBag Posted November 17, 2021 #37 Share Posted November 17, 2021 I'm wondering if you could find a hotel/motel that would include free parking while you're on the cruise. That would cut the cost a bit for the night's stay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDawg Posted November 17, 2021 #38 Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, anditoo72 said: We are booked for Celebrity Reflection on Feb 19th. I live about 4.5 hours away from Ft. Lauderdale Port. I would love to book a hotel room the night before we sail, but we are on a budget. What would you do? Bite the bullet and book a room or drive 4.5 hours the morning of the cruise to get to the port? Thanks in advance! OP, I assume you are travelling with your Significant Other. If so, you have to ask yourself this question. If you dent your budget by staying at a hotel near the port, how will your SO react? And then compare that reaction to your SO's reaction if you decided to drive 4.5 hours to the port on the morning of the cruise and you miss the ship? Only you can answer that question. For me, Mrs. Dawg would be ticked off at me in your situation if I spent $300 for a hotel just to protect a cheap $500 cruise. But if I didn't spend $300 for a hotel to protect a $10,000 cruise, well I'd have to change my CC screen name to NeuteredDawg. 🤯 Edited November 17, 2021 by DirtyDawg 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayleeman Posted November 17, 2021 #39 Share Posted November 17, 2021 @anditoo72 I just did a search on the most popular internet travel site for hotels between 75 and 125. 6 hotels/motels and a number of private apts for rent, as close as 6 miles to the port. More if you increase the budget. Stay in one! Otherwise, you are talking about driving to southern Florida on a Saturday morning of a 3 day weekend. I-95 is crazy enough midmorning on a weekday. I can't imagine how stressful it might be on the 19th of Feb, raised exponentially by knowing some bad driver (more crazies there than DC) may create havoc and cost you your trip. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottaKnowWhen Posted November 17, 2021 #40 Share Posted November 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Oville said: We live 2 hours from Fort Lauderdale across the “Alley”. Wouldn’t think twice about booking the Fort Lauderdale Hilton Marina, always have always will. Sorry @GottaKnowWhen can’t disagree with you more. Easy for you, you live in the neighborhood. My point is, why focus just on the cruise? If you have to travel to Florida, or across Florida, or down Florida, or anyplace else for that matter to get to cruise embarkation, then pick intermediate places that are worth visiting in their own right. You want to arrive early (as I do)? Then use that extra time to see something interesting. Can’t get an early flight home when you disembark? Then rent a car and do something interesting and go home the next day. Amortize the travel time and expense. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNJCruisers Posted November 17, 2021 #41 Share Posted November 17, 2021 1 hour ago, neverlaysup said: If you have a noonish boarding time, why not just leave at 6am and drive. You will have plenty of time for fill up and leg stretching. I live in California for now so i am forced to fly in a day early! If it were me....I would drive. So you would get up at say 515, then drive 6 hours to get to the port by noon. How about getting there the night before, getting a good night's rest in a hotel and getting to the port about 1030 and being one of the first on board? If we embark from CA or FLA, we always fly in day prior. If embarking from NYC or Bayonne, then we drive since we are 90 minutes +/- away. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow9612 Posted November 17, 2021 #42 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Be safe and well rested. Stay in a hotel the night before (outside city center) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNJCruisers Posted November 17, 2021 #43 Share Posted November 17, 2021 49 minutes ago, TeaBag said: I'm wondering if you could find a hotel/motel that would include free parking while you're on the cruise. That would cut the cost a bit for the night's stay. www.trinityreservations.com Park n stay rates with no tax added. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goofysmom99 Posted November 17, 2021 #44 Share Posted November 17, 2021 I live in Central Florida and leave for Miami at a very civilized 8:00. Only missed lunch in Luminae once because of a demonstration in downtown Miami. Oceanview was delicious, however. The reason I've chosen to drive day-of this year is to maintain my bubble. I'm not comfortable in hotels and restaurants yet. Looking forward to being back on the ship next week where I do feel comfortable. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverlaysup Posted November 17, 2021 #45 Share Posted November 17, 2021 10 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said: So you would get up at say 515, then drive 6 hours to get to the port by noon. How about getting there the night before, getting a good night's rest in a hotel and getting to the port about 1030 and being one of the first on board? If we embark from CA or FLA, we always fly in day prior. If embarking from NYC or Bayonne, then we drive since we are 90 minutes +/- away. The OP said it was 4 1/2 hour drive. If it were me (just me speaking here), I would drive in the day of and leave my house in time to comfortably get there slightly before my check in time (whatever that may be). If I had the earliest boarding time of 11:30 that would mean I would leave my house at 0600-0630 and make it with ease. I like to drive and this does not stress me out although I may get tired early on the first night. Keep in mind that Celebrity is assigning boarding times now so unless you are in the Retreat, you may get a later time and from what I've seen, they are not real flexible to the earlybirds. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oville Posted November 17, 2021 #46 Share Posted November 17, 2021 There is no right or wrong answer here. We had a few stressful arrive the day of issues and have chosen never to do it again. There is no way getting on the road at 6:00am or planning arrival based on checkin time would be relaxing for us. But that’s us. Our vacation starts the day before cruise departure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGEDad Posted November 17, 2021 #47 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Pre-Covid we stayed at a hotel in Plantation, fl that included free parking for the duration of our 10 day cruise, and shuttle to the port (Return shuttle was on our nickel). The free cruise parking & shuttle almost paid for the hotel costs as opposed to having to pay for port parking fees. Also gave us that cushion of time just incase something happened (nothing did). 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anditoo72 Posted November 17, 2021 Author #48 Share Posted November 17, 2021 Ok so I can't thank you enough for all your advice, I did book a room further away from the cruise port (about 40 mins) and it was much cheaper (excellent tip) I was also able to pay for part of the room with my points (another excellent tip) so I was able to get a rate of just over 100$ totally worth it!! 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anditoo72 Posted November 17, 2021 Author #49 Share Posted November 17, 2021 8 hours ago, DirtyDawg said: OP, I assume you are travelling with your Significant Other. If so, you have to ask yourself this question. If you dent your budget by staying at a hotel near the port, how will your SO react? And then compare that reaction to your SO's reaction if you decided to drive 4.5 hours to the port on the morning of the cruise and you miss the ship? Only you can answer that question. For me, Mrs. Dawg would be ticked off at me in your situation if I spent $300 for a hotel just to protect a cheap $500 cruise. But if I didn't spend $300 for a hotel to protect a $10,000 cruise, well I'd have to change my CC screen name to NeuteredDawg. 🤯 Actually traveling with my Mom, lol! Even still wouldn't want to disappoint her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anditoo72 Posted November 17, 2021 Author #50 Share Posted November 17, 2021 9 hours ago, Oville said: It only takes one accident or Everglades fire to change your mind. It happened to us years ago, never again. It’s also more relaxing knowing you are a short distance to the port in the morning. Good Luck. Never thought of a fire 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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