Pre Cruise Stay in Fort Lauderdale – Look no further!

If you read my last post you will know that I have recently returned for a 7 Night Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity’s newest ship Edge. We flew to Fort Lauderdale for 3 Nights before the Cruise and stayed at the B Ocean Resort on Seabreeze Boulevard.

We took a Taxi from the airport which only took about 15 -20 minutes and cost $29. The hotel is situated directly on Fort Lauderdale Beach and was originally built in 1956 as the Yankee Clipper. The rooms were very spacious and very clean with Signature Blissful Beds, 55inch TV, Coffee and Tea making facilities and Aveda bathroom products and a hairdryer. The hotel is in 3 blocks,  Marina, Clipper and Beach buildings. One of these is on the  west side of the A1A acoss the street from the Ocean and this block could be reached by a walkway over the road. We were in the Beach building which overlooked the beach with huge floor to ceiling windows. There was a $35 per night resort fee to pay but within this we had access to the private beach and sunbeds, towels and umbrellas were provided

The Hotel had 2 pools and a restuarant, the Naked Crab and a Bar and Snack bar, the Salty Siren,  which was situated next to the pool. The Wreck Bar, which featured in the film “Analize This” also served dinner and had a mermaid show. This had to be booked and you had to spend $40.00pp on food and drink while you were in there. This was a fun show with porthole windows where you could see the mermaids doing their show in the pool.

A 10 minute walk from the hotel took us to the main strip where all the bars and restaurants were where drinks and food varied from place to place. One of our favorite places was Lulu’s Bait Shack which served amazing hot wings and you could get a pint of beer for $2.

During our stay we took a trip on the Jungle Queen Paddle Boat which took us all around the waterways, past all the mansions and houses with boats moored at the bottom of their gardens.This was a 3 -4 hour trip which stopped at a little island where we got to see an aligator show and then had the chance to have our  picture taken holding one. This wasnt something I had planned on doing but after a couple of cocktails on the boat I didnt need much persuasion. The trip was $25.00 per person and was well worth it. This trip can also be done in the evening where you are taken to the island and have a BBQ dinner and Variety show

About a 5 minute walk from the hotel was the stop for the water taxi which you can use to hop on and off and a full day ticket was $28.00 per person. This took you to the Riverside Hotel in Los Olas, Los Olas Boulevard, Gallery One Shopping Centre and if you took the express route you could go to Margaritaville Beach Resort. We decided to walk to Los Olas instead which was a mean feat in 85 degree heat but was well worth it for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

The morning of our cruise we took the hotel shuttle to the port and this was $8.00pp which was a fast and efficient way to get there.

This is a hotel and area I would definately stay in again if I was sailing from Fort Lauderdale  again , so maybe its time to start looking for my next Caribbean Cruise!