Ft.Lauderdale for a few hours with no car. What to do?

[maja]

Any suggestions on how to spend the day other than sitting in the airport waiting for our flight? We are taking the ship's shuttle from Miami and will probably arrive before 12 at the Ft.L airport. We have about 4-5 hrs before our flight.

How far is Riverwalk and Las Olas Blvd from the airport? Is there public transportation we can take?

[Lsimon]

When we've been in that situation there wasn't much to do since they wouldn't let us check our luggage more than a few hours ahead of time, so basically we were stuck sitting on our luggage in the airport lobby.

 

Is there any way to rent a car from the port in Miami? If so I'd rent a car and drive to beach in Ft. Lauderdale, spend the afternoon there or something like that then drop off car at FLL airport when it's time to check in.

 

We did this once when we got off the ship (In Ft. Lauderdale not Miami) around 8am, and had a 3PM flight. On the spot we called a couple of car rental agencies till we found one which would pick us up and has a reasonable rate for car. would have been easier if we'd arranged ahead of time.

 

A better idea if you can do it is to stay overnight at a Miami Beach or Ft. Lauderdale hotel. We did this after our last Florida cruise and it was great extending our vacation a little.

[Bequia]

I'll second Lsimon's suggestion. There are plenty of museums, beaches, shopping malls, parks, etc between Miami and Ft Lauderdale to kill time at. In fact, the rental car would be cheaper then the cruise ship transfers. The roads are easily laid out with plenty of signage, it's almost impossible to get lost. Very tourist friendly. ;)