fort lauderdale – Emma Cruises

As you probably already know, I am based in the UK. When looking at flights to Miami I found that it was much cheaper for me to fly into Fort Lauderdale and so I decided to take this option. I was planning on taking a cruise out of the port of Miami so I decided to stay for a couple of days in Fort Lauderdale prior to travelling down to the port. Below lists the many modes of transport I used to get around and my recommendations for if you're planning to do the same. 1. Fort Lauderdale airport into Fort Lauderdale. Time: 15mins Type: Taxi On arrival for Fort Lauderdale we got a taxi to the hotel. It was relatively easy as there was a taxi rank at the airport. My only complaint was that the taxi driver was rude and did not understand where I wanted to go despite telling him the road names and name of the hotel multiple times. In the end he made me type it into his satnav, not sure why he couldn't have done that himself but oh well, the taxi got the job done but it was nowhere near as pleasant as the uber which I will talk about later. 2. Staying in Fort Lauderdale. In Fort Lauderdale I stayed in a hotel called the 15 FTL guesthouse, I could not recommend this place enough. It was relatively cheap but still a brilliant little hotel with a quiet pool. The room was clean and more than big enough. It's about a 30 minute walk to the sea and there is a mall about half way. The hotel was also right by a publix which is handy. I enjoyed going into the Publix and having a good laugh at the 'british' section. 3. Fort Lauderdale to the Port of Miami. Time: 30 mins Type: Uber To get to the port from our hotel in Fort Lauderdale we took an Uber. This was my first experience of ever having used an Uber and it was brilliant. We downloaded the app in our hotel and set our start and end points, you pay through the app so don't have to worry about carrying too much cash which I liked. The app told us who was coming to get us and when he would arrive, it also told us in what car and what the number plate would be which was nice. From placing the order on our mobile to having the car outside was a maximum of five minutes. The uber driver was a lovely man with a nice big clean car. It was nice to get to speak to an American man who we could ask questions to, 'what are those strange lanes for in the middle?!' etc. When we got to the port we tipped the driver in cash. All in all the journey took about 30 minutes and cost us (if I am remembering correctly) about $40! An absolute bargain. 4. Norwegian Getaway. This was my boyfriends first cruise and I am sure I have now converted him to cruising. I loved the Getaway and have many photos of her on here. I honestly didn't think much of the ports which we visited, Honduras, Belize and two stops in Mexico. I opted not to do ship excursions because of the cost and simply tried to go for a walk, this really wasn't possible in most of these stops and as a result a couple of them have made it onto my worst cruise port list. Despite this we had an amazing cruise, we enjoyed tons of food and both had the ultimate beverage package which we enjoyed. 5. Port of Miami to South Beach. Time: 10 mins Type: Taxi After our cruise we stayed in South Beach for a couple of nights. Due to having no internet we were unable to book an Uber and had to take a taxi, it was very similar to the first Taxi which we took from the airport. The taxi man seemed unable to find the hotel and we went round and round in circles for a while. Nothing like the London cab drivers who have to learn the road names and routes! Either way it was pleasant enough and was only a short journey. 6. Staying in South Beach. We had a lovely few days in South Beach staying at a hotel called La Flora. It was one block back from the sea. I booked standard double room but we were upgraded to a massive room which was bigger than my apartment back home in the UK... I'm not even kidding. It was about double the size of my flat. The staff were always helpful and friendly. Looking after our bags for us when we arrived before check in and then again when we were waiting for our evening flight. 7. South beach to Fort Lauderdale airport Time: 40 mins Type: MJS Transportation Our flight was late in the evening and I had booked a shuttle to take us there prior to our trip. I used MJS transportation. They arrived to pick us up from the hotel on time and we only had one other stop to pick up two other guests. It was easy and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. We again tipped the driver in cash as this seems to be the American thing to do. When in America do as the Americans do! I am glad that I flew into Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami, I enjoyed having a couple of days in both places at the beginning and end of my cruise. I think I thought it would be a lot more difficult to get around than it was. I was pretty organised before I went, booking shuttles and hotels and such but if I went again I think I would be inclined to take ubers as much as possible. It was so easy to pay on the app and have a car waiting for you within five minutes! I would avoid the Miami taxis although I do understand they're sometimes necessary for short journeys. I had an absolutely fantastic holiday and am glad it all worked out well, I'm quite a worrier so had done a lot of worrying about missing the cruise/flight or being stranded somewhere. Luckily America is an easy place to get around. To find out why some of the Western Caribbean ports made it onto my worst port list click here: Worst cruise ports To see more of my photos from the cruise click here: Norwegian Getaway Here's the time-lapse video of our sail away out of the Port of Miami, it was absolutely amazing. [wpdevart_youtube]ZZnnK3uzxiE[/wpdevart_youtube]