Free time in Ft. Lauderdale

[vjb223]

thank you for the Hard Rock cafe info. cancelled car and will contact them. I appreciate your help. vjb

[WindyCity]

Vjb & Ziggy, when are you cruising? If before me - please let me know how it went with Hard Rock Casino.

[marybeach]

The Hard Rock seems like a great idea....we probably don't want to trek around too much after a 10 day cruise....but my SO will like the casino, I'm sure. Myrtle Beach is on target for the Hard Rock Theme Park in 2006 (or so) so maybe this will be worth checking out as an indication of what's coming....minus the roller coasters!!! I found their site and e-mailed them....should be interesting to see what they respond.

[anjan]

I didn't know that I couldn't check in earlier. I have always been able to at other airports. The airline told me I could fly stand-by and leave on an earlier flight. If I don't get stand-by, I can just fly out at 4:50.

[LoveLifeAtSea]

..... I'll tell you what we did a few years back.

My husband and I were doing back-to-backs and on turnaround day we decided to spend it with a wonderful couple that we met and enjoyed tremendously. They had a very late departure out of FLL and was going to do either a "local tour" or just hang out at the airport.

Instead of that, we decided to rent a car and drive up the coast on Highway A1A to Palm Beach! What a beautiful drive! I think it was only about 50 miles up the coast. I've been there before but the other 3 have not and we all so enjoyed the scenery. Once we got there, we enjoyed walking around for a while and having a leisurely lunch. One thing to point out though ..... We were VERY CAUTIOUS about time and the fact of "what if" we had car trouble, etc. We were back in PLENTY enough time whereas they still had between 2-3 hours at the airport and we were safety back on the ship hours before it departed.

It was just a great way to spend quite a few hours away from the airport and ship without "gambling" on missing our flight or cruise.

[CanSail]

In January I arrived in Fort Lauderdale a day before my cruise bringing along my eldest son to spend a wonderful week together just he and I. The day we arrived we checked into the hotel, changed into warm weather clothing, then decided to walk along the beautiful beach. I thought this would be lovely after leaving so much snow and cold weather back home.

 

I chose a section of the beach to sit and just enjoy the view of the ocean, there seemed to be many people around us doing the same. I found my son very annoying. he would not sit and relax at the beach, constantly wanting to leave. Finally he whispered to me to look around at the people on the beach...I saw only very friendly-looking men around us.

 

My son then asked me if it would be alright if we left the gay area of the beach.

 

My son still thinks I am fun to travel with as long as I don't pick out the beaches that we go to!

 

Enjoy your cruise and happy sailing to all.

[vjb223]

Thank you for your tips but I called the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood and checked with two depts. they had no knowledge of transfers from pier to casino then back to airport. Could you please let me know who or what dept. you spoke with to set this up. I love to gamble and the time will pass so fast, hubby hates it so will have to find a sports bar to let him pass the time. It will all work out, again thank you. vjb223

[WindyCity]

I Spoke to someone at the Bell Boy's station who told me about the free luggage hold and mentioned the transport that could be arranged. He asked if I wanted him to transfer me to that department, but I declined because I wanted to find out more about the airboat excursion. Hmmm, wonder what that is all about. But, even without the transportation, it's still a decent thing to do while waiting for our flight that evening. I am sure a cab ride would not be too expensive.

[marybeach]

Last night I reserved a rental car. They will pick us up at the pier and we can return the car to FLL airport. For about $25, it sounded like the way to go. What are the best sites to see and do for about 6-8 hours? We will probably be shopped out and live at the beach....but I've never spent any amount of time in FLL, just Miami.